Tag: theology

Respectable Sins: Self-Control | Part 3

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, Respectable Sins1 Comment

This week, I am focusing on the Respectable Sin of Self-Control. In my last post, I dealt with self-control with our temper. In this post, personal finances will be the main subject.

Personal Finances

Christians, along with the rest of the nation, are in financial debt. One statistic said that on average Americans are in 7,000 dollars worth of credit card debt [1]. That tells us that as a nation, we are not exercising self-control when it comes to our finances. Instead, we are indulging our desires with new clothes, the latest electronic gadgets, expensive vacations, etc. By buying these things, we are going into more debt.

Why are we doing this to ourselves?

Consumers consume hoping it will satisfy, but it doesn’t. Instead it leaves us empty, and wanting more to fill that void, so we buy more. We do so under the false notion that our next purchase will be what we need to fill us up, but it doesn’t either. Instead massive debt piles up as we try and fill a void only Christ can fill.

Why is it important we exercise self-control?

If we do not exercise self-control, then our desires end up controlling us rather than us controlling our desires. As well as Scripture commands us to exercise self-control. Here are a few verses:

  • Proverbs 25:28
  • Galatians 5:22-23
  • 2 Timothy 3:3
  • Titus 2:2,5,6
  • Titus 2:11-12
  • 1 Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8
  • 2 Peter 1:5

For those reasons, it is important we exercise self-control.

Is debt the only sign that a person lacks self-control? 

No, those who are affluent also fall into this category. A lack of self-control does not necessarily correlate with our bank accounts.

How do we know that we lack self-control in our finances?

We know we lack self-control in our finances when we indulge ourselves in whatever our hearts desire.

How do we rid ourselves of this sin?

The writer of Ecclesiastes helps when he says,

“I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Ec 2:1–11)

The writer of Ecclesiastes teaches us that indulging ourselves is vanity. It will not provide us with the joy we are seeking. The only thing that will provide us with true joy and satisfaction is Christ.

How can we exercise self-control?

Jerry Bridges wisely says,

“Biblical self-control is not a product of one’s own natural will power”[2].

That is because it requires us to exercise self-control in all areas of life. While we may be able to exercise self-control in certain areas in order to gain something, it is impossible for us to do so in our own power in every area of our lives. For example, an athlete exercises self-control with their diet in order to perform better, but they may not exercise self-control in their spending habits.

So then, how do we exercise self-control in every area of our lives? Only through the power of the Holy Spirit and a continual exposure to the Word of God are we able to exercise self-control in every area of our lives. You see, self-control “requires an unceasing conflict with the passions of the flesh that wage war against our souls (see 1 Peter 2:11)”[3]. The only way we can consistently exercise that level of self-control is by the influence and enablement of the Holy Spirit. This lead Jerry Bridges to say,

“Continual exposure of our mind to the Word of God and continual prayer for the Holy Spirit to give us both the desire and power to exercise self-control [is required]. We might say that self-control is not control by oneself through one’s own willpower but rather control of oneself through the power of the Holy Spirit”[4].

Questions for Reflection

  1. What do you believe Americans buy that get themselves into such massive debt? Why do they buy these things?
  2. Does your shopping habits reveal a lack of self-control when it comes to your finances?
  3. What do you hope excessive spending will provide for you?

Resources

[1] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 113.
[2] Ibid., 110.
[3] Ibid., 111.
[4] Ibid.

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What Gospel-Centered Churches Do and Why

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Church Life, Leadership, Pastoral, Practical3 Comments

Have you ever wondered what your church should be doing, and why you should be doing it? In his latest book, Center Church, Timothy Keller answers those questions. In Keller fashion, his answer stems from an understanding of the gospel. Before we get to what our churches should be doing, let’s start with an outline of the gospel.

The Gospel Outline

  1. The Son of God emptied himself and came into the world in Jesus Christ, becoming a servant.
  2. He died on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice.
  3. He rose from the grave as the first-fruits of a whole renewed world[1].

From this outline Keller develops the following categories, which coincide with the outline above and provide us with the answer to our questions: What should our churches be doing? And why should they be doing it?

Gospel Categories and Church Ministries

The Incarnation and the Upside-Down Aspect of the Gospel

Jesus gave up all to serve all. His humble and servant actions serve to turn the world’s idea of life on it’s head. In doing so, “He creates a new kind of servant community, with people who live out an entirely alternate way of being human. Racial and class superiority, accrual of money and power at the expense of others, yearning for popularity and recognition – all are marks of living in the world. They represent the opposite of the gospel mind-set”[2]

The Upside-Down aspect of the gospel teaches us that our church should have or be doing the following:

  • Deep Community
  • Cell Groups or House Churches
  • Radical Giving and Sharing of Resources
  • Spiritual Disciplines
  • Racial Reconciliation
  • Living with the Poor[3]

The Atonement and the Inside-Out Aspect of the Gospel

“Jesus took our place on the cross and accomplished salvation for all, which we freely receive as a gift”[2]. This is the opposite of Traditional religion, which teaches that “if we do good deeds and follow the moral rules in our external behavior, God will come into our hearts, bless us, and give us salvation”[4]. The gospel is the opposite. Instead of obeying to get God, the gospel tells us that we obey because we have God.

The Inside-Out aspect of the gospel teaches us that our church should uphold the following doctrinal convictions and should be doing the following:

  • Personal Conversion
  • Experiential Grace Renewal
  • Evangelism
  • Outreach
  • Church Planting[5]

The Resurrection and the Forward-Back Aspect of the Gospel

“Jesus is resurrected but we are not. He has inaugurated the kingdom of God, but it is not fully present”[6]. This means that we live in the “already/not yet”. We now experience the results of Christ’s reign, but we will not fully experience them until He returns. While we enjoy His reign now, we look forward to His return.

The Forward-Backward aspect of the gospel pushes us as a church to:

  • Seek the Welfare of our City and Neighborhood
  • Civic Involvement
  • Cultural Engagement
  • Training Congregants to Work Out of a Christian Worldview in a Secular Vocation[7]

Conclusion

If we want to be a Gospel-Centered and Gospel-Driven church, we must first understand the gospel, then allow the gospel to inform us as to what actions we are to take, what ministries we are to have, and what we are to belief. A church with the gospel at its center never wonders what they are to do, nor why they are doing it. As well as they never lack the power to accomplish their ministry and work in their community and city.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Why does your church have the ministries it has?
  2. What is your church missing from this list?
  3. What does your church do well on this list?
  4. In what areas will your church need to change in order to become a gospel-centered church?

Resources

[1] Timothy Keller, Center Church, 46.
[2] Ibid., 46-47.
[3] Ibid. 47.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid., 47-48.

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Respectable Sins: 4 Manifestations of Selfishness | Part 4

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, Respectable SinsLeave a comment

In my last post in this series, I discussed how we are often selfish with our money. If you would like to read that post, you can do so by clicking here. Today I will deal with our selfishness regarding our consideration of others.

Our Consideration of Others

Those who are inconsiderate are really being selfish because the only consideration they have is for themselves. We see this in Philippians 1:15-17:

“Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.”

What are some areas in which we can be inconsiderate?

Being inconsiderate manifests itself in a number of ways, here are just a few:

  • Always being late – When we make others wait, we are being inconsiderate of their time.
  • Talking too loudly on our cell phones – When we talk too loud on our phones in public, so that it disturbs those around us, we are being inconsiderate.
  • Being rude or indifferent to our waitress – When we are rude or indifferent to others, we show that we do not care about their feelings. We only care about our own feelings. It takes almost no effort at all to say, “Thank you.” [1]

The Greatest Example of Unselfishness 

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the greatest example of unselfishness. In Philippians 2:5-11, we are told that He did not hold onto His position as God for His own selfish gain. Rather, He gave up certain privileges when He came to earth as a man. He then gave up His life, dying on the cross for the sin’s of mankind, so that we might have eternal life.

How do we Mortify Selfishness?

In order to kill selfishness, we need to reflect on the gospel. We must realize that we would not have a restored relationship with God or eternal life, if Jesus had not thought others more important than Himself and humbled Himself on the cross. Thinking on Jesus’ actions should spur us on to be selfless. So then, we should pray that the Holy Spirit would show us how we are selfish and give us the power to rid that sin from our lives. We should also preach the gospel to ourselves, reminding ourselves of Christ’s selflessness.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Does your daily interactions tell you that you are inconsiderate of others?
  2. What does Christ’s sacrifice tell us about how we should act?
  3. What form does selfishness take in your life?

Resources

[1] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 105-106.

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Jefferson Bethke | Spoken Word

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

Lyrics

A roman cross, ya Jesus died on that
I don’t care what you believe, read history; it’s a historical fact
So the question is what will you do with this man of misery?
Only six hours on that wood, yet it completely changed history.
What’s weird though is we’ve pimped Jesus out, made his sacrifice foolery,
We just come to church on Easter, and make his cross nice jewelry.
The cross though wasn’t a symbol of faith; it was a symbol of death,
I mean imagine if someone wore an electric chair around their neck?
So we have to ask what was different about that man on that day,
That could turn an instrument of death, to something that saves?
See His cross is unique, because He was innocent,
God actually became a man?! Now that is different.
So on the cross he says I’m not dying because of me, I’m dying because of you,
Not just for your sins of the past, but for the ones you will do.
See on the cross God treated Jesus like He was us,
Poured out his wrath on the son, so He might show He’s just.
He took all your filth; he took all your sin,
The beauty is when you trust in Jesus, you were included in him

But first, walk with me what it must have been like that night,
When the son of God looked like He lost the fight,
No breathe, no heartbeat, no sign of life,
God tasted death, and it didn’t feel right.

Have you ever let that sink in, that God died?
No, really, God actually died.

3 days in the tomb. Lifeless laid his remains,
the king had no crown, looks like he had given up his reigns,
but suddenly on Sunday something started to change,
you heard a thump, thump…blood started pumping in his veins.
heart beating, blood pulsin, instantly satan felt his power break
because the son of God was dead, but now the son of God was awake
And every breathe he took, was like a punch to satan’s face
Because the resurrection proves you are no longer under law, you are under grace

so celebrate because when jesus went to the grave, you did too
And when he raised from the grave, you became new
saying, “my job is finished. Let the new life begin.
You can actually walk in freedom, stop wallowing in your sin,”
Because the chains have been broken, the stones been rolled away
God doesn’t love a future you, He loves you today

You are clean you are blameless, the curse has been squashed,
That’s what baptism is, just showing you’ve been washed
So church rejoice with me, that we aren’t waiting for the verdict,
Righteous, and the resurrection just proves he assured it
Because our whole lives we’ve feasted on sin, and we couldn’t pay the tab
Yet jesus walks over to our bill, and says ill take care of that
we don’t have to pay for our debt, in fact God doesn’t even expect it,
Because the cross is payment given, and resurrection is payment accepted.
The resurrection made us perfectly spotless, from spiritual whores,
Because when he walked out of the grave, he left our sin on the floor,
Turned around, looked at where his body lay,
And said sin, ya that’s where you’re gunna stay.

So live in freedom, because you are free
The resurrection is just the stamp, saying it’s a guarantee
A royal decree, now proclaiming you are children of the king
So give thanks back to him, and as a church let’s sing….

The Humbling, Paradigm Shifting, Faithfulness of God

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

This morning we met for our weekly Friday morning men’s breakfast, Bible study, and fellowship. We have been getting together every Friday for several months now, reading a chapter of the Bible and discussing it. Today we talked through 2 Timothy 2. One of the many things that stuck out to me as we discussed the passage is found in verses 11-13.

Paul writes,

“The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Ti 2:11–13)

Paul tells us those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and die to themselves will live with Him. Those who endure and persevere, will reign with Christ. Those who deny Christ, will also be denied. So far we see a one to one correlation, but then in the last phrase he tells us that if we are faithless, God will remain faithful.

God’s Faithfulness

We know this to be true from biblical history. God remained steadfast as Israel chased after other gods. Yes, He disciplined them, but His discipline was always to correct. His desire was always for them to return to Him. Instead of giving up on them, He remained. He does the same for us. He is faithful even when we are faithless.

Why is God Faithful?

Paul tells us why God is faithful in the last phrase when he says, “for he cannot deny himself.” In other words, God cannot deny His own glory. God will be glorified, and it is our perseverance and ultimate salvation/glorification that glorifies Him. That means our salvation is not primarily for us. It is for God. It is to bring Him glory. Yes, we benefit tremendously from God’s saving grace, but it is not ultimately about us. It is about God and His glory.

A Paradigm Shift

Paul shows us that God is faithful in order to bring glory to Himself. How paradigm shifting is that? God is not faithful because we somehow are worth it. He is not faithful because He needs us. He is not faithful because we have merited it. He is faithful because He cannot deny Himself. To realize this world, this life, and even my salvation is not about me, but is about God’s glory is humbling. And to realize He will be faithful even when I am faithless is amazing!

Questions for Reflection

  1. How have you seen God’s faithfulness in your life?
  2. Do you believe your salvation is primarily about you or about God?
  3. Do you believe your salvation is due to some sort of merit on your part?
  4. Would you be willing to share about a time when you have been humbled by God’s grace and mercy in your life?

Resource

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Respectable Sins: 4 Manifestations of Selfishness | Part 3

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical, Respectable Sins2 Comments

In my last post in this series, I discussed how we are often selfish with our time. If you would like to read that post, you can do so by clicking here. Today I will deal with our selfishness regarding our money.

Our Money

America is one of the, if not the, riches countries in the world, but less than 2 percent of our money is given to charities or religious causes [1]. When we do give, it is often a minimal amount, and it is usually directed toward popular charities that have popped up as a result of a world disaster. The reason people typically give once to major popular causes rather than often to lesser known causes is because it makes them feel good, which is a form of selfishness.

Why is selfishness with our money a sin?

The reason selfishness with our money is a sin is because it is a form of greed (see Matt. 23:25). Here is what Paul has to say,

“But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.” (1 Co 5:11)

Going even further, the underlying sin or motive of someone who is selfish with their money is at least three-fold.

First, there is a lack of trust in God. They do not trust Him to provide for their needs.

Second, there is a lack of joy in God. They seek happiness in the things money can buy, rather than in their relationship with the Lord.

Lastly, there is a lack of finding their status in Christ. Instead, they seek the status money affords them, showing they find their significance in what other people think about them.

What can we do to rid this sin from our lives?

I believe there are three things we can do:

First, we need to trust in the Lord. Realizing that He is the One who provides us with everything that we own, and He is the One who will take care of our needs.

Second, we need not find our happiness or joy in our money because it is fleeting. We only gain true joy from accomplishing our God given purpose in life, which is to serve and glorify God. Then and only then can we experiencetrue joy that is not fleeting or circumstantial. 

Lastly, we need to realize that what others think of us is not what should provide us with significance. Everyone is significant because they have been created in the image of God. As well as those who are believers are God’s children. A status and significance greater than anything the world could ever give us. So we are to find our significance in God and not in other people. 

Looking Forward

In my next post in this series, I will look at how we are selfish with our consideration of others. Until then, use the questions below to help you reflect on this post.

Questions for Reflection

  1. How does selfishness with your money manifest itself in your life?
  2. What underlying sin do you think causes you to be selfish with your money? Is it a lack of trust in God, a lack of joy in God, or a lack of recognizing your status is found in Christ alone?
  3. What other verses would you recommend for those dealing with this form of selfishness?

Resources

[1] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 104.

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