I want my kids to be good people. I want them to know right from wrong. I want them to stand up for the oppressed, the bullied, and the outcast. I want them to be influencers for good in the world. Doesn’t every parent want the same? But as I teach my kids the Bible every night during dinner, I can’t help but see something troubling about who they will become.
We have a choice: embrace the shame of the cross, or become ashamed of the cross. In God’s Kingdom, laying down your life gives life back, and holding on to life takes it away. The choice seems obvious, but it must be made moment by moment.
Jesus said one characteristic would set his people apart. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). But love for one another isn’t an automatic. It’s a determination, a conviction, a pursuit, a calling. It’s the kind of thing you must set your mind upon, orient your heart toward, stiffen your spine for. Love is what everyone wants. But love, it turns out, isn’t something everyone’s good at. Love for oneself comes naturally. Love for others is learned.
In Hebrews 11, the author gives example after example of what faith looks like. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. But faith does not guarantee an easy life. An easy life isn't the point. The point is getting to Jesus. We often look to this chapter for the encouragement to keep pressing on, and we should do just that. But unlike what the prosperity gospel preaches, the life of faith is not always blessed in this life. It doesn't always take the shape of big bank accounts and sculpted bodies. It very often looks rather scrawny and full of scar tissue. But behind the veneer of shame is the weight of glory.
What we do with God’s word is a pointer to what we would do with God himself. If we treat his word as worthless, disgusting, imposing, violating, or offensive, then we will also treat God himself that way.
In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus tells a parable about an unforgiving servant. Through it, he's helping us see two kinds of radical, radical forgiveness and radical unforgiveness, and what will happen if we ignore the former for the latter.
Gaining the Kingdom doesn’t cost us anything. Receiving the Kingdom costs us everything. And it’s a happy trade-off. Everything we’ve ever longed for is inside. In his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
I just returned from the For the Church Conference hosted by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO. It was the best conference, with the best content, I’ve ever attended. Here are three reflections on why.
In J.I. Packer's book, Knowing God's Purpose for Your Life, he gives ten statements that help us discern God's call on our life.
In all human history, God has not yet failed one person who has trusted in him. Will he fail you now?
