Reformed SHEology

Last night I had the privilege of being on the Reformed Think Tank, a new BlogTalk Radio Show from the Two Reformed Brothers Network. The topic was "Evangelistic Balance in Church and Conflict." In a nutshell, I wanted to share with others how God had used my experiences in street evangelism to help me manage conflict with other Christians in the Church. For those of you who missed the show, it is still available by clicking here. We mentioned some recommended reading on the air, so I wanted to post those recommended titles, along with some other resources, below for your reference:

The Peacemaker, by Ken Sande
The Gospel for Real Life, by Jerry Bridges
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making, by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane

Discover the Word Series on Rebuke: (Audios approx. 12 minutes each.)
Discover the Word Part I
Discover the Word Part II
Discover the Word Part III

Overall, I think the show went well. I didn't think I'd have too much to share, but the show turned out to be two hours long, and the after show was an additional hour. I am surprised that even the following day I am thinking of some points I forgot to make! I was especially blessed to have Loretta and Steve call in and share their hearts with us. And I think the funniest point during the show for me was (90:30 - 92:00) when Paul Kaiser cautioned Officer Dan and Chosen Clay to behave themselves because there was "a lady" on the phone. I thought Paul meant that a woman caller was on the line. I didn't realize he was talking about me!

If anyone has any additional questions about this topic, please feel free to contact us. We'd love to hear from you!

John Piper is someone that both Geraldine and I respect tremendously. The main focus of his ministry is reflected in its title: Desiring God. So imagine my surprise when a brother in Christ recently told me that John Piper is a false teacher! Naturally I was puzzled by his claim, so I asked him to elaborate. In a nutshell, the brother told me that one of Piper's most well-known quotes is heresy. After he briefly explained his reasoning, which is better summed up by this article, the brother warned me to "be careful about endorsing John Piper" on my blog.

I was flabbergasted that this fellow would go through John Piper's ministry with such a fine-toothed comb as to uncover a tiny little technicality, a matter of semantics really, to such an extent that he is now poisoned against everything that is good and edifying and encouraging about Piper's ministry. Truly, if anyone took a complete inventory of all Piper's books and sermons, any concern surrounding this one little statement in question would be lost in a sea of solid teaching.

In recent weeks I have seen similar attacks on Ravi Zacharias and Ray Comfort. I confess I also sinfully became consumed in a similar discussion regarding Hank Hanegraaff. In all four incidents concerning these prominent and respected teachers, one thing remained constant: we were "straining gnats."

This phrase comes from Matthew 23:24, in which Jesus rebuked the self-righteous Pharisees: "You blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" One thing is certain here -- that there was a gnat to be strained. In the case of this scripture, Jesus was telling the Pharisees that they were focusing on something that warranted a legitimate criticism. However, the issue was miniscule in comparison to their own sin of which they had not repented.

In Christian circles, we often do this very same thing. In some cases, the "camel" we swallow is our own imperfection. We'd rather point the finger at what someone else is doing wrong in order to pull focus from our own sin. But in other cases, the "camel" we swallow is all the good qualities that are possessed by the target of our criticism. Instead of thanking God for the blessing given to us in the form of other Christians (Romans 1:8), we focus entirely on the flaws of these Christians. What often results is a forgetfulness over all the good these people have contributed to the kingdom.

Is John Piper perfect? Absolutely not. Has Ray Comfort made some choices I would not agree with? Most definitely. Has Ravi Zacharias bungled an opportunity to clearly enunciate the gospel? Who among us hasn't? And as for Hank Hanegraaff, well . . . let's just say there are going to be those members of the faith with whom I just don't see eye-to-eye. But do these human imperfections make these men heretics (or friends of heretics)? If we focus too closely on the flaws of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we will be tempted to avoid them. This is exactly what Satan wants!

People's bad choices, poor communication skills, and character flaws should not surprise us, but even moreso, they should not distract us from the good qualities people possess. Yet this is exactly what Satan uses in order to cause division. He likes to take our eyes off the overall work and character of a solid brother in Christ and tries to convince us to focus on the tiniest little thing about that solid Christian that may be "unbiblical." What follows is a temptation to separate from that individual.

Saints, do you realize that if we were to renounce a solid Christian leader every time he fell short, we'd have no teachers left! The same thing can happen to us in our interpersonal relationships. If we focus too closely on the flaws of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we will be tempted to avoid them. This is exactly what Satan wants!

In fact, the very sin I had committed which led to the creation of this blog began in this same exact manner. The man with whom I was angry for so long is a sinner. He has character flaws. He made choices I didn't agree with. But I chose to focus on his imperfections. As a result, I had forgotten everything about him that is good and righteous and godly.

Is there a friend or family member that you have been harboring resentment against because you are focusing too heavily on their flaws? Have you forgotten all the things about that person that you love because you are so consumed with their imperfections? Do you realize that the enemy is using these imperfections to keep you away from this person? Do you see that this is a distraction which has resulted in division? Do not allow the enemy to gain a foothold. Repent of your sin and love your neighbor. This was not only the Lord's commandment (John 15:12), it was also His prayer (John 17:20-26). We must learn to love one another unconditionally, knowing we are going to fail at times and disappoint one another. The Bible says none are good. And yes, that means that even John Piper is bad:

What comes to mind when you think of the word purity? Most Christians would define this word in the context of sexual chastity. But purity is simply the state of being free of any pollutant. Most of us don't realize how polluted we really are, until we consider the law of God. This is why Paul says, "Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.' But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead" (Romans 7:7-8, ESV).

The Ten Commandments illustrate for us the very sin we harbor in our hearts. Most of us can easily see why God chose to include certain "pollutants" on the list (such as murder and adultery). But by comparison, lying doesn't seem all that bad. Those of us who use the law in evangelism know that the ninth commandment is the easiest to get people to admit they've broken. Why? The reason is that we as sinful beings do not see lying as being a serious sin. Part of the reason for this is that many of us unconsciously "rate" sin by the degree to which it "hurts" someone else. So I tell a little white lie here or there. It's not going to hurt anybody. So why has this sin made the "top ten"?

This takes us back to the original question at the top of this post: purity. Sin is not a matter of how "harmful" one's actions are to another person. Rather, sin is a matter of purity. Lying pollutes the soul.

It has also been said that the Ten Commandments are not just rules, but rather, they are the very reflection of the character of God. The commandments are more than just a way for you and me to keep the Golden Rule. They serve a much higher purpose in the life of a Christian, because we are commanded to be imitators of Christ. If we keep His commandments, we will actually reflect His character, which is the goal of sanctification.

Let me switch gears here for a minute and provide an illustration that I once heard used by Charles Stanley. Imagine you think to yourself, "I have faith that Jennifer is going to have dinner with our family on Saturday night." You have absolutely no evidence whatsoever that I am going to come to your home, but you make preparations to have me over anyway, on the basis of your "faith." You spend all week on preparations, and Saturday you slave over a hot stove, preparing the meal. At dinner time, you believe with all your heart that I will be ringing the doorbell very soon. But I don't. Dinner is getting cold. The sky is growing dark. Disappointed, you pack up the food and put it in the refrigerator. And you think to yourself, "I don't understand. I had such faith."

Faith is defined by the Bible as the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). In order for us to have faith, we need evidence upon which to build our beliefs. We don't just hope with all our might and call that faith. So now, let's imagine I say to you, "Say, what are you doing on Saturday evening? I've been meaning to stop by and spend some time fellowshipping and ministering to your family. Why don't I stop by at 6pm with a hot dish and we can all have dinner together?" Now you have something upon which to build your belief. Now you can freely prepare a meal with full confidence that I will come to dinner. Why? Because I gave my word, and my word serves as evidence that it will come to pass.

The most powerful evidence we have that God is going to keep His promises to us is His word. If God says it, then it's as good as done. The Bible says that God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29). Since God cannot lie, His word is sufficient evidence. We can put our faith and trust in what He says. Likewise, if we make it a habit to be honest, we develop a reputation as a trustworthy people. Others will put their faith in us and believe what we tell them, solely on the basis of our word as their evidence.

But what happens when we don't keep our word? Simply put, we taint the evidence. If the evidence is faulty, the faith that others have in us is destroyed. In the natural realm, one lie can cost you your credibility. In the spiritual realm, one lie will cost you heaven.

As women, it can be hard sometimes for us not to lie. We feel that we have to say something "nice", even if it's not true. We will often give false compliments and tell ourselves that we are doing so for the benefit of the other person: we want to encourage that person. But is this our true motive for giving trite compliments that we really don't mean? Isn't the real reason we lie so that we can appear "nice"? I am not suggesting that we go around being mean and rude to others, and offering blatant honesty that is cruel and callous, just for the sake of offering truth. But when we are tempted to flatter, or when we are tempted to lie about our own flaws in an effort to preserve our image, are we really serving the other person or are we serving ourselves?When we lie to people or deceive them, when we do not keep our word, when we defraud another individual, we do not imitate a perfect, trustworthy, reliable God. Instead, we mimic the very actions of Satan.

Finally, consider this: "The ninth commandment covers any breach of confidence, devised to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage over another individual". God has commanded us not to bear false witness, because we are to be imitators of Christ. When we are dishonest, what we are actually doing is presenting an illusion in order to distract people away from the truth. Does this remind you of anyone? Who else can you think of that regularly seeks to distract people from the truth by persuading them to put their faith and trust in a lie?

Satan is a deceiver. The Bible calls him the father of lies. When we lie to people or deceive them, when we do not keep our word, when we defraud another individual, we do not imitate a perfect, trustworthy, reliable God. Instead, we mimic the very actions of Satan. This is why the ninth commandment is so vital to our Christian walk. While we as sinners don't think it's all that bad, the ninth law reflects back to us how unChristlike we are in comparison to the holy character of God, who never lies.