A CHRISTMAS MEDITATION

Where do we find true happiness? By rejoicing in God’s truth:

·       “True happiness is to rejoice in the truth, for to rejoice in the truth is to rejoice in you, O God, who are the truth… Man’s love of truth is such that when he loves something which is not the truth, he pretends to himself that what he loves is the truth, and because he hates to be proved wrong, he will not allow himself to be convinced that he is deceiving himself. So he hates the real truth for the sake of what he takes to his heart in its place.” (Augustine’s Confessions, Book 10:23)

How do we love God? We can’t cook for Him, clean His house, or launder His cloths.

Some believe that it is strictly about experiencing God by shutting down the mind. For Augustine, a relationship with God is a matter of abiding in His Word, His unalterable truth:

·       “Only a master who really teaches us really speaks to us: if he does not teach us, even though he may be speaking, it is not to us that he speaks. But who is our teacher except the Truth that never changes? Even when we learn from created things, which are subject to change, we are led to the Truth that does not change.” (Confessions, Book 11:8)

Is it proper then that we limit such a relationship to feelings and experiences without understanding? According to Augustine, the lack of wisdom is both darkness and a punishment:

·       “I am aglow with its fire. It is the light of Wisdom, Wisdom itself, which at times shines upon me, parting my clouds. But when I weakly fall away from its light, those clouds envelop me again in the dense mantle of darkness which I bear for my punishment.” (Confessions, Book 11:9)

Well, what does this have to do with Christmas? A friend called me today to say that he had been reprimanded for speaking out against a visiting pastor. At the end of her sermon, she called the youth of the church to come to the altar to commit themselves to the Babe in the manger, “whatever you might think about Him.”

Well, what we think about Him is all important and shouldn’t be designated as a “whatever.” Paul had insisted:

·       I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel… But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:6-9)

Strong words, but these are Gospel words. My friend yelled out that who that Babe is does matter and was later reprimanded!

His conduct hadn’t been “nice,” but perhaps it glorified God. The children of Israel had sinned against God, having been tempted into sin by the Moabite women. Consequently, a plague broke out and was consuming Israel. Nevertheless, the Israelites continued in their sin, even to the point of bringing Moabite women to their tents, even in front of Moses. However, the priest Phinehas drove a spare through a couple in their sinful embrace and the plague ceased. What did the Lord think about such “un-nice” behavior?

·       The LORD said to Moses, "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them.” (Numbers 25:10-11)

My friend had also been zealous about the Lord! But Phinehas had been a relic of Old Testament morality, right? Well it seems that confronting anti-Gospel messages is also a part of the NT. Peter had denied the Gospel when he withdrew from Gentile believers when the legalistic Jewish believers arrived from Jerusalem. However, Paul was convinced that his behavior actually denied the Gospel and our oneness in Christ. Therefore, he publicly opposed Peter in the midst of his hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-14).

Perhaps we have become too “nice,” and perhaps Paul’s example should be a model for us? Perhaps we aren’t loving the Lord as we ought by failing to stand up for His truth? I suspect that Augustine wouldn’t have reprimanded my friend but would have honored him as the Lord had done for Phinehas, by honoring him with an enduring priesthood.

CAN YOU ARGUE AGAINST SUCCESS?

Willow Creek Church, the ultimate model of church success, where hundreds of thousands have come to learn the secrets of church growth, has admited that success requires far more than numbers. In 2008, the Christian Examiner wrote:

• Willow Creek has released the results of a multi-year study on the effectiveness of their programs and philosophy of ministry. The study's findings are in a new book titled "Reveal: Where Are You?," co-authored by Cally Parkinson and Greg Hawkins, executive pastor of Willow Creek Community Church. Hybels himself called the findings "ground breaking," "earth shaking" and "mind blowing."

• And no wonder: It seems that the "experts" were wrong.

• The report reveals that most of what they have been doing for these many years and what they have taught millions of others to do is not producing solid disciples of Jesus Christ. Numbers yes, but not disciples. It gets worse. Hybels laments:

• "Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn't helping people that much. Other things that we didn't put that much money into and didn't put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for."

Meanwhile, the seeker-sensitive megachurches are booming. We automatically conclude that they must be doing something right, but are they?

While we don’t want to dismiss the concept of success entirely, success is more than numbers and offerings. Instead, it should be measured in terms of pleasing God. The Book of Hebrews alludes to heroes of the faith who were not recognized as successful. However, God viewed them otherwise:

• Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. (Hebrews 11:36-39)

However, the seeker sensitives might be booming at the expense of the more biblically sound churches and a Christian impact on the general culture. While the seeker sensitives have grown, the Christian impact on the culture has seemingly diminished and the Christian faith has become more marginalized. This is evidenced in many ways – the growth of atheism, evolution, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, pornography, singleness, trial marriages, children born to single parents, and even the worldwide persecution of Christians and the corresponding silence of the church. If we are to measure success by numbers, we also have to regard these troubling observations.

How can we explain this correspondence between the growth of the “sensitives” and the diminished influence of Christianity? The more sensitive the church becomes towards the prevailing society, the less prophetic it will be. The more it seeks to pander to society, the less it is responsive to God and the light he wants us to shine.

Numbers are not God’s measure of success. Well then, what is? The Book of Daniel offers us an insider’s view:

• He [the angelic visitor] said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. (Daniel 10:11-12) 

This should be our measure of success!