August 8, 2008 at 3:20 pm · Filed under 1 Corinthians
As I watch the olympics, it is my prayer and hope that I would be reminded to train like an athlete every day:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do this in order to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
April 10, 2008 at 2:36 pm · Filed under 1 Corinthians, Commentary, James
Pastor John MacArthur wrote a very interesting article about the epidemic of “seeker-friendly” services in Pulpit magazine today. He starts by explaining the dangers of having such services and the reason why they are dangerous. He explains that a non-functioning, non-participating member can be detrimental to a church.
Scripture teaches us that the church is to act as one body. 1 Corinthians 12 is very clear in teaching us of the unity and contribution each member has:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
1 Corinthians 12:12-20
If you read through all of chapter 12, you will notice how Paul explains that the church is meant to act as one unit. Having some not function, with something just as minor as a toe can have a huge effect on the whole body. John MacArthur writes a wonderful analogy on this:
I can’t read that verse without thinking of Dizzy Dean. He was a Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher, whose career peaked in the 1930s. His 1934 season has never been excelled by any pitcher in history. Dean won thirty games that year, a feat that hasn’t been repeated since (though Dizzy himself came close, winning 28 games the following year). But in the 1937 All-Star game, he took a hard line drive off his toe, and the toe was broken. It should not have been a career-ending injury, but Dean was rushed back into the lineup before the fracture was completely healed, and he pitched several games favoring the sore toe. That led to an unnatural delivery that seriously injured his pitching arm. The arm never fully recovered. Dizzy Dean’s major-league career was essentially over in four years.
Something similar happens in any church where there are non-functioning members. The active members of the body become overextended, and the effectiveness of the whole body suffers greatly. Even the most insignificant member, like a toe, is designed to play a vital role.
I really enjoyed reading this article and it has convicted me in my love for the church. Do I simply become a spectator during church services? What does it mean to worship God? Too often, churches today, are trying to entertain it’s congregation with music, with dynamic sermons, and hollywood-like drama programs. Where has God gone in the midst of this? Is God the center of our worship, or are we worshiping the tools of the service? And if God is the center of our worship, how can we not but be involved in our worship. Can I truely say I worship God if I just sit back and soak things in?
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
-James 1:22-25
I sincerely pray to God that I would be an active member in the church for the love of my Father’s glory and his great namesake. I also hope in Christ that my church would function as one body and one unit.
November 7, 2007 at 6:13 pm · Filed under 1 Corinthians, Bible Study, James
Yesterday, I was reading my friend’s blog and she had written up a short story of how she overheard two guys having a conversation that degrades women:
Boy 1: What do you think about this hot weather?
Boy 2: It’s ok, it’s been like this all week.
Boy 1: Well, to tell you the truth, I kinda like it.
Boy 2: Yeah, me too. It gives the girls at school a reason to dress like sluts.
This conversation made me think about the word lust. It is easy to say “These boys have a problem with lustful eyes.” But what does lust really mean? Lust is so often tied to sexual desires that we forget it is actually a root of all of our sins. Take this passage in James:
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. - James 1:12-15 (NASB)
What is lust? To get a better understanding for what lust really meant, I looked it up in the original greek text. Lust in the greek is Epithumia. Epithumia, in short, is a compound greek word meaning to have an over desire or an over passion for something other than God.
Total Depravity: our sinful and lustful nature.
The passage in James opens a window to our lustful nature. A nature which chiefly produces sin. We naturally lust after things, have an over desire for things other than God. It is easy to condemn the two boys for their over-desire in women. But what about yourself? You can have a lust, an over desire for anything: having the perfect physical body, moving up the corporate ladder, etc. Not only does lust come in forms easy to condemn, it comes in things less noticeable. For example, it can come with family or friends. Do you have an over desire to please friends and family? An over desire to fulfill contentment, if they are pleased with how you act? What it comes down to is that at the root of our nature we lust after things that will “benefit” or glorify ourselves.
We are responsible for our lusts. Why wallow in lusts, finding those for blame?
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. - James 1:13,14 (NASB)
We inherit sinful nature from Adam. We produce our own lusts, it is not from anyone else, especially not God. Matthew Henry says this about the source of lust:
Every man, when tempted, is so through being drawn away of (again here, as in Jam 1:13 , the Greek for “of” expresses the actual source, rather than the agent of temptation) his own lust. The cause of sin is in ourselves. Even Satan’s suggestions do not endanger us before they are made our own. Each one has his own peculiar (so the Greek) lust, arising from his own temperament and habit. Lust flows from the original birth-sin in man, inherited from Adam. - Matthew Henry Commentary
God is not to blame for our inherit sinful nature. Even Satan isn’t. Satan may be a deceiver to which his aim is to enhance our lust, but he does not create the lust that lays within’ us. That is why we all struggle with different lusts. Satan works to attack the lusts that we each individually carry.
Persevere through the trial, fight the lust within’
We know we deal and struggle with our inherit lust. What, then, should our response be? Throw in the towel? Absolutely not, God calls us to persevere through our trials. What does it mean to persevere? Persevere or Endureth in the original greek text is hupomeno; it means to remain under, to bear under pressure. Sin and lust is like a 1000 pound rock left in our hands. You should find comfort in knowing that God knows exactly how much you can lift. He knows your weight limits:
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13
So, then, let us respond to our depravity with a fierce joy and comfort in God. Knowing we serve a God who is faithful (pistos - that can be relied on).
Back yo-self lust.
Why write a whole article on lust? I, myself, struggle with lust. It may not be lust in the sexual desires sense, but I certainly have over desires that push God away. And too often my response to lust is to throw in the towel, to give in; to end up sinning.
Despite my sinning and lustful nature, God still is graceful. I don’t think I will ever come to not appreciate and be brought to my knees by God’s allowance for me to be a part of his kingdom, even though I am so degraded with the sins I commit.
