Monthly Archives: August 2013

Christians like to use the comparison that Jesus used in Matthew where He says “You are the salt of the earth…” I wonder how many of us have really thought about this. I have seen people use this scripture at times to justify weird or spooky behavior. I have seen it used to justify being obnoxious when sharing our faith. I have also heard it used correctly, in context, but then countered with the thought that we should avoid all contact with non-believers. What was Jesus talking about in this scripture?

When Jesus spoke this, it made perfect sense to His listeners. They had the cultural context to understand it. We don’t have that context, because our salt comes from Food Lion in boxes or bags. We then pour the salt into salt shakers which we use to season our food. To the crowd that Jesus was speaking to, salt was gathered primarily from the region around the Dead Sea. What would often happen is that reeds growing along the bank would become caked with salt as the water receded and evaporated from the reeds, leaving them coated with salt. These reeds would be gathered and then used to preserve food. They would rub the reed on the food, coating it with a layer of salt. As the reed was used, less salt would remain on it. When it had ‘lost its saltiness’, the reeds would sometimes be used as flooring on the upper levels of the houses. This is probably what Jesus meant in the parable when he said “…But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

How does this relate to us? Pretty much the way we think it does. Christians are the preservative of the earth. We also change the flavor of things we come in contact with, especially relationally. If this is the case, it strikes me as odd that we do some of the things the way we do. We gather in churches and keep to ourselves. The unchurched are welcome to join us, but they typically have to come to us. We don’t meet them where they are.  That’s like putting the broccoli into the salt shaker. I’ve realized something when discussing this with several pastors over the years. All of them made it clear that the unchurched were welcome in their churches, yet few of them were actually intentional in their efforts to attract the unchurched. There is a difference between people being welcome and being intentional in attracting them. For example, I’m welcome to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch, but they are not intentional in attracting overweight men in their 50’s. While they won’t stop me from purchasing their products, they are not intentional in their efforts to market their products to me.  In fact, the CEO said earlier this year that there are people who do not belong in his clothes – namely overweight people. I agree. The same is true for churches. While unchurched people may be welcome at our churches, if we really want to reach them, we need to be intentional in our efforts to have something to offer them. And some churches have made it clear that there are some people who do not belong in their churches – namely unsaved people.  There is an excellent article here about being intentional in reaching unchurched people.

Another teaching I’ve heard is that, as Christians, we should avoid all contact with unbelievers. They will only drag us down to their level. It’s a good thing that Jesus didn’t subscribe to this thought process. He associated with all kinds of sinful people. He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. He hung out with the wrong people according to his accusers. The difference is that while Jesus hung out with these people, He didn’t do what they did. He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard, but he wasn’t. He hung out with sinful people, but He didn’t sin. I’ve never heard anyone say “That broccoli made my salt taste like broccoli!” The salt makes the broccoli taste saltier, but the broccoli doesn’t make the salt taste broccolier. I just made that word up by the way.

Now – I realize that there is a time to cut ties in a relationship that is affecting you negatively. Andy Stanley gives five warning signs that you need to break off relationships:

1. It dawns on you that your core group isn’t moving in the direction you want your life to be moving.
2. You catch yourself pretending to be someone other than who you really are.
3. You feel pressure to compromise.
4. You hear yourself saying, “I’ll go, but I won’t participate.”
5. You hope the people you care about most don’t find out who you were with or where you have been.

You can read about this in more detail here.

However, I don’t believe that the Bible teaches us to cut all ties with non-Christians. What good is salt if it remains in the salt shaker? We need to both flavor and preserve the earth. We can’t do that by remaining separate. We should be involved with our neighbors. Most of us work secular jobs. We should have unsaved friends. We need to be careful not to allow sinful behavior to creep into our lives, but I believe that if we heed the previously listed warning signs we can avoid that. We need to  the salt of the earth. We are the preservative that keeps the enemy at bay. We have a great message. Let’s not keep it to ourselves. If non-Christians don’t observe us living a life of joy and peace, what is going to attract them to the gospel? Church? Not unless they come with us, and they won’t typically come with us unless there is a relationship established first. Where did we ever get the impression that we were to be separated from unchurched people? The Bible does tell us that we should not be “unequally yoked” to unbelievers, which refers to Deuteronomy 22:10, which says not to plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together. The reference is clear, the ox was a ceremonially “clean” animal, while the donkey was “unclean”. The two different animals would not have plowed a straight line because they were different animals with different strengths and temperaments. The same is true when we “yoke” ourselves to an unbeliever; when we marry or even enter into a business partnership with an unbeliever. We cannot pursue a straight line because we are different creatures. And yet the ox and donkey grazed in the same fields. When we paraphrase John 17, we get the “In the world but not of the world” scripture reference. But if you read John 17: 14 – 19, it is clear that Jesus is sending us into the world!  He states clearly, ” 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” We are to be IN the world.

Let’s be the salt of the earth. Let’s flavor and preserve the earth, not by remaining in our salt-shakers where we’re relatively safe, but by being shaken onto our culture, by being shaken onto those around us, by being shaken into our places of employment, by being shaken into every aspect of our lives. As you go through your day, who will you flavor today? Who will you preserve from the decaying effects of a fallen, sinful world? Who will you be the salt for today?

Have you ever felt like just giving up? Every year, my wife, Penny, and I take a couple of days and head to the mountains of western North Carolina. We get a cabin up in the woods and just chill. There is spotty internet available and not a lot to do, but that’s fine with us. We spend a couple of days just reading our Bibles and books that have gone unread. We pray. We talk. We get focused. It never fails that each year our trip coincides with a point in our lives where we are ready to just give up. So we go into survivor mode. We separate ourselves from our everyday lives. We go off somewhere alone and make the time to communicate with God. We regroup. We speak some and listen more. And it never fails that we return from that trip with a new perspective, usually beat into us by God during those few days away from the normal busy-ness of life.

I don’t think that we are all that unusual. I suspect that all of us hit a wall at some point in our lives, and, like us, it may be an annual thing. For others, though it is a weekly or even daily thing. They live in survivor mode. If they can only get through this time, or this challenge everything will be OK. But it isn’t. Something else pops up. Another battle that has to be fought and won. You know the people. “I know God is in control, but… I hope I make enough money to pay my bills this month. The chances of surviving this surgery are 70%. I’m probably one of the 30% who won’t make it. This day (every day) is just horrible! Nothing ever goes right for me!” You know them. They’re the ones who make everyone else want to be a Christian because their life is so miserable. I apologize for the sarcasm, but the point is they are mis-representing what Christianity is really all about.

While I think that everyone needs some time occasionally to focus, some of us live there. The thing is, I don’t think that’s how God intends for us to live. I don’t believe that God wants us all to be rich and live lives of ease, but I also don’t believe that God wants us to just survive this life so that we can have a better one when we die. I don’t think we were meant to be survivors. If I read the Bible correctly, we are not here to just survive until Jesus comes back. Jesus said that he had come so that we might have life to the full.  Abundant life. A rich and satisfying life.  (John 10:10) I think that we, myself included, go on the defensive sometimes when we should be playing offense. For those of you who enjoy sports, you will recognize that there is a difference between a team playing to win and one that is playing not to lose. Especially when it is your favorite team! When my team starts playing not to lose, they play it safe. They don’t take risks, they rely on their strengths. They are wanting to survive. Play out the clock. On the other hand, when my team is playing to win, they are taking risks, looking for a big play and relying on faith – hoping that they will get a break. They play harder. They want to be on offense, not on defense. They want the ball. They want to be at bat. They go to the puck instead of waiting for it to come to them.

The same is true for us in life. Sometimes we’re just playing not to lose. We go on defense, separating ourselves from community and life in order to regroup. We don’t take risks, we rely on our own strengths to get us through. We’re just playing out the clock waiting for “it” to be over. Just hoping that Jesus comes back today so that all of this will be over.  When I read about the Christian life in the Bible, I don’t see survivor mode. 1 John 5:4 doesn’t say Everyone born of God survives the world. It says “Everyone born of God overcomes the world.” In Revelation 3:21 we don’t read To him who survives I will give the right to sit with me on my throne. It tells us that “To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne.” So how do we go from survivor to overcomer? We stop playing not to lose and start playing to win.

God told Paul that His strength was made perfect in Paul’s weakness. In other words, instead of relying on our own strengths, we need to rely on God’s. In 2nd Kings 13:18 we read a story about Elisha. He told King Jehoash get a bow and some arrows. After demonstrating what he was doing by having the king shoot an arrow out of the window, representing victory over the kings enemies, Elisha told the king to strike the ground with the arrows. King Jehoash struck the ground three times. Elisha became angry and told the king that he would only defeat his enemy three times – once for each time that he had struck the ground with the arrows. This would not be enough to defeat the enemy. King Jehoash was playing not to lose. I heard a pastor explain recently that he thinks the reason the king only struck the ground three times was because he knew that with each victory there would be a battle.

How often do we feel like giving up because with each victory we know there will be a battle? Once we get through this period in life there will be another one right behind it. Another battle to be fought. So we play not to lose and become content with defending ourselves against our enemy. We play it safe and rely on our strengths to get us through. The thing is, we not only don’t have to live like this, we’re not supposed to. The Bible makes it clear that when faced with the challenges of life we are “more than conquerors” (Romans 8:37). We forget who we are. I would like to remind you of who you are as a child of God. You are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). You have a God who supplies all of your needs (Philippians 4:19). When it comes to adversity, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. (Philippians 3:13).  You are no longer under condemnation (Romans 8:1). You are destined to complete what God has begun in you (Philippians 1:6). You have received a gift that is to be used to serve others (1 Peter 4:10). You don’t have to worry about anything, but instead have a peace that only God can give to see you through times of anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7). You have been given life to the full, a rich and satisfying life, more and better life than you ever dreamed of (John 10:10).

I could go on. The thing is, we are not meant to be survivors. We are designed to be overcomers. Do we get behind in the game? Sure we do. Sometimes in our humanity we just feel like giving up. It’s during those times that we need to make the decision to play to win, not just play not to lose. Get your life back, play offense. Don’t wait for victory to come to you, go to victory. Don’t rely on your own strengths to get you through, rely on God’s strength, which is the greatest when you are weakest. Be who you were created to be. You are not meant to be a survivor. You are an overcomer. Don’t play life not to lose. Start playing it to win.

Jesus answered:”Watch out that no one deceives you.  For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.  ~ Matthew 24: 4-5

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ~ 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ~ 1 Corinthians 11: 3

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. ~ 1 Timothy 4: 1

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. ~ James 1: 16

Over and over, we are told in the Bible not to be deceived, and yet, people are still deceived daily. I get email nearly every day telling me about a long-lost relative from Nigeria who has left me millions. I also have to say that the number of iPads I have won on the internet and the number of iPads I own are very different numbers. We’ve heard of the people who go door to door after some tragedy or natural disaster, collecting money for the victims, only to find out later that they were not in fact collecting money for the victims, but instead have created victims by stealing their money. People are deceived all the time. As a general rule, it appears that the human population is overwhelmingly gullible, believing what we are told because we want to believe the best of people. We don’t want to believe that there are people who would use the suffering of others to steal money from us. We do want to believe in the generosity of a long-lost relative with a different last name from a fork in the family tree that we never knew existed before.

I also think that part of the problem is with deception itself. By definition, deception is using trickery or fraud to make people believe that they are doing the right thing. No one responds to the email about receiving an inheritance from a long-lost Nigerian relative because they think that it isn’t true. They have been tricked into believing that they actually have a relative from whom they have inherited a large sum of money.  They believe that it’s true. The victims of the Madoff Ponzi scam believed that they were doing the right thing. From a biblical standpoint, Eve was deceived. She was tricked into believing that she was doing the right thing. She thought that she was furthering her knowledge. And in that she wasn’t wrong. She just didn’t understand the consequences of doing so.

So, if you’re following me here, the Bible tells us not to be deceived about several things – sin, false teachers and even people who claim to be Jesus. The problem is, when we become deceived, we don’t know it until it’s too late. We have been tricked into believing that a lie is the truth. We think that we’re doing the right thing. So how do we not become deceived in the first place? Obviously it’s possible, or God would not have told us in his Word that we should not be deceived. I think the key is that we have to know The Truth in the first place. I don’t mean that we have to be aware that a truth exists. We have to know what The Truth is. Let me put it this way: if someone were to come to me and say that my wife, Mary, just called and wanted me to loan them $20 for gas, I would not be deceived. Why? Because my wife’s name is Penny. How do I know that? Because I have been married to her for nearly 35 years. We have a relationship. I know The Truth concerning my wife’s name. I’m not saying that it’s not possible to deceive me. I too have been the victim of deceptive people.  But the Bible makes it clear that people will attempt to deceive us about some very important things. It also makes it clear that we are not to be fooled into believing the lies that these people will tell us in order to deceive us. If you look at the verses above, each warning is followed by The Truth. It will take a little work on our parts not to fall into the trap of deception, but I believe that we can avoid the typical pitfalls that the enemy uses to deceive us if we will just learn The Truth for ourselves.

In Matthew 24, Jesus is talking to his disciples about his return to earth. He warns them not to be deceived because many people will come claiming to be Jesus. How will we recognize that these people are not actually Jesus? He shows us The Truth in verses 26 and 27.  “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.  For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”  The Truth in this instance is not to believe that Jesus is in a particular place. He says that just as lightning that strikes is visible many miles away, his return will be visible to everyone on the earth at the same time (verse 30). This is how we do not get deceived.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul is giving this church general guidelines for how to behave as Christians: Don’t act like you did before you came to know The Truth concerning Jesus. Apparently, many in this church (like many in today’s churches) were part of the congregation, but were still acting like they used to act. They were no different from unbelievers. They thought they were doing the right thing. So Paul gives them instructions that start with “Do not be deceived…” And then he gives them The Truth.  “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  Paul was aware that this is what was going on in the church. These people thought that they were OK. Paul is telling them that they have been deceived. Tricked into believing a lie. The Truth is that people who do “these things” will not inherit the kingdom of God. How do they know they have been deceived? Because Paul gives them The Truth concerning their behavior.

Proverbs 8: 17 says that those who seek God diligently will find him. We often seek God through the words or experiences of others, and not through our own efforts. The key word in this verse is diligently. If you knew for certain that there was a large sum of money buried in your backyard, would you dig one hole and give up if that effort didn’t produce the money? Of course you wouldn’t. You would keep digging holes until you found the money. You would work diligently to find that money. That’s the sense of seeking that God is talking about here.  If you attended church this past weekend and listened to a message without discovering The Truth about something in your life, then you are not seeking diligently.  Don’t expect your pastor to seek God diligently for you. You need to do your own seeking. It reminds me of Jeff Foxworthy’s routine “You might be a redneck.” Only in this version it is called “You might be deceived”. If you listened to a preacher this weekend and didn’t question anything he said….. you might be deceived.  If you read a book recently and didn’t check to see if the Bible verses were used in context…..  you might be deceived.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable about wheat and weeds. A man had a field where he planted wheat. But his enemy came while he was asleep and planted weeds in his wheat. As the wheat grew, so did the weeds. The mans servant came to him and told him about the weeds that were growing in his wheat field. The servant asked if they should go through the field and start pulling up the weeds. The owner of field replied “No…because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” ~ Matthew 13: 29 – 30. There are weeds out there. There are Christians who do not live as Christians. There are pastors who do not preach the gospel. There are preachers on TV who are self-serving businessmen. Certainly not every pastor is a deceiver any more than every preacher on TV is a charlatan. But some of them are. They are weeds in the wheat field. They are there to deceive us. All of us have the propensity to be deceived. As Christians, many of us think we’re doing the right thing when we tune into that guy on TV that we love to hear preach. We think we’re doing the right thing when we attend church and listen to our pastor preach a message. We think we’re doing the right thing when we read a blog like this. The problem is that none of those things are The Truth.  My hope is to point you toward The Truth in this blog, but if you just believe everything I say without searching for The Truth yourself, then I have failed.  Jesus said that he was The Truth. Unless we know that Truth as well as I know the name of my wife, it’s possible for us to be deceived.

Deception is powerful. That’s why God warns us about it in the Bible. We want to do the right thing, and we think we are doing the right thing, but if we’re walking in unfamiliar territory, we may be deceived. The Bible says that there is a way that seems right… but its end is death.  I urge you to seek God diligently. Set aside time in your busy schedule for seeking. Pray. Read. Seek. Diligently seek. Above all, become so familiar with God and his Word that it would be difficult to deceive you. Seek diligently. And watch that no one deceives you.