One More Method Band-Aid

In Give Praise To God, Terry Johnson writes, "Evangelical Christianity has struggled to stay afloat among the flood of secular, materialistic, and hedonistic influences" (284).  In other words, many churches today are forsaking their commitment to the Word of God and embracing culture - the secular, the materialistic, and the hedonistic.

According to Johnson, the answer to this problem is psalm singing.  Psalm singing will spark a "bolder, more militant spirituality," and cultivate a "piety [that will] stiffen the resolve of Christians today as it did in the past" (284).  But the problem may run much deeper than anything one more church method band-aid will fix.

Jeremiah Burroughs writes: "It is an easy matter to convince men and women that they are bound to sanctify the name of God when they come to receive the holy communion more than for the hearing of the Word" (249).  I think this accurately describes the state of the modern church, as well.  And what I mean is this:  Many churches don't take God's Word seriously at all, but even at BBC, where reading God's Word is "in style", it is often more of an exciting thing (a spiritual experience) than a convicting and eternally significant thing (a life-changing experience).  It seems we read the Word all the time (religiously) without the real life-change that should result, and that's why I don't think Psalm singing is necessarily going to fix the problem.  It may become one more "in thing" spiritual event that doesn't touch our hearts.

How can we point people back to the Word of God as the single source of life, and help them to recognize its seriousness and importance?

The Word of God

            One point that Jeremiah Burroughs made in our reading this week was the importance of hiding away the Word of God in our hearts.  He makes the point that if we merely allow the Word of God to pass through our minds, we testify that the Word of God is not valuable enough to impress upon our minds.  In his words, Burroughs says, “Now if I received a thing that is of great value, and I slight it and let anybody take it from me, I do not give a testimony to the excellency of that thing.”  Our attitude towards the Word of God testifies to our perception of its worth. If I read the Word and do not treasure it in my heart and mind, I communicate that it is not worth pondering upon.  If I read the Word and do not walk in obedience to it, I communicate that it has no wisdom to impart to my life.  Burroughs goes on to explain the importance of knowing the Word of God as a guard against temptation (181), showing that the Word is what guides us in walking in God’s ways.  This reminder was important to me because, while I value retaining God’s Word, I do not prioritize making that possible very well.  What is the church’s general attitude towards the Word of God? Is the Word of God reverenced or is the general behavior one of apathy? 

A Good Man...

"...A good heart that contains no kind of evil in it (pg. 178)." Burroughs in this section of his sermon is talking about the ramifications of not sanctifying God's name properly in hearing the Word. Here though he speaks of the damage an evil heart can do. He goes on to say that a good man has no "designs" of evil in him. This is so important and it applies to all of my life, I need to have no evil in me... So the question is what evil am I letting live inside of me/ What is something that needs to be removed?... and how is this affecting my relationships in the body of Christ.

Think!

The reading today in Give Praise to God mentioned that through hymns we can encourage our congregation to think.  I have been coming to realize of what paramount importance thinking must be in the service.  If people want to feel, and want those feelings to come from truth, then they must think.  However, as the book pointed out, many congregants of our times want only to be entertained in church, thinking is not on their agenda.  Honestly, amusement might be a better assessment of what they want than entertainment.  The book puts it this way, "'I come to church to be refreshed--not to work.'"  If this is the attitude that we are facing, but we must create or facilitate an environment of thought, how can we accomplish that effectively?

Weighty Weight of Glorious Glory

As C.S. Lewis discusses "the weight of glory," he comes to express the idea that the promise of glory is that some of us may receive God’s approval, on no merit of our own but by the work Jesus Christ. "To please God... to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness... to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son - it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is" (6, emphasis mine). This idea does indeed seem very nearly impossible to comprehend to me. And yet, I find that it is in fact the core desire of all people, is it not? The desire to be loved and accepted that ultimately exceeds the satisfaction derived from friendships and deep relationships is central to all non-Christ-centered world religions and all inter-personal relationships. But earthy pursuits never satisfy.

C. S. Lewis paints this word-picture of God examining us and, if we so choose to allow Christ to intervene on our behalf and by Christ’s power, us actually surviving this examination and pleasing God. For it is not how we think of God that matters, but what He thinks of us. How often do we go through our lives, complacent to think well of God as we gain knowledge of Him?  For complacency is being self-satisfied without awareness of potential danger. In the scope of our churches, how often do our fellow congregants become satisfied in this dangerous way of thinking – that what we think of God is most important? How can the worship leaders in such a church aid in turning this view toward a right way of thinking?

BIBLE, Too Much??

In Gospel Worship, Jeremiah Burroughs talks about hearing the Word as part of worship. In this he gives us different steps to help us worship in hearing the Word. Two of the things he mentioned really made me do some serious thinking and even gave me some conviction. The first one that caught my eye is that “there must be an attending to the Word of God.” (162) Burroughs goes on to say that in order for us to be attending the Word we must have vulnerable heart. This alone was enough to make me wonder if this is something that I do regardless if it is in church, my personal devotions, or even for chapel. The second thing I had to contemplate is his third point: “the careful applying of the Word.”(162) He also continues on to say: “Now God speaks to your hearts. You should apply it.”(163) This is something I am still wrestling with. I know that I should apply what I am being taught. Too often I become caught up in just getting through another class and assignment instead of using the Bible classes I am in and applying, what I am being taught to my life. Why is it that Believers, including myself, get all of this knowledge and things from the Bible and yet we don’t use it to become more like Christ? Can we ever be taught too much? I wonder if the atmosphere of being in Bible classes, going to church, then having chapel, and both dorm and personal devotions can actually make it harder for someone to truly let the Bible and God’s word come into our hearts.

Settling for Less

In The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis writes, "The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself."  Essentially, what C. S. Lewis is talking about is settling for less.  We know deep inside of us that sin is a problem - a deadly problem - but we settle for all kinds of makeshift (lesser) repentance.  One kind of repentance says, "I just need to try harder.  I need to deny myself more.  I need to pray harder, eat less, and listen to more sermons."  Another says, "Yeah... God, I'm sorry."  But does not make any effort to stop the sin.  The sin is treated like dirt... I know that I will eventually need to shower, anyways, so is it really a big deal if I get my feet dirty one more time?  Isn't sin more than dirt?  Isn't it more like poison?

I have been learning that this kind of self-denial is really not self-denial at all.  It is selfishness.  When I deny myself by saying "I'll try harder," I am refusing to admit that I need God's help.  And when I deny myself by saying "I'm sorry," but then continue to sin in the same way, I am refusing to admit that my sin is the real and deadly problem that it is.  I think that is why C. S. Lewis describes it as settling for less.

All of this said, has our world influenced us (the Church) to settle for less?  (Have we been influenced by our culture that says, as C. S. Lewis put it, "the world is our home"?)  And if so, what are they?

The Word

One pg. 147 Burroughs states; "Hearing God's Word is a part of God's worship." This statement has been "put into practice" here at school as we are lead in worship on a daily basis. Burroughs who has already spoke on this topic before adds to it slightly; he says that we "profess our dependence on God" by listening to the Word of God. I believe that this is so important to be utterly dependent on the Lord as we worship.
 So my question (not to lift myself up) did you see this happening in worship this morning (Why/ Why not)? And how can we make sure that the church's we serve are hearing God's word as a part of worshiping the Lord?

Unselfishness and Love

In his sermon, The Weight of Glory, C. S. Lewis initiates his discussion with drawing a distinction between the qualities of Unselfishness and Love.  His point is that we value Unselfishness more than Love, unlike our Christian forefathers. This is problem for the following reason: “The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point.” (1) Our thoughts diverge from “loving our neighbor as ourselves” (Matthew 22:39), which is the second greatest commandment (vs.39), and elevate denying ourselves instead. I do not think that C. S. Lewis is negating the value of Unselfishness; rather, he is drawing our attention to where our Unselfishness leads us.  By elevating Unselfishness, we start to think of fulfillment of God-given desires a bad thing, when really, “Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak” (1).  Our Unselfishness is dangerous in that it results in the denial of desires; rather we should seek to love others, to do what is best for others, and demonstrate Unselfishness in service to Love as it allows us to give up what we want for the good of another.

            How does firstly striving after the virtue of Unselfishness instead of Love affect how we worship, privately and corporately?

Here's the Lewis essay

http://www.verber.com/mark/xian/weight-of-glory.pdf

"In Jesus name, Amen!"

In Give Praise to God, Ligon Duncan quotes pastor/theologian Shedd: "Extemporaneous prayers, like extemporaneous preaching is too often the product of the single instant, instead of devout reflection and premeditation" (164)

Our generation seems to like prayers that are short and to the point.  Prayers at mealtimes are often rushed, as if we can't wait to get to dessert, and this is also seen when we are asked to pray for events or to open up a class.  It seems like in many of these situations we pray like this:

Dear God, thank you for letting us enjoy this time together.  (opt. "in Jesus name")  Amen.

I guess the question we should ask is do we ever not pray like this?  Do we ever spend more then 10 minutes talking with our Father?  Day of prayer is coming soon; it is structured as a bunch of short prayers with different themes, which is good, but would we even be able to actually spend a day (a whole day) in prayer?  We definitely fall short of the week-long-prayer-fasts of the OT!

I don't think it's wrong to pray short prayers (I mean, Jesus said we should pray simply and not like the Pharisees) but I'm wondering:  Can shortening our prayers this much actually take away from the weight of prayer or cause us to forget who we are talking with?

Worship and Knowing God

Knowing God is a powerful part of being able to sanctify God’s Name.  In Gospel Worhip, Jeremiah Burroughs says, “Thus, understanding God in a right way will help us a great deal in His worship and to sanctify His name.” (114). Burroughs continued to expound on the importance of knowing God by showing how knowing God affects how we approach Him.  He shows how, since God is spirit, we must, as commanded in Scripture (John 4:24), worship Him in spirit (111-112).  Since God is holy, we cannot come worship Him in a sinful state (119).  By knowing our God, we will be able to worship Him according to who He is.  As Daniel 11:32 says, “. . . the people who know their God will display strength and take action.”  Our knowledge of God affects our ability to serve Him and bring Him glory.  Do churches today often try to get their congregants to know who their God is or is the focus more on knowing what God’s Word lays down for life principles? Is knowing God something that should primarily occur in a private worship setting and then that knowledge is brought to the corporate setting?