Should Christians Not be Known for What They are Against?

You’ve heard it said. “I don’t want to be known for what I am against, but what I am for.” “Christians should be known for what they are for, not against.”

It sounds good and noble. After all, a ministry or person that only speaks of what they are against is missing out on much of the content and emphasis of the Bible. Often these are self-proclaimed discernment ministries who do little more than step on others as they stand higher. In so doing, they have veered from Scripture. Pastors are to preach the inspired, inerrant text of Scripture. We will have to twist, avoid, and misinterpret much Scripture if we only speak in terms of opposition.

But more to the point. Should Christians avoid being known for what they are against? Here are a few thoughts for consideration.

1) That’s not the way to wisely approach life in general.

Imagine a mom who takes this ideology. “Yeah, kids, I don’t want to be known in my mothering for what I’m against. So, you know that Twinkie-Koolaid-Cheetos diet you keep mentioning? I don’t want to be known as against that anymore. Go for it. Oh, and I don’t want to be known for being against you running out into the street, having to come home before dark, and taking indiscretionary time on the internet, so, go ahead.”

Consider a salesman who did not want to be known for what he was against in his job. “Hi Mr. Client. I don’t want to be known for what I’m against, so, honestly, all of the inferior products out there are excellent too. Just invest in whatever one. I am for all of them.”

Imagine an oncologist who did not want to be known for what they were against. “Well, I don’t want to be known for what I am against, Mr. Patient. So, I’m not going to take a firm stance against tumors, metastasis, and cancerous growths. I want to be among the oncologists who, instead, are known for what they are for.”

A post Genesis 2 society requires that we be known for what we are against. Faithfulness, generally in life, requires being against things. To be faithful, a mom will need to be against things. To be a faithful salesman requires being against things. Faithfulness as an oncologist necessitates being known for being against things. In every sphere of life, the goal is faithfulness. That is generally how we seek to operate. That will mean sometimes being forthings, sometimes being against things, and always faithfulness to God and love for people in the task.

2. To construct and conduct a good, stable society, we must be known for being against things.

To promote and propagate a loving, flourishing society, we must be against things. And it should be known that we are against things, as a society.

No Blog Articles: Where Have You Been?

It's been a while since I posted any new articles here at Post Tenebras Lux.  As much as I enjoy writing about things that truly matter blogging is (and should be) a low(er) priority for shepherd-preachers/husband/fathers.

The last few months have been physically challenging for my family.  Andrea has had several procedures related to agonizing kidney stones.  The family has shared several colds, the flu bug, and pink eye.  We even had a round of shingles to boot.  Seasons of sickness certainly make one thankful for seasons of health.

With extremely full schedules Andrea and I have been feverishly swimming to keep our head above water.  As such, I have not had time nor chosen to make time to blog.  As with all things everything we do must be kept in it's proper place.  My wife and family and church are my top priorities.  My Sunday School lessons, weekly sermon expositions, and a hundred different tasks are more important to God then what I (or so and so) think of Matt Chandler's pandering interview with HBO's Vice news.

I also enjoy stepping away sometimes just to be reminded that the world goes on whether or not I (or anyone else) blogs.  Tim Challies is no one's pastor (even though he is generally a very discerning author).

Having said that, Christian podcasts and blog articles certainly have a place in the internet heavy world we all live in.  Pastors can exhort, instruct, protect, and clarify many different things via books, podcasts, and blogs.  I hope to post more regularly in the weeks to come.  However, if you do not hear from me, know that I am likely at the doctors office or meeting with a key volunteer at church. :)

Biblical Worship Helps Us Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing

It's the Lord's Day.  We need to be in the Lord's House with the Lord's People listening to the Lord's Book.  Why?  In part, because God-centered worship helps us to keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing.  Spirit-filled saints also encourage us to prioritize what truly matters and to live in light of eternity.  The best is yet to come.

"None of us want to come to the end of our lives having made the secondary things primary."

Adversity, Betrayal and Christian Ministry

Few things in life are more painful than personal betrayal.  I have found that those who have experienced ministry mutinies first hand are far more sympathetic than those who have not endured a Psalm 55:12-14 experience.  The following quotes by D.A. Carson and Spurgeon are quite insightful:  "One is not long in ministry before one observes some curates, assistant ministers- whatever a particular denomination labels them- subtly trying to undermine their senior minister, wickedly trying to assume power, covering the operation with a gauze of pious verbiage and a veneer of humility." D.A. Carson.

C. H. Spurgeon, "Ten years of toil do not take so much life out of us as we lose in a few hours by Ahithophel the traitor, or Demas the apostate."

"Expect To Be Misunderstood, Misrepresented, Belied, Ridiculed..."

Charles Spurgeon's advice to faithful ministers of the gospel.  "Expect to be misunderstood, misrepresented, belied, ridiculed, and so forth; for so was the Sent of the Father....As the Father sent His Son into a world which was sure to treat him ill, so has he sent you into the same world, which will treat you in the same manner if you are like Christ."

...."For my part, I am quite willing to be eaten of dogs for the next fifty years; but the more distant future shall vindicate me. I have dealt honestly before the living God."

An Open Letter to my Christian "Trump Donald" Friends

I respect the opinion of other bible-loving Christians who feel differently than I do about various political issues. We don't get the vibe that some of our friends feel the same way. I think that is sad. Sometimes good and godly people come to different conclusions about wisdom decisions (such as should a believer vote against Clinton and for Trump should Trump win the GOP nomination? If Trump comes out on top will he betray the people/groups that helped him win the nomination, like "evangelical" leader Jerry Falwell Jr.)?

If you have Christian black friends (and I hope you do), some of them, no doubt, voted for Obama in 08 and 12 (I think 95% of blacks who identified themselves as protestant pulled the lever for Obama in 12). I trust you agreed to disagree with brother so and so and yet still came together around the table of the Lord and that after church you left preaching the same Christ (Rom. 1:16-17; Gal. 3:28). These are the points I have been trying to stress lately.

Monday Blues: Never Resign on a Monday!

This article was written by Pastor Tom Ascol and was originally posted on the Founders website.  Used with permission.

"It’s common wisdom among pastors that no important decision should be made on a Monday. Especially a Monday morning. The nature of pastoral work causes the Lord’s Day to be a day that typically requires a great expenditure of physical, emotional and spiritual energy for a man who gives himself to regular pastoral preaching. Standing before a church that is gathered together with unbelievers, knowing that they expect and need to hear the Word of God accurately and helpfully proclaimed is a weighty responsibility. Preaching is spiritual warfare and it is a rare Lord’s Day that I do not go home painfully aware of the attacks of our enemy that have come before, during and after my efforts in preaching. I suspect that most preachers know something of what I am talking about.

The result is that most pastors are not at their fighting best on Mondays. I have probably resigned my pastorate a hundred times in my mind…on Mondays. Fortunately, it only takes a little experience to recognize this pattern and to guard against putting too much stock in Monday-morning contemplations of life-decisions.

Live in Light of Eternity

photo credit: hvchurch.com

And Jesus was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself.  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." (Luke 9:23-26)

"The sands of time are sinking" and "the dawn of heaven breaks." 

Therefore, "I have born scorn and hatred, I have born wrong and shame,
Earth's proud ones have reproach'd me, for Christ's thrice-blessed name.
Dark, dark dark hath been the midnight, but dayspring is at hand,
And glory, glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land." (Anne Ross Cousin, 1857).

 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them,  and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.  And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." (Rev. 21:3-5)

 

"Therefore, We Do Not Lose Heart...(Don't Give Up)!"

Having observed the American church for most of my life as a pastor's kid and upon completing my first decade of pastoral ministry I have learned that most shepherd-leaders face far more attacks from "worldly Christians" then they ever do from the outside world.  The epistle of 2 Corinthians is case and point.  If I am being honest with you however it is only recently that I have come to appreciate the pathos of this glorious letter.  Sure I understood Paul was "depressed" and that his ministry in Corinth had come under heavy fire from within but I did not understand why this fearless leader was so discouraged and heartbroken. What gives Paul?  Weren't you the apostle who told others to, "Act like men and to be strong and courageous(1 Cor. 16:13)?!?"  Why then did you retreat from Corinth like a puppy dog with his tail between his legs (2 Cor.1:23-2:4)?  How come you sent someone else to interact with the congregation on your behalf?   That does not sound very manly.   Why so many tears (2 Cor. 2:4; 12:19-21)?  Do you think you have it worse off then Jeremiah, besides, haven't you endured much greater suffering than this?  If you were actively trusting in Christ than why did you still "have no rest in your spirit? (2. Cor 2:13; 7:5-6)?  Why do you appear to threaten this immature and fleshly congregation of what will happen if they don't repent, submit, and make things right (1 Cor. 4:21; 2 Cor. 13:10)?  Isn't this approach a little heavy-handed and/or domineering?  And why do you invest so much ink talking about all the things "you have endured for sake of God's elect" (2 Cor. 4:8-18; 2 Tim. 2:10)?  Isn't your list of what you've been through in 2 Corinthians 11 a little "self-serving?"  Finally, why are you even defending the integrity of your ministry and the validity of your apostolic authority (2 Cor. 11:1-12:21)?  Shouldn't ministers of the New Covenant just be faithful and leave our reputations and ministries in God's hands?   Suffice it to say, it took over twenty years for me to understand and appreciate the agony of Paul as expressed in the raw letter of 2 Corinthians.  Experience is often a wonderful teacher (painful as she sometimes is).

A Retrospective Analysis of the First Ten Years

The past decade of pastoral ministry has been very sanctifying and for that I thank the Lord (Rom. 8:28-30).  In faith I am holding on to the promise of Philippians 1:6.  "Who I am is in between of who I want to be and what I am." I am highlighting of course the already/not yet component of sanctification/glorification (note Rom. 6-7).  As I have said before, I had no idea how challenging church revitalization would be when I graduated from seminary back in 2005.  That one would have to be willing to suffer loss of health, reputation, friendships, and worldly success/accolades in effort to build Christ's church God's way (2 Tim. 2; 3:12).   Surely this battering accounts for some of the staggering numbers related to the high dropout rate among ministers.

I humbly admit that I also did not realize how much my sinful flesh desired the approval of men.  Part of my internal agony and pastoral burden over the years is a reflection of how I wanted both the favor of God and the applause of men.   In other words, if a shepherd is trying to establish a Word-driven ministry (from top to bottom) he will find out rather quickly that their are many occasions when you cannot "have your cake and eat it too."   A reoccurring test that I have encountered during the first decade of pastoral ministry is this: What's more important, biblical fidelity and the approval of God, or nickels and noses?  Am I more interested in building a pure church that is truly Christ-centered or in telling people that I pastor a large and "successful" church?

"Your sermons are really boring!" Where have I heard that before? An Autobiography.

image used from "church for men"

Perhaps this personal testimony may encourage some of you pastors and parents out there.

When my family moved to California in 1991 we started attending THE Grace Community Church (as Dr. Mohler calls it).  Believe it or not, I use to think that John MacArthur was really, really boring.  I seriously believed Pastor John was the problem so I begged my parents to search for another local church.  I wanted shorter, lighter fluff and an activities-driven youth group.  Go figure!  My infinitely wise parents said something like, "Thanks for your opinion and insights son, but no thanks."  So my family remained at Grace for twelve years and our lives have never been the same!

In God's providence I was brought to true repentance and faith in Christ a year or two later.   As I grew in the faith I found myself becoming more and more hungry for the Word (1 Peter 2:2-3).  I began to crave the meat of God's Word (per Hebrews 5:11-14). 

Missionary David Brainerd's Helpful Perspective

Maintaining the right perspective in life and in pastoral ministry is very important (note 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).   This is one of the reasons why studying Church history and why reading Christian biographies is so helpful.

Consider for example this helpful quote by David Brainerd.  "It is good for me to have endured these trials and have seen little to no success."

This reminds me of the Psalmist in Psalm 119:71, "It was good for me that I was afflicted that I might learn your statutes."  

During seasons of life when disappointments seem to mount and where little ministry fruit is found it is good to recite songs like "Be Still My Soul."  I have recently enjoyed this contemporary version of the classic hymn,"Be Still, My Soul."

1. Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.
Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay
From His own fulness all He takes away.

4. Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.