GOD DOESN'T WANT YOU TO OBEY

God doesn't want you to obey Him!  Well, ... actually, He does.  But many live as if He doesn't expect it.  And actually, He expects even more than just obedience!

1 Samuel 16  "To obey is better than sacrifice."  Many feel if they are good on Sunday and worship God, God owes me, and I can live like I want to live the rest of the week.  Wrong!  God does want obedience--that is expected and better than a magical view of God (which is the view that "God owes me."

Matthew 28:18-20  "Make disciples ... teach them to obey all things I commanded you."  It seems from this that God expected disciples who obey Him and people making disciples that would obey Him, and that is true.

Jeremiah 31:31 ff.  “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.   It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors  when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,  because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.  “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.  "I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, '  (NIV, biblegateway.com)

"New covenant"--went beyond what they could do.  By the way, "new covenant" could also be translated "new testament."   People broke covenant with God because they could not obey.  It was not within their ability to obey--that is one problem of humans.  But God would provide a new covenant that would come from the heart. 

Ezekiel  36:25-28 (NIV, biblegateway.com)

"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.    I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.    And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.    Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God."

"Heart of flesh rather than heart of stone."  God would give them a heart that would obey out of love for Him, and a heart of compassion rather than a heart that is stone-hard toward God, unwilling to listen and obey Him and do His will.

Matthew 5:17-21

 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.    For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.    Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (NIV, biblegateway.com)

 "Fulfil rather than abolish."  Provide forgiveness for sin, motivation to do what is right (to obey), to live differently.  Jesus wanted followers to live by the essence, the purpose, the motivation behind the law, not just by the law itself.  He came to fulfill the Scriptures.

"Greater than Pharisees and scribes"--more than exernal obedience; it was to be internal obedience--out of a changed heart--out of love for God and others (essence instead of just the letter of Ten Commandments).

God wants you to obey Him from a changed heart--a heart that only He can give--a heart of flesh (heart of obedience, of compassion out of love) not stone (hardened heart, disobedient heart, unbelieving heart toward God).

Sunday worship without weekly obedience is a magical view of God--presuming on God--assuming what I do does not affect my relationship with a Holy God.  God does not "OWE" you or me anything.

Weekly obedience from just mere obedience without love for God and respect for God is partial obedience to God--not what God wants.  He wants obedience for the right reasons--a heart of love and a heart turned toward Him and His purposes.

Obedience to God is a lifelong quest--lifelong pursuit--to obey God out of love instead of manipulation of God or just fear. We are constantly in "process" as we seek after Him and seek to obey Him.

God doesn't just want you to obey Him.  He wants you to obey Him because He loves you and you love Him back.  Loving Him shows a real change of heart, and that leads to obedience--the kind of obedience that God wants, that pleases and honors Him, and the obedience that shows a changed heart (heart of love, of compassion, a heart with God's Spirit living within).

Yes, God wants you to obey Him, for the right reasons and with the right attitude of love for Him.  That is what is meant about Jesus "fulfilling" the law.  He came to give an atttitude of obedience out of the right motives.  It went beyond mere obedience to external laws.  It came from within.  That is much harder than just law-keeping.  That is truly from God.

Do you?

FOCUSING ON THE WRONG THINGS

Recently I had a friend ask me a question about whether there were foods that should not be eaten according to Jesus' teaching.  To take up that question, I would direct your thoughts to Mark 7:14-23:

"Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.  Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”
¹⁷ After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.  “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?  For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them.   For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,  adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”  (NIV, www.biblegateway.com)

People have a tendency to focus on externals rather than internals, especially when we want to justify ourselves and make ourselves feel good in relation to others.  But Jesus moved from the externals that are not as important to the internal which is most important.

Outer actions are what come or should come from what is within.  Is there congruence between what one believes and how one lives?  Is the talk reflected by the walk?  And every person struggles with that living out what we believe.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, that He had come to fulfill the Law, not to do away with it (Matthew 5:17-20).  He was referring to Old Testament Law and teaching, even things God had instituted for His people.  And He was referring not just to believing the right things but to living out the right things.  Jesus came to live out the intent of the Law, not just to focus on externals.  Jesus summarized the Ten Commands (Exodus 20) into two commands, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."  And Jesus lived that.

Here in Mark 7, Jesus says not to focus on externals, but what is internal, what is inside a person.  What makes a man unclean, in the sight of God, is what comes from what is within the person--there is the sin--there is the wrong--there is the evidence of a lack of love for God and others.

What is in our hearts tends to come out, to the forefront.  So actions have to do with what we really believe, what we really cherish, what our life is really focused upon.

So food is merely an external.  What we generally see in the New Testament about food and drink is the idea of moderation.  We also, in some of Paul's writings, see the idea of refraining from things to witness to others or to help others grow in their spiritual maturity.  Thus these things are part of discipleship and discipling others.

There are things that are not healthy for a person to eat.  There are things that are not beneficial for a person.  If, as Paul said, in 1 Corinthians, the "body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit" (God), then each of us (especially me, right now) should be careful that we eat, drink, and do things that promote the health of this body God provided for us.  It is a place of worship for God and a way to worship God.

But what goes into a person, certain foods, are not in themselves wrong, as Jesus said, at least, here.  He said what comes out of a person shows what is inside of a person--what the heart truly loves and cherishes.

I abstain from certain things for the good of others.  I abstain from certain things because they are not good for the body that God gave me, the temple of God.  I abstain from certain things for other reasons, at times, but all should be a way of worshiping God.  What should come forth from a life dedicated to God is love for God and love for others.  And that is what should be considered as I eat and drink.  What really is inside?  What is the life really focused upon?  That is what is truly important and that is what Jesus spoke about in Mark 7.

Maturity for Churches Also

Spiritual maturity is not just for individual church members.  It is also for the church as a whole.  Churches are to "grow up" as they learn to live sacrificially to worship God and to obey Him as well.  Churches should be made up of mature disciples, and then the church will be mature as well, pleasing to God because they are about His business, not just their own.

Robert Banks, Paul's Idea of Community, writes:

"Paul's description of the community as a 'body' indicates that its goal is not just the creation of harmony between the members--that is more the emphasis of his family terminology--but also their development towards corporate maturity.  Paul stresses the need for individuals to progress toward maturity on a number of occasions, though generally in contexts where the corporate maturity of the community is in view.  (1 Cor. 1:1; 14:20, and others--See Banks, p. 67 for more references.)  God's intention is not the fashioning merely of mature individuals but of mature communities as well.  The Christian community does not exist just as a means to individual ends, though a mature community is an influential factor in shaping the individual maturity of its members."  (Banks, p. 67)

Mature churches will have an outward focus.  Yes, they will be focused on God and worship of Him.  But worship will not just "end" at worship.  It will give the church an outward focus on the needs of others outside the body of Christ, outside that particular group or church. 

According to Real Life Discipleship, (Jim Putman, Avery Willis, and others), a growing Christian will move through stages from spiritual infant to child to young adult to discipler of others.  The infant and child are very focused on self, but when one matures to a young adult, one of the indicators of that stage will be that one begins to be focused outwardly, on others not just oneself.  Unfortunately, many believers never get to this stage of discipleship.  Instead they become fixed on "me, myself, and my family" alone.

And what unfortunately is often found is that those fixed in spiritual infant or children stages become the leaders in churches, especially as churches age and begin to decline.  Then what happens, probably already has happened, is that the church as a whole reflects who is there, and their purposes.  And their purposes become so self focused that they forget the purpose of the Lord to reach out, to care for others (outside the body), to grow disciples and mature.

Churches are composed of people.  And mature churches, those seeking to be outwardly focused, are those made up and led by spiritually mature people.  That is not just a spiritually mature pastor, but other spiritually mature leaders as well.  Leaders who are not willing to "stay where they are in the faith," but want to continue to mature, grow, become, and reach out to mentor, make disciples, and help others grow in Christian maturity as well.  (See Paul's quest in Philippians 3:7-14).

Where are the spiritually mature churches?  They aren't always the largest or the ones that seem to be most successful at getting numbers of people out or into a building.  (Willow Creek confessed a few years ago that they were successful at reaching people, but that they had lost so many folk and didn't know where they were.  They sought to be more discipleship focused rather than just seeker-sensitive and worship centered.)  But mature churches are those that are focused on God's purposes of making disciples who make disciples (2 Timothy 2:2)--growing people into believers and growing believers to be more like the model, Jesus.

When the building is the focus--or the pastor is the focus--or a program is the focus, that is not maturity.  Jesus and God are to be the focus.  But also, their purposes are to be the focus--their purposes above our own.  That is maturity, shown in three connections--connecting with God, connecting with others, and connecting with (God's) purpose.  And throughout Scripture, yes even Old Testament, God was (is, always will be) a reaching out God who loves everyone and wants everyone to relate to Him in His way and with His purpose.

Self focused churches will continue to plateau and die.  But Christ focused churches, and that would include Christ's purpose focused churches, will see growth and maturity.  They will not be content to stay as they are--with who they have--with the individual spiritual maturity level they have.  But they will continue to connect with God, with others and with Christ's purpose, so they can mature in Him and His ways.

Are you part of a mature church?  Are you doing your part to make it a mature church?





SHOTGUNS OR RIFLES?

SHOTGUNS OR RIFLES? 

Uncle—squirrel hunter—as got older—eyes worse—not rifle but shotguns.  Could that be the church today? 

Luke 14:15-24 

Jesus—dining at Pharisee’s house—carefully watched as to what Jesus did. 

Jesus heals a man with dropsy on the Sabbath—taboo for Pharisees. 

Jesus talks about humility at a banquet.  Take the lowly place and allow the host to raise you to an honored place rather than assuming you have that place.   

When you give a banquet—invite the needy—poor, crippled, lame, blind. 

A person eating with Jesus picks up on banquet idea—“Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the Kingdom of God.” 

Implication—“I am blessed—I am worthy—I am in K of G.” 

Jesus tells parable—man invites friends to banquet—before the event.  Now event is ready—servant goes tells those invited “NOW” is the time to come, eat. 

Excuses—flimsy excuses why they can’t come though time for banquet is now.

Man sends servants to invite others—“streets and alleys”—invite “poor, crippled, lame, blind.”  Needy. 

They come—but more room.  “Go into roads and country lanes”—Compel others to come in so the banquet is full—house is full. 

Final statement—“Not one of those who were originally invited (and did not come at the right time) will get a taste of my banquet.” 

Pharisees and religious leaders—upright—knew all about the Messiah’s prophecies—OT Scriptures. 

Jesus came—Messiah came—K. of God near, present.  But they did not come. 

When God’s people did not come—others invited—many Jews missed Messiah’s coming and banquet.  Message went to Gentiles and others thought to be “too far from God’s favor and blessing.”  Book of Acts—continues Luke’s ministry of Jesus to Gentiles, others, pagan. 

Years ago—“What if we planned an event and everybody came?  What would we do?”  Maybe that happened years ago. 

Now the church needing to answer a different question—“What if we planned it and NO ONE CAME?”  What now would we do?

Maybe those thought to be the right recipients of the message are not. 

Parable of the soils—Luke 8.  Scatter everywhere—only 25% was good soil.  Scatter everywhere—here—“streets and alleys, roads and country lanes” 

The seed must be scattered.  No seed sown—no produce. 

Rifle or shotgun—one is very targeted and centered—one scatters shot everywhere.   

World has changed—the same is not working—is it time in our poor eyesight of the world to shoot with shotguns not rifles? 

When the good did not come—the outcasts were invited.  Who came in the parable?  The outcasts. 

Neal Cole—Organic Church—“Bad people make good soil.  They have lots of fertilizer in their lives.” 

People with no needs don’t respond.  People who are needy do--with cultivation. 

Poor, crippled, lame, blind—the left outs—the needy—not allowed to worship at Temple. 

Are we passing over the harvest?  Are we shooting at the wrong targets?  Are we using the rifle when we need to use shotguns?  Scatter farther out—spread the word over more territory with those unlike us?

Church can’t grow—people aren’t coming today—ever say that? 

We continue to scatter—maybe we scatter among those we didn’t think of scattering to before now. 

Who are the left outs—the poor, lame, crippled, blind—the very needy—the people with lots of fertilizer in their lives. 

What does it take? 

Time spent with those we do not enjoy being with. 

Cole—“If you want to win this world to Christ, you are going to have to sit in the smoking section.”  (Cole, Organic Church, Introduction) 

They aren’t coming to our party—we have to go to them—where they are found—people that aren’t our kind—spending time relating/spending time on their turf. 

Where’s the good soil?  If the good aren’t coming, use a shotgun—scatter to any and all—go to them—sit with them on their turf. 

Make people “people”—not projects—befriend, relate, listen to them for their needs—but show Christ all the time. 

Rifle or shotgun—what do you and your church need?