Jesus said that the greatest commandment was, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." What does that look like?
It means that our love for God should be preeminent. That is, our love for everything and everyone must be less than and because of God. Every desire and love must be inferior to and included in our love for God.
It also means that our love for God should be fervent. When Jesus says, "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul...", the love he is calling for involves passion and emotion.
If you go to Amazon.com and type in "Passion for..." you will find hundreds of books with those words in the title. You will see that there are books called: A Passion for- fishing, cooking, mushrooms, knitting, chocolate... You will even find a book called "A Passion for Steam". I don't understand how or why a person could be passionate about steam, but there is a book about it.
In America you can be passionate about everything except one thing- your relationship with God. I could go to a political rally, a football game or rock concert and scream until I am hoarse. If my team loses and I cry, people think I am a big fan. If my team wins and I wave my hands in the air and jump around, that is acceptable. But, if I do anything like these things in church people say that I am a fanatic, a nut-job. One pastor said he had seen the same people scream like a wild Indian at a game and then sit like a wooden Indian in a church.
I am not promoting a shallow emotionalism. I plan to write about that in my next blog and talk about the fact that Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."
What is my spiritual temperature? It seems to me that one reason that the gospel is not spreading very fast is because many who are called Christians are not contagious. And one of the characteristics of someone who is contagious is that they have a fever.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Greatest Commandment- Part 3
What does it mean to love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind?
It means that our love for God should be preeminent. That is, we should love everything less than and because of God.
Jesus said that unless we hate our father, mother, sisters, brothers, husband, wife and our own life that we can't be his disciple. This means that our love for him must come first and be greater than our love for those we love the most.
Jesus also said "You can't serve God and Money". The reason this is so is that both are inevitably dominating loves. Either our love for God will dominate and our love for money will dissappear, or the opposite will happen. Money can become an idol. That is why Paul said that 'greed is idolatry'. John also says, "Love not the world...if any man loves the world the love of the Father is not in him."
We must love family, money-- everything less than God.
We must also love everything and everyone because of God. What does this mean? I love chocolate. I love my wife. (those are from lesser to greater loves) If I am to love God will all my heart, soul and mind, I don't have any part of my heart, soul or mind to use to love anything else, right? No. The Bible tells me to love my wife as Christ loved the church. Also, Jesus says right after this commandment that I should love my neighbor. So how do I love God with all my heart, soul, and mind and love anyone or anything else? I love them because of God. This is why Jesus says that the commandment to love my neighbor is similar to and connected to this commandment to love God with all my heart, soul and mind.
It means, I think, that every love I have should be a component of my love for God. I love chocolate. How can eating chocolate or drinking a Berry-Berry Smoothie be connected to my love for God? Paul said, "Whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God" He said elsewhere when addressing those who thought they were spiritual because they abstained from meat and marrige that everything was created by God to be received with gratefulness and that God gave us all things richly to enjoy. That means that steak and marriage are to be enjoyed as gifts from God. They should be triggers not only to gratitude but also to adoration.
C.S. Lewis said, “Pleasures are shafts of glory as they strike our sensibility….I have tried…to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different…Gratitude exclaims, very properly, ‘How good of God to give me this.’ Adoration says, ‘What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations (sparkling and shining displays of brilliance) are like this!’ One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun….If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labour.”
Loving God includes the discipline of delighting in God through all that is desirable and good.
It means that our love for God should be preeminent. That is, we should love everything less than and because of God.
Jesus said that unless we hate our father, mother, sisters, brothers, husband, wife and our own life that we can't be his disciple. This means that our love for him must come first and be greater than our love for those we love the most.
Jesus also said "You can't serve God and Money". The reason this is so is that both are inevitably dominating loves. Either our love for God will dominate and our love for money will dissappear, or the opposite will happen. Money can become an idol. That is why Paul said that 'greed is idolatry'. John also says, "Love not the world...if any man loves the world the love of the Father is not in him."
We must love family, money-- everything less than God.
We must also love everything and everyone because of God. What does this mean? I love chocolate. I love my wife. (those are from lesser to greater loves) If I am to love God will all my heart, soul and mind, I don't have any part of my heart, soul or mind to use to love anything else, right? No. The Bible tells me to love my wife as Christ loved the church. Also, Jesus says right after this commandment that I should love my neighbor. So how do I love God with all my heart, soul, and mind and love anyone or anything else? I love them because of God. This is why Jesus says that the commandment to love my neighbor is similar to and connected to this commandment to love God with all my heart, soul and mind.
It means, I think, that every love I have should be a component of my love for God. I love chocolate. How can eating chocolate or drinking a Berry-Berry Smoothie be connected to my love for God? Paul said, "Whether you eat or drink, do it all to the glory of God" He said elsewhere when addressing those who thought they were spiritual because they abstained from meat and marrige that everything was created by God to be received with gratefulness and that God gave us all things richly to enjoy. That means that steak and marriage are to be enjoyed as gifts from God. They should be triggers not only to gratitude but also to adoration.
C.S. Lewis said, “Pleasures are shafts of glory as they strike our sensibility….I have tried…to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different…Gratitude exclaims, very properly, ‘How good of God to give me this.’ Adoration says, ‘What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations (sparkling and shining displays of brilliance) are like this!’ One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun….If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labour.”
Loving God includes the discipline of delighting in God through all that is desirable and good.
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Greatest Commandment - part 2
What does it mean to love God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind? Jesus said the commandment to do this is the first and most important commandment.
Martin Luther said that the gospel is more about who we love than about what we do. It could also be said that being a Christ-follower is more about who we love than what we do. If we love God and love others, it will affect what we do and think and say. If we love God and others, as Jesus defines them in the greatest commandment, we can do as we please.
Much is said in the New Testament about loving God.
Jesus said the essential problem with the Pharisees included neglecting the love of God: "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth...but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone."
Paul made a well-known promise to those who love God: "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him..."
The unimaginable glories of heaven are prepared for those who love God: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."
James says that the crown of life is promised to those who love God: "Blessed is the man who preseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."
I can't imagine anything more important for humans to reflect on than what it really means to love God.
Martin Luther said that the gospel is more about who we love than about what we do. It could also be said that being a Christ-follower is more about who we love than what we do. If we love God and love others, it will affect what we do and think and say. If we love God and others, as Jesus defines them in the greatest commandment, we can do as we please.
Much is said in the New Testament about loving God.
Jesus said the essential problem with the Pharisees included neglecting the love of God: "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth...but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone."
Paul made a well-known promise to those who love God: "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him..."
The unimaginable glories of heaven are prepared for those who love God: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."
James says that the crown of life is promised to those who love God: "Blessed is the man who preseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."
I can't imagine anything more important for humans to reflect on than what it really means to love God.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Greatest Commandment
Augustine said, "Love, and do what you want."
That could be misunderstood by someone who doesn't understand Augustine. He meant that you can do anything you want to do, if everything you do is motivated by true love.
Based on what Jesus said I believe that he was right. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was for us to love God and others. He said that all the other commandments and stories in the Old Testament were commentary on these two similar and connected commandments.
I have been thinking alot about the greatest commandment(s) and decided I would put in writing some of my thoughts on them in my next few posts.
What does it mean to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind?
John Stott said it means to seek to see all things from God's point of view and do nothing without reference to Him; to make His will our guide and His glory our goal; to put Him first in thought, word and deed; in business and leisure; in friendship and career; in the use of money, time and talents; at work and at home.
Steven Curtis Chapman voices the prayer of a person who wants to obey the greatest commandment in the chorus of his song that the title for this blog came from:
You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want you to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for you, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession.
I think I will stop for now and think about Stott's statement for a while and then pray these words of this song .
That could be misunderstood by someone who doesn't understand Augustine. He meant that you can do anything you want to do, if everything you do is motivated by true love.
Based on what Jesus said I believe that he was right. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was for us to love God and others. He said that all the other commandments and stories in the Old Testament were commentary on these two similar and connected commandments.
I have been thinking alot about the greatest commandment(s) and decided I would put in writing some of my thoughts on them in my next few posts.
What does it mean to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind?
John Stott said it means to seek to see all things from God's point of view and do nothing without reference to Him; to make His will our guide and His glory our goal; to put Him first in thought, word and deed; in business and leisure; in friendship and career; in the use of money, time and talents; at work and at home.
Steven Curtis Chapman voices the prayer of a person who wants to obey the greatest commandment in the chorus of his song that the title for this blog came from:
You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want you to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for you, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession.
I think I will stop for now and think about Stott's statement for a while and then pray these words of this song .
Monday, January 19, 2009
Do Not Be Afraid
Jesus says it three times in a row. Jesus says that his missionaries, his disciples who are on mission for him, should not be afraid. In Matthew 10:26-33 Jesus says, "have no fear" (26), "do not fear" (28) and "fear not" (31). In connection with each of these, Jesus gives a reason for fearlessness.
I noticed as I read that Jesus was not shy about talking about hell. Jesus said, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
RiverChase Church is slowly reading through the New Testament together in 2009 by reading a chapter each weekday, and the reading this morning was Matthew 13. "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." ( 13:41-42)
It seems to me that one reason Jesus said this was because humans need to realize the reality of this place of eternal torment and destruction. We easily become preoccuppied with the things around us that we can see and touch. When we are in this state of mind, there are things that seem huge to us and can overwhelm us and cause us to be anxious and afraid. When, however, we begin to have an eternal perspective, the things that seemed so devastating and dreadful begin to shrink in comparison to eternal realities.
When Jesus tells his disciples not to be afraid of those who can only kill their body, but who can not destroy their body and soul in hell, He is reminding all who follow Him of what they can lose and what they can't lose at the hands of those hostile to their message. In comparison to hell, death is much less dreadful. Jesus is saying that the foes of his disciples don't have the power to send them to hell-only God has the power to send people into an eternal hell. Remembering this will cause Christ's disciples to fear God rather than those who persecute and hate them because they are witnesses for Christ.
When I have an eternal perspective, I am motivated, and not intimidated, to make it known that I am Christ's disciple and to make Christ known so that others will become Christ's disciple.
God help me to have an eternal perspective.
I noticed as I read that Jesus was not shy about talking about hell. Jesus said, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
RiverChase Church is slowly reading through the New Testament together in 2009 by reading a chapter each weekday, and the reading this morning was Matthew 13. "The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." ( 13:41-42)
It seems to me that one reason Jesus said this was because humans need to realize the reality of this place of eternal torment and destruction. We easily become preoccuppied with the things around us that we can see and touch. When we are in this state of mind, there are things that seem huge to us and can overwhelm us and cause us to be anxious and afraid. When, however, we begin to have an eternal perspective, the things that seemed so devastating and dreadful begin to shrink in comparison to eternal realities.
When Jesus tells his disciples not to be afraid of those who can only kill their body, but who can not destroy their body and soul in hell, He is reminding all who follow Him of what they can lose and what they can't lose at the hands of those hostile to their message. In comparison to hell, death is much less dreadful. Jesus is saying that the foes of his disciples don't have the power to send them to hell-only God has the power to send people into an eternal hell. Remembering this will cause Christ's disciples to fear God rather than those who persecute and hate them because they are witnesses for Christ.
When I have an eternal perspective, I am motivated, and not intimidated, to make it known that I am Christ's disciple and to make Christ known so that others will become Christ's disciple.
God help me to have an eternal perspective.
Friday, January 16, 2009
"The Shack"
Kathy Lee Gifford, Co-host on NBC's Today Show, said, "The Shack will change the way you think about God forever." Is this good or bad?
The copy of the book, The Shack, that I just finished reading says that the book has over one million copies in print and is on "The #1 New York Times Bestseller" list. The book is about a father's encounter with God, after his daughter is kidnapped and murdered. It is a novel about tragedy confronting eternity.
In it, God, who exists in three persons, appears to this father, Mack, to help Mack think differently about God's nature and role in relationship to this and other tragedies that happen in this world.
The author believes, as do I, that there are many people that have the view of God that Mack had before his conversations with the three persons he encounters at the shack who represent the Holy Trinity- God the Father, God the Son who is Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. Through these encounters, the way Mack thinks about God changes and his evolution of thought about God is intended to guide the reader to change his view of God in the same ways.
In my opinion the author is attempting to help people see God differently and the essence of what he is attempting to get readers to realize is captured when a woman called Papa, who represents God the Father, (maybe I will put my thoughts about this in another blog) says to Mack, "...I'm not a bully..." It is true, in my opinion, that many people wrongly see God as a bully. The full statement is , "I'm not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on his own way." (p. 126) My problem with the book can be seen in an examination of this sentence.
This statement is true when it says that God is not "a bully". The desire of the author, William P. Young, is to help people stop thinking of God in this way, and this is good. Young wants readers to better understand and feel the love of God and this is a great need because God is often misrepresented and misunderstood to be a being that is not compatible with the statement that "God is love." ( 1 John 4:16)
It is also true that God is not "some...little deity" acting like humans who demand and insist on their own way. When humans demand and insist on their own way they are being self-centered and petty which is selfish and unloving. It is not possible for humans to be self-centered without being little by insisting on their own way. God, however, can be and is self-centered, demanding, and insists on His own way without being little and selfish and unloving.
God commands humans to love and serve Him and many see this as self-centered. For God to command humans to love and serve Him is not petty, selfish or unloving, though it would for any human to do so. This is true because love desires and seeks the best for others. God commands us to love and obey Him because this is the only way for humans to experience the best - now and forever. God's glory and our good can't be separated. Therefore, God can't seek our good, that is He can't act lovingly, without seeking His own glory, which is selfish for humans to do.
In his attempt to lead people to see that God is loving and not a petty bully, the author seems to deny the attributes of the character of God that are exaggerated and warped in the minds of many that cause them to see God as a petty bully. Is wrath an attribute that is a part of God's character? Yes. But when people have a view of God that distorts this attribute as a result of identifying it too closely with the wrath of "little" people, they have a caricature of God that is unbiblical and makes Him undesirable.
If the author had attacked this caricature of God by showing the difference between the wrath of men and the wrath of God and the difference between the demandingness of men and the demandingness of God, I could fully endorse this novel. Instead, he undermines belief in this attribute of the character of God subtly and indirectly, and that is bad.
Has the love and grace and mercy of God been inadequately communicated and inadequately celebrated in a great deal of Christian preaching and literature? Yes. Has the wrath and judgment and law of God been inappropriately emphasized to intimidate and manipulate people? Yes. These realities have lead people to see God as a bully and obedience to Him as a burden. These ideas about God and Christianity need to be corrected, but not by denying hard truths taught in scripture but by explaining them better and in connection with the love and grace of God.
The copy of the book, The Shack, that I just finished reading says that the book has over one million copies in print and is on "The #1 New York Times Bestseller" list. The book is about a father's encounter with God, after his daughter is kidnapped and murdered. It is a novel about tragedy confronting eternity.
In it, God, who exists in three persons, appears to this father, Mack, to help Mack think differently about God's nature and role in relationship to this and other tragedies that happen in this world.
The author believes, as do I, that there are many people that have the view of God that Mack had before his conversations with the three persons he encounters at the shack who represent the Holy Trinity- God the Father, God the Son who is Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. Through these encounters, the way Mack thinks about God changes and his evolution of thought about God is intended to guide the reader to change his view of God in the same ways.
In my opinion the author is attempting to help people see God differently and the essence of what he is attempting to get readers to realize is captured when a woman called Papa, who represents God the Father, (maybe I will put my thoughts about this in another blog) says to Mack, "...I'm not a bully..." It is true, in my opinion, that many people wrongly see God as a bully. The full statement is , "I'm not a bully, not some self-centered demanding little deity insisting on his own way." (p. 126) My problem with the book can be seen in an examination of this sentence.
This statement is true when it says that God is not "a bully". The desire of the author, William P. Young, is to help people stop thinking of God in this way, and this is good. Young wants readers to better understand and feel the love of God and this is a great need because God is often misrepresented and misunderstood to be a being that is not compatible with the statement that "God is love." ( 1 John 4:16)
It is also true that God is not "some...little deity" acting like humans who demand and insist on their own way. When humans demand and insist on their own way they are being self-centered and petty which is selfish and unloving. It is not possible for humans to be self-centered without being little by insisting on their own way. God, however, can be and is self-centered, demanding, and insists on His own way without being little and selfish and unloving.
God commands humans to love and serve Him and many see this as self-centered. For God to command humans to love and serve Him is not petty, selfish or unloving, though it would for any human to do so. This is true because love desires and seeks the best for others. God commands us to love and obey Him because this is the only way for humans to experience the best - now and forever. God's glory and our good can't be separated. Therefore, God can't seek our good, that is He can't act lovingly, without seeking His own glory, which is selfish for humans to do.
In his attempt to lead people to see that God is loving and not a petty bully, the author seems to deny the attributes of the character of God that are exaggerated and warped in the minds of many that cause them to see God as a petty bully. Is wrath an attribute that is a part of God's character? Yes. But when people have a view of God that distorts this attribute as a result of identifying it too closely with the wrath of "little" people, they have a caricature of God that is unbiblical and makes Him undesirable.
If the author had attacked this caricature of God by showing the difference between the wrath of men and the wrath of God and the difference between the demandingness of men and the demandingness of God, I could fully endorse this novel. Instead, he undermines belief in this attribute of the character of God subtly and indirectly, and that is bad.
Has the love and grace and mercy of God been inadequately communicated and inadequately celebrated in a great deal of Christian preaching and literature? Yes. Has the wrath and judgment and law of God been inappropriately emphasized to intimidate and manipulate people? Yes. These realities have lead people to see God as a bully and obedience to Him as a burden. These ideas about God and Christianity need to be corrected, but not by denying hard truths taught in scripture but by explaining them better and in connection with the love and grace of God.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
This is my prayer
I just heard a song by Brooke Fraser.
It begins like this:
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides.
The bridge says:
All of my life, In every season
You are still God, I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
The song ends like this:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favour and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow.
This last verse is the perspective on prosperity that every missional Christ-follower holds, in contrast to the materialism and greed that is veiled with misquoted Bible verses and presented as spirituality by the prosperity gospel that is preached in many churches today.
It begins like this:
This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides.
The bridge says:
All of my life, In every season
You are still God, I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship
The song ends like this:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favour and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be emptied again
The seed I've received I will sow.
This last verse is the perspective on prosperity that every missional Christ-follower holds, in contrast to the materialism and greed that is veiled with misquoted Bible verses and presented as spirituality by the prosperity gospel that is preached in many churches today.
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