Religion focuses on the wrong person
2. Jesus hates religion because religion focuses on the wrong person
You know who’s at the center of religion? You are. You’re the focus. You’re the star. You’re in center stage and the spotlight is always on you. Religion deceives you into thinking it’s all about God, when in reality, it’s all about you.
When you’re in religion, your relationship with God is based entirely on you; on how many prayers you pray, how you do at reading the Scriptures, how you do in keeping the commands, how you do at going to church, and on and on the list goes. Religion is based on man’s continued work.
The Gospel is altogether different. The Gospel says your relationship with God is based on Jesus’ finished work. On the Cross, Jesus said, “It is finished.” The work of salvation is complete. There’s nothing left to add, nothing left to contribute, nothing left to accomplish. It’s done.
Since religion is based on man’s work it leads to man’s glory. You boast in your performance and your morality and your good deeds. You’re the hero. But the Gospel is based on Jesus’ work and so it leads to God’s glory. Our boasting is in Christ alone. He is the victor. It is His work that is celebrated, extolled, and applauded. He and He alone is the Hero.
Ultimately, religion makes much of you and little of Christ. The Gospel makes much of Christ and little of you.
Operation Christmas Child Update
We took a good baby step towards being a community that is merciful and compassionate like Jesus. Together with St. Marks Church, we collected 54 boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Great job crew! And thanks to St. Marks for inviting us to jump in with them this year.
Religion Obeys God for the Wrong Reasons
[Let me note that 'religion' is biblical if it flows from love for God and faith in Christ (i.e. James 1:27). However it is unbiblical, dangerous, and deadly when it is man's attempt to get to God through morality, good deeds, spirituality, etc.]
1. Jesus hates religion because religion obeys God for the wrong reason
The problem with religion is not the behavior, but the motivation. It obeys God, but does so for the wrong reasons. Some have said it like this: Religion says, “I obey therefore I am loved.” The Gospel says, “I am loved therefore I obey.” Religion obeys to get God to love you, whereas the Gospel says you obey because He already does.
When we think of religion, we think of rules to obey or commandments to keep. In Exodus 20, you get the Ten Commandments – what we often think of when we think of religion. How does Exodus 20 begin? Most of us assume that it begins, “You shall have no other gods before me.” It doesn’t. That’s not how Exodus 20 and the Ten Commandments begin. It begins, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.“
Which comes first, law or grace? GRACE! Gospel precedes obedience. God doesn’t give the Ten Commandments and then tell the people, “If you obey me, then I will love you. If you keep my commands then I will rescue you.” No. God loves them. He rescues them. He delivers them. He liberates them. He frees them. He saves them. And then, He calls them to respond in obedience.
In religion, you obey to get God. In the Gospel, you obey because God got you. Theologically put, in religion, your sanctification is the basis for your justification. The Gospel says you have it backwards and your justification is the basis for your sanctification.
Religion starts off on the wrong foot. Religion builds a great house with a poor foundation. It is fundamentally flawed from the start and therefore cannot be tweaked or modified or altered or improved. It needs to be discarded altogether and exchanged for an entirely new paradigm, namely Jesus and His Gospel.
Evidences of Grace: Eating Together
Listen to this description of the early church from the book of Acts. “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people.” In the birth of the Church, men and women were finding their souls connected to God and to each other. A key expression of that connection was breaking bread together. Commentators divide over whether breaking bread meant that they were coming to Jesus’ Table in Communion or coming together to share a meal. But here’s the beautiful thing. Both fellowship with God and fellowship with man are visible through something as simple as a meal. Through something as common as bread and wine, or something as simple as dinner, we are invited to taste the goodness of God and His people.
One of the evidences of God’s grace to the Seven Mile Road community in these early days is this: we regularly eat together. We eat together on Sundays and outside of Sundays. We eat together each week at the Lord’s Table, and we eat together each week over dinner tables. For the last two weeks, our Soul Care group of 9 people have shared a meal together. We look like an Olive Garden commercial with passing plates, and multiple loud conversations, and hearty laughter, and big smiles. Frequently, people in the church are opening their homes to host dinners. One of the guys in our community was having a rough week, and he was invited for a meal on four different nights by four different people in one week. We’re constantly calling our people to be hospitable; to open their homes and share life by sharing a meal. I celebrate that it’s starting to happen and is more evidence of God’s grace to us.
Cash over Christ
On Sunday, we preached Luke 18 and Jesus’ conversation with the rich young ruler. We observed that this man had so much going for him and seemed like the perfect recruit for Jesus’ team. He had so much to offer. And yet the story tells us that he walks away from Jesus grieved. He had failed to see Jesus as the great treasure worth sacrificing everything for. And so, to his ruin, he held on to cash forsaking Christ.
The text should be a sobering one for our people at Seven Mile Road because in a lot of ways, we look just like him. Here’s what the rich young ruler would have looked like if he lived in our day. He would have grown up in a religious home. He would have been moral, trying hard to be a good person. He would have studied hard and went to a good college earning several degrees. He would have gotten a good job and earned a good living. He would have been a good family man. When people looked at his life, his home, his success, they would have considered him blessed by God. And he himself would have believed that there was a God, and have believed in an afterlife, and would have cared deeply about the eternal state of his soul. That’s what he would have looked like. That’s what a lot of the people in our community look like. Good, moral, successful people who think about God and care about their soul.
And he rejects Jesus.
We pleaded that this not be the case among us. The Gospel reminds us that Jesus is the Rich Ruler who gave up everything to have us. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)
In turn, may we see Jesus as the great treasure worth giving everything for. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44)
Here are two resources for further thinking, particularly about wealth. If anyone knows of some other great resources (books, sermons, articles, etc), feel free to post them.
Money: Currency for Christian Hedonism by John Piper
Evidences of Grace: Committed Men
A little over a week ago, I sat down with the leadership of St. Mark’s Church to talk about the future and what happens after December of this year. It was a great meeting and more on that later. Three Seven Mile Road men attended the meeting with me. As I was recounting the night to my friend Matt Kruse, pastor of Seven Mile Road Boston, here’s what stuck out to him: I had committed men who I could call on to attend the meeting with me.
He helped me see that often that’s a rare thing in the early days of a church. To have good men, who are committed, and love this mission and ministry as much as I do – that’s a grace from God. And here’s the thing. It’s not just three. We have several godly, responsible, committed men who love Jesus at Seven Mile Road. We’re tiny, so stats don’t matter. But just consider this. Right now in America, the typical U.S. Congregation draws an adult crowd that’s 61% female and 39% male. On any given Sunday there are 13 million more adult women than men in America’s churches. This Sunday almost 25 percent of married, churchgoing women will worship without their husbands.
Our hope is that this wouldn’t be the case at Seven Mile Road. Right now we have more men than women in our Soul Care groups and at church on Sundays. As God is opening my eyes to evidences of His grace, I’m seeing that one of the many is that I have some good brothers to lean on and lock arms with in this work.
An Evening of Eschatology
The video above is 2 hours long.
Ok, once you get past that, I’m telling you it’s better than the last five times you sat on the couch and watched a two hour movie. The video is a round table discussion between four men (John Piper, Sam Storms, Doug Wilson, and Jim Hamilton) about eschatology or “end times.” Here are three quick thoughts.
1. It’s good because it gets your mind thinking about weightier, meatier things. Christians are called to love God with our heart, soul, strength, and mind. I had a professor in seminary who pleaded with us to take time just to think. Think. Ravi Zacharias, the great teacher and apologist, has named his teaching ministry, “Let My People Think.” Consider the way most of us watch TV or movies. We sit on the couch disengaged mentally, absorbing mindlessly whatever is on the screen. Like a glutton in front of a buffet, we take it all in indiscriminately. We don’t chew, we inhale. The challenge before us, before me, is to be an active participant, engaging, thinking, reacting, and responding to the stuff I watch. Anyway, I found myself pausing several times throughout the video, checking Bible references, thinking, and thinking, and thinking.
2. The four men in the video love Jesus, love the Scriptures, love truth, love each other, and yet disagree passionately. They model robust theological dialogue that maintains a spirit of unity. They unite on the essentials, celebrate the Gospel that connects them, and yet differ on the details. Jesus will return, make all things new, and believers will enjoy eternal life with Him. Yes! How and when does all that happen? Well…
3. Theology is not just for seminary professors and PhDs. Every Christian is a theologian. Sam Storm’s plea at the end of the video for every believer to study the Scriptures, to engage in such meaningful conversations is a good one. I was encouraged at the end to be reminded that though I am not in the league of these men and do not have their intellect, I get to think about this stuff with them.
I know, I know…giving up watching all the quality films out this week will be tough, but trust me, we’ll make it.
With a Soldier at Starbucks
The other day, I was driving home and flipping through the radio and landed on a Christian radio station. It’s always a gamble with Christian radio cause you’re either going to get gold or garbage. I listened a minute longer than normal because the guy was talking about finding ways to serve and encourage soldiers, particularly in light of the recent events at Fort Hood. He was calling on people to pray for our soldiers, saying that prayer means a great deal to many of them. Couple this with the fact that we had a guest preacher this week who preached on prayer and said that in his lifetime he’s only had one person who has refused his offer to pray for them. Anyway, I remember thinking to myself, this is a good reminder, but I don’t know any soldiers in the area and we have none at Seven Mile Road.
So I’m driving to Starbucks yesterday (a.k.a. my office), and on the way, am praying that I would be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I told God that I longed to be his servant, to meet anyone He wanted me to meet, and to say anything He wanted me to say. I sat down with my bagel and coffee (a.k.a. the rent I pay for my office space) and in walks in a soldier in uniform. And on top of that, the gentleman was a Muslim. He sat at the table next to me and we got into a good conversation. We talked about Fort Hood and even about what it is like for him in the aftermath of everything that has happened. I thanked him for his service. As he was leaving, he came over to shake my hand and I told him that I would be praying for him. But immediately I thought, “why not pray now?” So I caught up with him outside, told him that I was a Christian and asked if he would mind if I prayed for him. He gladly obliged and I asked Jesus to bless this soldier and his family. Perhaps I was more blessed by the moment than he was, but I was grateful to God for it.
Evidences of God’s Grace
In his book, Humility, C.J. Mahaney has this great section on identifying “Evidences of God’s Grace.” Here’s a brief excerpt of what he has to say:
Most people are more aware of the absence of God than the presence of God. Most people are more aware of the presence of sin than evidences of grace. What a privilege and joy it is in pastoral ministry and small-group ministry to turn one’s attention to ways in which God is at work, because so often people are unaware of God’s work. And much of God’s work in our lives is quiet; it’s not “spectacular.” It’s rarely obvious to the individual, and normally it’s incremental and takes place over a lengthy period of time.
So…I want to interact with everybody by identifying an evidence of grace, because if they are Christian I know God is at work in their lives. What a joy it is to discern where and how God is at work, draw people’s attention to it, and celebrate God’s grace in their lives! The fact that we get to do this—how cool is this?
God is working. God is very busy. God, give us the eyes to see how you are at work so we can identify that, draw people’s attention to it, celebrate it, and assign all glory to God for that work!
I read what Mahaney had to say many months ago and its truth continues to work on me. All around me, there are evidences of God’s grace and I want to be paying closer attention. At Seven Mile Road, there are innumerable places we need to grow and mature. But whereas my eyes tend to constantly be fixed in those places, God is showing me that there are also places of health. Places where it is evident that God is at work. Evidences of God’s grace, if you will. In coming posts, I’ll make sure to share some of those with you so that we can “celebrate it, and assign all glory to God for that work!”
Operation Christmas Child
Two weeks ago, we preached Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. I confessed to our community that we are an immature church when it comes to being merciful and compassionate like Jesus. Part of that is because we are only weeks old. But part of that is because I am immature when it comes to being merciful and compassionate like Jesus. While I have worked hard to sow into the DNA of our church being missional through evangelism, I have not worked as hard at sowing mercy into the soil of our church. But in His mercy, God has cut my heart through Luke 10. And moreover, in His mercy, God has given Seven Mile Road a bunch of people who do have a passion for ministries of mercy.
This week, St. Marks Church (the church that is housing Seven Mile Road, where I preach on Sunday mornings) is giving us an opportunity to take a baby-step towards being a people of mercy and compassion. For years, they have participated in Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan’s Purse. They have invited us to join them. So this week, we’re calling our people to take a baby-step in loving and serving those outside of our church like Jesus.
Seven Mile Road, you can find all the instructions here as well as more information about what Operation Christmas Child does. Take your children with you as you shop. It might be a great teaching moment for them. More, it will be a great teaching moment for you.
Life in the Spirit :: Audio Resource
Two weeks ago, Dennis and I drove up to Troy, NY to attend an Acts 29 Regional event. At this past one, J.R. Vassar, pastor of Apostles Church in Manhattan spoke about “Life in the Spirit.” The truth that this brother preached is still working in my heart and producing fruit. Can’t recommend it enough to you. Click here for the audio.
Launching Soul Care Communities
On Monday, we launched our first official Soul Care Community. Eight of our folks who live in or around Center City met over dinner to talk about banding together for the next year or so as one of the smaller communities at Seven Mile. The leaders of the group said the night went great. Over the next week, two more communities will launch. One in the Northeast and the other in Bucks County. We’ve been inviting people who have expressed an interest and who have committed to our big community to lock in more intimately in a smaller one as well.
The hope is that this will be a place where people at Seven Mile Road grow in the gospel, in the context of community, and live on mission together. We gather for corporate worship on Sundays and then we flesh out what it means to be a follower of Jesus in community during the week. We experience God’s grace as we hear it shouted from the front on Sunday mornings and as we hear it shouted from people’s lives together during the week in homes. We pray together and confess our sin on Sundays and we are vulnerable with each other and work out our salvation and sanctification together during the week around someone’s living room. It is our hope that our Soul Care Communities would grow and multiply all across our city as we care for one another’s souls.
Walking closely with Christ in community – that’s what we’re shooting for.
Core Group Membership
There are two simultaneous movements that happen when the Gospel finds its way to our hearts. We are reconciled to God through Christ and we are reconciled to everyone else who has been connected to God through Christ. A Christian is joined to Christ and to every Christian. Our conversion grants us membership into the universal body called the Church (with a capital “C”). But the New Testament anticipates that our universal membership into the body of Christ will find expression through membership in an actual local church (with a little “c”). Membership in the Church necessarily means membership in a church. (Click here for a good article on church membership by Mark Dever.)
Seven Mile Road will be maturing towards church membership in 2010. But in the meantime, we’re going to have a Core Group Phase now. This process will be much less rigorous and intense than official church membership. However, it will give us a chance to express our commitment to God, to each other, and what He is doing through Seven Mile Road. Practically, it will help us form a nucleus of folks who are committed to carrying this ministry. In a sense, this will be a baby step towards church membership next year.
If God is connecting you to Seven Mile Road Church in this season and you are finding your soul knitted together with God and with His people here, plan to be at our meeting on Sunday, November 15 at 3pm. We’ll flesh all this out more then and answer any questions you might have.
Eager and excited to lock arms with you for Jesus.
Incredibly Blessed
Two Sundays ago, I walked out of the morning service at St. Marks and was greeted by the most brilliant autumn sky. I mean perfect blue littered with wisps of white clouds and leaves on trees so colorful they looked like they were on fire. The kind of sky that inspires poetry over prose. As I was walking to my car, God birthed a great sense of thanksgiving in my heart. A sense that remains in my heart even today. I have been so richly blessed. The Psalms frequently instruct us to “tell” the works of the Lord. So let me tell you a few in no particular order:
I have a wife, a child, friends & family: I’ve heard a preacher once say that when romance is done right, it’s beautiful for the couple and gross to everyone else. I agree. I’m Indian, so I’m genetically predisposed to being averse to public displays of affection. So I’ll spare you and leave it at this. Proverbs says, He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. Amen. To add, I have a baby girl. For the last two weeks, she has stayed up with me to watch the World Series. She lasts till about the seventh inning and then falls asleep next to me on the couch. What a joy. Psalm 127 says, Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Amen again. And if all that were not enough, God has given me fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, who I am related to by both my blood and Jesus’, who love us. Incredibly blessed.
I get to pastor and preach: I get to preach twice every Sunday. When I’m not over analyzing every line of the sermon (Why did I say that? Why didn’t I say that? How could I have said it all better?), I pause to think of what a privilege this whole thing is. Week after week, I get to communicate the gospel of Jesus to two congregations. I get to herald the good news of the King. I get to announce His grace. Over these last few months, God has done a work in my heart so that I am enjoying this whole thing even more. Preaching at St. Marks in the morning is not something I have to do but something I get to do. The right words are not obligation or chore, but privilege and joy. God is growing a love in me for them. I long for them to grow in the gospel. And I am also overjoyed by what God is doing in Seven Mile Road. I can’t believe that God has called me to be a pastor. All the time, I’m stunned God even called me to Himself. I would have never chosen someone like me to be a recipient of grace, much less to be a minister of that grace, but God did. Incredibly blessed.
I know the skies will not always be perfect blue. Who knows what storms are coming our way? Sin, division, gossip, death – all could be just around the corner. But if they should come near, God will be nearer still.
