Category: Spiritual

I believe we all possess an internal “homing device” similar as in animals such as birds, butterflies, salmon, etc. in which we as man subconsciously seek someone or something to worship. St Augustine says it well in his quote “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” There is no ultimate peace or satisfying fulfillment in life for man until this restless energy rests solely in accepting in faith Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and follow his teachings in Scripture with the appropriate obedient actions. Man with his inventions and selfish motives has buried, eradicated, and depressed his ability to enjoy this communion with the Trinity. I refer you to Ravi Zacharia’s book“Counterfeit gods” for greater details of this downward spiral in a culture lost in the “slough of despondency” as described in Pilgrim’s Progress, I believe to be the most published allegory ever in history.

An apology to you as readers is in order now as the basis for this whole post is based on a book likely none of you ever read, yet anyway. I first read it last November at the suggestion of my eldest son Ben to give me me further insights into considering a possible career as a Life Coach. It may seem unfair to have you read how this post now, about how this book has impacted my thinking and you don’t even have a clue what it’s about nor will I even attempt to summarize it.  Matthew Kelly has written many books and I have referenced several of them prior. This one, The Dream Manager, as for many who have read it, will tell you it permanently changes them, for the better, and again, I’ll not even try to summarize that phenomena.

When I finished the book, and was reflecting on the quick read as an allegory, I realized I too would never be the same. You already know of my auto accident September 18th and its spiritual significance. Now I am experiencing virtually another quantum leap by this Dream Manager book literally pouring gasoline on my flaming passion for teaching and enhancing communication skills at all levels for individuals of all ages, in business settings as well as in church revitalization. And Kelly has written more of similar consequence, the one I lean on heavily in the remainder of this post, is “The Seven Levels of Intimacy” as the primer for all communication skills. Ok, the apology is over and we’ll resume the effects of these two books. 

Perhaps you ask the question: Who, What, When, Where and How does one begin this “communion” or “encounter” with the Trinity, namely God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Traditionally, such an encounter can be as moving as Saul on the Damascus Road as recorded in Acts 9, or as abnormal as after an earthquake in a  Philippian jail found in Acts 16, or as strange as Howard Storm’s  NDE (near death experience) in a Paris Hospital while waiting for surgery transforming him from an avowed atheist tenured art professor to becoming a pastor as described in the “Imagine Heaven” book by John Burke. Or it can happen, as with me during 5^th grade summer Bible school one evening with my parents in our living room before I went up to bed, Better yet though, what is your story?

There is no scarcity of books being written for growing the Kingdom and I am sure Kelly is well aware his business books exhibit a unique dual message; spot on for secular business wisdom as well as a unique unspoken Christian foundation for life. Similarly, I believe Jesus’s ministry of love is exemplified best by being a “faith facilitator” as opposed to being a “dictator” when we consider practically how the Christian faith is to be effectively encountered, especially in this culture. So, how can we best fulfill Matthew 28 to “Go therefore and make disciples?” First, you must know the term “disciple” to me implies significantly more “interactive involvement,” going far beyond that merely of making “converts.”  

I see the initial action bottom line from The Dream Manager book as encouraging readers whether in the marketplace or a church, to first, just write down their dreams. Most people find this simple task very difficult. I also happen to believe the process of dreaming and the realization of those dreams as witnessed in Kelly’s allegory, are best achieved among people actively taking St Augustine serious when he said “our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Persons satisfied living in the consequences of their poor choices whether in relationships, habits, addictions, finances, etc. are continually struggling to survive rather than thrive. Such people may laugh or scoff at dreamers until they too miraculously catch a glimpse of their restless hearts finding their spiritual rest. True, they may still be struggling to survive but now with a glimpse of rest, perhaps for the first time ever in their life, they can visualize Hope, the end result or the payoff, for “hearts resting in you!”

And in time, these little flames of Hope as found among these “hearts resting in you”  will transition from merely “struggling to survive” to “learning to thrive,” all accomplished by simply understanding the divine plan and allowing our built-in homing device to find our rest in you. And often Hope matured, ultimately leads to pure Joy. So simple, but yet, so very profound.

So just how does this happen? I believe ultimately Joy can be found because dreams when conceived in a loving and caring atmosphere emphasizing the Hope that lies within us, will then be verbalized & shared positively changing not only the dreams originators, but everyone else who hears and witnesses the transitions. In time, the circle enlarges to their friends and family and hopefully you too will be included as the dream facilitator.

In the book, Kelly solicited material dreams from the Admiral employees, and truth be told, the non-material dreams arrived later, though well before the fifth anniversary of the employees enjoying their initial success.  Did you notice how soon the successful dreamers realized, that it was imperative for them to share their vision with other employees and family including even grandchildren and great grandchildren? And true, initially it often was just for the“goodies” but I am detecting, the successful dreamers soon realized, there was something much bigger and rewarding here being played out though I’m not sure many of them could have verbally identified the dynamics of this process.

But then, let’s back up and just consider how often do we fully realize the scope of God’s blessings to us each and every day? Too often, I’m totally oblivious! The bottom line of our consideration for this post and of these two books is the social dynamic of the exuberant sharing of our dreams as certainly being worth our examination for strengthening the foundations of all communications as well as growing and maturing both business and kingdom efforts, expansions, and enterprises.

This is the moment I need to point out there is another dimension in this intricate communicative process that Matthew Kelly shares in his book “The Seven Levels of Intimacy” (TSLOI) where the seven are identified as Cliches; Facts; Opinions; Hopes & Dreams; Feelings; Faults, Fears, & Failures; and Legitimate Needs.

Closely related to and on the heels of these seven levels, Kelly offers us these eight Journeys that we may begin though generally we are not even aware we’ve begun or are in pursuit. But as we mature in our communication skills and later review our progress, we will realize we are indeed enjoying the fruits of our labors. For example, Kelly says these Journey’s will transport us from: the Shallow to the Deep; the Irrelevant to the Relevant; the Illegitimate Desires to Legitimate Needs; Judgement to Acceptance;  Fear to Courage; False Self to True Self; Loneliness to Profound Companionship; and Isolation to Unity. Note how the above transitions of process “flesh out” the TSLOI. By connecting the dots of these forms of communication as outlined above, participants pursuing either their personal or corporate dreams whether in the marketplace or the church, I predict will eventually realize “our hearts were restless until they found their rest in you.”   

At this point I need to share some church history rather than more dream allegory. Yes, Peter preached and and on one day three thousand were saved. In recent centuries in this country, we’ve experienced such revivals. Perhaps on certain continents this still occurs. And I fully believe God could do it tomorrow in North America if he so chose.  As always the question on the table right now is what are we to do or be right now in response to the Great Commission? There is an unparalleled opportunity here for the church to grow, especially in a culture such as ours fraught with the pain of abuse whether racism, sexual, family, or even being denied housing, health care, employment or educational opportunities, etc. not even to mention the media circus that relentlessly pervades our lives socially and politically.

However, an “unparalleled opportunity for the church to grow” is not what I’m hearing and reading about in and around church circles today. I hear of “hospice care” for aging congregations, dwindling youth numbers, even now the “maturing” of congregants, formerly the financial backbone of a congregation, whom are loosing interest and no longer attending regularly. Neither have I mentioned the lack of Hope and Joy so readily observed I’m told,in nearly every congregation. Dying social clubs are really hard to maintain, let alone revive. This paragraph provides more than enough “example” of what we are being led to believe today is the “new reality” for the church now and into the beyond.

May I suggest an alternative to the above disparity and gloom? Simplistically the difference is whether you see your glass as half full or half empty. Truthfully, it is that simple. It is all in our perspective. The trillion dollar question though is what has happened to our Christian perspective? Either on the corporate organizational level or even sadder, for the individual congregant faithful all his life but now spiritually lonely without joy? How did we evidently get so corrupted so quickly? You may say it happened almost like a computer virus; suddenly it just appeared! Actually, not! Scripture has been predicting this falling away. We have been derailed by a host of devilish “good” ideas on many fronts, rather than now focusing specifically on “God,” and abiding in His word and offering our obedient actions as we worship Jesus, our King.1

I hear you saying, ‘Merlin, come on now. It will take much more than merely perspective to revitalize the church.’ Yes and No. Yes as said by Francis Chan in his book ‘Letters to the Churches’ on pg. 48 when he says “it is imperative that we differentiate between what we want and what God commands. Not that desires are all bad, but they must take a back seat to what He emphasizes.” Consider Paul’s words from I Cor 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, less the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” Continuing in I Cor 2:1-5 “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Continuing in this vein, I quote Chan again on Pg. 52 “We’re not doing people any favors by pretending they are at the center of the universe. Either people will be awed by the sacred or they will not. If the sacred is not enough, then it is clear that the Spirit has not done a work in their lives. If the sheep don’t hear his voice, let them walk away. Don’t call out with your voice. By catering our worship to the worshippers and not to the Object of our worship, I fear we have created human-centered churches … Many of us make decisions based on what brings us the most pleasure. This is how we choose our homes, jobs, cars, clothes, food, and yes, even churches …. In essence, we want to know what God will tolerate rather than what he desires….Ignorance feels better than disobedience … Scripture is to be our starting point, not desire or tradition … What would please God most?”  

So yes, we may have much to change, but first we must understand God’s desire for our worship and then change accordingly. No, as I said prior it is quite simple, largely perspective. Let me begin by stating I find most Christians are quite negative in their outlook on life except for maybe that hour or two on Sunday when they show up in church. Let’s assume you get can get a significant discussion started about technology and our culture,  and I virtually guarantee you the average Christian over 50 will remind you of our country’s “glory days,” the rampant loss of morals, lack of integrity, etc. and all the negatives they are against. Seldom if ever, do we hear what really excites them about the opportunities Christians have today to be a positive witness for Jesus Christ on so many fronts. What a glorious time indeed it is to be alive and be faith facilitator!

Do you understand better now what I’m getting at when I say it’s largely perspective? Unfortunately, the prevalent doom and gloom in the minds and attitudes of many Christians when not within the walls of the church, whether subconscious or overt, is too often a spiritual downer to everyone these negative Christians  meet. This scenario is not scriptural nor desirable at all. Such negativity comes either from the negative influence of culture, or individual spiritual laziness and the subsequent lack of empowerment. I compare this negativity much like traveling to new surroundings without the comfort of GPS whereas the empowered  faith facilitators are totaling enjoying their guided trip within their spheres of influence.

I pray you enjoy your discipleship journey into your uncharted waters until “your restless heart rests in Him.” As said prior, this will be a Journey through the Seven Levels of Intimacy and then progressing from the:

Shallow to the Deep,

Irrelevant to the Relevant,

Illegitimate Desires to Legitimate Needs,

Judgement to Acceptance,

Fear to Courage,

False Self to True Self,

Loneliness to Profound Companionship,

And Isolation to Unity!      

These eight destinations deserve your mental “savoring,” then dreaming, and if you do get inspired, YOU will want to read the book and then implement the ten steps at the end, getting you well down the road towards becoming Kelly’s best-possible-version-of-yourself while helping others become the-best-possible-version-of-themselves as well!

Blessings as you too begin to dream about becoming the-best-possible-version-of-you in the peace and rest only God can provide as YOU GO FORTH FACILITATING DISCIPLES>>>>          Merlin

Today I was recapping this chapter for a friend about to undertake a review of her company’s Strategic Plan, apparently a task requiring considerable personal time reading the materials provided prior to team meetings, etc. I find this book by Matthew Kelly, the Culture Solution: A Practical Guide to Building a Dynamic Culture So People Love Coming to Work and Accomplishing Great Things Together, captivating because both of its freshness and applicability to such a wide audience. Few of us have been corporate managers (actually Kelly prefers the term leaders, not managers, because that is precisely what is often missing) but we all do influence and ultimately determine the “flavor of our culture,” the immediate environment and the atmosphere about us, and today, way, way beyond our proximity as never before, and to think it’s happening  24/7/365…

So why this post now? Well, perhaps it’s because I am continually amazed at how God designed the lives of His Spirit empowered children to be so joyfully connected and broadly encompassed in fellowship on so many fronts; and then I am equally amazed at how the ultimately defeated Evil One, (who when coming against we the empowered, doesn’t have a leg to stand on), so successfully twists and misconstrues all that God has created for our enjoyment into idols merely for our entrapment and ultimate destruction. The culture promoted by the Evil One that you and I battle every day is not desirous of seeing you and I become the-best-version-of-ourselves, nor necessarily our businesses become the-best-version-of-themselves either. He quite frankly wants all of us to join him, eternally!

You know today culture is huge! Don’t kid yourself. Perhaps that is why Kelly devoted 46 pages in Chapter Four to Dynamic Culture. In this post, I have only touched on 8 of those pages. The second longest chapter is Five and is titled “It All Starts With Hiring.” And isn’t that the truth, as many of you can testify. Actually, I have read this book more from the perspective of Christian Outreach, Church Revitalization, and insight for my Personal Strategic Plan (PSP) and it is loaded with spiritual value, but I warn you, there isn’t one Bible verse quoted that I recall. Prove me wrong.  

Beginning on page 95.

“When Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” the comment wasn’t intended to undermine the importance of strategy. Strategy is incredibly important. You cannot overestimate its importance, and that’s what makes the quote so powerful.

The very idea that something else was anywhere near as important as strategy initially stunned people. The statement was arresting. When it was first heard it would have felt like a category 6 earthquake to any organizational management expert. It is more relevant today than ever before, giving the growing dysfunction of employees personal lives. Whether Drucker said it or not, if he were alive today, he would probably say, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

It is essential to understand that the more dysfunctional people’s lives become, the more critical healthy corporate cultures become. People do bring all the joy and misery of their personal lives to work. A Dynamic Culture needs to be able to absorb the dysfunction of people’s personal lives in a way that allows them to still perform their work at a high level. This is an incredibly complex thought, and one that I usually would not even include. It’s a topic someone should write a doctoral thesis on. It needs to be said, understood, and acted upon. Or we can continue to hide behind the nonsensical excuse that this is not a corporate responsibility. In nirvana that is true, but it’s probably best if we stay as closely connected to reality as possible.

Warning: if you are not in a leadership position, you may be tempted to check out now, thinking the topic of strategy doesn’t matter to your role. Please don’t make that mistake.

In the opening of the book I wrote: Too many books are written just for leaders; as a result, the message never makes it all the way through the organization. That’s why I specifically set out to write this book for everyone in your organization.

If you are not in a leadership role, there are dozens of reasons you should keep reading, but let me just give you the single most compelling reason. You may not have a leadership role in the business you work for but the most important business of your life is the business of your life itself. Anything you learn about corporate strategy should teach you to live your own life more strategically. Great businesses have Strategic Plans and they update them at least once a year.

The biggest project or venture you are running is your life. Do you have a plan? Most people don’t. They are just stumbling from one year to the next, hoping for the best. That is merely an observation, not a judgment. More than most, I have seen how brutal ordinary life can be, even in the suburbs of American cities. At the same time I want to encourage you to start developing a Personal Strategic Plan (PSP). The point is simple. Strategy and planning are important for organizations, and even more important for our lives and yet, most people spend more time planning their annual vacation than they spend planning their lives.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” The maxim does not mean strategy doesn’t matter. There is no point having an exceptional culture and no strategy. And your organization will not withstand bad strategic decisions, regardless of how strong and healthy your culture is. But when you have a solid strategy, developing a Dynamic Culture is like adding steroids.

Is culture more important than strategy? There is obviously no point having the best culture in the world if you have a horrible strategy, and vice versa. Our goal should be to build a world class culture to execute a best-in-industry strategy.

So, the first point is: A great strategic plan can make all the difference. If you don’t have one, get one. If you have one, start using it. We will talk more about how to do that most effectively in the coming chapters.

The second point is: Where is culture in the plan? Most organizations leave it out. They focus on sales and marketing, manufacturing and sourcing, financial reports and the new product development, and other such things. But if you raise your hand when the plan is finished and say, “We say the culture is important and that we are committed to building a strong and healthy culture, but where is culture in our Strategic Plan?” you are likely be greeted by a very, very awkward silence.

Culture deserves a place in everything your organization does. Your organization deserves it. And not just any place – a primary place, a driving place. Everything your organization does affects culture, and culture affects everything your organization does. Culture should have a seat of honor at every planning meeting. Tape a sign that reads “Culture” to an empty chair and put that chair in place of honor at meetings. When it comes to culture, we either need to get serious or shut up and stop talking about it. But be warned, there are dire consequences to the latter and we have already seen how empty culture talk impacts employee and customer engagement.

A good Strategic Plan brings confidence to the culture. Confidence – now, that is something people can smell on their leaders. No amount of perfume or cologne can overshadow that smell. It is impossible to overestimate what that confidence means to an organization. Have you ever been around an elite athlete who has lost his or her confidence after an injury? It’s not pretty. Everyone around him is on eggshells in the gym, on the field, in the cafeteria…

Great cultures are confident and humble at the same time. They are so confident, they don’t need pretense, and so they very naturally embrace humility. A great product, service, leader, and strategy can all contribute to building confidence in an organization, but it is the culture that sustains organizational confidence.

Does strategy matter? Of course it does. It matters a great deal. But whatever your product or service is, whatever your strategy is, whatever your goals and mission are, nothing is more essential in accomplishing them than a strong, healthy, vibrant Dynamic Culture. We have to stop seeing culture as something that is at odds with strategy. They should be best friends. By forming strong connections between strategy and culture, and making Mission King (Chapter Two), you give everyone a clear sense of the what, the how, and the why.

The quintessential question is: Will culture be part of our strategy, or will strategy be part of our culture? The answer is both. It is not a one-way street.

Mission is King and both strategy and culture serve it. Strategy is a short-term way an organization accomplishes its mission. Culture should be included in every Strategic Plan. If you separate culture from strategy, you run the risk of culture going rogue and usurping the mission of the organization.

Who you are is infinitely more important than what you do. This is true for people and organizations. Wise organizations allow who they are to determine what they do. Strong, healthy, dynamic, and enduring organizations adopt strategies that are a natural extension of their mission and culture. Strategy is what they do, mission and culture is who they are.

This powerful alignment of culture and strategy will create a competitive advantage of monumental proportions. An organization that takes this single idea seriously dominates its competition in attracting talent. An organization where Mission is King and culture is central is so much stronger, healthier, more vibrant, and more dynamic than its competition. This type of organization deals with challenges and conflict in a very different way than its competition. And perhaps most convincingly, in a world where the speed of change has become immeasurable, an organization that makes Mission King and forms this powerful alliance between culture and strategy deals with change infinitely more effectively than its competition. The most obvious example of this is that everyone is not waiting around for the king to make the decisions about everything. As a culture matures in healthy and effective ways, more people are empowered to make more and more decisions.

For too long, and in too many organizations of every type, culture has been considered the weak, unprofitable, distracting little brother to strategy. Not so. Real strength, enduring profitability, extraordinary employee engagement, and the next great idea that carries your organization in the future are so much more likely to flow from a Dynamic Culture. The little brother has grown up and it turns out he is a genius. His name is Dynamic Culture.

Every organization needs a strategic plan. Napoleon reportedly said, “Those who fail to plan can plan to fail.“ He was right, but he failed anyway. Great plans spring forth from Dynamic Cultures. Napoleon had the wrong vision and values. He was culturally bankrupt. He wouldn’t have been able to run a fast-food restaurant, let alone a nation. We are talking about a man who re-instituted slavery just eight years after it had been abolished; divorced his wife because she didn’t give birth to a son; deprived women of their individual rights; rigged elections to continue his dictatorial regime; censored and then took control of the press; was self-congratulatory; sacrificed the lives of 500,000 men to invade Russia even after his advisers warned him that would be the cost; a man who said, “I care only for people who are useful to me – and only so long as they are useful.”

Napoleon had a plan, but his strategy was self-serving and his culture was sick because his values were sick. These are just some of the reasons he failed. It is not enough just to have a plan. It is not enough just to have a strategy, even if it is a good one. Without a Dynamic Culture you are susceptible to failure. Sooner or later, a competitor will emerge who integrates mission, strategy and culture, and that competitor will crush all others.

Every organization needs a strategic plan, and part of that plan should be the creation and the growth of a dynamic culture. Your first Strategic Plan can be simple, but let it be driven by who you are (values and culture) and not just what you do or how you do it (strategy).”

Merlin writing now, so as I reflect on the above paragraphs, I considered changing the subtitle word “work” to “church,” making it read “So People Would Love Coming to Church and Accomplishing Great Things Together!” Actually, that book is already written and is known as the Bible and is our Strategic Plan. Unlike corporate America, virtually everyone has a copy but still few possess a working knowledge of its contents and we need not worry about performing the annual updates.

However, maintaining a Dynamic Culture from this book, the Bible, has been quite problematic in the past two centuries in Western Europe and North America with a negative correlation between wealth and self-centered higher education, whereas on other continents, once it’s introduced, are developing their Christian Culture rapidly and the plan is flourishing!

I am reminded of the word “entitlement”, which I first recall in my use in ’75 in the social services realm when I worked briefly in “comprehensive health planning.” The word “entitlement” now is even part of the North American church culture, not perhaps overtly, but individually we all struggle with rationalizing our extravagant lifestyles compared to 95% of the world. So much so, that we become spiritually out of tune, tempted to think our culture and our goodness is sufficient, and perhaps, we are not even capable of verbalizing our personal mission, let alone have we ever committed our Strategic Plan to paper with our spouse and family. And to think I have been pointing fingers at businesses that are not communicating with their employees! What have I been doing under my roof? So what effect does this “spiritual ignorance, actually disobedience”  have on me, my family, church, and the subsequent culture dynamics? Likely not much different than in the business world. Perhaps Hospice Care follows entitlement. Sounds better than the Revelation scenario.

Seriously, how many Bibles do you have? Including access on phones and computers? How many times have you read it through? Do you read it frequently? Do you study it sufficiently to even check translations? See how similar the constituents of churches and businesses are? If you are a Christian and own a business today, you need this book. If you are an employee, ask to borrow your employers copy. If he doesn’t have one, buy him one but read it first. That is real “entitlement!” Blessings as you reflect on writing your Strategic Personal Plan and share it around your table. Then you will be “entitled” to watch the Dynamic Culture take shape and new life come forth>>>>       Merlin  

Congratulations! You’ve persevered through the three prior posts of these admonitions from Paul to finding the ever illusive path to true Christian joy. I remember well the flood of freedom that swept over me when I first envisioned and understood the importance of becoming a gospel-humble person in my spirit, soul and body, my heart mind and will, borrowing from John Eldredge in Moving Mountains. I’m praying now for even greater revelations for you.

How did Paul get this blessed self-forgetfulness? He does tell us – but we have to look carefully. First he says, ‘I don’t care what you think; but I don’t care what I think.’ In other words, he does not look to them for the verdict nor, does he look to himself for the verdict. Then he says ‘My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent’. The word translated ‘innocent’ comes the word ‘justify’. The word for ‘justify’ is the same one he uses throughout Romans and Galatians. Here Paul is saying that even if his conscience is clear, that does not justify him.

What Paul is looking for, what Madonna is looking for, what we are all looking for, is an ultimate verdict that we are important and valuable. We look for that ultimate verdict every day in all the situations and people around us. And that means that every single day, we are on trial. Everyday, we put ourselves back in a courtroom. But do you notice how Paul says that he does not care what the Corinthians think of him or what any human court thinks? It is odd that he is talking about courts – after all the Corinthians are not a court. He is talking metaphorically, I think. And he is saying that the problem with self esteem – whether it is high or low – is that every single day, we are in the courtroom. Every single single day we are on trial. That is the way everyone’s identity works. In the courtroom, you have the prosecution and the defense. And everything we do is providing evidence for the prosecution or evidence for the defense. Some days we feel we are winning the trial and other days we feel we are losing it. But Paul says that he has found the secret. The trial is over for him. He is out of the courtroom. It is gone. It is over. Because the ultimate verdict is in.

Now how could that be? Paul put it very simply. He knows that they cannot justify him. He knows that he cannot justify himself. And what does he say? He says that it is the Lord who judges him. It is only His opinion that counts.

Do you realize that it is only in the gospel of Jesus Christ that you get the verdict before the performance? The atheist might say that they get their self-image from being a good person. They are a good person and they hope that eventually they will get a verdict that confirms that they are a good person. Performance leads to the verdict. For the Buddhist too, performance leads to the verdict. If you a Muslim, performance leads to a verdict. All this means that every day, you are in the courtroom, every day you are on trial. That is the problem. But Paul is saying that in Christianity, the verdict leads to performance. It is not the performance that leads to the verdict. In Christianity, the moment we believe, God says ‘This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.’ Or take Romans 8:1 which says ‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’. In Christianity, the moment we believe, God imputes Christ’s perfect performance to us as if it were our own, and adopts us into his family. In other words, God can say to us just as He once said to Christ, ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.’You see, the verdict is in. And now I perform on the basis of the verdict. Because he loves me and accepts me, I do not have to do things just to build up my resume. I do not have to do things to make me look good. I can do things for the joy of doing them. I can help people to help people – not so I can feel better about myself, not so I can fill up the emptiness.

With every other form of identity and every other ‘badge’ or accolade we might award ourselves, it is always the case of the verdict coming from the performance. We might find security in labeling ourselves a good person, a free person, a religious person, a moral person. Whatever it is, it is always the same: performance leads to the verdict. But the verdict never comes. Madonna said so, and she should know. Madonna has done things that you and I are never going to do – and it is still not enough. Madonna has heaps of talent, she has tremendous guts. But even Madonna, despite everything she has done, says that she has still not found the ultimate verdict she is looking for. The performance never gets the ultimate verdict.

But in Christianity, the verdict can give you the performance. Yes, the verdict can give you the performance. How can that be? Here is Paul’s answer: He is out of the courtroom, he is out of the trial. How? Because Jesus Christ went on trial instead. Jesus went into the courtroom. He was on trial. It was an unjust trial in a kangaroo court – but he did not complain. Like the lamb before the shearers, He was silent. He was struck, beaten, put to death. Why? As our substitute. He took the condemnation we deserve; He faced the trial that should be ours so we do not have to face any more trials. So I simply need to ask God to accept me because of what the Lord Jesus has done. Then, the only person whose opinion counts looks at me and He finds me more valuable than all the jewels in the earth.    

How can we worry about being snubbed now? How can we worry about being ignored now? How can we care that much about what we look like in the mirror?

Let me say a word to those for whom this is all new. You may wished you believed this. Here is what I would say – some people have never understood the difference between Christian identity and any other kind of identity. They would call themselves a Christian, they consider their behavior to be on the upper end of the scale, they go to church and they hope that one day God will take them home. Let me say that Christian identity operates totally differently from any other kind of identity. Self-forgetfulness takes you out of the courtroom. The trial is over. The verdict is in. Perhaps that is new to you. Keep looking. Keep digging. Keep asking questions. There is a lot to discover. I have covered a lot of ground in a short space. There are lots of pieces of the jigsaw to put together – why did Jesus have to die? Why did He rise from the dead? Was He really the Son of God? Keep looking until you understand the whole picture.

But maybe you are in a different position – you believe the gospel; you have done so for years. But … and it is a big ‘but’ … every day you find yourself sucked back into the courtroom. You do not feel you are living like Paul says. You are getting sucked back in. All I can tell you is that we have to re-live the gospel every time we pray. We have to re-live it every time we go to church. We have to re-live the gospel on the spot and ask ourselves what we are doing in the courtroom. We should not be there. The court is adjourned.

Like Paul, we can say, ‘I don’t care what you think. I don’t even care what I think. I only care what the Lord thinks.’ And he has said, ‘Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’, and ‘You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased’. Live out of that.

Thoughts & Questions For Reflection

If you are new to Christianity, why not read the Gospel of Mark and ask God to show you the truth about Jesus – particularly His death on the cross. If you know any Christians, perhaps you could ask them to talk to about it.

Or you may use the words of Psalm 139 in prayer. Ask God to show you your heart. Ask him to show you the places you look for self-worth and the ways you try to find your sense of identity.

‘Search me, O God, and know my heart; and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23,24

Could you explain to someone else how the gospel can (and should) transform our sense of identity? How much do you experience that transformed sense of identity? In what way’s has God’s Word encouraged you or challenged you? Pray about it.

Pray that God would give you what you need to enable you to develop true gospel-humility and the freedom of self-forgetfulness.

In addition, I suggest two of his many books for greater clarity, The Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, and Making Sense of God : Finding God in the Modern World.        Blessings As YOU GO FORTH>>>>                           Merlin

Be aware this third post is the longest of the four, as taken from Keller’s book, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness as it details the meat and the essence of the spiritual truths that Paul alone describes in detail as the path to true Christian joy. I rejoice that both Paul and Tim Keller persevered in order that we too, might better understand and then experience this elusive joy, as Christ followers. Enjoy. 

See what he says. In verses 1 and 2, he reminds them that he is a minister and that he has a job to do. But then he tells them that, with regard to that role, he cares very little if he is judged by them or any human court (vv. 3, 4). The word translated ‘judge’ here has the same meaning as the word ‘verdict.’ It is the thing Madonna craves – that elusive verdict or stamp of approval. Paul does not look to the Corinthians – or to any human court – for the verdict that he is somebody.

So Paul is saying to the Corinthians that he does not care what they think about him. He does not  care what anybody thinks about him. In fact, his identity owes nothing to what people say. It is as if he is saying, ‘I don’t care what you think. I don’t care what anybody thinks.’ Paul’s self-worth, his self-regard, his identity is not tied in any way to their verdict and evaluation of him.

 Paul’s identity may not be tied to other people’s opinion of him – but how do we reach the point where we are not controlled by what people think about us? How do you think we get there? Most people would say it is very obvious. Practically every counselor I know would say that it should nor matter what other people think of us. They tell us that we should not be living according to what other people say. It should not be their standards that count. It should not matter what they think about us. The only thing that should concern me is what I think about me. It is not about other people’s standards. I should only mind about what I think my standards should be. I should choose my own standards. So the counselors’ advice is ‘Decide who you want to be and then be it’ because it only matters what you think about yourself.

If some one has a problem with low self-esteem we, in our modern world, seem to have only one way of dealing with it. That is remedying it with high self-esteem. We tell someone that they need to see that they are a great person, they need to see how wonderful they are. We tell them to look at all the great things they have accomplished. We tell them they just need to stop worrying about what people say about them. We tell them they need to set their own standards and accomplish them – and then make their own evaluation of themselves.

Paul’s approach could not be more different. He cares very little if he is judged by the Corinthians or by any human court. And then he goes one step further: he will nor even judge himself. It is as if he says, ‘I don’t care what you think– but I don’t care what I think. I have a very low opinion of your opinion of me – but I have a very low opinion of my opinion of me.’ The fact that he has a clear conscience makes no difference. Look carefully at what he says in verse 4. ‘My conscience may be clear – but that does not make me innocent.’ His conscience may be clear – but he knows that even if he does have a clear conscience, that does not necessarily mean he is innocent. Hitler may have had a clear conscience, but it does not mean he was innocent.

What would Paul say to those who tell him to set his own standards? He would say it is a trap. A trap that he will not fall into. You see, it is a trap to say we should not worry about everyone else’s standards, just set our own. That’s not an answer. Boosting our self-esteem by living up to our own standards or someone else’s sounds like a great solution. But it does not deliver. It cannot deliver. I cannot live up to my parents’ standards – that makes me feel terrible. I cannot live up to your standards – and that makes me feel terrible. I cannot live up to society’s standards and that makes me feel terrible. I cannot live up to other societies’ standards – that makes me feel terrible. Perhaps the solution is to set my own standards? But I cannot keep them either – and that makes me feel terrible, unless I set incredibly low standards. Are low standards a solution? Not at all. That makes me feel terrible because I realize I am the type of person who has low standards. Trying to boost our self-esteem by trying to live up to our own standards or someone else’s is a trap. It is not an answer.

So Paul does not look to the Corinthians for his identity. He does not go to them for a verdict that he is a ‘somebody’. He does not get that sense of identity from them. But he does not get it from himself either. He knows that trying to find self esteem by living up to a certain set of standards is a trap. Now we start to discover where Paul finds that sense of self, that sense of identity. Be warned! At this point, he moves right off our map. He moves into territory that we know nothing about.

Paul was a man of incredible stature. I think it would be hard to disagree with the view that he is one of the six or seven most influential leaders in the history of the human race. One of the most influential in history. He had enormous ballast, tremendous influence, incredible confidence. He moved ahead and nothing fazed him. And yet in I Timothy, he says ‘Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I’m chief’ (I Timothy 1:15 NKJV). Not I was chief, but I am chief. Or ‘I am the worst’. This is off our maps. We are not used to someone who has incredible confidence volunteering the opinion that they are one of the worst people. We are not used to someone who is totally honest and totally aware of all sorts of moral flaws – yet has incredible poise and confidence.

We cannot do that. Do you know why? Because we are judging ourselves. But Paul will not do that. When he says that he does not let the Corinthians judge him nor will he judge himself, he is saying that he knows about his sins but he does not connect them to himself and his identity. His sins and his identity are not connected. He refuses to play that game. He does not see a sin and let it destroy his sense of identity. He will not make a connection. Neither does he see an accomplishment and congratulate himself. He sees all kinds of sins in himself – and all kinds of accomplishments too – but he refuses to connect them with himself or his identity. So, although he knows himself to be the chief of sinners, that fact is not going to stop him from doing the things that he is called to do. 

We could not be more different than Paul. If I think of myself as a bad person, I do not have any confidence. If I think of myself as a sinner, as someone who is filled with pride, someone filled with lust and anger and greed and all the little things that Paul said he is filled with, I have no confidence. No, because we are judging ourselves. We set our standards and then we condemn ourselves. The ego will never be satisfied that way. Never!

Paul is saying something astounding. ‘I don’t care what you think and I don’t care what I think.’ He is bringing us into new territory that we know nothing about. His ego is not puffed up, it is filled up. He is talking about humility – although I hate using the word ‘humility’ because this is nothing like our idea of humility. Paul is saying that he has reached a place where his ego draws no more attention to itself than any other part of his body. He has reached the place where he is not thinking of himself anymore. When he does something wrong or something good, he does not connect it to himself anymore.

C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity makes a brilliant observation about gospel-humility at the very end on his chapter on pride. If we were to meet a truly humble person, Lewis says, we would never come away from meeting them thinking they were humble. They would not be always telling us they were a nobody (because a person who keeps saying they are a nobody is actually a self-obsessed person). The thing we would remember from meeting a truly gospel-humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.

Gospel-humility is not needing to think about myself. Not needing to connect things to myself. It is an end to such thoughts as, ‘I’m in this room with these people, does that make me look good? Do I want to be here?’ True gospel-humility means I stop connecting every experience, every conversation, with myself. In fact, I stop thinking about myself. The freedom of self-forgetfulness. The blessed rest that only self-forgetfulness brings.

True gospel-humility means an ego that is not puffed up but filled up. This is totally unique. Are we talking about high self-esteem? No. So it is low self-esteem? Certainly not. It is not about self-esteem. Paul refuses to play that game. He says ‘I don’t care about your opinion but, I don’t care that much about my opinion’ – and that is the secret.

A truly gospel-humble person is not a self-hating person or a self-loving person, but a gospel – humble person. The truly gospel-humble person is a self-forgetful person whose ego is just like his or her toes. It just works. It does not draw attention to itself. The toes just work, the ego just works. Neither draws attention to itself.

Here is one little test. The self-forgetful person would never be hurt particularly badly by criticism. It would not devastate them, it would it would not keep them up late, it would not bother them. Why? Because a person who is devastated by criticism is putting too much value on what other people think, on other people’s opinions. The world tells the person who is thin-skinned and devastated by criticism to deal with it by saying ‘who cares what they think? I know what I think. Who cares what the rabble thinks? It doesn’t bother me.’ People are either devastated by criticism – or they are not devastated by criticism because they do not listen to it. They will not listen to it or learn from it because they do not care about it. They know who they are and what they think. In other words, our only solution to low esteem is pride. But that is no solution. Both low self-esteem and pride are horrible nuisances to our own future and to everyone around us.

The person who is self-forgetful is the complete opposite. When someone whose ego is not puffed up but filled up gets criticism, it does not devastate them. They listen to it and see it as an opportunity to change. Sounds idealistic? The more we get to understand the gospel, the more we want to change. Friends, wouldn’t you  want to be a person who does not need honor – nor is afraid of it? Someone who does not lust for recognition – nor, on the other hand, is frightened to death of it? Don’t you want to be the kind of person who, when they see themselves in a mirror or reflected in a shop window, does not admire what they see but does not cringe either? Wouldn’t you like to be the type of person who, in their imaginary life, does not sit around fantasizing about hitting self-esteem home-runs, daydreaming about successes that gives them the edge over others? Or perhaps you tend to beat yourself up and to be tormented by regrets. Wouldn’t you like to be free of them? Wouldn’t you like to be the skater who wins the silver, and yet is thrilled about those three triple jumps the gold medal winner did? To love it the way you love a sunrise?Just to love the fact that it was done? For it not to matter whether it was their success or your success. Not to care if they did it or you did it? You are as happy that they did it as if you had done it yourself – because you are just so happy to see it.

You will probably say that you do not know anybody like that. But this is the possibility for you and me if we keep going where Paul is going. I can start to enjoy things that are not about me. My work is not about me, my skating is not about me, my romance is not about me, my dating is not about me. I can actually enjoy things for what they are. They are not just for my resume. They are just not to look good on my college or job application. They are not just a way of filling up emptiness. Wouldn’t you want that? This is off our map. This is gospel-humility, blessed self-forgetfulness. Not thinking more of myself as in modern cultures, or less of myself as in traditional cultures. Simply thinking of myself less.

The final chapter is titled ‘How To Get That Transformed View Of Self.’ and will post in a week, March 1. Perhaps today we use the word ‘transformed’ in church circles rather loosely. The dictionary defines it ‘to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of’ … but if and when one’s ‘self’ is transformed, what then is obvious? More than merely form, appearance & character? Is there yet another dimension?                Blessings As YOU GO Forth>>>>    Merlin

Today we begin reading Chapter One of Tim Keller’s three chapter book, The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness: The Path to True Christian Joy. The Introduction posted last week and the final two chapters will post on subsequent Fridays. In my estimation, this is a monumental little book we’d best understand if we’re serious about enjoying the trip and finishing strong whether we claim to follow Jesus or not. And yes, it does require multiple reads. Why else do you think Tim Keller was able to start from scratch a staunchly Biblical based church of 4000 comprised of predominately professional intellectuals in their thirties in NYC, specifically Manhattan? He presents Truth simply but sometimes our minds have difficulty absorbing the depths, hence the necessity of multiple reads!

In verse 6, Paul urges the Corinthians to have no more pride in one person over another. Nothing new, we may think. Of course, pride is inappropriate. But we need to realize the word Paul uses here for pride is not the hubris word for pride, but physio. It is an unusual word. Paul uses it here and another five times in this particular book and once in Colossians  2. You will not find it anywhere else in the Bible as it is used only by Paul. Many commentators now realize it is a special theme of Paul.

By using this particular word, Paul is trying to teach these Corinthians something about the human ego. This word used here for pride literally means to be over inflated, swollen, distended beyond its proper size. It is related to to the word for ‘bellows’. It is very evocative. It brings to mind a rather painful image of an organ in the human body, an organ that is distended because so much air has been pumped into it. So much air, that it is over inflated and ready to burst. It is swollen, inflamed and extended past it proper size. And that, says Paul, is the condition of the natural human ego.

Because it is such an evocative and interesting metaphor, I think we are supposed to reflect on the image and what Paul is trying to say. Perhaps I can put it this way: I think the image suggests four things about the natural condition of the human ego: that it is empty, painful, busy, and fragile.

First, empty. The image points to the fact that  there is emptiness at the centre of the human ego. The ego that is puffed up and over-inflated has nothing at its centre. It is empty.

In his book Sickness Unto Death, Soren Kierkegaard says, it is the normal state of the human heart to build its identity around something else besides God. Spiritual pride is the illusion that we are competent to run our own lives, achieve our own sense of self-worth and find a purpose big enough to give us meaning without God. Soren Kierkegaard says the normal ego is built on something besides God. It searches for something that will give it a sense of worth, a sense of specialness and a sense of purpose and builds itself on that. And, of course, as we are often reminded, if you try to put anything in the middle of the place that was originally made for God, it is going to be too small. It is going to rattle around in there. So, the first thing about the human ego is that is empty.

And secondly, it is also painful. A distended and over-inflated ego is painful.

Have you ever thought about the fact that you do not notice your body until there is something wrong with it? When we are walking around, we are not usually thinking how fantastic our toes are feeling. Or how brilliantly our elbows are working today. We would only think about that if there had been previously  something wrong with them. That is because the parts of our body only draw attention to themselves if there is something wrong with them.

The ego often hurts. That is because it has something incredibly wrong with it. It is always drawing attention to itself – it does so every single day. It is always making us think about how we look and how we are treated. People sometimes say their feelings are hurt. It is the  ego that hurts – my sense of self, my identity. Our feelings are fine. It is my ego that hurts.

Walking around does not hurt my toes unless there is something wrong with them. My ego would not hurt unless there was something terribly wrong with it. Think about it. It is very hard to get through a whole day without feeling snubbed or ignored or feeling stupid or getting down on ourselves. That is because there is something wrong with my identity. There is something wrong with my sense of self. It is never happy. It is always drawing attention to itself.

So, first of all, it is empty. Secondly, because it is like a bloated stomach that is distended, it is also painful. And, thirdly, the ego is incredibly busy – in other words, it is always drawing attention to itself. It is incredibly busy  trying to fill the emptiness. And it is incredibly busy doing two things in particular – comparing and boasting. You can see them both in the passage. First of all, notice in verse 6 there is no full stop after the word pride. Paul does not say ‘Then you will not take pride in one man over  against another.’ That is the very essence of what it means to have normal human ego. The way the normal human ego tries to fill its emptiness and deal with its discomfort is by comparing itself to other people. All the time.

In his famous chapter on pride in Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis points out that pride is by nature competitive. It is competitiveness that is at the very heart of pride.

‘Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only having more of it than the next person. We say people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better- looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good – looking there would be nothing to be proud about.’   

In other words, we are only proud of being more successful, more intelligent or more good – looking than the next person, and when we are in the presence of someone who is more successful, intelligent and good-looking than we are, we lose all pleasure in what we had. That is because we really had no pleasure in it. We were proud of it. As Lewis says, pride is the pleasure of having more than the next person. Pride is the pleasure  of being more than the next person. Lust may drive a man to sleep with a beautiful woman – but at least lust makes him want her.  Pride drives a man to sleep with a beautiful woman just to prove he can do it and to prove he can do it above the others. Pride destroys the ability to have any real pleasure from her.

When I was at school, my mother kept saying things like, ‘You know, honey, you ought to join the chess club.’ I would say, ‘Mum, I hate chess.’ ‘Yes, I know,’ she would say, ‘but it would look so good on your college application.’ She would try again. ‘Don’t they feed the homeless and hungry downtown, every Saturday morning? Why don’t you volunteer for that?’ ‘Mum,’ I’d say, ‘I hate that kind of thing.’ I would get the same response, ‘I know, honey, but it would look so good on your college application.’ So, at school, I did all kinds of things that I had absolutely no interest in doing for themselves. I was simply putting together a resume. That is what our egos are doing all the time. Doing jobs we have no pleasure in, doing diets we take no pleasure in. Doing all kinds of things, not for the pleasure of doing them, but because we are trying to put together  an impressive curriculum vitae. By comparing ourselves to other people and trying to make ourselves look better than others, we are boasting. Trying to recommend ourselves, trying to create a self-esteem resume because we are desperate to fill our sense of inadequacy and emptiness. The ego is so busy. So busy all the time.

And lastly, as well as empty and painful and busy, the ego is fragile. That is because anything that is over-inflated is in imminent danger of being deflated – like an over-inflated balloon.

If we are puffed up by air and not filled up with something solid, then to be over-inflated or deflated comes down to the same thing. A superiority complex and an inferiority complex are basically the same. They are both results of being over-inflated. The person with the superiority complex is over inflated and in danger of being deflated; the person with an inferiority complex is deflated already.  Someone with an inferiority complex will tell you they hate themselves and they will tell themselves they hate themselves.. They are deflated. To be deflated means you were previously inflated. Deflated, or in imminent danger of being deflated – it is all the same thing. And it makes the ego fragile.

Empty, painful, busy and, therefore fragile. Let me give you a perfect example of this. I am not trying to lift her up as being worse than other people at all. She actually shows a tremendous of self-awareness and I have a lot of admiration for her. But, if you want a perfect example of what I am talking about, here is an excerpt from an interview with Madonna in Vogue Magazine some time ago where she is talking about her career.

This is what she says:

‘My drive in life comes from a fear of being mediocre. That is always pushing me. I push past one spell of it and discover myself as a special human being but then I feel I am still mediocre and uninteresting unless I do something else. Because even though I have become somebody, I still have to prove that I am somebody. My struggle has never ended and I guess it never will.’

I will tell you one thing: Madonna knows herself better than most of us know ourselves.Every time she accomplishes something, these are the kind of thoughts she has: ‘Now I have got the verdict that I am somebody. But the next day, I realize that unless I keep going, I am not. My ego cannot be satisfied. My sense of self, my desire for self-worth, my need to be sure I am somebody – it is not fulfilled. I keep thinking I have won it from what people have said about me and what the magazines and newspapers have written. But the next day, I have to go and look somewhere else. Why? Because my ego is insatiable. It’s a black hole. It doesn’t matter how much I throw into it, the cupboard is bare. I keep putting all sorts of things into it every morning, feeding it, and the next night it is bare. I have become somebody – but I still need to become ‘somebody.’ We might be tempted to think she is neurotic. No, she knows herself. She is ahead of most of us.

That is the normal state of the human self. It is what Paul is talking about to the Corinthians. All these people who are fighting over him and claiming a special relationship with him are showing tremendous amounts of pride. They are unable to enjoy the fact they know Paul. They have to use their relationship with him for one-upmanship over each other in the church.

Paul wants them to know the difference the gospel makes and how the gospel has transformed things for him. Look at verse 3 and 4. He shows them how the gospel has transformed his sense of self-worth, his sense of self -regard and his identity. His ego operates in a completely different way now.

I anticipate Chapter Two “The Transformed View of Self” will post Friday the 22nd. Blessings as YOU GO FORTH>>>>      Merlin

I am compelled to share this powerful book with you. It is a quick 30 minute read written by Tim Keller in 2012 for Christians grappling with self-esteem; whether yours or theirs! What follows below is the Introduction for his book “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness:  The Path To True Christian Joy” The three points at the end constitute the three chapters in this quick read that belongs in every serious Christian’s library. I’ll attempt to post the three chapters in a “timely manner” but I suggest you invest now or download a sample from either Kindle or Audible. His subtitle, The Path to True Christian Joy” is spot on. Enjoy.

What are the marks of a heart that has been radically changed by the grace of God? If we trust in Christ, what should our hearts be like? It is not simply a matter of morally virtuous behavior. It is quite possible to do all sorts of morally virtuous things when our hearts are filled with fear, with pride or a with a desire for power. We are talking about hearts that have been changed, at the root, by the grace of God – and what that look like in real life.

We will be focusing on a section of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians – I Corinthians 3:21 –4:7. “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world of life or death or the present or the future– all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. Now brothers, I have applied those things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? I Cor 3:21 – 4:7.

The Corinthian church was filled with division. It had originally been planted by Paul. But as we see from the references to Apollos and Cephas, other evangelists had come to Corinth later on. As a result, different people had connections with different prominent ministers. So one person was mentored and discipled by Paul, another was mentored and appointed in leadership by Apollos (another great teacher) and so forth. Instead of everybody being happy that they had a relationship with Paul or Apollos, these relationships are now the basis for power-play. Parties have arisen and divisions are tearing the church up. One person argues that he should be the leader because he was discipled  by Paul, the Saint Paul. Another lays claim to a particular relationship with some other prominent minister. And so on.

In this passage, Paul shows that the root cause for the division is pride and boasting. That is the reason we cannot get along, the reason there is no peace in the world and the reason we cannot live at peace with one another. Have a look. Verse 21 starts off ‘no more boasting’, chapter 4:7 says ‘why do you boast …?’; and note verse 6 especially when he urges them not to ‘take pride in one man over another’.

‘No pride, no boasting,’ says Paul. So we are after the trait of humility. And that means we get into the very interesting subject of self-esteem.

Up until the twentieth century, traditional cultures (and this is still true of most cultures in the world) always believed that too high a view of yourself was the root cause of all the evil in the world. Why are people abused? Why are people cruel? Why do people do the bad things they do? Traditionally, the answer was hubris – the Greek word meaning pride or too high a view of yourself. Traditionally, that was the reason given for why people misbehave.

But in our modern western culture, we have developed an utterly opposite cultural consensus. The basis of contemporary education, the way we treat incarcerated prisoners, the foundation of most modern legislation and the starting point for modern counselling is exactly the opposite of the traditional consensus. Our belief today – and it is deeply rooted in everything – is that people misbehave for lack of self-esteem and because they have too low a view of themselves. For example, the reason husbands beat their wives and the reason people are criminals is because they have too low a view of themselves. People used to think it was because they had too high a view of themselves and had too much self-esteem. Now we say it is because we have too little self-esteem.

A few years ago, there was an article in the New York Times magazine (Feb 3, 2003) by psychologist Lauren Slater called ‘The Trouble with Self-Esteem‘. It was not a ground-breaking article or a bolt out of the blue. She was simply beginning to report what the experts had known for years. The significant thing she says is that there is no evidence that low esteem is a big problem in society. She quotes three current studies into the subject of self-esteem, all of which reach this conclusion and she states that ‘people with high self-esteem pose a greater threat to those around them than people with low self-esteem and feeling bad about yourself is not the source of our country’s biggest, most expensive social problems.’

It would be fun to explain how that works and why that works and so on. But, for now, let’s just say she is right when she says it will take years and years for us to accept this. It is so deeply rooted in our psyche that lack of self-esteem is the reason why there is drug addiction, the reason there is crime, wife beating,and so forth. Slater says it is going to take forever for this view to change.

You see, the big thing about the ‘low self-esteem theory of misbehavior’ is that it is very attractive. You do not have to make any moral judgements in order to deal with society’s problems. All you have to do is support people and build them up. In traditional cultures, the way you dealt with these problems was that you clamped down on people and convicted them and called them bad!

What is intriguing about this passage in I Corinthians is that it gives us an approach to self-regard, an approach to the self and a way of seeing ourselves that is absolutely different from both the traditional and the post/modern contemporary  cultures. Utterly different!

The three things that Paul shows us here are:

1. The natural condition of the human ego.
2. The transformed sense of self (which Paul had discovered and which can be brought about through the gospel).
3. How to get that transformed sense of self.

Part Two of  Two

Discipleship

First and fundamental in the Anabaptist vision was the conception of the essence of Christianity as discipleship. It was a concept which meant the transformation of the entire way of life of the individual believer and of society so that it should be fashioned after the teachings and example of Christ. The Anabaptists could not understand a Christianity which made regeneration, holiness, and love primarily a matter of intellect, of doctrinal belief, or of subjective “experience,” rather than one of the transformation of life. They demanded an outward expression of the inner experience. Repentance must be “evidenced” by newness of behavior. “In evidence” is the keynote which rings through the testimonies and challenges of the early Swiss brethren when they are called to give an account of themselves. The whole life was to be brought literally under the lordship of Christ in a covenant of discipleship, a covenant which the Anabaptist writers delighted to emphasize. The focus of the Christian life was to be not so much the inward experience of the grace of God, as it was for Luther, but the outward application of that grace to all of human conduct and the consequent Christianization of all human relationships.

The great word of the Anabaptists was not “faith” as it was with the reformers, but “following.” And baptism, the greatest of Christian symbols, was accordingly to be for them the “covenant of a good conscience toward God” (I Peter 3:21), the pledge of a complete commitment to obey Christ, and not primarily the symbol of a past experience. The Anabaptists had faith, indeed, but they used it to produce a life. Theology was for them a means, not an end.

That the Anabaptists not only proclaimed the ideal of full Christian discipleship but achieved, in the eyes of their opponents, a measurably higher level of performance than the average, is fully witnessed by the sources. The early Swiss and South German reformers were keenly aware of this achievement and its attractive power. Zwingli knew it best of all, but Bullinger , Capito, Vadian, and many others confirm his judgement that the Anabaptist Brethren were unusually sincere, devoted and effective Christians. However, since the Brethren refused to accept the state church system which the reformers were building, and in addition made “radical” demands which might have changed the entire social order, the leaders of the Reformation were completely baffled in their understanding of the movement. In Zwingli’s last book against the Swiss Brethren in 1527 for instance, the following is found: “If you investigate their life and conduct, it seems at first contact irreproachable, pious, unassuming, attractive, yea, above this world. Even those inclined to be critical will say their lives are excellent.”

And the Roman Catholic theologian, Franz Agricola, in his book of 1582, Against the Terrible Errors of the Anabaptists, says: “Among existing heretical sects there is none which in appearance leads a more modest or pious life than the Anabaptist. As concerns their outward public life they are irreproachable. No lying, deception, swearing, strife, harsh language, no intemperate eating and drinking, no outward personal display is found amongst them, but humility, patience, uprightness, neatness, honesty, temperance, straight forwardness, in such measure that one would suppose that they had the Holy Spirit of God.

2. Brotherhood

A second major element in the Anabaptist vision, a new concept of the church was created by the central principle of newness of life and applied Christianity. Voluntary church membership based upon true conversion and involving a commitment to holy living and discipleship was the absolutely essential heart of this concept. This vision stands in sharp contrast to the church concept of the reformers who retained the medieval idea of a mass church with membership of the entire population from birth to the grave compulsory by law and force.

It is from the standpoint of this new conception of the church that the Anabaptist opposition to infant baptism must be interpreted. Infant baptism was not the cause of their disavowal of the state church; it was only a symbol of the cause. How could infants give a commitment based upon a knowledge of what true Christianity means? They might conceivably passively experience the grace of God (though Anabaptists would question this), but they could not respond in pledging their lives to Christ. Such infant baptism would not only be meaningless, but would in fact become a serious obstacle to a true understanding of the nature of Christianity and membership in the church. Only adult baptism could signify an intelligent life commitment.

The world would not tolerate the practice of true Christian principles in society, and the church could not tolerate the practice of worldly ways among its membership. Hence, the only way out was separation, the gathering of true Christians into their own Christian society where Christ’s way could and would be practiced. On this principle of separation Menno Simon said: “All the evangelical scriptures teach us that the church of Christ was and is, in doctrine, life, worship, a people separated from the world.

In a sense this principle of nonconformity to the world is merely a negative expression of the positive requirement of discipleship, but it goes further in the sense that it represents a judgement on the contemporary social order, which the Anabaptists called “the world,” as non-Christian, and sets up a line of demarcation between the Christian community and worldly society.

A logical outcome of the concept on nonconformity to the world was the concept of the suffering church. Conflict with the world was inevitable for those who endeavored to live an earnest Christian life. The Anabaptists expected opposition: they took literally the words of Jesus when he said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” but they also took literally his words on encouragement, “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Perhaps it was persecution that made the Anabaptists so acutely aware of the conflict between the church and the world, but this persecution was due to the fact that they refused to accept what they considered the sub-Christian way of life practiced in European Christendom. They could have avoided the persecution had they but conformed, or they could have suspended the practice of their faith to a more convenient time, but they chose with dauntless courage and simple honesty to live their faith, to defy the existing world order, and to suffer the consequences.

3. Love and Nonresistance

The third great element in the Anabaptist vision was the ethic of love and nonresistance as applied to all human relationships. The Brethren understood this to mean complete abandonment of all warfare, strife, and violence, and of the taking of human life. Conrad Grebel, the Swiss, said in 1524: “True Christians use neither worldly sword nor engage in war, since among them taking life has ceased entirely, for we are no longer under the Old Covenant … The Gospel and those who accept it are not to be protected with the sword, neither should they thus protect themselves.

In this principle of nonresistance, or biblical pacifism, which was thoroughly believed and resolutely practiced by all the original Anabaptist Brethren and their descendants throughout Europe from the beginning until the last century, the Anabaptists were again creative leaders, far ahead of their times, in this antedating the Quakers by over a century and a quarter. It should be remembered that they held this principle when both Catholic and Protestant churches not only endorsed war as an instrument of state policy, but employed it in religious conflicts as well.

There were two foci (cornerstones) in the Anabaptist vision

• The first focus relates to the essential nature of Christianity. Is Christianity primarily a matter of the reception of divine grace through:
• A sacramental-sacerdotal institution (Roman Catholicism),
• Or chiefly enjoyment of the inner experience of the grace of God through faith in Christ (Lutheranism)
• Or is it most of all the transformation of life through discipleship (Anabaptism)

The Anabaptists were neither institutionalists, mystics, nor pietists (movement within Lutheranism in reaction to the Churches formalism and intellectualism) for they laid the weight of their emphasis upon following Christ in life. To them it was unthinkable for one truly to be a Christian without creating  a new life on divine  principles both for himself and for all men who commit themselves to the Christian way.

• The second foci relates to the church. For the Anabaptist, the church was neither:
• An institution (Catholicism)
• Nor the instrument of God for the proclamation of the divine Word (Lutheranism)
• Nor a resource group for individual piety (Pietism)
• But rather a brotherhood of love in which the fullness of the Christian life ideal is to be expressed. (Anabaptist)

The Anabaptist vision may be further clarified by comparison of the social ethics of the four main Christian groups of the Reformation period, Catholic, Calvinist, Lutheran,and Anabaptist.

Catholic and Calvinist alike were optimistic about the world, agreeing that the world can be redeemed; they held that the entire social order can be brought under the sovereignty of God and Christianized, although they used different means to attain this goal.

Lutheran and Anabaptist were pessimistic about the world, denying the possibility of Christianizing the entire social order; but the consequent attitudes of these two groups toward the social order were diametrically opposed. Lutheranism said that since the Christian must live in a world order that remains sinful, he must make a compromise with it. As a citizen he cannot avoid participation in the evil of the world, for instance in making war, and for this his only recourse is to seek forgiveness by the grace of God; only within his personal private experience can the Christian truly Christianize his life.

The Anabaptist rejected this view completely. Since for him no compromise may be made with evil, the Christian may in no circumstance participate in any conduct in the existing social order which is contrary to spirit and teaching of Christ and the apostolic practice. He must consequently withdraw from the worldly system and create a social order within the fellowship of the church brotherhood. Extension of this Christian order by the conversion of individuals and their transfer out of the world into the church is the only way by which progress can be made in Christianizing the social order.

 However, the Anabaptist was realistic. Down the long perspective of the future he saw little chance that the mass of humankind would enter into such a brotherhood with its high ideals. Hence he anticipated a long and grievous conflict between the church and the world. Neither did he anticipate the time when the church would rule the world; the church would always be a suffering church. He agreed with the words of Jesus when He said that those who would be His disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow him, and that there would be few who would enter the strait gate and travel the narrow way of life. If this prospect should seem too discouraging, the Anabaptist would reply that the life within the Christian brotherhood is satisfyingly full of love and joy.

Summary

The Anabaptist vision was not a detailed blueprint for the reconstruction of human society, but the Brethren did believe that Jesus intended that the kingdom of God should be set up in the midst of earth, here and now, and this they proposed to do forthwith. We shall not believe, they said, that the Sermon on the Mount or any other vision that He had is only a heavenly vision meant but to keep His followers in tension until the last great day, but we should practice what he taught, believing that where He walked we can by His grace follow in His steps.

                           THE END —- Your Response?

Part One of Two

Today I am compelled as I witness the North American Anabaptist landscape to introduce you to the scholarly presidential address by Harold S Bender to the American Society of Church History at Columbia University in NYC in 1943. The address has remained predominately in circles of the theologians and historians and few of today’s 500,000 NA Anabaptists in the pews have actually read it or discussed its significance.

Harold S Bender held degrees from Goshen College, Garrett Biblical Institute, Princeton Theological Institute, Princeton University and Heidelberg University. He was ordained to ministry in 1933 as well as the Dean of Goshen College, and from 1944 until his death in 1962 he served as Dean of the Goshen College Biblical Seminary. He became the President of Mennonite World Conference in 1952 and in 1927 he founded the scholarly quarterly, The Mennonite Quarterly Review and served as its editor until his death. 

This entire address of 35 pages plus 11 pages of extensive footnotes is available on Amazon or you may Google “the anabaptist vision summary” and the second choice, “The Anabaptist Vision by Harold S Bender – Goshen College” will take you to the address in its entirety. Here is my Reader’s Digest Condensed version if you prefer.

The Anabaptist Vision

“Judged by the reception it met at the hands of those in power, both in Church and State, equally in Roman Catholic and in Protestant countries, the Anabaptist movement was one of the most tragic in the history of Christianity; but, judged by the principles, which were put into play by the men who bore this reproachful nickname, it must be pronounced one of the most momentous and significant undertakings in man’s eventful religious struggle after the truth. It gathered up the gains of earlier movements, it is the spiritual soil out of which all nonconformist sects have sprung, and it is the first plain announcement in modern history of a program for a new type of Christian society which the modern world, especially in America and England, has been slowly realizing – an absolute free and independent religious society, and a state in which every man counts as a man, and has his share in shaping both Church and State.”

These words of Rufus M. Jones constitute one of the best characterizations of Anabaptism and its contribution to our modern Christian culture to be found in the English language. They were brave words when they were written in 1908, but they have been abundantly verified by a generation of Anabaptist research since that time. There can be no question but that the great principles of freedom of conscience, separation of church and state, and voluntarism in religion, so basic in American Protestantism and so essential to democracy, ultimately are derived from the Anabaptists of the Reformation period, who for the first time clearly enunciated them and challenged the Christian world to follow them in practice. The line of descent through the centuries since that time may not always be clear, and may have passed through other intermediate movements and groups, but the debt to original Anabaptism is unquestioned.

The sixteenth-century reformers understood the Anabaptist position on this point all to well, and deliberately rejected it. The best witness is Heinrich Bullinger, Zwingli’s successor in Zurich, whose active life-span covers the first fifty years of the history of the Swiss Anabaptists and who knew them so well that he published two extensive treatises against them in 1531 and 1561. According to Bullinger, the Swiss Brethren taught that:

“One cannot and should not use force to compel anyone to accept the faith, for faith is a free gift of God. It is wrong to compel anyone by force or coercion to embrace the faith, or to put to death anyone for the sake of his erring faith. It is an error that in the church any sword other than that of the divine Word should be used. The secular kingdom should be separated from the church, and no secular ruler should exercise authority in the church. The Lord has commanded simply to preach the Gospel, not to compel anyone by force to accept it. The true church of Christ has the characteristic that it suffers and endures persecution but does not inflict persecution upon anyone.”

Bullinger reports these ideas, not in commendation but in condemnation urging the need of rigid suppression. He attempts a point by point refutation of the Anabaptist teaching, closing with the assertion that to put to death Anabaptists is a necessary and commendable service.

But great as is the Anabaptist contribution to the development of religious liberty, this concept not only does not exhaust but actually fails to define the true essence of Anabaptism who had not only clearly defined goals but also an action plan of definiteness and power. In fact the more intimately one becomes acquainted with this group the more one becomes conscious of the great vision that shaped their course in history and for which they gladly gave their lives.

Before describing this vision it is well to note its attractiveness to the masses of Christians of the sixteenth century. Bullinger wrote in 1531 that “ the people were running after them as though they were living saints.” Another contemporary writer asserts that “Anabaptism had spread with such speed that there was reason to fear that the majority of the common people would unite with this sect. Zwingli was so frightened by the power of the movement that he complained that the struggle with the Catholic party was “but child’s play” compared to the conflict with the Anabaptists.

The dreadful severity of the persecution of the Anabaptist movement in the years 1527-60 not only in Switzerland and South Germany, but in all the  Austrian lands as well as in the Low Countries, testifies to the power of the movement and the desperate haste with which the Catholic, Lutheran, and Zwinglian authorities alike strove to throttle it before it should be too late. In 1529 the decree issued by the Diet of Spires summarily passed the sentence of death upon all Anabaptists, ordering that “every Anabaptist  and re-baptized person of either sex should be put to death by fire, sword, or some other way.” Even judges and jurors who had scruples against pronouncing the death sentence on Anabaptists, be removed from office and punished by heavy fines and imprisonment.

The authorities had great difficulty in executing their program of suppression, for they soon discovered that the Anabaptists feared neither torture or death, and gladly sealed their faith with their blood. Therefore, since the customary method of individual trials and sentences were proving totally inadequate to stem the tide, the authorities resorted to sending out mounted soldiers and armed executioners to hunt down Anabaptists and kill them on the spot singly or en masse without trial or sentence.

The Anabaptists bore all the torture and agony without fear. The things of this world they counted in their holy mind only as shadows, having the assurance of greater things. They were so drawn to God that they sought nothing, desired nothing, loved nothing but God alone. Therefore they had more patience in their suffering than their enemies in tormenting them. The prisoners sang in their prisons and rejoiced so that the enemies outside became much more fearful than the prisoners and did not know what to do with them. Many were talked to in wonderful ways, often day and night. They were argued with, with great cunning and cleverness, with many sweet and smooth words, by monks and priests, by doctors of theology, with much false testimony, with threats and scolding and mockery, yea, with lies and grievous slander against the brotherhood, but none of these things moved them or made them falter.

Before defining the Anabaptist vision, it is essential to state clearly who is meant by the term “Anabaptist,” since the name has come to be used in modern historiography to cover a wide variety of Reformation groups, sometimes thought of as the whole “left wing of the Reformation” (Roland Bainton), or “the Bolsheviks of the Reformation” (Preserved Smith). There is no longer any excuse for permitting our understanding of the distinct character of this genuine Anabaptism to be obscured by Thomas Munster and the Peasants War, the Munsterites, or any other aberration of Protestantism in the sixteenth century.

The Anabaptists were concerned most of all about “a true Christian life,” that is a life patterned after the teaching and example of Christ by establishing congregations in which repentance was evidenced by fruits from their newness of life in Christ. The Anabaptists believed the reformers, such as Luther and Zwingli, did not secure among the people true repentance, regeneration, and Christian living as a result of their preaching.

There is abundant evidence that although the original goal sought by Luther and Zwingli was “an earnest Christianity” for all, the actual outcome was far less, for the level of Christian living among the Protestant population was frequently lower than it had been before under Catholicism. Luther himself was keenly aware of the deficiency. Between 1522 and 1527 Luther repeatedly mentioned his concern to establish a true Christian church, and his desire to provide for earnest Christians who would confess the gospel with their lives as well as with their tongues. Zwingli faced the same problem; he was in fact specifically challenged by the Swiss brethren to set up such a church; but he refused and followed Luther’s course. Both reformers decided it was better to include the masses within the fold of the church than to form a fellowship of true Christians only. In taking this course, the Anabaptists said the reformers surrendered their original purpose, and abandoned the divine intention. Others may say they were wise and statesman-like leaders.

The Anabaptists, however, retained the original vision of Luther and Zwingli, enlarged it, gave it body and form, and set out to achieve it in actual experience. They proceeded to organize a church composed solely of earnest Christians, and actually found the people for it. They did not believe in any case that the size of the response should determine whether or not the truth of God should be applied, and they refused to compromise. They preferred to make a radical break with 1500 years of history and culture if necessary rather than to break with the New Testament.

Luther’s expressions of his partial failures and dejection are well known. Contrast this sense of defeat at the end of Luther’s outwardly successful career with the sense of victory in the hearts of the Anabaptist martyrs who laid down their lives in what the world would call defeat, conscious of having kept faith with their vision to the end.

Therefore, by having defined genuine Anabaptism in its Reformation setting, we are now ready to examine its central teachings. The Anabaptist vision included three major points of emphasis: 1.) Discipleship, 2.) Brotherhood, and 3.) Love and Nonresistance.These three will be reviewed in the next posting. Blessings as you ponder the significance of either your heritage or the spiritual integrity of the martyrs for all believers.   Merlin