Proverbs

Proverbs

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller of New York City, and the Scripture is Proverbs 1:1-3 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
 
Proverbs are not statutes or promises, but they are ways that things ordinarily work in this world.  The Bible's understanding of reality is that there is a divine order, but it is a fallen order needing to be healed.   If you don't understand both of those things, then Proverbs sometimes doesn't make sense to you. 
 
Here is an example.  Proverbs 22:6 says Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  In general, yes, if you are consistent with your discipline of your child, then that is the best possible thing because there is a divine order.  But the order is fallen, and that means that sometimes even if you do everything right with your kid, your kids can still grow up and go off the rails.  Proverbs are God's best practices for life in a divinely ordered yet fallen world. 
 
There is a divine order, so generally, work hard, tell the truth, be sexually faithful, and generally your life will go better.  But it doesn't have to go better.  After all, Jesus Christ did all of those things, and His life didn't go so well (He got crucified).   He was confronted with the falleness of this place.  If you believe that if you do everything right in life that your life will go well, you are a fool.  You don't see the reality. 
 
The promise of the gospel is that Jesus Christ was judged for you, and He has covered you.  All of the deformities, all of the sins, everything that is wrong, it is covered and God sees an absolute beauty.  He is the only one who counts, and He is the true lover of your soul.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Goodness

Goodness

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller and the scripture is Matthew 21:31 Jesus said to them, 'Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.

 

Jesus over and over again says to the Pharisees that the pimps and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before they do.  As John Girsner once put it, "The thing that really separates us from God is not so much our sins but our damnable good works." 

 

The rebellious rule breakers just decide to be their own Savior and Lord.  They say, "I don't need God or religion.  Don't tell me what's right and wrong.  I will decide what is right and wrong for me.  They know that they have kicked God out of their life.  Therefore, when their life falls apart, and there is smoke, they say that maybe they need God. 

 

Goodness may actually mask people's battle with God and the fact that they are also being their own Savior and Lord.  Because of their goodness they don't really make Jesus their Savior and Lord.  They are their own Savior and Lord and think that God owes them.  Therefore, when their life stops working and falls apart, there is smoke all over, but they can't find the fire. 

 

I don't know how many times I have heard people say, "I've tried Christianity and God, and it didn't work."  What they mean is, "I wanted something, and God didn't give it to me."   They set their heart on other things besides God, and they were just using Him.   When they weren't getting the things that they really wanted, they blamed God and assumed that Christianity didn't work. 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Your Identity

Your Identity

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the verse is Ephesians 2:8-9  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast.

One of the things that my wife Kathy and I have had to do over the years is reprogram people who have moved to New York from places in this country where they were living in strong Christian homes, churches and cultures.  They move to New York, and they go through a crisis.  They say, "I'm meeting atheists and agnostics and Buddhists and Jews and Hindus and Muslims.   Many of them are kinder, wiser, more decent, more respectful and better people than the Christians I know.   How could this be?"

Here's what we have to say.  You may have gotten an A on your Christian doctrine test.  You checked the right box when the question was, "Are you saved by grace alone or by your good works?"   You may have gotten your doctrine right, but you are a Pharisee functionally.   You think that you are saved by your works!   Don't you understand that in all of the religions and philosophies of the world what makes you right with God is things that you have done.  Christianity says, "No, what makes you right with God is things that He has done."  Because of this you should expect to find people who aren't Christians who are better, wiser, gentler and more generous than you. 

If that shocks you, it shows  that you really thought the reason that you were right with God is that you were kinder, gentler, wiser and more generous.  You had an identity that did not understand the doctrine of grace.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining