The following text is an excerpt from Lies My Pastor Told Me, an eBook written by Pastor Cole Brown. You can download the entire book for free at http://www.liesmypastortoldme.com
“Speak it Into Existence!”
If you were feeling sick you better not say so in front of my pastor. If you did you would quickly be rebuked. “Don’t claim that,” he’d say, “You might speak it into existence.” I never did understand the logic of that counsel. How could I speak my sickness into existence if the symptoms I was speaking of were already present? Well, these logical inconsistencies are the least of our concerns here. Our greatest concern is the lie that my pastor and many others have told: the lie that human beings have the power to create reality by our words – the power to speak things into existence.
This lie caused endless amounts of pain in our congregation as it has in congregations around the world. Sick people were told to ignore their symptoms and “claim healing.” Poor people were told to ignore their debt and “speak prosperity” into their lives. Single people were told to ignore what God might want for them and bring their future spouse into existence by “speaking in faith.” Needless to say, the people who followed my pastor’s teachings were eventually left with only two options: they could either be disappointed in God for not supplying what they demanded or they could be disappointed with themselves for not having enough faith. Either way, the lie had done its damage.
So where did this lie come from? It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that this concept of speaking things into existence did not come from Holy Scriptures. Rather, this teaching seems to have originated with a man named E.W. Kenyon roughly 100 years ago. However, this does not stop people from trying to use the Bible to support their belief that human beings can speak things into existence.
For example, my pastor would first point you to the opening chapter of the Bible. In Genesis 1 we are introduced to God as he creates the entire universe out of nothing by speaking things into existence (as in “Let there be light” and “Let the land produce vegetation”). My pastor wants you to believe that this passage proves that words do create reality. But it doesn’t. It proves that God’s words create reality. God and God alone holds the power to speak things into existence. This point is made clearly and forcefully in Lamentations 3:37-38, “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?”
A second passage my pastor would cite in defense of his teaching would be Mark 11:22-24. In this passages Jesus tells his disciples, “Have faith in God…Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” My pastor wants you to believe that this passage teaches us that human beings have the power to change reality according to their speech. But it doesn’t. It teaches us that God has the power to change reality according to his will. As we clearly see in the opening phrase of this passage, Jesus is not to teaching us to have faith in ourselves or in our words but to have faith in God. His promise is not that you will receive whatever you speak but, rather, that you will receive “whatever you ask for in prayer.” And we know from the rest of Scripture that this is not a blanket promise that God will answer our every prayer but a promise that God will answer our prayers when they are in accordance with his will. As his close friend John would later write, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us” (1John 5:14, emphasis mine).
In addition to being utterly unbiblical the idea of speaking things into existence is also illogical. What happens when two men with an equal amount of faith both claim the same wife? What happens when two warring nations both claim the same victory? And if we all have the power to claim our healing why do 100% of Christians die? If my pastor’s teaching is true shouldn’t Christians simply be able to say, “I am not sick,” “I am not dying,” or “I will live forever”?
It is evident that my pastor’s teaching on speaking things into existence is both unbiblical and illogical. But, worst of all, it is evil. As we read in James 4:13-16, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.”
My pastor’s lie that we can speak things into existence is no different than the lie the Serpent told Eve. It tells us that we can be like God. We can’t. Regardless of what we say or don’t say God’s will always prevails. And this should not frustrate us. It should comfort us. Because this is the same God who willed to save us from his wrath by sending his own Son to be judged in our place. In light of this good news it makes much more sense to put our faith in God than it does to put our faith in our own words.
The following text is an excerpt from Lies My Pastor Told Me, an eBook written by Pastor Cole Brown. You can download the entire book for free at http://www.liesmypastortoldme.com
“I have peace about this decision!”
Life is filled with decisions. Sometimes making these decisions can be difficult, even frightening. This is especially true when there are several options that appear to be equally viable. In such cases we want God to tell us which decision we should make. But where the Scriptures are not explicit it can sometimes be difficult to discern which direction he is leading us. My pastor had a solution for that: simply make the decision that you feel the most peace about. If you feel peace about a decision, he would say, then that is evidence that you are walking in God’s will. If you don’t feel peace about a decision, he would advise, then that decision is not in line with the will of God.
I have since learned that my pastor’s view is not a unique one. Over the years I have heard Christian after Christian claim that that their decisions are in line with God’s will with the simple words, “I have peace about this decision!” This idea that feeling peace about a decision is evidence that it is God’s will (and that not feeling peace about a decision is evidence that it is not God’s will) is commonly held. Nevertheless, it is a lie.
First, we know it is a lie because it is nowhere taught in the Scriptures. Of course, there are many New Testament passages that promise peace to the believer. These passages, however, are not primarily concerned with an emotional feeling but with an objective fact. As the Apostle Paul explains in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peacewith God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” According to the Scriptures, believers experience objective peace as a result of being reconciled to God in Christ and not as a result of making the right decisions.
Second, we know it is a lie because we see multiple stories in the Bible that directly contradict it. For example, consider the story of Moses. God himself audibly spoke to Moses and made his will for Moses known. Yet Moses did not feel peace about the decision God was calling him to make. To the contrary, Moses was using every excuse he could find hoping to get out of it.
“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?”
When God didn’t accept that excuse Moses tried a second.
“Suppose they ask me who sent me? What should I tell them?”
When that excuse didn’t work Moses looked for another.
“What if they do not believe me or listen to me?”
When God refused that excuse Moses tried another.
“But I have never been eloquent. I am slow in speech and tongue.”
Finally, with no plausible excuses remaining, Moses directly asked God for an out.
“Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Does that sound like a man who feels peace about his decision? Of course not. Yet there is no question that the decision he was making was entirely consistent with God’s will. Not only did God communicate his will to Moses audibly, he also accompanied that verbal communication with multiple miracles. Yet even that was not enough to give Moses peace about the decision. And this story is not unique to Moses. We find this with many of the Old Testament prophets. God clearly calls them to a specific task and they feel anything but at peace about pursuing it.
The Bible also introduces us to characters who have the opposite experience. Take Jonah for example. As God’s prophet, Jonah knew with certainty that God had called him to go to Nineveh. Yet Jonah did not feel peace about that decision so he fled in the opposite direction. In so doing, Jonah was directly going against God’s revealed will. If my pastor’s claim was true then Jonah should not have been at peace with his decision. But he was. He was so at peace with his decision that he was able to sleep soundly on his get-away ship in the middle of a violent storm. While everyone else on the ship was concerned about their life, Jonah was peacefully sleeping below deck. Jonah knew precisely what God’s will was. Yet he did not feel peace about making that decision. Instead, he felt peace as he fled — in willful rebellion — from the decision God told him to make.
Clearly, the claim that I can know I’m in God’s will because “I have peace about that decision” is a lie that has no basis in Scripture. Nevertheless, many Christians believe it. But we don’t have to. The truth of the matter is that we have been given everything we need to guide us in our decisions: we have been given God’s Word and we have been given God’s Work.
God’s Word often provides explicit instructions about what decisions we should and should not make and, even where it does not, it still supplies us with sufficient information to make a decision with confidence. It does this by revealing to us who God is, what he is like, and what he wills.
There will be times, though, when you have to apply God’s Word to very specific situations in very specific ways and it will be unclear to you which of the two or three options before you is the best option. But this does not mean you need to look to emotions or other signs to confirm God’s will for you. Instead, you can look to God’s Work. Specifically, you look to the work accomplished by Jesus Christ through his perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. It is through faith in this work that we can now be certain that “we have peacewith God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). This means that we can have peace in any decision that is consistent with God’s Word because we know – through God’s Work – that in whatever decision we make God will love us, be with us, and use our decision to make us more like his Son.
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Introduction
John has spent most of his life in some form of church leadership. He has spent his life explaining the Scriptures to people and calling them to worship God in obedience. As such, he has influenced hundreds and hundreds of people. And most of these people would point to John as the prime example of what a minister should be. Until they found out that he had been stealing money from the church.
Beth has been a Christian for as long as she can remember. She was born in the church, raised in the church, and to this day spends most of her time in the church. To say that Beth appeared to be a devoted follower of Jesus would be an understatement. Everyone around her would point to her as the perfect example of someone who takes their faith very seriously. Until they found out that she left her husband for a married man.
I don’t know if you know John. I don’t know if you know Beth. But you do know people like John and Beth. You know people who appear to be firmly devoted to God, people who you would point to as the very example of what a person of faith should be, who eventually turn away from God and turn toward the most heinous of sins.
Why is this? Why is it that can say this knowing that most of you – if not all of you – know exactly what I’m talking about? Why is it so common to see the most devoted religious people turn out to be guilty of the most despicable moral failures? That’s a very important question. And perhaps it brings to mind even a more important question: how do you make sure that you don’t become one of them?
Jesus will answer both of those questions for us tonight as we continue to listen to his words from Matthew 23. Turn there with me if you will.
Religion Produces Sin
Over the past two weeks we have summarized Jesus’ teaching in this chapter with these strong and offensive words: “Jesus Hates Religion (And You Should Too).” Now when we use the word religion, remember, we’re talking about any and every system of belief that says, “If you obey these teachings then you will be loved, accepted, and blessed.” Every religion in the world promotes some variation of this basic philosophy. Every religion in the world claims that if you obey certain teachings then you will be loved, accepted, and blessed by God, or by the universe, or by other people, or by karma, or whatever. This is even the message of thousands upon thousands of Christian pastors. But it’s not the message of Jesus. And it’s not the message of the Bible. No, the message of Jesus and the Scriptures is very different. The message of Jesus and the Scriptures is that religion, as just described, is evil.
Jesus has spent the first portion of the chapter explaining this very thing to his disciples. But now he transitions and begins to communicate the same message directly to the religious leaders of his day. Let’s listen to what he says to them in verses 13-15.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and then you make that convert twice as much a child of hell as you are.”
Two weeks ago we saw that Jesus hates religion because it produces fear. Last week we saw that Jesus hates religion because it produces pride. Tonight we see a third reason that Jesus hates religion. Jesus hates religion because it produces sin.
Now on the surface that statement sounds false, doesn’t it? I mean if religious people are known for anything they are known for doing everything they can to avoid sin. But Jesus tells us that religion does not lead people away from sin. It leads them to it. He gives us two examples of this in the verses we just read. First, he says that religious people claim to teach other people how to get to God. But their teaching actually makes it more difficult for people to get to God. Instead of helping them walk into God’s kingdom they slam the door to God’s kingdom in their face. Second, he says that religious people claim to convert people into children of God. But they actually just make them twice as much a child of hell as they were before, and as the religious leaders are themselves. Because of that, Jesus tells the religious leaders, “Woe to you.” Or, to translate that into words more suitable to our culture, “I am greatly displeased with you and your judgment is coming.”
Jesus hates religion – and Jesus will judge religious people – because religion produces sin. And while that statement may sound false on the surface when you dig deeper its truth becomes glaringly obvious. Religion not only produces sin. Religion produces sin in three different ways.
First, religion produces sin because religion requires that you trust in yourself and not in God. Remember, when we talk about religion we’re talking about any system of belief that claims that if you obey its teachings then you will be accepted, loved, and blessed. Religion by its very definition must produce sin because religion by its very definition is idolatrous.
We commit idolatry anytime that we give to creation what belongs to Creator. When we trust a created thing more than the Creator we are idolaters. And that’s what religion requires that we do. Religion tells us that our position with God depends upon how well we can keep the demands of our religion. If I am accepted, loved, and blessed by God it is because I have obeyed him. What this means is that I trust in myself to make me right with God and I trust in myself to keep me right with God. It means I trust creation more than I trust Creator. Religion produces sin because religion, by its very definition, requires idolatry. It requires that we break the first and most important commandment, which is to have no other gods before the True God.
That’s the first of three ways that religion produces sin. The second is this: religion produces sin because religion calls you to do good things for bad reasons. This is what we’ve seen over the past two weeks together, right? Because religion tells you that you are most accepted, most loved, and most blessed by God when you are most obedient to him religion can only offer you two motivators. If you have a religious view of the world you can only be motivated by fear or pride. If you believe that the acceptance, love, and blessing of God depends upon what you do then you will obey God out of fear. You will obey God because you fear that if you don’t you will not be accepted, you will not be loved, and you will not be blessed. If you believe the acceptance, love, and blessing of God depends upon what you do then will also obey God out of pride. You will obey God because it feeds your pride to believe that you have worked hard to earn the acceptance, love, and blessing of God. As we have shown in great detail over the past two weeks, a religious view of the world does not allow for any other motivators. It only allows for fear and pride.
And I hope you can see why this produces sin. If the only way that religion can motivate you is through fear and pride then you are sinning even when you do good because when you do good you are only doing good for self-serving reasons. You are doing good because you want to avoid God’s punishment (fear) and you want to earn God’s blessing (pride). As a religious person your obedience has nothing to do with you valuing God and it has everything to do with you valuing yourself. Even when you are most obedient to God you are not obeying God because you love him, you are obeying God because you love yourself.
So far we’ve seen that religion produces sin because it requires that you trust in yourself rather than God and that religion produces sin because it requires that you do the right things for the wrong reasons. Third, and finally, religion produces sin because its motivators of fear and pride are not strong enough to keep you from giving in to temptation.
As a human being nearly everything you do is motivated by one of three motivators. Fear, pride, or love. All three of these motivators are very strong motivators. But the one of these three motivators that religion cannot provide you with is love. And love is a far stronger motivator than either fear or pride.
To illustrate this I want you to imagine that this building were to catch on fire tonight. And let’s say that because of where I’m standing I was somehow able to get out of the building before many of you did. And as I stand out there watching the flames consume the building I notice that one of our visitors is still in the building. Now the question at that point is, Am I going to go in to try to save him or am I going to stay out to try to save myself? The answer to that question will entirely depend upon whether I am motivated by fear, or pride, or love. If I am motivated by fear then I am not going to go in to rescue a visitor who I don’t even know. If I am motivated by pride then I may go in to rescue the visitor just so that people will look at me as a hero. But you know what will keep me from going into the building to rescue a visitor out of pride? Love. If I love my life more than I love the pride I would feel from saving a stranger then I am not going in. You see, pride is a strong motivator. It might be strong enough to get me in the burning building. But love is a stronger motivator. So if my love for my own life outweighs my love for my own pride then the visitor, who I have never met, is going to burn up in this building. But now imagine that the person inside the building is not a stranger. Imagine that the person inside the building is one of my children. You can imagine that as I stand outside the burning building I would be overwhelmed with fear. But no matter how afraid I was to go into that burning building I can promise you that fear would not keep me out. Why? Because there is a stronger motivator involved. My love for my child is going to overpower my fear of going in and my prideful concern over whether or not I’ll look foolish doing so. Because of my love for my child I am going to toss my fear to the side, I’m going to toss my pride to the side, and I’m going to run into the burning building. You see, fear and pride are strong motivators but they will always lose to love as the strongest motivator.
Now let’s translate this illustration into terms of obedience and sin. Remember, as a religious person I can only be motivated to obey God by either fear or pride because I believe that it is my obedience that earns me God’s acceptance, love, and blessing. That was what John believed, the man we talked about when we began tonight. John had been involved in church leadership for years. People saw him as the prime example of what a minister should be. And, as far as his outward actions were concerned, he certainly was. For years he handled the church finances with the utmost integrity. He dealt honestly with every single penny that came into the church. But, as a religious person, his financial integrity was motivated by his fear and his pride. And while fear and pride were strong enough motivators to keep him straight for 15 years they were not strong enough motivators to keep him straight forever. Because, eventually, his love for money grew to be stronger than his fear of punishment and his pride in being a good Christian. And the moment that happened – the moment that he began to love money more than he feared God’s punishment and took pride in his own obedience – he began to skim off the top. At first he did this sparingly. A little here and a little there. But when he realized that God didn’t send any immediate punishment — and that he didn’t feel any overwhelming guilt — his fear and his pride became even less powerful, his love for money became even more powerful, and he started to take more and more money week after week. John fell into this heinous sin because his religion could not provide him with the one thing that he needed to resist temptation: to love God more than he loved himself.
Beth’s situation was very similar. Beth had been a consistently obedient Christian for years. Everyone pointed to her as the ideal example of someone who is devoted to God and to his pleasure. For 10 years she seemed to have the perfect marriage. But, Beth would now admit to you, she was never happy with him. She always wondered what it would be like to be with another man. But she remained faithful to her husband nevertheless. Why? Because of her religious motivations of fear and pride. She had to remain faithful to her husband out of fear that God would punish her if she didn’t and out of the prideful desire to earn God’s favor by being a good Christian wife. Well, those motivators were enough for 10 years. But eventually they were overpowered by the stronger motivator of love. Beth left her husband for another man, a married man, because at that moment Beth loved her own pleasure and her own happiness more than she feared God’s punishment or took pride in being a good Christian wife. Beth fell into this heinous sin because her religion could not provide her with the one tool she needed to resist temptation: to love God more than she loved herself.
This is why it is so common to hear of very devoted religious people turning out to be guilty of the most despicable moral failures. Because their worldview, their religion, produces sin by requiring that they trust in themselves more than they trust in God, that they do very good things for very bad and very selfish reason, and that they try to fight sin with the very weak weapons of fear and pride instead of being empowered to fight sin with love.
If you have a church background, if you are a person of faith of any type, you have to ask yourself if you are guilty of thinking and living in this way. You have to ask yourself if you are living as though your acceptance, love, and blessing from God depends in any way – even the smallest way – on you. Because, remember, Jesus pronounces judgment not only on those who teach a religious view of life but on those who live according to a religious view of life. Hear his words again from verses 13-15.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and then you make that convert twice as much a child of hell as you are.”
These are very strong words of very strong judgment awaiting those who teach or follow a religious view of the world. Now maybe you think these warnings don’t apply to you because you’re not religious. Maybe you’d describe yourself as irreligious or as spiritual. So you think this whole warning about religion producing sin is not relevant to you. But it is. Because, the truth is, an irreligious view of the world does exactly the same thing. Remember that the root sin of all sins is idolatry. The root sin of all sins is to give to creation what properly belongs to the Creator. We sin and we sin greatly anytime we love a created person or thing more than we love the Creator of that person or thing. We sin and we sin greatly anytime we trust a created person or thing more than we trust the Creator of that person or thing. We sin and we sin greatly anytime we fear a created person or thing more than we love the Creator of that person or thing. We sin and we sin greatly anytime we live for the pleasure of a created person or thing more than we live for the pleasure of the Creator of that person or thing. If you are an irreligious person then everything you do is done for the pleasure of someone other than Jesus out of fear, or trust, or love for someone other than Jesus. Which means that everything you do – no matter how good it might appear to be – is actually very wicked.
The Gospel Produces Righteousness
You see, religion and irreligion look very different on the outside. But at their core they are exactly the same. They both require that you give to creation what belongs to the Creator. So Jesus hates religion – and Jesus hates irreligion – for the very same reason. Jesus hates religion and irreligion because they produce sin and lead to death.
So what are we to do? The truth is every one of us is guilty, in some measure, of either religion or irreligion. So how do we escape the judgment that such people deserve? How do we break free from these systems that perpetually produce sin? How do we get to the point where we can do the right things for the right reason?
It shouldn’t surprise you to hear that Jesus has the answer. No, more than that, Jesus himself is the answer. Jesus did not just come here to teach us how to live a righteous life. He came here to live a righteous life for us – in our place. Jesus did not just come here to teach us how to avoid God’s judgment. He came here to receive God’s judgment for us – in our place. And then he rose from the dead to defeat sin and death for us – in our place.
You see this is the unique message of Christianity that separates it from every single religion in the world. While every religion in the world says you will be most accepted, most loved, and most blessed when you obey God, Christianity says that you are fully accepted, fully loved, and fully blessed simply by turning to Jesus in faith because Jesus obeyed God perfectly – in your place.
And as you turn from your religion and turn from your irreligion and turn to Jesus in faith you are freed from fear. Why? Because Jesus has taken all of your punishment and no punishment remains. You are freed from pride. Why? Because Jesus has provided all of your righteousness and you have none of your own. And you are given the power to fight sin and win. Why? Because now you have the one tool that you need: a love for God that is greater than your love for yourself. Knowing that you are forever free from the wrath of God that you deserve you are moved to love God more than yourself, because he poured that wrath out on himself instead of on you. Knowing that you contributed absolutely nothing to your own salvation you are moved to love God more than yourself, because he contributed everything.
While religion produces sin the gospel of Jesus produces righteous obedience. You see, it is precisely because you believe that Jesus has done everything for you that you are now moved to do everything for him. No longer obeying out of fear and pride but now obeying out of sheer gratitude for who he is and what he has done. And the beauties of sin become less and less and less attractive once you have truly beheld the beauties of Christ.
Each Sunday from October 4th to January 3rd we will be studying the book of Colossians during our corporate gatherings (5:30pm at 4046 NE MLK Jr Blvd).
As audio becomes available it will be posted here. But if you are in the Portland area we invite you to join us in person as we listen to what God has to say to modern people through this ancient book’s words on spiritual life, suffering, ministry, community, marriages, parenting, jobs, and more.
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Introduction
Everyone who knows her would tell you: Cindy is a good person. She does all that you could expect of her and more. She’s very involved in her local church. She volunteers her time and her energy to teach the church’s children, to clean the church’s bathrooms, and to visit the church’s sick. If you were to observe how Cindy handles her finances you would be blown away by her generosity. She gives to her church, she gives to local non-profits, she gives to the homeless, she gives to her family and friends who are in need. If you need someone to pray for you you would ask Cindy because you know that she spends hours praying for other people. If you had a question about the Bible you would ask Cindy because you know she spends hours studying the Scriptures. If you needed advice about marriage, parenting, relationships – anything – you would go to Cindy because she wisely applies God’s Word in every area of her life. Cindy is by all accounts a good person. Cindy is by all accounts a good Christian.
But God sees things differently. Because while everyone else simply sees what Cindy does, God sees why Cindy does what she does. And God is disgusted by Cindy’s goodness because he sees that Cindy’s goodness is not good at all. It is evil. And he hates it.
Now I don’t tell you this story so that you will look at Cindy differently. I tell you this story so that you will look at yourself differently. Whatever your spiritual beliefs may be I want to challenge you tonight to look beyond the good things you believe and beyond the good things you do and, instead, look at why you do the good things you do. If God were to pull back all of your good deeds right before our eyes, if God were to pull back all of your good words and good actions and show us your motives, would we be impressed by your motives or repulsed by them?
That question will be answered for all of us tonight as we continue to listen to Jesus’ words from Matthew 23. Turn there with me if you will.
Good Things for the Wrong Reasons
Last week we summarized Jesus’ teaching in this chapter with these strong and offensive words: “Jesus Hates Religion (And You Should Too).” Now when we use the word religion, remember, we’re talking about any and every system of belief that says, “If you obey these teachings then you will be loved, accepted, and blessed.” Every religion in the world promotes some variation of this basic philosophy. Every religion in the world claims that if you obey certain teachings then you will be loved, accepted, and blessed by God, or by the universe, or by other people, or by karma, or whatever. Even thousands of Christian pastors teach this very message. But not Jesus. And not the BIble. No, the message of Jesus and the Scriptures is very different. The message of Jesus and the Scriptures is that religion, as just described, is evil.
But don’t take my word for it. The authority here is not me, the authority is Jesus. You’ll remember from last week that at this point in Matthew 23 Jesus is speaking to his disciples about the religious leaders of their day. As he does so he is communicating something that would have absolutely shocked his audience. He is explaining that these people who appear to us to be most pleasing to God are actually least pleasing to God. Here in verses 5-12 he gives us another reason why,
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Last week we saw that the first reason Jesus hates religion is because it is born from fear and it produces fear. Tonight we see that the second reason Jesus hates religion is because it is born from pride and it produces pride.
This is clear to us right away in verse 5. Jesus does not deny that religious people often do good things. His issue is that they do good things for the wrong reasons. As we said last week. they do good things because they fear not being accepted, loved, or blessed by God. Tonight we see that they also do good things because of their own pride. Jesus says, “Everything they do is done for other people to see.” And then he goes on to give specific examples.
First, he says that they “make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long.” Phylacteries were leather boxes with Scripture passages enclosed in them that the religious leaders physically tied to their foreheads and to their arms. They did this to show how seriously they took God’s command to keep his Word close to them. They also tied tassels to their garments as reminders to obey God’s commands. These things by themselves were enough to communicate their devotion to God. But the religious leaders didn’t merely want other people to know that they were devoted to God they wanted other people to know how much they were devoted to God. So they not only tied boxes and tassels to themselves, they tied wide boxes and long tassels to themselves so that others would see how righteous they were and how sincerely devoted to God they were.
Then he goes on to give a second way that this pride is manifested. He says, “They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’” The religious leaders of Jesus’ day wanted to be honored, they wanted to be respected, they wanted to be set apart from other people, they wanted to be treated differently. They wanted to be seen as special.
How Religion Produces Pride
Now here we are 2,000 years removed from their situation. I doubt any of us are tying leather boxes to our heads. And few of us are demanding that people call us Rabbi. But Jesus’ words are just as applicable to us here and now as they were to the religious leaders of his day. And why? Why are Jesus’ words just as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago? One reason, of course, is that we are prideful people by our very nature. But the second reason, and the reason we’re more concerned about today, is that religion itself feeds and multiplies the pride that is already within us. In fact, religion so feeds our pride that it is impossible to be a religious person and not also be a very prideful person.
“Woah! Wait a minute, Cole, that’s a very strong and broad statement you’re making.” Well, I realize that, but please understand that I don’t say offensive things because I get some sick pleasure from offending people. I say things like it is impossible to be a religious person without also being a very prideful person because it is true. Let me explain. Remember, religion is any system of belief that says, “If you obey these teachings then you will be loved, accepted, and blessed.” And the truth of the matter is that, with the exception of Jesus, every religious leader in history claims that if you obey certain teachings then you will be loved, accepted, and blessed by God, or by the universe, or by other people, or by karma, or whatever.
It shouldn’t take long to see how this type of thinking produces pride. It tells you that whatever good things you receive in life you receive because of your own obedience to this particular religion. You’re accepted by God because of what you’ve done. You’re loved by God because of what you’ve done. You’re blessed by God because of what you’ve done. Religion tells you that your position with God depends on your obedience to God and as long as you believe that your position with God depends on your obedience to God you will be a prideful person who can only point to yourself as the one to credit for any and every good thing that comes into your life. You see, pride is not just something religious people have to watch out for. Pride is the natural consequence of having a religious view of the world.
And this pride doesn’t just impact how you view yourself. It also impacts how you see other people. It’s not a coincidence that the first word my irreligious friends use to describe religious people is “judgmental.” This isn’t just a prejudice of our culture. This isn’t some false image created by the media. This is the very real and very natural result of having a religious view of the world. If the reason I’m accepted by God, loved by God, and blessed by God is in even the smallest possible way due to who I am or what I have done then I cannot help but look down on other people. If only you would do what I do you could have the same thing I have. I have worked hard for all that I have why can’t you work hard too? My religion very clearly tells me to do A, B, and C and I have done it. Therefore, there’s no excuse for you not to do the same thing.
You cannot be a religious person without also being a prideful person. It is impossible. It will impact how you view yourself, it will impact how you view other people and, worst of all, it will impact how you view God. If you believe that you are accepted by God, loved by God, and blessed by God because of your own obedience to your particular religion then you think very highly of yourself and very little of God. First of all it shows that you don’t think God is very righteous. You have to have a very small view of God’s righteousness to believe that the eternally holy God is somehow impressed by your willingness to give a small percentage of your money to the church or by your ability to abstain from fornication for a whole year. Really? Do you think the very source of goodness is so impressed by you doing what you’re supposed to do anyway that he is compelled to reward you with acceptance, love, and blessing?
Having a religious view of the world forces you to have a very high view of your own righteousness and a very small view of God’s righteousness. Having a religious view of the world also forces you to have a very small view of God’s wisdom. If you believe that you are accepted by God, loved by God, and blessed by God because of your own obedience to your particular religion then you believe that God is at best naïve and at worst an idiot. If you’re obeying God because you think that by obeying God you will earn his acceptance, his love, and his blessing then you are not obeying God because you love him, you are obeying God because you love yourself. You’re doing the good things you do in order to get from God the good things you want for yourself. Do you really think that little of God that you think he is too foolish to recognize that the only reason you’re obeying him is to get what you want from him? The average woman is smart enough to know the difference between a man who is doing nice things for her because he loves her and a man who is doing nice things for her because he wants something from her. If a 20 year-old girl can figure that out you don’t think that the very God who created her can figure it out? Really? Do you really think that God is that naïve? You have to think he’s that naïve if you think that he accepts you, loves you, and blesses you for obeying the commands of your religion. Having a religious view of the world forces you to have a very small view of God’s wisdom.
How This Works in Your Life
That’s the case with Cindy, who we talked about earlier tonight. Everyone around Cindy is impressed with her devotion to God and to God’s people. But not God. Because he sees her pride. Yes, she does many good things but she does these good things for very bad reasons. She does these things out of pride. Pride that tells her she can earn God’s acceptance, love, and blessing if she just tries hard enough. Pride that tells her that the reason to do good for God is to get good from God.
This is why Jesus hates religion. Jesus hates religion because of what it does to Cindy. And Jesus hates religion because of what it does to you. It enslaves you. It enslaves you. Do you see that? If you live as though the acceptance, love, and blessing of God depends upon how well you obey God then you will forever be a slave to pride. No matter how much you talk about God’s grace and God’s love you will always be a slave to pride because you will always believe that in some way you have earned God’s acceptance, love, and blessing; you will always think that the difference between you and “less godly” people is that you are willing to work harder; and you will always have a small view of God’s righteousness and God’s wisdom.
Now maybe you’re not a religious person. Maybe you would describe yourself as spiritual or irreligious. So maybe you think that this isn’t an issue for you. But it is. Just as it is impossible to be religious without also being prideful it is impossible to be irreligious without also being prideful. As an irreligious person you know that you didn’t make yourself and you didn’t make the world around you but, nevertheless, you think so highly of yourself that you feel you have the right and the ability to define your own meaning and your own purpose in life. As a “spiritual” person you believe there is someone or something greater than you to whom you owe your existence. But you think so highly of yourself that you feel you have the right and the ability to define your own way of relating to the greater being rather than letting the greater being define that for you. As an irreligious or spiritual person you know that all types of people follow all types of different spiritual paths. And you think so highly of yourself that you believe they are all equally valid pursuits, as though you are the one who gets to decide on what basis God does or does not accept human worship.
The Way Out
Religion and irreligion look very different on the outside. But, at their core, they’re exactly the same. Jesus hates religion – and irreligion – because both systems of thought are born of pride and both produce pride. And if you find yourself identifying in even the smallest way with either religion or irreligion you should pause right now and listen very closely to these words of Jesus. After explaining how the religious leaders of his day were filled with pride he then says this in verse 12, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Jesus tells us that the difference between being proud and humble is not just the difference between being an unlikable person and a likable person. The difference between being proud and humble is the difference between life and death. Jesus is talking here about the Day of Judgment, the great day when he will return to judge the wicked and reward the righteous. And he says very plainly that those who humble themselves in this life will be exalted in the next while those who exalt themselves in this life will be humbled in the next. In other words, the humble will be welcomed into the presence of God where they will experience everlasting joy while the proud will be cast out of the presence of God where they will experience everlasting torment.
Whatever you may think of Jesus I can assure you that Jesus is not a liar. For that reason, the proper response to Jesus’ words is absolute dread. Because the truth is there is not one of you in this room who is truly humble. Religious, irreligious, whatever – every one of us is stained by our own pride. And for that reason we deserve to be humbled when we finally do stand before the God who made us and sustains us for every moment of our existence.
As prideful people every one of us should respond to Jesus’ words with dread…until we look to what Jesus has done for prideful people. Being God himself – being the only truly good, truly wise, truly just, truly loving being in existence – Jesus humbled himself for us even as we refused to humble ourselves for him. He willfully stepped away from the constant praise of his angels and he stepped into human flesh to be born from the womb of a poor young woman he created, in a manger made for animals he created, to live as an outcast in the world he created, and to eventually be murdered by the very people he created. In between his humble birth and his humble death Jesus spent every millisecond of his existence humbling himself in perfect obedience to God the Father and in perfect service to mere human beings.
Jesus did this for the pleasure of God and for the good of his people. And, because of that, God took his humbled Son and exalted him by raising his lifeless corpse from the dead, bringing him back into the glories of heaven, and seating him at his right hand where he presently sits reigning and ruling over all of creation.
Jesus humbled himself and, consequently, Jesus is now exalted above all. And Jesus did not do this merely to teach people a lesson on how or why you should be humble. Jesus did this, he did all of this, to make people humble. He lived and died in humility in place of those who have not lived in humility. So that tonight, right now, if you turn from your religion or from your irreligion and turn to Jesus in faith God declares you to be humble, as though you had lived the perfect life of humility that Jesus lived. If you turn from your religion or from your irreligion and turn to Jesus in faith, tonight, God will not humble you under his wrath, he will exalt you, because he counts Jesus’ punishment as your own, as though Jesus had lived the prideful life that you have lived.
So what are you waiting for? The ultimate act of humility that you can ever perform is to flee from religion, flee from irreligion, and acknowledge that you have nothing to offer God. Nothing. And that he has everything to offer you through Jesus Christ who lived the perfect life of righteousness and humility that you have failed to live, who died the death of separation and judgment that you deserve to die, and who rose from the dead to bring you to God now and forevermore. Stop trusting in your goodness and trust in his.
Matthew Smith will be performing live on Saturday, September 19th at 7pm at Mountain View High School (1500 SE Blairmont Drive, Vancouver, WA). Admission is free.
Matthew Smith is an East Nashville singer-songwriter who writes brand new music to centuries-old hymn texts. He is a founding member of the Indelible Grace community, whose work has drawn acclaim across denominational lines and is used in churches around the world. Born out of a college ministry, the reimagined hymns have found wide acceptance both among college students and the church at large, joining people who desire to honor tradition with those who want a modern musical approach. His latest album, All I Owe , focuses on how Jesus sets people free from the burden of both God’s law and self-imposed laws, by crediting his perfect life and death to those who trust in him.
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Introduction
I want to start tonight by telling you about a young man named Tim. When Tim was in his early twenties his father was diagnosed with cancer. Tim was heartbroken. Worse than that, Tim was afraid. You see, Tim was aware that he hadn’t been as good of a person as he knew he should be. He knew he wasn’t the most religiously faithful person in the world. And so he couldn’t help but think, “God is punishing me for not being obedient to him. If I wouldn’t have done what I did last month, if I would have been living right more consistently, my dad wouldn’t be sick right now.” Tim was afraid that his dad was going to be taken from him because of his own lack of obedience to God.
And so what did he do? He immediately started doing everything he could to earn his way back into God’s good graces, thinking that if he just did the right things then God might remove his punishment and spare his dad’s life. So Tim started going to church more, he started praying longer, he started reading the Bible more consistently, he made sure he was faithful to give money to the church and to help those in need. He did these things faithfully. He did these things religiously.
And then his dad died.
And Tim became more afraid than before. Because even with all these new things he was doing he knew that he was still falling short of God’s standards. As far as he could tell, all of the good things he had been doing were not good enough to remove God’s punishment from him. So he became even more intensely committed to those and other things. Tim thought, “If I just do better, if I just try harder, if I’m just more obedient to God, if I’m just less self-absorbed then God will be pleased with me and he won’t bring suffering like this into my life again.”
Well, Tim did do better, Tim did work harder, but suffering still came just as suffering still comes for all of us. So now, three years after his dad’s death, Tim is still ruled by fear. The fear of whether or not God accepts him. The fear of if and when God is going to punish him again. Despite all of his attempts to earn God’s favor Tim is never quite sure if he’s good enough.
What about you? Whatever your spiritual beliefs are, do you ever find yourself influenced by fear? Are you ever concerned about whether or not you’re good enough? Are you ever worried about whether or not God accepts you? Or other people accept you? As you strive to do good things, as you strive to be a better person, do you ever become weary? Or burdened?
If you would answer any of those questions with a “yes” Jesus wants to speak to you tonight. And he will. As we open up the Scriptures to Matthew chapter 23 tonight and for the next four weeks. But before we hone in on the specific verses we’re going to focus on tonight Jeff is going to set the context for us by delivering Jesus’ entire teaching from this chapter. As you listen to Jesus’ words remember that he begins by addressing his disciples and then goes on to talk about the scribes and the Pharisees, the very well-respected religious leaders of his day.
What the Problem is Not
Jesus’ words in this chapter speak to Tim and to his situation and they speak to every one of you, because every one of you can identify with Tim in some way. As you probably already know, we have chosen to summarize Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 23 with these strong and offensive words: “Jesus Hates Religion (And You Should Too).” Now why would we say that? It’s clear that there’s something about the religion of the Scribes and Pharisees that has Jesus vehemently upset. But what is it? What is it about religion that so repulses Jesus? What is it about religion that should so repulse you?
If I were to ask that question of my irreligious friends most of them would say, “the rules.” They would say that the biggest problem with religion is this long list of rules because those rules open up the door for judgment. Maybe you would answer in the same way. But here’s the interesting thing. This is not Jesus’ answer. This is not Jesus’ issue with religion. Jesus is not opposed to religion because he’s opposed to rules. In fact, Jesus himself is quite a strict rule-giver. Remember the famous Sermon on the Mount found in this same book? In that sermon Jesus goes out of his way to very clearly define a number of rules. Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder,and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brotherwill be subject to judgment.” He says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” He goes on to say, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighborand hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemiesand pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus is not anti-rule. Jesus himself has laid down the most difficult rules of all.
We see this in the opening verses of Matthew 23. Looking at verses 2 and 3 we see Jesus say, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.” Jesus says that the scribes and Pharisees – the religious leaders of his day – are in some ways to be respected. Why? Because they sit in Moses’ seat. In other words, they interpret Moses’ teaching, they interpret the Scriptures, they interpret the inspired Word of God. When they interpret God’s Word properly, Jesus says, you must listen to them, you must be careful to do everything they tell you.
As we heard when Jeff shared Jesus’ teaching with us, Jesus does not approve of all of their teaching (not by any means). But he does approve of their teaching when it is consistent with what God has revealed in his Scriptures. Does Jesus hate religion? Absolutely. Does Jesus hate religion because he hates rules? No. So while, yes, you should hate religion you should hate religion not for your own reasons but for the same reasons Jesus hates it. And what are those reasons? We’ll uncover one of them now as we continue to examine these first few verses.
What the Problem is
Right after Jesus tells us to do what the religious leaders tell us to do in verse 3, he goes on to add, “But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” Here we start to see Jesus’ distaste for these religious leaders. Jesus’ issue with religion is not that religion has rules. Jesus’ issue with religion is that religion calls us to obey both right and wrong rules for the wrong reasons. Again, Jesus’ issue with religion is that religion calls us to obey both right and wrong rules for the wrong reasons.
How do I know that? Because of what Jesus just said. On the one hand he said that there’s nothing wrong with rules per se. But then he says that the rules of these religious leaders are like heavy, cumbersome burdens that they heap upon our shoulders. So what’s the difference between the rules that we are to be careful to obey and these rules that Jesus calls heavy and cumbersome burdens? Well, there are three things I want to point out, one of which I want us to focus on for the remainder of our time together.
The first problem is that religion provides us with rules that even the religious leaders themselves can’t keep. That’s why Jesus says, “Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” In other words, unlike Jesus, religious leaders are hypocrites. The second problem is that a significant portion of religious rules are man-made instead of God-given. Jesus is not against rules so long as those rules come from God. God-given rules are life giving. But man-made rules are life draining. And religion is filled with man-made rules. God says, “Don’t get drunk”…religious people then say, “Don’t drink.” God says, “Don’t commit adultery”…religious people then say, “Don’t watch R-rated movies.” God says, “Pray to me”…religious people then say, “Pray this many times a day for this length of time.” And why? Why is it that religious people create these additional rules? They do it to make it more difficult to break God’s rules, right? They say, “Don’t drink” so that it will be even more difficult for you to actually get drunk. They’re doing everything they can – including making up their own rules – in order to keep you and them from breaking God’s rules. And this brings us to the third reason that Jesus is opposed to such religious rules. They are born from fear and they produce fear.
This is the first reason that Jesus hates religion and you should too. Jesus hates religion because religion is based on fear and produces fear. Religion stacks upon your shoulders rule, upon rule, upon rule, upon man-made rule and then says that you must keep these rules in order to be accepted by God. And that’s the basic definition of religion that we’ll be working from these next four weeks. Every religion in the world basically says this: “If you obey then you’ll be accepted, loved, and blessed.” Every religious leader, with the exception of Jesus, teaches some variation of this same basic philosophy: “If you obey these rules then you will be accepted, loved, and blessed by God, or by the universe, or by others, or by yourself – or whatever.”
And Jesus hates religion for this very reason. If you are most accepted, most loved, and most blessed when you obey the demands of your religion then you will only obey the demands of your religion out of fear. Everything you do you will be doing because you fear not being accepted, not being loved, or not being blessed. Remember Tim? The young man whose story we started with tonight? Tim was convinced that his father was dying because of his own disobedience. Tim was certain that if he had just obeyed the demands of his religion then God would be blessing him instead of cursing him with this suffering. So he immediately gave himself to following the very particular demands of his religion. And even though some of the things he was doing were good things he was doing them for only one reason: fear. He feared losing his father so he started doing religious things hoping that God would accept him, love him, and bless him in return by keeping his dad alive. But, as you know, his dad died. And then Tim responded with even more fear. Because as good as he was doing he obviously still wasn’t doing good enough to receive the acceptance, love, and blessing that he so desired from God. So he gave himself to praying even more, and reading the Bible even more, and going to church even more, and avoiding the “wrong” people and the “wrong” things even more. But for what? For fear. He feared what would happen to him if he didn’t do it. He feared that God would not accept him, would not love him, and would not bless him. He feared that God would allow even more suffering to come into his life.
How This Works in Your Life
This is why Jesus hates religion. Jesus hates religion because of what it did to Tim. And Jesus hates religion because it does the same thing to you. It enslaves you. It enslaves you. Do you see that? If you live as though the acceptance, love, and blessing of God depends on how good of a person you are then you will forever be a slave to fear. You will never know for sure when you have done enough good for God to accept you, love you, and bless you so you will break your back carrying these heavy burdens on your shoulders, always afraid that if you drop them then God will frown upon you and punish you.
Now maybe you’re not a religious person. Maybe you would describe yourself as spiritual or irreligious. So maybe you think that this isn’t an issue for you. But it is. Even if you’re not concerned about living for God’s approval you are concerned about living for someone’s approval. You’re living for the approval, love, and blessing of someone whose opinion you value. It might be your spouse, it might be your boss, it might be your peers, it might be karma, it might be your conscience. You too are living for the approval, love, and blessing of someone. This is why you get so upset when religious people tell you that God doesn’t approve of the way you live. This is why you are so quick to tell religious people that you may not go to church but you are a good person. You too are living for the approval, love, and blessing of someone. You’re thinking, “I better do this because if I don’t then I might not get what I want from this person…I better not do that or it might come back to hurt me…I better be like this so that this person will love me…I better not ever do that again or it’s going to be very hard to feel good about myself.”
Religion and irreligion look very different. But at their core they’re really the same thing. Whether you’re religious or irreligious you’re living in fear. You’re doing what you do and saying what you say because you want the approval, love, and blessing either of the Creator or of the people he’s created. Jesus hates religion – and Jesus hates irreligion – for this very reason: it makes you a slave to fear.
Conclusion
Every religion in the world – EVERY religion in the world – tells you that you must earn acceptance, love, and blessing by doing what that particular religion demands of you. Every religion in the world thrives on your fear and tells you that you must earn acceptance, love, and blessing by your faithful adherence to the religion. Even irreligion does this. But not Jesus. No, Jesus is different. Jesus does not make God’s acceptance, love, or blessing dependent on your ability to measure up. Jesus does not heap burdens upon burdens upon your shoulders that you cannot carry. No, Jesus doesn’t offer religion. Jesus does not offer religion. Jesus offers something utterly unique. Something that no other system of belief or philosophy offers. Instead of offering religion Jesus offers redemption. Jesus offers rest.
Let me read to you the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28-29. As he spoke to the religious and irreligious people of his day this is what Jesus said to them and what Jesus now says to you. “Come to me,all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Religion offers slavery to fear. Jesus offers freedom to rest. Listen, if God’s acceptance, love, and blessing depends on your performance as so many religious people have told you then, yes, you should be plagued by fear. Because look, the holy and righteous God doesn’t merely demand your obedience to this or that rule, he demands absolute perfection. And you’re not perfect. In fact, you’re not even close. You are more likely to reach the moon with your bare hand than you are to ever reach perfection.
So if it’s up to how well you live to earn God’s acceptance, love, and blessing then, yes, you should be plagued by fear. But you don’t have to plagued by fear. Because it’s not up to you to earn God’s acceptance, love, and blessing. Jesus has earned the Father’s acceptance, love, and blessing for you. Being God himself he willfully became like you and came to you in order to save you. He lived the life of perfection that you daily fail to live. And he lived this life in your place. He also died the death under God’s righteous and wrathful judgment that you deserve to die for loving yourself more than the God who made you. And he died this terrible death of God’s rejection, hate, and curse in your place. And then the Father, God, raised his Son, Jesus, from the dead to show that his work was completed and accepted on your behalf.
Now, if you choose to trust in Jesus’ work and not your own then God has declared Jesus’ righteousness to be your righteousness so that, regardless of your performance, God accepts you, loves you, and blesses you on account of Jesus. If you choose to trust in Jesus’ work and not your own then God has likewise declared Jesus’ judgment to be your judgment so that, regardless of your performance, there is no wrath remaining for you, only the reward of being united to God now and forever on account of what Jesus has done in your place.
This is why while every other religion offers you fear Jesus invites you to come to him and find rest. Because all that God demands of you no longer rests on your shoulders. Jesus has taken your burden and made it his own so that you can be free from fear now and for all eternity. If you find your religion or irreligion wearisome, burdensome, exhausting, fear-inducing, or guilt-inducing the odds are you are missing out on the person and teaching of Jesus Christ. Flee from religion tonight, flee from irreligion tonight, and rest in Jesus who has met every one of God’s demands for you.
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Introduction
What’s your role here? What’s your role as part of this church? As part of this community? What’s your job description? Now, I know, job descriptions can sometimes be dry and dull. Worse than that they can often be intimidating. But they are also absolutely essential. I learned that the hard way when I once took a job as an executive assistant. I assumed that as an executive assistant my job would consist of things like making phone calls, taking messages, writing the minutes at our business meetings and so forth. Well, I should have asked for a job description. Because it turned out that most of my time as an executive assistant was spent making Kool Aid. Now, I am the world’s greatest Kool Aid mixologist, that’s true, but it’s not something I thought I’d be doing for a living. I also had no idea that my job would require me to lie habitually, or to spend hours staking out people’s houses like a private I, or to regularly go shopping for another man’s underwear. These are things I would have liked to know beforehand. If only I had been given a job description I could have avoided a lot of problems.
That’s what job descriptions do. Job descriptions are created to solve existing problems and to prevent future problems. Which means that job descriptions are important even in Jesus’ Church. Because wherever there are multiple people working together there will be problems that need to be solved and problems that need to be prevented. This became obvious as Jesus’ church grew from 120 to 3,120 to thousands and thousands more. As they grew, a significant problem arose in their midst and this problem forced them to think through their roles and clearly define them. Turn with me to Acts 6:1-7. As we do so we’ll see how the early Church identified their roles and how you and I can do the same today to strengthen our witness to the world as we prepare to re-launch next Sunday.
Their Problem
As we studied the book of Acts together last year we saw that the community life of the early Church was uniquely strong. People who would not normally even share a conversation together were now not only sharing conversation, they were sharing their lives. They ate together, prayed together, spent their days together, studied the Scriptures together, shared their possessions with each other, and many of them even voluntarily sold their property so they could care for the community’s needs together. These people were united together in the truest sense of the word. So much so that the people around them took notice. Non-Christians were attracted to this uniquely Christian unity that they saw displayed in the early Church.
This is why reading verse 1 should make us pause. For the first five chapters of the book of Acts, Luke, the author, tells us only good things about the community life of the early Church. He tells us only about their great unity. He tells us only of the great sacrifices they’ve joyfully made for one another. And now, suddenly, in verse 1, this vibrant community life is threatened. Luke’s entire tone changes instantaneously. Now, instead of encouraging one another, the people of the Church are complaining against one another. Instead of sharing all things together to meet everyone’s needs, the needs of some are being met while the needs of one group of people are being overlooked. So we can’t read through this quickly like it’s just a casual disagreement. This is not a casual disagreement. This is not a debate over whether the toilet seat should be left up or down. This is something that threatens the visible unity of the Church. This is something that threatens the Church’s witness to the world. This is something terribly serious.
Like our church, the early Church was a multi-cultural Church. And it shouldn’t surprise us to see that the first terribly serious threat to community came because of that. The division came between the Hellenistic Jews (meaning the Jews who were raised in Greek culture) and the Hebraic Jews (meaning the Jews who were raised in Hebrew culture). The Hellenistic Jews complained against the Hebraic Jews because of the way the food was being distributed to the needy each day. The Hebrew widows received their share but the Greek widows were overlooked. That’s a serious problem, isn’t it? We’re not talking about the different music styles each culture prefers, we’re not talking about the different style of dress each culture prefers, we’re not talking about cultural differences in communication style. We’re talking about one cultural group being neglected in the daily necessities of life while the other cultural group is not. On the surface it appears that the dominant culture is receiving preferential treatment. If this is true then it is evil. And even if it’s not true the mere appearance of it is a recipe for disaster!
Their Solution
Now, we’re going to give the early Church the benefit of the doubt. And I hope that if you ever suspect preferential treatment at this church that you will also give your brothers and sisters here the benefit of the doubt. Your leaders want nothing more than to see the reconciling and unifying power of the gospel displayed in this community. And the same was true of the leaders in the early Church. Knowing that inequity cannot be tolerated in Jesus’ Church they take immediate action to solve the problem. Read their response in verses 2-4, “So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’”
They don’t deny that there’s a problem with the distribution. They don’t try to explain it away. They don’t try to convince the Hellenistic Jews that they’re imagining things. Instead, they acknowledge the truth of their complaint. And they expose the source of the problem. The source of the problem was not racism or cultural elitism or any sort of ism. It was the result of undefined roles. It simply had not been made clear whose responsibility it was to make sure everyone received their daily necessities. No one had been directly told, “This is your job.” All of this had to change. In order for the Church to remain visibly unified the apostles had to clarify their roles, and the roles of others.
So to protect the Church’s unity and the Church’s witness to the world the apostles start laying down some job descriptions. They begin with their own. “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God,” they explain. “We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word,” they say. What they’re doing here is defining their role. Their role is to be devoted to prayer and the ministry of God’s Word. That’s their job description. That’s how they have been called to serve the Church, through prayer and the ministry of God’s Word.
Now, depending on how you read this it might come off as kind of arrogant. “Oh, it would not be right for us to serve tables. We must devote ourselves to prayer and God’s Word. You should find someone else to do the other stuff.” You could read it like that but you’d be misreading it. They are not saying that they are too good to do the other things. They are not saying that the other things are less important things. They’re saying that God has given them a specific role to fill in the Church. He has specifically given them the tasks of prayer and the ministry of God’s Word. If they were to take time away from those two things in order to do another thing – even a good thing – they would be doing a very bad thing. On the surface it would seem like a great thing. We’d say, “Wow, aren’t these guys wonderful? They’ve sacrificed even more of their time to make sure all of the widows receive their food and necessities.” But while it might seem good on the surface it would really be quite bad. Because in order to give that to the church they’d have to take away from the church some of the prayer and some of the ministry of God’s Word that God had called them to supply. They’d also be taking away from the people their opportunity to fulfill their God-given roles. And the Church would be far weaker as a result.
I thank God that he filled his apostles with his Holy Spirit and gave them the wisdom to know their role and to protect it – not for their own good, but for the good of the Church. But they weren’t the only ones who needed a job description. There was another role that needed to be filled, too. And this role is no less important, this role is no less spiritual. Look at what the apostles did when they appointed other men to serve the tables. They didn’t say, “Hey, just grab any 7 guys and tell them to get to work.” They didn’t say, “It doesn’t matter who you get, I mean, anybody could do this job.” No. Look at what they said in verse 3, “Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them.” The distribution of food and necessities is no less spiritual than the preaching of God’s Word. Serving the church with your hands is no less spiritual than serving the church with your words, which is why God requires both groups of people to be filled with the Spirit and with wisdom. Verse 5 lists for us the 7 men who were selected to serve the Hellenistic widows. These men were ordinary men who were not ordinary men. They were filled with the Spirit. They were filled with wisdom. They had a reputation with the people. Though he was not a “preacher” in the traditional sense Stephen would preach one of the most beautiful sermons in all the Bible. And he would be stoned to death for it. Though Phillip was “just a guy who served in the church” he worked signs and wonders, he explained the Scriptures, and led others to faith in Jesus Christ. God takes the practical, hands-on, work of the church so seriously that he appoints men like this to the task. Their job description is not the same as the apostle’s job description. But it is just as important. It is just as spiritual.
In this way the church functions much like a football team. For a football team to win they need to have a committed quarterback and committed linemen. And even though the quarterback may get all of the attention from the outside, the coach knows, and the team knows, that the quarterback and the linemen are equally important. When the quarterback is meeting his job description he advances his line down the field toward their goal. But he can only do this when the linemen are meeting their job description by standing together and doing the dirty work so the quarterback can continue to lead the team toward their goal. This is how the team wins. When each member of the team knows his job description and does it the team functions well and the team moves toward its goal. But imagine what would happen if any one of the people on the team didn’t meet their job description? What if the center said he didn’t have the energy to hike the ball? Or what if two guys on the line decided they didn’t really have the time to do any blocking today? What if the quarterback decided he didn’t feel like handling the ball? If even one person on the team does not do what the coach put him there to do the team will not function properly. And when the team does not function properly it will not reach its goal.
This is what the apostles had to guard against. This is why they had to clarify everyone’s job description. So that the church could function and meet its goals. And this text reminds us to do the same thing. For the good of this church we should review our job descriptions. Remember, job descriptions exist to solve existing problems and to prevent future problems. They are essential for the healthy functioning of Jesus’ Church. We’ll start where the apostles started. We’ll start with the Church leaders. The apostles were the elders of the early Church in Jerusalem. Thankfully, the elders of this church don’t have to create a job description out of thin air because the Bible describes the role of an elder in multiple places.
So, what do you think is on that list? What has God put us here to do? What is our role in this church? How do we best serve you according to Scripture? Let me start by telling you what’s not on that list. Let me start by telling you what is not included in an elder’s job description. Weddings. Funerals. Counseling appointments. Set up and tear down. Birthday parties and barbeques. Friendship. Small groups. Reference letters. Administration. Graphic design. Event planning. Program management. Facility management. Distributing the church’s resources to the needy. Replying to emails. Listen, not one of these things is a bad thing. All of these are good things. Some of these are essential things. Most of these things are enjoyable things. But none of these things is part of an elder’s job description. According to the Bible, an elder’s job is to shepherd the flock.
Now our culture has totally robbed that word of its meaning. When we say our pastor is a good “shepherd” what we usually mean is that he’s very personable, and he has close relationships with the people of his congregation, and he’ll sit down with you and give you counsel about this or that decision in your life. Now that’s all fine and good but that’s not what the Bible means when it refers to elders as shepherds. My job as your shepherd is not to be a really nice guy who you can talk to about anything. According to the Bible, my job as your shepherd is to do the following:
To keep watch over your life, knowing that one day I will stand before God to give an account for you. – Hebrews 13:17
To discipline you when you go astray. – Titus 3:10
To know the Scriptures and to teach them and preach them faithfully. – 1Timothy 3:2
To protect you from false teachers both outside and inside of the church. – Acts 20:29
To equip you to serve Jesus in the church and in the city. — Ephesians 4:11,12
To lead you by living a life of faith that you can and should imitate. – Hebrews 13:7
To pray for the church, to pray for you, to pray for the sick. – James 5:14
That’s my job description. That’s what God has put me here to do. And it is when I spend my time and energy doing these things that you are best served and that the city is best served as a result. That doesn’t mean that I can’t at times do the other things. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the other things. That doesn’t mean that you can’t ask me for a reference, or ask me to do your wedding, or ask me to meet for counseling. It does mean that you will benefit much, much more from me studying, and praying, and preaching than you will from me being your friend, or me being your counselor, or me doing things around the church that you could do. Not because those things are less important but because those things are not a part of my role. They are not what God has put me here to do. God has given me, and every elder at this church, a specific job description and that job description exists for your good.
And the elders, like a quarterback, are able to best meet our job description when you are meeting your job description. God has given you a job description, also. You have a role in this church. And, remember, the role of the lineman is just as essential to the team as the quarterback. Neither one can function without the other. Your role is just as important, and just as spiritual as ours. This is why God appointed men like Stephen and Philip to the task. People filled with the Spirit and with wisdom. Because God takes your role very seriously. So just what is your role? What has God placed you here for? What does he expect of you as part of his community? As a member of Jesus’ Church, and as a member of this particular church, this is your job description:
To love Jesus and worship him with your whole being.
To love one another. – 1Peter 1:22
To serve one another. – Galatians 5:13
To use your gifts and abilities to meet the needs of the church and the city. – 1Peter 4:10-11
To submit to the elders of the church. – Hebrews 13:17
To preach the gospel to one another and to friends, neighbors, co-workers – to everyone. – Mark 16:15.
To give of your financial resources to provide for the needy and for the mission of the church. – 2Corinthians 9:5-15
That’s your job description. That’s what God has put you here to do. And when you spend your time and energy doing these things our entire church community benefits from it, and the city at large benefits as a result. You should never feel like what you do here at the church is not spiritual, or not valuable. You should never feel that what you do here at the church really doesn’t have any consequences. Because it does. When you give your money to the church, when you give your time and energy to the church, you help Jesus’ church function better. You protect the visible expression of our unity. And you help to make our witness to the world more attractive. Let’s read what happened after these seven men accepted their job description in verses 6 and 7. “They presented them to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” Verse 1 opened with a serious problem. The unity and the witness of the Church were being threatened! And now, in verse 7, the problem’s been solved and the witness of the Church is spreading rapidly! And why? What made the difference between verse 1 and verse 7? What made the difference between the beefing church and the growing church? It’s simple. The people had their roles clarified. The people identified their job descriptions and did them. And the Church grew.
How Are We Doing?
The same is true of our church. Emmaus becomes more functional and more attractive when we, the pastors, and you, the members, each play the role God has given us. One of the many benefits of this re-launch is that every one of us now has the opportunity to re-examine the job description God has given us and reaffirm our commitment to it.
Over these past few months many of you have stepped up and said, “I want to take ownership of this church. I want to use my time, my talent, and my treasure to serve Jesus and to help this church move forward on its mission.” And you’ve done just that. If that describes you then that is wonderful. It is a sign of God’s grace alive and at work in you as he gives you the desire and the ability to do what he’s called you to do. Thank him for the evidence of his grace!
If that doesn’t describe you. If you haven’t yet stepped up to give you’re your time, and talent, and treasure to meet the job description God has given you, don’t despair. This very moment is a sign of God’s grace given to you. He is graciously, right now, giving you the opportunity to repent of your sin and become more like Jesus Christ this very night. Thank him for the evidence of his grace and respond appropriately!
And the appropriate response is the same for every one of us in this room. The appropriate response for every one of us is to give ourselves to Jesus who gave himself for us. Jesus gave himself for us precisely because we failed to meet our job description. Thankfully, though, Jesus did not fail to meet his. God the Father had given Jesus, the Son, this job description: set the oppressed free, give sight to the blind, proclaim good news to the poor, give life to the dead. And Jesus accomplished every task. And he did this by fulfilling your job description for you. You were supposed to live a life of worship to the true God, but you didn’t. So Jesus lived this life of worship for you. You were supposed to live a life of righteousness and obedience, but you didn’t. So Jesus lived this life of righteousness and obedience for you. Because you failed in these areas you were also supposed to die a death of judgment under the wrath of God. But you don’t have to. Because Jesus died your death and absorbed God’s wrath for you. Jesus fulfilled your job description for you. He did everything you were supposed to do but didn’t. And then Jesus rose from the dead showing that God the Father had accepted his perfect work in your place.
This is what motivates you to now meet your job description. This is what motivates you to play the role God has placed you here to play. You’re not motivated by guilt. You’re not motivated by selfish desires to be a good Christian. You’re not motivated by a desire to win the approval of other people. You’re motivated by Jesus. Because he gave himself for you you are now free to give yourself to him and his people. Because he gave away everything for you you are now free to give away anything to him and his people. And when we do this together the church functions better and becomes more attractive so that others might come to know and love this same Jesus.
