Pastor's Blog

I’ve been a pastor for many years.  Since the days in which God called me to the ministry of preaching the Word and shepherding His flock, I have regarded it as a high and holy privilege to stand behind the pulpit with an open Bible and expound its truth to spiritually hungry hearts.

Regrettably, there are many people who want nothing to do with God’s truth.  Obviously the unregenerate world—those who don’t know Jesus Christ—don’t want to hear God’s truth.  They don’t want to be confronted with their cherished sins and their need of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  But what I have found interesting over the years is the surprising number of people in evangelical churches—most of them professing Christians—who do not want to hear the truth.  They are content to hear simple Bible stories or religious platitudes, but when faced with the dynamic truths of Scripture that rebuke sin and demand change, they will find excuses to avoid God’s Word.  It took a while, but I finally learned that this is a reality in our evangelical churches.

There aren’t many professing Christians in our churches who are willing to say plainly, “I don’t want to hear God’s Word.”  After all, that’s supposed to be the reason why they go to church!   Their rejection of God’s Word more often takes the form of statements such as, “Well, that’s his interpretation,” or “I just can’t agree with that interpretation,” or “Dr. ‘So and So’ says it means something else,” or “His preaching is too hard to follow,” or “He’s over my head.”  After being in the ministry for a long time, I have heard them all, and they are remarkably consistent from church to church and preacher to preacher.

It’s no wonder, then, that the Apostle Paul found so much joy in the Thessalonian church.  This little congregation, founded by Paul, Silas, and Timothy on Paul’s second missionary excursion, proved to be a model church—“an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia,” Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1:7.  The word of the Lord had “reverberated” from them throughout Greece (v. 8), backed up by the testimony of their changed lives.  Paul is clear; he and his team “had much boldness . . . to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition” (2:2).  He goes on to say that having been entrusted with the Gospel, they spoke not to please men, but God who examines their hearts (v. 4).

Then Paul turns to the Thessalonians and says this:  “For this reason we constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted, not the word of men, but what it really is, the word of God which also performs its work in you who believe” (2:13).  Here was a church that accepted the Word of God as the Word of God.  They understood that the Scriptures were not of human origin, but were the revealed truth of the true and living God.  To preach this truth was costly for Paul; to receive it and accept it was costly for the Thessalonians.  It was changing their lives, and as a result, they had to endure the sufferings common to those who believe in the Lord Jesus.

Never forget that “the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12).  This God-breathed Book is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,” and is effective in equipping believers for Christian service (2 Tim 3:16-17).

So when a church truly hungers for God’s Word and appreciates the authoritative exposition of Scripture, the faithful preacher rejoices, as Paul did, who called the Thessalonians his glory and his joy (1 Thess 2:20).  Are you that kind of Christian—are you the joy of your faithful pastor’s heart?

The old evangelist, Bob Jones, Sr., was well-known for his signature ex-hortation, “Do right!” It was his way reminding his hearers that Christians are to live godly lives. Recently another New Testament obligation for Christians has been impressed upon me; it is: “Do good!” The Apostle Paul was concerned that the churches for whom he had oversight not neglect the responsibility of doing good works. Writing to his associate Titus, he says: “Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful” (Titus 3:14).

Since the mid-20th century, we evangelicals have argued over the place of good works in our theology. Along with our orthodoxy, should we have a social conscience? In some cases, a social conscience has superseded the commitment of believers to the biblical Gospel, and the result has been the current obsession with social justice. That, of course, is to lose our focus and allegiance to the truth. But Paul is clear: it’s not enough to live com-placently in our evangelical enclaves, content to believe sound doctrine, but virtually unconcerned for the needs of others.

“Our people must also learn to engage in good works.” Note what Paul say here. First, this is something God’s people need to learn; this isn’t a spontaneous response to becoming a Christian. Good works involve per-sonal sacrifice—of our time and our treasures—and sacrifice is not natural. Church leaders need to teach God’s people, both by precept and by example, to practice acts of kindness. Towards whom? Just our fellow believers? No. Paul writes to the Galatians: “So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal 6:10). So both individually and as congregations, we need to be sensitive to the needs of our church family (our first priority) and our community. Good works towards those outside the church are a powerful testimony God can use to bring lost sinners to himself.

Then Paul says that we should especially be alert to “meet pressing needs.” Obviously, no church or individual Christian can meet every need about which they become aware. But we must be prepared to meet urgent needs, doing what we can within the limits of our resources. Sometimes this may require special appeals and sacrificial giving on our part. At other times it may mean that we join hands with sister churches or organizations within our communities to address the need. And it may also require spe-cial times of intercession, since our prayers can be powerful and effective in addressing needs. In response to our prayers, the Lord may well supply through us and through others in ways we cannot anticipate.

Paul adds that God’s people should engage in good works “so that they will not be unfruitful.” Our kindness and self-sacrifice in meeting the needs of others produces spiritual fruit for which we will receive rewards, possi-bly sometimes in this life, but certainly someday in the life to come. In oth-er words, good works make good sense.

Brethren, the extraordinary needs of our congregations and communi-ties are our responsibility, especially in bad economic times. If your church doesn’t have a benevolence fund, perhaps you could encourage the leader-ship to start one. Perhaps your family can set aside some money for a fund to help others. Certainly pray for those who struggle with need, but then do more than pray . . . give.

If you need persuasive examples, read the stories of George Mueller, Amy Carmichael, Charles Spurgeon, or a host of other well-known saints. Spurgeon, for example, once said (paraphrasing Elijah in the Bible): “The God who answers with orphanages, let Him be God!” So . . . do right? Of course, always! But also, do good!

In all of the political bickering surrounding this election season, there has been agreement on one thing: the overriding challenge facing America is that of the weak economy, and the solution proposed by many is to get the American public spending again. To that end, our government has at-tempted to jump-start the economy with massive bailouts.

Political and economic rationale aside, there is a spiritual dimension that is almost entirely overlooked. We have built our society, not on pro-duction or thrift, but on consumption. In many cases this consumption has been virtually obscene—people buying luxuries they can’t afford because they yield to desires they can’t control. They want it; they even think they deserve it. So they get it—even if they can’t pay for it. What has been lost in all of this, as in so much of our lives, is the biblical virtue of self-denial.

Self-denial is the willingness first to please God, and then to please oth-ers at the expense of pleasing ourselves. The Lord Jesus Christ put it this way: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mt 16:24)—that in the context of a person’s gaining the whole world and losing his own soul. The Apostle Paul charges the Christians at Rome in a similar way: “Each of us is to please his neigh-bor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself” (Rom 15:2-3a).

What does this mean? Well consider this. The Lord Jesus was willing to endure all manner of abuse, none of which He deserved, for the sake of sin-ners, so that He could die as an innocent sacrifice for sinners. He became our template: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Pet 2:24).

The problem here is that most of us Christians only think of salvation as being from sin and hell. Our daily lives, however, are largely devoted to pleasing ourselves. That’s true isn’t it? But a real Christianity is seen in liv-

ing the crucified life. Paul said it: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live” (Gal 2:20). This means voluntarily surrendering ourselves to the cross—putting to death what Scripture calls the “old man” of self and sin. When we do so, self-denial becomes our way of life. It extends to everything in our lives, and that includes not only what is sinful, but also what is per-mitted and what is indifferent. We are no longer our own highest priority.

Self-denial begins by subjecting our bodies to the life of the cross; it means placing our bodies under subjection to Christ and refusing to satisfy every desire with which we are tempted. The key to this self-denial lies in our subjection to God’s Word. We refuse to reason our way out of compli-ance with Scripture, willingly sacrificing our own wisdom and fleshly judg-ment. We are ready humbly to hear God’s Word, learn from it, and live it.

But self-denial also operates at the very core of our beings. Our souls are subjected to the life of sacrifice; our passions and desires, the things we love and the things we hate, the things we want and the things we give up, are controlled by it. We find this hard to do because we live with divided hearts. That’s when we have to force ourselves to live in self-denial. The resulting pain comes from our reluctance. Once we surrender to it, howev-er, this life actually becomes a delightful privilege—the deeply satisfying joy of communion with Christ. Nothing is really a sacrifice if it is for Jesus.

Self-denial is not the cloistered life—the life of the monastery. It is the Christian’s ordinary life—lived out in his day-to-day existence. Isn’t there a degree of self-denial each time we do something to make someone else hap-py? Then why should we balk at living a life of selflessness when our su-preme object is to please the One who “did not please Himself”? As Andrew Murray has written: “What He was we must be. What He did we must do.”

If you are like most people, you probably often hear the name of the Lord Jesus Christ taken in vain.  Every time I hear it, it offends me deeply.  How can a godless person so brazenly and wickedly invoke the name of his or her Creator, the very Son of God who became human in order to give His sinless life as a sacrifice for our wretched sins?  How can anyone defile the name of Him who has loved us so much and given himself for us?  And yet they do it constantly and with no apparent sense of guilt.

Here’s an even more poignant question:  why does God tolerate this abuse of His Son’s name?  There is some very real insight on this question in the words of our Lord himself in John 5.  They were spoken in response to the efforts of the Jewish authorities to kill Him because He had referred to God as His Father, thus (in John’s words), “making Himself equal with God” (v. 18).  In response to their hostility, Jesus answered that He could do nothing of himself, but only whatever He saw the Father doing, and because the Father loves the Son and reveals everything He is doing to Him, He would even do greater works (vv. 19-20).

One unique role God the Father assigns His Son is that of Judge:  “He has given all judgment to the Son” (v. 22).  The final judgments—that of the church before the Bema seat of Christ, that of  Israel and also of the nations before the inauguration of the millennial kingdom, and that of all unbelievers before the Great White Throne—all of these judgments will be presided over by the Lord Jesus Christ.  One reason is that it is the Lord Jesus who has shared our human condition and who was tempted in every respect as we are tempted, and yet did not sin.

But there is another reason as well.  All judgment has been committed to the Lord Jesus, He himself said, “in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father” (v. 23).  Now this was important for the Jews (and for many self-confessed “religious” people today), because they professed to honor God, but despised Jesus Christ.  Our Lord goes on to say, however, that “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (v. 23).  What this verse tells us, therefore, is that the most profound reverence is due to the Lord Jesus because He has been assigned the office of supreme Judge of all the earth.

Elsewhere, God’s Word confirms this truth.  Paul says that “God has highly exalted” this One who emptied himself and became obedient to death on a cross, “and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11).  This passage alludes to Isaiah 45:23-24, where we read, “Men will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him shall be put to shame.”  Thus, this is a universal act of compulsory worship.  Even those who will be committed to the tormenting flames of eternal darkness will bow in humble reverence before being consigned to hell.

So yes, even those people whom we hear using the name of Jesus as a profanity will someday be forced to bow in abject reverence and confess Him as Lord.  This truth should have a sobering impact on every person who dares to commit such acts of irreverence.  In fact, here is the cure for irreverence.  Perhaps you are guilty of using the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as an expletive.  The Bible puts you on notice:  this Man—the Son of God and Savior of sinners, once rejected by mankind, will someday be your judge.  You will bow before Him, acknowledging that He is God.  But unless you receive Him as your Lord and Savior, that will be your last glimpse of Him before being sentenced to eternal hell.  Change your irreverence into reverence as you repent of your sin and receive Him as Savior today!

In recent decades it has become important that those who preach and teach God’s Word have respectable academic credentials.  Most of the speakers at the majority of evangelical conferences in America today will have the title “Dr.” in front of their names.  To teach in an evangelical college or seminary it is essential to have at least one earned doctoral degree.  Many larger churches today will not call a senior pastor unless he holds advanced academic credentials.  Thousands of Christians run constantly to conferences and special meetings to hear these theological “experts” teach.  Frankly, they often remind me of those women of whom the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy:  “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim 3:7).  The implication is that my pastor or Sunday School teacher has nothing of any value to say to me.

As I think about this, I am reminded of the time, recorded by John, when Lord Jesus went to the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  John writes:  “when it was now in the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. The Jews therefore were marveling, saying, “’How has this man become learned, having never been educated?’” (Jn 7:14-15).  They could not understand how anyone could teach with spiritual insight and  authority without having first completed formal rabbinical training.

The Jews’ thinking was marked by two errors.  First, concerning those who teach. Academic training is not the secret to usefulness in ministry.  The Lord Jesus responded to this question by saying, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me” (v. 16).  It is not a question of academic credentials, but of knowing God and His Word.  Remember, even as a twelve-year-old boy, our Lord was “found in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions” (Lk 2:46).  Our Lord mastered the Scriptures through memorizing them, and through listening and thinking.  But He never went to rabbinical school.  In addition, He was in constant communion with the Father, who communicated His will to His Son.  The secret of effective ministry, therefore, is knowing God and His will through a thorough knowledge of God’s Word.  Formal schooling can be helpful, but it is not the first priority.

Second, concerning those who listen. The secret of learning God’s Word is not accessing preachers with doctoral degrees.  It is the attitude of the heart.  Our Lord went on to say this about His teaching in John 7:17:  “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself.”  An understanding of biblical truth is predicated upon a person’s willingness to obey it.  This was the problem with those women of whom Paul wrote.  They were, he says, “weighed down with sins” (2 Tim 3:6).  Truth is not more effective because it is delivered by someone with advanced degrees; it is effective if the hearer’s will is disposed to obey God’s will.  In fact, in my experience, advanced degrees sometimes actually get in the way of effective ministry!

Practically, therefore, this means that you, as an average Christian, should not be impressed by the academic credentials of those who preach.  Don’t be awed just because a speaker has one or more Ph.D.’s behind his name.  You should ask, “Is this man speaking God’s truth with God’s authority?”  “Does this preacher or teacher give evidence that he knows God?” If he does, then listen to him and learn from him!  It also means that you must always evaluate your own heart.  As you sit and listen to the preaching of God’s Word, are you doing so with an attitude of willingness to obey the Lord as that truth is opened up to your understanding?  Failure to will to do God’s will may be one reason why you don’t get much from your own Sunday School teacher or pastor.  It’s not their fault; it’s yours! It may also account for your failure to profit much when you do listen to someone with advanced degrees.  It always comes down to a matter of the heart!

We hate to wait.  We 21^st-century Americans have no patience; like never before, everything is instant, especially our communications.  We don’t have to wait until we get home or find a phone booth somewhere in order to make a phone call.  Cell phones connect us to anyone in the world in a matter of microseconds.  Don’t want to wait for traffic?  Work at home.  Don’t want to wait for an order to arrive?  Ship it overnight.  Don’t want to cook your food?  Microwave it.  The result of all of this is that we have lost the capacity to wait patiently.  But waiting is a big part of spiritual maturity.

Waiting is hard, but the good news is that it’s not forever.  Like a seed, when carefully cultivated and watered, it eventually bears fruit.  It is the essence of the discipline of godliness—the goal and outcome of a devout life.  In Psalm 40, David outlines the three attitudes that accompany a devout heart which waits for God.  Let me summarize briefly.

First, if you will just be patient, God will work things out. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry” (v. 1).  Patience is calm endurance through pain and trouble.  David’s experience was that for those who will wait for the Lord, He will respond.

Second, if you will just be faithful, God will make things right. Beyond patience, there is faithfulness—endurance driven by hope.  It’s something like sitting in an airport or a doctor’s waiting room.  You need to find something to do.  David gives us three guidelines.

1.  While you wait, trust God’s goodness (vv. 4-5). “Blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust.”  Nothing is to be gained by putting your trust in other people, but that is what we tend to do.  We trust ourselves to figure out a way to make things happen, and then place our confidence in others.  But when we think of the wonderful things the Lord has done for us, and the plans He has for us, we should place our faith in no one else.

2.  While you wait, do God’s will (vv. 6-8). God wants us to do His will from the heart.  He doesn’t desire that we merely keep up the appearances of religion:  “Sacrifice and meal offering you have not desired; . . . Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.”  The Lord requires sincere godliness; and David knew God’s will because he knew God’s Word: “My ears You have opened”; and again, “Your Law is within my heart” (v. 8).  Do we delight to do His will from the heart?  This is the essence of the discipline of waiting.  While the Lord withholds what we want, will we still do what He wants? That’s the test:  obedience under stress.  Perhaps the Lord is waiting for you to comply at this point!

3.  While you wait, share God’s truth (vv. 9-10). David says:  “I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation” (v. 9), and  he adds, “I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth” (v. 10).  You may be under great pressure, but that should not prevent you from faithful service to the Lord.  You may suffer, but you can still share God’s truth with God’s people—especially truth about who He is:  His righteousness, His faithfulness, His salvation, and His truth.

Finally, if you will just be prayerful, God will do it for you again. David was struggling again both with his sins and his circumstances.  He prays with urgency:  “Make haste, O Lord to help me” (v. 13); and “Do not delay, O my God” (v. 17).  Is this a contradiction of David’s patience and waiting?  No.  These statements are what David wants; his testimony that he waited patiently for the Lord is what David did.  There’s a big difference, and this is a powerful example for us.  What we want may not be the right thing to determine what we will do.  Obey the Lord, and as you do, pray.  The day will come when He will rescue you and put a new song in your mouth.

Polls indicate that many Americans consider themselves to be Christians; but studies also indicate that a substantial majority of these professing Christians do not embrace biblical standards of holiness.  There is a major disconnect when it comes to righteous living.  Many who own the name of Christ reject His ethical and moral demands.  I suspect that this has always been the way it is.  The same situation existed even in our Lord’s Day.

This problem is pervasive; it begins at the top, with those who are in spiritual leadership—pastors, elders, deacons, teachers, and parents.  No wonder, then, that average Christian people wrestle with this dilemma as well.  In fact, it’s the old battle between what Paul calls the “old man” and the “new man”—or the flesh and the Spirit.  In these few moments, I want to focus on those of us who are spiritual leaders.

The Lord Jesus reserved His most severe condemnation for the religious authorities of His day.  In a discourse delivered in the last week of His earthly life and ministry, and recorded in Matthew 23, He vigorously excoriated the scribes and Pharisees for their religious hypocrisy.  He used two illustrations to make His point.  First, in verses 25-26, He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.  You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”

Then, in verses 27-28, He continued:  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

These are sobering warnings.  Our Lord condemns those who are spiritual leaders among God’s people, and who preach a message of righteousness.  However, they demand of God’s people what they will not require of themselves.  Outwardly, they appear very religious—even very holy—but inwardly, they are morally and spiritually filthy, like dishes that appear immaculate on the outside, but are thoroughly putrid on the inside, or cemetery monuments beautifully maintained, but out of sight are full of the rot and decay of death.

In our contemporary world, it is not hard to present a respectable religious image externally, but it is very hard to stay clean internally.  The influences that pollute our minds and spirits are everywhere and they are seductive.  Materialism and greed, for instance; or lust and sensuality.  The people who follow our leadership respect us for our apparent godliness, but cannot see the corruption festering deeply within our souls.  We gain a reputation for godliness, but have to admit that if they could see what we are actually thinking about, they would be shocked.  Of course, we’re thinking about the same things they are; it’s just that they expect better of us!

We who lead God’s people are justified, but not yet glorified, sinners.  We will fail.  Every day should find us pleading the forgiving mercy of the Lord.  The problem comes when we refuse to deal with the sin—when we actually desire it, seek it, or even cherish it, all the while playing the religious game.  Remember this:  our Heavenly Father and His crucified and risen Son are not impressed with our religious charade.  God looks on the heart.  Sin is to be put to death, and if we are going to preach to, teach, and lead God’s people, this is a battle we have to fight.

Many of us are praying for revival in our churches and in our nation.  Perhaps this revival needs to start in us—many of whom are modern-day Pharisees, preaching the truth but living a lie.  Brethren, may the Lord give you and me the grace to repent and become the clean vessel God requires—both inside and out!

The United States is in the midst of an intense debate over what to do with illegal aliens.  Shall we look the other way when foreigners enter our nation illegally, or shall we use aggressive methods to identify them and deport them?  Politically, there is no unanimity of opinion on this issue; likewise, Christians and their churches are vigorously debating the question from both sides.  So what insight does the Bible—our ultimate authority in all matters of faith and practice—provide for us?

We must first notice how God instructed the Israelites to treat the foreigners who lived among them—and why He so commanded them.  “The stranger [foreigner] who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God” (Lev 19:34).  Years later, Moses told Israel:  “He [God] executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.  So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt” (Dt 10:18-19).  So the command is clear:  aliens are to be treated just like native citizens; in fact, they are to be loved and cared for.  A curse is pronounced on those Israelites who deny justice to an alien:  “Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien” (Dt 27:19).  There are three reasons given for this.  First, because God himself loves and cares for aliens; second, because the Israelites were themselves aliens in Egypt at one time, and were not treated well there; and third, simply because God said so (“I am the Lord your God”—that’s the divine signature on the legal order).

End of discussion?  Well, not quite.  There was another principle governing the treatment of foreigners in Israel, found in Numbers 15:15-16 with reference to the nation’s worship:  “As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord.  There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.”  Although Israel was to love and care for the aliens living among them, the Lord made it clear that Israel was also to enforce uniformity of worship among both its citizens and the foreigners.  Likewise, all foreigners were to be equally subject to the same laws as the Israelites.  Thus, aliens were not to be mistreated, but neither were they to be accorded separate status, exempt from the laws and religious requirements of God’s Law, and free to practice their pagan religions.

Such was the obligation of Israel under the OT Law.  What principles can we can glean from this?  The nation that seeks to reflect God’s attitude towards foreigners will welcome aliens and provide them with the opportunities they need to live successfully in their new home.  However, that nation will also require strict adherence to its laws, including the laws governing immigration.  There is another difficult problem, however; in America, we have freedom of religion, but when that freedom results in the multiplication of conflicting religious values, the nation will eventually and inevitably have irresolvable conflict—but that’s an issue for another day.

What should the foreigner’s mindset be as he lives in a new country?  We can appreciate this situation because, as Christians, we too are aliens.  We do not belong to this world any longer.  Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20).  That’s why Peter exhorts us:  “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul” (1 Pet 2:11).  Thus, he concludes, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles” (v. 12).  In other words, the alien should strive to live in such a way as to be a model citizen of his new country, obeying its laws and appreciating the kindness of its citizens.  When these biblical attitudes are maintained by both alien and native citizen alike, there can be harmony between them.

Wherever you go, you see team wear:  t-shirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, windbreakers, ball caps, sports bags, and a variety of items from umbrellas to baby paraphernalia—all of it emblazoned with the logos of colleges and universities, or of professional athletic teams, and some of it with the names of well-known sports superstars.  Team wear has become America’s casual wear of choice.  It’s a way for sports fans to identify with their favorite teams and their favorite sports heroes.  Psychologically, for some, it’s virtually a way of living out their unachievable fantasy of being a part of a winning team.

Clothing bearing logos are not restricted to athletic teams, however.  We often see people dressed in clothing bearing the images of their favorite rock bands or food or drink products.  Those who wear these items are advertising, and in all likelihood recommending, the people or items whose images they bear.

Team wear is not just a modern stroke of business ingenuity.  It’s fascinating to realize that God thought about it a long time ago, and in fact it’s the Apostle Paul who urges us to wear it.  If you are a born-again believer, you are, in fact, part of a winning team—the regenerated saints of God, the members of the church, the body of Christ; and you and I are to wear boldly the marks of our Christianity before a watching world.  Paul writes to the Galatians:  “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Gal 3:26-27).  Baptism is our Lord’s prescribed visible testimony to our faith in Him.  But baptism happens once.  How do we maintain this testimony?  Paul says that every time we go out in the world, we are to “wear” Christ.  However, this means more than wearing a “Jesus t-shirt”!

Paul gets more specific in his letter to the Colossians.  He tells Christians to put aside—literally, take off—behavior that reflects the sinful world of which we were formerly a part:  “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside [taken off] the old self with its evil practices” (Col 3:8-9).  Instead, says Paul, you “have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him,” so that “Christ is all and in all” (vv. 10-11).  Do you see that?  We are to put on the garments which bear the image—the picture—of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul uses another familiar scenario to illustrate this obligation we have to “wear Christ.”  Think of it this way.  You wake up early in the morning, reluctantly roll out of bed, take off your pajamas and throw on a shirt hanging nearby so you can start some coffee and get the morning paper before beginning your day.  That shirt may well bear a team logo.  Here are Paul’s words.  He says that we are to show love to each other, “knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.  The night is almost gone, and the day is near.  Therefore let us lay aside [take off] the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Romans 13:11-14).  So the night is over; day is dawning.  There’s a lot to do.  You can’t wear a shirt that’s stained with the world and at the same time, a “team Jesus” shirt!

So the lesson is this:  as Christians who are bought with the blood of Christ and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are to wear the spiritual garments appropriate to our faith—garments of holy living and brotherly love, garments of self-control, purity, and kindness.  Yes, beloved, as Isaiah says, “My soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation” (Isa 61:10).  So put them on and boldly represent the Lord who has saved you!

We’re all aware of the epidemic of child abuse we are suffering in America, and none of us can condone it.  Child abuse is sin, and in many cases it’s also criminal.   But widespread child abuse has also contributed to a change in the way parents rear their children.  Today, many parents have retreated from their position of authority in the family and try instead to be their kids’ best friends.  The results of this kind of thinking are disastrous.

We need to determine what role fear properly plays in parenting.  Is it desirable for a child to fear his/her parents?  To answer this, we do well to examine what Scripture says about the way we, the people of God, relate to our Lord.

Let me refer you to Psalm 25:12:  “Who is the man who fears the Lord?  He will instruct him in the way he should choose.”  Often in the Bible, the saints of God are urged to fear Him.  Throughout my Christian life, I have heard the fear of the Lord described as “reverential awe.”  No believer would argue that reverence belongs to the Lord and that we should worship Him with a sense of awe.  In fact, reverence is sadly lacking in most evangelical churches today.  But is reverential awe really the fear of the Lord?  I suggest that it’s not, and that in fact “fear” means fear.

Think of it this way.  A child who properly respects his parents does so from an understanding that there are consequences for disobedience.  He knows that if he refuses to listen and respond obediently when his parents instruct him, he will suffer for his choice.  Biblically, the parental responsibility is to administer physical correction for failure to obey.  Most children have no desire to receive a spanking for their disobedience, and so they obey—yes, at least in part, out of fear of the physical pain that will be inflicted upon them.  When their parents administer corporal punishment, that’s not child abuse—it’s obedience to God.  When kids fear their parents, that’s healthy; it places them in a state of mind where they are prepared to learn what is right.

And so it is with us Christians.  Who is the man who fears the Lord—who has a healthy aversion to the Lord’s chastening hand?  He’s the one whom the Lord will instruct in the right way.  Like a child, the man or woman of God who fears the Lord is prepared to learn obedience.  David goes on to write, “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him” (Psa 25:14).  The word “secret” here means intimacy, friendship, or counsel.  Solomon writes that the Lord “is intimate with the upright” (Prov 3:32).  Intimacy with the Lord is therefore dependent upon obedience, and obedience is stimulated by the fear of the Lord.

We’ve all seen out-of-control children in public places—children who, when they are told to do something, either ignore their parents’ instructions or throw a fit, successfully embarrassing the parents.  These are children who know that there are no consequences for disobedience, and that the threats of their frustrated parents will amount to nothing.  God isn’t like that.  He chastens us:  “For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights” (Prov 3:11-12). The writer of Hebrews reminds us that “all discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Heb 12:11).

That’s why the Bible so frequently urges us to fear the Lord.  As a younger man, Solomon wrote:  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov 1:7), and “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9:10).  As a disillusioned old man, he still counsels, “The conclusion when all has been heard, is:  fear God and keep His commandments” (Eccl 12:13).  God is not a child-abuser!  He wants to teach us how to live; but without a healthy fear of Him, we just won’t listen.  So, beloved, fear God!