Kevin DeYoung's Blog, page 168

Monday Morning Humor

I'm sure my wife will find this very helpful as the time draws nigh…

Believing and Working

"When we say that believing is not working, but a ceasing from work, we do not mean that the believing man is not to work, but that he is not to work for pardon, but to take it freely, and that he is to believe before he works, for works done before believing are not pleasing to God."

Horatius Bonar, God's Way of Holiness

The Ten Commandments for Commenting on Blogs

Every once in awhile it's good to blog about blogging.

Well, maybe not good, but necessary. In particular let me make some comments about comments.

1. 95% of you never comment. Many of you never check the comments. You may go about your business. These aren't the droids you're looking for.

2. Many of you write supportive, encouraging comments. Grateful I am.

3. Some of you offer thoughtful criticisms and make insightful comments. Well done. I have no problem with discussion and disagreement. But keep your comments short and your links to a minimum. Stay away from obnoxious rhetoric and don't act like a scruffy-looking nerf-herder.

4. Some of you ask specific questions of me. I'm sorry, but I will very rarely answer your questions. I already spend too much time on blogging. I could spend gobs of time if I entered the fray on every discussion or addressed every query. Think of the comments more like a letter to the editor and less like a personal conversation with me in a booth at some funky Cantina.

5. Monday Morning Humor is supposed to be funny. Don't get too worked up. You're supposed to smile, laugh, and say "Wootini!"

6. Don't ride hobby horses. Don't make every post about your issue. Stay on target Gold Leader.

7. Don't be rude. It's a sin. Go ahead and speak passionately and forthrightly. But don't assume the worst about others. Don't put the worst possible construct on everyone's motives. Let go of your hate.

8. Don't slander. It's also a sin. Be careful with accusations. Avoid ad hominem attacks. If you pick a fight with everyone and refuse to reason with anyone I will ban you from my blog without warning and you will go the way of Alderaan.

9. Just because you can say something strongly does not mean you have something to say. Force may be with you, but try to make sense too.

10. I hope the blog serves you in some small way. It's a joy to write, especially knowing that it may benefit someone. Sorry I can't personally meet you, help you, or be helped by you. Someday in heaven perhaps. It's the real Cloud City and nothing dark, insidious, or grievous lives there.

Glory of God: Claiming to Be Wise, He Became a Fool

Acts 12:20-25

Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory (v. 23a)

Herod Agrippa was not a nice guy–he killed James the brother of John and imprisoned Peter–but no one could deny he was important. He was the grandson of Herod the Great (who issued the Massacre of the Innocents at Jesus' birth). He was a friend of Emperors and one of the great princes of the East, ruling over the land of Judea. So when Herod, decked in royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a stirring ovation, it seemed only fitting that the crowds would shout, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!" Herod just soaked it all in. But God was not impressed, and he struck down Herod dead right on the spot.

What made Herod's crime so serious as to merit such swift retribution? He did not give God the glory. No one may mistake us for gods, but we are tempted just like Herod to seek our own fame and not the Lord's. The world does not exist to make our dreams come true. Our friends do not exist to make us feel special. The church does not exist to make us feel comfortable. And God does not exist to make much of us. His glory he will not give to another.

The Law of Love and the Love of Law

Some Christians make the mistake of pitting love against law, as if the two were mutually exclusive. You either have a religion of love or a religion of law. But such an equation is profoundly unbiblical. For starters, "love" is a command of the law (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:36-40). If you enjoin people to love, you are giving them law. Conversely, if you tell them law doesn't matter, then neither does love, which is the summary of the law.

Furthermore, consider the close connection Jesus makes between love and law. For Jesus there is no love for him apart from keeping the law (John 14:15). But he says even more than this. Jesus connects communion with God with keeping commandments. When we keep Christ's commandments, we love him. And when we love Christ, the Father loves us. And whomever the Father loves, Christ loves and reveals himself to them (John 14:21). So, there is no abiding in Christ's love apart from keeping Christ's commandments (John 15:10). Which means there is no fullness of joy apart from the pursuit of holiness (John 15:11).

God's law is an expression of his grace. The law is God's plan for his sanctified people to enjoy communion with him. That's why the Psalms are full of declarations of delight regarding God's commands. Even with the passing of the Mosaic covenant, surely the Psalmist sets an example for us. The happy man delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night (Ps. 1:2). The precepts and rules of the Lord are sweeter than honey and more to be desired than gold (Ps. 19:10). Yes, the law can incite the natural man to sin (Gal. 3:19, 22). But God's people rejoice in his statutes and behold wondrous things out of his law (Ps. 119:18). They long to be steadfast in keeping his statutes (v. 5). In the eyes of the believer the law is still true and good; it is our hope, our comfort, and our song.

Let's not be afraid to land on law—never as the means of meriting justification, but as the proper expression of having received it. It's not wrong for a sermon to conclude with something we have to do. It's not inappropriate that our counseling exhort one another to obedience. Legalism is a problem in the church, but so is antinomianism. Granted, I don't hear anyone saying "let's continue in sin that grace may abound" (Rom. 6:1). That's the worst form of antinomianism. But strictly speaking antinomianism simply means no-law, and some Christians have very little place for the law in the pursuit of holiness. One scholar says about an antinomian pastor from 17th century England: "He believed that the law served a useful purpose in convincing men of their need of a Saviour; nevertheless, he gave it little or no place in the life of a Christian since he held that 'free grace is the teacher of good works.'" Emphasizing free grace is not the problem. The problem is in assuming that good works will invariably flow from nothing but a diligent emphasis on the gospel.

The irony is that if we make every imperative into a command to believe the gospel more fully, we turn the gospel into one more thing we have to get right and faith becomes the one thing we need to be better at. If only we really believed, obedience would take care of itself. No need for commands or effort. But the Bible does not reason this way. It has no problem with the word "therefore." Grace, grace, grace, therefore, stop doing this, start doing that, and obey the commands of God. Good works should always be rooted in the good news of Christ's death and resurrection, but I believe we are expecting too much from the "flow" and not doing enough to teach that obedience to the law—from a willing spirit, as made possible by the Holy Spirit—is the proper response to free grace.

For as much as Luther derided the misuse of the Law, he did not reject the positive role of the law in the believer's life. The Lutheran Formula of Concord is absolutely right in when it says, "We believe, teach, and confess that the preaching of the Law is to be urged with diligence, not only upon the unbelieving and impenitent, but also upon true believers, who are truly converted, regenerate, and justified by faith" (Epitome 6.2). Preachers must preach the law without embarrassment. Parents must insist on obedience without shame. The law can, and should, be urged upon true believers—not to condemn, but to correct and promote Christlikeness. Both the indicatives of Scripture and the imperatives are from God, for our good, and given in grace.

Kings of Judah: Three Lessons from Two Kings

2 Chronicles 27:1-28:27

So Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. (28:20)

Jotham was a good king, better than his father Uzziah. He built cities, forts, towers and gates, conquered the Ammonites, and walked before the Lord. Ahaz, on the other hand, did what was right in his own eyes. He followed the wrong kings, burned the wrong offerings, and sacrificed his sons in the fire. He led a life of increasing wickedness under the increasing wrath of God.

What can we learn from these two kings? First, our past does not determine our future. Some good kings had bad sons (Jotham had Ahaz) and some bad kings had good sons (Ahaz had Hezekiah). A godly heritage is a wonderful thing and an ungodly heritage is no favor. But where we're from doesn't determine where we're going.

Second, if the Lord is against you, who can be for you? Ahaz thumbed his nose at God and God returned the favor, repeatedly humbling Ahaz and handing him over to his enemies.

Third, if you look for help in the wrong places, you won't find what you're looking for. Ahaz went to Assyria and Aram looking for help and all he got was trouble. The gods of this world will bring us low. Only God can lift us up.

Love for the Big and the Small

Feel free to make copies of this article and pass it out to your friends. Feel free to post this on Facebook, mention it on Twitter, link to it on your blog. If you are part of a church with young families I promise this essay will be relevant.

I want to talk about the size of our families. More importantly, I want to talk about loving as we want to be loved and giving each other the benefit of the doubt.

Scripture says the human race should be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28; Mal. 2:15).  Children are always seen as a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5; 128:3-4).  Church growth happens evangelistically and covenantally.  So I like big families. My wife and I are on our way to a big family with four little ones already. In pre-marital counseling I challenge newlyweds to think through the reasons for birth control (which I am not against) instead of just assuming it. I warn against the abortifacient possibilities of taking the Pill.  I try to dissuade most young couples from the notion that they have to be married for several years before they start a family. I am pro-children big time.

But this does not mean I am anti-small family. All else being equal, I'd encourage Christians to have more than two kids (keeping above the replacement rate). But all else is not equal. There are simply too many things I don't know about other couples to even dare to judge. I don't know how difficult it can be too get pregnant or how difficult the pregnancies are. I don't know the financial situation, the medical history, the family pressures, the cultural expectations. I don't know what their kids are like, their marriage, or their attitude before the Lord. I don't know what other God-glorifying, self-sacrificing, world-serving opportunities they are praying through. So when we see faithful Christians with two kids or ten kids, we should praise God and assume the best.

And yet, any pastor paying attention to the hearts and hurts of his church, will tell you that there is a lot of tension around the size of our families. Here is an opportunity for the devil to work discord among us. But here also is a wonderful opportunity to love our neighbors as ourselves and open wide hearts and affections to families that look different than ours (Matt. 22:39; 2 Cor. 6:11-13).

Think of all the trouble we get into in the church, and on this issue in particular, because we assume the worst. Big families assume smaller families are being selfish. Smaller families assume big families are out to prove something. Parents assume their children are rejecting their choices when they make different ones. Children assume their parents would have acted like them if they were more spiritual. And everybody assumes everybody else is assuming something about them!

This is not the way of 1 Corinthians 13 love and it has to stop. Let's assume the best of each other on this issue and not assume we're being judged because someone else feels strongly about the way they do things.

And let's be sensitive to the feelings of others rather than sensitive to perceived sleights and offenses. In some churches women may feel a pressure to be pregnant. Maybe the pressure is stated, maybe unstated, maybe it's inaccurately perceived. But it is felt, so let's be careful not to add to the pressure. In a church where literally dozens of women are bursting at the womb almost constantly and all the talk is about latching, stripping membranes, and other pleasantries we must be careful that young women who aren't pregnant don't feel inferior or out of place. I can just about guarantee they feel that way already, so you'll have to go out of your way to welcome, affirm, and include.

On the flip side, there's no good reason—certainly no biblical ones—why families with five, six, seven, ten, or fifteen kids should be made to feel strange. There's no need for comments like, "Really, another one?" Or, "Wow, he can't keep his hands off you!"  Those comments are hurtful, and so are the eye rolls and exasperated sighs and suspicions.  Let those who have eight kids not judge those who have two, and those with one child not judge those with six.

And let me throw out one other verse while I'm at it: "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep" (Rom. 12:15). For most Christians there is almost nothing as joyful as having a baby, and almost nothing as painful as being unable to do so. This leads to lots of awkward church lobby deliberations: "Should I tell her I'm pregnant? She's been trying for so long, my news will just make her sad. But if I don't tell her she'll find out eventually and be hurt that I didn't mention anything. Maybe I'll tell her privately. But then that will make her feel singled out. What to do?" There is no solution to this problem. Infertility hurts and babies can make it hurt more. But a step in the right direction is God's command in Romans 12. Let every young lady rejoice with her friend's pregnancy and let that same friend weep when her sister in Christ hasn't or won't experience the same joy.

I don't pretend to get all this baby stuff right. I'm sure I've been woefully insensitive at times. I've probably made silly "you get pregnant around here just by drinking the water" jokes that have been quietly unhelpful. I need God's help too. But as a pastor I try to set the right tone, dial down the tensions, and encourage every man and wife to assume the best (and assume everyone else is doing the same). It doesn't make all the tensions go away. But I'm hoping it will help us love each other's families, the small and the big, in big ways and small.

This article originally appeared in the July issue of Tabletalk magazine.

Monday Morning Humor (With, Like, a Point)

Sorry for the audio timing problem, and sorry if you've seen this before, but it's pretty good:

Friendship PDF

A few weeks ago I did a series of blog posts on friendship. The good folks at TGC (thanks Hannah!) were kind enough to turn it into a PDF. You can download it here: The Gift of Friendship.

Our Wondrously Angry God

It's sometimes said that once you are justified God can never be angry with you again. This is true if by "anger" you mean "condemnation." But as any parent can testify, deep love for one's children does not eradicate righteous anger for their disobedience. Our anger, actually, can be for their good. The same is true of God and his anger toward us as his justified, adopted children.

John Calvin writes:

For the other side we see that God, while not ceasing to love his children, is wondrously angry toward them; not because he is disposed of himself to hate them, but because he would frighten them by the feeling of his wrath in order to humble their fleshly pride, shake off their sluggishness, and arouse them to repentance. Therefore, at the same time they conceive him to be at once angry and merciful toward them, or toward their sins. For they unfeignedly pray that his wrath be averted, while with tranquil confidence they nevertheless flee to him for refuge. (Inst. 3.2.12)

Rather than thinking God hates us when we don't measure up or imagining that we can never do anything to upset him now that we are his children, I suggest we start using the phrase "wondrously angry." God is always for us. But he can be "wondrously angry" with us when we defy him. In fact, he's for us so much he will discipline us for sin and flash his wrath that we might be moved to repentance.