Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 27

Welcoming Christ

As you know, our church community has exploded with growth over the last few years. This is a big part of why we decided to plant King’s Cross Church, so that while we continue to pursue all of Christ for all of life for all of Moscow, we might do so with slightly smaller platoons where we know one another and can encourage one another a little better. 

A central aspect of this community that we are seeking to grow is hospitality. We believe in welcoming strangers, feeding the hungry, and befriending the lonely. It was not good for man to be alone in the beginning, and that was not just talking about bachelors; it was talking about community. We are talking about the work of the Spirit in the Church, conforming us more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. This happens around conversations after church, meals in one another’s homes, play dates, business ventures, prayer, and worship. 

All the indicators are that you all are doing a fantastic job. The elders hear regularly from newer folks who find themselves inundated with warm welcomes, friendliness after the services, and invitations for dinner. As just one indicator of that, Pastor Wilson recently pointed out that over the last six months, 28 meal trains have been set up, with over 370 meals delivered, averaging about 2 meals a day, and that’s only tracking meals for new babies or other significant medical issues. You are a congregation that practices hospitality regularly, and of course, this begins in your own families. 

So this is just a word of encouragement: well done and keep up the good work. The growth doesn’t seem to be slowing down yet, and if you’ve been here about six months, you might as well consider yourself an old timer. 

But the center of this hospitality instinct is not some kind of warmed-over humanism. The center of this hospitality is the grace of Christ. When we were strangers, He welcomed us in. When we were lonely, He befriended us. When we were starved-hungry, He fed us, with His own life. 

If practicing hospitality is new to you, let me encourage you to start small, and practice joyful hospitality with your spouse, your kids, your roommates, and then ask God to show you how to share it with others. Hospitality is something you practice, and you can actually get quite good at it. And if you’ve been practicing hospitality for a while, thanks much and keep up the good work. And to everyone: labor to keep Christ at the center of your hospitality. When Christ is at the center, it is Christ you are always welcoming.

Photo by Sebastian Coman Photography on Unsplash

The Ordinary Healed

It’s no accident that a central part of Christian worship is sharing bread and wine. The center of the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus, and when He rose from the dead, one of the things He did was eat with His disciples to prove that He was really alive, in a real human body.

But this relates to broader theme found throughout the Bible from beginning to end and that is the goodness of creation and the determination of God to heal and restore all things. There have been various religious movements throughout the centuries that have tried to pin our sin on the material world. And we broadly call these movements “gnostic” – heresies that teach that this material world is evil and bad, and that salvation means somehow transcending this material world through secret, mystical knowledge and experiences. 

But not only is that not true, it creates cultures of fear and insecurity. How do you know if you have the right knowledge, enough knowledge, the true secret knowledge? How do you know you’ve had the real experience? And even well-meaning evangelical Christians can accidentally creep into this by implying that being a real Christian is having some kind of emotional experience with God. But a central part of the message of the resurrection is simply that evil has lost and now this world is being healed. When Jesus showed His hands and feet and side to the disciples, He was showing them an ordinary human body healed of sin and death, and then He ate with them. 

Salvation is the ordinary healed. Salvation is the goodness of creation restored. How do you know you’re a Christian? Do you love Jesus? Have you been baptized? Do want to be here? Then you’re in. We share ordinary bread and ordinary wine because Jesus is risen from the dead, because He is making all the ordinary things new again. He’s making ordinary men into real men, and ordinary women into real women. He’s restoring families and marriages, and businesses and nations. Sin is what must go, but when we lay our sin down, He gives us ordinary bread and wine. When we lay our sin down, He gives us the world to enjoy. 

So Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.   

Photo by Jo Leonhardt on Unsplash

Women Who Tear Down Their Own Houses

“The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down” (Prov. 14:1).

Introduction
Christians believe in the power of women. We believe that women are made in the image of God, and therefore, they carry with that image the power to make and break whole worlds. They will either be house builders or home wreckers. 

Of course by now you should know that whenever the world talks about empowering women, they mean stripping them of their God-given power and convincing hordes of them that the shredded rags they’ve been left with are sexy, cute, and totally hip. This same world, remember, thinks that women (and all humans) are evolved from apes and amoeba, and that dudes can be women if they put on enough makeup, get breast implants, or just put on a dress.

What follows is not based on any kind of scientific study of the data, but it is based on years of pastoral experience and counseling. Let us state the obvious at the outset: men are sinners. But all things being equal, men tend to sin out in the open, and even when they are trying to be sneaky, it isn’t usually as sneaky as they think. Parents of boys can witness to this general pattern as well. Boys tend to sin pretty openly and obviously. And even when they are trying to hide their sin, it’s often less hidden they think. Boys and men are not particularly subtle. 

Subtle Sinners
Now here comes the controversial part: women are sinners. I know, I know, I’m an extremist, and probably a racist. But I’m going to stick with it. And here’s the thing: women tend to be far better at hiding their sin than men. And this hiding can often be so good, it may even be hidden from the women themselves. I believe this is related to the respective glories of men and women. The glory of men is their strength and so they were made to be assertive and therefore out in the open, but the glory of women is to be the glory of man, to be beautiful and to make the world around them fill up with beauty and life. And I think this is why women are generally better at hiding their sin. They are generally more sophisticated, more subtle, more nuanced, and just all around sweeter, even in the grip of sin. This can make it harder for parents of girls, harder for pastors counseling women, and harder for a woman herself looking in the mirror. There they are being all sweet and looking nice (as opposed to the guy standing next to her who forgot to tuck his shirt in).   

Now don’t get me wrong; Jezebels do exist. There are wicked witches who really are cruel, malicious, and who openly, unapologetically howl at the moon every night. But it’s far more common to have couples show up for counseling where the woman is sweet, polite, and self-deprecating, all while the list of problems in the home and marriage consistently fall at the feet of the man. I mean, look at him, the poor fellow.  

Again, let me run back around the other side and affirm that I do understand that sometimes the man is a complete jerk, a complete fool, a narcissistic manipulator, abusive, criminal, and cackling in the basement as he prepares his next sinister move. But honestly, most men aren’t that smart. We aren’t that good at covering our tracks. Most of our sin is on the surface: we forget important things, we give into our appetites (lust/drink), and we get angry. And let me be clear: those sins can do great harm to a home, and let me also add that because the husband is the covenant head of the home, those sins can do more damage than other people in the home committing the same sins. 

Someone recently pointed out that parents need to be aware of the “tattler kids” in the home. Remember Proverbs 18:17 at all times, even with the kids: “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” That first kid that comes running in can certainly have the feel of genuine spiritual concern for her little brother who is throwing toys in the family room. But the wise father or mother should almost immediately ask the question: But what did you do? Frequently, there was an antecedent event, something that happened before, and sometimes it’s more subtle, harder to pin down, but every bit as sinful. And while this need not be limited to girls, it is often found there. Perhaps she was doing something very small, but intentionally frustrating, something hard to photograph, but certainly disrespectful. 

The Damage of Disrespect
Because men and women are made different, there is an element here that can be honestly difficult for a woman or girl to see. God has wired women to be particularly attuned to love, but He has wired men to be particularly attuned to respect. And since we naturally tend to give what we want or desire to receive, it can be very easy for a woman to love her man without respecting him and not realize just how harmful and damaging that can be (and by the same token, it can be easy for a man to respect his woman, without actually loving her, unaware of how harmful and damaging that can be). So a woman can love her husband all day long, all while not respecting him in the slightest, and the thing that she needs to know is that he can tell. Again, in the same way that she is intensely attuned to his love for her, and can tell if he’s just “going through the motions” without loving her, he can tell if she doesn’t respect him. It may be a low grade fever of disrespect or a deep, rotting resentment, bitterness, and frustration, maybe even streaked with the gangrene of coveting other men or another woman’s husband. It may be a rock-in-the-shoe frustration with his lack of leadership, lack of understanding, lack of cherishing-love, but my point is that a woman can think the primary problem in the house is him, all the while she is actually the one tearing her own house down by dishonoring and disrespecting her husband. A woman can do great damage to her husband, marriage, and family through her disrespect. 

From the outside, it can often look like the man is just being dense. He goes to work every day, and when he comes home, he’s often tired and doesn’t have much to say. Maybe occasionally he’s a bit grumpy with his wife or kids. Maybe he asks why dinner is late or why the living room is so messy. And sometimes, he really can be unkind and rude. Of course someone needs to tell that guy that he needs quit it, and start holding his wife’s hand, take her on dates, leave her notes, tell her that she’s beautiful, lead the family in prayer and worship, and bring home flowers and chocolates from time to time. But often that guy has occasionally tried to do those things. He does occasionally apologize for being a lunkhead, and he does bring her flowers. He does try to tell her she’s beautiful, but he’s still a man and a sinful man at that, and a forgetful, sinful man on top of it all, and sometimes his attempts at being thoughtful are just very poorly timed. And an ungracious, disrespectful woman can take all of this onboard with a critical eye and calculating ledger and a few shots of self-pity, telling herself that she’s married to such a difficult man and has such a terrible marriage, and if she has unscrupulous friends, they will let her talk about it all and hug her and hold her hand and buy her lattes and tell her how sorry they are and that they are all praying for her.  

But they aren’t helping. They’re pouring gasoline on the fire. They’re feeding discontent, envy, resentment, and the cancer behind it all: failure to honor her husband. But the response will come back: how can I respect a man who doesn’t even know how to spell romance? How can I respect a man who doesn’t remember my birthday and who would forget our anniversary every year if I didn’t give him a weekly reminder for six months leading up to it? How can I respect a man who is so tired every night and doesn’t pursue me, except whenever he’s interested in sex?  

Two Reasons for Respect 
First, it should be noted that God doesn’t command a wife to respect her husband only if he’s respectable. God commands a wife to respect her husband simply because he is her husband. And in many of these situations where he really is a trial in various ways, there are still plenty of things to respect. Your man may not be the most thoughtful, but he gets up every morning and goes to work all day for you and for your children. Do you appreciate that? Do you honor that? Is he tired every night after all of that work, all that sacrifice for you? Do you honor that? Do you think highly of that or are you only thinking of yourself, your needs, your lusts? Has your husband been faithful to you? Has he kept his vow to keep himself only for you? That is very respectable in a world full of unfaithful men. Does he pay your bills? Has he provided a home for you to live in? Honor him. Think highly of him. 

Secondly, these commands are not random. They are the path to God’s blessing. In the same way that men must be taught that love is food for their wives, women need to be taught that respect is food for their husbands. And again, it’s easy for a woman to wonder why her man cares whether she respects him or not, but that just goes to show that you’re a woman. But if you want your man to be respectable, God says that one of the ways you can minister to him is to respect him. A man never stands so tall as he does for a woman who looks up to him. Do you want him to stand tall? Then honor him. Honor him in your heart, in your words, in your actions. In 1 Peter 3, the apostle instructs women who have disobedient husbands to submit to them, seeking to win them over by their virtuous conduct, through their gentle and quiet spirits, by obeying them and calling them “lord.” Is your man disobedient to the word? Are you married to a sinner? Here are you marching orders. But these are not marching orders for women who have given up; these are the marching orders for women who want godly tactics of resistance, for women who truly want their husbands to change. 

But far too many women will say that “they already tried that.” It’s been years of his coldness and distance and grouchiness, and you think you’ve had enough. But the gospel is for this. How long did Christ love you in your coldness? How patient has Christ been with you in your bad attitudes? What is the command of the Lord? Love your enemies, do good to them that persecute you, bless those who curse you. How much more are you required to do this for the man you promised to marry? 

But let me challenge you to honestly check your heart. Yes, he may have hurt you, but have you honestly determined in your heart to honor him? Do you thank him for all the ways he is faithful and provides? Is your heart truly calm and quiet in the Lord? Or is it restless and agitated and frustrated? Have you learned to be content in every circumstance like the Apostle Paul, or are you constantly coveting what you think other families have, what other marriages have, what other men are like? Maybe you’re on the verge of throwing in the towel and filing for divorce and maybe there’s enough of a mess caused by your husband to get most of your friends and family to sympathize with you. But you need to know that even if you have a point, even a good one, it is still possible for you to have been a player in all of it. A disrespected man does not have a free pass or excuse for his bad attitudes or distance or coldness or any sin, but if you have been disrespectful, if you have not honored your husband for many months or many years, you need to know that you have sinned gravely against him. He may not be able to express it like you could, but have you ever considered the possibility that you have hurt him very badly, that you have made his job harder? You are a woman, made in the image of God, you most certainly do have the power of life and death in your tongue, the power to pull your own house down on your head, even if your husband has contributed his own significant failures and sins to the process. 

Conclusion
Sure, you might feel like giving up, like nothing can be done, like your marriage is dead, but we serve Jesus who is the resurrection and the life. Many men do need to hear this gospel, and they need to repent of their sins and get back to work. But there are just as many women who need to hear this as well. Christ died for the sins of women. Christ died for their discontent, envy, bitterness, taking offense, critical spirits, gossip, and dishonor of their husbands. Christ died so that any woman who turns to Him will be forgiven and washed clean. All who turn to Him will be received, and when they come, Christ will be with them. And if Christ is with you, you will not only be able to confess your sins to God and your husband, you will also be able to begin honoring and respecting your husband. And in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and understanding, even the kind of wisdom needed to rebuild houses that foolish women have torn down with their own hands. Christ knows the way back, and He knows how to put it all back together. 

Photo by moein rezaalizade on Unsplash

What Servant-of-All Means

Jesus said that the greatest in the Kingdom is the servant of all (Mt. 23:11). But this has frequently been twisted to mean that Jesus was endorsing doormat theology — that somehow He thought it was great to let everyone walk all over you. But Jesus is the greatest in the Kingdom, and He certainly didn’t do that. He didn’t go around doing whatever anyone demanded of Him. Rather, He spent His life obeying His Father, and frequently not doing what everyone thought He should do. But precisely by obeying His Father, He maximized the blessing He brought on the world. Jesus was the servant of all, and so He is the Greatest in the Kingdom. And we are called to imitate Him. 

To be the servant of all does not mean submitting to the demands of anyone or everyone all the time. This is simply impossible even if you were to try. To be the servant of all means to do what God says we must do for those around us. It certainly means wanting to do good for the maximum number of people around us, but we do that through obedience to God, not through their whims or demands.

This means husbands loving and leading their wives like Christ loved the church, cleansing her with the water of the Word, making her holy and without blemish. This means wives respecting and submitting to their own husbands as the church does to Christ. This means parents bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, teaching and disciplining them to obey cheerfully. This means children honoring and obeying and providing for their parents. This means telling the truth, keeping your word, paying your bills, working hard, and worshiping the Lord. These are the central commands, and the ways we serve the most people over time. 

In the Old Testament, God told the Israelites that cultural leadership would generally look like lending instead of borrowing. And so that is the kind of servants we should be aiming to be, the kind that have households of joy and peace and productivity with growing surpluses of goods and services, love and mercy, hospitality and friendship to share with others. And when you’re really good at some of those things, you might open up a shop and start selling to everyone, so you can serve even more people. You are called to greatness in the Kingdom, and that greatness means serving the maximum number of people. But that is only possible through obedience to the Lord of all. 

Photo by Nina Strehl on Unsplash

Biblical Conflict Resolution

Mt. 18:15-17

Introduction
Jesus calls us to be peacemakers: this is what the children of God do (Mt 5:9). And this is because that is what Jesus, the Son of God, has done through His cross. Biblical peacemaking does take wisdom and God’s blessing, but there are also basic biblical principles that make this necessary task more likely to succeed. As we are established as a new church, we want to be committed to these biblical principles.

The Text: “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother…” (Mt. 18:15).

Summary of the Text
Jesus says that when there is some kind of conflict or collision, go talk to the person, you and him alone (Mt. 18:15). The goal is to win your brother (Mt. 18:15). If that one-on-one conversation does not bring resolution, then you may take two or three others with you as accountability and witnesses, so that every word may be established (including your own) (Mt. 18:16). If there is still unresolved sin that rises to the level of real public scandal, then it may be told to the church (Mt. 18:17). And if after being admonished by the church, the individual is still unrepentant, they may be excommunicated, and reckoned an unbeliever (Mt. 18:17). 

Rejoice Always
Jesus says elsewhere that before you go addressing specks in the eyes of your brothers, you should always first get the telephone pole out of your own eye (Mt. 7:3-5). Likewise, Galatians says, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). This means checking yourself first, and making sure you are rejoicing in the Lord, not fuming and blowing hard into a dirty sock. When Paul addressed Euodia and Syntyche in Philippi, he urged them to be reconciled, and immediately urged them and the whole the church to rejoice in the Lord, “and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:2-4). 

In this sense, when you’re in the right place spiritually, you don’t really feel like addressing conflict, and when you feel like addressing conflict, you’re probably not in the right place. The same text goes on to address the sovereignty of God, anxiety, peace, and contentment (Phil. 4:4-11). Are you at peace with God? You can’t bring the peace of God to your spouse, your kids, or a friend or acquaintance if you don’t have the peace of God in your heart. Are you content with God’s will in this situation, completely assured that it is for the good? All of this includes carefully checking to see what if anything you need to confess as contributing to the conflict.  

Winning Your Brother
Remember, the goal is to win your brother or sister, and winning means winning to the truth, not just getting them to agree with you. The foundational principle here is to love your neighbor as yourself, to do to them as you would be done by. This begins by going to them directly (and privately), and not sharing your concerns with anyone else not directly involved (including, not asking everyone to pray for you as you go confront so-so for their sin). “A whisperer separates close friends” (Prov. 16:28). You may cover an offense in love or go to your brother directly: “Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends” (Prov. 17:9). 

Love gives the benefit of the doubt, believes the best, and gives an honest opportunity to explain the other side (1 Cor. 13). A good rule of thumb is that you ought to be able to repeat back the position of your adversary in a way that they would agree accurately represents them. If the conflict can be resolved at this point, sin should be confessed, misunderstanding dismissed, and full forgiveness granted. Remember, sin should be confessed specifically not vaguely, and forgiveness is a promise not to hold the sin against them. And remember that love really is easily entreated. Do not have double standards, requiring others to let you off easily while being far more exacting of others. (For example: Do require others to judge you by your intentions while judging others by their actions.) 

Every Word Confirmed
Some matters do not rise to the level of needing to be pursued beyond a one-on-one conversation. Sometimes there are disagreements that are best left alone: “The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out” (Prov. 17:14). “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city; and their contentions are like bars of a castle” (Prov. 18:19). And if you decide to let a matter go, you must actually let it go (no bitterness). But if a matter cannot be resolved because it is a scandal or seems to be festering and causing problems, Jesus says to bring two or three witnesses into the conversation (Mt. 18:16). Always remember in these situations, especially if you are one of the “two or three witnesses” that “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (Prov. 18:17).  

Again, the goal is the truth, and this includes both the truth about sins committed, the necessity of forgiveness, as well as the truth about whether the matter should be dropped or not. A brother in ongoing scandalous sin must be pursued, but a one time bump or collision may need to be tied off as best as possible, committing it to the Lord. And we should note here the Biblical injunction that it would be better to be defrauded and wronged by a brother than for a dispute between Christians to be aired publicly before unbelievers (1 Cor. 6:7-8). This is why lawsuits between believers are completely out (1 Cor. 6:1-6). If a matter is that serious, it should be brought before the church (Mt. 18:17). And if a brother refuses to submit to even the judgment of the church, he may be put outside the fellowship (Mt. 18:17, 1 Cor. 5). 

Conclusion
Remember that even this final step of church discipline really is pursuing conflict resolution and peace. The Bible says that when someone is put of the fellowship, we are delivering such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 5:5). The goal is still to win them. How are we to treat our enemies? The way Christ treated us when we were His enemy: He loved us and died for us (Rom. 5:8-10). If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if he is thirsty give him something to drink (Rom. 12). 

We must not fellowship with excommunicated Christians as though everything is just fine, but if we are to treat them as unbelievers, then that means they need the gospel in word and deed.

Jim Wilson has always liked to say that there is a deeper right than being right. And the point is something like: where are you going and where will this take us? Better to be wronged and end up in the right place than to be “right” and end up in the wrong place. There are problems that need to be addressed. We believe in true Christian accountability, but the Devil doesn’t mind latching on to misplaced zeal. And while open sin must be confronted, sometimes the most insidious sin latches on to a veneer of piety or zeal. So the central thing is the joy of the Lord: rejoicing always in the peace of the Lord guarding our hearts and our minds, and a deep contentment in the Lord, truly willing to follow Jesus wherever He leads. 

Photo by Gui França on Unsplash

Mouths Full of Easter

On this day and throughout this season, we say, He is risen/He is risen indeed! Our mouths are full of this blessing. And so it is that God would have us, His people, have resurrection mouths, Easter mouths. Mouths full of resurrection blessing and life. 

But it’s so easy whether by long bad habits or surprise disappointments or festering bitterness or anger for our words to be ugly, biting, resentful, malicious. But all of those words, the words that bite and devour, the words that criticize and accuse, they are words of fear and despair. They are words of the grave. They are words of death and decay. But when we say Christ is risen, we cannot despair. We cannot fear any more. 

So think about a situation where you are tempted to snap, to bite, to curse, to lash out – whether with your spouse, your children, your parents, your boss, maybe a complete stranger – maybe it would be openly in front of everyone, or maybe you’re the type to hold it in with a smile, while the storm erupts underneath the surface, under your breath, or later in the car or in your room alone. 

But whatever the situation, look at it straight in the face right now. They insulted you. They snubbed you. They disrespected you. They forgot you. They misunderstood you. They blamed you. Whatever. Do you have the situation in your mind? Can you see it? Now recognize that no situation that you can imagine is worse than a corpse in a grave. Imagine that hurt, that pain, that disappointment, that injustice – your fear is that it will be the last word, that it will be a grave with a stone that cannot move and you’re trapped inside. But you have the answer to every grave, to every grave situation. The answer is He is risen. The answer is that Christ is risen from the dead, and therefore everything that is in Him will rise with Him. 

So don’t just say it here on Easter Sunday or at church during Easter season. Say it all the time. Say it under your breath. Say it out loud at home. And if you need to, when a moment seems to be getting a little tense, just say, He is risen. Think it in your head: He is risen. Say it and mean it until your mouth and heart are full of it. Jesus rose to make all things new, including our mouths and our tongues. He rose from the dead to fill our mouths with blessing. 

Photo by kazuend on Unsplash

Four Parenting Basics: Making Sharp Arrows

Introduction
If there’s anything Christians need to be giving themselves to in these dark days of cultural insanity, it is building strong families: raising bold and faithful children. It is no accident that our liberal overlords hate the Christian family. They hate it because it is so potent. When a man and a woman covenant together in marriage, and determine by faith in the promises of God that they will be biblically fruitful through welcoming as many children as they can, raising them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, they are building an army that will overwhelm the impotence and barrenness of the progressive wet dream. So here are four words of encouragement as you join the fray, as you come up for air in the midst of the fray, or even as you find various ways to assist others in this glorious work. 

1. Standing on the Promises
Like everything else in the Christian life, we parent by faith. “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3). We need the Spirit to raise our children faithfully, and this text tells us that we receive the Spirit by the hearing of faith, not the works of the law. The fundamental thing is hearing and believing, not some particular method of parenting. Faithful children is a gift from God, all of grace. And the only way to receive the grace of God is by faith, by heaving and believing. 

So, what are we to hear and believe? First, we are to hear and believe the promises of the gospel, which is the forgiveness of sins for fathers and mothers. God promises complete cleansing and a perfect record for all who believe in His Son. So, you say you are justified by faith alone, and so you are. But is your parenting justified by faith alone too? Or are you running on the treadmill of good works trying to get God’s blessing that way? Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Our parenting must be justified by faith, just like the rest of our lives. And that means believing the gospel for our parenting, but it also means believing the promises of God regarding our children. Understood rightly, believing the promises of God for our children are part of the promises of the gospel. God promises that His blessing will rest upon all of those who trust in Jesus. What is that blessing? It is the promise of salvation for us and for our children (Acts 2:38-39). 

So here are several of the promises specifically about our children that we must hear and believe. And we should note that these are all promises for children in the New Covenant: 

“And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from this time forth and forevermore” (Is. 59:21). God promises to put His Spirit in the mouth of believers’ children. Do you believe?

“And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me” (Jer. 32:38-40). God promises to be our God, to give us one heart that fears Him, for our good and for the good of our children. Do you believe?

“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever” (Ez. 37:24-25). This “David” is Jesus, the Son of David, the One who sits on the throne of David forever. Under the gracious rule of Christ, we promised that we will be guided to walk in the statutes of God, along with our children and grandchildren. Do you believe?

Finally, from the New Testament: “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts 2:38-39). There is that gift of the Spirit that is for us and for our children. 

There’s a stark difference between parents who believe these promises and then seek to obey what God says to do in light of the promises, and those parents who doubt, are unsure, or are unaware of the promises. Faith in the promises is marked by joy, peace, patience, kindness, confidence, and courage. While doubt, insecurity, and ignorance of the promises is marked by anger, frustration, depression, fear, critical spirits, squabbling, and regular arguments and fights. If your home is not marked by joy and peace and patience, go back to these promises. Begin at the beginning before the Lord, as a father, as parents, or as whole family. Begin by believing the promises of God. Receive forgiveness for failures, and begin again by believing the promises. Do you receive the Spirit by striving? By bossing? By clamoring? By criticizing? By worrying? No, not at all. You receive the Spirit by believing the promises.  

2. Requiring Obedience & Biblical Justice
The central command given to parents is to teach our children to love and obey God. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Dt. 6:5-8). 

The two specific commands here are to love God with all that you are, and to teach the commands of God to your children diligently, which means all day long. If you want your kids to love God, show them how. When you love something, it comes tumbling out all the time. So talk about God’s word all day long. Talk about the beauty of creation. Talk about answered prayer. Talk about the goodness of God. Talk about what you read in Scripture today. Sing hymns and psalms together regularly. And since we’re the kind of people who forget, put reminders to talk about God’s word everywhere. Incidentally, this is why educational programs where the Word of God is not honored all day long cannot be considered viable options for Christian parents. It is disobedience to this command, and you will reap what you sow. If you sow apathy and indifference and agnosticism for 8 hours a day, you cannot be shocked when you that’s the harvest you reap.  

Parents must teach and require biblical obedience of their children. Obedience is to be right away, all the way, and cheerfully, since that is how we must obey God. Slow obedience is not obedience, incomplete obedience is not obedience, and fussing/whining/complaining/eye rolling obedience is not obedience. Parents must practice, teach, and require biblical obedience and not let the line slide. This is not because we think we are so high and mighty but because God requires us to do it, and because our children are practicing for how they will obey God when they are grown up. 

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). This means that we want to begin teaching obedience as early as possible since however you train him when he is young, that is the way he will go, and he will not depart from it (for good or ill). Practice makes permanent. If you practice making deals, if you practice compromise, if you practice coaxing and begging and bribing for ten years, then you will get teenagers and adults with hard hearts who are not quick to obey you or the Lord. 

The problem of course is that “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,” and if only there was something we could do about that, but wait, there is: “but the rod of discipline drives it far from him” (Prov. 22:15). Far too many parents are frustrated and constantly running on fumes and at their wits end, and they scour parenting books and magazines and internet mom groups and websites for tips and tricks, but they are doing so disobediently because they have already decided not to obey God’s clear instructions here. The rod of discipline drives folly far from the hearts of our children. Do you believe God or not? 

The Bible teaches that the rod of correction is love, and failure to love in this way is a form of hatred: “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Prov. 13:24). Hebrews says that discipline is painful for the present, but it results in the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb. 12:11). Do you want the peaceful fruit of righteousness or do you want to keep doing it your own way? There is a particular connection between a child’s backside and his soul: “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol” (Prov. 23:13-14). 

Are you putting your trust in your own wisdom, modern psychology, fear of what others might think, fear that you might mess it up? Well, if you’re failing to obey God in this way, you’re already messing it up. If you didn’t grow up in a home where spanking was done regularly and joyfully (without any anger), talk to a couple in your church that has happy, obedient children, and ask them for advice about how to do it. And while spanking is certainly not the only tool in your parenting toolbox, it is ordinarily a very regular occurrence for most kids in the toddler years, tapering off in the elementary years. 

When you discipline, practice the principles of biblical justice (informally). I don’t mean this in a wooden way, but keep these principles in mind and apply them as seems fitting: explain the biblical charges, cite 2-3 witnesses, explain the penalty (how many spanks?), require calm submission to the penalty (no fits), then quickly hug and comfort your child, pray together and ask God’s forgiveness, assure them of their forgiveness, and make any other necessary apologies or restitution to anyone else wronged. Remember: the point of the discipline is to get back into joyful obedience and fellowship. If the spanking does not result in the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” you need to repeat the process until you succeed. There will usually be a few battles in the toddler years, and faithful parents must be committed to winning those battles. Remember, it is far easier to win a battle with a two year old over her peas, than it is to try to win a battle with a fifteen year old who wants to dress like a Canaanite.

3. Practice Joyful Obedience & Fellowship
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Fathers are singled out here as the ones particularly responsible for seeing that this takes place. Children are required to honor and obey both their mother and their father, but fathers are given the responsibility of making sure that it happens. The “discipline and instruction” of the Lord is the “culture and counsel” of the Lord Jesus. Culture is all day long, everywhere you go, just like in Deuteronomy, and counsel is the wisdom and ethics and love of Christ.

Fathers are also warned against provoking their children to wrath, and this means that fathers must love and teach, love and teach, and then require obedience of those things that they know their children have been thoroughly taught. Good parents are like good coaches. But many fathers provoke their children to wrath by requiring of them things they haven’t taught and practiced with them. There should be lots of teaching, explaining, and practicing before the game, before “it counts.” Play obedience games, where you practice obeying right away, all the way, and cheerfully. Give random commands that are fun or funny, and practice obeying together as a team: “Go hug your mom!” “yes sir!”, “Bring me one sock from your bedroom!” “Yes sir!” “Go put that one sock away!” “Yes sir!” Is there any chance they might ever need to be ready to put a sock away? If your house is like my house, probably more than once. 

Be full of praise, encouragement, compliments, prizes, high fives, fist bumps, laughter, and aim to make obedience joyful and fun (because it is). It is a blessing to obey God. Try to do your best to prepare your children for the challenges they will face before they happen. What will their temptations be at the store? When you have guests over? Sharing toys with friends? Eating dinner? At school? A birthday party? Talk about it. Practice. Rehearse. Will they need to say “thank you”? Have you run that drill many times? Or are you just going to spring it on them? And if you notice certain areas of weakness when you have guests over or when you’re out, don’t make a huge deal about it and embarrass them in front of everyone. Take those weaknesses as your report card as a parent, jot down some notes on the things you’d like to see improved, talk to your spouse about it, and then prayerfully practice those things for the next couple of weeks before your next opportunity arises, before the next “game.” Set your children up to succeed, and if you know that they know how to obey and they still refuse, then you must discipline them. But no coach is considered a good coach who requires things that he has not thoroughly practiced and drilled with his team. 

So cultivate a culture of fellowship and joy in your home where everyone is cheering for one another to succeed, not a gestapo culture where everyone is watching for infractions. While you must require obedience, and there will be times when you need to win certain battles, you do not need to make everything an obedience test. Love covers a multitude of sins. Accidents happen. Laugh a lot. Give opportunities for “do-overs” for “Mr. or Ms. Grumpypants.” And if you’ve been lazy or failing to hold a biblical standard in many areas, just pick the top one or two areas and begin there. Frequently, as you address the clearest problems, the other ones clear up on their own or with less effort. 

This culture of joy and fellowship is particularly important so that there is joyful fellowship to be restored to after discipline. If everything is tense all the time, spanking will have less and less potency. The whole point of discipline is to get back into joyful fellowship. And the father is particularly responsible for seeing that his home is a happy place to be. 

4. Loving the Standard vs. Conforming to the Standard
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). The goal is to have our children love the standard not merely conform to the standard. 

This means that the basic structure of parenting is that children should live in a joyful, benevolent totalitarian dictatorship until mid-to-late elementary school. They should be told what to wear, when to go to bed, and what they love and value.  

Sometime in the mid-elementary years, they may begin having their own opinions and some measure of freedom to begin using their judgment, while still giving lots of teaching and correction but spankings should be increasingly rare. 

The goal should be to “let go” sometime in high school, giving your kids a year or two to make their own choices like adults while there is still a safety net before they move out of the house. If there are obvious problems in high school, work to rebuild trust; don’t clamp down.

Far too many parents get this all reversed and set themselves up for great frustration and sadness. It’s easy to let sin go when kids are young, when the sin seems relatively small and cute, but you’re training little, selfish monsters. And if you failed, and your kids are now in high school and showing the fruit of those failures, go back to step 1. Go back to the promises and the gospel, and then recognize that we serve a gracious God who meets us where we are, rather than where we should have been. Confess your sins to God, to your kids, and then address the issues as best as you can without pretending you can put the toothpaste back in the tube. If your son is 16, respect him as an adult who needs counsel, but don’t try to order him around like he’s still 5. Remember, God’s grace is sufficient for it all, and that is the key to the kind of cool, joyful confidence you need at every stage of parenting. God is good, and He has promised to save us and our children. So look to Him in faith, and then walk in that light. 

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

Sons of Thunderpuppies, Christians Cussing, and the Serrated Edge

Introduction
I occasionally write an article with a few extra jalapenos, perhaps several more jalapenos than some of my readers or audience think is helpful, necessary, or edifying. So for example, in my recent riposte to Jeremy Boreing and the DailyWire, some folks wondered if I was actually undermining my point by using words like “whore” or “breasts” or “damn.” I mean, if I’m trying to get Boreing to ease up on the cleavage, maybe I should clean up the language. If I’m objecting to 1950s secular masculine tropes, maybe I should wash my mouth out with a bar of soap. And first off, I don’t mind the question at all. The fact that some so-called “culture warriors” would sound off on Twitter with a blue streak of f-bombs in response to the question, would certainly indicate a son of thunderpuppy who doesn’t know what spirit he’s of. No, I have no use for cussing pastors and swearing Christian hipsters or “culturally relevant” filth spewers. But our standard is Scripture, not Hallmark, Hollywood, or Pureflix. We don’t want 18th century Victorian prudery or 20th century hypocrisy or 21st century debauchery. We want to do our best to be Scriptural. We want our words to echo God’s Words. And that is what I was doing in the DailyWire post. Let me explain. 

Really Edifying
Ephesians 4-5 is actually a great place begin: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers… Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice… But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting… For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” (Eph. 4:29, 5:3-5). Therefore, all frivolous cursing or obscenities or filthy language are all out for Christians. Lots of Saturday Night Live, Comedy Central, and late night television is completely out. Broadly, the categories of filthy and unclean language fall under the headings of wrath and sexual perversion. Hatred and malice results in cursing and obscenities, and covetous sexuality results in foul, gutter mouths. Our language must be intentional and carefully crafted to edify and minister grace. So far so good?

Now we come to the challenge. Paul says that fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness, let it not even be named once among you, as becomes saints (Eph. 5:3). But follow me closely here: Paul had to name those things in order to identity what should not even be named among us. Therefore, clearly, Paul does not mean that certain sounds or syllables cannot ever be on our lips. There are certain words or sounds that refer to curses or obscenities in one language and mean nothing of the sort in another language. Telling your innocent eight year old son that “bitch” is not the best name for a cranky pet crawdad, since it’s a rather coarse term, does not mean that you have become coarse in uttering the sounds of a coarse word. Paul means that we must not partake in those sins in any way. We must not participate in malice and sexual perversion. ‘Let them not be named’ means those sins are not to in anyway be associated with us. And this is exactly what he goes on to say: “Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light… and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light” (Eph. 5:7-8, 11-13). 

But notice what Paul says: we are to be children of light. And what does that mean? It means our job is reprove the unfruitful works of darkness. It is a shame to even speak of their foul deeds done in secret, but when we reprove or correct their dark deeds, we do expose them. So this then is the biblical standard. We must not partake in the darkness, but we must rebuke and correct the darkness. And when we rebuke the darkness, the darkness will be exposed. It’s shameful to even speak of those things, but when those things are exposed by the light, it will be manifest by the light. This is the assignment of all those who love the Light of Christ. We must be truly edifying, really edifying, and that means mixing the mortar the way God says to mix it, not just according to the sensibilities of the elders’ wives. And this is precisely where Christians often fail. 

We fail in one of two directions. Broadly we have the cussers and the non-cussers. Among the cussers, we have the Christian frat boy problem, and this is just fat-headed, mindless cursing and swearing and then going to church on Sunday and not noticing, and we’re not sure if these guys are even regenerate. The other group of cussers are the gritty, so-called “realist” Christians who think cussing and swearing somehow makes them more real, more culturally savvy, often with matching tattoos and piercings, and somehow, dressed and sounding like a pagan, they think they will be light in the darkness. But it turns out when you’ve embraced that much darkness, the darkness can’t even tell you’re there. When you’re got one nostril above the sewage pond, no one notices, and no one cares. You have become a partaker with them, man, even if you can technically still get a PG-13 rating. But there is an opposite problem that thoughtful Christians must reckon with, and that is the problem of purist non-cussers. They think their job is to hide their light under a bushel, so as to not have it actually expose any darkness. But our job is not merely to avoid all participation in the darkness, but it is actually to expose the darkness. Our job is to drive back the darkness. But this means reproving, correcting, and rebuking that filth and muck and shame. This means naming the filth without getting any filth on you. This means exposing the shame without approving any of it. This is what I believe we find throughout Scripture, particularly in those more graphic descriptions of sin that are technically speaking intensely obscene or crass. 

Scripture is the Standard
So Scripture is the standard, and this means we must not participate in the darkness in the slightest, but we must expose the darkness. And exposing the darkness means naming it in a way to actually uncover its shame without getting covered in it. So in the same text in Ephesians 5, Paul calls one set of sinners “whoremongers” (Eph. 5:5), which is not the most delicate way to describe sexual deviants. Maybe a close modern translation would be “lust monkeys.” It’s derogatory, mocking, and descriptive. In Galatians, Paul says he wishes the Judaizers would emasculate themselves (Gal. 5:12). And while “emasculate” is certainly an accurate term, it is also very sterile (no pun intended). Perhaps the better translation would be neuter or castrate or mutilate. In fact, Paul calls them the “mutilators of the flesh” (Phil. 3:2). And don’t forget: Paul is using coarse, somewhat crass language to describe respectable theologians and seminary professors. In the same place in Philippians, he calls them “dogs” and a little further down says that their god is their belly (Phil. 3:20). He is accusing high brow theologians of being obsessed with carving up cocks, like a bunch of our modern tranny doctors and woke activists. In all of this Paul is exposing the gutter, without getting into it. He is exposing the sewage, without wading in. And that’s what we’re required to imitate, particularly Christian leaders. 

In my DailyWire article, I cited a few passages from Ezekiel that are particularly colorful and obscene. I didn’t even quote the most colorful portions, but some folks were concerned with my use of the word “whore.” However, a quick word search indicates that you can find some form of that word 76 times in the Bible, so unless you’re prepared to tell God to tone it down, I’m not sure what to tell you. But there’s more: “And they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth: there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their virginity” (Ez. 23:3). This is God’s way of describing the idolatry and unfaithfulness of Israel. And some of the church ladies will say that this was entirely uncalled for. They will say, ‘It was not necessary to describe Israel’s moral sin as them wanting to get their breasts grabbed and their nipples pinched black and blue.’ 

But this is the part that you really need to hear: yes, it was necessary. How do we know it was necessary? Because God put it in there for our edification. All of Scripture is inspired by God and useful… (2 Tim. 3:16). This language was crafted to edify and minister grace. How so? At the very least because it exposes the darkness. This is how light collides with darkness. There is nothing titillating about this language. There is nothing approving. This language is coarse, obscene, and crass, but it is not participating in the sin; it is reproving it and exposing it. Wait, there’s more. But in all seriousness, I’m getting to my own limit here, and I won’t quote the entirety of Ez. 23:20, but let me just say it includes women lusting over ejaculating donkeys. Now let’s be clear: that’s foul. That’s obscene. And that’s the point. The point is to create revulsion in the hearers and readers of the text. Sin is like that. Your unfaithfulness is like that. Was that really necessary? Yes, it was. And judging by the state of the modern evangelical church, yes, it still is. We are a church of whores. We lust over the approval of men, the approval of the world. And God has sent calamity after calamity, and we have the audacity to get back up on Sunday morning and keep uttering our blasphemies.   

A Word on Damnation 
One final thing for now, relating to the word “damn.” The word “damn” is also from the Bible, and it simply means “cursed to Hell,” which is exactly what the Bible says sexual promiscuity leads to: “Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers of death” (Prov. 7:27). So all Christians should say, ‘let all sexual promiscuity be damned.’ When we say that, we are agreeing with God. In fact, when Israel was going into the promised land, God had the Levites (the pastors) announce damnation on a number of sinful acts, and the people were required to respond by saying “Amen!” The pastors would say: God damn those who pervert justice, and the people would reply, “Amen!” (Dt. 27:19) The pastor would announce: God damn anyone who has sex with an animal, and the people would say, “Amen!” (Dt. 27:21) Someone will look up these verses and say, my translation only says “cursed be…” Yes, but who is the one who will bring the curse? Is it not God? Paul says the same thing about those who preach any other gospel: “anathama” means “let him be damned” (Gal. 1:8-9). God damn anyone who preaches another gospel. 

Part of the problem we are facing in our land today is the fact that we have not reckoned with the full fury of God against our sin. Even Christians are shy and timid about saying they “hate” anything. But Christians are required to hate all evil. God hates sin, and God hates sinners. “The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth” (Ps. 11:5). The modern lie that many Christians have bought is that it is impossible to hate and love at the same time. We have bought the lie that hatred and love are always opposites. But they are not. God hates sinners, and He loves them. He hates their evil deeds, the violence of their words and actions, and He sent His only Son to die for a myriad of them. And we are required to imitate God in His loves and in His hates. 

“Ye that love the LORD, hate evil” (Psa. 97:10). “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?” (Ps. 139:21). “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you…” (Mt. 5:43-44). There’s certainly a fleshly hatred and malice that must be repudiated; we must be able to love our enemies. But we must retain a godly hatred of all evil. Precisely because we hate evil, we seek to overcome evil with good, just like our Lord. We’ve just celebrated Good Friday and Easter, and one of the things we celebrated was the hatred of God for all of our sin, the hatred of God for sinners. And that perfect hatred was perfectly released on Jesus on the cross as the perfect display of perfect love. On the cross love and hate have met and kissed. On the Cross, God cursed His own Son in our place because of love. On the cross, God damned His own Son for sinners He chose to save. And all those who do not see themselves in that damned death will suffer God’s wrath for eternity in Hell. 

Given the reality of Hell and damnation, Christians must not use these terms lightly. The colloquial phrase “don’t give a damn” means not to care, but I don’t use it frivolously either, since Hell and damnation are real. But godly Christians should hate sin fiercely and be so certain of truth and righteousness, that they don’t care about the world threatening to curse us to Hell (for being losers or old fashioned or haters, or whatever). We are to be confident in Christ. We are absolutely safe in Him. And so there absolutely is a sense that when we are being obedient to God with all our hearts, we must not give a damn about what the world thinks or says. 

Conclusion
Let me be clear: I am not saying that just because you can find a verse in the Bible, you can say whatever it says any time you want. No, James says that our mouths are like flamethrowers. Our words are flammable, and they can set whole worlds ablaze. There are words that carry with them such a weight of hatred or filth, that Christians should be very reluctant to use them. I suppose there may be some perfect place for an f-bomb, but I would suggest that godly Christians can have one or two max for their lifetimes, but I’m not even really sure about that. So think about it carefully. Words are like firearms, and they need to be treated very carefully: never point a dangerous word at someone or something you aren’t willing to harm (Js. 3). And wisdom frequently tells our children, not yet. There are some words I want you to be older and wiser before you use them.  

But Scripture is our standard for what is edifying and ministers grace. If we are committed to reading and studying all of Scripture, we should want the power of language exemplified in Scripture, which is sometimes stronger or coarser than we might think is necessary. In our fight against sin, we want to appropriately mock and denounce and expose it, while not being tainted by it: “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 23).

But God’s Word is a sharp blade that cuts our sin, not a foam nerf sword that merely plays with it. This is why we need to recover the fullness of God’s Word. It must be recovered by pastors and elders first of all, and the whole blade needs to be brought to bear on our sin. We keep saying that our words need to be edifying, but if you look around and don’t see any edifice, any actual building, then maybe we should stop doing what we’re doing and do something else. Yes, we need to be full of the fruit of the Spirit, kindness included, all the way up to the brim. But that same Spirit inspired the whole Bible, and that Word is sturdy, firm, fierce, and fiery, and Christ intends for His bride to be washed in the water of that word. That Word is the only firm foundation for a house that will withstand the storms and winds and floods of the world. 

Suggested Reading: A Serrated Edge by Douglas Wilson

Suggested Conference: Lies, Propaganda, Storytelling, and the Serrated Edge

Photo by Jonny Gios on Unsplash

More than Political

Today we remember and celebrate Palm Sunday, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Today we will sing about and hear about when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and the people cut down palm branches and shouted “Hosanna” to the King of Israel. 

There are at least two ways to get this acclamation wrong. Some wanted a carnal King in the first century, and there are some attracted to Christianity today who are still looking for a carnal King. A carnal King is a merely political savior, who basically plays by earthly rules; He’s just smarter, cooler, more powerful, and He really ‘owns the libs.’ But if that’s what Jesus was coming to do, what follows doesn’t make sense. Why does He then spend the rest of the week in the temple preaching only to be betrayed and condemned and crucified, with Him saying the whole time: this is all part of the plan. 

The other way to get this wrong is to go to the opposite extreme and try to explain that Jesus was only symbolizing being a king, and what He offers is a spiritual kingdom in another dimension. If you ask Him to come into your heart, He will give you a little piece of that spiritual kingdom in your heart, while you wait for this world to crumble and burn. But it that’s what Jesus came to do, what follows doesn’t make sense either. Jesus didn’t need to go into Jerusalem, preach repentance, be betrayed, suffer and die and rise again for a kingdom in another dimension. 

No, the truth is that Jesus came as the King of Israel. He is the descendant of David, He is the seed of the Woman, and He is the Messiah come to save Israel. But He is not a carnal King, a merely political Savior. He came to save us from our sins because sin is the greatest oppressor, the greatest tyrant of all. If you want to be saved from political tyranny and oppression, you must first have Christ wash your feet, which is to say, He must wash you from your sins.

Make no mistake: Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. He is President of all the presidents, Prime Minister of all the Prime Ministers, Supreme Judge of all the courts. The government is upon His shoulder, and all authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Him. Every knee must bow to Him; every tongue must confess Him Lord. But this is because He went to the cross for sinners. This is political, but it is far more than political. 

Photo by Brady Leavell on Unsplash

Who May Come to the Table

All who are baptized in the name of the Triune God, who are not under lawful church discipline are most welcome to partake of this meal with us. In fact, if you are baptized and not under church discipline, we encourage you, urge you to partake of this meal with us. But if you are not yet baptized, but you believe in the Lord Jesus, we would encourage you and urge you to get baptized as soon as possible and then come and join us at this Table.

And this goes for children as well: baptized children are welcome to the table with us, provided that their parents are discipling them in Christ as they come. We simply ask parents to let an elder know when they are beginning to bring their young baptized child to the table so we can encourage you in that task. If you or one of your children needs to be baptized, just let an elder or the church office know, and we will be glad to schedule that for you. 

There are at least two things here worth underlining: first, it really is important to be baptized first before coming to the Table, since baptism is the sign of entry into the covenant. Baptism is the door into the house, and you have to come into the house to eat at the table. Symbolically, this also points to being cleansed and washed first. The promise of baptism is the forgiveness of all our sins in the blood of Jesus. You don’t come to the table and then wash up. You wash up first, and then you come. But this washing is received by faith.

The other thing is that if you are baptized, you do not have the authority to not come to the table. This isn’t your table. This is the table of the Lord. Only Jesus has the authority to bar someone from this table, and He has given some of that authority to the ministers and elders of the church. Occasionally, if there is some high-handed sin, we may suspend someone from the table temporarily in order to warn them to put things right, but if someone persists in unrepentant sin, we must declare them unbelievers and bar them from the table. We call that excommunication. They are still welcome to come to church, but they are not welcome to this table until they repent. 

This means that if you have a bad week or a bad morning, and you know you’re not in fellowship with your spouse or one of your kids or your parent or a roommate, or you fell into some bad sin, you have two options. You can either tell an elder and ask them what you should do, or you can confess it right now and commit before the Lord to repenting and making it right at the soonest opportunity. But you don’t have the option of just not taking the Lord’s Supper. You don’t have that authority, and parents, you don’t have that authority over your children. In this way, this Table functions as a gracious road block for sin. Isn’t God good?

So Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ.   

Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash