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My Concerns about the Responses to David Platt and Sunday’s Visit by President Trump; and a Call to Repentance

In my previous blog post, I shared a letter from Pastor David Platt, who publicly prayed for President Trump when he came unannounced to McLean Bible Church last Sunday. When we posted a link to the article on my Facebook page, there were a lot of comments, many of which were bewildering and saddening to me.

I’m not talking about mere disagreement, which is normal and which I welcome; this was something far deeper than differing opinions. This will be a longer blog than normal, because I believe there is much to be said, and it’s important.

One commenter wrote, “I am having a hard time figuring out how the act of prayer ‘hurt’ people in the congregation. There are very hard things that require preaching, this pastor probably avoids them. Sad.”

Another wrote, “He was doing what God biblically instructed and his church members are complaining and whining!!!! Whaaat??? THIS is what’s wrong with the church. Follow the Bible NOT your members. Extremely disappointed in this pastor.”

Yet another said, “Sensitivities??? Church members who in any way objected should be admonished, not appeased.”

Based on dozens of comments that were made defending praying for the president, I followed up to clarify that no one’s objection was to praying for President Trump! Like many churches, McLean regularly obeys the command of 1 Timothy 2:2, to pray for those in authority, as Platt clearly stated. We should pray for every president. That is not even slightly controversial. I suggested that I thought the issue of discomfort of some in the church was not about praying for the president, but about the possibility that a political leader showed up to be prayed for publicly rather than privately as an attempt to use the church and the pastor for political purposes.

I don’t know the president’s heart in why he asked to be prayed for publicly rather than privately. God knows, but we don’t. It might reflect a sincere spiritual desire, and I certainly hope it does. But I was defending Platt’s choice to honor his request for public prayer, and take advantage of the opportunity to privately share gospel truth with him as well.

A Double Standard?

As I said in my first post, I believe David Platt, under exactly the same circumstances, would have done the same for President Obama. Had he done so, I suspect some who are saying no one should oppose prayer for the president might have said, “David Platt and his church and its platform were used to promote a liberal president with this contrived photo-op. As a pastor he should be ashamed of himself. If Obama wanted prayer, why didn’t be come to the pastor privately? Why make a big show of it? And why didn’t he show up to hear the sermon from God’s Word?”

Had David Platt then written a letter saying he didn’t mean to cause disunity in the body by having President Obama on the platform, would that letter have been viewed differently by those of different political persuasions? I think so.

The hot-button nature of politics in our country is exactly why I came to the defense of David Platt, who managed to offend people simultaneously on both sides of the political aisle. With the high profile pastors who have been exposed for sexual immorality, financial impropriety, and bullying their churches, I want to stand with the many good-hearted, Bible-believing, Christ-centered, grace-and-truth filled pastors out there. I don’t put David Platt on a pedestal; of course he makes mistakes, just like I do. But in this situation I believe he did it right—especially since he had no time to call for a meeting of leaders or congregation to discuss what to do.

In other words I disagree with both the liberals and the conservatives who have been roasting, belittling, and demeaning Platt for just being a pastor seeking to honor Jesus, respecting the biblical call to pray for leaders, and caring for his church flock with a commendable sensitivity in keeping with 1 Peter 5 and other passages.

I was struck by the scores of commenters saying that we should not apologize for praying for a president. But I have never heard any Christian say we shouldn’t pray for a president! Acting like some believers are against prayer for our leaders is a straw man argument against people who don’t exist.  This obscures the real issue, which is much more difficult: do we believe we should welcome any president who requests standing on a church platform to be prayed for, and then to shake the pastor’s hand, knowing this will result in major news coverage?

Personally, I think the answer is yes! If the president, or any future president, shows up in your church, I hope your pastor will do what David Platt did. Now, if you have advance notice and can request a private meeting, sure, that’s better. And if he shows up in a public meeting, I don’t think he should speak, since a church platform is for worshipping God and preaching His Word, not for the promotion of personal or political agendas.

I think what I’m suggesting is a helpful question for both those who are outraged about President Trump being on the church platform and those others who are outraged that some in the church didn’t like or understand what happened. The question for both sides is this: Would you have viewed it differently—either negatively or positively—if it had been President Obama instead of President Trump?

If so, does that mean 1 Timothy 2:2 should be obeyed only when we like someone and not when we don’t? Isn’t this a double standard that shows a serious disregard for the meaning of that passage? Don’t brush this off. I think we all need to examine our hearts in this.

I’m grateful for a couple of conservative commenters who thought this through and realized they would have responded much differently to President Obama appearing on a church platform than President Trump doing so—just as many liberals who opposed what happened would have been happy with it had it been President Obama. The lesson is that even when we quote Scripture, we tend to apply it differently when we like or dislike the particular political leader.

Not an Apology

Despite it being repeatedly said (and reported) that he did so, in his letter of explanation, Platt did NOT apologize or say he was sorry he had prayed for the president. Rather he tried to clarify what happened and why, while showing understanding for his people who didn’t agree. Still, the Facebook comments about my blog were filled with those who insisted he apologized for praying for President Trump:

“I just read that your Pastor Platt apologized for praying for Trump?! That breaks my heart as I’m Christian and we should NEVER apologize for our prayers!”

“No Christian, and certainly no pastor, should ever regret and then apologize for praying for anyone in public, especially for the President of the United States who came to his church as a guest of his own accord. I am appalled that David Platt would do so. This is a big issue, giant actually, and the wicked liberals are dancing in delight at what Platt did.”

“Why would ANY pastor feel the need to justify a public prayer for any government leader? The tone of this blog saddens me and demonstrates the extremely weak condition of many churches in America today.”

“There was no need to justify praying for the President. President Trump is our President. Being sensitive or whatever the politically correct word is these days to non-Trump supporters is ridiculous.”

What does it say about our culture (and our church culture) that merely explaining something to your church with a display of kindness is perceived as apologizing (which is seen as weakness)?

I continue to support Pastor Platt both for praying for our president and sharing the gospel with him, AND for being sensitive to the fact that there are some in his multicultural church who were hurt by what was interpreted by them as an endorsement of a political agenda, some of which they consider hostile and threatening to people like themselves and their families. This pastor loves his WHOLE church and is concerned to shepherd them tenderly and to teach them to follow Jesus, and become Christ’s disciples. This is his primary goal, not to make people into good conservatives or good independents or good liberals.

I am grateful for the many pastors like David Platt who put Jesus and His church before any political agenda, and who say to His people with the apostle Paul, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). I truly love my earthly country, the U.S.A., but I love God’s Kingdom more. Pastors and believers who get this backwards end up undermining the Gospel and committing idolatry by putting their political agendas in the place of God. While I am theologically conservative and prolife and more often politically conservative than liberal, I am very aware Jesus did not say “Follow Conservatism” or “Follow Liberalism.” He said, “Follow me.”

God’s Word and Our Words

As I read through the 330 or so Facebook comments on Wednesday’s blog, I was particularly troubled by the mischaracterizations of and harsh accusations against David Platt made by people who clearly know nothing about him. He is a Christ-centered, Bible-based, and humble brother. We all know pastors aren’t perfect, but a number of things that were said about David in the comments do not reflect an accurate understanding of what actually happened and what David Platt said, and who he is. In fact, a number of these things are just plain false. What people said about me bothers me far less than what they said about him:  

“Can’t stand David Platt and respect him less now. I actually thought he did an amazing job with his prayer, but then after finding out he apologized to his congregation later made me disgusted. He’s pandering to his liberal membership and he himself is a social justice warrior.”

“Your view, Randy Alcorn, makes me wonder about you. Yes, I am disappointed in you. What David Platt did has damaged him in the eyes of Bible-believing Christians but now he will be elevated by the political leftists. Who does he serve?”

“I totally disagree. He did nothing to apologize for. Just yielded to pressure. Shame on you David.”

“Mr. Platt should resign and take the malcontents with him. What a disgrace.”

“Weak and pathetic excuse for a ‘pastor.’ He obviously cares more about the $$ that is funneled into his wallet from his so called Christian congregation than he cares about doing what the Bible instructs us to do......pray for our leaders, pray for one another! I’m so mad I could spit!”

I do not know the hearts of all the people I’ve quoted in this blog. I am not their judge. I have not cited anyone’s names, because I have no desire to belittle them, and in some cases I may be misreading them.

It is painful to say this, but whenever things like this happen, it seems to show that Christians are often just as prone as unbelievers to fail to read, understand, pay attention, listen, or even to think. We draw hasty and often wrong conclusions, jump on bandwagons without an accurate understanding, take offense easily, and lash out quickly. I believe it saddens Jesus to see us trash-talk and ignore and violate a host of biblical passages about misjudging people and being held accountable at the judgment seat for careless words. We seem to have a great eagerness to condemn others.  

I say this not with glee, but with a true sense of grief, yet I think Jesus wants me to say it anyway: God’s people are not to be a bickering, angry mob. We are not to be a herd of online bullies, rushing to judgment and egging each other on to defame our brothers and sisters. (Some of whom may well be more faithful and honorable in God’s sight than we are.)

My heart cries out to the Lord to do a transforming work in all of our hearts and lives, beginning with mine. For God’s glory, our good, and the good of a desperate world that needs to know Jesus, may we stop this relentless sniping at each other and become in actual thought and practice what He went to the cross to make us—His pure and spotless bride: “...just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27).

I believe at the core of our quickness to demean and vilify others, including our Christian brothers and sisters, is plain old pride. We trust our own judgment too much, we draw condemning conclusions about others too quickly, and we are way too eager to share our grievances and belittle others. We are in great danger when we do this. God warns us, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

He calls upon us to repent of our pride. He says, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (1 Peter 5:5–6).

I say this to myself first, and to readers second: could we please stop exalting ourselves and instead be quick to repent and humble ourselves before Him?

I encourage us all to ponder these Scripture passages, several of them spoken by Jesus, before making ill-informed judgments and speaking untrue words about others:

“I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Jesus, Matthew 12:36-37)

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Jesus, Luke 6:37)

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” (Jesus, Luke 6:37-42)

“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (Jesus, John 7:24)

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11-12)

“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1-3)

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)

 “Be QUICK to LISTEN, SLOW to speak, SLOW to become angry.” (James 1:19)

“Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” (Romans 14:4)

Only One Judgment Seat

Finally, to the commenters who said they can no longer read or recommend my books because of my position in Wednesday’s blog: I believe I should live my life before the Audience of One. Just as you will not stand before my judgment seat, I won’t stand before yours. We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give an account for all our words and actions (2 Corinthians 5:10).

My goal is not to sell more books, nor to be popular with certain demographics, nor to get as many likes on Facebook as I can. My goal is to try to follow biblical principles and faithfully represent my Lord Jesus. Sometimes I fail miserably. In this particular case, having thought it through both before and after reading the comments, I believe I have honored Christ in the position I’ve taken. If that means you can’t read my books or support our ministry, I can live with that.

I hope that more of us will learn in this life, not just after we die, to be better citizens of God’s kingdom. May we see ourselves as part of that magnificent kingdom already in Heaven and growing steadily every day, awaiting God’s New Earth. Those in Heaven are saying this to King Jesus: “Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10, NLT).

God’s people have lived in various countries at various times, but they set an example for us by seeing themselves first and foremost as God’s children and citizens of His country, which is not yet on earth but will one day fill the earth:

“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:13-16, NIV).

Randy has several books related to many of the issues in this blog: Grace, Truth, and The Grace and Truth Paradox.

Image: Christianpics.co

Pastor David Platt’s Reflections on Praying for the President During His Surprise Visit to McLean Bible Church

Last Sunday, June 2, President Trump showed up unannounced to McLean Bible Church in Vienna, Virginia, which is pastored by David Platt. A White House spokesperson said the president was there to “visit with the pastor and pray for the victims and community of Virginia Beach.”

Joe Carter sets up what happened next:

“The president arrived at 2:25 pm during a musical performance and wore khakis and a jacket over a polo shirt. He held a golf hat. During the 15-minute visit to one of the D.C. metro area’s largest churches, the president made no remarks while on stage. But Platt noted there had been calls to pray for the president on this day. ‘Many of you may have seen that there were calls to, particularly on this Sunday, pray for our president,’ Platt said. “We don’t want to do that just on this Sunday. We want to do that continually, day in and day out. So I want to ask us to bow our heads together now and pray for our president.”

David has gotten some criticism from both political liberals and conservatives: some liberals who didn’t approve of allowing the president to be on the platform (for perceived photo op reasons), and some conservatives who didn’t appreciate the “apologetic” tone of the letter he wrote to his church afterward, in which he acknowledged people’s sensitivities to this situation. Personally, I really appreciated the balanced and biblical way David handled this, and I told him so.

I’m going to include the transcript of what David prayed, or you can watch the video below. But please keep reading beyond that to see more reflections from David on this event, as well as some thoughts from our friend and EPM board member Robin Green, that I think are very helpful.

O God, we praise you as the one universal king over all. You are our leader and our Lord and we worship you. There is one God and one Savior—and it’s you, and your name is Jesus. And we exalt you, Jesus. We know we need your mercy. We need your grace. We need your help. We need your wisdom in our country. And so we stand right now on behalf of our president, and we pray for your grace and your mercy and your wisdom upon him.

God, we pray that he would know how much you love him—so much that you sent Jesus to die for his sins, our sins—so we pray that he would look to you. That he would trust in you, that he would lean on you. That he would govern and make decisions in ways that are good for justice, and good for righteousness, and good for equity, every good path.

Lord we pray, we pray, that you would give him all the grace he needs to govern in ways that we just saw in 1 Timothy 2 that lead to peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way. God we pray for your blessing in that way upon his family. We pray that you would give them strength. We pray that you would give them clarity. Wisdom, wisdom, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Please, O God, give him wisdom and help him to lead our country alongside other leaders. We pray today for leaders in Congress. We pray for leaders in courts. We pray for leaders in national and state levels. Please, O God, help us to look to you, help us to trust in your Word, help us to seek your wisdom, and live in ways that reflect your love and your grace, your righteousness and your justice. We pray for your blessings on our president toward that end.

In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

Later that day, David posted a letter to his church, explaining why he chose to pray for President Trump on stage. I love David Platt, and I believe he did the right thing in the right way. And I appreciate his sensitivities to his church:

Dear MBC Family,

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we didn’t see coming, and we’re faced with a decision in a moment when we don’t have the liberty of deliberation, so we do our best to glorify God. Today, I found myself in one of those situations.

At the end of my sermon at the 1:00 worship gathering, I stepped to the side for what I thought would be a couple of moments in quiet reflection as we prepared to take the Lord’s Supper. But I was immediately called backstage and told that the President of the United States was on his way to the church, would be there in a matter of minutes, and would like for us to pray for him. I immediately thought about my longing to guard the integrity of the gospel in our church. As I said in the sermon today, Christ alone unites us. I love that we have over 100 nations represented in our church family, including all kinds of people with varied personal histories and political opinions from varied socioeconomic situations. It’s clear in our church that the only reason we’re together is because we have the same King we adore, worship, fear, and follow with supreme love and absolute loyalty, and His name is Jesus.

That’s why, as soon as I heard this request backstage, the passage from God’s Word that came to my mind was 1 Timothy 2:1-6:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”

Based on this text, I know that it is good, and pleasing in the sight of God, to pray for the president. So in that moment, I decided to take this unique opportunity for us as a church to pray over him together. My aim was in no way to endorse the president, his policies, or his party, but to obey God’s command to pray for our president and other leaders to govern in the way this passage portrays.

I went back out to lead the Lord’s Supper and then walked off stage, where the president was soon to arrive. In that brief moment, I prayed specifically for an opportunity to speak the gospel to him, and for faithfulness to pray the gospel over him.

While I won’t go into the details of our conversation backstage, one of our other pastors and I spoke the gospel in a way that I pray was clear, forthright, and compassionate. Then I walked back out on stage, read 1 Timothy 2:1-6, and sought to pray the Word of God over the president, other leaders, and our country. … After I prayed, the president walked off stage without comment, and we closed our gathering by celebrating heroes among us, a couple who has spent the last 48 years spreading the gospel in remote places where it had never gone before they came. We then recited the Great Commission as we always do, sending one another out into the city for the glory of our King.

I wanted to share all of this with you in part because I know that some within our church, for a variety of valid reasons, are hurt that I made this decision. This weighs heavy on my heart. I love every member of this church, and I only want to lead us with God’s Word in a way that transcends political party and position, heals the hurts of racial division and injustice, and honors every man and woman made in the image of God. So while I am thankful that we had an opportunity to obey 1 Timothy 2 in a unique way today, I don’t want to purposely ever do anything that undermines the unity we have in Christ.

In the end, would you pray with me for gospel seed that was sown today to bear fruit in the president’s heart? Would you also pray with me that God will help us to guard the gospel in every way as we spread the gospel everywhere? And finally, I’m guessing that all of us will face other decisions this week where we don’t have time to deliberate on what to do. I’m praying now for grace and wisdom for all of us to do exactly what we talked about in the Word today: aim for God’s glory, align with God’s purpose, and yield to God’s sovereignty.

I love you, church.

Your Pastor,

David

I assume that David Platt would have done exactly the same thing had President Obama come to his church. We are commanded to pray for those in authority, and why would you say no to someone who comes and asks for prayer? Now, if they ask to speak from the pulpit to share their viewpoints, that’s something else. The church’s job is not to turn itself over to be a mouthpiece for politicians, but its job certainly includes interceding for them and sharing the gospel with them.

It’s one thing for presidents to have had Billy Graham come to the Oval Office, but this was more surprising, since it was on the church’s and pastor’s turf. And anyone who thought David Platt would not be faithful to the Gospel and the Word doesn’t know him. If I was asked for a short list of pastors I’d want this to happen with, Platt would have quickly come to mind. (One reason I wanted to post this is to help pastors address what they would have said and done and prayed had this happened to them—and what they would have said afterward to their churches.)

When I shared David’s letter with a few of our ministry board members, Robin Green wrote the following. I wholeheartedly agree:

My thought is that all of us need the gospel at all times and in all places. Speak the gospel over me, please! It doesn’t matter that I already know about it, or have heard it before, or have already opened my heart to Jesus. My second thought is that the President came to a church asking for prayer. He appeared humble and quiet. We don’t know his heart (thankfully), but David was very right to pray for him.

I’m glad David didn’t turn away the President of the United States because people might think he is a Trump supporter. There are Trump supporters out there, including some Christians. But I don’t have to be a Trump supporter to think that Almighty God could have a thing or two to point out and clarify for Donald, that Donald Trump might be in an enormous spiritual battle our country is affected by, and that grace and mercy are in abundance at the foot of the cross. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the scales fell off of his eyes as a result of this prayer? If he saw things from a Kingdom perspective because God answered a prayer asking for wisdom for the president? 

Thank you, David Platt, for not allowing the fear of man to stop you from an opportunity to approach the Throne of Grace in obedience to Scripture and on behalf of a man in enormous need of God’s love, forgiveness, wisdom, insight, direction. Donald Trump and I share that enormous need.

For more about the need to simultaneous display both grace and truth, see Randy’s book The Grace and Truth Paradox.

Because of Jesus, We Will See God…and Live

As I write this, I’m thinking about Jesus, as I seek to do every day. For sure, there’s nothing or no one who deserves to be thought about more than Him!

I grew up in an unbelieving home. My dad, a tavern owner, was totally hostile to Jesus. (He remained so until he was 85 and appeared to be dying, when I had the privilege of leading him to Jesus; he lived four more years.)

When I was in high school, God drew me to Himself, and Jesus changed everything for me. God’s Son gave me my first glimpses of the Creator.  

When Moses said to God, “Show me your glory,” God responded, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you… but you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exodus 33:18-20, NIV).

Moses saw God, but not God’s face, yet in another sense “the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11, NASB).

God “lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16, NIV). Sinful humans were rightly terrified by the prospect of seeing God. Samson’s father, Manoah, who after seeing the angel of the Lord, told his wife, “We are doomed to die!  We have seen God!” (Judges 13:22, NIV).

Yet—and this is really striking to me—Job cried out with this ancient hope, and solid confidence: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27, NIV).

To actually see God and not be struck dead? Job was given a promise of something that, before the incarnation of Jesus, was unthinkable!

The God who lives in unapproachable light became approachable in the person of Jesus (John 1:14). In fact, it was Jesus Himself who made God visible to us: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18).

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus answered: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:8-9, NIV).­ Jesus also said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8, NIV).

This anticipated what God promises we’ll experience after the resurrection, on the New Earth: “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face” (Revelation 22:3-4, NIV).

“Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, NIV). For us to see God would require us to undergo radical transformation between now and then. And that’s exactly what will happen.

By faith in Christ, God’s children already have His righteousness, which will allow us into Heaven (see Romans 3:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Because we stand completely righteous before God in Christ, once we’re glorified and forever made sinless, we’ll be able to see God and live!

Incredible. Yet absolutely true!

For more on Jesus, see Randy’s book Face to Face with Jesus: Seeing Him as He Really Is.

Photo by Ben Klea on Unsplash

God Invites You to Delight Yourself in Him

Psalm 37:4 is a great but often misunderstood verse: “Delight yourselves in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Some people take this to mean that God will give us whatever we think we want. But the key part is “delight yourself in God.” When we delight in the Lord He often changes our heart’s desires to what most honors Him, then grants them to us. It’s not that we always get what we want, but that He teaches us to value and even want what He—in His sovereign and loving plan—gives us.

As we contemplate God, and ponder who He is, we will want what He wants. The desire of our hearts will be to hear Him say to us, “Well done.” And when that day comes, He will flood us with more joy than we can imagine. He will say, “Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

But we don’t have to wait until we die to know how He wants us to live! He commands us, for His glory and our good, to delight in Him not just in Heaven forever, but also on this present earth, here and now. 

To delight in God is to be happy with Him and in Him. To do that, we must cultivate our relationship with Him just as we do with other people by spending time with Him, bowing our knee before Him as our Lord, and also spending time with Him as our friend. That’s how we get to know Him, by learning and meditating daily on what’s true about Him. (I recommend these great books: Knowing God by J. I. Packer,  The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer, and Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.) 

In Bible study it’s always helpful to think about what the text says in contrast to what it does not say. It says, “Delight yourself in the Lord.” It doesn’t say, “Sit there and wait for the Lord to come and delight you.”

It’s active, not passive.  God doesn’t spoon-feed us His pleasures; we need to go to His banquet, reach out our hands, and select that delicious cuisine. As surely as it’s our responsibility to put good food in our mouths, it’s our responsibility to move our bodies to open His Word and move our minds toward God, and to seek to delight in Him!

While it’s true that God and His Word are nourishing, just knowing that won’t bring us to the table. We need to turn from our self-preoccupied thoughts and instead seek to cultivate our appetite for God: “Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the man who takes refuge in Him!”(Psalm 34:8, HCSB).

When I contemplate Christ—when I meditate on His unfathomable love and grace—I lose myself in Him instead of in my hurts and disappointments and fears. When He’s the center of my thinking, before I know it, I’m happy.

Here’s the Good News Translation’s rendering of Psalm 37:4: “Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desire.” This corresponds to the words of Jesus: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (Matthew 6:33, NLT).

Augustine said, “Love God and do as you please.” At first this sounds shocking, but it fits perfectly with “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will grant you the desires of your heart.” When we find our happiness in God, we will naturally want to do what pleases Him. But it’s up to us to go to Him and ask for His help and empowerment to delight in Him.

God placed just one restriction on Adam and Eve in Eden, and when they disregarded it, the universe unraveled. On the New Earth, that test will no longer be before us. God’s law, the expression of His attributes, will be written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10). No rules will be needed, for our hearts will be given over to God. We will always delight ourselves in the Lord and He will always give us the desires of our hearts.

Whatever we want will be exactly what He wants for us. What we should do will at last be identical with what we want to do. On God’s New Earth there will never by any difference between duty and delight!

But we don’t have to wait, and we dare not, to discover this. Let’s delight ourselves in Him so that we can enter into His happiness now, not just after we die.

Browse more resources on the topic of happiness, and see Randy’s related books, including Happiness.

Photo: Christianpics.co

Kirsten Watson Responds to the Question, “Does an Unborn Child’s Dependence on a Woman’s Body Make Abortion Permissible?"

Benjamin Watson is a highly respected veteran tight end in the NFL. He retired for a few months then recently came back to the game, signing with the New England Patriots, the team that drafted him in the first round back in 2004. 

Ben and his wife Kirsten are committed followers of Jesus. Nanci and I deeply appreciate both of them. Listen to what Kirsten has to say, as she speaks up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8-9):

Is abortion okay because a child is dependent on the mother for survival?

Kirsten Watson, wife of NFL champion @BenjaminSWatson, shreds this prevalent argument for abortion.

Full video ➡️ https://t.co/M1JDtVu2pL pic.twitter.com/pPMeAimB2e

— Live Action (@LiveAction) May 15, 2019

As Kirsten says, someone’s helplessness or dependency should motivate us to protect her, not to destroy her. Some years ago the attention of our entire nation turned to Baby Jessica, the little girl trapped at the bottom of a deep well. The amount of human resources poured into saving her was vast, but no one doubted whether she was worth it. What touched our hearts more than anything was her helplessness and vulnerability.

When we are thinking accurately, we realize that a helpless person deserves help precisely because she is helpless. It is a sad commentary on society when a child’s helplessness and dependence on another is used as an argument against her right to live.

I encourage you to watch the entire 4-minute video of Kirsten, where she responds to the pro-choice slogan, “My Body, My Choice”:

By the way, Kirsten and Ben hosted the wonderful Football Sunday video this year. Watch the video here. Finally, if you want to watch a wonderful video of the Watson family made my NFL Films in January, see here. The film concludes with Ben’s retirement, but a few months later he came back to pro football for what might—or might not—be his final season. Regardless, the Watsons are all about living their lives and raising their children for God’s glory. 

Browse more prolife articles and resources, as well as see Randy’s books Why ProLife? and ProLife Answers to ProChoice Arguments.

The KonMari Method Can Be a Helpful Tool, But as Christians Let’s Take It Further

Today’s blog is from Stephanie Anderson, who is part of our staff at Eternal Perspective Ministries. —Randy Alcorn

She’s petite and soft-spoken, but Marie Kondo is a force to be reckoned with. Her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up has sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S., and worldwide her books have sold more than 11 million copies in 40 countries. Most recently, she’s at the center of the Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. It seems most everyone is talking about or at least familiar with the KonMari method of organizing a home.

I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and my husband and I have watched a few episodes from the series. My interest was personal: we have two young daughters and a smaller house (at least, for American standards) and struggle to keep our home as neat and organized as we’d like.

I enjoyed much of Marie’s book. I found her ideas useful, and my bookshelves, closets, and kitchen drawers are much improved because of her advice. In fact, as I read, I was reminded of what Randy Alcorn has written about possessions in The Treasure Principle: “The greater the mass, the greater the hold that mass exerts. The more things we own—the greater their total mass—the more they pull us into orbit around them. Finally, like a black hole, they suck us in.” How freeing to reduce our possessions and to have organized homes that serve our families well!

The KonMari Method can be a helpful tool for many people—including followers of Jesus. It can help us simplify and free us to appreciate what we already own. It can help us say “no” to buying unnecessary items. It can be a good way to start conversations with our neighbors and friends.

But we can share something even greater than the KonMari method. It’s not a stopping place, but rather, a starting one.

Most of us have way too much stuff. The solution might include drastically reducing the amount of things we own using the KonMari method, but it definitely should include an examination of our hearts.

Marie writes in The Magic Art of Tidying Up, “Rebound occurs because people mistakenly believe they have tidied thoroughly, when in fact they have only sorted and stored things halfway. If you put your house in order properly, you’ll be able to keep your room tidy, even if you are lazy or sloppy by nature” (p. 14). She encourages readers to change their habits by first changing their way of thinking (p. 15) and says that “Anyone who experiences this process, no matter who they are, will vow never to revert to clutter again” (p. 17).

But given human nature, we need to go a step further. Unless we examine the role our possessions (and our shopping habits!) play in our hearts, we can sort our closets and cabinets all we like, but end up in the same position (or worse) years or even just months later. Or we truly can have the neatest house on our block but be proud of it and just as materialistic as someone whose house is filled to the brim with possessions.

We’re often blind to our materialism, and our culture’s obsession with stuff makes it hard for us to see where the love of things might be encroaching on our hearts. Randy writes this in Money, Possessions, and Eternity:

The hardest part of dealing with our materialism is that it has become so much a part of us. Like people who have lived in darkness for years, we have been removed from the light so long that we don’t know how dark it really is. Many of us have never known what it is not to be materialistic. This is why we need so desperately to read the Scriptures, to grapple with these issues, bring them to God in prayer, discuss them with our brothers and sisters, and look for and learn from those rare models of nonmaterialistic living in our Christian communities.

Jesus reminds us, “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24, NIV). Let’s be willing to continually ask God to show us where our possessions (whether we have a lot or a little) have taken a place that should be His alone.

We should be grateful for the things we own, but our gratitude should extend to the Giver.

Read Marie’s book or watch the show, and it’s obvious she’s coming from a worldview and religion that is very different from Christianity. One of the first things she does when she enters someone’s home to help them tidy is introduce herself to the house and thank it for taking care of its occupants.

This extends to items, too. Marie writes, “One of the homework assignments I give my clients is to appreciate their belongings. For example, I urge them to try saying, ‘Thank you for keeping me warm all day,’ when they hang up their clothes after returning home” (p. 168).

Although I haven’t started talking to my clothes (and it saddens me to see someone talking to a house, when we are invited to come directly to the Creator of the universe), I actually found this oddly convicting. How often have I been thankful for the small things I use every day, like my water bottle, my hairbrush, or the spatula that helps me make breakfast? But instead of thanking inanimate objects for their service, as Christians we can thank God for His generous provision, as the Giver of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17). This can increase our happiness as our eyes are opened to the countless ways God abundantly provides for us.

Figuring out what items “spark joy” can be helpful in determining what we keep. But our greatest happiness isn’t found in keeping certain things for ourselves, but first in knowing Jesus, and then in giving generously to others.

One of the cornerstones of the KonMari method is sorting items by determining which ones bring you the most happiness. Marie writes, “My criterion for deciding to keep an item is that we should feel a thrill of joy when we touch it” (p. 59). This has encouraged me to ask, “Am I keeping this shirt because I really like it, or just because I got it for a good deal and hate to admit it just doesn’t fit?” and “Am I keeping this gift I was given out of guilt, or because I do like it?”

This is helpful—as long as we remember that the ultimate source of our joy isn’t the things we keep, but Jesus Himself. Having our sins forgiven and being reconciled to God is the greatest cause of celebration: “May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful” (Psalm 68:3).

Marie claims, “Putting your house in order is the magic that creates a vibrant and happy life” (p. 127). But as Megan Hill writes for The Gospel Coalition, “Minimalism is not the gospel.”

Tidying can bring joy, but it can’t give human hearts lasting satisfaction. Only Jesus can.

And there’s more. Because Jesus has transformed our hearts, we can follow His call to generously give away our money and possessions. Christ told us there’s more happiness in giving than receiving (Acts 20:35) and commanded us to store up our treasures in Heaven, not our homes (see Matthew 6:20). When we do, we’ll grow more excited over what we give rather than just what we keep.

So being aware of its limitations, go ahead and purge, sort, and tidy using the KonMari method.

But remember that we have something far better than a human system for organizing. May we rejoice that because of knowing Christ, we can be free from the love of things, our best possessions are eternal, our joy in the Lord is boundless, and our greatest happiness comes in giving to glorify Him.

This article also appeared in EPM's latest issue of Eternal Perspectives magazine.

Photo by Nathan Fertig on Unsplash

Waiting When God Seems Silent

In a time of suffering, David engaged in righteous self-talk about how he should respond in light of God’s goodness: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).

The call to wait on God is an invitation to trust and hope. It entails believing that one day—even if today is not that day—He will make all things right. In times of waiting, as we seek God in prayer, we must learn to listen to Him as well as talk to Him—to shut out the clatter and quietly wait as He unfolds to us His person, purposes, promises, and plan.

But what about when we wait and listen, and God still seems silent?

God Is Near

In Deserted by God? Sinclair Ferguson discusses what our Christian forefathers called “spiritual desertion”—the sense that God has forgotten us, leaving us feeling isolated and directionless. But through faith, we can affirm God’s loving presence, even when He seems silent and we feel deserted. “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8) is a promise God will not break, despite how we feel.

Several years ago, for no apparent reason, I went through four months of depression. I had to learn to trust God for His presence despite what I felt. Eventually, as I continued to open His word daily and seek His face, while still in that depression, I gradually regained my ability to sense and hear Him.

Many of us have walked the Emmaus road (Luke 24:13–32). Overwhelmed by sorrow. Plagued by questions. We wonder where God is. When, all along, He walks beside us.

Is This Your Best for Me?

A pastor friend told me about his experience after his teenage son’s death: “Nearly every morning, for months, I screamed questions at God. I asked, ‘What were you thinking?’ And, ‘Is this your best for me?’ And finally, ‘Do you really expect me to show up every Sunday and tell everyone how great you are?’ Then, when I became silent, God spoke to my soul. He had an answer for each of my questions.”

Waiting on God involves learning to lay our questions before Him. It means that there is something better than knowing all the answers: knowing and trusting the only One who does know and will never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

Trusting God when we don’t hear Him ultimately strengthens and purifies us. If our faith is based on lack of struggle and affliction and absence of doubt and questions, that’s a foundation of sand. Such faith is only one frightening diagnosis or shattering phone call away from collapse. Token faith will not survive the dark night of the soul. When we think God is silent or absent, God may show us that our faith is false or superficial. Upon its ruin, we can learn to rebuild on God our Rock, the only foundation that can bear the weight of our trust.

His Silence Is a Matter of Perspective

There’s a sense in which God is never silent. He has already spoken in His Word and by becoming man and dying for us on the cross, purchasing our eternal salvation. This is speech, and speech is not silence! What we call God’s silence may actually be our inability, or in some cases (certainly not all) our unwillingness, to hear Him. Fortunately, that hearing loss for God’s children need not be permanent. And given the promise of resurrection, it certainly won’t be permanent.

Psalm 19:1 tells us the heavens shout about God’s glory. Romans 1:20 shows how clearly creation proves God’s existence. God speaks not only through His Word, but also through His world. When my heart is heavy, walking our dog Maggie or riding a bike through Oregon’s beauties is often better than listening to a great sermon or reading a good book.

Still, when we can’t hear God, we can keep showing up and opening His Word, day after day, to look at what He has already said—and done—and contemplate and memorize it until we realize this is not silence but is God speaking to us. Naturally, there remains a subjective sense in which we long to hear God in a more personal way. God spoke to Elijah in “a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12).

The problem with low whispers is they’re not easy to hear—especially when all around us the wind is howling! Why does God sometimes speak so quietly that it’s hard to hear Him? The answer may be to bring us to the end of ourselves. To prompt us to be still and seek Him. And to build our faith and eventually speak more clearly or heal our hearing problem.

When Life Goes Dark

Martin Luther’s wife, Katherine, saw him discouraged and unresponsive for some time. One day she dressed in black mourning clothes. Luther asked her why. “Someone has died,” she said. “Who?” Luther asked. “It seems,” Katherine said, “that God must have died!” Luther got her point. Since God hadn’t died, he needed to stop acting as if He had.

What can we do when God seems silent and life is dark? We can pray with biblical writers who cry out to God:

To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. (Psalm 28:1)

O God, do not keep silence; do not hold your peace or be still, O God! (Psalm 83:1)

I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. (Job 30:20)

We also can remember that, however long the silence seems, God promises it is temporary. Consider Zephaniah 3:17:

The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, he will be quiet in his love, he will rejoice over you with shouts of joy (NASB).

Just because we can’t hear God exulting doesn’t mean He is not rejoicing over us with shouts of joy. A blind or deaf child may not see her father’s face or hear his words, but can learn to sense his love and affection nonetheless. The blood-bought promise states that this brief life will be followed with an eternity in which His children “will see his face” (Revelation 22:4).

My Soul Waits for God

My wife, Nanci, while going through chemotherapy treatments that ended several months ago, read me this from Andrew Murray’s Waiting on God: “It is God’s Spirit who has begun the work in you of waiting upon God. He will enable you to wait. . . . Waiting continually will be met and rewarded by God himself working continually.”

“For God alone my soul waits in silence . . . my hope is from him” (Psalm 62:1, 5). If we lean on Him while we wait, God will give us the grace to wait and to listen carefully as we pray, go to trusted Christ-followers for encouragement, and keep opening His word and asking Him to help us hear Him.

This article originally appeared on Desiring God, and is also featured in EPM's latest issue of Eternal Perspectives magazine.

Thoughts in Response to a Ministry That Might Be Required to Host Gay Weddings at Facilities Rented from the Government

I recently received this question:

Our ministry is setting up a retreat center for Christian leaders, and has the opportunity to long-term lease some beautiful facilities on government property. However, their requirement is that the general public also be able to use the facilities, which are currently used for weddings. We may not be able to eliminate weddings, and are concerned because we do not want to host gay weddings, which would violate our convictions. What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts in response:

I think this is shaping up to be the single most difficult challenge to the church and countless believers.

On the one hand, we want to offer complete grace and understanding when we disagree with people’s choices. We would never withhold goods and services to a theological heretic, a Mormon, a materialist, a gossip, or anyone else. If you sell greeting cards, do you refuse to sell to a man who abandoned his wife and children? I believe we should have the right to do so, but I don’t think that practically it makes much sense to try to pick and choose which sins will disqualify people from what we have to offer.

On the other hand, I’m one of those who sees a wedding as entirely different than for instance, attending a birthday party for a gay person. We can celebrate someone’s birthday, valuing the life God has given them. To celebrate someone’s birth is not to celebrate their moral choices. If allowing a wedding on property you manage were essentially no different than serving them a meal at your restaurant or selling them chocolates at your candy store, or making them a birthday cake, there would be no problem.

But if you view attending or facilitating a wedding (not only through performing a service, but through making the cake or doing the photography or providing the building or whatever) as a sign of approval, it takes on a very different feel, to me, anyway.

Historically, attending a wedding, or helping to facilitate it, was providing an “Amen” and a blessing, and affirming as a witness that “I will do all I can to help this God-ordained union succeed.” Because I believe this, years ago I chose not to officiate the wedding of a young woman in our church who was marrying an unbeliever. I felt she was violating God’s Word. I also chose not to attend the wedding, because I feel attendance is not just a passive thing, but a form of approval.  (If a couple were getting married against counsel and no one agreed to be part of the wedding party or to sing or do a cake or take pictures, obviously it would make a couple think, “Why? Is it possible this marriage really is wrong as others seem to believe?”)

This young woman was very angry at me and her parents were angry. I’m sad to say, five years later she came to me, with a broken life and marriage, and said, “You were right—I should have listened.” I found myself wondering what might have been if her parents and all our church folks who helped her get married out of God’s will had, with humble hearts, said, “We want God’s best for you, but He says this is NOT that. We love you too much to stand with you if you choose to stand against God. We love God’s honor and your wellbeing too much to do that to Him or to you.”

Here is a blog I wrote about being asked to attend a gay wedding (I think it would apply to facilitating it as well). I use the same illustration of the girl marrying the unbeliever to demonstrate it is NOT just gay weddings but any weddings that God says He disapproves of. Many good people disagreed with this blog and this position. As I said, I wish it were clearer how exactly we should respond.

For you, the question is whether it is right to take property you own or, in this case manage (if that’s the right term), over which God has granted you dominion, and consciously grant it to be used in a way you know to displease God. Of course, your situation is somewhat unique with the government owning it, and leasing it to you.

Now, even if you are an owner, you can certainly allow your property to be used by people who MIGHT dishonor God in their hearts and actions. Alcohol can be served, no problem, but some people may get drunk. (Indeed, when Jesus made wine at the wedding in Cana, likely some people got drunk on that; He made the whole world, and sin is everywhere!) That’s their decision, just like some people committing gluttony on your property is their decision. Some people may go in a room and commit adultery, or use cocaine. Someone could pull a gun or knife and murder someone else. You can’t monitor every thought or behavior.

But if you KNEW in advance the purpose of the gathering, the explicit intention, was that a number of people would be using cocaine or committing adultery or that murders would be committed, would you choose to offer them use of your facility? Presumably not, since we’re accountable to use what God has entrusted to our care in such a way that it honors Him.

To me, that’s the problem with the gay wedding. You know from the beginning not that it might, but that it certainly will, dishonor God, and that it is not helpful but hurtful to the people involved in this relationship and hurtful to the families and friends gathered to celebrate it. And while you know good and well that if you didn’t make your place (or in this case the place leased to you) available they would do the same thing somewhere else, what does that matter? If you didn’t deliberately make your place available for adultery and cocaine and murder, people could go elsewhere—that’s self-evident—but the difference is, we can’t control what other people choose to facilitate on their grounds, but we are accountable to God to use what He’s entrusted to our care for His glory.

I realize that the laws are such that anyone who exercises such convictions risks being sued and vilified. But then, in history God’s people have often faced such things and worse. And again, I also realize that that you DON’T own the land, the government does. So does a long-term lease distance you from the other deliberate uses of the facility? Certainly if you were renting a place on a property knowing that other renters of other parts of the property were using their place to facilitate gay weddings, that would seem different.

Maybe part of the question is, does a lease mean that you are the primary people responsible for the management of what happens at the property? Or is the government responsible for that, and does it restrict you to only doing “your thing” in which case you have to decide whether you can coexist with the celebration of sin, which grieves God’s heart, on that property where you are committed to celebrate God and oppose sin, for His glory and people’s good? If it is the government permitting you to do one thing with the property, while permitting you to do your ministry there, it could be argued you simply have no control over policy. But that probably raises the question, “If matters of moral and spiritual concern are not under our dominion, is this the right place for us?” The answer could still be yes, but it might be no.

To live out grace and truth puts us in challenging positions, doesn’t it? I know your heart is to honor God and His Word and reach people and minister to them. I pray He will guide you and give you wisdom. May He do the same for all of us.

Browse more related articles and resources, as well as see Randy's book The Grace and Truth Paradox and his devotionals Grace and Truth.

Right now The Grace and Truth Paradox is on sale from EPM for $5 (62% off $12.99 retail), plus S&H. Offer ends Thursday, May 23rd at 12 p.m. PT (noon). 

If you’ve missed this promotion, please note EPM sells all of Randy’s books and resources below their retail price. Visit our online store to browse them.

Photo by Ben Rosett on Unsplash

Kirk Cousins and I Discuss Heaven, Happiness, and Generosity

Last month Holland Christian Schools in Holland, Michigan welcomed back to campus a graduate of their school—Kirk Cousins, quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and former QB of the Washington Redskins. I was asked to join Kirk in doing a fundraiser for the school, where he interviewed me about various topics close to both my heart and his.

Kirk is a faithful and Christ-centered brother, and this interview provides a view of a high-profile pro athlete that’s rarely seen. The quality of Kirk’s questions and comments as he interviews me is remarkable. He’s read books I’ve written on Heaven and Happiness, as well as on financial stewardship and giving, and though I’ve been interviewed many times, Kirk was one of the best interviewers I’ve ever had. Because we’ve gotten to know each other well over the last few years, there’s a mutual understanding and trust, and some humor too.

Here are some of the questions and topics we covered:

​What’s the difference between the present Heaven and the future Heaven?

​Can those in Heaven watch what’s happening here on earth?

Will we have regret in Heaven, when we finally see with an eternal perspective? Will we regret we “missed it” in some ways?

What age will we be in Heaven?

Is it wrong to be want to be happy?

What bad news and good news about wealth does Scripture give us?

How do we take hold of the good life, “the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6)?

If interested, I encourage you to watch this all the way through to the end, so you don’t miss Kirk’s heartfelt admonition to be “all in” with giving to God’s Kingdom:

Last year Kirk and his wonderful wife Julie started the Julie and Kirk Cousins Foundation. You can read about their vision for the foundation, which is about investing in what matters and will outlast this life. More information about their foundation and the worthy ministries they support is here.

If you didn’t see the outstanding Football Sunday video back in February, here’s a portion where Kirk speaks about both his spiritual and sports journeys:

For more on eternity, see Randy’s book Heaven as well as his other related Heaven books. Also see his books Happiness, The Treasure Principle, and Managing God’s Money.

Also, coming this September from Randy Alcorn: Giving Is the Good Life: The Unexpected Path to Purpose and Joy. Sign up for EPM’s email newsletter to be the first to hear more about the book and receive preorder information!

We’re Not Only to Follow Christ, But Also the Examples of Others Who Do

It’s not surprising that Scripture calls upon us to imitate and follow the examples of Christ (1 Peter 2:21) and God the Father (Ephesians 5:1). It’s more surprising that we are told to follow the examples of the godly people around us, and to strive, by Christ’s help, to be such examples ourselves.

Here’s what Scripture has to say:

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NASB).

“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction”
(1 Thessalonians 1:6, NET).

“Remember your leaders, who spoke God’s message to you; reflect on the outcome of their lives and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7, NET).

“Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example” (Philippians 3:17, NET).

“Set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. ...Do not neglect your gift… Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save [rescue, deliver from bondage] both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:12, 14-16, NIV).

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care…not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2-3, NIV).

“A disciple is not greater than his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40, NET).

This is why it’s vital that we become part of a Bible-believing local church. God has His faithful people everywhere, and by becoming actively involved in the local body of Christ we can get to know such people and learn from their examples in different areas—and hopefully, be examples ourselves. (Another way we can be inspired is by reading and discussing biographies of faithful believers, as well as the Christ-centered books others have written.)

Notice how the call to good teaching and good living is integrated in Titus 2, among the young and the older, both men and women:

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.  Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,  and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us”  (Titus 2:1-8).

As you contemplate these passages, consider that we can only follow an example we’re aware of, one that we can actually see or hear about. The body of Christ needs to let its light shine before men, and we need models of every spiritual discipline. (I’ve written extensively on the question of whether the example of our giving should always be kept secret.) We dare not let the risk of our pride keep us from faithfully disclosing God’s work in our lives. And if we must be silent to avoid our own pride, we should support others who can humbly testify to Christ’s faithfulness in various areas of their lives.

Puritan William Bates wrote, “Precepts instruct us what things are our duty, but examples assure us that they are possible… When we see men like ourselves, who are united to frail flesh and in the same condition with us, to command their passions, to overcome the most glorious and glittering temptations, we are encouraged in our spiritual warfare.”

Photo: Christianpics.co