Randy Alcorn's Blog, page 92

Praying for Abortionists and Those in the Abortion Industry Makes an Eternal Difference

Many years ago, when we spoke at the same prolife event, I met and conversed with former abortionist Bernard Nathanson (1926-2011). At the time he still had no faith in God, though he later became a Catholic. Dr. Nathanson was a cofounder of what is now the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). He owned and operated what was at the time the largest abortion clinic in the western hemisphere and was directly involved in over sixty thousand abortions.

Dr. Nathanson’s study of developments in the science of fetology and his use of ultrasound to observe the unborn child in the womb led him to the conclusion that he had made a horrible mistake. He wrote Aborting America to inform the public of the realities behind the abortion rights movement of which he had been a primary leader. I refer to Dr. Nathanson often in my prolife books—for instance, in Why ProLife? under the section “Is Abortion Really a Women’s Rights Issue?”

There are countless physicians and “abortion providers” whose eyes are now open to the truth. Dr. Haywood Robinson, who performed hundreds of abortions, has become a Christian and is now the director of medical affairs and education for prolife group 40 Days for Life. He recently shared his story in a podcast, which is well worth listening to.

Prolife advocate Abby Johnson is a former Planned Parenthood clinic director who had a spiritual conversion and left the abortion industry. (Her story was told in the 2019 movie Unplanned.) She heads up the ministry And Then There Were None, which to date has helped almost 500 workers leave the abortion industry and find hope and healing.

Besides Nathanson, I got to know another physician who used to perform abortions and joined us in peaceful nonviolent civil disobedience at abortion clinics nearly twenty years ago. I also got to know Dr. Beverley McMillan and her husband Roy, a delightful couple.  Beverly said, 

I wanted to be the world’s best abortionist, for the good of my patients. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right. So, after I met each patient, reviewed the medical information gathered by my nurse, examined the patient and performed the abortion, I would then carefully sift through the remains to be sure all the parts were accounted for. I had to find four extremities (two arms and two legs) a spine, a skull, and the placenta, or my patient would suffer later from an incomplete abortion...My attention was so focused on my perceived patient that I managed to deny that there were, in fact, two patients involved—the expectant mother and a very small child...I had to wonder, how can having a child be so wrong for some people that they will pay me to end its life?

When asked why she stopped performing abortions, Dr. McMillan’s simple answer was, “I got to where I couldn’t stand to look at the little bodies anymore.” 

Our friend Carol Everett was director of four Dallas abortion clinics, and owner of two. She was responsible for the clinics’ daily operation and knows the abortion industry inside out. She had an abortion soon after it became legal in 1973, and now speaks out about the ugliness she saw and was part of in the abortion industry. I also know a former prochoice nurse who was converted to a prolife position after seeing premature babies being frantically saved by a medical team in one room, while down the hall, babies the same age were being aborted.

Abortion clinic workers may cover twinges of conscience with flippancy, apparent indifference, or morbid joking about their profession. Beneath this veneer, however, they often suffer guilt, which manifests itself in destructive behavior. Bernard Nathanson said doctors in his own clinic suffered from nightmares, alcoholism, drug abuse, and family problems leading to divorce. Carol Everett told me the same was true in her clinics. These people desperately need to hear the good news about Jesus and the hope and forgiveness He offers. No sin is beyond the reach of God’s grace.

In their article “A New Calling,” WORLD News shares the story of former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino, who performed nearly 1,200 first- and second-trimester abortions, but stopped after a personal tragedy made him realize he was killing other people’s sons and daughters. He and his wife joined a prolife evangelical church and found Jesus, and he has become an outspoken prolife advocate. I was struck by this part of his story:

A pastor reminded him God had used many people in Levatino’s life to bring him to salvation. Levatino sought out a woman who for seven years delivered a “Jesus loves you” message to him while he was still doing abortions. He thanked her for those messages, told her about his change, and found out she used to picket his office, praying for him.

This woman’s faithful prayers and her acts of love made a profound difference in Dr. Levatino’s life, and ultimately, the lives of countless other unborn children. That’s why I believe that if the darkness of child-killing is to be overcome with the light of truth and compassion, it will require spiritual warfare, fought with humble and consistent prayer (Ephesians 6:10–20). Prayer isn’t passive, it’s active. It’s really doing something! (Life Matters Worldwide has put together some helpful ideas on how to pray to end abortion, including praying for abortion workers.)

My former assistant and EPM board member Kathy Norquist has been involved with standing on the sidewalk in front of the largest abortion clinic in Oregon. This group goes in love and compassion, not anger and judgment, to pray, hold signs and offer help and resources to women and men entering the clinic.

She writes, “I wonder what would happen if people showed up in droves to simply stand and pray outside all the abortion clinics in America. Just the sheer numbers alone would save lives because light shines brightly in the darkness.” (See this information from the ProLife Action League, encouraging people to consider spending one hour each month in prayer at an abortion facility.)

One clarification: I have heard people say that instead of making all kinds of other efforts to stop abortion, we should just pray for abortionists. My belief is that we should pray for them...and meanwhile do what we can to advocate for the unborn and end abortion. We dare not simply pray and wait for all abortionists to repent. There is no contradiction between prayer for those committing unjust acts and decisively working to prevent further injustice. Both are spiritual acts.

So, while not stopping our efforts to change people’s minds and hearts and advocate for unborn children, let’s not forget to earnestly pray in faith, believing our prayers are making an eternal difference for those in the abortion industry and for mothers who are considering or have had abortions. Sometimes God will give us glimpses of how He has used those prayers in powerful ways. But we also anticipate Heaven, where we’ll learn God’s breath-taking answers to our prayers, including many that at the time seemed unheard and ignored.

From Eternal Perspective Ministries: Randy Alcorn's Why ProLife? book is on sale for $1 (86% off $6.95 retail), plus S&H. Offer ends Thursday, January 9 at 12 p.m. PT (noon). 

“I am already Pro-Life and have been wondering how to talk with Pro-Choice or on-the-fence family members and friends about this sensitive and important issue. I am so appreciative of the measured, thorough, and clear defense of the Pro-Life position by Randy Alcorn in this book. It's concise, but detailed, brief, but complete. SUCH an asset to anyone looking to defend the rights of unborn babies and their mothers in today's increasingly anti-life culture.” —Reader Review

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Ten Questions to Help You Set a God-Honoring Direction for 2020

Everyone has priorities. In moments of perspective, some of us realize we haven’t been living by the right ones, and need to change our priorities. Others of us have long known the right priorities and need to rediscover them: we’ve tasted right priorities, but we’ve allowed ourselves to drift away from them. We’ve replaced fellowship with entertainment, giving with buying, and family time with the television, the smart phone, endless work, the lawn, the remodeling job, the causes, and the committees. By abandoning our God-given priorities, we set ourselves up to learn a hard lesson.

What better time to stop and evaluate our choices and the direction we’re headed than at the start of a new year? In the following article, Don Whitney, author of the great book Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life (read it in the new year!) and a professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, shares ten thoughtful questions we can ask ourselves to help evaluate our ways and set a God-honoring direction for 2020. —Randy Alcorn

Ten Questions for a New Year

Article by Don Whitney

Even those most faithful to God occasionally need to pause and think about the direction of their lives. It’s so easy to bump along from one busy week to another without ever stopping to ponder where we’re going and where we should be going.

Once, when the people of God had become careless in their relationship with him, the Lord rebuked them through the prophet Haggai: “Consider your ways!” (Haggai 1:5). He urged them to reflect on some of the things happening to them, and to evaluate their slipshod spirituality in light of what God had told them.

Ten Questions

The beginning of a new year is an ideal time to stop, look up, and get our bearings. A great time for us to “Consider our ways.” To that end, here are some questions to ask prayerfully in the presence of God.

1. What’s one thing you can do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

Our enjoyment of God comes primarily through the means of grace he has given us. He has promised to bless us most directly and consistently through means such as his word, prayer, and the church. One specific suggestion I’d offer would be to include some meditation on Scripture along with your daily reading. It’s better to read less — if necessary — and yet as the result of meditation remember something, than to read more and remember nothing.

2. What’s an impossible prayer you can pray?

There are more than a dozen “but God” statements in Scripture, such as in Romans 5:8, which reads, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Situations that were humanly impossible were transformed by “but God” (Ephesians 2:1–7). What’s a “but God” prayer you can pray for the coming year?

3. What’s the most important thing you could do to improve your family life?

If your family doesn’t practice family worship, beginning there is the single best recommendation I could make. Just ten minutes a day, simply reading the Bible, praying, and singing together — an event that requires no preparation — is all it takes. My little book titled Family Worship can tell you more.

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year?

Would it be a personal spiritual discipline (that is, one you practice alone), or an interpersonal spiritual discipline (one you practice with other believers)? Once you decide, determine the next step to take and when you will take it.

5. What’s the single biggest time-waster in your life, and how can you redeem the time?

Social media? TV? Video games? Sports? Hobbies? It’s easy for any of these (or something else) to take too much of our hearts and time. Is repentance required? Trying to stop, by itself, is probably not the answer. Actively replacing it with something better helps us in “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).

6. What’s the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

While we often stress the fact that individual believers are the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15), the New Testament actually says seven times to one that the church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23). We mustn’t let our frequent emphasis on our personal relationship with Christ minimize the importance of our service to Jesus through his body. How can your church be stronger this year because of you? Serving? Giving? Praying?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

Praying frequently and fervently for someone’s salvation makes us more sensitive to opportunities to share the gospel with him or her. Will you commit to praying for at least one person’s salvation every day this new year?

8. What’s the most important way, by God’s grace, you will try to make this year different from last?

Obviously, God’s sovereignty rules over all things, and there is nothing we can do about much that he brings into our lives. On the other hand, under his sovereignty he gives us a measure of responsibility over many areas of life. In which of these would you most like to see a change from last year? You may find that your answer to this question is found in one of your answers above. To which of them do you sense the Holy Spirit calling your attention most urgently?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

For many, it might be as simple as designating a time exclusively for prayer instead of praying only “on the go” types of prayers. For others, it might be learning the simple, biblical practice of praying the Bible.

10. What single thing can you plan to do this year that will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

Short-term deadlines tend to dominate our attention. Busyness and fatigue often limit our vision to just getting through today. But don’t let the tyranny of the urgent distract you from something you’re neglecting that would have enormous long-term impact on your soul, your family, or your church.

Consider Your New Year

The value of many of these questions is not in their profundity, but in the simple fact that they bring an issue or commitment into focus. For example, just by making a goal to encourage one person in particular this year is more likely to help you remember to encourage that person than if you hadn’t set that goal.

If you’ve found these questions helpful, you might want to put them someplace — on your phone, computer, calendar, or wherever you put reminders — where you can review them frequently.

I hope this article will help you to “consider your ways,” to make plans and goals, and to live this new year with biblical diligence, remembering the principle that “the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance” (Proverbs 21:5). But in all things, let’s also remember our dependence on our King, who said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

This article was originally posted on DesiringGod.org and is used by permission of the author.

Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash

Albert Mohler on Complementarianism, Blind Spots, and the Importance of Positive Affirmations of Women in the Church

As I’ve shared in past blogs related to women and church leadership, the widespread perception among both unbelievers and believers in our culture is that conservative Bible-believing churches—especially those that are also politically conservative—are the last bastion of cultural chauvinism, dedicated to stereotyping, subjecting and minimizing the equality, worth, intelligence and gifting of women. We are thought to foster disrespect and, indirectly, abuse.

Unless we intentionally show this isn’t true—and demonstrate an authentic (not merely superficial) respect for women as intelligent and gifted students and teachers of God’s Word—many of our girls and young women will drift away from the church, or turn to churches that may not be faithful to God’s Word. Others may stay but never discover and use their gifts. Furthermore, there’s a large segment of culture we won’t reach. We shouldn’t ever violate what Scripture commands in an attempt to be relevant, but we should exercise the freedom to do what Scripture allows to grant women the widest and deepest and most meaningful roles in Christ’s body.

God has given spiritual gifts to Christian women, just as He has to men (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). They’re to use these gifts to serve the body of Christ (1 Peter 4:10). God sovereignly distributes them and it is clear in Scripture there are women granted the gifts of prophecy, teaching, exhortation, etc. Their ministries are essential to the life and growth of the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-26).  (I share some further thoughts on women and church leadership here. And see this article for a helpful description of complementarianism.)

Albert Mohler had some good things to say related to all this in an interview with The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Below are a couple of his answers I appreciated. You can read the full interview here.

CBMW: What are the blind spots within complementarianism that we must do better to address?

Mohler: I think one of the most dangerous blind spots or challenges for complementarians is being very clear that complementarianism does not mean male superiority. It just doesn’t. It instead affirms different and distinct roles for men and women in church and in the home. But it is not grounded in male superiority; it is grounded in various arguments in Scripture, some based in creation, but the fundamental issue is that there is a stewardship of authority and a stewardship of responsibility that is assigned to men — and not just to men, but to husbands and fathers in the home and the church, specifically to those who are called to spiritual leadership in the teaching office. So it’s wrongly understood to imply that every man in the church has authority over every woman in the church. That’s simply not true. 

Another blind spot I think we have to watch is failing to correct abuses that come in the name of complementarianism. Any time you talk about a structure in creation in which there are different assignments of authority and responsibility, then evil men can use such arguments to their own sexual, physical, and narcissistic inclinations. Consequently, complementarians who are not careful can allow not only men to believe that they are in a position of some male superiority, but girls and women to believe that what is being taught is female inferiority. So I think we’ve learned over the course of the last several years that this is not a hypothetical danger, and it needs to be articulated very clearly. 

CBMW: When complementarianism arises as a topic, it is often caricatured with a defensiveness on what women cannot do, rather than what they can do. What must complementarians do to better project a robust, joyful complementarianism that is not defined (rightly or wrongly) by negation?

Mohler: I think we have to recognize the historical context that produced negation. This is the perpetual predicament of those who defend biblical orthodoxy: we’re often in the position of having to say, “The Bible doesn’t teach that.” The reality is that any coherent position includes both affirmation and negation, and we should just be honest about that. 

An affirmation of biblical truth, which would include the affirmation of complementarianism, has to be rooted in a joyful biblical theology that is grounded in God’s purpose in creating human beings in His image, His purpose in making us male and female, instituting marriage, and the gift of sexuality. We must also remember that men and women are to be partners, according to Genesis, in the great work of bringing order and human flourishing; the Bible could not begin more clearly with a positive affirmation. 

The Bible also deals with negation, but all of this has to be set within a joyful biblical theology. Neither complementarianism nor trinitarianism or any other theological truth can be presented without the necessity of being clear about what the Bible teaches and what’s incompatible with biblical revelation. And if complementarians have failed to demonstrate a joyful biblical theology that begins with the celebration of the goodness of what God has created and the rightness of that order and the beauty of humanity as made in God’s image and the glory of the assignments given to men and women, then shame on us. But this is also a reminder that our theology has to show up not only in arguments, but in a comprehensive affirmation of biblical truth joyfully presented to the people of God.

Finally, here is something Denny Burk wrote that I think is helpful and fits with what Mohler is also saying:

A friend recently said to me that complementarians often run the risk of minding the fences while ignoring the field. What she meant was that we can be so focused on boundaries that we forget the wide places in between. And it is in those spaces that there is great freedom and opportunity for both men and women to have meaningful ministries within the church. Yes, there are clear boundaries in scripture for men and women in ministry, but this does not negate the opportunities for ministry that God gives to men and women. No Christian—male or female—should ever feel they are without a ministry. There is plenty of room to roam in the field, and the boundaries help us to see that.

Photo by Ben White on Christianpics.co

To Serve God in Heaven Will Be a Great Reward

We’re told that those coming out of the Great Tribulation will be specially rewarded by being given a place “before the throne of God,” where they will “serve him day and night” (Revelation 7:14-15). Notice that the Master rewards His faithful servants not by taking away responsibilities but by giving them greater ones.

Service is a reward, not a punishment. This idea is foreign to people who dislike their work and only put up with it until retirement. We think that faithful work should be rewarded by a vacation for the rest of our lives. But God offers us something very different: more work, more responsibilities, increased opportunities, along with greater abilities, resources, wisdom, and empowerment. We will have sharp minds, strong bodies, clear purpose, and unabated joy. The more we serve Christ now, the greater our capacity will be to serve Him in Heaven.

Reigning over cities will certainly not be “having nothing to do.” I believe that those who rule cities on the New Earth will have leisure (rest) and will fully enjoy it, but they will have plenty to do.

Dallas Willard suggests in The Divine Conspiracy, “Perhaps it would be a good exercise for each of us to ask ourselves: Really, how many cities could I now govern under God? If, for example, Baltimore or Liverpool were turned over to me, with power to do what I want with it, how would things turn out? An honest answer to this question might do much to prepare us for our eternal future in this universe.”

Will everyone be given the opportunity to rule in the new universe? The apostle Paul said that eternal rewards are available “not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). The word all is encouraging. “The Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free” (Ephesians 6:8). The word everyone is again encouraging. It won’t be just a select few rewarded with positions of leadership.

Should we be excited that God will reward us by making us rulers in His Kingdom? Absolutely. Jesus said, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven” (Matthew 5:12).

God will choose who reigns as kings, and I think some great surprises are in store for us. Christ gives us clues in Scripture as to the type of person He will choose: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven....Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth....Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3, 5, 10); “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).

Look around you to see the meek and the humble. They may include street sweepers, locksmith’s assistants, bus drivers, or stay-at-home moms who spend their days changing diapers, doing laundry, packing lunches, drying tears, and driving carpools for God.

I once gave one of my books to a delightful hotel bellman. I discovered he was a committed Christian. He said he’d been praying for our group, which was holding a conference at the hotel. Later, I gave him a little gift, a rough wooden cross. He seemed stunned, overwhelmed. With tears in his eyes he said, “You didn’t need to do that. I’m only a bellman.”

The moment he said it, I realized that this brother had spent his life serving. It will likely be someone like him that I’ll have the privilege of serving under in God’s Kingdom. He was “only a bellman” who spoke with warmth and love, who served, who quietly prayed in the background for the success of a conference in his hotel.

I saw Jesus in that bellman, and there was no “only” about him.

Who will be the kings of the New Earth? I think that bellman will be one of them. And I’ll be honored to carry his bags.

Browse more resources on the topic of Heaven, and see Randy’s related books, including Heaven, Picturing Heaven, and We Shall See God.

Photo by Fleur on Unsplash

Immanuel, God with Us, Is Eternity’s Sonnet

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

“Immanuel, God with us.” It is hell’s terror. Satan trembles at the sound of it. . . . Let him come to you suddenly, and do you but whisper that word, ‘God with us,’ back he falls, confounded and confused. . . . “God with us” is the laborer’s strength. How could he preach the gospel, how could he bend his knees in prayer, how could the missionary go into foreign lands, how could the martyr stand at the stake, how could the confessor own his Master, how could men labor if that one word were taken away? . . . “God with us” is eternity’s sonnet, heaven’s hallelujah, the shout of the glorified, the song of the redeemed, the chorus of the angels, the everlasting oratorio of the great orchestra of the sky. . . .

Feast, Christians, feast; you have a right to feast. . . . But in your feasting, think of the Man in Bethlehem. Let him have a place in your hearts, give him the glory, think of the virgin who conceived him, but think most of all of the Man born, the Child given.

I finish by again saying, A happy Christmas to you all! —Charles Spurgeon

Christ, by highest heaven adored. Christ, the everlasting Lord, Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of a virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased as Man with men to dwell; Jesus, our Immanuel! —Charles Wesley

The implications of the name Immanuel are both comforting and unsettling. Comforting, because He has come to share the danger as well as the drudgery of our everyday lives. He desires to weep with us and to wipe away our tears. And what seems most bizarre, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, longs to share in and to be the source of the laughter and the joy we all too rarely know.

The implications are unsettling. It is one thing to claim that God looks down upon us, from a safe distance, and speaks to us (via long distance, we hope). But to say that He is right here, is to put ourselves and Him in a totally new situation. He is no longer the calm and benevolent observer in the sky, the kindly old caricature with the beard. His image becomes that of Jesus, who wept and laughed, who fasted and feasted, and who, above all, was fully present to those He loved. He was there with them. He is here with us. —Michael Card

When Jesus Christ came to Earth, one of the names given to him was Immanuel, which means “God with us.” The Incarnation means that God came down to live with us. And when Jesus ascended to Heaven in his resurrected body, he demonstrated that the Incarnation wasn’t temporary. The New Earth will be Heaven incarnate, just as Jesus Christ is forever God incarnate. —Randy Alcorn

Merry Christmas to you, and all glory to Immanuel, the God who is with us, and will be with us forever!

Photo by David Beale on Unsplash

Thoughts to Help You Ponder the Wonder of Christmas

The Christmas season is Nanci’s and my favorite, even in a year—no, especially—in a year that has brought significant trials, including in the last three weeks the bad news about the spread of Nanci’s cancer and the death of our best friends’ thirty year old son.  

What better time to celebrate the good news than when you’re dealing with bad news?! Especially when you know the good news will one day and forever triumph over the bad news, so that in the end that has no end no bad news will dull or eclipse the eternal good news! “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us” (CSB, Romans 8:18).

What follows are some great thoughts from Scripture and others about the meaning of Christ’s birth, the first Christmas. Hope this helps you ponder the wonder of Christmas.

To us ca child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ―Isaiah 9:6

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” ―Matthew 1:18-20

She gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ―Luke 2:7, NRSV

When the shepherds had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. ―Luke 2:17-20

But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ―Galatians 4:4-5

A God who was only holy would not have come down to us in Jesus Christ. He would have simply demanded that we pull ourselves together, that we be moral and holy enough to merit a relationship with him. A deity that was an “all‐accepting God of love” would not have needed to come to Earth either. This God of the modern imagination would have just overlooked sin and evil and embraced us. Neither the God of moralism nor the God of relativism would have bothered with Christmas. ―Timothy Keller

Often a work of God comes with two edges, great joy and great pain, and in that matter-of-fact response Mary embraced both. She was the first person to accept Jesus on His own terms, regardless of the personal cost. ―Philip Yancey

God sent Jesus at the perfect time for Israel. The hand of Rome was heavy on the Jewish people, and life under an emperor who claimed to be god was particularly oppressive. The people were equally burdened by stern requirements placed on them by religious leaders. Many Pharisees were obsessed with the law and emphasized self-righteous works over God’s grace. This was the weary and hopeless world into which God brought “good news that will cause great joy” (Luke 2:10). ―Randy Alcorn

Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus! ―Neal A. Maxwell

She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can’t take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel. “His kingdom will never end.”

He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.

Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter. ―Max Lucado   

The baby born in Bethlehem was Creator of the universe. He pitched his tent on the humble camping ground of our little planet. God’s glory now dwelt in Christ. He was the Holy of Holies. People had only to look at Jesus to see God. ―Randy Alcorn

With barely a ripple of notice, God stepped into the warm lake of humanity. Without protocol and without pretension. Where you would have expected angels, there were only flies. Where you would have expected heads of state there were only donkeys, a few haltered cows, a nervous ball of sheep, a tethered camel, and a furtive scurry of curious barn mice.

Except for Joseph, there was no one to share Mary’s pain. Or her joy. Yes, there were angels announcing the Savior’s arrival—but only to a band of blue-collar shepherds. And yes, a magnificent star shone in the sky to mark his birthplace—but only three foreigners bothered to look up and follow it.

Thus, in the little town of Bethlehem … that one silent night … the royal birth of God’s Son tiptoed quietly by … as the world slept. ―Ken Gire

Come to earth to taste our sadness, he whose glories knew no end; by his life he brings us gladness, our Redeemer, Shepherd, Friend. Leaving riches without number, born within a cattle stall; this the everlasting wonder, Christ was born the Lord of all. ―Charles Wesley

No other God have I but Thee; born in a manger, died on a tree. —Martin Luther

So God throws open the door of this world—and enters as a baby. As the most vulnerable imaginable. Because He wants unimaginable intimacy with you. What religion ever had a god that wanted such intimacy with us that He came with such vulnerability to us? What God ever came so tender we could touch Him? So fragile that we could break Him? So vulnerable that His bare, beating heart could be hurt? Only the One who loves you to death. ―Ann Voskamp

If Jesus were born one thousand times in Bethlehem and not in me, then I would still be lost. ―Corrie ten Boom

Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world. ―C.S. Lewis

Long before silver bells jingled, Christmas lights twinkled, and horse-drawn sleighs went dashing through the snow, God reached down from heaven with the best gift of all. Love, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Hope, nestled in a manger. ―Liz Curtis Higgs

Jesus knew what it was like to have no vacancy in the inn that first Christmas. Human logic says the King of kings should have been born in a palace, surrounded by luxury. Instead, the only door open to the humble Savior was a dirty stable. Amazingly, and revealingly, this was all by God’s design.

Why is this good news for us? Because the Savior offered himself on our behalf, we won’t find “No Vacancy” signs in Heaven. If we’ve made our reservations by accepting God’s gift in Christ, then Heaven is wide open with plenty of room for all of us. ―Randy Alcorn

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

How Should We React When American Culture Doesn’t Acknowledge the Meaning of the Christmas Season?

Some readers will remember that several years ago some Christians were very offended that Starbucks used plain red cups at Christmas time, instead of saying “Merry Christmas” on them and using a more festive design. It was even called by some the “Starbucks War on Christmas,” leading some people to call for a boycott. (I like how Ed Stetzer responded: “It’s not Starbucks’ job to share the love of Jesus. It’s your job.”)

This “controversy” is long past now, but it seems that every year at Christmas time, we hear about believers who are upset that many in our culture prefer “Happy Holidays” over “Merry Christmas.” In some cases, we’re rightfully sad to see the true meaning of the season stripped away. I love to say and hear “Merry Christmas.” But should I be offended and angry when I don’t? As Christians, what should our reaction be when our culture doesn’t affirm a Christian worldview and recognize the importance of Jesus Christ?

I believe this points to a deeper problem I see in American Christianity today, and it comes down to expectations. As believers sometimes we expect the world to go along with what we believe, which includes the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture, the revelation of who Jesus is, and the truth of the gospel (that by grace we can be saved through faith). But we have to recognize that the world, by biblical definition (Romans 12:2; 1 John 2:2), simply does not accept and embrace God’s truth. 

It’s odd to me when we as Christians expect our culture to be faithful to Scripture. Of course it isn’t! Why would we be surprised by that? Think of the early church in the midst of the Roman culture, which had been heavily influenced by Greek culture. The Roman worldview and approach to human sexuality, life, and wealth were massively skewed. The culture the early church found themselves in was certainly not biblically based and Christ centered! 

I think sometimes as Americans we’ve told ourselves, “Yes, but that’s different because America is a Christian nation.” Well, America has not been a Christian nation for a long time. I’m not saying it never was—though it never was completely, of course, because there were many people all along who were not believers. But certainly there were plenty of Americans, including some of those in positions of leadership, who were genuine followers of Jesus and believed the Bible. Think about all the monuments in Washington D.C. that have Scripture on them. So yes, that’s part of our heritage. Christian principles influenced our laws and many people throughout our history shared some level of common morality.

But when Christians are trying to reclaim America as a Christian nation,  they need to stop and realize the reality of where our culture is at. While there are still secular people who might have general Christian morals, that number is fewer and fewer. I think people who live in the Bible Belt sometimes  get this idea that America is religious everywhere across the nation. But when you live in the Pacific Northwest like I do, in Oregon, you are under no illusion whatsoever that you are part of anything close to a Christian culture!

There are countries in Africa, Asia, and South America that are today far more Christian than America. America as a whole is largely post-Christian, though we still have a significant percentage of people who are serious about following Jesus. But those people’s beliefs and values about many issues, including gay marriage and gender identity and sexual morality, are no longer determinative in social discourse or our legal system. 

I remember a conversation I had with a brother from Africa who first came over to live in the Dallas, Texas area, and later relocated to Oregon. He said when he lived in Dallas and asked people what church they went to, no one ever looked at him like he was strange because the great majority at least have a church affiliation, even if they don’t regularly attend. They may not be Christians, but church is typically part of the lives of many people they know.

So this African brother said, “When I moved to Portland I started asking people the same question: ‘What church do you go to?’” He was amazed that people were perplexed and even offended at the question. They said, “What makes you think I go to a church?”

My observation has been that what we have long seen in Portland is the clear trend of the country. Yet many Christians in our country have been slow to accept the extent to which Bible-believing Christ-followers have become not just the minority, but often socially unacceptable. This shouldn’t make us hopeless—indeed, if our hope has been in America instead of in Jesus, it is past time to put our hope in the Son of God who alone can bear the weight of our trust. America, like all other nations, is not worthy of our ultimate faith and absolute loyalty; only God is. We are citizens of another country, a heavenly one, pilgrims and aliens and strangers in this world. We are Christ’s ambassadors in a foreign land, here to bring the message of the reconciliation He offers (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Albert Mohler recently said something on his Daily Briefing about  Chick-fil-A announcing it will no longer donate to the Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Christian organizations that affirm Biblical marriage and sexuality rather than embracing homosexual marriage. Mohler comments,  

The reality is that this puts to the lie the confidence of so many conservative Christians in the United States that we are witnessing some kind of revolution that can be rather quickly reversed. That is simply not the case. The fundamentals of the society are changing around us, and when fundamentals change at this basic level, they do not change back quickly. As a matter of fact, there is really no historical precedent for that change to a previous position to be expected at all. Instead, what this announces to those who hold to Christian convictions on these issues is that, increasingly, we are going to experience… marginalization… So Christians, pay attention to the direction of the culture, but also pay attention to how the culture is being directed, and for that matter, who’s doing the directing.

Of course I wish Chick-fil-A had stayed completely true to the Christian values of its founder Truett Cathy. (This WORLD article gives some helpful clarifications on Chick-fil-A’s giving.) But having seen Christian values erode to the extent that they have, having gone to jail thirty years ago for trying to save the lives of unborn children, I don’t live with the illusion that my culture, or even many segments of the church, will agree with me.

As Christians, we should no longer believe the false idea that the world and our culture is going to go along with the Christian faith if only we stage the right boycotts and yell loud enough in social media. Historically, in almost every part of the world throughout history, the culture has been antagonistic toward true followers of Jesus. In fact, many of our brothers and sisters around the world are facing persecution right now for following Christ. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18, NIV). Peter said we should be firm in our faith, “knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5:9).

Cultures ultimately can’t be Christian. Only individuals can be Christians, and those Christians can affect culture. I am not giving up on my country, and I certainly believe Christians should be involved in influencing our culture and doing what they can to make a difference. I’m grateful for those Christians who are called to be legislators, judges, and otherwise involved in the political arena. I am also in favor of people protesting true injustice. But often what we do instead of really affecting culture is just complain about it. Then ironically, we marginalize ourselves when it comes to declaring the gospel. Nobody is drawn to what we believe because we’re offended about or focused on things that ultimately just don’t matter (like, for example, Starbucks holiday cups).  

Instead of being upset that our culture is increasingly marginalizing Christian morals (and during this season, the meaning of Christmas), let’s continue to joyfully share the Good News about Jesus and the hope He has brought to our sin-stricken world. Our culture may in many ways be getting bleaker, but let’s remember and rejoice that God is at work in America and in every part of the world. God is changing hearts and lives and is growing His church. And ultimately, we look forward to the New Earth, a world where the culture will always recognize and celebrate Jesus as the King of Kings: “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

Photo by Emin B on Unsplash

Glimpses into What God Is Doing Through EPM’s Eternity-Impacting Ministry

I don’t talk about our ministry on my blog much. But God is doing remarkable things through Eternal Perspective Ministries, and every once in a while, I believe there’s value in sharing with others the glimpses that God has graciously given us of His work through EPM.

I often tell people who support EPM that they have had a direct hand in helping us fund missions, sponsor prolife causes, and feed the hungry. That’s because those who give to our ministry’s general fund free us up to continue giving away the royalties from my books to many worthy Christian ministries. So, in effect, they’re supporting those ministries as well. (90% of the royalties are given away to other worthy ministries, and only 10% go to EPM to help offset the costs related to writing and editing the books. To date, EPM has given over $8.3 million in royalties.)

But there’s more. Supporting our ministry also:

Enables us to continue providing quality, Christ-centered content through my blog, our website, and social media.
Helps fund the writing of my books, and the EPM staff’s work as they assist me. 
Supports our staff in reaching out in Jesus’ name to all those we come in contact with through phone calls, emails, and social media. 
Provides for our ministry to prisoners and allows us to continue sending thousands of books to inmates in facilities across the United States.

Rather than tell you more about how the support of our donors has allowed us to continue impacting eternity, I’ll let the words of some of those we’ve heard from over the last year speak for themselves. Thanks to Stephanie Anderson and other EPM staff who received and passed on these notes to include below.

A chaplain wrote us this:

Your ministry has had a great impact on what I have been doing in the Juvenile Detention Facility. I began last year in July as the chaplain to the youth. It was a very difficult start, challenges with administration, staff and the youth themselves not wanting ministry. Good News has a bible study program where the inmates can do written studies on their own. We have great success with the adults, and I wanted to implement these studies with the youth. Your comic book series [Eternity and The Apostle] was a powerful tool in having the youth do these studies. I made the offer that if they do the Bible studies, they could have the comic books. It spread like wildfire! The very same boys that refused ministry [are] now requesting to see me, do the studies and they [are] reading your books. Most importantly, they are reading the Bible!

A prisoner who received books from us wrote this:

My roommate has a copy of your Picturing Heaven devotional book. I draw and color pictures for my children (9, 8, 8, and 4) every week.

We heard from many readers after I wrote a blog about suicide, including these ones:

I lost my husband in June. As a new survivor of suicide, thank you for this. My husband loved Jesus and so do I, but this is a journey I would have never dreamt I would ever be on, and cannot put into words the pain and guilt associated. I wept when reading this, & believe God lead me to seeing this article tonight. Thank you for this.

I want you to know that your article couldn’t have been timed better for my family. My cousin killed himself this last weekend and when your article just “happened” to show up on my feed (not everything you post does) I shared it. Then my aunt (who found her son’s body) shared it because it was a comfort to her. He was a combat veteran who had been suffering from PTSD for quite a few years but he was also a believer in Jesus who even brought several of his brothers in arms to the Lord. Thank you! God is using you to build up His people.

These readers wrote us on social media:

I want to personally thank you for your books on Heaven. It's been 19 months since my 31-year-old son went to Heaven in an airplane accident. …After his death I found myself wanting to know more about Heaven. ...I bought about every book you wrote and I’m so thankful for them as they helped in my grief get a better picture of Heaven and it made me thankful he was there.

I've been finishing some talks I will be giving at our church’s ladies’ fall retreat (Lord willing!), and the studying I have done has been such a blessing to my ❤️. The topic is “How to Be Happy.” Happiness is one of my favorite topics, and I have made it a point of study for several years now. I became intrigued by the topic when I got ahold of Randy Alcorn’s  book, Happiness years ago. His book was truly life-changing for me (BTW, as a lover of books, I read a lot of great books, but very few make it into the category of “life-changing”.)

Thank you so much for your contribution to the church in so many ways. I recently finished If God Is Good in preparation for a sermon on suffering and was so edified by your thoughtful and pastoral approach to suffering.

I read Safely Home (the first time) and it changed my life...I live in a town with a university that has 200+ Chinese students every year. …since reading this book (now many times) I have been burdened to get to know these students and have been privileged to have many in my home to bake, eat, and play games (and hear about Jesus).

The last book my husband read before passing of a sudden heart attack in June was your book Heaven. All he could talk about was your book. It gave me comfort that he was so excited to meet Jesus.

As always, I’m humbled and amazed at the ways God is using Eternal Perspective Ministries! John Piper says, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” The same is true of EPM. We get glimpses into what God is doing, but we anticipate eternity, where we’ll learn countless more stories. As you serve Jesus in your life, the same will be true of you!

That brings me to the next year. If you have found our books, articles, social media posts, and/or magazine to be helpful in 2019, would you prayerfully consider supporting EPM and being a part of this eternity-shaping ministry in 2020? As is true for many nonprofits, the donations we receive in December are vital to support our work in the coming year. (I encourage you to give generously this season. It certainly doesn’t have to be to EPM. We’re here to serve everyone without cost. As Jesus put it in Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received, freely give.”)

Please know that those of you who’ve partnered with our ministry through both giving and prayer play a vital role in our outreach. We’re deeply grateful for you. 

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7)

Finding Happiness in the Grace of Jesus,

Randy Alcorn

Please note that a tax-deductible  online gift  in 2019 must be received by 11:59 p.m. PT on December 31.

Hope That Doesn’t Disappoint Us This Holiday Season

Some time ago Greg Laurie asked me to speak in November at his Harvest Fellowship churches in Riverside and Orange, in Southern California. Before I left, I was thinking it was bad timing because my wife Nanci was going to the hospital the following Tuesday for a major surgery to deal with cancer that has moved to her lung. But Nanci still wanted me to go speak since she was fine watching football with our dog Maggie. :)

As I was preparing my message, I realized that part of God’s plan for that weekend wasn’t about what I was going speak to others but what He wanted to speak to me. Greg asked to interview me about Heaven, Happiness, and Hope. I’ve written multiple books on the first two subjects so I put my focus on HOPE. And God really did encourage me and renew my hope even as Nanci and I face another challenging episode in her cancer journey. (Prayers are so appreciated. See her CaringBridge page for the latest updates.) Part of God’s purpose in me being there was that Greg kindly prayed for Nanci in all three of the services at both campuses. At the book signings many people said they would be praying for Nanci.

Below I’ll share some more thoughts about hope. But some of you may wish to see the video. We talk some about Thanksgiving, but also about Christmas and the holiday season, so it’s still timely. (Greg and I focus on hope around the 30-minute mark.)

Here’s more on the theme of hope: “Hope” as we use the word often has an element of wishful thinking to it, with little likelihood of success. For example, “I hope I become president someday” or “I hope I win the big lottery” or “I hope I become an NFL quarterback.”

The Bible views hope differently. To put our hope in God is to know Him as our source of life, significance, and security. He is all powerful, and He loves us too much to ever fail us. That means hope placed in Him isn’t merely a wish but a rock-solid certainty.

Our hope is actually built on historical facts that happened on earth in space and time. J. I. Packer says, “There is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father’s will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross.”

Scripture talks about our struggle against the curse of sin, disease and death but says that is not the end of the story: “Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay” (Romans 8:20-21, NLT).

The whole creation that fell on our coattails when humanity sinned will rise on our coattails when God raises us from the dead! This is the grounds for our hope—not wishful thinking but the blood-bought promises of Jesus!

The hope of Heaven is the light at the end of life’s tunnel. It not only makes the tunnel endurable; it fills our hearts with anticipation of the world into which we will one day emerge. Not just a better world, but a new and perfect world. A world alive, fresh, beautiful. A world devoid of pain, suffering, and war. A world without earthquakes, without tsunamis, without tragedy. A world where all who love Jesus will be forever reunited with each other as well as with Him. A world ruled by the only One worthy of ruling.

If we build our lives on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ’s eternity-shaping redemptive work, we can be optimists. Why? Because even our most painful experience is but a temporary setback. Our pain and suffering may or may not be relieved in this life, but will certainly be relieved in the next. That is Christ’s promise—no more death, crying or pain; He will wipe away all our tears (Revelation 21:4). Indeed, any other foundation is sand, not rock. It will inevitably disappoint us.

May God graciously remind us that the power of Christ’s resurrection is enough not only to remake us, but also the universe. Nanci and I love the holidays, and her favorite hymn and mine is Joy to the World by Isaac Watts. It’s more about the second coming of Jesus than the first, and it’s theologically on target:

No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.

How far does Christ’s redemptive work extend? Far as the curse is found. If redemption failed to reach the farthest boundaries of the curse, it would be incomplete. God won’t be satisfied until every sin, sorrow, and thorn is reckoned with. So let’s rejoice and be filled with hope as we anticipate the height, depth, length, and breadth of our Savior’s redemptive work!

Finally, here are some other great quotes on hope:

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

“Mankind intuitively places their hopes and allegiance in a perceived great one. We want someone we can look up to, believe in, and identify with. Image-bearers need a hero. More specifically, fallen humanity needs a Savior. All the beauty longings of our heart scream for just one beauty that restores, fulfills, and endures. Christianity heralds just such a beautiful one: Jesus Christ.” —Steve DeWitt

“What is your hope? Only this—His relentless grace, boundless love, patient forgiveness and unending faithfulness.” —Paul Tripp

These thoughts are a great encouragement to me right now, and I hope they are to you too.

Photo by Ron Smith on Unsplash

Ten Ways Materialism Brings Us to Ruin

God created us to love people and use things, but materialists love things and use people. Materialism drives not just the “bad apples” of society; it drives “the best and the brightest,” those from the finest homes and schools, those who become government and business leaders, physicians, and attorneys.

Materialism begins with our beliefs. Not merely what we say we believe—not our doctrinal statement—but the philosophy of life by which we actually live. So even though true Christians would deny belief in the philosophical underpinnings of materialism (they couldn’t be Christians if they didn’t), they may nonetheless be preoccupied with material things. Materialism is first and foremost a matter of the heart.

What does materialism actually do to us? Here are ten answers to that question.

1. Materialism prevents or destroys our spiritual life.

Jesus rebuked the Laodicean Christians because although they were materially wealthy, they were desperately poor in the things of God (Revelation3:17-18). Materialism blinds us to our own spiritual poverty. It is a fruitless attempt to find meaning outside of God. When we try to find ultimate fulfillment in a thing or a person other than Christ or a place other than Heaven, we become idolaters. According to Scripture, materialism is not only evil; it is tragic and pathetic (Jeremiah 2:11-13).

Every attempt to find life in anyone or anything but God is vain. Materialism is a dead-end street. It is not only wrong—it is utterly self-destructive.

2. Materialism blinds us to the curses of wealth.

John Steinbeck wrote a letter to Adlai Stevenson, which was recorded in the January 28, 1960edition of the Washington Post. Steinbeck says, “If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much, and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy, sick.”

Scripture suggests that the possession of riches is almost always a spiritual liability (Mark10:23-25). If Jesus was serious when He said how hard it is for a rich man to enter God’s kingdom, and if being part of the kingdom of Heaven is the highest blessing a person can receive, then how can we imagine that having riches is always a blessing from God? Material prosperity can begin as God’s blessing, but when we treat it as a substitute for God, it becomes a curse.

3. Materialism brings us unhappiness and anxiety.

The risk of financial resources is well illustrated by the suicides and emotional breakdowns that commonly occur during significant drops in the stock market. It’s also demonstrated in the epidemic levels of high blood pressure and hypertension among today’s “successful” professionals.

Materialism is the mother of anxiety. No wonder Christ’s discourse on earthly and heavenly treasures is immediately followed by His admonitions not to worry about material things (Matthew6:25-34).

Paul says that the rich should not “put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but . . . in God, who richly provides” (1 Timothy6:17). To set our heart on earthly riches not only deprives God of glory, others of help, and ourselves of reward, it also destines us to perpetual insecurity. In contrast, the one whose hope is in God will be devastated only if God fails—and He never does.

4. Materialism ends in ultimate futility.

The book of Ecclesiastes is the most powerful exposé of materialism ever written. Solomon recounts his attempts to find meaning in pleasure, laughter, alcohol, folly, building projects, and the pursuit of personal interests, as well as in amassing slaves, gold and silver, singers, and a huge harem to fulfill his sexual desires (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11). He lived by this philosophy: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure” (Ecclesiastes 2:10).

After his years as the world’s richest man, Solomon says, “When I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). Most people chase their mirages with money, but they run out of money before they run out of mirages. So they still believe the lie that “if only I had more money, then I’d be happy.” But Solomon had it all. He had more money than he could possibly spend. He ran out of mirages before he ran out of money.

Consider this statement, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). The repeated word never is emphatic—there are no exceptions.

5. Materialism obscures many of the best things in life, which are free—including the gift of salvation.

Some of life’s greatest blessings are just as available to the poor as to the rich, and often they are far more appreciated by the poor, whose lives are less cluttered and distracted by material wealth. The greatest blessing that God offers is available to all: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isaiah 55:1). The same invitation is repeated in the final chapter of the Bible: “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation22:17).

The only thing worth buying cannot be bought with money. God’s Son bought us our salvation, and He freely gives Himself to all who seek Him. Money cannot buy salvation, and it cannot buy rescue from judgment. “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath” (Proverbs 11:4).

6. Materialism spawns independence and self-sufficiency, which are deadly to faith.

Why have faith in God when you have faith in yourself? Why trust God when you have all your bases covered? Why pray when you have everything under control? Why ask for your daily bread when you own the bakery? Self-sufficiency is the great enemy of faith and prayer, which are the heartbeat of the Christian life. We pride ourselves on our “financial independence,” but where would we be without God, from whom our every breath is a gift?

7. Materialism leads to pride and elitism.

The Bible is full of references proving that our tendency in prosperity is to believe we deserve the credit for what we have and to grow proud and thankless (Deuteronomy 6:1-15; 31:20; 32:15-18; 2 Chronicles 26:6-16; Psalm 49:5-6; 52:7; Proverbs 30:8-9; Hosea 13:4-6). Paul asks the prideful Christians of Corinth, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Paul tells Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant” (1 Timothy6:17). After all, God is the one who has given us our intellect (Daniel2:21), our abilities (Romans 12:6), and our capacity to earn money (Deuteronomy8:18).

Jesus came to die for every person of every social and economic level. Paul reminds the proud Corinthians that the Church is made up of the dregs of this world (1 Corinthians1:26-31). Elitism boosts our egos by making us think we are somehow more worthy than others. Few things are more repugnant to the Lord than the rich despising the poor (Job 12:5). Yet our clubs and social circles, sometimes even our churches, foster this very attitude.

8. Materialism promotes injustice and exploitation.

James condemned the rich, virtually assuming that anyone who is rich practices injustice to the poor and will come under God’s judgment as a result (James 5:1-6). The Old Testament prophets spoke out so consistently against the oppression of the poor by the rich that they left the distinct impression that a righteous rich man is rare (Isaiah 10:1-3; Jeremiah 5:27-28; 15:13; Hosea 12:8; Amos 5:11, 24; Micah 6:12).

The rich man will usually be materialistic. The materialistic man will always be unjust. The wealthier the man, the greater his opportunity for injustice. Of course, the wealthy man is no more inherently sinful than the poor—he simply has more means and opportunity to subsidize and impose his sins upon others.

9. Materialism fosters immorality and the deterioration of the family.

Those who enjoy prosperity, power, and privilege also commonly indulge in sexual immorality. Solomon had seen his father’s bad example. Prosperous King David, spoiled by getting everything he wanted, did not deny himself one more possession—another man’s wife (2 Samuel 11).

For years studies have shown a connection between marital infidelity and an increase in income. Of course, the point is not the income itself, but the lifestyle it underwrites. A Christian can make a million dollars a year, give generously, live modestly, and avoid much of the added temptation to immorality. It’s not how much we make that matters. It’s how much we keep.

A consequence of adultery is often divorce, and the consequences of divorce in the lives of children are inestimable. Even when adultery doesn’t result in divorce, it destroys the fabric of marriage and prevents the home from being a moral sanctuary from the corruption of the world. Anything that contributes to an increase in immorality, as materialism clearly does, directly contributes to the breakdown of families and the deterioration of society.

10. Materialism distracts us from our central purpose.

When Jesus describes the various kinds of people who respond to the gospel, He states that some seed “fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants” (Matthew 13:7). He later explains to the disciples, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22). Notice the clear relationship between wealth and worry.

Like the circus plate spinner who runs frantically from one plate to the next, quickly spinning each one again before it can fall and crash, many of us center our lives around possessions, concerns, and activities that demand our constant attention and thereby draw attention away from what God has called us to be and do.

Let’s Not Fail to Prepare for the Life Ahead

After striking a large deposit of gold, two miners in the Klondike gold rush were so excited about unearthing more and more gold each day that they neglected to store up provisions for the winter. Then came the first blizzard. Nearly frozen, one of the miners scribbled a note explaining their foolishness. Then he lay down to die, having come to his senses too late. Months later, a prospecting party discovered the note and the miners’ frozen bodies lying on top of a huge pile of gold.

Obsessed with their treasure, these men hadn’t taken into account that the fair weather wouldn’t last and winter was coming. Hypnotized by their wealth, they failed to prepare for the imminent future. The gold that seemed such a blessing proved to be a deadly curse.

Dazzled by riches and the prospect of having more, materialists live out their life on earth as if this were all there is. They fail to prepare for the long life ahead. One day, sooner than expected, materialists will find out they were wrong. They will discover the truth that all the wealth in the world can do nothing for them. If they don’t make that discovery until they die, it will be too late to go back and change the way they lived.

The good news is, God gave us His Word so we don’t have to wait until we die to discover how we should have lived. That’s why in order to break free from the tyranny of materialism, we desperately need 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.

Excerpted from Randy’s book Money, Possessions, and Eternity. See also his books The Treasure Principle, Managing God's Money, and Giving Is the Good Life. 

Photo by Émile Perron on Unsplash