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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Chris Hodges
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October 28 - December 22, 2017
Here’s what we need to remember: Truth without grace is mean. Grace without truth is meaningless. Truth and grace together are good medicine.
We have questions with no easy answers: • What’s my role as a follower of Jesus in today’s constantly shifting culture? • How can I stand firm in my faith and still be relevant to people who seem so different from me? • How should I respond when others say my Christian views are unloving? • How does the Christian message apply to everyone when there are so many differences in culture, ethnicity, lifestyle, orientation, political beliefs, and spiritual practices? • Is the entire Bible still relevant, or are some parts culturally outdated?
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He knew the goal wasn’t to be right; it was to have influence. He knew being right and being righteous are not the same.
We can find a balance between bowing down and being a doormat and becoming hardened into a ramrod of self-righteousness. But avoiding these extremes requires humility, compassion, and dependence on God. It won’t be easy. We will only reflect who he truly is, both his holy righteousness and his gracious love, by relying on his Spirit to guide us.
Like the prophet Daniel, you and I can become catalysts for redemptive change in our time. We can be people of influence who know our goal is not to be right but to be effective. We can be people who stand out because of the way we relate to others, especially those different from us. We can be people who serve those in need with a willing spirit and gracious generosity. We can be people who reflect the loving-kindness of a good God. We can be people who stand firm and love well.
The names you allow to label you often title the scripts you live by.
We live in a world where people have become adept at doing what is right in their own eyes, defining their identities according to their own constantly shifting ideas. From school-age children who want to change their genders to couples of the same gender planning their weddings, it’s increasingly acceptable to pursue what feels right.
“Live your own truth” has become a bumper-sticker mantra for generations conditioned to believe they are entitled to reinvent themselves and live any way they choose.
The truth is, we don’t have the privilege of defining ourselves, and there are limits to how far we can reinvent ourselves. Why? The reason is simple: we’ve already been defined by God, our Creator. God knows who he made each of us to be, and in the end his design is always better than what we come up with on our own.
As a result, most Christians today are intimidated by the world. We’ve become convinced we should keep our faith private, relegated to church one day a week. The world is so bold in expressing its multitude of beliefs, convictions, and “personal truths,” while Christians are shamed into silence, so embarrassed by their faith that they become apologetic in a way that has nothing to do with sharing the gospel. This is exactly what our Enemy wants to accomplish through a cultural identity change. He wants to distract us from focusing on our relationships with God and instead get us to focus on
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I struggle with the desire to please others as much as anyone. We might have an amazing service on Sunday with record-breaking attendance and more than a hundred decisions for Christ, and yet it only takes one negative, critical e-mail about that service to ruin my day. Instead of giving God glory for all the wonderful things that happened in that service, I get hung up wondering what I could do to please that one person who didn’t like our church. I have to remind myself it’s not about what I’m doing; it’s about what God’s doing through me, through others, through the church.
Otherwise, this shift in focus, this distraction, this change in who we orient our lives around, accomplishes the exact same thing as the changing of captives’ names in ancient Babylon.
Our identities shift when we value those looking at the art more than the Artist.
Unless we’re grounded in who God made us to be, the way we see ourselves will easily morph into an illusion—a cultural mirage.
Our Enemy has become adept at convincing us to accept false labels.
Another way the Enemy utilizes false labels is by convincing us to allow our past to define who we are.
And the same can be true for us. God doesn’t see what you are based on where you are now; he sees what you can become based on where he wants to take you.
He knows the actualities, but he sees possibilities. He recognizes what you’re capable of doing and activates the greatness in you that you don’t see in yourself. When you give him control of your life, he’ll give you back your name!
When we’re not connected to our God-given identities, we will plug in to other outlets to define ourselves.
Others of us define ourselves based on performance. We might experience a sense of self-worth only when people validate us for what we do and how we do it.
It’s only after we embrace our true identities that work becomes purposeful and meaningful—perhaps because we know we’re not defined by our performance.
Finally, many of us attempt to define ourselves by our possessions and monetary worth.
God chose us and has always loved us. He determined when we would be born and when we will die. “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph. 1:4).
You can also rest in the knowledge that within your unique identity, you have a very specific purpose. Not only did God create you to live in this particular season, but he gave you just the right personality, abilities, talents, and gifts to accomplish what you’re called to do. You
You are here on purpose for a purpose.
Purpose is your identity in action.
And if you’re still searching for your divine purpose, then keep seeking what God has for you.
Finally, to own the fullness of your identity in Christ, consider how you can help the people around you be true to their own God-given identities.
Just remember: we all struggle to remember our true identities. Almost everyone around us is carrying some secret, some burden, some painful weight when we encounter them. We don’t want to force ourselves on them and intrude, but we can make ourselves available to listen and to care. Listening and caring are fundamental building blocks we must have if we’re ever going to establish a strong, respectful relationship in which to share God’s truth.
No one can name you, or rename you, no matter what. God knows who you are. But you need to know too. And now you can help remind others who they really are as well.
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right. —ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Culture grinds against our values until either they crumble or we stand up and counter the cultural erosion.
It’s always easier to resist the winds of change if your roots run deep in God’s truth.
When you know what’s in your core, you don’t struggle to decide.
Moral relativism is the religion of the day.
Without some firm and compelling basis for suggesting that such acts are inappropriate, people are left with philosophies such as “if it feels good, do it,” “everyone else is doing it” or “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, it’s permissible.” In fact, the alarmingly fast decline of moral foundations among our young people has culminated in a one-word worldview: “whatever.” The result is a mentality that esteems pluralism, relativism, tolerance, and diversity without critical reflection of the implications of particular views and actions.2
But our goal in knowing our core convictions is not to draw a line in the sand and create an “us vs. them” mind-set. Our goal is to build bridges and serve those in need so that they might be drawn to the love of God. No one was ever won to Christ because they lost an argument. Jesus told us to share the good news of the gospel throughout all the world (Matt. 28:16–20), and he made it clear that we were to be in the world but not of the world (John 15:18–20). He said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
We don’t see things as they are, but as we are—through a filter of our personal experiences, relationships, observations, and conclusions.
Our worldviews require truth, and if we haven’t based them on God’s Word, the ultimate truth, then our worldviews rely on false and negative contributions of the world.
If we want to maintain a worldview centered on Christ and live according to God’s standards, then we must determine our core convictions.
Convictions require you to decide what’s right ahead of time. They’re not based on what feels good or seems right in the moment. They are, instead, the unmovable foundation upon which our lives are built.
I won’t presume to tell you exactly what your core convictions should be, since a range of different convictions can all be rooted in the Word of God, but because I’m frequently asked about my own, I would like to explore a few areas of conviction that are crucial to how one engages with the surrounding culture.
1. WORSHIP, or placing worth and value on who God is, tops my list. Scripture is crystal clear about God’s preeminence, the way he surpasses all others:
When we worship God, we embrace his attributes.
2. GOD’S WORD, or placing worth and value on the Bible and believing it is the infallible Word of God, comes next.
3. HOLINESS raises the standard of personal purity as we honor the lordship of Christ. God’s character, Christ’s example, and the Holy Spirit’s guidance provide our understanding of personal holiness.
4. FAMILY carries worth and value as a sacred institution created by God.
One relationship that is central to the family is marriage.
5. LIFE has intrinsic value in all forms, reflecting this most precious gift from God.
6. HUMILITY reflects an attitude of service, compassion, and strength. It’s the quality of placing the needs of others above your own, refusing to grandstand and draw attention to yourself.
