Worship & Evangelism, pt. 1

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church.Worship is. Missions exist because worships doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.” (Piper, pg. 17)
I have started reading “Let the Nations Be Glad” by John Piper. I’m only halfway through the first chapter and already I am convicted and “empowered” by what he has written. Piper explains that without a zealous, captivated love for God, missions would not exist. We were made to love and worship God. Missions is a display of that love and is driven by a desire for others to fall in love with God in a similar fashion. “You can’t commend what you don’t cherish.”(Piper, pg. 17) “Where passion for God is weak, Seal for missions will be weak.”(Piper, pg. 18) Why can’t I remember that I have a relationship and not a religion! It is natural for me to “change the image of incorruptible God” into a slight imitation of it found in corruptible nature. (Romans 1:18, King James Version) (Piper, pg. 28)
What I found the most startling, so far, was the revelation that God is most concerned with giving Himself glory. Does that not sound incredibly selfish and egotistical? And yet, I am human and have not come into full contact with the glory of God so I cannot understand the unavoidable necessity to give glory to God. “The deepest reason why our passion for God should fuel missions is that God’s passion for God fuels missions.”(Piper, pg. 21) So, God is the only One that really matters… why am I surprised?

Think Gospel

Once again, the Bible study I attend has given me a topic on which to write. It’s a topic that has brought great conviction to me this week. I had to ask myself a question… one that you too should ask yourself. How much time do I really devote to Christ? Do I think about Him in all situations?
I was stunned by the idea. As I thought about my life right now, I noticed that I have not been focused on all that God has done for me. I have not made the gospel my “go-to guy.” Rather, I shrank God and His gospel down to the size of my biggest problems. The gospel has the power to be victorious over all. Its not just something to save you from Hell. It is what makes life endurable down here.
I realized right then and there that I had left the gospel, like an old package, on December 5, 1993, the day I got saved. So, what does the gospel mean to me now that I have been living the Christian life for a while? What continued significance does Christ’s Incarnation, Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Second Coming hold for my life? Or is it merely important for Salvation? I ask these questions because I have realized that I must understand and love the Gospel in order to be able to spread that love and understanding to others. How can you explain something you don’t understand?
So do you have any thoughts?

An Impossible Command

Titus 3:1 “Remind your people to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.” (NLT)

Luke 6:27-28 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (ESV)

1 Peter 2:13-15 “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:” (KJV)

1 Cor. 13:4-6 “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;” (NKJV)

            A Bible study I went to this week hit me between the eyes. I was confronted by a blaring and rather unsettling truth. How do politics and religion unite? Where do my desires for political freedom collide with my calling to witness and see the lost led to Christ? Does my passion for mission and love for people stretch to the people I see as enemies? What about those who hate me and are working to strip me of my coveted freedoms?

            These were the startling questions I began to ask myself. As I looked at my opinions of people, especially liberals and those who do not agree with me, I saw, instead of love, and fist raised in anger. A fist clenched, ready to slam down and crush those who stand in opposition to me. I was stunned. I claim to have a passion to see people love and understand God as I do but what if I held the eternal fate of our president in my hands? What if I had the option of getting the freedom I want, or living in physical bondage and seeing them saved? I have to say, in grief, that I would probably choose to see them suffer rather than suffer myself but know they would be in Heaven. I am supposed to be an example of Christ’s love to the lost rather than put my rights first. When will I learn to put others first.

            Recently, the youth choir from my church went on a missions trip to New Orleans. They were asked to do a service project to clean up the ditches in the city. It was hard, dirty, grubby work. Definitely not something you would volunteer for. Later, when given the option of going door-to-door to invite people to an evangelistic service or go back to the ditches, many of them chose to return to the ditches. Why would they do that? I was very humbled by the idea that they would be return to the ditches. Would I have gone to the ditches of ministry? Would I go back again?

            Submit… no matter what. This is the truth that hit me. Peter and Paul encouraged the early Christians to submit to Caesar. One of the Caesar’s was Nero. I don’t think I would ever be able to submit to a man like Nero… the man who used the living, burning bodies of Christians to light his garden for parties. He burned the city of Rome and blamed the Christians. So, I have been assigned to love those who hate me. The only way I can is to have God’s love in me. Only His love can overcome the injustice I see. His love will blind my eyes to personal attacks and will help me see them as God does, broken people bound in the chains of their sin. Dear God, love them through me, because I can’t.

Consumed

I have been consumed, enveloped by fire and lived. It started from deep within and moved outward until it permeated every part of me. I used to think no one understood, that I was the only one like this… but there are others like me. We share this burning, this consuming flame for one thing. If you share this flame, if you are consumed, stay with me.
    This fire started when I was young. At times, it lays dormant for weeks, even months at a time but the slightest spark can bring it roaring back to life. It is not controlled by external circumstances: the weather, affection from friends and family or the other little pleasantries that make life delightful. No, nothing shifts or abates it. In fact, it seems to grow stronger as time passes. The fire gets hotter and spreads further than it ever has before.
    My fire is given to me by God and is sustained by Him alone. Every time I hear of something God has done or of someone else who has started a personal relationship with Him, the flame is fanned. It rekindles my love for God. It makes my heart feel like hot coals. If you could see it, I bet I would be breathing smoke! I want to scream and laugh and dance and sing and cry and sit in awed silence all at the same time. Sometimes, it is all I can do to restrain myself from wild ecstasy. My passion, my fire is to see lives changed with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only thing that truly moves me. It’s what I live for! Without it, I would be like ship without an anchor, listless and drifting in no particular direction. I praise God that He changed me life and cleared out “me” to make room for this fire.
    So what about you? Do you have the fire? Have you been consumed with a blazing passion to see lives changed? Tell me about it. It is my desire for us to help each other fulfill this passion and fire, To put action to it. So tell me about your fire and why you love sharing the Gospel.
“Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame of the Lord.” Song 8:6 (NIV)