Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. – Romans 1:24-25

What is the “truth about God”?  That he is good, that he is the ultimate satisfaction, that he is not just the ticket to the show… he is the show!

I noticed a few times today how I keep looking for satisfaction in things other than God – music, blogs, CNN, food, wandering around talking to my family, Olympics, Wikipedia, packing, cleaning, etc.  And all of those can be used to glorify and point to God.  But God kept pointing out to me the state of my heart: Jesus wasn’t enough for me, so I kept running to other things.

What are you trying to satisfy yourself with right now?  Olympics or Jesus?

If all else were to disappear right now and it was just you, your Bible, and Jesus, would that be enough?

Can you say with the Psalmist, “I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight” (Psalm 119:174)?

Praying that Jesus would satisfy our souls,

-Ben

ps. here’s what God drew me to late this evening:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

- Colossians 1:15-23

I was thinking about it today, and I believe this is one of the most confused, potentially damaging songs that Christians use in corporate worship.

Why?  It’s teaching bad theology.  The bridge and the chorus are from the Bible (though a bit out of context, perhaps), but the verse certainly isn’t:

I’m trading my sorrow
I’m trading my shame
I’m laying it down for the joy of the Lord
I’m trading my sickness
I’m trading my pain
I’m laying it down for the joy of the Lord

For some reason the author got caught up in the word “trading”.  Trading has very clear connotations – I have something, you have something, and we trade.  Thus, I get what you had and you get what I had.

Look how that works here: I trade with God, giving him my sorrow and He gives me His joy.  In one sense, using one narrow definition of “give”, that works.  And perhaps the song is trying to point to that with the words “laying it down” – I trust God to deal with my sorrows, and trust Him to give me joy.

But that requires too much inference and interpretation.  There is a more simpler, more blatant meaning, that we all know is false but are constantly hoping is true because we don’t know how to handle it. The song is telling us that  sorrow and joy are mutually exclusive.  You get rid of sorrow, and you’ll get a lot of Joy.  More than that, you need to get rid of sorrow to get joy.

WRONG!

America doesn’t know how to suffer.  We don’t know how to deal with being pressed and persecuted and struck down.  We barely know the meaning of sorrow.  But, did you know it’s something that the Bible says you should cultivate at times?

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. – Romans 12:15

You will ALWAYS know someone who is mourning, just as you will ALWAYS know someone who is rejoicing.  See the implication Paul is drawing?  Not only is it possible to be rejoicing and mourning at the same time, but we should always be both rejoicing and mourning!

Paul helps us by making this more clear.  In 2 Corinthians 6:10 he describes himself as “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”  And that is key.

We go through life trying to avoid sorrow, avoid pain, avoid sickness, avoid shame, when the Bible doesn’t call us to any of those.  The NORMAL Christian life is meant to be one filled with suffering for the sake of the Gospel.  Second Timothy 3:12 tells us that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  As the song says, we are blessed beyond the curse, for God’s promise will endure… and this is one promise, that does lead to blessing, that will endure!  “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” says Matthew 5:11.

We flee sorrow, pain, suffering, persecution… and we flee blessing.  And we flee Jesus, because He is the ultimate blessing.

Why do we keep singing it?  To borrow a phrase from a friend, CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) like this can give us “shameless emotional rides”.  We like the rhyme, and the rhythm, and the “Yes Lord!” chorus is upbeat and exciting.  But songs are not just noise – they are words, and words communicate truth… or lies.  And humans believe them.  And that belief affects our living, and we become unable to have either joy or sorrow in their proper form.

Joy is not happiness in sorrowlessness.  Joy is happiness in God!

-Ben

-Ben

1.  “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” – Philippians 1:21

As I’m writing this, I happen to be listening to the song “Center” by Charlie Hall.  Here’s the chorus:

Oh, Christ be the center of our lives
Be the place we fix our eyes
Be the center of our lives

A Christians, we need to be Christ-centered, Cross-centered, and Gospel-centered in our thinking, in our feeling, and in our acting.  When Christ is the center of our lives, everything revolves around Him.  Everything is done in light of Him.   As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 

So often we like to think that we are our own – we are accountable only to ourselves and we can do anything we want.  That there is no reality outside ourselves.  Even more often, we intellectually acknowledge that “we are not our own”, but we still don’t “glorify God in our bodies.”

Why?  Peter diagnoses it perfectly in 1 Peter 2:9 – “For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.”  We’ve forgotten the Gospel.  We don’t live in light of what Christ has done.

Christ, and the Gospel, are no longer at the center.

And so we can no longer honestly declare, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  Because to live isn’t Christ, and dying sucks because all the things we think life is can’t come with us when we die.

But as “to live is Christ” becomes more of a reality, we can think and make decisions in light of the fact that dying is gain.  How radically transformative is that?   We decide to do things – get a job, get married, get a new house, etc. – knowing that they are only temporary, they aren’t the biggest deal, and that Jesus and life with Jesus forever is so much greater.

2.  “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

An observation: we need to be discerning of seasons.  That is, sometimes it is the right time to do something and we don’t realize it and so we don’t do it.  And equally often, it is the wrong time to do something, and we don’t realize it, and we do it anyway.

Just because something is good in general doesn’t mean it is right for you RIGHT NOW.

An obvious example: college is good.  If you’re 5 years old, though, you probably shouldn’t be in college.

Marriage is good (for most – some are called to singleness, but most aren’t).  But right now might not be the right time.  Moving to an unreached people group to tell them about Jesus is good.  But right now might not be the right time.

3.  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2

What this verse is saying:

1. The “will of God” is “what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  We should want to know these things.
2. It is possible to discern the will of God.
3. Discerning is done by us
4. We are evil and need to be changed before we can properly discern what God’s will is
5. WE (our whole selves) are transformed as our minds are transformed
6. Our minds are transformed through scripture (2 Tim 3:16 – scripture is useful for training in righteousness)

Bottom line – there is a will of God, it is revealed to us through scripture, and we should try to know it and follow it.

4.  “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4

This verse is important as you look at this question from a Christian Hedonistic perspective.  As you delight in God – as He becomes your joy and your treasure – then He will give you new desires, in line with what will increase your joy in Him.  As Christ becomes your treasure, you will long for more and more of Him.

Similarly, if you are not delighting in God, you should be skeptical of your desires.  Your mind may deceive you as you know what categories of things are “good”, but you don’t know which one is “right”, and so human desires – for comfort, security, status, approval, etc. – take over and your heart desires for you to be made much of instead of Jesus.

5.  “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31

All of life is worship.  That is, we are always worshiping (making much of) something.  It may be God, it may be something else.  Our job as Christians is to repent of sin (worshiping things other than God) and worship God.  Everything we do should be done to make God – not that which we are doing – look great.

This is one of the most important questions we need to ask as Christians, and I fear we think about it far too little – “How do I do ______ to the glory of God.”  How do I walk to class to the glory of God?  How do I do homework to the glory of God?  How do I go shopping for food to the glory of God?

As Christians we know we’re supposed to avoid “sin”.  Too often we try to do that by asking questions like, “How far is too far?” or “This isn’t bad, is it?”.  Those questions betray us, as they reveal a self-centered heart that wants to assuage its guilt, not glorify God.  Glorifying God should be the primary question, motive, and desire of our hearts and lives.

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” – Romans 11:36

-Ben

Some quotes that struck me today:

As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature.  It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived. – C.H. Spurgeon

Very few people in the world would care to listen to the real defense of their own characters.  The real defense, the defense which belongs to the Day of Judgment, would make such damaging admissions, would clear away so many artificial virtues, would tell such tragedies of weakness and failure, that a man would sooner be misunderstood and censured by the world than exposed to that awful and merciless eulogy. – G.K. Chesterton

Saving grace makes a man as willing to leave his lusts as a slave is willing to leave his galley, or a prisoner his dungeon, or a thief his bolts, or a beggar his rags. – Thomas Brooks

God’s goal in saving you was not just to make your few years on planet Earth easier or more enjoyable.  He had an eternal end in view.  His intent was to make you holy, as He is holy, that you might perfectly glorify Him, that you might bring Him pleasure, and that you might enjoy intimate fellowship with Him for all eternity. – Nancy Leigh DeMoss

The message of the Bible provides the only answer to humanity’s most pressing need:  to know God himself.  Having been created by God for God, the “self” can never be “self-satisfied.”  Yet, having lost sight of the God revealed in the Bible, all we can see is our self, with its futile drive to meet its own ever-changing but never satisfied cravings for the second-rate pleasures of this world. – Scott Hafemann 

Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water…. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. – C.S. Lewis 

A note of caution: be wary of idolizing the words of men and the men who speak those words.  Let them point you away from yourself (and away from themselves) towards God.

-Ben