Staying Spiritually Health This Christmas - Part 1

Wouldn't it be crazy to come out of the season in which we celebrate the
birth of Christ less spiritually fit than when we entered it? What a travesty. I'd like to focus on that for myself and you can read along as I think about what God says about our spiritual health and how that can help
us this Xmas season.

So, does it bother you that I've used 'X' in place of Christ 3 times already? Does 'X' matter to God? I don't mean to cause you to stumble, but I want to let you in on a little secret. Pagan retailers didn't come up with the 'X' in 'Xmas' to save time and ink. 'X' is the first Greek letter in the Greek word, christos, which is 'Christ.' Christians have been using the 'X' as a symbol of our faith longer than they have been using the cross as a symbol. It is often put together with the second letter of the word, the 'rho', which looks like a 'P'. So, if I were to write it out it would be 'XP'. Funny how Microsoft inadvertently labeled millions of copies of their Windows operating software with one of the earliest symbols of the Christian faith - the chi-rho. So, every time someone says they use Windows XP, you can smile and quietly praise God.

If you want to come out of Christmas spiritually healthy, you must learn what matters to God and then spend your life on that. What matters to us is supremely less important than what matters to Him. God felt it so important for us to be clear on what really matters that He repeated a warning two times in the book of Proverbs. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (Prov. 14:12 & 16:25) What matters to us may not matter much at all to God, and focusing on things that don't matter isn't just a waste of time. It is a waste of life. Find out what matters to God in His Word, the Bible, and then spend your life, and your Christmas, doing what really matters.

Opinions Are Like . . .

I have often thought about the centerpiece of Michelangelo's ceiling in the Sistene Chapel, this picture of God reaching out to man. Notice that man is shown essentially lounging with his arm propped on his knee and that his finger is only partially reaching out to God. I don't know what Michelangelo's theology was regarding this, but the picture paints an accurate picture of man. Before God quickened our spirits, we wanted salvation, but we wanted God only half-heartedly.

I hear the same half-hearted desire for God today. It sounds like this, "Well, I think..." Opinions are like necks. Everyone has one, and like our necks turn our heads so our opinions turn our hearts. It is understandable that an unbeliever has an opinion that he follows. He, after all, is an unspiritual person, and the unspiritual man does not have the ability to understand God.

It is frightening, though, how often professing Christians value their opinions over that of God. How often do we hear (in our small groups, Sunday Schools, and other conversations with Christians)... how often do we hear, "Well, I think..." or "Well, my opinion is..." And, how often do we hear, "Well, the Word of God says..."?

We conservative Christians have blasted politicians, entertainers, the media, and higher education for its overwhelming moral relativity. Yet, is it not exactly the same when our Bible studies are filled with more personal opinion than they are with a whole-hearted search for God's opinion? We are spiritually lazy, unwilling to dig and do the hard work of Biblical study, much like Michelangelo's depiction of the lazy Adam, while God has moved the scope of human history to give us His inspired Word.

John the Baptist knew that he must decrease in order for Christ to increase. May his confession become ours and may our opinions decrease so that Christ may increase in us.

A Brutal Assault

"But, if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:15)

A father stands in a courtroom and says, "I forgive you.," to the man who murdered his wife and children. The assault upon his family was merciless and brutal. They were totally innocent victims of this depravity. Others, thousands, have stood in courtrooms and demanded justice, flinging their anger and spitting their vengeance at those who victimized their family members. "We demand justice," we often say, when we really want vengeance.

There is another brutal assault. It is an assault on a not so innocent victim. It is the assault of a Holy God upon our sinful flesh. When we are wronged and God demands that we forgive, His demand assaults our flesh, our egos, and our sense of personal justice. His demand that we forgive will either destroy us as we hold onto our right to be right, or it will destroy the flesh that keeps us from being right with Him.

We are assaulted and God says, "forgive." We are wronged and God says, "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Mt.5:12) People hate us, do all they can to destroy us, and our flesh cries out for justice and vengeance, and the Spirit of God pierces our flesh and says, "love your enemies, bless those who cures you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven;" (Mt.5:44)

Whenever, not just when the wrong is great, but even when it is small . . . whenever we are tempted not to forgive those who have sinned against us, we only need to say, "Since Jesus forgave me, and my sins put Him on the cross, do I have any right not to forgive them? Even if I were crucified, I would not be innocent." And, beyond that, we must trust that God is enough, more than enough than vengeance will ever be.

This demand to forgive is assaulting and insulting to our egos and our flesh, but in light of our own assault on the Son of Man, and His forgiveness of us in spite of that assault, we can never claim to be faithful followers of our Savior if we will not forgive any and all sins against us. This does not mean that we are unsaved. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ. It does, however, mean that we will never have a right relationship with God as long as any unforgiveness remains in our hearts. And that will always be an assault upon our old, fleshly nature. But, when we forgive, as Christ commands and enables us to do, we will experience freedom from our flesh and from the burden of vengeance, which belongs to God alone.

Don't Make Them Beg

I was thinking about a new big screen TV that has sound (the sound on our TV sometimes works, and sometimes doesn't). I was thinking about the cost, and I was thinking about the fact that I really don't have time to spend watching an additional several hours of TV a week. Then I was thinking about this verse, "But whoever sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17) and I was thinking about how comfortable I am physically and financially, and I was thinking about the word, specifically the word, "sees."

The impetus for Christian charitable giving is the love of God. If I don't give to brothers in need, I don't have the love of God abiding in me. Now, sometimes, God's love is in me, but I try to guard it in order to feed my flesh. I practice a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. I mean, there is need all around, so just don't ask and you won't have to feel guilty that you aren't giving. But, the verse didn't say, "if anyone hears about a brother in need." No, it said, "whoever sees his brother in need." So, the only way to keep the love of God selfishly hemmed up in my heart is to literally walk blindfolded through life. Why do you think that it is so hard to walk past a beggar on the street? Why do you think we tell our children, "don't look at them."?

It is not the responsibility of my brother in need to come begging. It is my responsibility to keep my eyes open to my brother's needs. If I have anything at all, it is given to me, not to waste on materialism, but to invest in others.

Don't make them beg.

Don't make your brothers and sisters in need beg.

Shallow Spiritual Warfare

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks abut like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:8-11)

God’s purpose in everything is His glory; even in the attacks of the enemy on God’s people. The enemy does attack the people of God, regularly. Satan is not omnipotent (all-powerful), not omnipresent (all-places-at-the-same-time), not omniscient (all-knowing), nor is he able to do anything that he is not allowed to do. He rebelled against God, as did one-third of the angels in heaven, but he lost, was cast out, and is still on a leash held by God. Sometimes we have a wrong view of Satan, demons and spiritual warfare.

We think and say, “Well, I must be doing something right because I’m having all this trouble.” Sometimes we are having trouble because we are doing something wrong. Sometimes we are having trouble because God is testing our faith (James 1). We think and say, “The enemy is attacking because we are really having lots of sickness right now.” Sometimes sickness is caused by spiritual attack, but often it is just because we live in a fallen world with a fallen nature which includes sickness. We bind Satan, ask God to bind him, speak words against him and do all sorts of things in an attempt to avoid the pain and suffering that Jesus Himself said we would encounter.

God tells us that the purpose of all things, including the attack of the enemy, is that God would use the suffering of it all “to perfect, establish, strengthen and settle” us so that He would be glorified. So be aware of the battle, Satan is real. Don’t freak out, speak incantations over the Devil, or try to shout him out. Instead, resist him by trusting God, knowing that you are not the only one going through this, and knowing that the grace of God is more than sufficient for you to endure and even be transformed by the battle into a person who gives God glory.

The Emptiness Of Common Spirituality

And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2)

We are spiritual people because God created us spiritual people. It should be no surprise that, while interest in traditional religion has waned, interest in personal spirituality has continued and perhaps even increased in recent years. But, the spirituality that most seem to have, including many who claim faith in Christ, is nothing more than common spirituality. Common spirituality is based on commonly held beliefs, myths, and personal preferences. It is self-directed, self-defined faith, even when that definition is held by a large group of people.

This is nothing new. In His first advent, Jesus encountered the same kind of common spirituality in His own disciples. They first revealed it when they called Him, Rabbi, rather than Lord. Now, He was their teacher, but if Jesus were teaching a seminary class, I cannot imagine calling Him Doctor or Professor. He would be Lord. They then expressed the commonly held belief that anyone born with a disability was born so because of sin, either their own or their parents. Sickness equaled sin to them. How empty that belief is, even as it is expressed today in many churches and healing conferences.

With just a few words, Jesus revealed the emptiness of their spirituality by revealing the glory of His own, when He answered their question, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in Him.” (John 9:3)

Would you rather hold onto self-defined and common spirituality? If you do, if you define your own belief system, then you must also hold it up. If it fails, if you are sick, or if you encounter trouble and tragedy, then you must be the cause of it since your spirituality is defined by you.

Or, would you rather hold onto an uncommon spirituality defined by God Himself, through His Son, Jesus Christ? Since we are all born dead in our trespasses and sins, the only truly spiritual people are those born again by the Spirit of God into the spirituality of Christ. And, when that happens, no matter what we face, it is for the glory of God, not the condemnation of man . . . or of self. Christ takes common spirituality, buries it, and replaces it with the glory of God.

Denial And Forgiveness

I am part of a group of men who are building a band of brothers, true brothers in Christ. We are using the tool of Men's Fraternity right now to help us and are at the point of dealing with our memories of and relationships with our fathers.

I become so cautious here, partly because I spent years blaming my father for my failure, partly because many times men's groups become father-bashers, partly because our society so devalues true fatherhood, and partly because I am a father and know that if my children's futures are dependent upon my ability to father, they are doomed.

Yet, "The glory of sons is their fathers, (Pr. 17:6)" and we must deal with this most important person in our masculine lives. To fail to do so with adequate humility and respect would end, not in health, but in soul sickness. To fail to do so at all would most likely end in failure to become the men God desires us to be. Too often we deny our past and call it honor, or worse, we deny a sin against us and call that forgiveness. It is not. We must face not only our own sin but those sins committed against us and bring them all to the cross.