Imperfection Personified

My post yesterday, in retrospect, needed more. As usual, it rambled a bit and didn’t quite get to the heart of the matter, so I figured I would address that and take the time to also redirect our eyes away from ourselves and towards Christ. I have heard so many times of people desiring to make their faith more genuine and “Christ-centered,” but I remember wanting and saying that years ago and not knowing what that tangibly looked like. So where do we start?

It starts in the mind with our understanding of what we believe and why we believe it. We then trust the work of the Spirit through the Word to change our hearts. This last step is exactly why this isn’t a mere academic exercise or high-level theological discussion, but something gritty and daily applied time after time.

And so to start you off as you continue to build your faith on the foundation set before you, I’ll be taking some popular slogans we hear in our circles and deconstructing them in favor of a genuinely biblical worldview. Those who have been in my CE class last year will have gotten a taste of this. Let’s begin.

1) “Deeds, not doctrine.”

I’ve been in an environment before that, at least on the surface, downplayed doctrine and thought. The mindset that said, “God is bigger than doctrine. Don’t fence Him in, and don’t fence us in.” And in a way, they’re right:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! - Romans 11:33

But the last phrase says something that these same people shy from: “I want to believe what I want to believe.” And that really is the next logical step. But it’s obvious that this perspective poses all sorts of problems. Why would a God whose character, works, and motives are all open to questioning and individual interpretation be worthy of praise? He would certainly not be the solid Rock on which we stand, the object of our faith.

As an alternative (open to interpretation as well, assuming a consistent worldview), many Christians instead turn to the law that I wrote about yesterday, that of loving God and neighbor. We turn away from that which we cannot comprehend or visibly see, and instead turn to what we have control over and can visibly confirm. I myself am most guilty of this, and I trust a few of you understand where this is coming from. Even if you don’t struggle, aren’t we more concerned with how we look and appear, even if we don’t understand why we should look and appear that way? Having done this firsthand many times to this day, understanding or a lack thereof makes all the difference between a life seeking self-glory and a life that sees Christ as gain.

My advice to you? Don’t force worship, whether it is through prayer, song, fellowship, or anything else. If you’re praying and find it hard to think of something to pray for or thank God for, open your Bible. God has revealed a history’s worth of redemptive history through millions of people and thousands of years, and yet, the same Word seeks to drive right through you to your heart and speak the words of salvation to you: 

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. - John 10:27-28

If you lack in your doctrine, don’t be satisfied to stay there. Open your Bible, come to church, ask believers around you or on Facebook. Do whatever you have to hear the promises of God. Hear them, and hear them often! Romans 1 implies that they do not come naturally to our hearts.

When we place our deeds and good works above doctrine, we are effectively seizing the spotlight and directing it to ourselves. As if, by themselves, God would be even remotely impressed. 

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. - Isaiah 64:6-7

But all praise to God for cleansing us from our sins and making us and even our deeds a pure and acceptable sacrifice to God!

So lastly then, we come to deeds. Where do we fit them into the Christian life? To answer this, we’ll take a (relatively) quick look into Philippians 1:27.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ …

We can see here that there is a new standard. We do not make our lives worthy to earn the gospel. We live lives that are worthy of the gospel that has already been proclaimed to us. Don’t believe for a second that since we’ve been saved, we’re off the hook and free to do what we love. We’ve been freed from the judgment sin brings and sin itself! We live in light of this gospel. Not apart from it, not above it, and certainly not instead of it. This message of grace must hold its place as the center, the foundation, and the driving force behind anything we do, lest we risk thinking we’re saving ourselves.

When we fail, and we will, guess where we can turn to? Our guilty consciences don’t help, and neither do the judgments people bring against us. Our last and greatest resort is to retreat to the refuge of Helm’s Deep. I mean the gospel. Sorry, that was totally an honest mistake. Not repenting though. Maybe later. Our mistakes and failures to live in a way worthy of the gospel do not define us and should not hinder us from coming back to it. Hear the promises of God, and hear them often!

This gospel is doctrine, and all doctrine leads back to this message. And deeds cannot help but come from a life irreversibly and fundamentally changed by this message.

Corrected version: “Doctrine, then deeds, then doctrine, then deeds …” One down. Maybe I’ll tone down the bold italics next time. Eh, not likely. =]