Unveiled Faces

As part of my Bible reading plan a couple weeks ago, I read through 2 Corinthians. In the last year, this book of the Bible has proven to provide comfort and exhortation as I have attempted to obediently follow Jesus in this disciple-making journey. I recently read the following passage:

4:1–2) Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.

I want to point out a few things from this passage that I think are crucial to how

The Current State of Things IV

Stepping Into While Stepping Out

So, just to refresh, in the six months leading up to mid-February 2013, I had gone through a course called Perspectives, I had seen the kingdom of Christ come in power to an El Salvadorian village via a water well, and God brought me to Brazil to work (Bible storying) with an unreached people group called the Wassua Indians. Over the Christmas break, I had the opportunity to take a group of college students to work with a church plant in Round Rock, Tx. Half of the trip was designed to be service, and the other half training. I had outsourced the majority of the responsibilities of this retreat to the guys I had been discipling to the point where all that was really expected of me was to cook. Very heavy things were on my heart. Here’s an excerpt from my journal:

I almost missed this!

The Current State of Things 3

From Trips To Decisions

Where was I? Oh yes… Brazil.

Interesting factors play into how I get here. First Vidor’s missions strategy had been supporting a missionary in Central Asia for some time, but due to some conflicts, the missionaries had to relocate and that complicated the partnership. There was however a

The Current State of Things 2

To the Land I’ll Show You

Back in September 2012, God led me to teach through a series called Creation Restored by Matt Carter & Halim Suh. I was also enrolled in class called Perspectives. Early on in September, I began to hear a reoccurring message from God. God asked for Abraham’s faith, a faith that

The Current State of Things 1

I’m sitting in a coffee shop in Beaumont, TX about to work on some things for upcoming mission trips and different disciple-making efforts I’ve been given the privilege of being a part of. The question How did I get here? is what I want to write about.

Some History

I get surprised at times with that way that God does things. So much of the time I’ve been following Him, I’ve been learning

New Travel Blog

Just wanted to announce that I have created a new travel blog.  You can check it out at http://ptrtravel.wordpress.com

Sin is a Trust Issue

So I just wish that blogging was more of a strong suit for me.  Writing has always served as an incredible therapy for a mind that tries to nitpick and destroy itself.

Recently, in our Wednesday night Bible Study, Red Zone, we’ve been studying Creation Unraveled: The Gospel According to Genesis.  This is a study produced by the Austin Stone Community Church, and published by LifeWay.  Needless to say, it’s been great to see just how changeless our God is.  Week 3 dealt with the fall of man, and it was titled “The Goodness of God vs. the Goodness of Sin.”  When I announced the title, I almost immediately began to receive texts back like “Can sin be good?”  Let’s talk about that.

The Serpent

Chapter 3 of Genesis sets up the narrative by calling Satan the most crafty or clever of all the created things.  By stating this, the text begs us to pay attention to him.  He has a strategy.  As the Austin Stone guys put it, Satan can’t really convince Adam and Eve that God doesn’t exist.  They walked with Him, they communed with Him.  His lie would not focus on God’s existence, but rather God’s goodness.

The Goodness of Sin

So what was his lie?  We’re getting there.  Satan asks the question: “Did God really say you couldn’t eat from any tree in the garden?”  This is a well formed question.  This question presents somewhat of a false dichotomy.  His wording implies only two options.  It begs the thought process of “Because God wants to withhold this one thing from you, God wants to withhold everything from you.”  See the Enemy wants humanity to believe that God holds out on us.  He wants us to believe that God keeps things from us because we might enjoy it too much, and He hates when we’re “too” happy.  The Enemy convinces us that the fruit, any Sin, is free, and demands no consequence.

Sin is a Trust Issue

Not to beat a dead horse, but Satan in the garden effectively convinced Adam and Eve to distrust God’s nature.  Satan convinced them to place their desires upon this fruit and it’s effects, rather than on the consequence of death.  I am so guilty of the same thing.  So often I look at my sin, when I’m being tempted and tell myself that by placing my desires on that thing will bring me the happiness that can only be found in abundant living.  So often I fall victim to the woes of unholiness because I exchange abundant life (found by living God’s way) for that which fades and eventually kills me.

Shame Shame Shame

The tragedy of Chapter 3 continues into the introduction of shame.  Those who were once pure, spotless, and righteous before a holy God were now broken, filthy, sinners who felt the cold, lifeless shackles of treason.  In an attempt to deal with their shame they made inadequate clothing that was irritating and unprotective.  Not only would Adam and Eve’s sin need to be dealt with, but also the effects of their sin.

The Goodness of God (The Gospel)

So the story could end here.  The story could end with the first bite of the fruit, but the Gospel wouldn’t be present in that.  In the scriptures we see the Gospel every time the Justice of God is simultaneously presented with the Mercy of God.  God pours out His judgement on them by sending them out of the garden.  He sends them out of a place where they were meant to belong.  He issues curses upon the guilty parties, all unique to their role they played in the act.  God spills the blood of innocent animals to create the fix for Adam and Eve’s shame.  In this picture He points toward the day however when His blood will be spilt not only for the effects of sin, but the elimination of sin to those who place their trust in Him.

Conclusion

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. 18 Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

• Know what you are in Christ: a new Creation, a child of Him, one in which He sees as clean because of the blood of His son.
• Fight the Enemy, and fight the lie that God isn’t good.
• Commit to His instruction, and trust that His instruction is created to benefit you as you fulfill your commission to expand the Kingdom.

Identity in Truth

“Our true identity is found only in a biblical understanding of who God made us to be in Christ.  A loss of true spiritual identity results in a loss of our role in the world.” (Bomar. Kindle Location:665)

Who are you in Christ?  How does Truth have anything to do with discovering your identity?  Let’s take a few minutes to look at it.

• In the 1870’s, a new philosophy emerged.  This philosophy is Postmodernism.  Postmodernism was preceded by Modernism which put heavy emphasis on Atheism.  Modernists encouraged the belief that Truth existed, but Evil did not (If there was no God, then there was no definer of morality).  This ideology was flipped though when the Postmodern mindset took prominence.  Postmodernists put a heavy emphasis on Pantheism (the belief system that everything is god).  Postmodernists believe that Evil exists, but Truth doesn’t (They believe in a force that can define evil, but that truth is relative to everyone).
• This is the world in which we live.  As a child of God, we understand that there is Evil.  We know that God is actively engaged in a war with Evil.  We have faith that God’s timing is perfect and that He will be victorious over Evil just as He is victorious over sin and the grave.  Our focus though isn’t about whether or not we believe in Evil, the focus is on our understanding of what Truth is.
• As children of God, Truth is central to our Identities. 
• How can we believe what we believe unless we believe it to be true?
• Do we really have a purpose as Christians if we’re not sharing the Truth with people who don’t know it?
• What we believe shapes us into the people we are.  If what we believe is false, then we are deceived.  If what we believe is false, we walk around with mental and spiritual blindfolds.
• One of the most important things for you to do if you’re between the ages of 18-25 is to know what YOU believe.  You need to own Truth!  Do not delay in searching for the Truth.

As a Christian, your entire belief system is based on what you decide the truth is.  The problem though is that there is only one Truth, and accepting anything but this truth is self-inflicted deceit.  When you own the Truth, you own your true identity.

Identity in Pleasure

Let us review a few things before we get started.  We’ve been talking about Identity, and specifically about the kind of identity Chuck Bomar writes about in his book, Starting a College Ministry from Scratch.  He wrote that:

“Our true identity is found only in a biblical understanding of who God made us to be in Christ.  A loss of true spiritual identity results in a loss of our role in the world.” (Bomar. Kindle Location:665).

We’ve been asking the following:

Who did God make me to be in Christ?

We’ve looked at Intimacy and Meaning, but let’s turn our attention to a different aspect of Identity:

Pleasure

• Let’s first start with Webster’s definition of Pleasure.
• –noun  1. the state or feeling of being pleased.  2. enjoyment or satisfaction derived from what is to one’s liking; gratification; delight.  3. worldly or frivolous enjoyment: the pursuit of pleasure.

• This is the typical definition of Pleasure.  I take issue with Bomar’s word choice here, because Pleasure seems to carry a selfish connotation with it.  I believe that Bomar’s intention though is to communicate the idea of “fulfillment.”
• –noun  1. the act or state of fulfilling: to witness the fulfillment of a dream; to achieve fulfillment of one’s hopes.
• In John 10, we see Jesus state the following: “A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.”
• In the past, I’ve heard this scripture explained to be talking about heaven.  Our abundant life though begins at the moment of our salvation.  Far too often the Christian life is seen as one filled with laws and regulations on morality.  This is clearly not synonymous with abundant living or fulfillment.  So how are we to look at this?
• Answer this: Where does true fulfillment come from?
• In case you didn’t know, you’re in the middle of an incredible redemptive act that has been going on since the beginning of time.  God’s kingdom is defeating evil through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, and in the process of all of this, He is shaping obedient Christians to be free creatures who willingly choose Him and the things of Him.
• His will is intentional and fixed, and in the end, He will be victorious.  One of the incredible aspects of this is the fact that He includes us in this will.  He reveals to us what He’s doing, and we get the incredible privilege to be obedient followers of Him.
• I believe that through being obedient to His leading, we in return become fulfilled because we know that we’re actively involved in the incredible expansion of God’s kingdom here on Earth.  If this doesn’t excite you I don’t know what will.

As a Christian, your pleasure or fulfillment is found by serving our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  There’s nothing like being in the center of what God is doing.  It’s not about rules, it’s not about regulations, it’s about being part of the greatest cause possible for humanity: the expansion of God’s kingdom, and introducing them to the Savior.  When you find your identity in these things, you’ve just found who you were made to be, you’ve found your true identity.

Identity in Meaning

In his book, Starting a College Ministry from Scratch, Bomar wrote that:

“Our true identity is found only in a biblical understanding of who God made us to be in Christ.  A loss of true spiritual identity results in a loss of our role in the world.” (Bomar. Kindle Location:665).

So let’s continue pondering the following question:

Who did God make me to be in Christ?

Like intimacy, meaning helps one discover their identity in Christ.

Meaning

• God is the only One Who can give you meaning.
• The year was 2000.  I had just got back from the greatest camp experience I had ever had.  This was the summer that God revealed to me what I was to do for Him.  Well I wish it was as easy as that.  In 2000, I was able to spend the majority of my year with a former missionary to Kenya.  As a mentor, this man was able to communicate with me and help reveal to me that which God was up to in my life.
• Later that summer, I surrendered to the ministry.  I know this is a very Baptist-y thing to say, so let me clarify.  I devoted my life to God, to serve him vocationally and go wherever He called me to go.  In my heart, I began to feel like God was calling me to missions, but even then I didn’t know what that would look like.
• 3 years would pass and I would graduate from high school and move to ETBU.  I went in as an Education major, but really I just picked something because I felt like I had to. (Apparently being directionless is frowned upon.)  In a chapel service, God spoke through a Wycliffe Bible Translator to communicate the need for people to translate the Bible into the languages of those with no Bible.  Immediately I felt like there was a hole that I could uniquely fit, and in that moment, I found a sense of Identity.
• Know that God doesn’t always work on our timetable.
• Because of His Sovereignty, God sometimes must pull the reigns on our attempts to  accomplish His will.  I went through the rigorous process of apply and being accepted into the Wycliffe organization.  I was unable to fulfill a few of the prerequisites and had to offer my voluntary resignation.
• After months of work, I found myself exactly where I started, except this time I felt defeated.  I found myself asking questions like:
• Am I disqualified from God’s will?
• Have I been misled about this calling for so long?
• Has everything I’ve worked for (school & ministry) been a waste?
• Trust God to know what He’s up to.

• So often I forget that He knows what I need and He provides it.  Jobs, Service, Social Causes, Food, and Clothing etc… all fall under His knowledge; leave it to Him to provide those things.
• In those times of doubting my meaning; in the times I doubted my calling; I was really doubting who I was in Christ, and whether or not I believed He’d be faithful.
• God has placed me where I am now to gain valuable ministry experience through my position at FBC, and by attending SWBTS.  Everything I’m learning now, helps me get closer to doing what God has called me to do.  The fact that I am where I am now is only possible by His hand, may He receive all the glory.

As a Christian, your meaning must be found in who you are in Christ.  I know that God’s specific calling on you will be different than mine, but let me urge you to be seeking, listening and obeying.  By seeking Him, we can find Him.  By listening, we can receive our life-fulfilling instruction.  By obeying, we find ourselves living out our true identity.