Free to Serve

Formality and Informality in the Public Service

It was simple question, "How should I dress when I visit?" Some friends and I were sitting down at a restaurant, enjoying a meal and discussing an edifying Christian book. Our waitress noticed the title of the book, and she was curious enough to ask about it. After a short conversation, we discovered she was new to the area. So I invited her to church. She seemed eager to come.

That's when she asked, "How should I dress?" She wanted to know if we were formal or informal, uptight or casual. She didn't want to show up in a suit-kind-of-church wearing cutoffs and flip-flops. And she didn't want to show up in a jeans-kind-of-church decked out in an Easter dress. It's a good question.

So I fumbled out an answer, "Come how you'd like." I wanted her to know that we weren't the kind of church that cared about what people wear.

But we do. Every church does. Whether we are formal or informal, you can look around and get a sense of what expectations we have, collectively, when it comes to attire. But we must be careful not to confuse how we dress with how we worship. 

This is why I appreciate David Peterson's book, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. For the most part, this book is one long Bible study looking at the idea of worship through the Old and New Testaments. Just here and there does he pop up to reflect upon how his study might influence our thoughts on public services today. Notice what he says about whether a church should be formal or informal:

Formality and informality are not theological categories. Yet sometimes people imply that formality in church services is somehow more conducive to acceptable worship than informality. Others argue that informality is preferable because it allows for greater expression of biblical teaching about the congregation as the body of Christ. Formality may be the expression of a very narrow and inadequate view of worship and informality may be an excuse for lack of preparation or any serious attempt to engage collectively with God. Apart from the size of the gathering, the question of formality and informality will often be decided in practical terms by the personalities of those in charge and by the particular traditions of the group in question.

At MVBC, our Sunday morning services are fairly formal. Though there will be just a handful of men in jackets and ties, much of the service will lead you to conclude we are on the formal end of the spectrum--everything from the decor, to the carefully ordered services, to my preaching (almost always in a jacket and sometimes with a tie), to the willingness to sing older hymns that are often reflective in tone.

At the end of the day, the most important question is not how formal the service is but how Christ-centered it is. Are we honoring the Savior in what we sing, in how we sing, in how we pray and preach and respond to the Word? Let our attention be focused on the Savior first and foremost, with sincere hearts, and the Lord will be glorified.

Legalism

The word "legalism" is thrown out a great deal these days. We know it's bad. We know it is something to avoid. We know we are prone that direction. But can we actually define what it is? In his careful way, J.I. Packer addresses legalism:

Taking God's law as our rule must not be confused with legalism. Legalism, we know, is a mistake Christians must avoid. Legalism means two things: first, supposing that all the law's requirements can be spelled out in a code of standard practice for all situations, a code which says nothing about the motives, purpose, and spirit of the person acting; second, supposing that formal observance of the code operates in some way as a system of salvation by which we earn our passage to glory or at least gain a degree of divine favor that we would not otherwise enjoy.

In the first instance, then, a legalist is one who conceives of the practice of holiness as merely a list of rules which can be followed or broken. Such a man or woman ignores the heart. How might we see this brand of legalism today? Such an attitude crops up in teaching that is quick to tell us what a Christian must do but never why he must do it--this kind of legalism, at least today, is often referred to as moralism.

In the second instance, a legalist is one who draws confidence in the measure of his or her performance. He either thinks that obedience to a particular command makes him a Christian or, and I think this is most likely, his spiritual confidence is inextricably linked to the quality of his religious works. A "good" day, for the legalist, might be a day where he keeps his eyes pure, or she avoids gossip, etc. You might reply, "But isn't it good not to sin? Isn't God pleased when we are holy?" Yes and yes! And so we ought to rejoice when we traverse the narrow path. But when we start to place our confidence in ourselves and not the Lord (who, after all, is the one equipping us for every good work) we fall into the error of legalism.

Packer, who published those words in 2005, argued that evangelicals are more likely to be tripped up by the first kind of legalism than the second. We are, he insists, too well-trained to think that we can earn God's favor. But we are quick, he insists, to hamper the Christian liberty of others by imposing a list of rules upon them that are unbiblical, arbitrary, and unsympathetic to what is going on in the heart.

From where I sit, however, the second brand of legalism is, in fact, more common. It's not that we think that doing good works save us. Packer is right, most of us are too well-taught to assert this. However, we easily and often fall into the trap of grounding our confidence in our obedience rather than Christ's achievement on our behalf.

What about you? What brand of legalism are you tempted to adopt? Are you more likely to set up rules that aren't in Scripture but that nonetheless make you feel holy, or you are more likely to think that your obedience has won some divine blessing from the Lord?

What will be said at your funeral?

When the British pastor, C.H. Spurgeon, died, the Tabernacle, where he pastored, had to hold five memorial services to accomodate the numbers who wanted to gather. Arnold Dallimore reported that the first service was for members of the church. The second service was for ministers and students. The third for Christian workers and the fourth for the general public. At the fifth and final service the preacher closed with these words of thanksgiving and a farewell:

The eyes now closed in death, that twinkled like two stars in a dark firmament, and brought light and joy to many bereaved and saddened hearts, have lost their light forever. The voice that spoke in tones so convincing and persuasive is hushed in death. The hand whose grasp uplifted many a fallen one, and gave new strength and encouragement to many a stricken one, will never again take our hands within its holy embrace. We bless God for thee, my brother. We are glad that heaven is made richer though we be made poorer; and by this bier we solemnly pledge that we will undertake, by God's grace, to follow thy blessed footsteps, even as thou didst follow thy blessed Lord!

What do you think would be said at your funeral, were that day to come sooner than you expected? Though we shouldn't live for the applause of men, it is nonetheless worth asking what impression we would have made on those around us. What will they have to say about the way we spent our time, our money, and our energy? What will they say about how you spoke? Did the gospel drip from our lips like honey from honeycomb?

It is good to live everyday as if it were your last, and it is wise to live with eternity in view.

Our identity is not in our vocation but in our confession

It is so important to be able to see our vocation (that is our calling or our job) through the lens of God's gospel. We have to trust that God has given us all different jobs, different roles, different callings. It is the diversity of what we do (some are chefs, some are homemakers, some are marketers, some are pastors, some are salesmen, some are painters) that makes the unity of the gospel so profound. In Christ there is neither salesman nor painter--we are all one in Christ Jesus.

If we fail to see God's hand behind what we do week in and week out (he is the God of diverse callings), we will be less likely to marvel at the God who calls us together in prayer and praise, to hear and respond to his Word. When we gather as the body we leave our earthly callings behind and identify ourselves simply as "brother" or "sister" in Christ.

Let us all appreciate our God who has called us to such diverse tasks. Let us praise the God of our vocation. Gene Edward Veith, Jr. in his book, God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life, reminds us that work is good. We can all bless God and praise the Lord as we work as Christians in various fields. This is true for farmers and filmakers:

Ironically, it is sometimes easier to see how God provides through lowly occupations than through those with more status. It is easier to see how God blesses the world through farmers and milkmaids than through Madison Avenue advertising executives or Hollywood movie stars, though in the eyes of the world the latter are considered much better jobs.

Still, most lawful occupations do give service to others. If someone is willing to pay for a product or service, they must consider themselves benefiting from it. Companies need advertising to help them become successful, and Hollywood movie stars can offer innocent pleasure for millions. These are worthy vocations.

But no one should be ashamed of being called to a vocation through which God blesses people in more tangible ways: waiting on tables, digging foundations, hauling away garbage. Nor should those o fus who are blessed by God through these vocations look down upon them.

As for those who work with their hands--on a shop floor, on a factory line, on a construction site--they are especially honored in the Bible, in a text that says much about vocation, ambition, and the Christian's life in the world: "Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent upon no one" (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). 

But as we give praise and thanksgiving to God for the vocation he has called us to, let's also praise and thank him that whatever we do--be it build buildings or preach sermons or sell bolts or make pizza--our fundamental identity is not builder, pastor, salesman or pizzamaker; our identity is found not in our vocation but our confession: we are those who confess Jesus is Lord--our crucified and risen Savior.

"Little Things" -- Elisabeth Elliot

When we were growing up our parents taught us, by both word and example, to pay attention to little things. If you do a thing at all, do it thoroughly: make the sheets really smooth on the bed, sweep all the corners and move all the chairs when you sweep the kitchen, roll the toothpaste tube neatly and put the cap back on, clean the hair out of your brush each time you use it, hand your towl straight on the rod, fold your napkin and put it into the silver ring before you leave the table, never wet your finger when you turn pages. They kept promises made to us as faithfully as they kept those made to adults. They taught us to do the same. You didn't accept an invitation to a party and then not turn up, or agree to help with Vacation Bible School and back out because a more interesting activity presented itself . . . 

It is not easy to find children or adults who are dependable, careful, thorough, and faithful. So many lives seem honeycombed with small failures, neglectful of little things that make the difference between order and chaos. Perhaps it is because they are seldom taught that visible things are signs of an invisible reality; that common duties may be "an immeasurable ministry of love." The spiritual training of souls must be inseparable from practical disciplines, as Jesus so plainly taught, "The man who can be trusted in litle things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great."

From Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart. (HT: my wife who is so careful about the little things!)

 

Christians are wealthy and poor, both at the same time

"How much can we safely keep?" This is a question asked by Randy Alcorn in his book, Managing God's Money: A Biblical Guide. His words are challenging, but encouraging, too. 

There are some things that no Christian should do--such as hoard money, live in opulence, or fail to give generously. But there are other things that some Christians can freely do that others may sense God's leading not to do, such as own land, a home, a car, or a business; go on certain vacations; or set aside significant retirement funds.

How much money and how many possessions can we safely keep? Enough to care for our basic needs and some wants, but not so much that large amounts of money are kept from higher Kingdom causes. Not so much that we become proud and independent of the Lord. Not so much that it distracts us from our purpose or leaves us with the illusion that we are owners rather than managers of what God owns.

Those who happen to be rich--simply as a result of circumstances, hard work, or wisdom--have done nothing wrong. They need not feel guilty--unless they withhold their riches (which are really God's) from Kingdom causes, including helping the needy, or their lifestyles are self-centered and excessive.

I would add that the sin of greed rears its ugly head in the lives of the poor just as much as it does in the lives of the rich. Those without can idolize what they don't have just as easily as the rich can idolize what they do have. The issue is your heart. Consider the words of Paul in Philippians 4:10-13:

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

I take this to mean that by the grace of God Paul I can live in poverty--should the Lord withold. And, by the grace of God, I can live in wealth--should the Lord so provide. The question is not ultimately the size of my bank account--big or small--but the stewardship of everything that God, in his sovereign wisdom, has entrusted to me.

Of course, every Christians should also know that, biblically speaking, we are wealthy and poor all at the same time. Is this a contradiction? Not at all.

We are wealthy (spiritually-speaking) because we have the Gospel--and the Gospel is a treasure (Matt. 13:44). Those who have the Gospel, who know what it is like to have their deepest need met in Christ, those who know what it is like for Christ to bear for them the wrath of God they they deserve--will always be spiritually rich. The believer has, after all, what no one can take away.

We are poor (spiritually-speaking) because we have the Gospel--and the Gospel teaches that there is nothing within us to commend ourselves to God. Thus, Jesus' amazing words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3). The true believer, he and she who is poor in spirit, has experienced what it is like to stand before the Lord with only her sin to offer. We are nothing more than sinners in need of grace. We will always be, in this sense, poor in spirit.

So every Christian is wealthy and poor, both at the same time.

 

 

 

Lessons on Faith from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

I am often helped by reading Lloyd-Jones. He served London's Westminster Chapel for more than 30 years, faithfully preaching the Word of God. Over 1600 of his sermons are available to listen to here (although I believe he wrote in Preaching and Preachers that he didn't think Christians should listen to recordings of sermons!).

In any event, I am slowly working through his book, Spiritual Depression, which I read quickly a number of years ago. In one chapter, "Looking at the Waves," Lloyd-Jones offered several lessons on faith taken from his study of Matthew 14:22-33 where Peter is told by Jesus to walk on water, only to doubt the Lord and begin to sink. 

Lesson One: "You are always yourself, and, though you have become a Christian, you are still yourself." Lloyd-Jones is pointing out that once you become a Christian, you have the same tendencies to sin that you had before you were a Christian. Peter was impetuous before he started following Jesus and impetuous afterward. In that sense, your own personality will be a source of trouble in your daily Christian walk. 

Lesson Two: "Doubts are not incompatible with faith." This is a theme that runs throughout the book, Spiritual Depression. Lloyd-Jones is constantly encouraging believers to remember that we will, at times, struggle with doubt. Some believers struggle very little with doubt. We might say they have strong faith. Others struggle very much, they have weak faith. Jesus told Peter he had little faith.

Lesson Three: "If doubts again control us, it is an indication of a weak faith." This is where every believer needs to be careful. It is normal to have doubts, but what do we do with those doubts? That is the question. Peter allowed his doubts to control him.

The antidote, said Lloyd-Jones, to weak faith is great faith. So his chapter ends with Lloyd-Jones characterizing great faith:

First, "it is a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and His power, with a steady trust and confidance in that." In other words, knowing Jesus Christ is not mere mental assent, it is trying and trusting Jesus Christ. It is resting in him no matter what. This kind of knowledge is ultimately a gift of God wrought in our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. But our part is to study the Word of God diligently, passionately, so that we know the truths about Jesus that we are called to lean into as believers.

Second, great faith requires that we "refuse after-thoughts." Lloyd-Jones warned against those who revisit problems/issues that they previously addressed. He put it this way:

That is always the trouble with weak faith, it comes back again to questions which it has already solved and answered. If you have ever believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, you must, in some shape or form, have met with and dealt with the difficulties or you would not have arrived at faith. Well, why go back? it is sheer folly.

Third, those with great faith persist "steadily in looking to Him and at Him." In other words, the beliver with great faith and the fewest doubts is the one whose attention is focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ, who believes that the Lord Jesus will "never let you sink," and, more than that, is confident that Christ will always keep us from falling. Our lives are in his hands, he is trustworthy, he will never let us go. Those with great faith affirm this each and every day.

May we have deep, rich, and great faith!

 

A Word for the Parents of Children

In the same message that pastor Spurgeon addressed Sunday School teachers, he also spoke to parents:

And then, you parents, 'Do not sin against the child' by being so very soon angry. I have frequently heard grown-up people repeat that verse, 'Children, obey your parents in all things.' It is a very proper text, and boys and girls should carefully attend to it. I like to hear fathers and mothers preach from it; but there is that other one, you know, which is quite as fully inspired, 'Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.' Do not pick up every little thing against a good child, and throw it in his or her teeth, and say, 'Ah, if you were a Christian child, you would not do this, and you would not do that!'  I am not so sure. You who are heads of families do a great many wrong things yourselves, and yet I hope you are Christians; and if your Father in heaven were sometimes to be as severe with you as you are with the sincere little ones when you are out of temper, I am afraid it would go very hard with you. Be gentle, and kind, and tender, and loving.

After a warning to parents not to be too stern, Spurgeon than urges them not to be too lenient:

At the same time, do not sin against the child by overindulgence. Spoiled children are like spoiled fruit; the less we see of them, the better. In some families, the master of the house is the youngest boy, though he is not yet big enough to war knickerbockers. He manages his mother, and his mother, of course, manages his father, and so, in that way, he rules the whole house. This is unwise, unnatural and highly perilous to the pampered child. Keep boys and girls in proper subjection, for they cannot be happy themselves, nor can you be so, unless they are in their places. Do not water your young plants either with vinegar or with syrup. Neither use too much nor too little of rebuke. Seek wisdom of the Lord, and kep the middle of the way.

Those of us who are blessed with children have our hands full. We will not be perfect parents, but by God's grace we can model something of his compassion and discipline.

A Word for the Teacher of Children

The English pastor C.H. Spurgeon preached a sermon called, "Do Not Sin Against the Child." In it he encouraged teachers and parents alike to take the souls of their children seriously. For those of you who invest each Sunday in the lives of little ones, take these words to heart:

Now, dear Sunday school teachers, I will mention one or two matters which concern you. 'Do not sin against the child' by coming to your class with a chilly heart. Why should you make your children cold towards divine things? Do not sin against them by coming too late, for that will make them think that punctuality is not a virtue, and that the Sunday school is of no great importance. 'Do not sin against the child' by coming irregularly, and absenting yourself on the smallest pretence, for that is distinctly saying to the child, 'You can neglect to serve God when you please, for you see I do.' 'Do not sin against the child' by merely going through class routine, without really teaching and instructing. That is the shadow of Sunday school teaching and not the substance, and it is in some respects worse than nothing. 'Do not sin against the child' by merely telling him a number of stories without setting forth the Saviour; for that will be giving him a stone instead of bread. 'Do not sin against the child' by aiming at anything short of his conversion to God through Jesus Christ the Saviour.

Teachers, thank you for pouring your hearts and your minds into the lives of the children you teach. If you want to read Spurgeon's sermon in full, you can find it here. 

Andrew Fuller on Joy

How are you doing when it comes to experiencing joy?

If you are struggling here, let me take you back to 1795. That year, the 41 year old english pastor, Andrew Fuller, wrote a letter to a network of churches that comprised what was called the Northamptonshire Association. Fuller laid out five ways to pursue joy. He saw this lacking in the churches of his day.

1) We get joy when we pursue godliness. Fuller put it this way, "Joy is a grace which cannot thrive by itself; it is a kind of appendage to the lively exercise of other graces." So, go hard after holiness and peace and love, and then watch as joy follows.

2) We get joy when we deeply know the truth. "If we do not so understand the truth as clearly to distinguish it from error, it cannot be supposed that we should be greatly affected by it." This is true in lots of fields. We get excited about things we understand really well. God made us like that. The more the Christian understands truth, the more she will delight in it.

3) We get joy when we care about the souls of the lost. Fuller pointed out that if our chief goal of personal bible study is our own satisfaction, we will not be happy. But if we read and learn so that others may hear the gospel, God will work joy in our hearts. "If we pursue the public good, not for the sake of applause, but from a disinterested regard to the well-being of our species, reputation will follow us; and if the glory of God and the prosperity of his cause occupy the first place in our affection, we shall not in ordinary cases be wanting in peace and heavenly consolation." In other words, if you care first about God's glory and the his kingdom work, don't be surprised if you find yourself rejoicing all day long.

4) We get joy when we rest in God's sovereignty.Fuller explained, "The primitive Christians were in the habit of considering all things as working together for good, and so of deriving joy from every occurence. If the world smiled upon them, they rejoiced, and availed themselves of the opportunity for spreading the gospel; or if it frowned on them for their attachment to Christ, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name's sake." To trust that God is at work in the lives of believers is to be at peace and full of joy when things go well or when they go badly.

5) We get joy when we strive to be less like the world. Worldliness, Fuller argued, keeps Christians from boldy sharing their faith. The worldly Christian strives to be accepted. This way of life is not compatible with a life of true, Christian joy. He minced no words, "If our heads and hearts are occupied with appearance, dress, entertainments, and the like, there can be but little room for heaven and heavenly things; and consequently this joyful part of religion will be slighted and lost."

6) We get joy when preachers really preach the gospel. "The Holy Spirit ordinarily works by means of the word. It is the office of ministers to be 'helpers of your joy;' but if they partake of the spirit common to the age in which they live, their preaching will partake of it too. If the great an interesting truths of the gospel are not thoroughly understood, and felt, they cannot, in the ordinary course of things, be communicated in such a manner as greatly to interest the hearts of others." Pray for those who teach you, that would know and even feel the gospel.