Interaction with the World

I asked the people of our church to submit questions about the Bible and the Christian life, and I promised to answer them in a sermon. This morning I gave the answers, but ran out of time. The question that I wasn't able to answer is a very good question, and I think the answer I prepared will be edifying not just to the people of our local church, but to other believers as well. So I am posting the question and my answer here.

Question: Where do you draw the line in interaction with the world for adults and for children?
What about watching TV shows that feature people who are known for sinful lifestyles off-screen, such as a lifestyle of sexual immorality? What about friendships with unbelievers?

Answer:
There is a better question than, “Where do you draw the line?” This question is about externals rather than the heart. It presupposes that a person will be OK if they stay away from a certain level of worldliness.

Take movies as an example. Some Christians use the movie’s rating to draw a line. Perhaps children are not allowed to watch PG-13 or "worse," while adults do not allow themselves to watch R or "worse." Anything with a "better" rating is considered OK to watch. The mentality is that smaller amounts of inappropriate material won’t hurt a person, but larger amounts will. So you need to know where to draw the line.

This is not the Christian mentality but the mentality of the Pharisees. They sought conformity to the Law of God by creating and following all kinds of new laws regarding external behavior. In other words, they were all into drawing lines. For example, they said that on the Sabbath, it was OK to spit on a rock, but not on the dirt, because spitting on dirt makes mud, which is work.

The Christian mentality, on the other hand, recognizes that our biggest problem is with our heart, and the condition of our heart is NOT a product of our environment.

Mark 7:18-23 And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do
you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile
him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is
eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, "That which
proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of
the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders,
adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality,
envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within
and defile the man." (NASB)

The big problem is with our heart. If the problem were our worldly environment, Jesus would not have prayed the way He did...

John 17:15-18 "I do not ask You to take them [Jesus' disciples] out of the
world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I
am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent
Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." (NASB)

Jesus did not want the Father to take His disciples out of the world. Instead, He sent His disciples into the world. You should have friendships with unbelievers, and you should be training your children how to live for Christ in the world.

So what would be a better question than, “Where do I draw the line for my kids and myself?” A better question regarding yourself is, “How can I glorify God while I interact with the world?” A better question regarding your kids is, “How can I equip and encourage my kids to glorify God while they interact with the world?”

I could write a series of messages on the question, “How can I glorify God while I interact with the world?” Let me scratch the surface for now.

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."

While interacting with a non-Christian friend, you should be examining carefully everything they do and say. While your kids interact with non-Christian friends, they should be learning to do the same. While you watch TV, you should be examining carefully everything that is said and portrayed on the screen. When your kids watch TV, they should be learning to do the same.

You and your kids are to examine whether the things you hear and observe are “good” or a “form of evil." If something is good, you are to “hold fast to it” (follow the example). If it is a “form of evil,” you are to “abstain” from it (keep yourself from following the example).
This is the exercise of discernment.

Here is an example. If your kids watch Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, you ought to pause the movie at different points to discuss what is going on. These movies in particular send a message that the greatest thing in life is to find your Prince Charming, your true love. It tells a young girl that the greatest thing is to have a romance with a boy. Together with your kids, compare this message with Scripture. Consider the following:

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.

Matthew 22:37-38 "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD
YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' This is the great and foremost commandment."

The Bible indicates that the greatest thing in life is be loved by God and to love Him in return. Though God may give your children a spouse some day, they don't need such a relationship. A relationship with God is far greater and what they truly need. If you don't discuss this with your children, they will probably be deceived, even by something as "innocent" as Sleeping Beauty. The solution isn’t to keep your kids from ever watching Sleeping Beauty. Then they would not be trained to exercise discernment but to be legalists.

If you watch a movie with your spouse, don’t just watch it and move on with your life. Discuss together what you saw. What were the examples of good? What were the examples of evil?


After spending time with an unbeliever, pray about what you observed in their life. “Lord, give me Your perspective on how this person talked and behaved. What was good that I can learn from? What was evil that I must abstain from?” The solution isn’t to distance yourself from unbelievers. You will never lead them to Christ that way. The solution is to actively exercise discernment.


If you and your kids do not examine everything carefully, holding fast to the good and abstaining from the evil, you will inevitably follow the world. God has created us with a tendency to become like the people we get to know. They tend to rub off on us. This is a wonderful thing if you are spending time getting to know God. But this tendency to become like others must be resisted when we are interacting with the world.


The tendency to follow the world must be actively resisted in two ways. The first way is what we have been talking about—exercising discernment. The second way is to work hard at getting to know God for the purpose of becoming like Him. Actively getting to know God and becoming like Him will keep you from becoming like anyone else.


Both the exercise of discernment and the pursuit of knowing God require an ongoing process of being sanctified in the truth of the Word of God. Consider Jesus' prayer again. Notice the mention of being sanctified in the truth...

John 17:15-18 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep
them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not
of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is
truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the
world."

As a follower of Jesus who has been sent into the world, you must be immersing yourself in the Word of God day and night. And as a parent, you must be teaching your children the Word of God. You must be teaching them the Word in regular times of family worship. And you must be teaching them the Word throughout the day as you go through life together, using the issues of life to point your children to the Word.

Deut 6:6-7 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on
your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall
talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when
you lie down and when you rise up.

Immerse yourselves in the Word so that you and your kids are getting to know God, in order to become like Him rather than like the world. Immerse yourselves in the Word so that you and your kids are getting to know the truth, in order to examine the world according to the truth.


There is one last principle to keep in mind that is gleaned from Paul's discussion of eating food sacrificed to idols...

Romans 14:22-23 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction
before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he
approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his
eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

If you have doubts that a certain interaction with the world would please God, then this passage says going ahead with the interaction would be sin. As Christians, we are to only engage in an activity if we have the faith that it is pleasing to God.

What the Bible Says About Physical Illness

In order to understand physical illness, we must get to know what the Bible says about it.

First, the Bible reveals what the causes of physical illness are. All physical illness is a result of the curse God placed upon the world when mankind fell into sin (Isa 33:24). In addition, physical illness is sometimes caused by Satan and demons, as the four gospels show. Other times physicall illness is a result of sin in one's life. It can be a natural consequence of our sin, as when a person breaks their hand because they punch a wall in sinful anger, or when a person contracts AIDS through sexual immorality. Illness can be God's discipline of our sin (2 Chron 21:12-18; Psa 32:1-5; 1 Cor 11:29-32). Or illness can be a symptom of sinful thinking and attitudes (Prov 17:22; 14:30).

Not only does the Bible reveal the causes of illness, it also reveals the proper motive for seeking good health--to keep our body useful to the Lord (Rom 12:1).

The most important way of seeking good health is by fearing God, keeping His commandments, turning from evil, and following Jesus (Prov 3:7-8; 4:20-22).

Every physical illness occurs under the sovereign control of God, and God has a good purpose for every occurrence of illness. The Bible reveals some of God's good purposes for illness. They include bringing glory to God (John 11:1-6), making you more like Christ (2 Cor 12:7; Rom 8:28-29), making you useful to Christ (2 Cor 12:8-10), exposing your true character (Job), and increasing your ministry (Gal 4:13-14).

The thoughts above come from a message I preached in January. The audio file can be downloaded from www.cfcnb.org. Click "messages." Then look for the message from 1/13/08 entitled, "Themes in Luke: Physical Illness."

The Canaanite View of the LORD

We learn something very interesting in Joshua 9 about the Canaanite view of the LORD. In chapter 9, the Gibeonites deceived the leaders of Israel into making a treaty with them. They did so out of fear of the LORD.

The Gibeonites said to Joshua, "From a very distant country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon the king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth." (Josh 9:9-10 ESV)

Later when Joshua asked them why they had deceived Israel, they answered Joshua, "Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the LORD your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you--so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing." (Josh 9:24 ESV)

Word got around. The Gibeonites knew the name of Israel's God--the LORD (Yahweh). They understood that the LORD rescued the Israelites out of Egypt. They understood that the LORD gave Israel victory over Sihon and Og. And they understood that the LORD had commanded Israel to take possession of the land of Canaan and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land.

This tells us that the world was observing Israel, and that they recognized God's powerful working on their behalf. So it is with us. The world is observing us. Do they also recognize God's powerful working on our behalf? If not, why not?

Purposes of Romans and the Gospel

Romans is a fuller revelation of the gospel than any other book in the Bible. 1:18-8:39 is pure gospel. And Paul continues to cover gospel-related issues all the way through the end of chapter 11. The purpose of this gospel revelation is not primarily to evangelize the readers of Romans, for the epistle is addressed to believers (1:7). I see three main purposes of this gospel revelation.

One purpose is that believers would be spurred on to serve their Savior and would be transformed into the image of Christ. Paul's transition from gospel to Christian living is 12:1-2 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 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" (ESV).

A second purpose of the gospel revelation is that believers would praise and glorify God. The conclusion to Paul's presentation of the gospel is 11:33-36 "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 'For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?' For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen" (ESV).

A third purpose of the gospel revelation is to strengthen believers to evangelize the world. In Paul's introduction, he says that he and the other apostles "have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations" (1:5 ESV). "The obedience of faith" is the obedience to Christ that is produced by faith in Christ and the gospel. God had commissioned the apostles and graciously empowered them to lead the lost throughout the nations to faith in Christ and the resulting obedience to Christ. Paul speaks in chapter 15 of how he has been bringing about the obedience of faith among all the nations. "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience--by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God--so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation" (15:18-20 ESV).

Then Paul's last words are a doxology in which he praises God for the strength He supplies to all believers for the task of bringing about the obedience of faith among all the nations. "Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith--to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen" (16:25-27 ESV).

This is a complex sentence. Let's break it down. The main thought is this, "Now to him who is able to strengthen you to bring about the obedience of faith, be glory." Paul says this is "according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ." In other words, the gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ compel and equip us to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations. Paul also says this is "according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations." This is a reference to the gospel just mentioned. Now that Jesus Christ has come, the gospel has been revealed. Our task of bringing about the obedience of faith among all the nations is of epic proportions, for God spent long ages preparing for this world-wide endeavor. Paul also says that this is "according to the command of the eternal God." In other words, our glorious God doesn't ask us to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, He commands it! Paul's words are in the form of a doxology, thus giving God the praise and glory for the work He is doing through us among the nations.

So the purposes of the gospel revelation in Romans include our service & sanctification, God's praise & glory, and evangelism & missions.

When I Don't Desire God, ch. 2

Here are some quotes that struck me from chapter 2 of, When I Don't Desire God, by John Piper:

Piper discusses the relationship between desire for God and delight in God. "Desire would not exist if the thing enjoyed had not already been tasted. That's how the heart comes to feel something is desirable. Desire is awakened by tastes of pleasure. The taste may be ever so small. But if there is no taste at all of the desirability of something, then there will be no desire for it. In other words, desire is a form of the very pleasure that is anticipated with the arrival of the thing desired. It is, you might say, the pleasure itself experienced in the form of anticipation" (page 26).

"Finite creatures like us, who have a spiritual taste for the glory of God, will always want more of God than we presently experience--even in eternity. There will always be more of God to enjoy. Which means there will always be holy desire--forever" (pages 27-28).

"Our desires--no matter how small--have been awakened by the spiritual taste we once had of the presence of God. They are an evidence that we have tasted" (page 28).

"In the age to come, desire for more of God will never be experienced with impatience or ingratitude or frustration. All desire in the age to come will be the sweetest anticipation, rooted ever more deeply in the enlarging memories of joy and in the ever-gathering pleasures of gratitude. God will not take from us the pleasure of anticipated pleasures. He will heighten it. He will give us for all eternity the perfect intermingling of present pleasure and anticipation of future pleasure. Anticipation will be stripped of all frustration. Its ache will be a wholly pleasant ache" (page 28).

"Desire and delight have this in common: Neither is the Object desired or delighted in. God is. I make this obvious point because all of us from time to time speak loosely and say that the aim of our pursuit is joy. Or we way that we want to be happy. Those are not false or evil statements.... But the loose way of talking can be misleading. Both ways of saying it can be taken to mean: The object of our wants is ultimately a psychological expreience of happiness without any regard to what makes us happy. In other words, they may mean: the final object of our pursuit is joy itself, rather than the beauty of what we find joy in" (page 29). Piper quotes C. S. Lewis, who explains that seeking joy itself rather than God will leave you empty. "I had been equally wrong in supposing that I desired Joy itself. Joy itself, considered simply as an event in my own mind, turned out to be of no value at all. All the value lay in that of which Joy was the desiring" (Lewis, Surprised by Joy, in Piper, page 30).

"God is glorified in his people by the way we experience him, not merely by the way we think about him. Indeed the devil thinks more true thoughts about God in one day than a saint does in a lifetime, and God is not honored by it. The problem with the devil is not his theology, but his desires" (pages 30-31).

"I have found for thirty years that preaching and teaching about God's demand that we delight in him more than in anything else breaks and and humbles people, and makes them desperate for true conversion and true Christianity. Oh, how easy it is to think we are what we ought to be when the emotions are made peripheral. Mere thoughts and mere deeds are manageable by the carnal religious mind. But the emotions--they are the weathercock of the heart. Nothing shows the direction of the deep winds of the soul like the demand for radical, sin-destroying, Christ-exalting joy in God" (page 31).

Love Your Enemies

When Jesus commands us in Luke 6:27-28, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (NASB), He gives reasons why we are to live this way. Probably the most significant reason is that it shows us to be "sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men" (Lk 6:35 NASB). In other words, it displays His character in our lives. Every mere human being that God has loved has been His enemy at some point, for sin makes a person God's enemy (Rom 5:9-10), and "all have sinned" (Rom 3:23). One way that we are different from God is that there are human beings in our life that have never been our enemy. So it is not really our love for these people that make us like God (Lk 6:32-33), but our love for our enemies that makes us like God. What joy God has in turning His enemies into His friends! Let's follow His example!

When I Don't Desire God, ch. 1

I have started reading, When I Don't Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, by John Piper. I really appreciated the foreward and first chapter. Piper writes in an even more personal and pastoral style than usual. Here are some sentences that stood out to me:

"When all is said and done, only God can create joy in God. This is why the old saints not only pursued joy but prayed for it (Ps 90:15). To be satisfied by the beatuy of God does not come naturally to sinful people. By nature we get more pleasure from God's gifts than from himself. Therefore this book calls for deep and radical change--which only God can give. But if I didn't believe God uses means to awaken joy in himself, I would not have written this book" (page 9).

"Christian Hedonism is a liberating and devastating doctrine. It teaches that the value of God shines more brightly in the soul that finds deepest satisfaction in him. Therefore it is liberating because it endorses our inborn desire for joy. And it is devastating because it reveals that no one desires God with the passion he demands. Paradoxically, many people experience both of these truths. That certainly is my own experience" (page 13).

"My indwelling sin stands in the way of my full satisfaction in God. It opposes and perverts my pursuit of God. It opposes by making other things look more desirable than God. And it perverts by making me think I am pursuing joy in God when, in fact, I am in love with his gifts. I discovered what better saints than I have found before me: The full enjoyment of God is my ultimate home, but I am still far off and only on the way" (page 14).

"Conversion is the creation of new desires, not just new duties; new delights, not just new deeds; new treasures, not just new tasks" (page 16).

"The misunderstanding of this book that I want most to avoid is that I am writing to make well-to-do Western Christians comfortable, as if the joy I have in mind is psychological icing on the cake of already superficial Christianity. Therefore let me say clearly here at the beginning that the joy I write to awaken is the sustaining strength of mercy, missions, and martyrdom" (pages 19-20).

"I am addressing the question: 'How can I obtain or recover a joy in Christ that is so deep and so strong that it will free me from bondage to Western comforts and security, and will impel me into sacrifices of mercy and missions, and will sustain me in the face of martyrdom?'" (page 20)