The more I’ve worked with addicts and dealt with my own sins, the more I’ve realized that most churches are falling short in a very important area–freedom from sin. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Most churches teach freedom from sin. Most command freedom from sin. But very few are helping people become free from sin. Most of them simply tell people to quit sinning and then slap them on the wrist when they catch them sinning again or belittle and shame them for doing so. What can we do about this?
Facing Your Giants
Are you facing any giants right now? What temptations are beating you right and left? Do you sometimes feel like you will never win those battles? You’ve probably been told over and over again to just try harder. And so you have. But trying harder hasn’t worked. Instead of trying harder, let me encourage you to try something different. Try relying on God’s strength. Let Him fight your battle. Remember when David fought Goliath? Who really killed that giant? Not David. In the same way, you won’t be the one to kill your giants. Only God can and will.
That all sounds well and good. But how? How do we actually rely on God’s strength? Last week, we mentioned 5 ways to practically rely on God’s strength when facing your giants. We thought about David who relied on God’s strength to face Goliath but noticed that from our outside vantage point it looked quite a bit like he picked out the stones, he slung the stone, he wielded the sword. From our perspective it looked like he was doing it all. However, we know he was relying on God. So we talked about the practical things we need to do to rely on God. We talked about the 5 stones we need to pick up, if you will. Today, I’d like to give you 5 more ways to practically rely on God’s strength.
First, let’s remember the 5 we learned last week.
Now, let’s learn 5 more.
On April 26, 2003, Aron Ralston was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Hiking and rock climbing along in Eastern Utah, his right hand was crushed between a shifting boulder and the rock wall. Over a period of five days he made various attempts to free himself. Nothing worked. When he ran out of his water supply, he was certain of death. Since no one knew where he was and they would not find him any time soon, he tried one final desperate plan. He broke both bones in his forearm. Then, using what was left of his dulled cutting tool, he amputated his right arm. He repelled into the canyon and hiked out to meet searchers. Nobody wants to lose an arm. But when the choice is lose and arm or lose a life, the arm is not so bad.
You might think Jesus had this story in mind when you read what He said in Matthew 5:29-30. If your hand is causing you to stumble, cut it off. If your eye is causing you to stumble, pluck it out. No one wants to lose a hand or an eye, but when the choice is lose a hand or eye or lose your soul, the choice is clear. If we want to change the games we play by relying on God’s strength, we have to change our playgrounds, playmates, and playthings. If we keep going to the places, hanging out with the people, and interacting with the things that have always led us to sin, then we are relying on our own strength. We think we can follow the same path we’ve always followed but somehow we will be strong enough to play a different game. Not so. Relying on God’s strength means cutting off what leads us to sin.
While I am in awe of Aron Ralston’s courage and willingness to cut off what was going to kill him, I recognize there was a deeper problem. Ralston went mountain climbing alone. Had someone been with him or at least known where he was going, he might not have had to cut off his arm. Relying on God’s strength means relying on God’s people. Find a fellow traveler. Find someone to walk with, talk with, share with, confess with. Find someone who knows where you are.
I can’t help but think of one of my best friends of all time who was a source of spiritual strength for me. When I say one of my best friends, I mean I told him everything. I didn’t just talk to him about the weather. I talked to him about my struggles. What I never recognized though was that he never shared in kind. I, of course, interpreted that as his strength. He didn’t have problems like mine. His life was smooth sailing. Then one night his nephew-in-law called me to say my friend had been committing adultery and was leaving his wife. You couldn’t have shocked me more if you had walked out of my blind spot and hit me in the gut with a baseball bat. Despite repeated attempts to make contact with my friend, he has rebuffed me in every way. I pray for him. I cry for him. But he is still walking in his sins. What is amazing is that I know this friend is not where he wants to be. I know he knew what was good for him and what would really work. How could this happen to him? He went mountain climbing alone and now he is being crushed by the boulder.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 explains that two is better than one. Find a fellow traveler.
When you find your fellow traveler, learn to talk about more than the weather and the Super Bowl. Learn to bring what is on the inside out. Learn to share the secrets of your heart. The darkness in there will only dissipate to the degree you shed light on it. James 5:16 says we need to confess our sins to one another. We need to find people we are willing to share these dark secrets with. Otherwise they will simply grow and take over. When temptation hits, find someone to share what you are thinking, what you are feeling, what you are considering. You will be amazed at how this helps defuse the temptation and its power over you.
The reason we want to overcome these giants is to be more like Jesus, right? It stands to reason then that relying on God’s strength means following the example set by Jesus, God in the flesh. Jesus was a servant (Matthew 20:28). If we want to be like Him, we need to work on serving. Most sin is the product of selfishness. If we purposefully get outside of ourselves to serve others, we are letting God attack our selfishness head on. The moment you start serving others, you are doing the exact opposite of sin.
Make a meal for someone who is sick. Visit someone in the hospital. Call a friend to simply offer encouragement. Help out at a homeless shelter. Volunteer for a non-profit organization. Set up the chairs for the next class in your congregation. Invite someone into your home for a game night. Do something for someone else, especially if it is someone who cannot repay you.
Matthew 6:33 says we should seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness. Relying on God’s strength means simply doing what He tells us to. Listen to His advice. Seek His way. Do what He says. Right now, my responsibility is only to do the next right thing. I don’t have to worry about where it is going to lead. I don’t have to get bogged down with what I’m going to accomplish through it. I simply need to trust God to make everything work out in the end. I just need to do the next right thing. I don’t have to worry about doing 10 years of right things. I don’t have to even worry about doing a week’s worth of right things. I only need to do the next right thing. I don’t have to fret about what will happen tomorrow. I just need to do the next right thing.
Don’t misunderstand. When you rely on God’s strength in these 10 ways, temptation won’t disappear. Goliath will still be stepping on to the battlefield asking for a man (or woman) to fight. But by doing these things, you will be stepping onto the battlefield in the name and strength of the Lord. He will win the victories.
Keep up the faith. Rely on God’s strength.
What do you do to rely on God’s strength in the face of your giants? To add your input, click here.
If you’d like to hear the sermon I preached based on this, click here.
So I’m reading Seven Practices of Effective Ministry
But, as with all books (except the Bible), I hit a snag. In their chapter on “Narrow the Focus,” which had lots of helpful info also, they get into the niche marketing idea for churches. As they talk about creating brands, they mention that you have to identify a target group. This brought to mind all that I read years ago in The Purpose-Driven Church
In the Narrow the Focus chapter, the idea is that a single congregation can’t meet everyone’s need. I am supposed to conclude that a single person has a different need from a married person. A retired person has a different need from a working person. A black person has a different need from a white person. A young upwardly mobile person has a different need from a blue collar person. Management has a different need than labor. There is just no way a single congregation can meet the needs for all of these people. There just aren’t enough resources in any given congregation to meet the needs for all these different people. Therefore, we are told, churches need to narrow the focus by identifying a target. Find out what the target needs, then devote the church’s resources to meeting those needs. They will attract that kind of person. While they will not be able to help everyone, other churches can meet the needs of other people. Because they are not stretching themselves too thin, they will grow larger within their target group than they ever would trying to meet everyone’s needs.
That sounds all well and good, but I keep hitting a roadblock on that path. How can I sing that the blessed gospel is for all but then conduct the congregation’s work in such a way that as we present the gospel it is meant to attract for young upwardly mobile people like Saddleback Sam and Samantha with there two kids Steve and Sally (The Purpose-Driven Church, p. 170)? Are we teaching a good news that is for everyone or just a certain few. If it is only for a certain few, are we teaching the gospel found in the New Testament or one of our own making? Of course, the folks who proclaim this method say it is working because their congregations are so large. “It must be right,” they say, “because God is obviously blessing our approach.” That, apparently, is code for “We have more people attending than you.”
I have to admit, that line of argument can seem reasonable at times. But something still plagued me about this approach. Then it hit me. I asked is the foundation really sound? Does a single person have a different need from a married person? Does a teenager have a different need from a grandmother? Do all of these people really have different needs? On the surface that seems to be true. I’ve even said it myself sometimes. But the reality is this premise is all wrong. While I’m sure in some sense all of these people have different needs, God didn’t send Jesus or establish the church to meet every possible need someone might have. He sent Jesus and established the church to deal with the one need that everyone has.
We are all dead in sin and need the life offered through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:1-10).
Let’s face it, the problems we all have are caused by sin. I don’t need some special teaching just because I’m married with kids. Do you know what causes me struggle in my marriage? The same thing that caused me struggles when I was single. Sin. It will be the same thing that causes me struggles when I’m an empty-nester. It is the same thing that causes me struggles with my neighbors and my co-workers. What do I need? I need the life, the victory, the freedom from sin that comes through Jesus. As Jesus sets me free from my sins, my life will improve no matter what situation it is in. Further, I will learn how to live contently in my relationship with Him no matter what sins those around me commit.
When I learn that and let the good news of Jesus start to impact my life, it will change my marriage, it will change my career, it will change my community. Let’s think about this in a microcosmic way. Think of the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12. Who can the Golden Rule help? Let’s see. I think it will help teenagers, single people, married people, divorced people, widowed people, black people, white people, hispanic people, asian people, rich people, poor people, educated people, uneducated people, white collar people, blue collar people, management people, labor people, unemployed people, Democrats, Republicans… The list could go on. In other words, in this scenario, we don’t need a church that pours all its resources into teaching young married couples. We need a church that will pour its resources into teaching the Golden Rule. Why? Because that will help everyone.
Consider another microcosmic example. When a church is directed by its community to try to meet the felt needs of its target audience, it might do something like the following. If we target young families, we all know the felt need. Childcare. My wife and I have four kids, we feel that need. Yes, it is a need that my grandparents don’t feel. So the church says, “Young families need childcare. Let’s devote our resources to accomplishing that need and we’ll get more young families in our church. If we devote our resources to that, we won’t have enough money to also accomplish the felt need of seniors which is providing company.” If that is the way churches are thinking, no wonder Narrow the Focus comes to mean narrow your target audience. But let me ask you, did God send Jesus or establish His church to meet the felt need of childcare? No. Jesus died for the real need of victory over sin. Narrow the Focus should not mean narrowing the target audience. Rather, it should mean narrowing the needs we are trying to meet. We should narrow it right down to the need Jesus died for–victory over sin. When that happens, we actually open our target up to everyone.
When a church teaches the freeing truth (John 8:32) of God’s powerful gospel (Romans 1:16-17) then lives will be changed for the better no matter what the felt needs of the individuals are or their station in life.
The problem is we have too often bought into the pop psychology of felt needs. Let’s face it, appealing to felt needs will attract folks. But appealing to felt needs is too often appealing to fleshly needs. God did not send Jesus to die to fulfill our felt needs. He sent Jesus to die to meet a real need. Felt needs are different for every person. But this real need is the same. Sadly, not as many people care about their real needs as their felt needs. Further, nothing we can do will force them to recognize their real need. In fact, all that we do to fulfill their felt needs might keep them from seeing their real need because they are never forced to examine their own neediness. So, moving from a felt needs focus to a real needs focus may cost us some members just like it did for Jesus in John 6. But focusing on the real need will actually provide the real help that people really need.
Yes, a single church can meet the need that everyone has. We don’t need different churches for all kinds of different people. We need churches who are willing to focus on what all of us have in common. We’re all sinners in need of a Savior. He will change our lives if we will let Him. Let’s narrow our focus to that.
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*Yes, the links in this article are affiliate links. Help a guy out. It’s Christmas time. Click on the links and buy something.
Sorry for not getting to the usual posts yesterday and today. I’m in New York for the very first time. I’m having a blast, getting to see some things I’ve never seen. We’re on our way to the Statue of Liberty today, as well as the Empire State Building, and Ground Zero. However, this is not really a vacation trip. I’m here to work with the Upper West Manhattan church on Saturday and Sunday.
If you live in the area, I’d love to meet you face to face.
The series is entitled: “Living Righteously–How Can I, Really?”
The schedule is:
Saturday, January 23
10AM–Sold Into Bondage
11 AM–Legalist or Love of God
1 PM–Where Do I Draw the Line?
Sunday, January 24
10:30 AM–Only One Thing is Necessary
11:30 AM–Counting the Cost
The Upper West Manhattan church meets at:
Hostelling International
891 Amsterdam Ave @ 103rd St.
Upper West Side
New York, NY 10025
Looking forward to meeting you.
Giving in to sin may not be as easy as you might think. Therefore, to help you learn how to fall back into that bed of comfortability easily, I have prepared the following 10 step plan to fall back into sin. If you take these steps, I guarantee you that sinning will once again become the norm for you.
1. Think you can run your life better than God.
Of course, I know you would never ever actually admit this verbally and out loud. However, if you really want to fall back into sin, this is the mindset you need to have. It will govern the other 9 steps you must take to fall back into sin. The greatest thing is, you don’t actually have to say it out loud. In fact, you can do this while you are still attending church and even looking good in Bible class by answering all the right questions with all the right answers. All you have to do is decide not to do what God says in His word. You can do it for any number of reasons. Maybe what God asks of you is too hard. Maybe you can’t see how it will make you happy. Maybe you are just convinced it is too old-fashioned. No matter the reason, if you just convince yourself what you want to do will produce better long term results for you than what God asks you to do, you are well on your way to falling back into sin.
2. Live in denial.
Who wants to honestly face their defects and flaws? We all know it was wrong of you to yell at your spouse last night, but why be honest about that? Just come up with some reason why in that scenario it wasn’t really all that wrong. It was probably your spouse’s fault anyway. Here is the great thing, you can do this and still keep up the saying of your prayers. Just don’t ever get specific in your confessions. Just ask God to “forgive me my many sins.” No one can prove you have to be specific. Besides being specific would mean you would actually have to look those sins in the face, own them and repudiate them. That is way too much work (remember step #1?). Another way to do this is to constantly look for everyone else’s sins and flaws. Trust me, you’ll find plenty and you can salve your conscience by realizing that at least you aren’t as bad as they are.
3. Quit assembling with the saints.
Surely religion is just about your personal relationship with God. Who needs a congregational family? Who needs a time to get together with other people to edify and be edified? Who needs to spend time with other people praising and worshiping God? Not you. You already know you can run your life better and you’re a good person and don’t need that repeated reminder. Besides, you’re smarter than most of those people and don’t get that much out of the preaching and classes anyway.
4. Isolate yourself from your godly friends.
Those people only want to judge you anyway. Why would you want to spend any time with them? They have just as many problems as you. They’re no better than you are. If you spend too much time with them, they might get you to thinking about some of those sins you have committed. They might call you on the carpet. Not to mention, it is just uncomfortable being around people who actually want to overcome their sins. They’re always talking about God and their Bible reading. If you hang out with them too much, they may figure out what is going on inside you and you just can’t trust those Christians to still love you when they find out what is going on inside.
5. Refuse to be accountable to anyone.
Only cults expect you to be accountable to someone, letting them know what you are dealing with and accepting their advice for how to overcome. You need to avoid partnering with someone for purposes of accountability at all costs. Granted, it may lead you back to sin, but at least it won’t let anyone else have undue influence in your life. That just gives too much power to another person in your life. Besides, no one has the right to know what struggles you face; that’s just between you and God. You’d think if He wanted you to talk to someone else about those things, He would have told you to confess your sins to other people somewhere in the Bible.
6. Keep all your stuff on the inside.
Nobody else wants to be burdened with your emotional and spiritual stuff. Besides, if you told them, someone somewhere would just end up judging you. So, don’t ever tell anyone, no matter how much you think you might be able to trust them, about what is going on inside your head. Never share with them the sins you have committed, the things that trigger your temptations or even just the emotions you feel. Don’t ever let anyone know what makes you sad, guilty, ashamed, lonely, angry or happy. Never let them know you are feeling any of those things right now. Instead, just keep it on the inside. If possible, figure out some way to escape those emotions like playing a video game, watching a movie, smoking a joint, drinking some liquor, raging, getting vengeance on someone, eating some ice cream, looking at pornography. See, if you play you cards right at this step, you’ll be jumping back into your sin and not even having to finish all 10 steps.
7. Revel in your entitlements.
Your life stinks right now because no one else is giving you what you expect from them and what you rightfully deserve from them. At all costs, you must avoid anything that looks like selflessness or personal sacrifice. Instead of serving others, simply complain about how no one is serving you. Instead of giving to others or taking the actions of love toward others, focus on all the ways others should be giving to you and aren’t. Focusing on these issues is the perfect way to start building up the justifications and excuses for why you went ahead and sinned even when you “knew better.” If you focus on this stuff enough, you will even be able to convince yourself that God not only understands why you went back into your sins, but He doesn’t mind and would probably have done the same Himself if He had ever lived in the world.
8. Quit reading God’s book.
You definitely don’t want to spend too much time reading your Bible. If you keep doing that, you might find things that help you keep from sinning. You might find the encouragement, comfort, strength, hope and faith to keep relying on God in the troubled times you face. You might learn about people who have faced exactly what you are facing and overcame by the grace and power of God working in their lives. This will, no doubt, be extremely detrimental to your plan to fall back into sin. So, whatever you do, don’t read that book. Just set it on your coffee table. Carry it with you to church (if you decide to go). But don’t read it.
9. Quit talking to God.
This is an absolute must. If you spend too much time praying, you might remember that the only way you can stay out of sin is to surrender your life to Him and let Him run it. That would be a real mistake on your path to fall back into sin. Additionally, if you keep praying you might realize you can get from Him all the things you are trying to get out of your sins–the peace, comfort, emotional support, help through pain, etc. Of course, if you feel the need to keep up with your Christian homework by saying your daily prayers, that can be okay. Just make sure you don’t actually share with God what you are feeling. Keep that tucked away on the inside. Just offer some trite phrases. Don’t think about what you’re saying, just come up with some forms and phrases you can repeat as necessary. “Dear God, thank You for Your many blessings. Forgive me of my sins. Be with the sick the world over. Bless the church. In Jesus name, Amen.” Something like that will accomplish both things. You can say your daily prayers without actually praying. This will work great to salve your conscience but let you go right back into your sinning.
10. Never talk to anyone about your faith.
If you spend too much time talking to folks about your faith in God, you might actually increase that faith. If you increase that faith, you might actually begin to think your sins won’t help you out as much as you initially hoped. If you recognize that, you may hop on the completely wrong path and just keep surrendering yourself to God. Above all, you don’t want to share what God has done for you in the past with other people because you might remember God’s way really does work when all the other ways have always failed you in the end.
As you can see, falling back into your sins really does take some work. I hope my list helps you as you strive to stay on the right path.
Over the past two weeks, we have learned several activities and attitudes to prepare us for temptation:
You might be tempted to believe we are ready to face any temptation. (Then again, you might not, after all, I am writing another article.) There is one more preparation we need to make and it is illustrated in Acts 4:23.
Earlier in the chapter, Peter and John were arrested and taken before the rulers, elders, scribes, High Priest and many of the high-priestly family (Acts 4:5-6). The council charged the two apostles not to speak in Jesus’ name and then threatened them (Acts 4:18, 21). I’m sure these threats included imprisonment and physical harm. This is what we call temptation.
Then we read Acts 4:23. “When they were released, they went to their friends…” (ESV). They didn’t have to develop friends. They didn’t conduct a survey to see if anyone might be on their side. They already had friends on whom they could rely. They had already developed these relationships.
In order to prepare for temptation, we need to develop strong relationships with other Christians. If we wait until we face the temptation and then scan about for someone to help, it will be too late. Let’s face it, we are only comfortable making those kinds of calls and having those kinds of conversations when we have already developed a good, friendly, supportive relationship with someone.
I know I have often failed in this step of preparation and I’ve paid for it. The failure sometimes comes with good intentions. We believe we will simply rely on God to overcome temptation, but doing so forgets that God works through His children. Ephesians 3:20 reminds us God does great things by His power working in believers. The reality is, we are not really relying on God if we are not relying on God’s children. Further, we won’t rely on God’s children in our moment of need if we haven’t already developed a good relationship with them.
Ask this question. “If I was tempted to ___________ this week, who would I call to talk it over, pray and gain support to do the right thing?” If you’ve got several in mind, that’s great. Make sure you keep working on those relationships. If you don’t, stop everything and figure out some relationships you can develop to be ready.
Remember, Satan is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He wants to devour you. Use these tools to help you prepare for temptation:
Satan is vicious. He roams like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (I Peter 5:8). Just like we wouldn’t go on a safari in lion infested territory without preparation, we need to prepare to face Satan’s attacks. We have already learned we begin with Repentance and Confession. In this post, we need to see the place of Bible Study and Prayer.
We all know Psalm 119:11. “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (ESV). Clearly, if we want to avoid sin, we must spend time in Bible Study. We do this to know what sin is. We can’t even accomplish the Confession we have already discussed if we do not learn the mind of God through His revelation (cf. I Corinthians 2:11-12). Consider Matthew 4:1-11. Even Jesus overcame sin because of what was written. He knew what was sin and He knew how to respond when Satan attacked because He had stored up God’s word in His heart.
We also need to study God’s word to learn Satan’s attacks. II Corinthians 2:11 speaks of knowing Satan’s designs so we won’t be outwitted by him. From Eve to Peter, through Bible study we see how Satan tempted others. Learning how he attacks prepares us and helps us respond well.
At the same time, we need to develop a healthy habit of Prayer. No doubt, we will need to pray in the moment of temptation. The only way to be strong enough to pray in the moment of temptation is if we have developed a strong habit of prayer when we weren’t being tempted.
Consider the example of Daniel in Daniel 6:10. Daniel was able to keep praying when it was illegal because it was what he had done previously. Prayer was his ingrained response.
We must remember our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against powers too great for us (cf. Ephesians 6:10-13). We can’t win this battle. But God can. Therefore, we need to develop a healthy relationship with God through prayer. As Ephesians 3:20 says, God can do far more abundantly than we ask by the power working through us. However, this means we have to ask.
Further, as the model prayer demonstrates in Matthew 6:13, God is able to keep us from and deliver us through temptation. How many temptations might we avoid in our lives if we simply make this prayer a habit even when we aren’t being tempted?
What is your plan for study and prayer this week? Schedule it out and then make sure to fit it in. Don’t do this to check it off your Christian living list, but because this is what works. This is what will help you overcome those temptations.
May God richly bless you as you draw closer to Him.
More importantly, may you richly bless God.
