Living on the Edge of Fanaticism?

LIVING ON THE EDGE OF FANATICISM?

I am not sure anyone can truly be following Jesus in this culture without living on the very edge of fanaticism. In fact, in this day and age it may require falling off the edge. But the word fanaticism is a relative term which gets its definition from a comparison to the norm. If the normal Christian life and experience is so diluted and compromised as to be little more than a reflection of the common western lifestyle with a few religious words sprinkled on top, then any authentic discipleship which is defined through the New Testament must be considered fanatical.

The Webster’s definition of fanatical is “marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion”. I would add that it also entails a profound and uncommon dedication to something. And given those definitions just how fanatical are we? Is the culture feeding us to lions? Are we being led to the gallows? Are we being incarcerated for Jesus? Are we at least being shunned? Ok, last try, are we having an impact upon the kingdom of darkness?

Now realize this fact. We are not even fanatical when compared with the people who do not know Christ. How can that be? I mean let us just read a section from Luke’s gospel.

Lk.14: ²⁵ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,

²⁶ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
²⁷ And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
²⁹ Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
³⁰ Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
³² Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
³³ So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
³⁴ Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
³⁵ It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Bear his cross? What cross do we bear? Forsake all? What do we forsake? We are not even distinctive much less fanatical. We blend in like camouflage. But we are afraid of the word “fanaticism” unless it applies to sports, Hollywood stars, music icons, or politicians. And one of the reasons that the word frightens us is because of the implications that may surface and that might place upon us some inconvenient demands. But what are the implications of being fully surrendered to Jesus Christ and being a fanatical disciple? Would not that person be absolutely remarkable within a culture of absolute darkness?

But another problem is that the church does not see the culture for what it is. We define evil in extreme terms. We all loudly proclaim that the acts of 9/11 were evil and so they were. But did we realize that most of what was transpiring on a daily basis inside the Twin Towers was evil as well? You see the entire wicked mess called the world lies in the wicked one and all that is in the world is fallen and evil. But if you say that in mixed company, or even share it with most believers, you will be seen as, yes, fanatical. You see, in order to understand what it means to be a fanatical disciple we must also understand how God sees this present evil world. But so many have made peace with this world and even joined hands with the kingdom of darkness in order to address this issue or that issue. And after you have walked with evil for a while it begins to seem not so evil and eventually it may seem friendly and a little misunderstood. And even though you might maintain what seems to be a safe distance from evil, it begins to have an effect upon your heart and mind and most grievous of all upon the way you see your faith.

That kind of life not only cannot be labeled as fanatical, but it cannot even be called Christian. But look at verse 33 where our Lord speaks of forsaking all. How easily those words flow from our tongues and how easily we can gloss over them and actually ignore them while reading or listening to them. That kind of deception has not only taken hold of us all, but it is practiced and embraced in the church. If we took just Jn.3:16 and Lk.14:33 and made them our template for life just what would that mean? I know, if we even took those words in a partial literal sense it would demand a level of fanaticism unwelcomed in this present evangelical climate.

This entire subject should not be easily dismissed or seen as something about which to just ponder. This cuts at the very fabric of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The word “Christian” has been so bandied about that it no longer has any teeth. It is an innocuous religious term which is a collective for everyone and anyone who isn’t of some other religion or even considers themselves a “Christian” simply by default. And if you stretch out your arms and gather together any church that calls themselves Christian and gather them all in one place, that is what people believe is Christianity. The word itself has become a deception.

And people consider Muslims and white supremacists and Hasidic Jews and North Koreans as “fanatics” while they consider Christians as a multi-sected religion which fits in nicely within the culture with a few morality obsessed exceptions. But even the moralists glady join hands with non-Jesus moralists. And just a cursory reading of the Book of Acts reveals just how far the church has drifted. Paul is brought before Agrippa and instead of invoking his Constitutional rights and demanding counsel he gives his personal testimony. And when Paul was sent to prison with Silas instead of contacting Fox News to protest his treatment he and Silas pray and sing praises to God. Yes, there were fanatics in those days.

And do we think the secular culture has improved in these days? Do we believe the culture has moved closer to Christ or that the church has moved closer to the culture? And like Samson the church does not even realize, much less care, that our power is gone. No salt, no light, no city on a hill. Fanatical? Who could even pretend to lie like that?

So where do we go from here? I mean we have become so adept at minimizing the problem and setting forth the journey with no real sacrifice or self denial, so how can we even stop to address that which we cannot see and which we deny? Well each individual must allow the Spirit to take an inventory of his own life and reveal to him a substantive, albeit painful, progress report. Now we should not seek to be immobilized and retreat into a spiritual depression, but we should desire the most clear and comprehensive conviction about what is truth and what we have come to believe as truth.

And if we are honest about the teachings of Jesus and the entire teaching scope of the New Testament then we must admit that they are radical in nature and in substance. They are incompatible with the present culture and with anything that demands our earthly rights or incorporates greed or violence. And if we understand the depth of these radical teachings then we are faced with this proposition: To seek to obey them and live by them can be nothing short of fanatical. And to be honest you would not only be looked upon as fanatical by the world, but within the church as well.        

So the choice is oh so clear. We can remain within acceptable parameters in our faith which requires very little and raises no eyebrows and is generally compatible with the rest of the community of faith, or we can become aware that something is very wrong. And if and when we come to that enlightenment, then the journey has once again taken on a more significant challenge than we have previously thought. At that point we may realize that we have been processed through the wringer of a culturalized Christianity which through a system of clandestine demands has molded us into a narcissistic discipleship which enjoys all the fruit of Eden’s forbidden tree while rejecting the fruit of Golgotha. And like men in a police lineup, we all pretty much look the same. The sirens have sung and we have heard and sailed right into the rocks. However these rocks are comfortable and offer an expression of the faith which has just enough Biblical verbiage to provide a shallow defense but not enough to be considered fanatical. Instead of praying to extricate ourselves from these rocks we just placed a steeple among them, took up an offering, and called them church.

Yes, sit back and enjoy the show and do not worry. We need not call for help, and we don’t need a guide since we are nowhere near the edge of fanaticism. We have found warmth and safety within the rocks. And just remember, when Jesus said we must forsake all He was engaging in some religious hyperbole which makes for some great reading but about which no one should attempt to live.

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. Yea, right.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

The End Justifies the Means Theology

THE END JUSTIFIES THE MEANS THEOLOGY

Let us lay a foundation here before I make a case that the western church and believers en masse have followed a path of least resistance and even employed unscriptural means to achieve a desired end. First, nowhere in the New Testament does it teach that we can use any method to achieve something that we deem as right. In other words, if we see something that is wrong, or if we see something that should be changed, we do not have the liberty to engage that wrong with another wrong. In essence we must walk in the Spirit and not the flesh.

Gal.5: ¹⁶ This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

¹⁷ For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

There is no wiggle room here, and we must then assess everything through the unvarnished prism of God’s Word regardless of how absurd it seems. In fact, even when obeying God’s Word and walking in the Spirit seems like it will not accomplish what we believe needs to be done, we are still debtors to the Word and not our strategies. Sometimes this seems easy, but there are times where it requires a complete and illogical surrender to God’s Word even though our minds cannot understand how that can be effective. And in these last days those scenarios will become more and more prevalent.

But we must live upon this foundation: The end results are God’s business and not ours. That is a very difficult concept to grasp much less live. We as humans and especially in this culture of human effort and achievement are not only prone to depending completely upon our own plans and energies, but we have come to the place where we even think that is God’s will. And the real conundrum is that when we do achieve some desired results through our own schemes and power, then we learn to make them our template. And it does not take too long before we are walking in the religious flesh attempting to do good for God by the arm of the flesh.

And with so little time devoted to prayer it only adds to the necessity of operating in the flesh. We make a plan, use all kinds of worldly methods to achieve it, and then we ask God to bless it. Instead of praying and waiting on the Lord we set out on our own doing what things we think God wants. And the western church operates almost without exception within that scenario. We as westerners have been taught from birth to see something and go after it with all our might. We who were active in sports learned that principle and then we have brought it into the church.

But that principle is correct. The problem is that what we see needs to be completely through the vision if God’s Word and “going after it” requires prayer and love and humility and self denial and everything that follows and imitates Christ. You see? The principles that works in the world must never be dragged into the church. God ways are not our ways, and when we rely on our own excitement and energy and visions we quickly surrender the power of the Spirit for the power of the flesh.

The difference between the flesh and the Spirit is the difference between following Jesus and following ourselves. But make no mistake, the flesh is very crafty and can morph into all kinds of things including presenting itself as good and moral and even spiritual. But the flesh is the energy of death. And when we walk in the flesh we walk in death even though we might be saved. But the church has seen how the world operates and we have believed a lie.

We now believe things will change by the power of legislation and the democratic process and even war. And when we seek change through earthly vehicles we lend our minds and hearts to that which is perishing. And without realizing it our eyes become fixated upon the temporal and the things that are eternal become doctrinal resource material and not the exclusive power in our lives. We seek to change the culture which has never been our spiritual calling. And we think God doesn’t see what is happening or that He needs us to fix things? God forbid we walk in that delusion. By our words and actions we impugn the sovereignty of God and make the gospel of no effect. While we correctly reprove men like Joel Osteen for their worldly messages, we ourselves are caught up with politics and nationalism and all sorts of mindless conspiracy theories. The voting booths are full and the prayer closets are empty.

So let us view this through the Spirit but also in practical terms. We must start with what do our eyes see, and our ears hear, and what do our hearts desire? We are told several times to keep our eyes upon Jesus, and the moment we look at earthly issues and the constant machinations of man then we will soon be caught in its undertow. The Spirit urges and beckons and leads, while the world shouts and pushes and bullies. We must see with the eyes of faith the kingdom of God. We must look through eternity rather than the ever changing temporal issues. It is a discipline of the Spirit and it cannot be done by a partial surrender to the flesh.

Just what is the “end” for a believer? Our primary calling is twofold: To preach the gospel to every creature and to be transformed into the image of Christ. That is some heavy lifting, my dear brethren. And when you take that in thoroughly, then hopefully you can see that only spiritual ways can achieve spiritual results which please our Father. And the way of the Spirit can never include violence, greed, idolatry, self promotion, or earthly allegiances. It is a very curious thing about the life in the Spirit. The means are always in the Spirit, and the end belongs to God. And therein lies the peace which passes all understanding which keeps our hearts and minds on Christ Jesus our Lord.

Phil.4: ⁵ Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
⁸ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
⁹ Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Show Me Your Testimony

SHOW ME YOUR TESTIMONY

Rev.6: ⁹ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Rev.12: ¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Every believer should have a testimony that both reflects his original conversion as well as reflects his present conversion. When you ask a believer to share his testimony he should have shared it many, many times already. I realize that some people get converted as young children, but their testimony should reflect how that original conversion worked its way out as they grew up and how it was confirmed in later years. But when a professing believer seems uncertain about his conversion experience it can be very troubling.

Not everyone has a Damascus Road experience, but every believer should at least be well aware of when he saw the light of the gospel and his heart was transformed. We all grow in the Lord at different rates, and most of us have struggled at times, but without a testimony we seem to be just religious people. The afore mentioned Apostle Paul gladly shared his testimony before paupers and kings. Men’s arguments dissipate when a person has had a personal encounter with the Crucified and Risen Christ. I know I am saved because of God’s Word and because I was there when it happened. Yes, I have a testimony.

I have not always lived up to my testimony to say nothing of living up to my Risen Lord in all His glory, but it always nourishes my soul to relive and retell my testimony. As the song goes, “Take me back to the time where I first met you”. And even in the midst of his correction and repentance, the Patriarch David asked God to “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation”. After all the theological arguments subside, and after all the systematic theologies have been read, there is nothing that can compare with the day God’s Spirit came to live inside a lost sinner and in that moment darkness became light.

I was baptized as an infant and raised in a mainline Lutheran church where my mother was choir director and my father went on Christmas and Easter. I went to three years of catechism and was confirmed as a member as I received my first communion. Despite all the ceremony I was lost and did not have a personal knowledge of Christ. I was a disinterested high school student and although my SATs allowed me to attend college I squandered my first year and dropped out. I quickly went into alcohol, drugs, and a promiscuous lifestyle. I became involved with drug dealing as well as violence.

I was an out of control train racing toward the cliff with no thought of tomorrow. It was all a game and survival and pleasure was the goal. In my life there were arrests and police and violence and drugs sold right into the high school. I was notorious in my community and I loved it. I was planning to rob a bank and kill the guard as we went in. I stood 6 foot 5 inches with platform shoes, a 18” afro, a red dog collar with gold studs, and I was looking for trouble. It was all planned out.

But something happened in March of 1975 that changed everything.

Jesus.

I cannot show you heaven, and I cannot show you eternal life. But what I can show you is a transformed life changed completely by the power of Christ. The man I described died in 1975, and a new man was born. I am observably imperfect and I still sin. But I can stand before you and say my testimony is this. Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and to Him alone I cling. I have let Him down many times but He has always been faithful to me. I am not what I could be. I am not what I should be. But since 1975 I am not what I was.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.

That is my testimony.

The Mind of Christ - Paradise Lost?

THE MIND OF CHRIST

PARADISE LOST?

Phil.2: ³ Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

⁴ Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

When we speak about examples and templates, these verses reveal an astounding truth which is deeper than any human mind can comprehend. Just the incarnation itself is unfathomable. But to understand that God in the flesh came to die at the hands of sinful man and suffer both the indignity and the excruciation of the cross is beyond us. Yes, we can understand it theologically but we can never fully comprehend the profound nature of such a narrative. Just the fact that God is a spirit cannot be defined in human terms so how are we to come to grips with the incarnate passion?

And just when we are spellbound and overcome with unspeakable emotion concerning the sacrifice of Jesus our Lord, then we are presented with this almost insurmountable exhortation, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. What? To understand the enormity of the condescension as God became a man and died for His enemies is one challenge, but to emulate that revelation is a seemingly unachievable journey. But still that is where the Spirit is leading. And that is a place of such sacred humility that it boggles any mind that fully comprehends what is being asked of us.

This kind of humility goes way beyond allowing a person to jump ahead of you in a grocery line, or letting someone take the last piece of cake, or thanking your teammates for your award. In fact this kind of divine humility cannot even be considered among all the earthly definitions of humility. This kind of humility must be sought diligently just to grasp the principle even in part. And when you have clearly understood the enormous nature of such a quest, then the task of practical implementation presents a challenge which is uncomfortable, inconvenient, and completely at odds with what the culture demands. And the church almost completely ignores the subject, and when it does address humility the teachings are embarrassingly self serving and tepid.

But to walk in the mind of Christ, and that being translated into actions and words, is a great mystery. But even if you desire to just explore that mystery you will have to disconnect with the institutional church. Since the institutional church has lost any sense of such hallowed spiritual ground it can only hinder any genuine pursuit of living in the power of Christ’s humble love and sacrifice. Only in a spiritual environment that is free from the pressure of the accepted and the ecclesiastical norm can we seek that which has been lost and remains fully hidden by the western evangelical construct, practice, and teachings.

Imagine the sacrifice revealed when one person gives his life for another. Then imagine that person is giving his life for his enemy. But as breathtaking as that scenario is, imagine that the person giving his life is God the Creator. No human can fully grasp what that entails, however we can seek to understand. But in today’s utilitarian atmosphere the mind of Christ is defined as being pro-life, pro traditional marriage, and fiscally conservative. That not only completely misses the point, but it is an affront to what Christ sacrificed. And it dilutes and dismantles the exhortation to all who seek to follow and be like Jesus. It is like presenting a mile run and allowing a person to take two steps and declaring it a finished race.

What place would politics find in a life which walked in such humility? What place would divorce have? Where would the self esteem gospel be when presented with the mind of Christ? The prosperity gospel? If the church sought to think and live with the mind of Christ how dramatic would it change us personally and collectively? I do not speak froma perfect personal experience for if I suggested I was acquainted with such humility I would most certainly be a liar. But what I do suggest is that there is a spiritual expanse which remains untapped and which holds the precious jewels contained in the Person and Spirit of Jesus Christ.

What I am suggesting is that the very core of the Christian life has been decimated by the designs of men who have treated the church like a business. They have used it as a political and moral force rather than a threshing floor which continually sifts the believers, removing the chaff, and sending them forth as sheaves of wheat always growing and always dying. We have lost sight of what it means to follow Jesus. Our definition of following Jesus is now earthly and encumbered with all kinds of temporal cares. Instead of being living sacrifices we now are moral and political and patriotic forces with which to be reckoned. And this is a great tragedy.

Have you died? Tell me where and when you died. I do not speak of your original conversion since that took place in the Spirit, but when and where have you laid down your desires, your cravings, your opinions, your perspectives, and your very life? Jesus comes in the form of one of His enemies and dies for them as well. Can that be said of us? Did complaints come from your lips last month? How many professing believers murmured and complained and criticized during the month of March but were heard through those same lips singing praises on “Easter” morning? It most curious this thing we call “church” is it not? We can be faithful to an organization while being unfaithful to its founder.

And so it is that a beaten and bruised figure drags His own instrument of death to His own place of execution. He is bloodied beyond recognition and although already dying He is still being mocked and cursed. He has done nothing wrong and He knows it. In fact, He is going to die for the ones who now mock Him. And all the while He has it in His power to stop this madness and destroy His enemies. But He chooses to love those who hate Him.

And therein lies the exhortation and the challenge which has so easily been dismissed as it pertains to being a disciple of Jesus. We have made discipleship an aptitude test of the Christian tenants and a doctrinal SAT exam which can be passed with paper and pen. But in reality, it is not how well you can explain the incarnation and the redemptive qualities of Golgotha’s sacrifice, but how do those eternal realities find their expression through the living prism of your being. We can impute doctrinal truths into a computer and have them printed out, but we are commanded to translate those truths into words and deeds that are mirrors of divine incandescence.

And presented with that monumental but incontrovertible exhortation do we beseech our Heavenly Father day and night for His power to accomplish His will? Are we filled with the responsibility to be Jesus in this present world? Do we hunger and thirst for more revelation about what it means to be Jesus within the intersection of the spiritual and the practical? Do we hate the flesh and all its attempts to foist itself upon us? Do we reject the sound of our own voice in favor of the voice of God? If we have been called to walk with the same mind as the crucified Christ then how can we be content with being one in a long line of Sunday morning lemmings whose lives reflect the narcissism that defines the culture?

 

Can we defend our rights and defend the Constitution and still be like Jesus? Can we spew demeaning words about sinners and still be like Jesus? Can we tout our own heterosexual righteousness and still be like Jesus? Can we press our economic rights and still be like Jesus? Can we form moral cliques and still be like Jesus? Can we make fun of people and still be like Jesus? Can we allocate our allegiance on different levels and still be like Jesus? 

Can we say we believe in Jesus and not be like Jesus? Is that enough to please God? Is that enough to reach others? If you are affirmed by your local church, is that enough and does that reflect the Scriptures? Is that what your Lord and Savior is worth? What have we done to the Christian faith when almost anyone who mumbles some profession of faith is declared saved and ready for heaven? And tens of thousands of churches view baptism and tithing and church attendance as the acceptable marks of a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, but humility, to say nothing of the humility found in Philippians chapter two, is rarely even a pulpit topic much less a pew manifestation.

Yes, the church has come a long way, but we have come a long way on our own.