I am not who you think I am: A sinner's plea

Recently I have been watching a DVD series by Paul Tripp called Dangerous Calling. While it is geared for pastors, I thought it would be good for me to watch as I prepare myself for the pastorate (hopefully).  I thought this would be good for me, but I was not prepared for the havoc that it would wreak in my life. As I prepared myself to watch this I thought to myself, “This would be great to put on as a pastors conference. I could get a bunch of men from San Diego and Orange County to pool our money and bring Paul Tripp out here. There are so many people who need to hear this.” All the while, as I planned these grandiose schemes, God had a different plan in mind.

Dear friends, I am not who you think I am. Often times we (myself included) put our pastors, leaders and church officers up on a pedestal thinking they are “above the fray”. On many occasions I have caught myself thinking something like this: “This is not a sin to which my pastor can relate; he does not struggle with greed or lust or pride. He is my pastor after all.” Well I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am not who you think I am.

While I am a church officer who is called and set apart for ministry and I ought to be “above reproach” in my life and conduct, I have not made it yet. I fear that some people might look at me as I walk into Church with a smile on my face, happy to be where I can meet with God, and think I have it all together. Or they may ask me for counseling or advice on a specific problem they have been encountering, whether it is sin or an interpersonal struggle, and as they listen to me talk them through how the gospel transforms their lives, they may think that I don’t struggle with sin like they do. This is a problem because I am not who they think I am.

Who am I then? I am a sinner who is saved by grace. A sinner who must daily put off the sins of the flesh, whether it be greed, or laziness, gluttony, pride or lust. I am a man who is daily learning to live in the dual reality that sin’s power has been broken in me, but sin’s presence is still here. I am a man who is daily being conformed into the image of Christ, who daily must take hold of the truths of the gospel and go to battle with the "lusts of the flesh, desires of the eyes and pride in possession" (I John 2:16). A man who must remind myself constantly that I live under a new banner that reads, “Not Condemned”.

As I watch these DVD’s the introductory scene quotes Hebrews 3:12-13 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Now this is not a DVD for regular church members, but for pastors! So why do they use these verses? Because pastors are sinners just like the rest of us. Because pastors need to be exhorted every day; pastors need the gospel too. As Paul Tripp has said before, no one is a “grace graduate” and that is the last thing we need, a pastor who is a “grace graduate”, who no longer sees the need for grace in his life.

So in light of these truths, who am I? Who do you think I am? At our last men’s retreat Milton Vincent said these poignant words, “you already know the worst thing about me, I nailed Christ to the cross.” Because you know this about me, now I can live in freedom. I don’t have to fear for what can man do to me, who will judge God’s elect?

Who am I? I am one of the men who nailed Christ to the cross, who has been forgiven, who desperately needs to be exhorted daily, who must fight against his sin. I am a man who would say with the apostle Paul “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (I Cor. 11:1) Follow after me, but only in the ways I display Christ to you and the watching world. Do not imitate me, in my foolishness, or my sinfulness, my arrogance or my pride. Imitate me only in the ways I imitate Christ. Pray for me in the areas where I fall into sin, that I would have a life that matched my calling, for the glory of Christ. Exhort me as long as it is called today, that together we might grow into the image of Christ.

Your brother in Christ,

Joel Fitzpatrick

We are at war

Dear Friends,

The church is at war. This is no new news to you, but we still need to be reminded from time to time that this world does not want Christ to triumph. Of course this war is not one that is fought with guns and bombs (except proverbial guns of truth and bombs of God’s word), it is fought with the less tangible items like prayer, the means of grace and the truth.

Satan, although he has been defanged, still prowls about like a roaring lion seeking for someone to devour. As believers who are in Christ we do not need to fear Satan but we must be wary of his ways. I have often said that Satan does not come and knock on our door and kindly introduce himself saying, “Hi there, I am Satan and I would love to tell you some lies about God. If possible, could I dissuade you from think that God is good, or possibly can I convince you that your works save you?” No, Satan does not wave a red flag with warning bells ringing the call of heresy. He loves to deceive us, just as he did our first parents.

This week the church has lost countless people to the fight. Many have walked away being convinced that God is not true. We have felt that loss here in the PCA as a pastor has stepped down. Not over some gross sin, praise God, but because his views changed on the idea level. Over this reality my heart is greatly burdened, and my prayers go out to the man and the church he left behind. We all have stories of friends or family that have walked away from Christ, people who have listened to false teaching and followed after it abandoning the teachings of the true prophet.

This is similar to what Peter wrote about in the book we will be studying over the summer, 2 Peter. In this small letter Peter is telling the believers whom he is writing to, “Beware, Remember the truths you have been taught!” Peter is preparing these believers for when he will be gone, and he is admonishing them to be on their guard there are false teachers who would seek to deceive you. Now let me be clear, I am not saying that this former pastor or the person who walked away are false teachers. Let me restate that, they are not the false teachers that Peter is warning us about. But, I would venture to say that they listened to false teaching.

Peter lays out for us two specific tests to discern whether or not a person is a false teacher whom we ought to avoid.  First, Peter tells the people that his teaching is trustworthy because he saw these things with his own eyes. If anyone contradicts what Peter is saying happened he is not to be trusted. Second, Peter tells us that there is a qualitative difference between what a true prophet teaches and what a false prophet teaches. Namely, what true prophets of God teach comes true and therefore is trustworthy. Peter warns that those who teach these false doctrines will be judged swiftly and harshly.  

Here is where we fight the war. First, we must be students of Gods word. Through this we will be equipped to identify and avoid the false teachings that would so easily ensnare us. Second, we must be prayer warriors. We must pray for our pastors, elders and deacons that their hearts would be guarded. We must pray for Christ’s church that it might be kept pure.

Dear church of Christ, we are at war, a war that is for our souls. Would you fight? Would you fight on your brother’s behalf? Would you not rest in the fight? One thing we do know is that Christ has and will triumph. 
 

Pay Careful Attention to Yourselves and To All the Flock

This week a friend of mine left the church where he serves as pastor and resigned his membership in the PCA altogether.  He cited significant changes in his views that are quite contrary to the core of the Gospel. We were Westminster Seminary classmates and continued to spend time together at the yearly General Assembly of the PCA.  Sadly the same day I heard about this, I also learned that another friend from seminary has renounced his faith.  (Needless to say it was a difficult week). 

I’m not writing to speak about my friend who left the PCA, or his views.  Frankly there has been a lot of venom in the blogosphere aimed at him with this announcement.  Questions and discussion may be warranted since he was fairly well known in the PCA,  but harsh and cruel speech should have no place in the discussion.  He's a friend of mine and deserves to be treated with dignity.  

But I do feel compelled toward some self-examination this week.  This might seem odd at first, but when a friend and fellow pastor walks away from what I believe is biblical orthodoxy, or when someone with whom I sat in seminary classes abandons their profession of faith altogether, I can’t help but remember that I am just a man.  A weak sinner in need of grace.  

As I am thinking through this week’s sermon in our series on Ephesians, Paul’s words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 have been powerful and helpful for me this week.  Here are a few phrases from Paul’s speech that struck me, particularly in light of hearing sad and discouraging news:

“I do not count my life of any value, nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”(v. 24)

 Paul has just told them that prison and suffering is awaiting him in his ministry, but he has a proper view of himself.  Physical well-being is not important to him. All that matters is finishing the calling God had given to him.  My prayer this week has been this:  “Lord help me to finish the course you’ve laid out for me.”  None of us is beyond sin, error or rebellion (Don’t get me wrong; I do not believe a true Christian can lose their salvation.  That’s the subject of another article).  The moment I begin to “count my life of any value” or as “precious to myself,” I will be tempted to waver from the course God has laid out for me.

“Pay careful attention to yourselves…”(v. 28)

Our own souls need regular faithful tending in the Gospel.   I need to be reminded of who I am in Christ regularly.  If do not take heed to myself, how can I minister to others?  This applies not just to elders, but to everyone.  When Paul says “pay careful attention to yourself,” he is encouraging us to not neglect caring for our own spiritual health.  A steady diet of the Word, prayer, sacraments, fellowship with God’s people, singing God’s praise, etc.  are vital to keep my focus on what God has done for me in Christ.

“And to all the flock…”(v. 28) 

There is a connection Paul makes between caring for myself and caring for others as an elder. If I am drying up spiritually and not nurturing the health of my own soul through then I won’t have much to give others.   Two thoughts come to mind: First, pray for your elders in this regard, that we would be strengthened regularly in the Gospel of grace.  But also, recognize that this generally applies to all believers, not just elders.  As John Piper once said, “You cannot commend what you do not cherish.”  As the Gospel becomes more precious to us, it will spill over into our relationships and we will be able to give that Gospel to others. 

“…In which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.” (v. 28)

This verse stuns me, partly because of God’s sovereign calling upon elders to their work.  But what captures me is the last phrase: "…the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood.”  What encouragement this brings to weak sinners!  To know that we are HIS!  Bought by His blood, His church, His bride.  Because honestly, the call to care for our own souls and the call to care for the souls of others is a daunting task for which none of us are sufficient!   The command is clear: “Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock…” but the strength and security is found here:  Jesus purchased this flock.  He purchased me, with all my weakness and failure.  I am His, and He is mine, and this now frees me from the bonds of self-effort and gives me instead the power of a loving Savior who will enable me to walk the life of faith and serve in His kingdom.  As your pastor, it is reassuring to know that Jesus is the Lord of the church, and while He calls me to labor among you with all my might, the results are up to God, not me. 

“And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (v.32)

Paul knew He would probably never see the elders at Ephesus again in his lifetime.  This brought great sadness to them all, and yet Paul knew that what they really needed was not himself, but God and His grace.  Paul seems to be saying this:  “I cannot be with you any longer, but what you really need is God and His Word of grace.  That’s your greatest need.”  God himself was the one who would continue the work in their hearts.  He is the one who will bring them home to their inheritance one day.  How?  By the Word of His grace.  When Paul couldn’t be there, God would be, giving them the Word of grace that is able to build them up.  There is a great certainty provided for us here.  God’s grace poured out is the hope for our spiritual strengthening.   Paul “commended” them to God and to that certain hope.  The word means to give over or to entrust someone to another’s care.  Paul had an unshakeable confidence in God’s ability to care for His church. 

Now don’t get the wrong idea: I don’t have any plans to go anywhere!  And yet what we all need is no different.  We need God and His word of grace to fill us and sanctify us.    As the church that Jesus bought with His own blood we are also given a certain present path (that His grace can build us up) and a certain future – an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.  

Lord willing, I will stay the course, feast on the Gospel, give it away to you as much as I am able, finish the race and minister with you until I have no strength left in me or God calls me home.  And yet, even now while I am still with you, I commend you to the Word of His grace.  May the Lord who bought our souls continue to build us up in spiritual strength.

In need of grace,

Pastor David

What is Discipleship? - Who is to disciple? (Part 3)

          Over the last few months as I have been thinking about the call by Christ to believers to follow after Him and to make disciples a nagging questions has kept coming up in my mind. Who should disciple others?

Often times as I have encouraged others to take on the mantle of discipleship I have heard the objection, "I am not spiritually mature enough to disciple someone else." While it may be true, you may have some work to do on spiritual maturity, does this give you a free pass on discipling someone else? Another common objection goes something like this, "I am not called to disciple other believers, that is for people who are outgoing and are gifted in that area." While it may be true, you don't have the interpersonal skills to start up a friendship from scratch and begin discipling another person, but does God list "outgoing person" as one of the qualities to look for in a person who disciples others? A final objection that I would like to address is the one that goes like this, "I would love to disciple someone but I have no clue where to start." The good news is that you don't have to develop some huge program, keep reading and hopefully you will see what I mean.

It is my contention that, all believers are called to disciple other believers; but not all are ready. I know that this is a bold statement, but my hope is to challenge you to evaluate who you can share your life with with the purpose of growing in Christlikeness.

All Believers are Called

In the past we have looked at Matthew 28 and asked who is to be a disciple? Now, I would like to take a second look at that passage of scripture and ask the question “Who is to disciple others?” 

Matt. 28:18–20 says, 'And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."' (ESV used for all quotes)

At this point in His ministry Christ is giving his final charge to his disciples saying this is how you are to spread the good news of the gospel. It is interesting that what we would usually see as commands in this saying of Christ are really verbal nouns. The only imperative in this passage is Make Disciples. Does that strike you as odd? The call is not necessarily to Go, or to Baptize, or even to Teach/Equip but to make disciples. In his book The complete book of discipleship Bill Hull said this, “A commitment to be and make disciples must be the central act of ever disciple and every church.”[1]

         As followers of Christ we now are called to this very same work, make disciples. There are many different ways to do so including, encouraging others to sit under the preached word and partake of the sacraments or reading the Bible or a good book with someone else. There are many contexts: at home with your spouse or children, with a good friend or with someone you want to know better. But, the call is clear to the church Make Disciples by being people who go and evangelize, baptize, and teach people all that Christ has commanded.

        

         With this in mind, we need to now turn to the question of readiness. All are called, but not all are ready.

        

Not all are ready

            If all people are called to make disciples does this mean that all people, from the newest of Christians to the oldest saints in the faith are prepared and posses the characteristics of a person to follow? Well, no. So what are the qualities of someone who ought to disciple others?

         I hesitate in writing about qualifications or qualities that a person needs to posses to do something in the church that the Bible does not explicitly lay out. The reason for this is that there is no special class of Christian (i.e. those who are holy) versus the rest of us (i.e. those who struggle with sin). The gospel levels the play ground, it says that we are all in need of salvation from someone outside of us. There is no distinction, no super class of Christian all are in need of Christ. So, the first quality of a person who can disciple others is a strong understanding of the gospel.

         A person who is to teach and lead another in what Christ taught and how Christ lived must have a firm grasp of the gospel, the good news that Christ brought us. The gospels importance in discipleship provides the grounds of grace by which one can speak truth into someone else’s life. This is the center of our religion, the person and work of Christ. We preach (and disciple) Christ and Him crucified. We don’t give people our own wisdom, but God’s, we don’t give them a list of things to do, but a relationship to be lived out.

        

         Secondarily, a person who disciples others must be humble. Understanding that we have nothing to give others but Christ, gives the one doing discipleship a humble perspective on life. I heard Kevin DeYoung say something profound along these lines. He said that the most important thing for the counselor or discipelor to confess is what John the Baptist confessed in John 1:20 ‘He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”’ When we take ourselves out of the position of the Savior we put ourselves in our place and put Christ in the place of supremecy that he belongs in.

         Thirdly, the one who leads others must be faithful, trustworthy, respectable, self-controlled and not a new believer. Does this sound familiar? The one who disciples ought to display some of the same traits of a church officer as they are laid out in I Timothy 3. But as I say that, not all who disciple need to be church officers. This common mistake, that only church officers or leaders can disciple, is flatly false and must be avoided. All Christians can, should and do disciple it is just a matter of whether they are intentional and biblical or confused and worldly. 

         These are but a few of the things that ought to mark our lives as believers in Christ. But not all of us have lives that are marked by these characteristics, so what are we to do? First, rest in the gospel truth of what is true about you. Where you failed Christ suceeded. Where you disobeyed Christ obeyed. Where your character falls short, Christ's abounds. Now that you are united to Christ, His righteousness is now yours and your failures and shortcomings were taken by Him and nailed to the cross. Second, through prayer cling to cross and find forgiveness for sin and ask for the discipline to live in the power of the Spirit. Third, find someone to help you grasp these realities and grow into the image of the firstborn. Fourth, start to practice on your family and in your discipleship of your family see that you are fulfilling Christ's call to make disciples.

         Praise God that he uses clay pots to pour out his grace on others!

---

[1] Bill Hull, The complete book of discipleship (Colorado Springs, NavPress, 2006) 26

The Rare Jewel of Contentment

 I don’t know about you, but I need the tenth commandment.  One of my tendencies is toward materialism, so I need to guard against the abundance of possessions (Luke 12:15).  The command not to covet is so entirely against the norms that we see around us every day.  Just take a drive up and down the streets of San Diego, and what do you see?  You see the endless temples to the goddess of our American culture: the strip mall.  Or worse, the mecca where all must pilgrimage at least once per Christmas season – the UTC Mall.  If that’s not enough of a fix, the Mission Valley Mall – or even the Parthenon of shopping, Horton Plaza beckons us.  Inside these temples you find the shrine for our idol of choice - The god called “Gimme.”

In an article for Christianity today titled “Trapped in the Cult of the Next Thing,” Mark Buchanan puts it this way:

 I belong to the Cult of the Next Thing. It's dangerously easy to get enlisted. It happens by default—not by choosing the cult, but by failing to resist it. The Cult of the Next Thing is consumerism cast in religious terms. It has its own litany of sacred words: more, you deserve it, new, faster, cleaner, brighter. It has its own deep-rooted liturgy: charge it, instant credit, no down-payment, deferred payment, no interest for three months. It has its own preachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles: ad men, pitchmen, celebrity sponsors. It has, of course, its own shrines, chapels, temples, meccas: malls, superstores, club warehouses. It has its own sacraments: credit and debit cards. It has its own ecstatic experiences: the spending spree. The Cult of the Next Thing's central message proclaims, "Crave and spend, for the Kingdom of Stuff is here." 

The tenth commandment cuts at San Diego (and all American) culture like no other:

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” (Exodus 20:17)

Our culture feeds on the religion of the next thing. Only in America is something two years old considered a relic.  We are tempted to sinfully desire that which we do not possess on a daily basis in this country, and in the face of this God speaks to us a simple and clear message:  do not covet.  We are naturally beings who desire.  To want something is not wrong in itself, but the danger is found when our desires rule over us and we want that which God has not given to us.  Because of our coveting spirit, we would be hopelessly lost if not for the saving blood of Jesus.  As we’ll see in this command, the antidote is found in fostering deep and true contentment in the sufficiency of Christ.  Over the next couple of Lord’s Days in the preaching of God’s Word we will discuss the way to find true contentment in this life.  Contentment is the calling of every Christian, though it is a mystery because it goes against the grain of our culture and our flesh.  To find true contentment is a “rare jewel.”  The struggle is that we confuse our “wants” with our ONE great need.  The puritan preacher and pastor Jeremiah Burroughs in his book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment speaks of the difference that occurs when conversion takes place in a person:

Before, the soul sought after this and that, but now it says, I see that it is not necessary for me to be rich, but it is necessary for me to make my peace with God; it s not necessary that I should live a pleasurable life in this world, but it is absolutely necessary that I should have pardon of my sin; it is not necessary that I should have honor and preferment, but it is necessary that I should have God as my portion, and have my part in Jesus Christ, it is necessary that my soul should be saved in the day of Jesus Christ. The other things are pretty fine indeed, and I should be glad if God would give me them, a fine house, and income, and clothes, and advancement for my wife and children: these are comfortable things, but they are not the necessary things; I may have these and yet perish for ever, but the other is absolutely necessary. No matter how poor I am, I may have what is absolutely necessary: thus Christ instructs the soul.

This reflects what Jesus said to the rich man who wanted to inherit eternal life, and thought he was justified before God because of his law-keeping:

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. (Mark 10:21-22)

Is it wrong to have possessions, even wealth?  NO!  This is not the point.  Jesus wasn’t condemning him for being wealthy, but rather He went to his heart sin: the man coveted his wealth, and was faced with the great question – what is my TRUE need?  Do I need more and more to be content in this life, or am I content in Christ alone, where my only hope is found?  When we zealously seek the overwhelming riches of God’s mercy given to us at the cross, then the things of this world lose their luster: 

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

As we probe the intricacies of the tenth commandment in the coming weeks, let’s pray that God would show us the way of contentment in Christ alone.

Seeking our true treasure,

Pastor David