Increasing numbers of Christian women are struggling with what everyone assumed was just a problem for men: internet pornography. One recent study showed that more than 20% of church-attending women are addicted. Here’s how one young woman fell into the trap, and how God helped her escape.
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Peter says we are all called to full-time ministry as priests who proclaim the excellencies of God (1 Peter 2:9), but some of us are called to vocational ministry as pastor-elders who labor in preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17).
If you wonder whether that might be you, David Murray offers six questions to ask yourself:
You can read much more explanation behind each question here.
In an astoundingly broad statement, Peter says we need to “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” (1 Peter 2:13). Seriously, Peter? There’s a lot of human institutions out there! We need to submit ourselves to them all?
Yes. Be subject to…
And not because you owe these people anything.
Peter says, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake.” Not for the government’s sake. Not for your boss’ sake. Not even for your conscience’s sake. For the Lord’s sake. We don’t owe our allegiance to the President, or to our parents, or to the loan company. We owe our allegiance to the Lord first, and second to the human institutions that are under the Lord.
I haven’t really followed baseball since I was playing Little League, but the drama of Armando Galarraga’s almost-perfect game this week caught my attention again. What a great reminder of how elusive perfection is.
Is there any other game besides baseball that throws a running tally of its players’ errors on the Jumbotron for everyone to see and remember? And this week we were reminded that even the imperfections of the umpires are part of the game. With no instant replay to consult, officials’ mistakes are permanently etched into history. They can’t be undone – even the commissioner can’t erase them.
Paul says that what’s true in baseball is true in life:
None is righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10)
Which is why it’s so astounding that God chooses to save imperfect people like Jim Joyce, Armando Galarraga, and us:
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:28-31)
Paul Tripp’s new book on marriage, What Did You Expect? looks very promising. In this review of the book, Oren Martin sums up Tripp’s main point:
Tripp identifies a central theme in marital problems: unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations lead to disappointments and a variety of sinful responses. But there is hope. God has given his people Scripture to help in their marriages, not only in the “standard” marriage passages, but in the storyline of Scripture. In other words, marriage is situated within the story of creation, fall, redemption, and new creation, and the already-not yet, so that when testing comes the God who is present is faithful, powerful, and willing to help us in need.
This God-centered and God-directed hope allows us to worship him (vertical) and build marriages of love, unity, and understanding (horizontal) so that we, as sinners married to sinners, can live for his kingdom and not our own in the foundation-building everyday moments of life. In order to take this “little-moment” approach to marriage, we must live in our marriages with a harvest, investment, and grace mentality. With this in mind, Tripp offers six daily commitments that become daily habits for the kind of marriage that God’s design intended, and his grace can make possible.
First, we will give ourselves to a regular lifestyle of confession and forgiveness (chapters 5-6). Marriages will not be changed without confession, and rather than viewing confession as a burdensome act, Tripp helpfully offers a biblical perspective on the grace of confession. It is a grace to know right from wrong, to see and understand ourselves with accuracy and our indwelling sin, to humbly receive criticism and rebuke, and, most of all, to know that we can face our wrongs because Christ has carried our guilt and shame. Therefore, we must build confession and forgiveness into our marriages through honesty, humility, compassion, acceptance, encouragement, patience, and perseverance, knowing that our faith is in Christ and his perfectly obedient life, sacrificial, sin-bearing, wrath-satisfying death, and hope-giving resurrection. It is only by remembering that we have been graciously forgiven by God that this kind of confessing and forgiving marriage will come.
Read a summary of the other five daily commitments here.
I get emails all the time from Christian organizations who want to frighten me into believing that Christianity will collapse at any moment unless I take action right now (usually by sending money to their organization). Here’s one I received recently:
Do you think it’s right for liberals running the government to …
- Force a Christian bookstore to hire a man . . . who dresses in women’s clothing?
- Force your child’s religious school to hire homosexual instructors?
- Force your employer to fire or censure you for what they call “anti-gay harassment” . . . for simply keeping a Bible on your desk?
That’s the nightmare you could face if the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Congress passes the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
And that’s why it must be exposed.
Really? A nightmare? Let’s take a breath for a minute, and get some perspective on what a real live nightmare looks like. Here’s how Tacitus described life for Christians in the Roman Empire under Emperor Nero:
First those were seized who admitted their faith, and then, using the information they provided, a vast multitude were convicted. And perishing they were additionally made into sports: they were killed by dogs by having the hides of beasts attached to them, or they were nailed to crosses or set aflame, and, when the daylight passed away, they were used as nighttime lamps.
Nero gave his own gardens for this spectacle and performed a Circus game, in the habit of a charioteer mixing with the plebs or driving about the race-course.
We live in a post-Christian culture, and we shouldn’t be surprised when the world around us doesn’t like us or the things we stand for:
If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. (John 15:19-20)
We need to be actively engaged in the world, bringing salt and light to a very dark place. But we don’t need to live in constant fear of looming nightmares that might come if we allow vast anti-Christian conspiracies to get their way:
Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy.
Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary. (Isaiah 8:12-14)
Jesus said in Luke 7:31-32:
“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’
Jared Wilson comments with this:
When someone in our culture is having a rough time, they tell us online. When they are serving others, they tell us online. And when they are serving others despite having a rough time, they tell us online. There is almost no thought, feeling, inclination, impulse, or attitude we don’t share with everyone who will listen.
On the one hand, such transparency can be very valuable. It certainly is more honest than holding everything in or acting like we’re fine when we’re not. On the other hand, though, there is a fine line between transparency and vanity. Authenticity is great. Except when it’s not.
I think my generation has spun the older Me Generation into a sort of “Look at Me” Generation, and now of course the generations after Gen-X are progressively perfecting “Look at me!” into a science. Or an art. I’m not sure why we seem constantly puzzled that someone like Paris Hilton or Spencer and Heidi can be famous for doing nothing when nearly everyone these days thinks everything they do is something, something worthy of comment or props or Likes.
His point is not that we should stop blogging, facebooking, and tweeting. It’s that we should examine our motives for doing so.
Are you posting status updates to call attention to yourself, or are you doing it in order to “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9)?
Psalm 8:5 says God made man “a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Here’s one example of that kind of glory: a guy who can clap fourteen times per second. And if that’s not enough, here are 9 more people doing amazing things.
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John Piper says this:
Your meaning on earth is that God might be known in you and through you. The meaning of small-groups is for people to get together and say how much they need God, and for somebody else to say how much God is adequate for that need. (from Christian Identity and Christian Destiny)
So how does that work? Colin Marshall and Tony Payne explain:
In chapter 5 of Ephesians, when Paul exhorts them to “be filled with the Spirit” rather than with wine, the result will be that they speak to one another “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” as opposed to the kind of speech and singing that tends to follow from too much wine. The work of the indwelling Spirit will lead the Ephesians in spiritual speech to one another, in this case via singing. …
A related point comes out in Colossians 3: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col 3:16). This time it’s the word of Christ that is dwelling in their midst, rather than the Spirit, but the result is the same – which shouldn’t surprise us!
What ensues is godly encouraging speech to one another, in this case teaching and admonishing. Whether the singing is how the teaching takes place, or another result of having the word dwell richly, is hard to say grammatically. It makes very little difference. The point is that all the Colossians are to teach and admonish one another. (from The Trellis and the Vine)
Are you teaching and admonishing fellow believers by helping them see how God is adequate for every messy problem in their life? This can happen to a limited degree on a Sunday morning. It can happen to a much greater degree over dinner or a cup of coffee. But it happens most regularly in a living room where Christians gather for the express purpose of teaching and admonishing each other with the word of Christ.
That’s what community groups are for.
According to Paul, we have a duty to defer to the weak. Why? They’re right, even though they’re wrong!
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. (v. 13-14)
He’s saying that Jesus has made all things clean and good, but until he brings a new Christian to that realization, there are things like alcohol that will still be unclean to them because of the association these things still have in their minds to their formerly sinful lifestyles.
In that case, our love will outweigh our liberty. Good liberty can become bad when it’s flaunted and hurts the weak. That’s why Paul says this:
If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. (v. 15)
It is possible to destroy a new believer through the unloving liberty we unthinkingly pursue. That’s Paul’s theme for the next few verses:
- The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (v. 17)
- Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. (v. 19)
- Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. (v. 20)
- It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. (v. 21)
He’s simply asking us to keep things in perspective! The kingdom of God is infinitely more important than food and drink. In eternal terms, how important is it that you drink a glass of wine just because you can? How much more important is fostering righteousness, peace, and joy?
When Paul talks about the “work of God” in verse 20, he’s probably referring to the church. Are you really ready to destroy the precious fellowship of the family of God… just for a beer? No? Then Paul has a very practical suggestion:
The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. (v. 22)
He’s saying that there’s a difference between private and public behavior. If you don’t want to be judged for what you approve by others who don’t, then don’t go around church loudly proclaiming your love for PF Chang’s Peach Mojitos. Don’t bring a case of Heineken to the church potluck.
But say you’ve taken pains to avoid drinking in front of others (or advertising your views to others) who might be hurt by it. A Christian who doesn’t drink hears that you do. He confronts you on it, saying that no Christian should drink alcohol. Then, Paul says that everything changes:
Do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. (v. 16)
D.A. Carson echoes this thought in The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World:
If I’m called to preach the gospel among a lot of people who are cultural teetotallers, I’ll give up alcohol for the sake of the gospel. But if they start saying, “You cannot be a Christian and drink alcohol,” I’ll reply, “Pass the port” or “I’ll think I’ll have a glass of Beaujolais with my meal.” (via)
Paul’s overall point? Your conscience is a sacred thing, given to you by God. God is conforming each one of us to the image of Christ, and we are all at different points in a process that looks radically different for different people. As Paul says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind” (v. 5).
But our own convictions on things that are not explicitly condemned in the Bible can never be imposed on others. Out of love, “let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” (v. 19).
In Christ, we are free to enjoy all of God’s good gifts. But our thirst to express freedom can sometimes eclipse our love for other people, especially those who are net yet so free. Paul talks about this tension in two major passages.
We Are Free Slaves
To the Corinthians who flaunted their freedom, Paul said this:
Though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant [literally "slave"] to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.(1 Cor. 9:19-22).
When he refers to “the weak,” Paul is talking about new believers, or people who are on the verge of becoming believers. They usually still have a weak conscience. To them, everything is good or evil, black or white, and there’s no room for gray.
Maybe they were alcoholics for 30 years, and then they met Jesus, and they stopped drinking altogether. They’re still in a fragile position, so if you bring a 6-pack over to their house, it’s not going to end well! They could fall back into their addiction, and give up all the progress they made when they were first starting to get to know Jesus.
You might say, “Yes, but I’m free! I should be able to drink whatever I want, as long as I’m not getting drunk on it.” And you’re right. You’re absolutely free. But if you want to be like Paul, you need to make yourself a slave to other people (“I have made myself a slave to all”), and that means giving up your freedom.
And it goes further than mere enjoyment of alcohol. If you make yourself a slave to other people, that means giving up your freedom to live a comfortable and convenient life, watching TV on the sofa every night and having your weekend to yourself, because you’ll be giving up your time to spend it on other people. It means giving up your freedom to spend all your money on yourself, because you’ll be using it to help other people.
Legalistically Anti-Legalistic?
In Romans 14, Paul again tackles the issue of weaker people:
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. (Rom. 14:1)
Paul is writing to people who are so enamored with their freedom that they have become legalistic in their anti-legalism, and look down on people with weak consciences who have strict rules about what they will eat and drink. In the following verses he gives us five reasons why we should welcome and love the weak:
1. God has accepted them.
One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. (v. 2-3)
Some Christians look down on “uptight legalists” who abstain from certain food and drink, and others look down on “liberal backsliders” who partake of all things without a second thought, but God has accepted both.
2. They’re Christ’s servants, not yours.
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (v. 4)
Could it be that Christ is commanding others to a different standard of morality in an area like alcohol consumption than he is commanding you? How can you be sure that your own relationship with your master is exactly what every other servant of Christ should also experience?
3. They have the same goal as you.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.(v. 5-6)
Other Christians usually aren’t mindless in their convictions on alcohol, they’re fully convinced. And you both have the same goal of honoring the Lord in all you do, you just think there are different ways to do it.
4. They’re your brothers and sisters.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? (v. 10)
Think of your own family relationships. You fight, bicker, and argue, but then eventually you come back together. You normally don’t just write each other off. These are your spiritual brothers and sisters, and you should have the same attitude as you wrestle over issues like this, rather than immediately writing off those who think differently than you.
5. We’ll all be judged by God.
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” (v. 10-12)
God is the final judge, so we must show love to those who have different ideas of right and wrong on topics like alcohol. So how does this work out in our everyday relationships? We’ll explore that question in the next post.
Alcohol is a gift from God, given to “gladden the hearts of men” (Psalm 1o4:14). But since we are fallen creatures, we have a tendency to turn the good gifts of God into perverted idols.
About Idols
Sex is a gift from God, but it can be turned into an idol marked by lust and power.
Money is a gift from God, but it can be turned into an idol marked by greed and pride.
Alcohol is a gift from God, but it can be turned into an idol marked by drunkenness.
That’s why Paul says in Romans 13:
The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Some Christians might need to abstain completely from alcohol in order to make sure they don’t walk in the darkness, and instead put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Putting on Christ means putting on his hope, as Peter reminds us: “Being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). We can either look to God’s grace for our hope, or we can look to other idols to provide it.
Where Is Your Hope?
Drunkenness is only for people who have no hope. They have no hope that life will get better, so they need a substance to make life seem better. Or they have no hope that their personality will be enough to make people like them, so they need a chemical boost to get them through a social gathering.
There are some Christians who would never think of getting fall-down drunk, but they really love the low-level buzz of alcohol, and they depend on it to get them through the week.
That’s why Paul needs to warn us against depending on substances instead of the Spirit: “Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). In response to the Corinthians’ flaunting of their newfound liberty in Christ through wine-soaked parties held at church, Paul writes, “All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything.” (1 Cor 6:12).
He warns them against even associating with others who call themselves Christians but are enslaved by alcohol: “I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.” (1 Cor. 5:11).
The possibility for sin doesn’t equal sin
Christians who are ruled by their desires rather than the Spirit are a danger to the body of Christ, that’s clear enough. But in this list, Paul makes some important connections. Drunkenness, sexual immorality, and greed are perversions of good things God has given us. But we would never tell a married couple they should stop having sex just because it’s possible for sex to be corrupted. We would never tell a Christian businessman that he shouldn’t make money just because it’s possible for money to lead to greed.
So how can we take that approach with alcohol alone, just because it’s possible for people to abuse it?
We are free to enjoy God’s good gifts as long as we are able to glorify God rather than worshiping the gift. But still, we need to be sensitive around people who don’t yet have that ability. That’s what we’ll explore in the next post.
