A Visible and Ever Present Reminder

Today's post is more personal. It's not about the intricacies of proper theological nuances. It's a post about the most visible and ever present reminder of God's goodness to me in this life. This is a post about my wife, Tricia, to whom I have been married for twenty-three years. I chose this time to write about her in particular because her birthday is on Valentine's Day.

As I reflect on the gift God has given me in my wife, I can say without hesitation that one thing I am thankful to see in her is a desire to love and serve the Lord and rest upon Him in all she does. Let me illustrate it this way using a familiar Old Testament story. When Moses would come before the Lord and then returned to the people, his face shone with a reflection of the glory of the Lord. Perhaps you know of people in your life who you could just tell from the countenance of his or her face that this person clearly was one who frequently sought to be in the Lord's presence; their face had a certain "glow" about it that is hard to describe. This is what I see with great frequency on my wife's countenance.... a face that has been with her "Father who is in secret" (Matt. 6:6). Such a countenance inevitably spills over in blessed ways to the rest of our home as well as the various places where we have served.

This naturally leads to her servant heart. Tricia has such a willingness to serve in whatever situation in which we find ourselves. Whenever she sees something that needs to be done, she does it. Willingly and wholeheartedly. There have been numerous times when she simply and willingly helped without being asked - even with the more mundane tasks for events at our Church or at the Seminary where I attended. So much of the service in which she engages is behind the scenes, frequently out of the sight of everyone else. Why? I'll answer it rather simply: she loves God's people. She wants to bless her brothers and sisters in Christ in whatever ways she can. As a result, she tends to avoid the spotlight and does not like undue attention brought to her.

Since she loves her brothers and sisters in Christ, she looks for various ways to uplift and encourage them in the various circumstances they might find themselves. This is part of the reason she started her blog in order to give hints, advice, examples, etc., about hospitality and homemaking. As she posts there on various topics, she seeks to ground the specifics upon the general biblical principles that are timeless. I have been thankful to see the positive response from many of her friends and even friends of friends - thankful that she has been a blessing and a help for so many and for so long.

Now imagine what it would do to someone like my wife who loves to serve and help people to be told by someone else (with status & position) that "you think you can help people, but you can't." Well, sadly that happened to her about seven years ago in a somewhat public setting. This and many other hurtful things were said to and about her; it crushed her spirit. For years, I have been tenderly trying to help her overcome those false and hurtful words. And yet she still served others and still loved others. At one point when we had been in South Carolina only a short time and I had just started seminary, she said to me that she was afraid to get her feet wet in the pool again (metaphor for serving) as she might get hurt again. I responded to her that she was already more than waist deep! Despite the pain, despite her crushed spirit, she was still serving and loving others. Her inner strength and resolve is a lot stronger than she admits..... all on account of God's sustaining and sanctifying work in her life.

It is in our home where she shines and I cannot state enough that I am a blessed man. She strives to make our home a peaceful place for our whole family. The two of us are teaching our children to love and serve others and to love Christ's church. This home is a haven and that is due in no small part to Tricia's hard work and love for all of us. In one sense, I am somewhat selfishly glad that I do not have a study in a church building - my study is at home and I really like it that way!

I truly am blessed to have Tricia as my wife. She takes her role as a wife seriously and endeavors to conform to the biblical role set forth in Scripture. She is a far better wife than I deserve and to be honest, I have not always treated her as the fine china that she is, the wonderful gift that she is. She loves me despite myself. The Lord has used her as an instrument in my own sanctification as she prays for me, challenges me to be Christ-like, encourages me, and supports me in my ministry. My friends, behind every good man is a great wife, so be thankful for your wife and continue to nurture her, be tender and meek toward her, and love her as Christ loved the church.

Effectual Preaching

Recently, I began doing something my grandfather used to do (at least that's what I've been told), namely old-school wet shaving. For many, many years I hated shaving. I used goos and gels compressed in a can along with some brand-name cartridge razor having a manly action-packed name. I would usually irritate my skin as much as those razor commercials would irritate my ears. The irritation would be enough that I would let it go a couple of days. However, I have discovered for myself this old-school way of shaving. I now have a cheap but decent shaving brush, shaving soap (really!), a safety razor, and a variety of double-edge razor blades. Now I actually like shaving and even look forward to it! There is something nostalgic about this method, to be sure. However, one of the things about shaving old-school like this is that it forces me to slow down, relax, and pay close attention to what I'm doing through the whole process - and yes, it is a process. I had to learn how to do it effectively and it took some time to learn the technique.

Churches today need to go old-school. Why do I say that? Every once in a while, I will peruse the website of a random church and see where their emphasis is. I will see things such as their music ministry, their small groups, the youth program, men's group, women's group, and on and on and on and on. It is becoming less and less frequent to find a Church that emphasizes the preaching of God's Word. That really saddens me and it ought to sadden all of us. To be fair, it simply may be that there is good preaching at a particular Church, but the website does not highlight its preaching for some reason. Unfortunately, the sad trend has preaching taking a back seat in far too many Churches today in order to attract "seekers" in all kinds of different demographics - including cowboys. There may be a message of some kind, but frequently it amounts to little more than a pep talk or some kind of name it & claim it diatribe.  Preaching today is considered old-school and no longer effective in today's day and age. After all, why emphasize preaching when we have these nice plush movie-theater seats with cup holders for the pumkin-spiced latte you can get in the lobby - well we have to put it somewhere while we're clapping/dancing/swaying/raising our hands while the band worship team is rockin' the house leading us. Preaching is just old-school. Preaching is not as effective or as flashy or as exciting as the dry ice effects and purple laser lights coming from the stage.

My friends, it's time to go old-school and return to what the Reformers, the Apostles, and even Jesus emphasized in their respective ministries - the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Part of preaching's decline may simply be a gradual result of not knowing what preaching really is. What then is preaching? This is not going to be anywhere near an exhaustive discussion as I seek to answer that question.

Let me start by describing what preaching is not. First of all, preaching is not the same as evangelizing. It is true that every sermon ought to have something evangelistic, something that challenges unbelievers to repent and believe the Gospel.... preaching is not merely evangelism. It is much more. All of us can engage in evangelism, but not all of us can engage in preaching. More on that point later.

Second, preaching is not the same as teaching. As with evangelism, there ought to be teaching and instruction found in a sermon. However, preaching is not merely giving didactic instruction or giving facts and information about a particular text of Scripture. Preachers do more than merely teach facts. Certainly many can do that kind of teaching with great results, e.g., Priscilla and Aquila had to instruct Apollos in Acts 18, but only a relative few are called to be preachers.

Here is a helpful and succinct explanation of what preaching is and what it involves. Preaching is the authoritative, public, and verbal proclamation of God's Word by one lawfully appointed and ordained for that task.  Let me expound (pun intended) on some of this.

Preaching is authoritative because it is proclaiming God's Word which is itself absolutely authoritative. When preaching is taking place, there must be a "thus sayeth the Lord" sense to what is being proclaimed. A word of warning to my fellow preachers: preaching must be ministerial and declarative, i.e., it must come from God's word. Preaching is never magisterial..... ever! In fact, preaching is only authoritative insofar as it agrees with God's Word and when the preacher's message is consonant with God's Word he is God's herald and mouthpiece, i.e., you are hearing God's Word preached to you.

A preacher must be a man (not generic here! God's Word is abundantly clear on the matter) who is lawfully appointed. Jesus came to preach (cf., Mark 1:38). He was sent by His Father in heaven. The Apostles were sent to preach by Christ (cf., Mark 16:15. The word there is "preach"). The Apostles and the Church in turn sent men (once again, not generic here!) to preach. Notice the urgency in Paul's words to Timothy after just describing why Scripture is so important and useful. "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word...." (2 Timothy 4:1-2a, ESV). Paul is emphatically urging Timothy to preach. Why this urgency? Paul's words elsewhere tell us why: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'" (Romans 10:14-15). It is the Church that ordains men to preach God's Word to His people. It is the Church that sends these men to preach the Word to the ends of the earth. God did not send tracts and books, He sent men! As one theologian noted, preaching is truth mediated through personality.

The Westminster Divines also saw the urgency in preaching. "The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation" (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 89, emphasis added).

Who may preach? Are we not all to preach the gospel and make disciples? The answer is no. The keys of the kingdom belong first to the Apostles and then by implication to the elders of the Church. It is certainly true that all of us can share the gospel with others and all of us can testify to God's grace in our lives. Preaching, however, is a unique task authorized and appointed by God through the Church. One cannot claim to be a preacher and send himself. The Bible gives us a couple of examples of those who took it upon themselves to preach/proclaim in direct disobedience to Christ. For example, the leper healed by Christ disobeyed Him and began to preach (as the Greek has it) resulting in Christ not being able to enter the city (see Mark 1:40-47). Do not think that because you feel a need to preach that you are therefore called to preach. Has the Church called you or sent you? Remember that there is no shame in not being called or sent by the Church.

To you men who are preachers, you must direct your preaching to the mind, heart, and will of the people under your pastoral care. Preaching must contain the truth of God's Word in an understandable form; preaching must stir the emotions and cut to the heart so that the hearer is moved to hate his sin and yearn for Christ; preaching must direct the will toward repentance and faith in Jesus bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This requires preaching sound doctrine in a plain, understandable way. It requires you to be zealous for God and His truth. At the same time it requires you love the sheep to whom you minister. Since such a task is daunting and monumental, you must be a man of prayer as you seek the ongoing guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit as you open up the mysteries contained in God's Word; you cannot do it effectively without Him.

To my friends who are not preachers, what does all this mean for you? Firstly,  you need to sit under the preached Word. That ought to be obvious, but sadly it no longer is. If there is such an urgency for preaching in the mind of Christ and the minds of the Apostles, then you ought to have a sense of urgency for your need to sit under the preached Word. Secondly, pray daily for your pastor that he may preach God's Word with love and boldness, fervency and compassion; instead of wishing that your pastor preached like "that guy," pray for the pastor you have and pray that the Lord would watch over him so that he might preach faithfully. Thirdly, in love and in support of your pastor, expect good preaching from him. We live in a day and age where expectations for preaching are really low, and those expectations are sadly met. Be very careful here; before you go to your pastor and criticize his preaching in front of his wife and kids, remember the previous point about praying. For the problem may not be with his preaching, but your posture as he preaches. Once again, the Westminster Divines have this to say in the Larger Catechism: "Q. 160. What is required of those that hear the word preached? A. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the Scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives." So before you feel the need to go and approach your pastor and criticize his preaching, examine your own heart to see if you do these things.

Preaching may seem passé and old-fashioned to you. Nevertheless, the preaching of God's Word in the Spirit is powerful and accomplishes all that God wills. It is through the foolishness of preaching (cf., 1 Corinthians 1:21) that God advances His kingdom, wins souls to Christ, sanctifies His children, and builds His Church. May God continue to raise up men to preach His Word and may He grant that preaching reclaim its central role in the life of His Church.

Depictions of Jesus

I am a very left-brained person, which explains in part why I was a mathematics teacher and found the subject to be pretty easy to understand. On the other hand, the right side of my brain gets a pulse only once in a great while, so I usually miss a lot of "artistic" things that others who are more right-brained see. While this is true, I do not see any legitimate reason for a Christian to have or make pictures, paintings, or other artistic depictions of Jesus. The basis for this is, of course, the second commandment and the traditional Reformed application of the second commandment in the life of the Christian rather than any lack of life from the right side of my brain. While this is by no means exhaustive or comprehensive, here are some of the objections to the more conservative interpretation of the second commandment and answers to these objections.

Objection #1: The second commandment is really only forbidding the worship of such things. It is true that the second commandment does forbid the worship of graven images and the like. However, notice the way in which the Westminster Larger Catechism interprets the things forbidden in the second commandment: "The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself; the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever; all worshiping of it, or God in it or by it...." (Q. 109). Notice that for the Westminster Divines it is not either/or, but both/and. Both the worship of images and the making of such images are forbidden. This is how the second commandment itself is worded: "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:4-5a). Clearly the Westminster Divines were right - both are forbidden. Thus it is more than merely not worshiping the images, but the making of such images as well.

Objection #2: Such things were a part of the temple worship such as the cherubim on the ark. There are two fundamental problems with this objection. First of all, the objects used in the temple and the ark were made under God's direct command and instruction. Second, to my knowledge none of the objects were depictions of any Person of the Godhead. For this objection to hold any water, one would need to find a Biblical command to make such images (of Christ, specifically) today. No such command in Scripture is found. Since the aforementioned temple objects were merely types and shadows, those things are now passed and find fulfillment in Christ. No commands to depict Jesus are given in the NT and no abrogation of the second commandment is found there either, contrary to many dispensationally minded individuals - but I digress.

Objection #3: Pictures of Jesus are helpful for teaching children who would not understand otherwise, so in that case it's okay. As a former teacher (by trade; in a sense I'm always a teacher as a minister), I can appreciate why such an objection is made. There are some whom I know who have a "no pictures of Jesus" rule for themselves, but will grant this exception in the case of children and their instruction. Nevertheless, children are also responsible to obey God's commands. You and I should not put any stumbling block before them especially at such a young and tender age. Some questions for such objectors: at what age then does it become wrong if at all? How do you go about teaching these grown, former children to unlearn these images? As one of my seminary profs noted, does that therefore mean I need pictures to help children to understand what it means when the Bible says that Adam knew his wife?

Objection #4: Jesus was a man and people saw Him when He walked among other men. There is an enormous difference between what the disciples saw and what images of Jesus depict. Images of Jesus are figments of the artist's imagination and nothing more. What, or rather, who the disciples saw was the God-man, Jesus Christ. They saw the whole person in two distinct natures. The two natures of Christ cannot be separated. In my own opinion, images of Christ come perilously close to an ancient heresy known as Apollonarianism, which taught that Christ had only one nature; this heresy was rightly condemned by the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381. The Westminster Confession of faith using language from the ancient creeds states this about Christ: "The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, with all the essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, of her substance. So that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, composition, or confusion. Which person is very God, and very man, yet one Christ, the only Mediator between God and man" (VIII.2; emphasis added). This phenomenon is known in theological circles as the hypostatic union. Jesus Christ has two distinct and inseparable natures - fully God and fully man; He is not half God and half man. One cannot make images of Jesus without separating His two natures, thus one cannot properly depict the God-man. It is a profound mystery not to be pried into, but a mystery to be believed - a mystery which ought to give us a sense of awe and wonder!

At this time of year, it may seem that I am being a Scrooge of sorts. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish the God-man Jesus Christ to be highly exalted by His people. Pictures and depictions of Him do the opposite. Fear not fellow Christians, for one day you shall see Him as He is!

Sabbath Delight

There is no small amount of debate in the Church today concerning how a Christian is to observe each Sunday. The debate usually revolves around what a Christian may or may not do on Sunday, though some professing Christians deny that we are obligated to follow the Sabbath ordinance since we are in the New Covenant. I should note right away that I am writing this post about the Sabbath/Lord's Day/Sunday from a rather conservative Reformed and Presbyterian perspective. Thus, if there are those who profess Christ and believe the fourth commandment concerning the Sabbath is no longer binding, then be forewarned that this post assumes that it is. Perhaps some other time I will argue the continued obligation of the fourth commandment for us today; for now I want to focus on the matter of actual Sabbath observance.

Even in Reformed and Presbyterian circles there are differences of opinion as to how the Lord's Day is to be observed. Note what the Westminster Shorter Catechism says concerning this matter: "Q. 60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified? A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy." The question of Sabbath observance in my circles centers around the phrase "worldly employments and recreations" and in particular, what is meant or allowed/not allowed by the inclusion of the word "recreations."

The question for so many folks is a question of what is allowable for a person to do on the Sabbath. Can I watch TV? Can I go out to eat? Can I play sports? Can I watch sports? Can I shoot hoops in the driveway with my kids? Can I take a walk in the park? There is an endless number of related questions of allowance on the Sabbath. The difficulty is that there really are a lot of gray areas that can make even the staunchest conservative Sabbitarian say, "I'm not really sure."

My own view, or perhaps more accurately, my own application of the Sabbath principle has changed over the last few years in particular. I would sometimes get bogged down in the "dos and don'ts"of the Sabbath and really miss the fundamental point. Of course, to be perfectly honest, I just wanted to do my own thing, even though I had some standards I tried to follow. What follows is a description of what the Holy Spirit used to sanctify my own thinking concerning the Lord's Day. There was no real list involved, but rather a simple test that I used concerning any activity I thought about doing on the Lord's Day.

This passage of Scripture is a great test, as it were, to help you determine how best to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13-14 [ESV]). The key thing to remember as you determine what is entailed in your own Sabbath observance is to call the Sabbath a delight. The activity you are thinking of doing - will it help you to call the Sabbath a delight? Will it help you remember God's greatness and grace in your life? Then by all means, do it! Will a particular activity prevent you from calling the Sabbath a delight? They by all means, don't do it!

Let's take this a step further. The application of the fourth commandment is more than simply concern about your own activities, but concern about the activity of others and their ability to call the Sabbath a delight. Notice that those who are not to work on the Sabbath are your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, or the stranger who is within your gates. Simply put, as far as it is possible with you, you are not to cause others to violate the Sabbath. Apply the above test here as well; any work or activity that you do on the Lord's Day ought to be that which will enable others to call the Sabbath a delight, e.g., the work involved in hospitality. The flip side to this is not to do any work or participate in any activity that would hinder others from calling the Sabbath a delight. People will claim that going out to eat on Sunday is no big deal, but consider that your waiter/waitress at that point is your manservant/maidservant and they, too, are to do no work. Yet there they are working so you don't have to! Interestingly, many Christians lament the fact that too many of the pews in their church are empty and do so during the Sunday brunch at their local restaurant after church. The very act of eating out at a restaurant after church services is a contributing factor in keeping people out of the pews! Many people who work in restaurants need to be there well before it opens, so while you are in the worship service employees of the restaurant have to get ready for you to come to Sunday brunch. This activity does not allow others to call the Sabbath a delight, but rather hinders them from doing so! You really have no justification in lamenting empty pews in Church on Sunday morning if you are engaging in activities that actually keep others away from those pews.

My friends, the Sabbath is not burden, but a delight! Remember Jesus' words regarding the Sabbath: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath is for you. It is a blessing from God to you. How then can we not seek to use the divinely appointed blessing of the Sabbath in the way God has intended for us? Recognize that the Lord's Day is a blessing, call the Sabbath a delight, and God will surely bless you!

Inerrant & Infallible Heroes?

Who is your theological hero? Perhaps it is someone whose writings have greatly influenced you; or their preaching; or their discipleship. Perhaps you have more than one. That happens to be the case for me. I don't think I could pinpoint any one individual theologian or preacher as being THE main go to guy to find answers to perplexing theological or practical matters; I try to see what a number of them will say on an given issue to see which opinion best comports with what the Scriptures say. Depending on the topic, some will be better than others. For some people, though, there is a main go-to guy to get the definitive answer to the matter in question. Unfortunately, I have seen this go too far as the opinions of the said theologian to whom the person will refer becomes its own gospel. "So and so said it, so it must be true; it must be right." In such cases, it becomes nearly impossible to disagree with the person and their pet theologian, because how can their favorite theologian ever possibly be wrong! Now, I don't think everyone does this, and this may not apply to any of you who are reading this; it's just something I've been noticing and thinking about lately and I decided to express some of those thoughts.

What causes such an attitude in people? There are probably a lot of reasons, but there is one in particular that tends to stick out rather prominently in my own observations (which I realize does not prove anything in and of itself). Many times the "hero theologian" is one who had a profound impact on the thought life of the individual. It could be that the person's hero led them to faith in Christ, or more specifically in my circles, led them to the Reformed faith. While not knowing the individuals personally, I know of a particular church where members left because the pastor taught a Sunday School class refuting a book written by a well known heretic radio personality. The book? It was called 1994? by Harold Camping. If I may be allowed to go out on a limb here, I'm guessing my pastor friend was right. Now a lot of those folks that left that church were greatly influenced by Camping and some professed to having been saved through his radio program. Unfortunately, that gratitude turned Camping into an idol for them; in their eyes Camping could say no wrong. So, when my pastor friend taught the Sunday School class refuting the book, they left. Of course, not long after that, Camping declared the church age to be over and that everyone should leave their church - sadly, many did so simply because (insert stadium echo here) HAROLD CAMPING said so. He tried predicting the end of the world again much more recently and many people jumped on his bandwagon again. By the way, if you're reading this blog post, it's a safe bet that he was wrong again.... just sayin'. As an aside, I've seen online references to Camping having repented after his prediction failed to come to fruition. I can only hope that is true.

It's not just guys like Harold Camping though. I see this happen to folks (on Facebook and online discussion groups) who have what we might say are the more conservative theological/pastoral heroes, i.e., men who are regarded as having a high view of Scripture: names like John Piper, John MacArthur, RC Sproul, J Gresham Machen (really, OPC guys can go too far here also!), Meredith Kline, Tim Keller, John Calvin, Doug Wilson, RJ Rushdoony, Michael Horton, Cornelius Van Til, and Joel Osteen. Okay, that last one was just to see who was really paying attention; that name doesn't belong. In all seriousness, while it is a good thing to remember those who went before us and honor those who are currently seeking to proclaim with boldness the truths of Scripture, we cannot make these or any men idols regardless of how much God may have used any or some of them in your Christian walk. They are (were) fallible. They make (made) mistakes. They sin(ned). They need(ed) God's grace in their sanctification. Do not merely assume that simply because "great theologian so and so" said it, that his comments settle the matter. Perhaps he's right, but do not be so quick to assume it merely because it was he who said it - the word of God is what settles the matter!

How do you know if you have made a theologian/pastor into an idol of this kind? Give yourself a little test: do you ever quote other theologians/pastors/authors? Do you ever recommend other theologians/pastors/authors to friends or just your favorite one? Have you ever found anything from your favorite theologian with which you disagree and can articulate what you dislike about it? When someone else critiques your favorite guy in a way you had never considered, do you simply dismiss it with a wave of the hand or do you really think about the substance of the critique? Remember that it is God who saved you; it is God who sanctifies you. These men are merely the instrument by which God brought you to Himself. I'm not saying you should give away all your books from your favorite author, but rather to have a proper perspective. A simple way to do this is to expand your list of theologians whom you read. What do others say about the matter? What do others who disagree with "my guy" say about the matter? Of course, the Holy Spirit speaking in and through the word must be the final arbiter in all matters of doctrinal controversy. We ought to thank God that He has raised up men, both past and present, who can expound God's word in great and meaningful ways; let's not make more of them than they are or would even wish to be. They are men saved by grace through faith, men who need the same grace you and I need.

Is There Greater Pain? When Christians Sin Against You

Over the years, I have heard other Christians say that they have been hurt more or in more painful ways by other Christians than they have by non-Christians. Of course, this should not be the case at all. Nevertheless, it is a topic worth considering. Having experienced pain at the hands of other Christians in the not too distant past, as my wife's and my reputation was smeared and I was even accused of not having absorbed some elements of the gospel, we (along with our kids) can attest that there appears to be some truth to this. Why is it that Christians are hurt by other Christians more than they are by non-Christians? How true is it to say that the pain from sin caused by other Christians is more painful than pain caused by non-Christians? Even more importantly, how do we overcome this pain?

In one sense, it really is more painful when a Christian hurts another Christian but in another sense it is not. It is not as though the sin committed against you in and of itself is necessarily worse (though it certainly can be), but rather the fact that it is a fellow Christian – a brother or sister in Christ – that makes it uniquely painful. Let me illustrate it this way. If an acquaintance at work lies to you, it may be an annoyance and even painful. Still, you may be able to shake it off, so to speak, in a relatively short period of time. However, if your spouse were to tell the same lie to you, that's a different story. Deep trust that is supposed to be a crucial characteristic of a marriage is broken; it can and often does take a long time to rebuild that trust even after true repentance has taken place and forgiveness has been granted.

The Westminster Larger Catechism provides us with a little help in this discussion. "Q. 150. Are all transgressions of the law of God equally heinous in themselves, and in the sight of God? A. All transgressions of the law are not equally heinous; but some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others." Thus, while it is true that some sins in themselves are more heinous than others, it is equally true that there are other considerations which aggravate the pain of a sin - and this holds true when it that sin is committed against us. The Westminster Divines continued:

Q. 151. What are those aggravations that make some sins more heinous than others?
A. Sins receive their aggravations,
1. From the persons offending; if they be of riper age, greater experience or grace, eminent for profession, gifts, place, office, guides to others, and whose example is likely to be followed by others.
2. From the parties offended: if immediately against God, his attributes, and worship; against Christ, and his grace; the Holy Spirit, his witness, and workings; against superiors, men of eminency, and such as we stand especially related and engaged unto; against any of the saints, particularly weak brethren, the souls of them, or any other, and the common good of all or many.
3. From the nature and quality of the offence: if it be against the express letter of the law, break many commandments, contain in it many sins: if not only conceived in the heart, but breaks forth in words and actions, scandalize others, and admit of no reparation: if against means, mercies, judgments, light of nature, conviction of conscience, public or private admonition, censures of the church, civil punishments; and our prayers, purposes, promises, vows, covenants, and engagements to God or men: if done deliberately, willfully, presumptuously, impudently, boastingly, maliciously, frequently, obstinately, with delight, continuance, or relapsing after repentance.
4. From circumstances of time, and place: if on the Lord's day, or other times of divine worship; or immediately before or after these, or other helps to prevent or remedy such miscarriages: if in public, or in the presence of others, who are thereby likely to be provoked or defiled.

I realize this is a rather extensive list, but notice in particular the first item on the list, namely the persons offending. Connect that now with part of the second item on the list, namely the offended party being any of the saints. Generally speaking, we can see that each of these items can easily overlap, but more specifically, the Westminster Divines rightly noted that one of the things that makes a sin more heinous is a Christian sinning against another Christian.

This truth can be seen in the words of David in Psalm 55. He begins his prayer to God by describing his deep, deep anguish and pleads with God to hear him in his distress. What is the reason for his anguish? "For it is not an enemy who taunts me — then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me — then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng" (Psalm 55:12-4). Notice how David's pain is due more to the offender than it is to the offense itself, which he admits he could bear if it had been an enemy who did it. It was a friend with whom he counseled, with whom he worshiped God. David doesn't stop here though. "My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords" (51:20-21). Note the fact that David's friend violated his covenant. While we are not told the specifics, we must remember how important the people in David's lifetime viewed a covenant. In those days a covenant was a solemn pledge or bond usually inaugurated by a ceremony indicating what would happen to the one who violated the covenant (see Genesis 15). Simply put, David was hurt by another professing believer and it seems that it hurt him more because of who did it rather than what was done.

Another such place that helps to illustrate this point is in what I call "the other Mathew 18." Most of us are quite familiar Matthew 18:15-19 and the process involved when a brother sins and refuses to repent potentially leading to excommunication. However, in a familiar parable that few remember occurs in Matthew 18 as well, Jesus teaches us what our heart attitude needs to be when a brother who sins against us repents. I'll come back to this below, but for now I want you to notice the debt of the fellow servant. We are told in the parable that the fellow servant owed the first servant a hundred denarii - an amount that is relatively tiny compared to the 10,000 talents the first servant owed his master to be sure. Nevertheless, the point that most teachers neglect to mention is that a hundred denarii is no small amount. A denarius was the usual daily wage for the common day laborer or foot soldier. Assuming a six day work week, you're looking at nearly seventeen weeks or four months of wages. Can you imagine if someone owed you four months of your annual salary? Jesus is in no way minimizing the pain sin can cause – sin hurts! Yes, I realize this is not the main point of the parable, but Jesus is certainly not ignoring the truth that it really hurts when a brother sins against you. He knows that you will find it difficult to forgive because it hurts and this is why He reminds you and me in this parable that we owe our infinite God an infinite debt that we cannot possibly repay... a debt which God forgave out of pity for us when we sought mercy from Him in faith. The point of the parable is that we cannot say we have understood God's grace in our lives if we are unwilling to forgive from the heart a repentant brother who had sinned against us. After all, while it is true that a hundred denarii is no small amount, it is a debt that is not insurmountable. The same is true of a brother's sin against you; it certainly may be painful, but it is not insurmountable.

The pain caused by the sin committed against you by a fellow Christian does not negate our responsibility to forgive him if he repents. Let's face facts here... it's hard to forgive. I submit to you that if you are having difficulty forgiving a repentant brother who sinned against you, then most likely you are not reflecting on God's love and grace nearly enough; you are not reflecting on the well-being and holiness of your brother; you are not concerned about the rift that exists between the two of you; you are not concerned about reconciliation. "Yes, but he really hurt me!" No doubt that is true, but remember our great and sympathetic high priest. He knows what it is like when sinned against; He knows what it is like to be mocked publicly; He knows what it is like to be abandoned and denied by His friends; He knows what it is like to be murdered by those whom He created. He knows. Turn to Him and repent of your own sin of holding a grudge. But how do you know if you're holding a grudge? Ask yourself these questions: Do you gossip to others about your brother and his sin against you? Do you post your mood on Facebook in order to get people to ask you what's wrong? Do you think about the sin rather than reconciliation? Has your own worship of God become cold and rote both privately and corporately? Do you rehearse in your mind over and over again exactly what you would say to that person and how you would say it if given the chance? These things do nothing but increase the rift between you and your brother; it causes bitterness and hatred to take hold of your thoughts and become deeply rooted in your heart when it is a desire for reconciliation to the glory of God that should be you main concern. Reconciliation ought to be your primary goal and granting forgiveness to a repentant brother is a huge step toward achieving that goal.

Forgiveness is hard precisely because sin hurts. Nevertheless, making a habit of meditating on the riches of God's grace in your life despite the infinite debt that you owe to Him will be the most important foundation for you as you seek to demonstrate the same love and grace to a fellow Christian who sinned against you. Granting forgiveness demonstrates to your brother and the world at large that you have comprehended the forgiveness you have received in Christ Jesus; it tells the world and especially your brother that fellowship in Christ is paramount to you. "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:31). Remember – a brother or sister in the Lord who has repented has been forgiven by God, so how can you not also grant forgiveness? Granting true forgiveness from the heart to a brother in Christ is a wonderful testimony of the grace of the gospel in our lives.

Tribute to Morton H. Smith

It is with some tentativeness that I write this about a man whom I have known for only a few short years. There are many others who have known him far longer and can share much more than I ever could. Nevertheless, when I heard the news that the seminary where I received theological training (Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary) decided to grant Dr. Morton H. Smith emeritus status, I was overjoyed. The news of this can be found here. I had to smile when I first saw the GPTS news link because the photo used was taken with our camera, though there is some debate amongst the three photographers in the family as to who actually took the photo.

It was taken during the 2011 GPTS Spring Theology Conference. His love of preaching the word and Reformed theology was always evident to me. I had him for four classes at GPTS, the seminary which Dr. Smith helped begin. Teaching the truths of the Reformed faith always seemed to give him such life and fire in his eye. There was one particular time that I saw this which will always be ingrained in my memory. In my first year (2008-9) at GPTS, I had the class called "Introduction to Reformed Theology" in which he taught out of his Harmony of the Westminster Confession and Catechisms. Midway through the semester, Dr. Smith became quite ill with some kind of upper respiratory illness. One class was cancelled and the next week Dr. Pipa, the President of the seminary, taught the class in his place indicating that if needed he would take over and finish the class for Dr. Smith. Well, it wasn't needed and Dr. Smith returned to the classroom, though he was still recovering and a bit weak due to the illness. Yet that day he returned to the classroom as he taught the class, I watched his strength return and the gleam in his eye get brighter and brighter as he joyfully taught the doctrines of the Reformed faith which he loved so dearly. It was so evident that he loved God and His word and this was clear every time he taught or preached at the seminary.

Dr. Smith with Dr. George W. Knight III

Dr. Smith was also a consummate churchman. He was the first stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) - a position he held for 16 years. In 2000 he was elected to be the moderator of their General Assembly. Dr. Smith loved and still loves the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote a book that played an important role in the formation of the PCA in 1973. This book is entitled How Is the Gold Become Dim. It was required reading for my class on Presbyterian Church History. As I read the book, which traced the decades of decline of the PCUS, I was struck by how long Dr. Smith and others like him endured so many severe theological errors; he loved the church and fought hard to keep her from drifting rather than jumping ship too hastily to form another denomination. Eventually, he and others made the difficult decision to leave the PCUS and form the PCA in 1973. People in the church ought to take a lesson in patience from Dr. Smith and not be so hasty to leave their church over issues even though they may very well be legitimate. While some folks may leave a church over one issue found in one sermon, Dr. Smith pressed on despite many issues over the course of a couple of decades. On the other hand, ministers and elders of the church ought to read his book to avoid the same kind of theological decline Dr. Smith witnessed in the PCUS. As cliché as it might sound, history has a habit of repeating itself. I have always found it remarkable that the decline of various denominations around the world bears so much similarity with one another. Read his book and see if you recognize the same signs of theological decline in your own church.

Dr. Smith signing my copy of his Systematic Theology

It was an honor to learn from Dr. Smith during my years at seminary. I hope and pray that I can have even half of the love and devotion to God, the Bible, the Reformed faith, and the Church as Dr. Smith still has. Thank you Dr. Smith for your service to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church; thank you for the example you gave to me and many others; may God give you many more years of faithful service to His Church. May God continue to raise up such defenders of the faith in Christ's Church.