Why good - notes
Why Do You Call Me Good?
1. It is one thing for a preacher or the gospel itself to confront evil but . . . . . .
Quite another thing to confront what is “good”.
To get people to admit to being what they are is quite something. Help begins when we admit that we have a problem. Until we do that there really is no help.
Gentlemen:
Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since. If I still have trouble sleeping I will send you the rest. Sincerely, A Tax Payer
Man does not like to admit that his sinfulness and rebellion are at the heart of the problems of society. He's much more comfortable discussing imperfections, weaknesses, mistakes, and errors in judgment. These terms are socially acceptable, and almost everyone identifies with them. But an outright acknowledgment of guilt before a holy God, a 100-percent acceptance of responsibility for wrong- doing, runs against the grain. Yet this kind of honesty is the first step to the freedom from sin and guilt that God longs to give us and has provided in the death of Christ.
The story is told that one day Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, visited a prison and talked with each of the inmates. There were endless tales of innocence, of misunderstood motives, and of exploitation. Finally the king stopped at the cell of a convict who remained silent. "Well," remarked Frederick, "I suppose you are an innocent victim too?" "No, sir, I'm not," replied the man. "I'm guilty and deserve my punishment." Turning to the warden, the king said, "Here, release this rascal before he corrupts all these fine innocent people in here!"
See: Prov 28:13; 1 John 1:8-9
In a painfully honest look at his own life, W.E. Sangster wrote in his journal that although he was a minister, the spiritual passion in his private life had languished. He made the following observations.
* I am irritable and easily put out.
* I am impatient with my wife and children.
* I am deceitful in that I often express private annoyance when a caller is announced and simulate pleasure when I actually greet them.
* From an examination of my heart, I conclude that most of my study has been crudely ambitious; that I wanted degrees more than knowledge and praise rather than equipment for service.
* Even in my preaching I fear that I am more often wondering what the people think of me, than what they think about my Lord and His word.
* I have long felt in a vague way, that something was hindering the effectiveness of my ministry and I must conclude that the "something" is my failure in living the truly Christian life.
* I am driven in pain to conclude that the girl who has lived as a maid in my house for more than three years has not felt drawn to the Christian life because of me.
* I find slight envies in my heart at the greater success of other young ministers. I seem to match myself with them in thought and am vaguely jealous when they attract more notice than I do.
n As quoted by Gordon MacDonald, in Restoring Your Spiritual Passions, pp. 49-50. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986), reprinted by permission.)
Here is what Larry King said of the most recent scandal to rock the evangelical world:
Thoughts on the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, who this writer knows pretty well: I would buy all of the sadness and tears and recriminations if, and this is a big if, Jimmy had come forward with his problem before somebody had pictures proving it. Anybody can be repentant when caught. Also, if he really wanted true forgiveness he could donate his estate and all that property to some worthy charity. Give up all his earthly goods. As Lenny Bruce once told me, "If Jesus Christ came back, he wouldn't own more than one suit as long as somebody in the world had no clothes."
n USA Today
It's hard to admit a mistake. But I'm not the only one with this problem.
Once when Frederick II, an eighteenth-century king of Prussia, went on an inspection tour of a Berlin prison, he was greeted with the cries of prisoners, who fell on their knees and protested their unjust imprisonment. While listening to these pleas of innocence, Frederick's eye was caught by a solitary figure in the corner, a prisoner seemingly unconcerned with all the commotion.
"Why are you here?" Frederick asked him.
"Armed robbery, Your Majesty."
"Were you guilty?" the king asked.
"Oh yes, indeed, Your Majesty. I entirely deserve my punishment."
At that Frederick summoned the jailer. "Release this guilty man at once," he said. "I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it."
-- Lloyd H. Steffen, The Christian Century, April 29, 1987
See: Prov 28:13; 1 John 1:8-9
Many years ago I decided to do that very thing. I was fed up with empty words and pharisaical phrases. In my search for new meaning, I came across this brief description of prayer, which I set on my desk and carried in the front of my Bible for years. I cannot locate the book from which it was taken, but I do know the author, a seventeenth- century Roman Catholic Frenchman named Francois Fenelon. Although written centuries ago, it has an undeniable ring of relevance:
Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them, talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self- love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and to others.
If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back, neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.
-- Strengthening Your Grip, Charles Swindoll
See: Psa 32:3-5; 1 John 1:6-7
Blaming Others
Blame never affirms, it assaults.
Blame never restores, it wounds.
Blame never solves, it complicates.
Blame never unites, it separates.
Blame never smiles, it frowns.
Blame never forgives, it rejects.
Blame never forgets, it remembers.
Blame never builds, it destroys.
Let's admit it -- not until we stop blaming will we start enjoying health and happiness again!
2. What we label as good is in reality a confession in some way of our values, our morals, etc.
......when people move to a new community, they choose a church on the basis of what it does for them rather than what they can do for it.
This is the result of our contemporary focus on self-fulfillment and happiness at any cost. Doctrinal lines have become so blurred that few people choose a church anymore for it's biblical teaching or theological soundness.
This consumer mentality also prompts people to change churches where they can have better children's programs, more appealing music, larger facilities, more convenient parking, more exciting preaching, or more energetic services.
In the church, the consumer mentality is like changing supermarkets or gas stations; the simply moves down the street to the next church of his or her choice.
This consumer mentality sometimes causes people to change churches to dodge responsibilities. They do not want to teach Sunday School. They want nothing to do with teenagers. Or they do not want to "baby-sit" in the nursery. They simply want a church which provides inspiration and encouragement for themselves.
Such consumers view the church as a means to achieve their goals of bliss and respectability. They may even feel uncomforatble with the biblical language of sin and salvation. All of this is a subtle secular subversion taking place inside those who claim to be serious followers of the Lord Jesus.
The most pressing question for followers of the consumer mentality is, "What has the church done for me lately?"
Fred Somebody, Thomas Everybody, Peter Anybody, and Joe Nobody were neighbors, but they were not like you and me. They were odd people and most difficult to understand. The way they lived was a shame.
All four belonged to the same church, but you would not have enjoyed worshiping with them.
Everybody went fishing on Sunday or stayed home to visit with friends.
Anybody wanted to worship but was afraid Somebody wouldn't speak to him. So guess who went to church -- uh, huh -- Nobody.
Really, Nobody was the only decent one of the four.
Nobody did the visitation. Nobody worked on the church building.
Once they needed a Sunday school teacher. Everybody thought Anybody would do it, and Anybody thought Somebody would do it. And you know who did it? That's exactly right -- Nobody!
It happened that a fifth neighbor (an unbeliever) moved into the area. Everybody thought Somebody should try to win him for Christ. Anybody could have made an effort. You probably know who finally won him: Nobody!
See: Dan 7:27; Eph 4:11-24
EVENTS A Wichita pastor's opening prayer angered legislators in the Kansas House of Representatives. "We confess we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it moral pluralism," prayed Joe Wright of Central Christian Church, the guest chaplain Jan. 23. "We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem." ...As one legislator walked out and another sat down, Wright continued. "We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbors' possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment." He closed with a plea for God's forgiveness, blessing, and wisdom. ...Rep. Delbert Gross, who refused to stand during the prayer, called it "divisive, sanctimonious, self-serving, and overbearing," press reports said. In the legislature, where there are people with strong convictions on many sides of issues, "the prayer should draw them together and recognize their integrity," said Sam Muyskens, executive director of Inter-faith Ministries in Wichita. NIRR 2/19/96
During the last few decades, building on the scepticism about objective truth, a viewpoint known as deconstructionism has flourished on college campuses. If there is no objective truth, there is no reason for objective interpretation of history, law, or politics. Deconstructionists contend therefore, that past events or writings have no intrinsic meaning. What authors intended in literature, for example, is irrelevant. What matters is what we think of what they
wrote. Authorial intent in historical documents suffers the same fate. So we freely revise the past to conform to current politically correct values.
(Deconstruction is literally the dismantling of language, texts, discourse. It began in the realm of language and has since spread to other disciplines. It first manifested itself in English literature departments. If language, discourse, and thus the intention of the author can be called into question and doubted, then other realms can fall like dominoes. History, law, and politics proceed from an undermining of language, not vice versa.)
From "The Body" by Charles Colson p. 173
3. So what’s wrong with what is “good”?
· It dulls our awareness of a personal need for God. Complacency & apathy.
· Fosters the belief that there are other options to making heaven.
· People tend to substitute the “good” for the “best”
· Breeds pride, self-righteousness, self-sufficiency and judgmentalism.
4. When we come to Christ many times Christ will take away from us the things in which we put our confidence.
Philippians 3:7-11 - But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
Success exposes a man to the pressures of people and thus tempts him to hold on to his gains by means of fleshy methods and practices, and to let himself be ruled wholly by the dictatorial demands of incessant expansion. Success can go to my head and will unless I remember that it is God who accomplishes the work, that he can continue to do so without my help, and that he will be able to make out with other means whenever he wants to cut me out.
See: Prov 15:24; Prov 16:5
It's my pride that makes me independent of God. It's appealing to feel I am the master of my fate; I run my own life, I call my own shots; I go it alone. But that feeling is my basic dishonesty. I can't go it alone. I have to get help from other people, and I can't ultimately rely on myself. I am dependent on God for my very next breath. It is dishonest of me to pretend that I am anything but a man, small, weak and limited. So, living independent of God is self- delusion. It's not just a matter or pride being an unfortunate little trait and humility being an attractive little virtue, it's my inner psychological integrity that's at stake. When I am conceited, I am lying to myself about what I am. I am pretending to be God, and not man. My pride is the idolatrous worship of myself, and that is the national religion of hell.
Application:
· The next time you label something as good – ask yourself what you are confessing related to your own values, priorities, etc.
· Are you allowing “good” things to occupy your time, finances, etc. rather than Kingdom priorities. How about some re-prioritizing?
· Do you find yourself leaning on natural abilities and talents, trying to God’s work in your own strength? Commit your strengths to God but be willing to let him use you in areas in which you do not have great confidence.
One writer described how we have rationalized and euphemized away sin:
* Abortion is no longer murder. It is simply a woman exercising her right of privacy to her own body.
* Homosexuality is merely a difference in sexual preference.
* Pornography is an expression of free speech.
* Adultery is "living together" and
* Illegitimate babies are "love children."