Just to comment that it is only by fundamentally understanding the fundamentals of what it actually means to be a Christian, that you can repent from the worldly, self-centered, and temporal ideas behind what much of today’s political thinking suggests. If there were not “fundamental” truths behind Christ’s teachings (take the Sermon on the Mount; take the “log and speck in the eye”, or take the “love your enemies,” etc.), then it would be perfectly fine for political followers and politicians to make up their own cult with its made up rules and its made-up values. Anyone can make up or construct a worldview or set of values by which to live and to use to convince other people to follow it. These value systems might be in fundamental opposition, but that would be okay, if none of them are actually true.
Only if there is something to truly measure these things and ideas by, can you say one is wrong or not true.
Fundamental Truths
But there is actually fundamental truths that Jesus spoke and that are shown to us about Him and the way He called His followers to live. Fundamental truths about Who He is. Why He came. What He did. What He calls us to do. Only by using those foundational truths as the standard, can we measure ourselves, our beliefs, our actions, thoughts, doctrines, politics, and everything else against that standard to see what is right or wrong about things. Some people generally say that the “Bible” is their measure and they are fundamentalists. However, what they mean by the Bible, may not actually be what is in the Bible, because many people are not really acquainted well with more than just a few stories.
This fact is a big reason why we need to be immersing ourselves with the words of Jesus. Only this way, will we truly follow Him to represent His thoughts, words, and actions in this world. Only then can we say things are wrong.
Not because they go against tradition, because traditions can be made up by people.
Not because they go against a spiritual or other leader, because such people could easily be speaking from their own opinions.
Not because they go against what we think already, because that could be wrongly interpreted as well.
We need to be freshly in-tuned with what the Bible said and place ourselves at His feet daily to be made like Him.
“All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Philippians 3:15-21
Paul begins Philippians 3 by instructing the believers to “Rejoice in the Lord” and then warning them to watch out for those who boast in the flesh, or in other words, those who look at things from an earthly, carnal perspective. Paul then says that if a person were to take confidence in fleshly, earthly attainments, he might be at the top of the list (Paul makes his list of attainments), then says that all that supposed attainment is as dung to him. (See my post, “What About Earthly Power?”).
So, what is the “view of things” which Paul is referring to in the above verses? In verses 12-14, Paul describes it:
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is aheadI press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
In other words, Paul is describing both our intention/motivation and the intensity/passion with which we follow Jesus’ purpose and Kingdom principles.
We are to:
Think like mature Christians who long for the meat of the word, not the milk, not like babies (See Hebrews 5:12-14 for a good definition of Christian maturity) vs 15
Keep changing/repenting: vs 15, “And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”
Not lose ground in our growth: vs 16, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”
Follow Paul and Jesus as model’s for our lives and behavior: vs 17, “…just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” Keeping in mind that Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison for following Christ.
Do not be like some Christians who live as if they are enemies of Christ: vs 19, “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”
A “But” to Contrast
So, basically, the contrast Paul is making here is that some people live like their important citizenship is on Earth, while others (those who are like Paul and mature Christians) live like their citizenship is in heaven. What does this mean actually?
Paul says that we eagerly await a Savior. The eagerness has to do with our level of intensity or passion, which is not a “feeling” of passion, but rather, a passionate intentionality and focus. Often, brand new Christians have an eagerness based on emotion about Jesus and their new faith. This is not what this means. That feeling of initial joy is not the same as the deep seated joy which flows from a mature intensity of focus on living out the Kingdom values with Jesus as your leader. Paul states all his hardships and still had that kind of joy. Chapter 3 of Philippians itself starts with telling the reader to “Rejoice in the Lord” so joy is definitely an important outflow of knowing that you are forgiven, redeemed, and made new. But even that joy is not just a feeling, otherwise, Paul could not admonish you to rejoice. In other words, there is more to this than how you feel; there is your intention and your focus. You do it because you want to; it is your life, and your daily choice.
How is your citizenship?
One definition of citizenship is “participatory membership in a community.” How that fits in with this verse are the three words that define different aspects of citizenship: participate, membership, community. As a Christ-follower, you are the one who must participate in your life of following Jesus. It is not your parents, grandparents, pastor, teachers, or spouse who will define your participation. Only you and your continual choice to do it. It is not a one-off deal. (Sign up to be a Christian and you never have to do another thing.) You are called to be “part” of what God has in mind to do for you, for others, and for Him.
You are a part or member of Christ’s church. In 1 Corinthians 12:12 Paul writes, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” Our membership is not just a list of people who are going to heaven when they die: we are each part (members, Gr μέλη (melē)) of Christ’s body acting out His wishes on this planet. This is our membership and we are His feet, His hands, His eyes, His mouth, to the people here on Earth. We have membership in His purposes.
Also, the word “Community.” Not just are we members of Christ’s body on the Earth to do His work, we are also members of each other. We are part of His church, His people all together as Christ-followers. Doing His work together in each specific and Christ-directed way, empowered today by the Holy Spirit and doing the will of the Father. We take care of each other and when one hurts, all hurt. This too is part of what it means to be a citizen and have citizenship in heaven. First Corinthians 12:26 puts this nicely: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
When we are admonished that our citizenship is in heaven, we must take this very seriously, since it has to do with whether or not we are fooling ourselves about our relationship with Christ and whether or not we are even walking in a manner worthy of Him. As was stated in the very first verses above (Phil 3:18-19), Paul says that some who think they are following Christ are “as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.” What earthly things? Those that contrast with having a citizenship in heaven.
A beautiful part of these verses in Philippians 3 are those that show how Paul tells us we are not to give up or be discouraged about this. If we find that we ourselves are not truly placing our citizenship in heaven and have been distracted in our focus off of God’s purposes and onto our own earthly purposes, we have the same solution that Paul used. We can “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me….But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Pressing on, straining, moving toward the goal he was called for: all of this has to do with the forward momentum of a soul who is willing to lay down what lies behind and move forward to follow the call of Christ to live out this life in His power, pressing on toward this every day with all of their being.
To be a Christ-follower is to walk with God and follow after Him. This means to learn of Him, to commit to growing and maturing in discipleship and to leaving behind those things that are not of Him. The Bible, and particularly the New Testament, and even more specifically, the four gospels (i.e., first four books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) are where we can know what God has to say to us. Such is the solid foundation for how we are to live, how we learn about God’s character, His promises, His work, and our calling.
What that might mean individually for each Christ-follower has to do with what one reads, hears, and learns in the Bible, through the example given by Jesus’s life, and then, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon our own hearts, minds, conscience, and spirits. The Holy Spirit brings the words of the Bible into our own lives to reveal how we can change and grow to apply God’s word specifically in our own circumstances, actions, words, and thoughts. By always being in the Word of God—hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating—we can test what we think and believe, as well as opening ourselves up to experience more of Jesus’ Kingdom life here on earth.
Integrity is key to that process, especially this third definition (see the image below), defined as “the quality of state of being complete or undivided: COMPLETENESS.” In order to be a consistent and non-hypocritical Christ-follower it is critical for us to bring all the parts of our lives undividedly under the authority of the Bible’s instruction and the search of the Holy Spirit.
Here are a couple of verses to think about:
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
and:
James 1:22-25 “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.”
Previously, we’ve discussed ways to get the Bible into our hearts and lives by using the “hand” analogy, where each finger represents a different study method. Now it’s time to discuss what the “hand” and “fingers” are holding steady, that is, the Word of God itself.
In Hebrews 4:12, the Word of God is compared to a sword. But what battle does this sword take part in? Here the sword of the Word deeply penetrates our conscience to point out those things we wish to hide even from ourselves, so that our lives are open and our hearts are not hardened.
If you notice, this scripture (Hebrews 4) is not really pointed toward those who do not believe in or follow Jesus, but rather, is directed toward believers, with a warning about hearing the words of the Lord and letting them sink in, in other words, applying them and doing them.
May we all take this to heart and let the Spirit of the Lord “discern the thoughts and intentions of our hearts”! Our God is a loving God and His reproofs to our conscience are for our good. We ought to lay ourselves open to His searches so that we may serve Him well and do what Jesus would have us do!
Hebrews 4:6-7, 11-13
“Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.’
“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
Today we are going to explore “study” as an important way to get the Bible into our hearts and lives. The verse here on the graphic for this is Acts 17:11 where those who take the time to dig into whether or not something is true and real are called noble and are praised. This includes calling it “noble” to research and study the claims made about Jesus. Those who don’t just “believe” without a good reason to are here commended.
Coming to the city of Berea, Luke writes in Acts, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” We don’t have to —and we should not expect others to—just believe in Jesus or the Bible without first studying and researching whether the claims are true. Does the Bible’s teaching match with what we know about the world, humanity, and history? This is what was being thought about in this verse.
The words of Jesus, if true, will stand up to any real scrutiny. Truth is true truth, if it is truth at all.
In a broader sense, this element, “Study” is important for us to get the teachings of Jesus into our hearts and lives because there is great depth in the Bible and only when we really know what the context is, will we be able to apply the Bible fully to our lives, thoughts, words, and actions. Study and ask: What does it say? What does it mean? and How does it apply to my life?
There are lots of tools available online to help you with understanding the words of the Bible, such as concordances, different versions, parallel versions, Bible Dictionaries, and others. One free resource with access to lots of Bible study tools is https://biblehub.com where you can find parallel versions, the original languages, concordances, and more. It is a great place to start!
Went out to to my home town to visit my dear friend in the hospital, who was, I think, the main person who prayed for me when I was far from knowing God’s love in Christ. In those days, my friend was an adult woman with children who were my age (and older) and she worked in the library at my school. In eighth grade especially, I was always getting in trouble, being sent to the principal. Whenever I was in the library, I was checking out books that were destructive to my soul, on topics such as ghosts, witchcraft, or the occult, all of which frightened me, but something compulsive made me curious about those topics. My friend, the librarian, checking out my books or sending me off to the principal’s office, also quietly prayed for me, the troublemaker.
After I became a Christian at 16, she and I met for prayer over lunch at the high school I attended; she had switched jobs and transferred to the high-school library. She always remembered how even in high school I still talked too much in the library—although at that point, I was talking to my Christian friends about God and praying, not talking back to a teacher. No more visits to the principal’s office!
My friend has always been a prayer stalwart and a wonderful example of humility, a woman who serves others with passion and a love for Jesus. I am glad I met her way back then—and I tell you what!—time and distance do not affect the bond of love between true brothers and sisters in Christ.
It’s not just time and distance, but also age that doesn’t have to separate believers. Sometimes people let age separate them into silos in the body of Christ, with false partitions based on custom and style. Such things sometimes artificially force a segregation between ages and demographics amongst Christians. Because people see themselves as having an identity based more in their age, styles, and preferences, and even their biases, they miss finding their identity in Christ. Christ’s Kingdom surpasses style and preference. Christ calls us to lay such things down—a call for both older and younger believers, for and everyone in-between.
When I was a young Christian, much of my time was spent in fellowship with and learning from Christians of a generation older than myself. Fortunately, the people I encountered did not hold to an “old people” mentality or style; my Christian circle of friends seemed to be mindful that following after Christ meant seeking the transcendent value system of the Kingdom of God, one which is extremely counter-cultural.
Christians need to live out the lifestyle values of the KIngdom, specifically those found in Jesus’ teachings throughout the New Testament. Such things are for everyone—no distinctions. I never felt put down by my Christian friends in those days because I was young or criticized for my clothes or other style issues. No one ever said anything about those things.
My circle of friends in those days was too busy praying together, singing worship songs, sharing our concerns, our stories, hopes, fears, even our jokes. We had things we did as young people in which older people did not generally participate, such as canoeing or rock-climbing, but honestly, if an older person had wanted to go along, they could have—not as a self-described leader-expert, but as a friend and brother or sister in Christ.
As a young person, I wanted to learn from people who already knew a lot about prayer and the Bible—I knew I needed to learn—I sought to have such companions. I loved and appreciated them and didn’t really think about the age difference. This was a very good thing, I think, for my life. Those that embraced learning from everyone are those who have done better going forward into life.
What has happened lately? Well, I don’t know why people and churches still feel the need to segregate so much by age and style. Possibly because people of all ages still find their identity in age and style and preference rather than in true Kingdom values. Older people need to remember that everything they did in the past is not set in stone as “the way” things must be done. As Jesus put it, “New wine needs new wineskins,” Mt 9:16-17.
It is the “wine” that is important here; no one should forget that the wine is that “new freshness” that the Holy Spirit wants to pour out in our midst. Our midst needs a new wineskin which doesn’t have to do with style or preferences, NOT AT ALL. Don’t get confused about that. The wine goes into the wineskins of our hearts—older and newer believing hearts—submitted to Christ and living out Kingdom values, looking to God’s purposes for the church.
An important part of my husband’s and my life together as a married couple has been our commitment to finding ways to answer questions for people about what it means to be a Christian. My husband and I for years had put together our own methods to explain the basics of the Christian faith, because what we found already published was lacking in one way or another. We have always been interested in people and in what they believed and why they believed it. We care about people and what was going on with them and we’ve tried to find new ways to help people out, both practically and spiritually.
In the late ’90s, we heard about the Alpha Course, an eleven-week series put together by Holy Trinity Brompton Church (HTB), an Anglican church in London, which discusses the basic questions of life from a Christian perspective and which invites people to share their ideas and beliefs in a respectful and open format. The Alpha course includes time for eating together and getting to know each other as human beings. As soon as we heard about Alpha, we were eager to find out more.
In August of 1998, my husband went with a small crew from our home church to Chicago, to attend one of the early National Alpha Conferences. Everyone who went from the team was so excited about what they had seen and heard at the conference, that we all worked quickly and got Alpha started up three weeks later. My husband and I were one of the three couples on that start-up team to begin Alpha in our homes that first year; the next year, we started up a large group Alpha course at our church. We were a part of the church’s Alpha team for quite a few years. I was the worship leader and lead many small groups; my husband coordinated the small groups and also lead lots of his own small groups.
After my husband finished seminary, we have been conducting Alpha courses in various places, including running an ongoing course for the last 10+ years or so, three times a year in the party room of a local pizza restaurant.
We love Alpha, because it gives people a chance to engage in thinking about the Christian faith, but in a relaxed and non-pressured way, and allows people the chance to speak out about their own feelings and ideas about topics of faith, such as “Why do people pray?” or “Why did Jesus die?” while they process through their own thoughts about the topic, without judgment or pressure from anyone.
For more information on our Alpha course or Alpha in general, see the website, alphausa.org or send us an email (below):
