Matthew's Musings

This Sunday we’re looking at the human conscience; a great tool, but one that can easily get mis-calibrated.

Mis-calibration cost NASA well over $125 million in 1999. The Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft was designed to fly to Mars, orbit around the planet, and report back on what the surface conditions were like for future exploration. Rather than circling the planet, it flew past it and rocketed out of useful range. The cause of the glitch? One team of scientists did the math using metric units, while another team of scientists used the imperial system. The mis-calibration meant that the numbers in the spacecraft’s computer were basically nonsense.

The human conscience can become mis-calibrated, too. We can become desensitized. The first time we commit a sin, we feel terribly guilty. The second time—fairly guilty. The thirtieth time, we might feel nothing. Scripture uses the language of consciences that have been seared (1 Timothy 4:2). It is also possible that our conscience can be like a smoke detector that goes off too often. It becomes the boy that cries wolf and we always are in a state of worry and anxiety.

Here are a few illustrations about conscience…

A Native American proverb says that conscience is a “triangle in my heart. It stands still when I am good, but when I am bad, it turns around and the corners hurt a lot. But if I keep on doing wrong, the corners wear off, and it does not hurt anymore.”

A Sunday school teacher asked the children in her class, “What is the still, small voice that you always have with you?” One of the kids answered, “My iPod!”

A rich man bought a house next to processing facility that smelled terrible. Unable to stand the stench, he kept trying to convince his neighbor to move, but his neighbor always put him off, saying that he would in “just a bit.” By the time this happened several times, the man got used to the smell quit pestering his neighbor.

We need to let the words of scripture calibrate our consciences, so that they will continue to be useful instruments for helping us live the Christian life.

Olympic season is upon us! It’s that special time every four years where we pretend to understand how they judge figure skating and wonder who managed to combine skiing and shooting into a sport. I’m still hoping for my big break into curling!

One of the things that draws me to the Olympics is the pageantry of the opening ceremonies. I love watching the athletes come in as each country is announced. Invariably there is a country I’ve never even heard of that sends a tiny delegation. People from every corner of the earth are there. The varying languages, cultures, dress, and ideas all collide for one big event.

One of my favorite events in church history is the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost. It was a day kind of like the Olympic opening ceremonies. Jerusalem was packed and electrified with the energy of one of the special feast days. It was filled with “devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). You could hear chatter in all sorts of different languages as you walked down the streets.

stood the source of its power.One of the great miracles of this particular Pentecost was that while the apostles preached, “each one was hearing them speak in his own language.” (2:6) “And they were amazed and astonished” because they knew that Peter was neither a translator nor a ventriloquist! God was working an incredible sign to make sure everyone both heard the gospel message and under
Between the languages, the mighty rushing wind (2:2), and the tongues as of fire (2:3), God pulled out all the stops to highlight this as a special day—when something bigger than any one nation or language could hold, the day when God gave birth to his church. When you think about it that way, doesn’t it make you appreciate what God had in mind for his family, the body of Christ?

“Two ships passing in the night.”

That was the description I heard about one of the “Contemporary Discussions” (i.e., debates) held at the FHU lectures a few years ago. Each side was represented by a well-respected, well-researched, intelligent speaker. As far as I could tell, neither speaker did anything to convince anyone to “switch sides.” None of the questions that were asked afterwards or comments that I heard made me think that was the case, at least.

I may be mistaken, but I have always assumed that the purpose of a debate was to allow two opposing sides to collide in such a way that truth became clearer. But I’ve never heard of a debate that had the desired effect.

Perhaps one reason is that the people most likely to attend debates are the ones who are already “evangelists” for their point of view. It’s possible there’s an inherent closed-mindedness in debate audiences. I doubt that explains it all, though.

Tonight there was a debate between Bill Nye (the science guy) and Ken Ham (the answers in Genesis guy). I didn’t watch the whole thing, but from what I can tell the results are in. Each side claims some sort of victory and is bothered that the other side didn’t really answer the questions.

That’s the same song and dance you hear after almost every Presidential debate, isn’t it? Usually the perceived winner is based on who had the best one-lined “zingers” or most charisma. The loser is the one who looked unsettled, defensive, confused, or disengaged. Or the guy that I came to the debate disagreeing with, anyway!

But again, wasn’t the point of the debate to use questions to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of a point of view?

Okay, fine, I’ll admit that the point of a Presidential debate probably is more about TV ratings and swinging voters by rhetoric, rather than logic! But let’s stay with the main idea: why is so hard for two people who disagree to discuss their disagreement and actually get somewhere?

Here’s the short answer: it’s easier to talk past each other than it is to talk to each other. In a formal debate, each side has chosen what is believed to be their best material. If you’re in their shoes, do you leave your script to actually answer a new question, or do you stay on script? The security of the known sure is appealing, isn’t it?

But that’s not the only thing going on. It is easier to think about my next response than it is to actually listen and respond to someone else. Active listening is a tough skill. It becomes even harder when emotions are high or I feel like something is at stake. So it’s possible the debaters don’t even really hear each other.

Pride is an issue too. How often are debaters willing to say, “You may have a point there”? I’ve never heard or read it. Admitting a weakness or flawed reasoning isn’t the general practice of most of our conversations. It takes real courage and love of truth to be that vulnerable. I don’t intend to malign character, but it is a real possibility in debates that one or both debaters aren’t interested in fighting for truth, but victory. Many public figures are more interested in gaining followers than what’s right. I’m going to be an optimist and hope that this isn’t the prevailing problem, though!

Maybe the most common reason for debaters totally missing each other is this: despite the agreed terms of the debate, it’s pretty common to see that the two debaters are really looking at different questions. If they’re not looking at different questions, they’re looking at them with such different ways of thinking that they might as well be.

So what do we do about it?

When we find ourselves in disagreements—whether they be in public debates, internet comments, or just lunch table conversations—we have to make sure we’re really talking with each other, not at each other. We have to combat our pride. We have to really have interest in truth. We have to be willing to be proven wrong. And we have to explore the deeper questions to see if we’re even talking about the same things.

I don’t have much hope that we can fix the presidential debates, but I think we can make a difference in our own conversations.

The Triumphant Entry is one of the most dramatic scenes in the gospels. Jesus rides into Jerusalem in an incredible way. Crowds shout “Hosanna!” and even the rocks would cry out if Jesus silenced his disciples. The Pharisees said with a hint of exasperation and exaggeration, “Look! The world has gone after him!” (John 12:19)

After all the tumult dies down, John’s gospel introduces us to some people. He doesn’t tell us their names, just their nationalities. They are Greeks who have come up to worship at Jerusalem. These are “outsiders” who are earnestly seeking God.

These Greeks have one request, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus!” (John 12:21).

Two things catch my attention. First is the simple beauty of that request. Lots of folks came to Jesus looking for something. Some wanted healed. Some wanted fed. Some even wanted a king. But these guys just wished to see Jesus. If we’re not careful, we can get caught up in the (good) things that surround Jesus, and seek after those things rather than Jesus himself. That’s a great mistake!

The second thing I notice is that these Greeks didn’t approach Jesus directly. They could have been afraid to—Jewish rabbis didn’t exactly hang out with Gentiles very often. They might not have known just how inviting Jesus really was. Their hesitancy might have been humility. They might have felt unworthy to ask him directly. Whatever the reason, the Greeks asked Philip, and Philip asked Andrew, and together they told Jesus.

There is a parallel for us here, too. While we can approach Jesus directly, most of us are introduced to him by a friend or family member who knows him a little better. One of the great privileges of my job is that I get to help people see Jesus, but that’s not a job for preachers alone. It is a great opportunity for all of his disciples!

I like to ask myself, “Who in my life is asking to see Jesus?”

Then I’ll ask, “Am I showing him?”

Little things tell a big story.

Whenever I am going to meet someone on Craigslist to buy or sell, I ask them if they’re planning on murdering me. If they don’t laugh at all, or if they laugh way too much, I figure that’d be a cause for concern. It’s a little thing that tells me a little about the person I’m talking to.

Our congregation is like many—it isn’t very vocal. Generally if I get an “amen” it’s because there’s a visitor in the crowd. Maybe they’ve heard the cliché that “amening” is like saying “sic em!” to a dog. It’ll just encourage the preacher to keep on going…

A year or so ago, I was preaching on “Sanctity of Life Sunday” about abortion. In the sermon, I said that “voluntary abortion is nothing but murder.” I got the loudest “amen” I’ve ever heard from one of our members.

You’d think I should have been excited (or at least surprised) that someone once wanted to offer their support of something I said, but I wasn’t.

It bugged me that in several years of preaching, literally, the only time this gentleman ever felt the need to verbally express immediate agreement was when I condemned a particular sin.

When I talked about hope, there was no amen.

When I said that Jesus is the savior of the world, there was no amen.

When I said that God loved us and wants to make something of us, there was no amen.

When I described the awesome power, majesty, and might of sovereign God, there was no amen.

But when I condemned a sin that none of our people were particularly involved in committing, there was a big, bad amen.

Little things tell a big story.

We generally say “amen” when the preacher condemns someone else’s sin, but we’re usually quiet when it is our own.

One problem we all have is how much better we are at condemnation than introspection. Remember that little teaching about a beam in your eye?

I know that our amen-ing brother didn’t mean it this way—but here’s what he communicated that Sunday: the most important thing the church can possibly say is what’s wrong with “those people.” The world’s problem was worthy of more attention than the Lord’s cure. That’s heresy—whether we say it intentionally or not.

Little things tell a big story.

That incident caused me to think about myself. What do I encourage? What do I prioritize? What do I neglect? How do my biases and preferences cause me to emphasize or de-emphasize? Even my reaction to this observation is colored by my way of thinking.

My speech and my silence both communicate. The question is, what are they saying? Little things do tell a very big story!

Michael Whitworth has done it again. This volume is the third in his series of companion guides to books of the Bible, following Epic of God for Genesis and Derision of Heaven for Daniel. These guides meet a need in Christian writing: they are more substantive than most Sunday School guides and more accessible than most worthwhile commentaries. I can recommend these books as great reading for anyone who wants to get to know one of the Biblical books a little bit better.

Living and Longing is timely. It’s always tempting for an author to spend 300 pages chasing rabbits and 0 pages actually challenging his readers, but Michael doesn’t fall into that trap. He does indulge our curiosity and spends some time on some of the curiosities (e.g., the man of lawlessness, holy kisses, etc.), but he makes sure these side trails bring us home to the main point.

I tend to think of 1 and 2 Thessalonians as eschatological books, but Living and Longing really brings out the practical, daily living lessons from the book. He refuses to divorce the hereafter from the here-and-now.

Even when dealing with the difficult topic of God’s wrath, Michael does a good job of keeping us grounded in the lessons we each need.

My plan for Living and Longing is to spread out a few copies among our members before teaching a class or preaching a series on 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and then get feedback from the readers. I then incorporate their feedback into my preaching. I’ve found that to be a helpful way to enrich my teaching on the text, and get a few more people involved in detailed study.

I’d definitely recommend Living and Longing for anyone wanting to know more about these books or who wants to deepen their faith. It is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon.

This is the outline of the thoughts I presented at Evangelism University this weekend in Savannah,TN. I began the class with the “Weekly Worship Critique” skit from the Skit Guys. We then used gift-giving as a framework to discuss worship.

Good & Bad Gifts

What is the WORST gift you’ve ever received? What made that gift so terrible?

A gift is good when there’s thought and meaning behind it. A gift is terrible when those things are missing. A thoughtless gift can be worse than no gift at all.

A bad gift…

• Isn’t something the recipient would enjoy. It might be something the recipient hates! (Ever give an Alabama hat to an Auburn fan?)
• Didn’t have much thought or meaning to it
• Was shoddy, cheap, or second-best quality (Does your girlfriend want a bouquet of dead roses?)
• Is impersonal or focused on the giver rather than the receiver (You don’t want a signed picture of me for your birthday, do you?)

Gift-giving can help us think wisely about worship.

Worship is our gift to God. God has told us what he likes and what he doesn’t like. If we are going to understand how to worship in “spirit and truth” (John 4:24) and please God, we must focus on God’s desires and not just ours. Thinking about ourselves instead of God is a recipe for “vain worship” (see Mark 7:6-13 and Isaiah 29:13-14).

“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29 ESV)

Worship Words

What is the first word that comes to your mind when you think about “worship”?

There are two main words that the New Testament when it describes God-pleasing worship:

LATREUO means to serve or work for. It’s used in Matthew 4:10, Luke 2:37, 4:8, Acts 7:7, 26:7, 27:23, Romans 1:9, 1:25, Hebrews 12:28 and more.

PROSKYNEO means to “express in attitude or gesture one’s complete dependence on or submission to a high authority figure.” It’s a word picture of blowing a kiss, bowing down, and obeying someone that is mighty and loved. It’s used in Matthew 2:2, 4:9, 28:17, John 4:20-24,9:28, Acts 10:25, 24:11, 1 Corinthians 14:25 and more.

Both of these words remind us that the focus of worship must always be on the object of our worship—God.

Worship Gone Wrong

We’re always going to have trouble grasping the beauty and significance of worship if we’re focusing on ourselves instead of God. Remember that when we pray, we enter the throne room of Almighty God! How can we not be moved by such an experience?

Too often we focus on ourselves in worship. The way we talk about worship is important. The audience is not the group of people in the pews. The audience of worship is Father God. The preacher and song leader are not “performing” for the “crowd.” We all have our hearts are on display before God. The fruit of our lips is an offering to God (Hebrews 13:15).

Do any of these sound familiar?

“I didn’t get much out of worship today.”

It wasn’t for you. It was for God. And what did you put into it to begin with?

“I really want to worship like ______ do. I just like it better when…”

Are we worshipping you and your desires or God and his? My preferences can’t be the starting point for evaluating worship.

“I get so bored in church.”

This preacher will admit that not every sermon is exciting or even perfectly helpful, but the prospect of opening your heart to God is something that should always get our attention. When God’s word is read, God is speaking. Are you listening to Him, or the guy behind the pulpit?

“I don’t think God would mind if we did ____ in worship.”

If you’re sure about that, check with scripture. It will tell you what he wants!

Can you think of any examples from scripture where God is displeased with worship? (Amos 5, Exodus 20:3, Jeremiah 12:2, Genesis 4:3-5, Hebrews 11:4).

Suggestions for Worship

God is not unaware of our emotions, needs, and feelings. Worship that pleases God will encourage his people, too. So here are a few practical suggestions for making the most out of our times of corporate worship.

FIRST: Prepare for worship.
If you go to bed at 4am, it’s probably not the preacher’s fault you can’t stay awake at 10am. Get a good night’s rest. Make worship a priority. Consider the awesome task of coming before God—and anticipate it! Leave on time and get there early.

Does your preacher announce a scripture and topic in advance? Make sure you read it. Does your Sunday School teacher assign readings? Don’t neglect them. Do you sing a song with words that you don’t understand? Google “ebon pinion” or “Ebenezer” and help yourself be ready. (Paul said he was ready to sing with the spirit and with understanding in 1 Corinthians 14:15).

SECOND: Evaluate worship using God’s criteria.
It’s easy for me to use the wrong criteria to judge the quality of worship. I can get discouraged if the lady behind me sings off-key.  I can get distracted if a prayer goes long.

Evaluating worship based on these things puts me at the center of worship. Instead, I ought to remember that beautiful and obedient hearts mean more to God than perfect pitch and excitement. Some of us do well to make a “joyful noise” before the Lord! (Psalm 100)

THIRD: Remember to sacrifice.
Good gifts are sacrificial. When David was making preparations for the temple, a man offered to give him his land for the project. David wisely responded, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” (1 Chronicles 21:24)

I find this especially helpful if it is a service that has a lot of songs or topics that aren’t my favorites. I remind myself that it’s not about me—it’s about God! By the way, don’t forget that teens can give financially, too!

FOURTH: Take personal responsibility for worshipping.
It’s easy to blame someone else if we don’t have our hearts in the right place during worship, but a good gift-giver won’t make excuses. He will take personal responsibility for his own heart.

Final Thoughts

A famous and popular preacher was scheduled to speak for a particular church one Sunday. A huge audience had come from long distances to hear him. When the services began, the regular minister approached the pulpit and announced that something had interfered and the famous guest was unable to be there. Several began to get up and leave, disappointed that they wouldn’t be hearing the guest. The minister stood and said, “All who have come here today to worship our guest preacher may now be dismissed. All who have come to worship Almighty God, please remain seated.” Not one person left.

Don’t forget that it is a worship service, not a worship “serve-us”.

For further study, consider…

• John 4, Romans 12, and 1 Corinthians 14. You might also study the passages in the Old Testament that describe the Tabernacle and the Temple and their quality and significance. The Psalms are also the hymnbook of Israel and give you some ideas for your worship.
• More Than a Feeling: Worship that Pleases God by Jimmy Jividen.
• The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today by Everett Ferguson.

Before you read further, I have a confession to make: I can’t stand most “Christian merchandise.”

Bumper stickers, coffee mugs, art, necklaces, bookmarks, pens. When you go to a Christian bookstore, you see all of this Oriental Trading Company stuff that goes from costing a nickel to a dime just because the word Jesus is stamped on it. Take a beautiful picture of a waterfall and it is art. Write the word “peace” on the bottom of it and it becomes “Christian art.”

I’ve never really figured out how stuff can be Christian. Did the artist baptize it? Does it come to church? Is this pen nicer than its unsaved Pilot friends? Maybe it tithes!

I was reading from Alistair Begg’s Made for His Pleasure: Ten Benchmarks of a Vital Faith and came across this thought. Christians tend to see things that become popular in culture and decide that we must have a “Christianized version.”

His example was an exercise fad. “When aerobic exercise, aided by video, grabbed center stage, Christians decided they must have their own version. So they created ‘Praisercize’ to substitute for ‘Jazzercise.’”

At first, I’m tempted to roll my eyes and just write this off as a lame copy of culture, but Begg realizes this is a bigger problem than most might realize.

“The result? Christians who had a desire to get fit neglected the opportunity to plug in with their non-Christian friends, choosing instead to form another ‘holy huddle’: bodies bouncing in time to worship songs. “

The first problem is that rather than engaging in the world around us and living in community with the good, the bad, and the ugly, this behavior causes us to withdraw. We hide, cloistering ourselves to avoid any contact with those people who aren’t like us.

The second problem might be worse. Here’s Begg:

“This allowed them to shun the secular and trivialize the sacred.”

By trying to “Christianize” something, we’ve reduced Christianity from a dynamic, life-changing power to a mere label that’s slapped on merchandise. “Christian” isn’t an attribute of a workout. It’s not a label for art. It isn’t an adjective that enhances some noun.

Christians are disciples. Whole-hearted Christ followers. A relationship with Jesus that is the basis for whatever we do, in word or deed.

Let’s avoid using that term in a way that cheapens its beautiful meaning.