Living With Integrity

“There's this idea that to live out of conformity with how I feel is hypocrisy; but that's a wrong definition of hypocrisy, To live out of conformity to what I believe is hypocrisy. To live in conformity with what I believe, in spite of what I feel, isn't hypocrisy; it's integrity.”

    - Erik Thoennes, quoted in Has 'Authenticity' Trumped Holiness?

BTW - This is a very good article which I highly recommend.

Tweeking Your Prayer Life

Does your prayer life need a little "tweeking"? Read The Power and Privilege of God's People by David Mathis

Now is the time to take a fresh look at your private prayer life and dream about a tweak or two you could make in the coming days. Typically the best way to grow and make headway is not a total overhaul, but identifying one or a couple small changes that will pay dividends over time.

Or maybe you have little-to-no real private prayer life (which might be as common among professing Christians as it’s ever been), and you really need to start from scratch. You may feel first-hand the weight of Francis Chan’s alarm, “My biggest concern for this generation is your inability to focus, especially in prayer.” Perhaps it’s true of you, and you’re ready for change.

Whether you’re in need of a little self-evaluation, or learning as a beginner, I’d like to offer a few practical flashpoints on private prayer. But let’s start with why private prayer, or “closet prayer,” is so important in the first place.

Praying “in the Closet”

“Closet prayer” gets its name from Jesus’s famous “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5–8. The context is Jesus’s instructions for not “practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them” (Matthew 6:1).

When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:5–6)

Just as praying in earshot of others had its immanent rewards in first-century Judaism, so also it does in our twenty-first-century church communities, whether it’s in church or small group or just at the table with friends and family. It can be easy to slide into impressing others as the driving motivation for our praying with others, whether its our length, tone, topic, or jargon, all carefully chosen to produce certain effects in our human hearers alone.

It’s a tough line to walk, because we must pray publicly — in church and in our homes and elsewhere — and public prayer should take into account that others are listening; it should have others in mind. But the danger lurks of sidelining God and shifting our focus to making ourselves look impressive.

Test of Authenticity

But “closet prayer” offers a test of authenticity for our public praying. As Tim Keller comments on Matthew 6:5–6,

The infallible test of spiritual integrity, Jesus says, is your private prayer life. Many people will pray when they are required by cultural or social expectations, or perhaps by the anxiety caused by troubling circumstances. Those with a genuinely lived relationship with God as Father, however, will inwardly want to pray and therefore will pray even though nothing on the outside is pressing them to do so. They pursue it even during times of spiritual dryness, when there is no social or experiential payoff. (Prayer, 23)

Private prayer is an important test of whether we are real.TweetRemedy for Inadequacy
But private prayer is not just a test of our trueness, but also an ongoing remedy for our inadequacies and the lack of desire we often feel for God. Prayer, says John Piper, is “not only the measure of our hearts, revealing what we really desire, it is also the indispensible remedy for our hearts when we do not desire God the way we ought” (When I Don’t Desire God, 153).

Private prayer shows who we really are spiritually and is essential in healing the many places we find ourselves broken, needy, lacking, and rebellious.

The Prison of Self Expression

Found a great piece by Trevin Wax entitled Discipleship in the "Age of Authenticity." The excerpt below is the closing paragraphs. I highly recommend reading the entire post.

....On the other hand, we should be the kind of people who have good news to offer in an age where “gospel” is “self-actualization.” The whole idea of discovering and being true to yourself can be rather exhausting. The narrative paints a picture of exhilaration in casting off society’s restraints and doing whatever it takes to be true to yourself. 

But what if the self you are true to is one that no one else wants to be with? What if the self you become is dastardly in its final form, not beautiful and attractive? What if, like Elsa in Frozen, you “let it go,” “turn away and slam the door,” only to find yourself in a lonely ice palace of your own making, a palace that is also a prison?

The church’s response must be to proclaim a gospel that comes from outside ourselves – no matter how countercultural this may seem. When people in our culture discover how exhausting it is to try to be “true to themselves,” when looking further and further inward eventually shows them they haven’t the resources to transform their own lives, the church must be ready to break in with good news that life change isn’t mustered up from within but granted through grace from without.

We are to challenge the narrative that happiness is found solely in self-expression. The biblical view of the self is that we are broken, twisted, and sinful. The self is something that needs redemption, not expression. And this redemption takes place within a redeemed community, not as spiritual individuals piecing together our own strategy for personal spirituality and fulfillment, but walking together with people who shape and form us into the image of Christ.

Authentic Prayer

Interesting question: Is politeness killing your prayer life? Read this piece by Christel Humfrey:

Christians in North America are generally polite pray-ers. We tend to pray correct, respectful words that we think God wants to hear. But let's be honest, many of our prayers are tentative, repetitive, and somewhat boring.

Intimate relationships require authentic feelings. Our innermost thoughts—however wrong or immature—are shared in trust. So why do we keep God at arm's length? Are we trying to be something we are not? Are we afraid to trouble Him? God is our Father, yet we often treat Him like a distant relative.I'm all for politeness with acquaintances. But real relationships require more. If my husband only spoke distant and polite words to me, our relationship would wither and die. I want to hear his struggles, his fears, his anger, and his joys. I want to process with him, not just hear his conclusions. I want him to trust me.

Be Authentic in Prayer

Recently, I was reading through Jeremiah, and I was struck by how real his prayers were. He didn't pretty up his words. He prayed heartfelt words. He brought his complaints to God and pleaded with Him.

"Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?" (Jer. 20:18)

"Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved" (Jer. 17:4).

What if we prayed what we really felt? Our words would come as no surprise to God, but we may be humbled when our foolish thoughts become words. Sometimes we feel things but can't really define or understand them until we speak them out loud. So we vent them to friends or shove them down deep not wanting to trouble God with our "little" cares. We make a critical mistake when we don't bring our troubles immediately to God. Not only does He care, but He also has the power to change things.

But the Christian can approach the Father with boldness (Heb. 4:16, Rom. 5:2). We are beloved children, not distant employees. We don't need to fear Him because the cross happened. Christ paid the penalty for our sin and clothed us in His own righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). So we take an uncomfortable leap of faith, not because we have confidence in ourselves, but because Christ is trustworthy, and God has adopted us as His own.Prayer brings us to a vulnerable place. We lay bare our hearts to God in prayer. Our carefully created persona is peeled back until we stand naked and exposed before a holy God. This is an uncomfortable—no, terrifying—thought without Christ's blood shed on our behalf. There is no pretending with God. He knows our thoughts before we speak them (Ps. 139:4). Every hair on our head is numbered (Matt. 10:30). He knows us. The real us.

Expect to Be Changed

When we bring our complaints and requests before our heavenly Father, something unexpected happens. We come to Him hoping for a change of circumstances and leave with a new perspective. We are changed by prayer. We see this pattern often in the Psalms. A complaint turns to praise through the course of prayer. If we apply this template to our own prayer lives, we may be surprised by the fruit it bears.

When it's just you and God in private prayer, why not be brutally honest? You can trust Him with your heart because He cares for you. Authentic prayer deepens communion. It grows assurance and inflames love. Go ahead and jump in the deep end with God. Polite prayer may be more comfortable, but authentic prayer transforms hearts.

Do you feel free to be honest with God in prayer? If you stopped being polite, what would you say to God?

"Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper?" (Jer. 12:1)

Perhaps if we prayer with the authenticity of the Psalms, we'd have more authentic relationships with God. What a concept!

Authentic

Are you acting, or are you authentically who God wants you to be? From Lisa Great at Charisma:

Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock are actors/actresses who can convince you they are the character they are portraying because they have mastered the art of acting. But as soon as they step out of character, who they really are is seen by those who are behind the scenes. Some of these people have track records off set that make them even more respectable, while others have some personal issues that have discounted their character.

Religion is a master at teaching people how to say the right thing, act the right way and make people believe you are doing better than you really are. Some people put on Golden Globe performances when in church, talking to other Christians or even when praying, but not even a Golden Globe performance can fool the God of heaven and earth.

King David was called a man after God's own heart, not because he mastered the act of religion and right living, but because he allowed the authenticity of his heart to be seen by God and others. Listen to something he said in Psalm 22:2-3 (NASB), "O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest. Yet, You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel." David allowed his true feelings to be spoken, so what he believed about God could rise above his circumstances.

When we shut people down by not letting them share what they are really thinking and feeling, there is no way for them to tap the into the well of salvation that gushes with living water. Religion wants to silence your voice, but God wants to hear your voice. Your pain, your struggle, your trial, your authenticity is someone else's victory.

If we are going to reap the harvest, we have to be willing to listen to people's pain so the promise is real to them, not just the right words. This has to start in the church, and from there it will flow to the nations. Authenticity builds trust and when someone trusts you, they will be authentic around you.

Are you an actor or authentic? Others know, but do you?

Free To Be Me

The Freedom that Comes from Grace (Scotty Smith by way of Darryl Dash)

Grace is the end of all posturing and pretending.

• Because of grace, I no longer have to pretend to be someone different than I am. Grace meets me right where I am.

• Because of grace, I don’t have to measure up, because I couldn’t anyway. Jesus has measured up on my behalf, and it is enough.

• Because of grace, I can accept the harshest criticism, knowing that even worse is true of me than they know, but it’s all been dealt with by Jesus.

• Because of grace, I can be free from needing the approval of others, knowing that I already have the only approval that really matters.

• Because of grace, I can lean into honest relationships with others, knowing that I don’t have to fear being exposed when I’m dressed in the righteousness of Christ.

Messed Up People

"....so let's be done with the comparison game. Let's be done with constantly fighting for the higher moral ground to stand on and look down on everyone else. Let's be done with thinking we can actually earn something that is impossible to earn. Let's stop trying to be perfect and righteous because those are not the people God is looking for. God is looking for people who can admit their needs and surrender to a Savior, because if the Bible is any indication, it doesn't matter how messed up you are.If you love him, he can and will use you."

            -Jefferson Bethke, Jesus > Religion, page 90

Authentic

"Spiritual experience that does not arise from God’s word is not Christian experience.… Not all that passes for Christian experience is genuine. An authentic experience of the Spirit is an experience in response to the gospel. Through the Spirit the truth touches our hearts, and that truth moves our emotions and effects our wills. "

— Tim Chester and Steve Timmis,  Total Church  (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), pg 31

HT: Of First Importance

Community of Fractured People

"We've seen how beautiful it can be to follow Jesus into this new way of being human. But one of the things I like the most about Jesus is how much He loves humanity in its brokenness. If He was surrounded by fractured people then, why would we expect it to be any different now? I actually think it is a larger mistake when we Christians attempt to pretend that our lives are more together than they really are in order to 'manage our image' before the broader culture. Come look at our perfect church and our perfect family. And if you join us, maybe one day you, too, can have a perfect life. That kind of spin is a breeding ground for disappointment."

- Jonathan Martin in Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, page 190

Embrace Your Scars

"..that's the beauty, or genius, of Jesus' whole new way of being human - in Him, our scars are no longer a source of shame. In fact (and this is perhaps the most revolutionary part), our scars, in a sense, authenticate us. After Christ's resurrection, the disciples were able to recognize Him by His scars. the wounds inflicted on Him on the cross told a story that the world needed to hear.

This is part of what it means to follow Jesus in becoming people from the future: We become the kind of people who no longer have to hide their scars. Our scars reveal who we are. The fact that we have experienced profound suffering in life- the fact that we carry what may seem to be unsightly scars,- does not disqualify us from following Jesus,. It may be precisely what qualifies us."

Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, by Jonathan Martin, page 89

"There is no wound so grotesque that it cannot become a resource for healing. That's the way of the future. The world we live in tells us to hide our scars, to pretend we are stronger and more beautiful than we are. The new world God is creating through us is one in which scars are displayed like merit badges instead of hidden under makeup. We don't conceal our scars because our scars are our story, and our story, however broken, is a story of the tenderness of God."

Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, by Jonathan Martin, page 107

The Real You Meets the Real God

“The only way to come to God is by taking off any spiritual mask. The real you has to meet the real God. He is a person.

Your heart could be, and often is, askew. That’s okay. You have to begin with what is real. Jesus didn’t come for the righteous. He came for sinners. All of us qualify. The very things we try to get rid of—our weariness, our distractedness, our messiness—are what get us in the front door! That’s how the gospel works. That’s how prayer works.

In bringing your real self to Jesus, you give him the opportunity to work on the real you, and you will slowly change. The kingdom comes when Jesus becomes king of your life. But is has to be your life. You can’t create a kingdom that doesn’t exist, where you try to be better than you really are. Jesus calls that hypocrisy—putting on a mask to cover the real you.

So instead of being paralyzed by who you are, begin with who you are. That’s how the gospel works. God begins with you.”

           — Paul Miller  A Praying Life (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2009), 33-34


Hat Tip: Of First Importance

Beware Gilderoy Lockhart

Have you read any books by the Christian versions of Gilderoy Lockhart? You Harry Potter fans will catch the reference. He was the teacher at the Hogwarts school who wrote books claiming experiences he had not actually had, and got teaching authority he had not really earned.

Jeff Dunn writes about the Christian versions of Lockhart at Internet Monk. He even names some names.

He's right. I suggest you read it.

It is Jesus...

“It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal”.

              – Pope John Paul II

Hat Tip: The Anchoress

Christian Urban Legends (for Preachers & Hearers)

Have you ever heard a preacher repeat one of these Preacher Urban Legends?  If you are a preacher (full or part time) have you ever told one of these stories without confirmation/

1. The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” says Jesus in Mark 10:25. Maybe you’ve heard of the gate in Jerusalem called the “eye of the needle.” The camel could pass through it only after stooping down and having all its baggage taken off.

The illustration is used in many sermons as an example of coming to God on our knees and without our baggage. The only problem is… there is no evidence for such a gate. The story has been around since the 15th century, but there isn’t a shred of evidence to support it.

2. The high priest tied a rope around his ankle so that others could drag him out of the Holy of Holies in case God struck him dead.

Various versions of this claim have been repeated by pastors, but it is a legend. It started in the Middle Ages and keeps getting repeated. There is no evidence for the claim in the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephus, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud, Mishna or any other source. Furthermore, the thickness of the veil (three feet) would have precluded the possibility of a priest being dragged out anyway.

There are more "legends" at the link. I must confess that I have used both of these stories, but I will never do so again.  We need to practice integrity in Bible teaching and preaching, so that listeners can trust what is taught. If you hear one of these whoppers being told, please encourage the speaker to check his facts!

Hat Tip: Kingdom People

Christian Music's "Certain Sound"

Yesterday I linked to a post on the History of Worship Music. Today from Christianity Today via -Patrol Magazine comes the Question "does Christian music have a certain (bland) sound?"

Last week, Christianity Today music guy Russ Breimeier, in a newsletter I somehow failed to get, talked about something we at Patrol have debated for several years now: the “sound” of Christian music. That unmistakable sound that outs a passing song on the radio as Christian music, even when you’ve heard only a few seconds—seconds that didn’t happen to include any lyrics. Many, many friends have confirmed their possession of this awkward sixth sense, the ability to spot a Chris Tomlin or MercyMe or Casting Crowns single after hearing approximately 2.5 seconds of strumming. Breimeier asked for affirmation from his newsletter readers, and planned to report the findings the next week (today).

It really is a shame that we missed the memo, because dude, this is totally like what we specialize in. Here’s how I would describe it: utterly and completely soulless. Production with no heart, guitars obviously being strummed by passionless studio musicians who get paid by the output, a sort of pleasureless concoction of light-rock’s meager elements. Music that is made for a company to sell records or a person to sell their ministry, or any scenario where music is displaced as the primary focus. If you happen to catch any vocals, they’re even more of a tipoff: unbridled earnestness, more about the actual subject of the song than the “hey, I’m singing pop music and it’s awesome” factor. How can one detect all of that in about 3ish seconds? I have no idea, but I know it is more than possible.

I have not noticed the "soulless" sound of Christian music. Maybe that's just because I'm not a musician and do not have a trained musical taste.

What do you think?

Baghdad Bob Christians

Further thoughts from my reading of 1st Kings:

Remember "Baghdad Bob"- the spokesman for Saddam Hussein who back in 2003 denied all U.S. military successes during the invasion of Iraq up to the moment U.S. Marines were coming in his front door. He was a lot of fun for a while, but what a pathetic figure.

The story of King Rehoboam is told in 1 Kings 15:21-31. After Jeroboam rebelled with the 10 northern tribes, Rehoboam continued to reign over Judah for many years. In the fifth year of his reign Pharaoh Shishak invaded Judah and took treasure from Rehoboam's house, including gold shields made by King Solomon. After Pharaoh left, Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace the gold ones. His guards went in and out, carrying the bronze shields as if nothing had changed.

Can't you just hear Rehoboam's thoughts- "Invasion, what invasion? Never heard of no Pharaoh Shishak. Everything looks the same here. After all, bronze looks very much like gold - can't tell the difference! I've never been defeated. Nothing is wrong with my kingdom- all is well." Shades of Baghdad Bob!

I've been like that myself at times. All my outward actions can look right -reading the Bible, going to church, lifting my hands. Yet inside, where others cannot see, there is nothing but deadness and dry bones. But if anyone asks: "Nothing is wrong with my kingdom - all is well." I have become Baghdad Bob. How many people in the average church meeting next Sunday will be carrying bronze shields? The only cure is to face the truth, and to be honest with the One who is truth. He can turn our bronze back into gold if we will let Him.

Jesus has some words for all us Baghdad Bob Christians:

17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. (Rev. 3:17-18 ESV)