Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

Reconcile the Past

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
            The Bible exhorts the believer in Jesus to live according to the truth.  When we fail to do so we suffer spiritual loss.  We are told to confess and reject all sinful patterns of past behavior and not allow these to influence us today (Titus 2:12; 1 Peter 1:14, 18).  Neglecting such spiritual responsibility will inevitably cause repercussions in other areas of life – emotional, mental and physical.  When the Apostle Paul said “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” he could say that because he had come to terms with and reconciled his own terrible past (Philippians 3:4-13).
 
            It is both helpful and necessary to go back into one’s life and deal with the past on the basis of biblical truth.  When we do so, we are seeking to honor God and obey his Word.  Ask the Lord to turn his searchlight of truth on you and your past.  Trust God to bring to your remembrance all those times which you need to reconcile.  Make a choice before God to be as honest as you possibly can.  The following are some suggestions from a former professor and mentor, the late Dr. Victor Matthews, (put in my own words) to carefully follow:
 
1.      Start with your earliest memories as a child.  Write out (reject the temptation to just think about it or talk it out) every time you sinned or were hurt.  Be complete, name the people involved, state what happened, do not try and protect yourself or other people and do not fantasize and let your thoughts run amok.
 
2.      Evaluate each past event on the basis of truth.  If you sinned, then confess it to God truthfully and receive his forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9).  If you were hurt by someone, and it was their fault, then state “so and so should not have done that to me.”  When you have finished writing out the event, then deliberately stop and completely forgive the person(s) (Mark 11:25-26).  If you were at fault in some way, then confess that to God, as well.
 
3.      Resist the temptation to hurry with this process!  Do not generalize by putting many events into one.  Be specific and take the time necessary to get in touch with what the Holy Spirit of God is trying to help you connect with.  This practice of reconciling the past is not introspection, so do not indulge in self-pity, self-criticism, or develop a martyr syndrome.
 
4.      When you have finished each event and have confessed and/or forgiven the person(s) then do two things, and these are absolutely vital to bringing closure to past hurtful events:
 
—Make an affirmationthat Satan, the Accuser, may no longer use what you have written out against you.  Make this statement and say it with flavor:  “In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I take this event away from Satan and declare that he may not use it against me anymore!” (Ephesians 4:27; 5:11; 6:14).
 
—Choose to receivethe healing the Lord Jesus died to provide for those who believe in him and live according to his Word (Isaiah 53:5).  Make this statement and say it with sincerity and conviction:  “Now that I have made this right with you, heavenly Father, I receive the healing you have provided for me through the cross of Jesus Christ.”
 

 

When you have finished your work (and, by the way, do not overlook the anger and/or grudges you may have against God) then count it finished.  After all, when Jesus said “it is finished!” he meant what he said.  Reconciling the past means leaning into the finished work of Jesus for our complete healing.  If and when you think of the bad event in your past, then firmly state:  “I have dealt with that truthfully and it is settled.”  Whenever you sin from this point forward, confess it, receive forgiveness, and make the affirmations of truth.  In doing so we are living by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.  Amen and amen.

False Guilt versus Godly Sorrow

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
            In many ways pastors and church leaders are in the guilt business.  No, I am not talking about ministerial dopes using guilt as a tool to get congregants to serve in the church’s programs.  Instead, I mean that preachers, teachers, and leaders traffic in dealing with people who either feel a false sense of shame, or have godly sorrow.  Knowing the difference between the two is critical to having a church ministry that is truly helping people and is life-giving, or a ministry that just gins-up worldly sorrow and produces spiritual death (2 Corinthians 7:10).
 
            Because we live in a fallen world everyone exhibits tendencies toward false guilt at times in their lives.  We can all identify with these dynamics of worldly sorrow that leads to nowhere:  taking responsibility for others; being so concerned for helping others that there is a failure to take care of oneself; self-hatred; martyr syndrome; hopelessness and a victim mentality; over-emphasizing what you have done wrong.  In other words, there is plenty of true guilt to have in this life without scrambling to create the kind of guilt and sorrow that God himself does not level on us.  Heaping unnecessary guilt on ourselves or others is just plain egregious and goes against Christ’s gospel of grace.
 
            But that does not mean we should never feel guilty; it is just that we need to experience the right kind of guilt.  There are plenty of lists in the New Testament about what sinful behavior and speech really is, and we ought to stick with those things rather than add our separate list of the terrible ten or nasty nine which do not appear in Scripture.  For example, Paul said to the Galatian church that the acts of the sinful nature are obvious:  sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and the like (Galatians 5:19-21).  Let’s be struck to the heart about gossiping about another person, slandering a fellow brother or sister in Christ, or viewing pornography rather than worrying about why someone failed to say “hi” to me in the hallway.
 
            Before mentioning Paul’s description of what godly sorrow is really like, let’s acknowledge that there are people who avoid true guilt at all costs.  When confronted with the truth, an avoider of godly sorrow will be characterized by one or more of the following:  defensiveness; rationalizing the behavior or speech; making excuses; blaming others; feeling threatened and switching the focus on the other.  In short, worldly sorrow does not take responsibility but sticks with the delusion that they caught a bad break or that others pushed them to it.  The avoider of responsibility may go on and on about how unfair life has been to them or even shed tears in order to receive empathy when they really have no intention of changing.  When a person gives you a blank affect when telling you what they have done wrong and exhibits no indication of wanting to face the consequences of their actions, beware!  They want you to agree with them.
 
            According to the Apostle Paul, godly sorrow produces several things (2 Corinthians 7:11).  It creates earnestness to hear the truth about how your actions wounded another with a sincerity to listen and care for those you have hurt.  True guilt is an eagerness to make amends and understands the person(s) they hurt need time to forgive.  Godly sorrow brings indignation – a real sense of understanding how bad the actions or words were that wounded another.  Godly sorrow is alarmed at the reality that you have and still could easily harden your heart and continue to abuse another.  Godly sorrow knows how easy it is to fall back into destructive patterns that damage others, and invites accountability and help.  Godly sorrow has a longing to restore broken relationships and desires proper boundaries so as to not hurt the other again.  Godly sorrow has a deep concern for anyone touched by the abuse.  In short, godly sorrow is the willingness to face any and all consequences that helps others feel safe.
 
            We all need to begin identifying and dealing with our own destructive patterns.  We must actively listen by welcoming confrontation and input from others; taking responsibility to remember what others tell us; telling others the truth about how we use them to help enable us in our sinful patterns; stopping the belief that hiding truth protects others; telling yourself the truth; and, being honest about your feelings even if they expose that you are in a terrible place.
 
            Every one of us has had both false guilt and avoided true guilt.  We will tend, however, to be dominant with one or the other.  It is essential to determine which we tend toward.  Most people who heap false guilt upon themselves constantly want to blame themselves.  Most avoiders of true guilt want to see themselves as struggling with false guilt.  This really cannot be done alone because, the Scripture tells us, the heart is deceitful.  This is why belonging to a church family and getting involved in the church’s ministries is essential for us – because we need one another in order to become the people God wants us to be.  And church leaders must have a solid sense of when they are talking with people who exhibit signs of genuine repentance and when they are trying to be manipulated into feeling empathy for an abuser.
 

 

            By God’s grace the church of Jesus Christ will grow together into maturity as we commit ourselves to helping one another face the truth and consequences about ourselves.  Even so, come Lord Jesus. 

Justified

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
            I am a firm believer in making daily affirmations of truth based upon what God has done for us in Christ.  The Christian doctrine of justification means that God has justified us and made us right with him and all creation through the cross of Jesus.  This is not only a doctrine to believe, but a reality to be lived into each and every day for the follower of Christ.
 
            Because I am a pastor, I occasionally get the person who comes into my office and does not like the way I do ministry, or is upset about Sunday’s sermon, or thinks I should be doing something I am not doing.  My initial gut reaction is to want to justify myself – to defend my ministry and my life.  Such encounters can easily leave me feeling insecure, like a vulnerable teenager trying to look cool in the middle of his awkwardness.  I even once had a person complain to me that on a particular Sunday my shoes were not shined well enough.  For a person like me who is borderline obsessive-compulsive, that was not an easy mental slough-off; I really wanted to beat myself up over the lack of shiny shoes!
 
            Yet, the truth of the Christian life is that I have no need to justify myself because God has already done it in Christ.  Here are some regular affirmations we can tell ourselves in order to let Christ’s righteousness sink deep down into our souls:
 
1         I thankfully accept who I am in my unchangeable physical appearance which God has uniquely designed for me so that Jesus can bring a special view to others through my life (Psalm 139:13-18; 2 Corinthians 10:12, 12:9-10).
 
2          I thankfully acknowledge that I am unconditionally loved and treasured by God who wanted a relationship with me and to whom I now belong forever (Romans 8:31-32, 38-39; John 6:44, 17:23).
 
3          I thankfully acknowledge that I am unconditionally accepted as a worthy person to God because of Jesus Christ in whom I trust for all things (Ephesians 1:16; Romans 4:6-8; Isaiah 61:10).
 
4          I thankfully acknowledge that I am a secure person because my heavenly Father cares about me and asks me to trust His leadership and goodness (Romans 8:28; Matthew 6:25-33; Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 37:3-7, 23).
 
5          I thankfully acknowledge that I am in a process of growth.  I have a sinful nature that is part of my personality but that is not who I am.  I consider myself dead to the sinful nature and alive and responsive to God instead.  I am not yet what I will be someday, but I am not what I used to be either.  I accept my struggles with sin as opportunities to depend more on God and on Christ’s justification for me (1 Peter 2:1-3; Romans 6:11; 2 Corinthians 10:13; Galatians 5:16).
 
6          I thankfully acknowledge that I am a competent person who is adequate to fulfill God’s will successfully each day.  My strength is supplied by God’s Holy Spirit who works through me to make an important and eternal impact on others with the love of God and the message of Christ (Philippians 2:13, 4:13; 1 Corinthians 10:13; 1 Peter 4:10-11; 2 Corinthians 5:20).
 
We all as Christians need to think the thought that we are secure in being loved by God, accepted and cared for by Him, and that we have important lives to live for Him.  Therefore, we are not threatened or devastated by the way some people treat us.  They do not determine our self-worth.  We might be pained when others let us down, but it is not the end of the world.  We can continue to act responsibly toward them as Christians without demanding that they understand us, accept us, or respect us.  It would be great if they did, but not devastating if they do not, since what really counts is God’s love and acceptance of us.
 
Many if not most people try to find acceptance and significance through parents, siblings, peers, church, achievements, appearance, work, etc.  Yet, none of those sources can satisfy or fulfill our basic personal needs.  This is why there are so many people who walk around feeling resentment, anxiety, guilt, a vague sense of emptiness and even despair.
 
 
 
But when a person trusts in Jesus Christ as the only true source of justification to satisfy all of the most basic of personal needs we have as people, that person can learn to regard herself in her new identity with Christ.  Her faith can be trained to believe in and focus on her new self-concept even in circumstances when she feels the pain of rejection.  She can rebound from disappointment.  She can forgive others and continue to minister and serve without dependence upon positive feedback from another.
 

 

To be justified by Christ means that we can live in the security of being a child of God without depending on others to do for us what God has already done through Jesus.  Learning to live in this way takes daily affirmations of faith and truth.  May we all tell ourselves the truth daily, and so glorify God and build up the church.

Christian Unity

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
The rallying cry of the church is the gospel, living and proclaiming the message of Christ’s cross instead of grouping ourselves around voices that cater to our personal preferences.  That is the message the Apostle Paul made clear to the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 1:10-18).
 
            There are two pledges we need to make to God and to each other in the church of Jesus Christ:  1) I will be a unifying church member; and, 2) I will not let my church be about my preferences and desires.
 
            God desires for Christians to get along and to work together, and that cannot happen if all we want is what we want.  Jesus himself said to his disciples and to us as his followers:  “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).  Unity in the church and communicating the message of forgiveness and love through the cross can only happen when people seek to be gracious to each other so that a watching world can see the validity of Christ within us.
 
            Christians all have a responsibility as followers of Jesus to be a source of unity and not division.  Paul said to the church at Ephesus that all believers are to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).  Unity does not just happen; it must be pursued and be a common value of everyone in the church.  Paul said to the church of the Colossians that the virtues of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience are to be tied together with love, which binds them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14).  To the church of the Philippians, Paul was equally straightforward by saying that we are to be like-minded, having the same love for each other that we have for Jesus, being united in spirit and purpose.  We are to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility we are to consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:1-4).  Unity is common theme in all of Paul’s letters, and he considered it as a top priority that all the churches uphold the cross of Christ and sacrifice anything less in order to communicate God’s love in Christ to others.
 
            The specific problem in the Corinthian church was their allegiance to different individuals, that is, playing the game of favorite preacher and pastor and grouping around how that particular pastor teaches and does ministry.  It is a classic case of church members saying to each other:  “That’s not how so and so did it!”  Following our pet preachers ends up in division because people then focus on the methodsof ministry rather than the substanceof the ministry itself:  the wondrous cross of Christ that saves us from our pettiness and transforms us into forgiven people who spread forgiveness and healing through cauterizing wounds and being peacemakers.  In other words, our primary loyalty is to be Christ and the message of the cross, and not to particular personalities or programs.
 
            The sin of the Corinthians was misguided loyalties, and the answer to wrong priorities is to have Jesus and the cross our central and guiding allegiance.  The Corinthian believers were emotionally tied to the pastor who baptized them and who was a significant force for good in their lives.  It is more than understandable to have a special relationship with the pastor who baptized your children, or taught you, or was there for you when you needed it most.  What is not okay, however, is following that pastor as if he/she is Jesus, and insisting that church be done the way my favorite preacher does it.  Christian unity means to agree with one another about the good news of Christ, and let everything else be a matter of lesser importance.  Can you live with that?
 
            Here is a sobering reality that has been true throughout church history and is no different today:  not everyone in every church is there to follow Jesus – and as long as that is a reality, there will be schisms, factions, cliques, divisions and disunity because the visible church always has a mix of righteous and unrighteous people within it concerned more about power politics than humbly following Jesus and spreading his message of forgiveness. 
 
Yet, also a reality is that sin in the church has been taken seriously throughout history as something that destroys its unity and purity.  It has only been in the last three-hundred years that sin has been viewed as something that is only personal, and a matter between the individual and God.  In the early churches believers desiring to repent of their sins would typically spend a period of time fasting and praying and then appear before the entire church to make a public confession.  I am not necessarily endorsing that method for us, but the message remains essential:  to agree with one another and make peace by stopping the bleeding and bringing healing to the community of the redeemed.  The power of Christianity is in the blood of Jesus to forgive sins, and not in trying to ensure things get done the way we think they ought to get done in the way our favorite people do them.
 
            Thom Rainer is a nationally recognized church researcher.  In a survey of churches in membership decline, he found several common dominant behavior patterns that emerged.  Here are a few of them, and they all bring some form of disunity:
  1. Worship wars.  One or more factions in the church want the music just the way they like it.  Any deviation is met with anger and complaining.
  2. Viewing the preservation and protection of the church building as one of the highest priorities, above the church members’ spiritual growth and maturity.
  3. Particular programs are held in such high regard that, even if they are not effective, the church keeps doing them.
  4. Attitudes of entitlement.  A sense of deserving special treatment and attention.
  5. Greater concern about change than the gospel.  Rainer says, “Almost any noticeable changes in the church evoke the ire of many; but those same passions are not evident about participating in the work of the gospel to change lives.”
  6. Evangelistic apathy.  Very few members share their faith on a regular basis; they are more concerned for their own needs, and not so much of those outside the church.
One of the jobs of church leadership is to make sure that there is unity around the things that are most important to God.  Christian unity is not built on trying to keep everyone happy; it is built on the good news of Jesus Christ.  Paul said that the cross of Christ is more important than anything else, no matter how important we think that “something” may be.  Christians must unite around the gospel.  All the practical and important stuff of human life must be shaped and governed by the cross of Jesus, because that is where God’s power saved the world and where true hope lies for everyone. 
 

 

            Paul did not demand that all Christians be identical.  Instead, he invited us to identify with Jesus Christ first and last.  We all need God’s will done in our lives more than we need our preferences realized.  If that seems foolish, then let’s embrace foolishness because the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but the power of God for those who believe.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.