Category: Exploring Church Ministry Blog

We Need the Holy Spirit

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
Orthodox Christianity holds to the great Three-in-One of God – God is indivisibly One and at the same time a Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit.  Christians typically have no problem expressing their prayers and devotion to the Persons of the Father and the Son.  However, when it comes to the Spirit, this Person of the Holy Trinity is often referred to as an “it” or a “force.”  Yet, the Holy Spirit is as much God and as much a Person as our heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
 
We absolutely and totally need the Holy Spirit of God.  Without the Spirit’s help, Jesus is merely looked at by people as one of thousands of individuals crucified in history, and only an example of one who was martyred for his faith.  But Jesus was infinitely more than that.  He is the Son of God.  He is the Savior of the world.  Through Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection and ascension people can be redeemed from empty lives, saved from destructive life-patterns, and given the kind of security and purpose to life that God intended from the beginning of the world for people to possess.  It is the Spirit of God that takes these redemptive events of Jesus and applies them to our lives.  Apart from the Holy Spirit, we are lost because we are completely unable to see the genuine spiritual truth about the cross of Jesus Christ unless God the Holy Spirit breaks into our lives and does an intervention showing us our denial about how we are really doing and our delusions about who we really are (1 Corinthians 2:1-16).
 
            Admitting that we absolutely and totally need the Holy Spirit of God means that the power of Christianity and the Christian life does not reside with me or you; power rests only with Jesus Christ and him crucified with the Spirit witnessing to us of this truth.  In other words, we are powerless.  I realize that this is not a popular message, especially in Western society.  We Americans are powerless?  That sounds ridiculous to a particularly can-do kind of people.  We have done fairly well, thank you very much; we have a couple of cars, a house, a job, and a family.  After all, we worked hard and we did it.  But the thing is that any worldly success and getting the things we want may lead us to the delusion that we have the power to do what we want.
 
            “Oh, sure,” we might reason, “we have problems just like everybody else.  After all, we cannot control everything.”  But we are not powerless just because we have difficult circumstances and a few problem people in our lives.  “God will step in a take-over where I leave off, right?”  Wrong.  Apart from the Holy Spirit of God, we are totally unable to become Christians and live the Christian life.  If we think we manage our lives just fine, with some help from God, then we may be in denial about how much we actually place ourselves at the center of the world and believe we should be able to deal with whatever comes in life.  When our constant response to adverse situations or the realization that we are not handling something well is to try and fix ourselves, we are living the delusion that we have the power to change.
 
            When our first reaction is to search Google to find answers to our problems; when we persistently deal privately with our personal issues; when we expect that our willpower should be enough; or, when we passively resign ourselves to mediocre lives because we have tried to change or be different; then, we are feeding the delusion that we do not really need the Holy Spirit of God but instead feed the idea that more effort or information is what we need in order to find the power to overcome whatever is in my life that needs overcoming.  What we are left with in this approach is more knowledge, but even more discouragement because what we actually need more than anything in this world is the Holy Spirit of God applying the work of Jesus Christ to our lives so that we can truly live the power of a victorious life.
 
            Unfortunately, it typically takes a tragedy or crisis to break our delusion of power – a bad marriage, a family member’s addiction, a runaway child, a terminal illness, a bankruptcy, or a death.  How bad do you and I need to hurt before we will admit that we are not managing our lives well at all, and that the real power to change resides with the Holy Spirit and not me?  Instead of expending enormous amounts of energy trying to keep up appearances of being in control and having power, let’s admit that we are compulsive about looking good to others and ask for help because we are really powerless.
 
            Power is in the cross of Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit testifying to us of God’s great grace.  The Apostle Paul believed this with all his heart.  Although he was a very intelligent and learned person, he did not rely on his abilities but rather trusted in proclaiming the power of Jesus and him crucified.  The cross of Jesus is not just an historical event, but an ongoing reality for us to experience victory over all the brokenness of this world and all the mess we have made of things putting ourselves at the center of the universe.  We need the Holy Spirit of God to intervene and apply Christ’s finished work to us. 
 

 

            That means that it is not enough for churches and Christian organizations to engage in strategic planning and mission statements, although these are important and have their place.  What all God’s people need is the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit more than anything else.  It is the Spirit that we must rely on to truly do the work of ministry and live the Christian life.  Learning to discern the Spirit’s guidance is not just a nice thing, but is essential for every church and each believer.  Soli Deo Gloria.

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.