Jonathan Alexander » Theological Musings

3 Questions to Ask in the Silence of God

jonathan alexander — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:43:44 +0000

An excerpt from “The Silence of God” message in our Desperate Days (the Book of Job) series

How do we respond when God seems silent? There is something frustratingly mysterious about the silence of God. I don’t have any easy answers for you. I don’t have a plug and play formula… do this or that and God will show up. But I do have 3 Questions to Ask in the Silence of God. They won’t erase the tension and frustration, but they may help guide you through the fog.

1. Is my suffering caused by my sin? While Job’s suffering was not caused by his sin, and while not all of our suffering is caused by our sin, there are times when our suffering is a result of our sinful choices. God designed life to be lived within His life-giving and life-sustaining boundaries, and when we choose to live outside of those boundaries, consequences, discipline, and suffering results. The Apostle Paul instructs us, “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). When we choose to sin and rebel against God, we quench the voice of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. At times, God allows the consequences to come to bear. And it seems as though He’s silent. He’s actually giving us what we wanted… life without His “interference.”

When I was a senior in college, I was arrested for a DUI. After spending the night in jail, I spent the next year cleaning up the mess I created. And there were times, even when I prayed to God that He would resolve things, I sensed His silence. I wholeheartedly believe God is a God of love, grace, and forgiveness, but I also believe He lets the consequences play out. At times, it feels like the “time out” we give our kids. They want to do their own thing. So we put them in their room for a time. We don’t stop loving them, but they do experience our silence. Honestly evaluate whether your suffering caused by your sin?

2. Am I over-dependent on the experience more than the relationship? You’ve likely heard the term “dark night of the soul.” St. John of the Cross wrote about God allowing us to experience the silence (and what feels like His absence) to see whether we’re longing more for the experience of being in relationship with Him more than we’re actually longing for Him. Will we still love God, worship Him, and live by faith when we’re not experiencing the warm fuzzy… when the experience and the passion is lacking… when we feel like we’re in the desert? Let’s be honest. At times we want the water more than the Fountain… the warmth more than the Flame… the green pastures more than the Shepherd. We want the blessing more than the Blesser. Suffering and the silence of God reveal our motives and desires.

3. Will I choose faith? Job spoke this affirmation of his faith in God in the middle of the toughest crisis of his life (Job 19:25-27):

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.
Even after my skin is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I shall see God;
Whom I myself shall behold,
And whom my eyes will see and not another.
My heart faints within me!

Job says, “As for me, I know my Redeemer lives… even when my heart faints within me. Even in the confusion, the crisis, and even in my complaints that God seems silent and absent, I choose faith. I choose to believe when there’s no logical reason to believe any more.” That’s faith… a faith that hangs in there at any cost. It’s been said, “Job’s faith cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.” At the end of the day, when you feel the silence of God, when your personal perspective and pain tell you that God is absent and disinterested, will you choose faith? Will you trust His promises that He will never leave nor forsake you… that He will cause all things (yes even His silence) to work together for your good and for the good of those around you? Will you choose faith?

I’ll close with a quote from Philip Yancey’s Disappointment with God:

You could read Job’s story, puzzle over The Wager, then breathe a deep sigh of relief: Phew! God settled that problem. After proving His point so decisively, surely He will return to his preferred style of communicating clearly with His followers. You could think so—unless, that is, you read the rest of the Bible. I hesitate to say this, because it is a hard truth and one I do not want to acknowledge, but Job stands as merely the most extreme example of what appears to be a universal law offaith. The kind of faith God values seems to develop best when everything fuzzes over, when God stays silent, when the fog rolls in.

New Series: Desperate Days

jonathan alexander — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:30:20 +0000

What happens when tragedy strikes? What happens when the dark clouds won’t go away? What happens when life doesn’t seem to go as we had planned or hoped? What happens when God seems silent? These are the desperate days… the dark night of the soul. When the desperate days are upon us, one of the best places to go in the Bible is the story of Job. Desperate days and human suffering are a reality. The question for us is, “How will we journey to faith in the midst of the desperate days?” Even if and when God seems silent, He is up to something greater… something transformational… and yes, even in the desperate days.

Join us January 8 – February 19 as we explore some important themes on suffering and faith in the book of Job. This is a great series to invite your friends and family who don’t know Jesus and who might be going through some desperate days of their own. Here are the themes we’ll talk about:

January 8 – When Tragedy Strikes (Job 1-2)

January 15 – Desperation and Depression (Job 3)

January 22 – Good and Bad Counsel (Job 4-28)

January 29 – Glimmers of Truth (Job 32-37)

February 5 – The Silence of God (Selected Passages)

February 12 – The Storm of Sovereignty (Job 38-41)

February 19 – The Journey to Faith (Job 42)

If you’d like to explore the book of Job and the themes of suffering, faith, and the gospel more in-depth, here are some recommended resources:

Job: A Man of Heroic Endurance (Charles Swindoll)

Be Patient: Waiting on God in Difficult Times (Warren Wiersbe)

Disappointment with God (Philip Yancey)

The Gospel According to Job (Mike Mason)

“How Can a Good God Allow Suffering?” (Message from the YouAskedForIt series)

“Suffering: If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?” (Message by Pastor Tim Keller)

Additional Resources for Grief

From Heaven Above to Earth I Come

jonathan alexander — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:10:03 +0000

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,

Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,

Within my heart, that it may be

A quiet chamber kept for Thee.

My heart for very joy doth leap,

My lips no more can silence keep,

I too must sing, with joyful tongue,

That sweetest ancient cradle song,

Glory to God in highest heaven,

Who unto man His Son hath given

While angels sing with pious mirth.

A glad new year to all the earth.

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Focus on Jesus This Christmas Season

jonathan alexander — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:54:39 +0000

“Adoration of the Shepherds” by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622

The Christmas season can be a frenzied, frantic season. With all of the festivities, shopping, and family events, we easily miss the opportunity to slow down and focus on the marvelous mystery of Immanuel, God with us. Choose to intentionally focus on Jesus this season. To do that, here are some ideas for you:

1. Memorize a verse or passage that talks about the incarnation: Isaiah 9:6, John 1:14 or Philippians 2:5-8.

2. Read the Christmas story from either Matthew or Luke’s Gospel at least once during the Christmas season.

3. If you have children, have them act out the Christmas story.

4. Whether you have children or not, read the story of the real Saint Nicholas.

5. Read and meditate upon a couple of Christmas carols this season, appreciating the beautiful, worship theology of the incarnation.

6. Be generous. Find a way to combat the materialism and consumerism of Christmas.

In addition to choosing a couple of these things to do during the Christmas season, one of the best ways you can focus on Jesus is to invite and bring someone to Northshore for one of our Christmas events (Family Christmas Festival, Christmas at the Movies series, or Christmas Eve). We all have people in our lives who need to know that God has come. And because He has come, we’ve been offered the life-changing gift of life, peace, and hope in Jesus Christ. And you can help them focus on Jesus – “the reason for the season!”

Merry CHRISTmas,

Pastor Jonathan

I Gave Away My Favorite Bible

jonathan alexander — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:22:34 +0000

I gave away my favorite Bible this morning… and by favorite, I mean favorite. I drove down to Fort Lewis (now called Joint Base Lewis McChord) to pray with a soldier and his wife who was having surgery to remove a tumor behind his ear. As we prayed, I asked his wife if she had a Bible with her to read while her husband was in 7+ hours of surgery. She said she didn’t. So I gave her my Bible. As I left Madigan Army Hospital, I got a little tearful. It’s not that I was having “giver’s remorse.” It was this… in that moment I was simply overcome by how much God has loved me, spoken to me, and guided me through that particular copy of His word. I’ve preached hundreds of sermons from that very Bible. Its margins are filled with a decade’s worth of notes, observations, and quotes. I’ve read, prayed, and journaled through book after book of that Bible. I’ve read story after story from its pages to my son. I’ve clung to it for dear life in some of my darkest days. Some of its pages are stained with my very tears.

Please hear me. There’s nothing sacred about that particular copy of the New American Standard Bible. I’ve never set up a little shrine in my office and burned candles to my black leather Bible. But there is something absolutely sacred and life-giving about God’s word. As I said “goodbye” to the couple and my favorite Bible, I realized how truly living and active God’s word is (Hebrews 4:12). I prayed that His words would jump off the page and into the heart of that young wife as her husband was under the knife.

As I returned to my office, I immediately went online in search of a new Bible. In a couple of days it will show up with clean, note-less margins. And once again, God will love me, speak to me, and guide me though His holy, beautiful, life-changing word. He will show me the power and glory of Jesus. He will call the Spirit to clearly illumine His heart for me, for my family, for my neighborhood, for our church, and for our world.

I’m looking forward to the new adventure…

Ranger Reflections

jonathan alexander — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:26:02 +0000

I always get nostalgic around Veteran’s Day. Every year I seem to go through my old military stuff (uniforms, gear, awards, books, etc.). This year has been no different. My family and I watched Discovery Channel’s Surviving the Cut: Ranger School (Episode 1) two times this week. I completed Ranger School in the summer of 1994. It was a life-changing experience. I learned perseverance, endurance, and steadfastness. It grew my faith and dependence upon Jesus. It increased my witness as fellow Ranger students were often desperate for something (or Someone) to cling to.

One of the most amazing things about Rangers is their vigilant adherence to the Ranger Creed:

Recognizing that I volunteered as a Ranger, fully knowing the hazards of my chosen profession, I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige, honor, and high esprit de corps of my Ranger Regiment.

Acknowledging the fact that a Ranger is a more elite soldier who arrives at the cutting edge of battle by land, sea, or air, I accept the fact that as a Ranger my country expects me to move further, faster and fight harder than any other soldier.

Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one-hundred-percent and then some.

Gallantly will I show the world that I am a specially selected and well-trained soldier. My courtesy to superior officers, neatness of dress and care of equipment shall set the example for others to follow.

Energetically will I meet the enemies of my country. I shall defeat them on the field of battle for I am better trained and will fight with all my might. Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy and under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my country.

Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor.

What if followers of Jesus lived with the intensity of Army Rangers? What if we took seriously the spiritual war? What if we realized the calling and potential we have as followers of Jesus? What if we took care of our brothers and sisters the way Rangers take care of each other? What if we believed in the mission of Jesus so much that we’d do whatever it took to fulfill His mission?

You know what would happen? Our lives, our families, our church, our local communities, and our global world would never be the same. And the gates of Hell would not be able to withstand the revolution of Jesus and the kingdom of God.

Fight the good fight my friends. Contend for the faith. Be steadfast and immovable by Jesus’ great power and grace.

Contender or Pretender?

jonathan alexander — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:52:55 +0000

On Sunday, we began a new series called Contending. We’re spending the month of November in the letter of Jude. My big question from Sunday’s message (“Contending for Jesus”) was: What does it mean and what does it look like for us to contend for Jesus and the gospel in our lives?

Ultimately, you have two choices… being a Contender or a Pretender. I want to help you think through these two choices in your relationship with Jesus, in your family and friendships, and in our church.

1. JESUS: When you think about your relationship with Jesus there are two directions to go—Identity & Freedom or Idolatry & Fear.

Contender: Identity & Freedom. When you contend in your relationship with Jesus (not against Jesus), as you allow Jesus and the gospel to press further into your life… further into who you are, it becomes about identity and freedom. Contenders find their identity in Jesus and that brings freedom… increasing freedom from the power of sin… increasing freedom to be who we really and authentically are because we know that we’re loved and secure in our relationship with Jesus.

Pretender: Idolatry & Fear. But pretenders go to idolatry and fear. Idolatry is anything that becomes more important to us, anything where we find our meaning, purpose and identity other than Jesus. We “pretend” that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. But if we’re really honest, we often look to other things and other people for our identity. That’s idolatry, and it generates fear. If you give the key to your identity, meaning, and purpose to something or someone else, you will live in fear, praying and hoping that it isn’t taken away from you. You name it… money, sex, power, success, relationships… if you are looking to those for identity and purpose, at some point they will let you down. You know it. And so you live in fear, dreading the moment that it’ll actually happen.

2. FAMILY & FRIENDSHIPS: When we talk about the relationships within our family or with our friends, we’re either Proactive or Passive.

Contender: Proactive. Contenders are proactive in their family. Contenders are constantly thinking about and actively pursuing how Jesus makes a difference in their relationships in their marriage and with their kids. When we contend for our marriages, we’re vigilant about relational health. We keep short accounts with each other. We seek to become students of our spouse and kids. We pursue selflessness and a sacrificial spirit. We ask for forgiveness when we act out of selfishness. When we contend in our home, we pray for our spouse and our kids. We are constantly, proactively asking Jesus to give us wisdom and grace with each other. The same thing goes for our friendships. We pray for grace, for understanding, for the humility to be like Jesus and love our family and friends like He loves them.

Pretender: Passive. Pretenders are passive. They shift life into neutral. When marriage begins to struggle, they run from the problems. They’re so consumed with themselves and don’t care or notice when apathy and isolation sets in. Or there is a fear of causing waves and change that is needed to grow healthy. Pretenders are passive with their kids. Sure, they want their kids to be good, moral kids… but there’s a passivity about it. Almost an “I sure hope they turn out okay. I sure hope the Children’s and Student Ministry is teaching my kids about Jesus.” In that passivity, there’s not a proactive desire to help our kids really see the how Jesus and the gospel affects and impacts their lives, their decisions, and their relationships. In friendships, pretenders have no desire to take relationships deeper… to initiate and model vulnerability and transparency. Let’s just keep it superficial because I’m not willing to risk going deeper. Let’s just pretend.

3. CHURCH: When it comes to our church, our attitude is one of two things—Service or Serve Us.

Contender: Service. As contenders focus on Jesus and the gospel, we realize that the call to follow Him means the call to serve like Him. Contenders fight against that inward, selfish focus. Contenders pray for a love that manifest itself in sacrificial generosity as we use our time, talent, touch, and treasure for the good of other people. Contenders give of themselves and take care of people within the body of Christ. And contenders also have compassion and are focused on those that don’t yet know Jesus. In the church, contenders ask how they can give of themselves to impact and change their world, locally and globally because it’s all about the heart of Jesus and the heart of service.

Pretender: Serve Us. Pretenders on the other hand are all about “Serve Us.” With pretenders, it’s all about “What do I get out of it? How are my needs being met?” Pretenders give of their time, talent, touch, or treasure when it’s convenient and when there’s a surplus. But they usually don’t because it’s rarely convenient, and there’s rarely a surplus. But pretending doesn’t happen all at once. Churches start off being contenders… all about serving each other… all about mission and evangelism. But that focus slowly turns inward, and we begin to take care of ourselves more than the world around us. We stop contending for Jesus in our world, and it becomes about us. Service becomes serve us.

I don’t know about you, but I want to be a contender, not a pretender. I want to learn to fight the good fight and surrender more and more of my heart to Jesus. I want to understand the good news of identity and freedom in Jesus more and more every day. I want my family and my friendships to be fueled by the radical, sacrificial love of Jesus. And in our church, I want to contend for Jesus’ mission. I want to contend for boldness and courage to serve the people in our world, locally and globally, for the cause of Christ. I want us to be contenders, not pretenders. Fight the good fight. Contend earnestly for the faith in your relationship with Jesus, in your family and friendships, and in our church. “May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you” (Jude 2).

Replacing the Idols

jonathan alexander — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:46:28 +0000

I’m sitting in a coffee shop reflecting on the summer (it’s the first day of school). It’s been one of the best summers of my life. I took three weeks off in July and had an absolute blast with my family. That’s always good and restorative. But something deeper went on as well. I spent a good part of the summer reading, re-reading, re-reading again Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods. The best part of the summer was (and continues to be) identifying my idols and functional saviors, confessing them, and praying for Jesus to replace them with the glorious treasure of Himself.

My journey this summer reminds me of a scene in C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, Book 3). Eustace, an unbearably self-centered boy, discovers the cave of a dying dragon. The cave is full of treasures, and he imagines how rich and powerful he’ll be if he could have it all. He falls asleep dreaming of being a dragon. When he wakes up, he discovers that he’s become one. Several times, after Eustace is now sorry for the way he has acted, he tries to peel the scaly dragon skin off of himself only to find a new layer underneath. Each time he thinks he has peeled the last layer, he finds it is too deep to remove. After these failed attempts, Aslan, the King Lion and Christ figure, removes the dragon skin for Eustace. In Lewis’ story, Eustace retells the event like this:

“The very first tear Aslan made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off….Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off—just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt—and there it was lying on the grass; only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly looking than the others had been.”

Identifying the idols in our hearts, on the surface or hidden deep below, is an excruciating process but ever so liberating. I’m daily reminded of Tim Keller’s words: “Idols cannot be removed. They must be replaced.”

Wisdom & Wine

jonathan alexander — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:54:43 +0000

The following is the manuscript from a message titled “Wisdom & Wine” (preached August 28, 2011 at Northshore Baptist Church)

This summer throughout our Proverbia series, we’ve been talking about relevant, practical topics for our lives and our relationships. We’ve talked about things like pride and humility, marriage and parenting, friendships, work ethics, and money. Last week, we even talked about sex. And this week promises to be another practical topic: “Wisdom & Wine.” Today, we’re going to talk about a biblical and practical perspective on alcohol.

I believe today’s message is actually more difficult than last week’s. When we talk about sex, the Bible is absolutely clear on God’s expectations: don’t have sex outside of marriage. But with our topic today, “Wisdom & Wine,” the use of alcohol by followers of Jesus is a disputable and sometimes even contentious topic.

Our background and personal experience impact how we interpret the Bible in this area. It impacts how we develop a personal perspective on the use or non-use of alcohol. Some of us come from legalistic church backgrounds that taught and even demanded complete abstinence of alcohol. So some have wholeheartedly adopted that stance. And some have rejected that position in pursuit of Christian liberty and freedom. And then some unfortunately take Christian liberty and freedom to an extreme, and it becomes a license to do whatever they want because, after all, “we’re under grace not law.” Some of us come from families where alcoholism was involved, and we’ve experienced firsthand the devastation of alcohol addiction. Our environment has a profound impact upon our interpretation and practice.

Today as we discuss “Wisdom & Wine,” we’re going to look at three things: (1) The Proverbs & Alcohol, (2) The Bible & Alcohol, and (3) The Believer & Alcohol. And as we discuss these three themes, here’s the big idea, the conclusion that I hold biblically, personally, and pastorally: Drinking alcohol is not a sin, but drunkenness is.

#1 The Proverbs & Alcohol

When we read the Proverbs that relate to alcohol, we discover that they condemn drunkenness and describe the degenerative and destructive effects, physically and mentally, of the person who drinks too much.

Proverbs 20:1. Here’s what this verse says: When people are drunk, they’re belligerent and boisterous. The key to interpreting the verse is the second half… “whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.” When a person drinks too much alcohol, their filter disappears. They begin to lose respect for others in their speech, attitudes, and actions. They become belligerent. They become boisterous. Apparently when people get intoxicated, their hearing stops working, and they just get stupid and loud.

Proverbs 23:19-21. Here’s what this proverb teaches us: When people overindulge, they go from revelry to rags. Notice that this proverb speaks to overindulgence in drinking and eating. The proverb writer calls us to the path of wisdom and cautions against any kind of overindulgence. And he explains why. When we overindulge in drinking or eating, it begins to consume our heart (it becomes an idol and addiction), our money, and it can impact our work ethic and ability to be good employees who provide for our ourselves and our families. Overindulgence can have serious consequences.

Proverbs 23:29-35. Note what this proverb teaches us: When people are drunk, they don’t see clearly, they don’t think clearly, and they don’t act rightly. In v. 30, the one who “lingers over wine” and is constantly “in search of a drink,” their vision, their motor skills, their brain, and their conscience become distorted. Think about a party where a lot of alcohol is consumed. Perhaps it’s at a college party or a neighborhood block party or an annual party for work. When people get drunk, they just act stupid. They’re staggering around hugging everyone or getting mad at everyone, they’re saying ridiculous things, or they’re stripping down to their underwear riding a skateboard off a second story roof into a swimming pool (I’ve never seen this… I’ve only heard about this). And then some of them get behind the wheel of a car and kill somebody. Drunk people just get stupid. They don’t see clearly, they don’t think clearly, and they don’t act rightly. So the proverbs condemn drunkenness and describe the degenerative and destructive effects, physically and mentally, of the person who drinks too much. Be warned!

#2 The Bible & Alcohol

The Bible has a lot to say about drinking and consuming alcohol. Here’s the first thing we see about the Bible and alcohol.

The Bible speaks positively of alcohol in celebration.

Psalm 104:14-15. Notice what God gives… grass for cattle, vegetation for man’s labor, “wine which makes man’s heart glad.” As we see throughout the Bible, wine, the fruit of the vine, is a gift from God and can be enjoyed as such and is often used in celebratory occasions.

Deuteronomy 14:26. We see that God’s Law in the Old Testament permitted the consumption of wine and “strong drink” (fermented drinks of honey, wheat, grain, etc.), and in the specific context of the verse, as the worshipper celebrated God’s goodness, alcohol could be a part of feasting and celebrating with God and with each other.

John 2:7-11. One of the first places we go to for a New Testament perspective on alcohol is John 2 when Jesus turns water into wine. Here’s the backstory. Jesus, His mom, and His disciples are invited to a wedding party in a town called Cana. During the party, an embarrassing social faux pas happens… they run out of wine. So let’s pick it up in v. 7. Now please hear me on this… the main point of this passage is not a theology of wine and alcohol. The main point of the story is that Jesus supernaturally and miraculously changes the molecular composition of water and turns it into wine. Please don’t lose the proverbial forest for the trees. But nonetheless, there is something instructive about the reality that Jesus turned water into at least 120 gallons of wine. And He turned it into good wine… so good that the headwaiter goes up to the groom and asks him why he was saving the best wine for last.

Matthew 11:19. Here’s another verse, this time from the lips of Jesus as He explains what people were saying about Him. Let me read between the lines for a moment. All of the uber-religious people are calling Jesus a glutton and a drunkard because He’s going to these parties where people are eating and drinking too much. And here’s my assumption in this verse. Jesus is likely eating the same food as everyone else, but He’s not becoming a glutton. Jesus is likely drinking the same beverages as everyone else, but He’s not getting drunk.

Excursion on Wine in the Ancient World. When we read these passages about Jesus turning water into wine or being at the parties eating and drinking, some theologians and pastors teach that it wasn’t really wine as we know it today. It was really grape juice, unfermented wine. I’ve read the articles. I’ve heard the arguments, and here’s the deal. Wine means wine. Wine doesn’t mean grape juice. The Greek word oinos means fermented grape juice that is alcoholic in content. And historians tell us that the alcohol content was likely similar to our wine today. If it were only grape juice with no alcohol content or a dramatically reduced alcohol content, why would the Bible condemn getting drunk off of wine? In a moment, we’ll look one of the prohibitions against drunkenness in Ephesians 5:18, “Don’t be drunk with wine (oinos).” I’ve never gotten drunk off of grape juice. Please hear me on this. If you come to the biblical, prayerful, and personal conviction that you should abstain from alcohol, awesome! That’s the way the Lord is personally leading you. But please be biblically, historically, and intellectually faithful and accurate to the text.

The Bible speaks negatively of alcohol in drunkenness.

Ephesians 5:18. Don’t get drunk with wine (and by implication any other mind-altering substance). If you choose to drink alcohol, stop before you feel any physical or mental affects. Don’t let alcohol take control of you. Let the Spirit of God take control of your life, your attitudes, and your actions.

Galatians 5:21. In this passage, Paul tells us what it looks like to live life in our own power vs. living life in the power of the Holy Spirit. And drunkenness is an indicator and warning sign that we are living life on our own terms in disregard to the design and desire of God.

1 Timothy 3:3. Paul tells us what church leaders’ lives should look like, and then by implication, because church leaders are to model the heart and behavior of Jesus, he tells us what all of our lives should look like.

#3 The Believer & Alcohol

Here are some practical applications for us in regards to our perspective and practice concerning alcohol:

1. Don’t get drunk. I can’t get any clearer than that. We’ve seen that the Bible clearly speaks against drunkenness because of the degenerative physical and mental effects, as well as how drunkenness distorts our actions and judgment. And on a side note, if you’re under age 21, obey the law. Don’t drink at all. And if you’re over 21, if you do choose to drink, don’t get drunk!

2. Don’t be a legalist. If you come to the personal, prayerful, biblical conclusion that you should abstain from alcohol, don’t use that as a tool for self-righteousness, and don’t force your personal conclusion on others. Don’t try to be holier than Jesus. In the early church, different groups were using different things to demonstrate that they were more holy than other people in the church. Some people thought that worshiping one day of the week was more holy than the others. Some thought that if you ate certain foods, you weren’t a true follower of Jesus. So here’s what Paul has to say about that (and it’s a long passage): Romans 14:10-23. If you come to a personal conclusion about something where the Bible hasn’t clearly spoken, don’t become a legalist and make it a mark of holiness.

3. Be sensitive about your surroundings. This is the other side of the coin of the legalism argument, also addressed in Romans 14. If you choose to use drink alcohol, be sensitive about who you’re around. For example, if you invite someone over to your house for dinner, and they’ve come to the personal conclusion to abstain from alcohol, don’t become a reverse legalist and look down upon them because they choose not to. And if you pressure them to take a drink, and they violate their personal conscience to please you, you’ve caused them to sin and therefore you’ve sinned. Also, if you’re around someone who struggles with alcohol, don’t drink around them and definitely don’t ask them if they’d like a drink. This is what it means to cause someone to stumble. Be sensitive about your surroundings. Don’t use your Christian liberty and freedom as a license to cause others to sin.

4. If you have a problem, get help. If you are struggling with any kind of substance abuse (alcohol, prescription drugs, or illegal drugs), get help. And here’s what I mean by struggling. If you think you don’t have a problem and you can quit anytime, but you keep going back to it, you have a problem. If you’re drunk or high and your problems seem to disappear, you have a problem. And you know this… when you come back down and sober up, you realize that your problems didn’t disappear. In fact, now they’re even worse because now you have new problems… relationships are strained, work suffers, and finances are consumed by the costs of alcohol or drugs. As we discussed last week, we have an amazing ministry at Northshore called LIGHT. We have individual counseling, recovery groups, and people who can walk alongside you one-on-one to be a support. If you have a problem, get help.

So as we’ve discussed “Wisdom & Wine,” we’ve talked about the Proverbs and Alcohol, the Bible and Alcohol, as well as some practical applications for the Believer and Alcohol. I want you to think biblically about this subject. I highly encourage you to prayerfully develop a personal position on alcohol. If you’re a parent, take the initiative to talk with your kids about alcohol, especially if they’re in junior high or older… because it’s in their world (and if you think it’s not, you’re being naïve).

At the end of the day, we all need Jesus’ help. Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can give us the wisdom and grace we need to develop a personal position on alcohol. Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can give us the grace we need to extend to other people who come to a different conclusion. Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can give us the self-control we need so that we don’t walk in sin and drunkenness. And that much needed self-control extends to every area of our lives where temptation abounds… our finances, our work ethic, our relationships, and our sexual integrity. Only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can give us the healing and hope we need when we’ve blown it or when we’re struggling with a dependence upon alcohol or something else.

Come to Jesus and ask Him for wisdom and grace… for self-control… for healing and hope. Jesus is fully God, and He came down here to die on the cross so that any sin, shame, guilt, and condemnation that you’re experienced might be removed. And He was raised from the dead to give us this new life… this new way of living life… this new power for living life. So come to Jesus, so that you might have His wisdom about how to live at the intersection of life and wisdom.

Here are some additional resources for further exploration on the Christian’s use of alcohol:

“The Bible & Alcohol” by Dr. Daniel Wallace
“Wine in the Ancient World” by Dr. R.A. Baker
“Is it Okay to Drink Alcohol?” Interview with Dr. John Piper
“Total Abstinence and Church Membership” A message by Dr. John Piper to his congregation on his personal and pastoral stance on alcohol

The Danger of Greed

jonathan alexander — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:43:00 +0000

A crucial facet of living in Proverbia is the realization that “Money Matters.” It matters how you view it. It matters how it serves you or how you end up serving it. It matters how you use it or how it ends up using you.

In his excellent book Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller writes

According to the Bible, idolaters do three things with their idols. They love them, trust them and obey them. “Lovers of money” are those who find themselves daydreaming and fantasizing about new ways to make money, new possessions to buy, and looking with jealousy on those who have more than they do. “Trusters of money” feel they have control of their lives and are safe and secure because of their wealth…Idolatry also makes us “servants of money.” Just as we serve earthly kings and magistrates, so we “sell our souls” to our idols. Because we look to them for our significance (love) and security (trust) we have to have them, and therefore we are driven to serve and, essentially, obey them. When Jesus says that we “serve” money, he uses a word that means the solemn, covenantal service rendered to a king. If you live for money you are a slave. (pp. 56-57, emphasis added)

And in our attitude on money, we ultimately have two options: Greed & Idolatry or Generosity & Impact.

Which will you choose?