The Truth About Joy

Should Christians feel a sense of joy when others are suffering in the world? When there is poverty, sickness, and children dying at the hands of ISIS? When our newsfeeds are a constant reminder of all that is wrong with the world?

Who are we to feel joyful when bad things are happening to others all around us? Is it insensitive and selfish to have joy in our hearts when other Christians are being persecuted?

Yes—we are urged to remember those in prison as if we ourselves are in prison (Heb 13:3), for if one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body is affected (1 Cor 12:26). Yes—we are urged to mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep. But let us not forget that we are also encouraged to rejoice with those who rejoice (Rom 12:15)!

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not a product of the flesh. It is not merely a mindset or an emotion. The joy we receive from the Spirit, like peace, passes understanding and transcends our earthly circumstances. Such joy doesn't just come when something good happens and go away when something bad happens. It is from a constant, unchanging, and divine source that doesn't depend on the world or conform to its patterns.

Joy can co-mingle with grief, for it isn't merely a happy-go-lucky attitude. We can be perplexed by tragedies, earthly circumstances, suffering, and disappointments. We can have empathy and compassion for others. But when we are hard pressed on every side, we are not crushed. We do not despair when we have joy (2 Cor 4:8). Jesus wept (John 11:35). But even so, He was full of a constant joy through the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21).

Joy is a gift from God. It cannot be sustained in our own strength; it's not attainable through positive thinking, fleshly pleasures, or meditation, for example, which produce only a cheap and fleeting substitute. Joy is a natural outworking of our faith, which comes from God's grace, not from our works, so no one can boast. When the disciples were rejoicing that they had cast out demons, Jesus affirmed them, but also He exhorted them, "However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20). If our joy is in our salvation, it will not be increased by our achievements or reduced by our failures.

Joy rejoices in hope. And it sustains our patient endurance of trials. Paul urges us to “rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation.” (Rom 12:12). For joy preserves us while we wait for our blessed hope—the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13).

Joy glorifies God. Joy revels worshipfully in who God is and what He has done for us. Joy comes from praying to, and praising, God. Joy is most deeply experienced through dying to self and living in Christ for God's glory.

Joy is Christ-centered. Joy looks upward to the Lord, not around us at the world. Joy doesn't come from living in denial (for this is foolishness), but from embracing an eternal perspective. It comes from fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Joy draws others to a faith in Christ. When we rise above earthly trials, rejoice always, and give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:16-18), this is a powerful testimony to the hope we have in Christ. When we radiate joy as His witnesses, we are shining the light of Christ into a dark world.

Joy is knowing the truth; despair is believing the lie. For joy is found in the blessed assurance of our salvation—it is a foretaste of glory divine! As heirs of salvation, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood, how can we not have joy?

Why I Am Not a Hopeless Romantic

Don't get me wrong. I love the stuff of classic romance novels...the aloof Mr Darcy's inner torment over Elizabeth...the explosive love of Benedick and Beatrice...and the improper love of George Emerson for Lucy Honeychurch. I also love getting flowers from my husband on Valentines Day and having a candle-lit dinner once-in-a-while. But, I am far from a hopeless romantic. Let's face it: Our culture is obsessed with looooooooove. Love is presented to us in a chocolate-box variety of assorted shapes and flavors like the saccharin, gooey kind of love you find at the end of a feel-good movie. Or the dark and salty kind of love bemoaned by angsty pop singers. Or the nutty variety seen in the insipid gushiness of contestants on The Bachelor. 

In a sex-saturated culture that is breaking free from old taboos, love comes in all sorts of packaging. Nowadays, we are presented with a colorful array of choices when it comes to love—monogamy, polygamy, polyandry, polyamory—along with a glittering selection of orientations to make the mind boggle. The possibilities are endless. Love, it seems, is everywhere in our anything-goes culture. And if it feels good, it is good.

There is certainly a huge market of consumers in demand of chocolate-box love. But this is a godless form of love that is grabby and self-serving. It is a love that drains, consumes, and depletes. Through the Holy Spirit are we empowered to love God and love others in a self-sacrificial way—a truly Christ-like way. But, loving others in our own strength, as well-intended as it may be, often ends up being self-serving because of our fallen nature. Even if it masquerades as selfless on the surface, this type of love often serves the self in one way or another; it gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of being needed, or something to worship, or someone to love us back. At its core, it is consumer-driven love that cannot last. Like chocolate, once eaten, it ultimately leaves us wanting for more. It gives us immediate gratification, but cannot sustain us for the long-haul. 

Chocolate-box love has a voracious appetite, consuming and idolizing the objects of it's infatuation. It can lead people to worship their significant other—or a fanciful idea of that person—in place of God. This unhealthy form of love eventually burns out revealing itself to be an ephemeral counterfeit of the real thing. But the love of God endures forever! In a godly marriage, spouses endeavor to love God first, and each other second only to Him—fostering mutual love and respect, rather than idol worship or co-dependency. A marriage like this will weather the hard times, being built on an eternal foundation.

We know from Scripture that God is love (1 John 4:8) and He is the origin of love (1 John 4:7). The gospel is rooted in love (John 3:16). The purest form of love is revealed in Jesus’s death on the cross. The Greek term for love used by John to describe God in 1 John 4:8 is agape, a form of agapeis, which is also used by Jesus (agapaō) when he quotes the greatest commandments to love God and others (Matt 22:37-38). The essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. True love, then, is not self-seeking (1 Cor 13:6), but glorifies God, who is its source.

Godly love is patient and kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud (1 Cor 13:4). But pride and jealousy are often at the heart of chocolate-box love. Jealousy insights us to be possessive over the one we love. Pride—an unhealthy form of self-love—demands that the object of our affection meets all of our needs. Pride is even paraded with rainbows on banners in the name of love. Godly love, on the other hand, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Cor 13:5). Godly love does not diminish, devalue, or distort. Instead, it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (1 Cor 13:7). 

The love of God gives birth to ever-lasting hope—hope that is in Christ Jesus. It is so encouraging to know that we can truly love others in God's strength, with a love that points others to Him. In light of this, I want to build the love I have for my husband on this hope, not on some hopeless romance!

Quotes to Change the World

Today, Oprah's Lifeclass published the following quotes that will "change the world"...

Anne Lamott—novelist

1. People help you, or you help them and when we offer or receive help, we take in each other. And then we are SAVED—Anne Lamott

In other words: We save each other—so we don't need God.

2. Why YOU? Because there's no one better. Why NOW? Because tomorrow isn't soon enough—Donna Brazille

In other words: it's all about you, it's all about now—so forget about God.

3. Don't ever forget that you're a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit—Aaron Sorkin

In other words: This world is our home. Let's make each other cozy in it—because we don't need God.

4. When we give what we can and give it with joy, we don't just renew the American tradition, we renew ourselves—Bill Clinton

In other words: Giving, not God, renews us—so we don't need God.

5. Whenever you see someone being cared for, and not forgotten, their human spirit comes alive—Sir Elton John

In other words: Humanitarianism gives life not only to the body, but also the spirit—so we don't need God.

6. Compassion is the ultimate expression of your highest self—Russell Simmons

In other words: Self-actualization, not faith, is all that matters—so we don't need God.

7. Look for a way to lift some one up, and if that's all you do, then that's enough—Elizabeth Lesser

In other words: be satisfied with where you are in life, as long as your kind to some one once-in-while—because we don't need God (lesser isn't more in this case!)

8....What I can do is offer myself, wholehearted and present, to walk with the people I love through the fear and the mess. That's all any of us can do. That's what we're here for—Shauna Niequist

In other words: we're doomed to a life of fear and mess. There is no hope. So, the best thing we can do is cling to our loved ones—because there is no God.

9. At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished...It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It's about what you've given back—Denzel Washington

In other words: it's all about our works, not about God's grace—because at the end of the day, there is no God.

Oprah's Lifeclass is right. Ideas like these change the world. These quotes are merely reflections of our culture's prevailing ideology. And they will be added to the world's tragically long list of fatally Bad Ideas.

This is a Spiritual Health Warning: Faith-Myopia is on the Rise

There is a deadly epidemic that is currently sweeping the Church. The condition primarily affects the heart, mind, and soul of its victim, and can lead to serious, even fatal, spiritual health problems if left untreated. Today, millions of Christians in America are at risk of developing faith-myopia. The implications of this have the potential to be catastrophic. Faith-myopia will continue to spread if not contained. Please read and distribute the following spiritual health warning below.

Definition

Faith-Myopia is the spiritual manifestation of nearsightedness. Unlike spiritual blindness, which only affects unbelievers, faith-myopia has been detected in a significant and growing number of Christians. The term, myopia (from the Ancient Greek, μυωπία or muōpia), refers to a condition of the eye in which light does not directly focus on the retina, but in front of it, causing distant objects to be out of focus while close objects are in focus. When faith becomes myopic, it causes spiritual nearsightedness meaning victims focus almost exclusively on their immediate surroundings without seeing the bigger picture. As a result, victims tend to view God's truth through the lens of their own circumstances as opposed to viewing their circumstances through the lens of God's truth. Those suffering from the condition might fail to develop a biblical worldview, might lack spiritual discernment, and might be more easily misled by false teaching or worldly temptations. They can often become self-centered as opposed to Christ-centered.

Cases of faith-myopia range from mild to severe, limiting a believer's spiritual sight to varying degrees. Any Christian—even a pastor, layperson, theologian, missionary, or long-term believer—is vulnerable to developing the condition. And most Christians will show symptoms of faith-myopia during at least one period in their lives—indeed, many may be struggling with one or more of its symptoms right now.

Symptoms

(1) Limited perspective; victims focus largely on what's happening to them in the here-and-now, being unable to clearly see the bigger picture of God's sovereign will, His unchanging goodness, and His unfailing love for them. In other words, victims struggle to see the woods for the trees, so-to-speak. They also fail to see the larger context of God's redemptive plan for humanity, tending instead to focus more narrowly on the pettier issues of day-to-day life, which are thus blown out of proportion causing undue stress and anxiety. This weakens their faith because their trust in God becomes contingent on what is happening to them personally at any given moment, causing them to lose sight of God's faithfulness and His unfailing promises. Victims are less likely to pay mind to the suffering of persecuted brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, because their field of vision isn't wide enough to encompass such issues. Therefore, their limited perspective often leads to the subsequent symptom of self-centeredness.

(2) Self-centeredness; victims might become self-centered rather than Christ-centered and are often blinded by myopic pride. In their churches, they might behave more like consumers of faith-based goods and services than disciples of Christ and investors in God's Kingdom. Therefore, they can treat church more as a social club than a spiritual family. They can lack a vision for self-sacrificial service and for discipling others, remaining preoccupied with their own needs and concerns. And so, they aren't often outreach-minded or missional, and are prone to forming church cliques.

(3) Wordliness; victims might become worldly because they lack the spiritual foresight to see beyond their earthly circumstances to view their lives in light of Eternity. This leads to selfishness and often to hedonism because they have difficulty distinguishing that which is of spiritual and everlasting value from that which is temporal and earthly. In severe cases, therefore, victims hoard material riches and indulge increasingly in fleeting worldly pleasures, having lost sight of the heavenly riches that await them. As a result, those showing this symptom become less like foreigners and exiles in an alien world (1 Peter 2:11). In fact, they begin to look and behave more like the world and less like Christ whom the world has rejected.

(4) Lack of discernment; victims might cherry-pick Bible verses to suit their immediate needs rather than reading the Bible in order to sincerely grow in their knowledge of God. Because their view of God's truth is blurry and out of focus, they have a hard time discerning the difference between biblical and false teaching. They are, therefore, vulnerable to being led astray by false teachers, like those preaching the "prosperity gospel," for example.

(5) Spiritual superficiality; victims might gravitate towards quick-fix spirituality rather than substantive biblical teaching. This is because they have lost an appreciation for that which is spiritually profound and theologically sound. They often shy away from thinking about or discussing matters of spiritual substance, preferring to stick to safer, more lightweight topics that leave their hearts and minds unchallenged and unchanged. They tend to feel uncomfortable when they are around people who act "too Christian" and they prefer to avoid addressing polarizing issues of right and wrong in our culture.

(6) Fruitless faith; victims night suffer from feelings of emptiness, guilt, worry, and insecurity because their faith doesn't bear the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-26). Because they are not walking in the light (1 John 1:7), they do not possess the peace that passes understanding (Phil 4:7), which requires their spiritual eyes to be enlightened to see the hope to which Christ has called them, and the riches of His glorious inheritance (Eph 1:18). They often lose sight of how much God loves them individually, which causes them to desperately seek the approval of others and measure their own value by the world's standards. This can lead them to have an identity crisis. In severe cases, it can lead to a fruitless faith.

Causes

The following are common risk factors for faith-myopia:

1) Failing to stay in the Word. Reading and reflecting on Scripture daily enables the believer to view life through a biblical lens and to see things in light of Eternity. Without a biblical perspective, a believer is more susceptible to developing faith-myopia.

2) Failing to stay in prayer. Prayer is a powerful change-agent in the life of a believer. Surrendering everything to God in prayer, rather than trying to stay in control, protects a believer from the delusion of self-dependency, which leads to pride, self-absorption and, ultimately, to faith-myopia.

3) Failing to stay in fellowship. As members of the Body of Christ, it is important to live in close relationship with wise, mature believers who will point us back to Christ when we lose perspective. Trying to live out one's faith in a vacuum can too easily lead to faith-myopia. Similarly, if believers surround themselves with spiritually superficial friends, they are at risk of exposing themselves to, and contracting, faith-myopia.

4) Failing to die to self. Continuing to walk in darkness, rather than in God's light, causes spiritual stagnation, a precursor to faith-myopia. John said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24). Dying to self allows a believer to see with spiritual, not just fleshly, eyes.

Treatment
There is only one known cure for faith-myopia: it is to live in the Spirit. In order to do so, believers should put on the full armor of God daily (Eph 6:13-18) to protect themselves against faith-myopia. This involves:

1) Wearing the belt of truth buckled around the waist (v 14a). Being armed with the knowledge of God's truth protects believers from being deceived by wolves in sheep's clothing.

2) Wearing the breastplate of righteousness (v 14b). Turning from sin, and embracing righteousness in Christ fortifies the heart and will protect the believer from being susceptible to worldliness.

3) Having feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (v 15). The believer will be protected from stumbling around blindly when his or her feet are guided by the gospel of peace. The believer will be equipped with the peace that passes understanding amid life's trials—a peace that comes from a clear view of the gospel.

4) Taking up the shield of faith (v 16). Walking by faith, not by physical sight, protects the believer from faith-myopia by maintaining his or her spiritual eyesight and ability to view life in light of Eternity.

5) Putting on the helmet of salvation (v 17a). Remembering that salvation is in Christ alone, that it is a gracious gift from God, and is not from ourselves, protects the believer from being blinded by myopic pride.

6) Taking up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (v 17b). Staying grounded in God's Word, which is living and active, enlightens the believer's spiritual eyes to discern truth from falsehood.

7) Praying at all times in the Spirit (v 18). The importance of prayer in the life of the believer cannot be over-emphasized. Praying in the Spirit without ceasing allows the believer's stream of consciousness to reflect a continual dialogue with God. By maintaining an interactive relationship with God in this way, the believer's faith grows and is protected from becoming myopic.

Prognosis
Chances of a full recovery are guaranteed for every believer afflicted with faith-myopia as long as the above treatments are administered according to the Great Physician's instructions.

Merry Flippin' Christmas, Grinches!

I love Kevin DeYoung's take on Christmas grinches:

It seems like every time Christmas rolls around, a couple rage-against-the-Christmas-machine blog posts go viral. The kind that blast Christians for ruining everything with commercialism, toys made in sweatshops, and too many reindeer games. For a season that’s supposed to be full of joy and peace, we can be awfully angry and confrontational this time of year. Downright grinchy at times. Do you or your kids like Santa? Get rid of him. Pronto. He’s fake. He’s not the point. He’s obese and his name is an anagram for Satan. Do you buy toys for your kids? Stop it. They don’t need them. Are you into Christmas trees? So were the pagans. Fuhgeddaboudit. Happy Holidays? Not in my face you don’t. Merry flippin’ Christmas, Walmart Greeter.

It can be easy to get wrapped up in all the negatives surrounding the Christmas season: the war against secularism; the problem of religious pluralism; the marginalization of Christ's birth. These are important challenges to be aware of. But, I think the best way to overcome these challenges is in experiencing and reflecting the JOY of the season.

There's a truly "magical" feeling that is unique to this time of year. And I am convinced that it emanates from the miracle of Jesus' birth—the radiant glory of which shines for all to see, just like the star that shone so brightly on the night He was born. That's why everyone can feel the "magic" of Christmas, even if they don't understand its true meaning or origin.

Rather than getting bent out of shape this year about how Christmas has been high-jacked by commercialism and nullified by political correctness, let's focus on the good news and proclaim it with joy. Let's trust in the unshakable power of the Christmas story. Let's be still as we kneel before the King and glory in His majesty. For we can confidently rest in the assurance that Isaiah's prophecy from around 2,700 years ago has indeed come to pass:

The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned...
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this. (Isa 9:2; 6-7)

Nothing But Christ Crucified

When you've hit rock-bottom, and are saved into His grace, you really get it. The Apostle Paul was a religiously zealous and learned man before he met Christ on the road to Damascus. But he was a wicked murderer and persecutor of Christians. God had let him hit rock-bottom so he could more powerfully grasp the extent of His great mercy and forgiveness. When Paul was saved, he truly knew what it meant to be born again. And, with humility, he died to self and resolved to know nothing but Christ crucified (1 Cor 2:2). By going in the power of the Holy Spirit, he ultimately became the world's greatest missionary and church planter.

Tommie Scott was a drug-dealer and Crips gang member who earned the nickname, "Hit Man," on the streets of LA. When he heard the gospel in prison and accepted it, his unprecedented transformation was much like that of Paul. Tommie realized how truly amazing God's grace is, when he was saved from a rock-bottom past steeped deeply in sin. Like Paul, he had destroyed the lives of many others. But he had been forgiven through the blood of Christ. And because of this, he couldn't stop sharing the life-changing good news everywhere he went—in prison, at bus stops, on the street, with his girlfriend and kids. He wasn't trained in evangelism or schooled in theology. But when he first believed in prison, he read the Bible through two times in three months. He posted a Proverb every day on the prison wall for all to see. He brought 40 other inmates to Christ. The Word of God is living and active and it lives in Tommie Scott. To this day, he preaches the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit with humility and conviction. See his testimony.

Our churches need to get back to the basics. We need to stop strategizing about how to outreach and start sharing the gospel. We need to stop marketing our faith and start living it. We need to stop peddling religious goods and services and start making disciples. We need to stop finessing and tweaking the Christian message to make it more culturally appealing in a world that has rejected Christ and start teaching the truth plainly (2 Cor 4:2). We need to stop trying to control things and start trusting, and participating, in God's promise that He will build His Church (Matt 16:18). We need to stop trying to get ahead of the cultural curve, and start living counter-cultural lives as foreigners in the world. We need to stop giving lip-service to "loving neighbor" and actually do it by sharing Christ with them.

I have had some rock-bottoms in my life. I know what life is like without God. Now it's time to let God turn our rock-bottoms into a new song of praise for the One who redeems! So then, with humility, let's resolve to know nothing but Christ crucified and let His Kingdom come.

Are You Ahead of the Cultural Curve?

A few days ago, I received a voice mail from a ministry representative inviting me to attend a well-known [rather expensive] Christian conference in the DC-area. In her message, she exuded a kind of cultivated charisma, brimming with back-slapping enthusiasm as she used my first name unabashedly at opportune moments throughout her spiel. I listened as she confidently rattled off the reasons why it was important—no, imperative—that I should benefit from all that the conference had to offer. Two reactions surfaced as I listened to the message. My first was along the lines of: wow, this ministry is employing some gifted young Christians who know how to sell a ticket. This reaction was then quickly followed by a distinct feeling of unease.

I quickly forgot about the voice mail, until couple of days later, when I received a follow-up email about the conference. And the uncomfortable feeling crept back. The message read:

Do You feel like the church is constantly one step behind our culture? Our environment is constantly advancing, constantly shifting, constantly adapting, and if we want to stay ahead we have to know what's coming before it gets here.

You are ready to break this cycle. You are a Change Maker - A forward thinking, innovative leader who wants to be ahead of the curve in addressing the issues and questions our culture is grappling with. We've designed this gathering to help us answer those very questions.

Questioning whether my sense of unease was misplaced or perhaps unfounded altogether, I pondered for a moment what it really was that had disturbed me about the message. Was it because I didn't like being bossed about by a presumptuous 20-something telling me I needed to learn something? Well, maybe a little. But that's my own heart-issue. Was it because I didn't like being pressured into buying a conference ticket in order to "get head"? Yes, probably. But I quickly realized that these things weren't the crux of it. It was actually the perspective reflected in the message that had really unsettled me. And my heart sank a little further.

The thing is, it's no fun to be a party-pooper. Who wants to be the old curmudgeon in the corner shaking his bony finger at an upbeat crowd of young believers setting out to change the world for Jesus? Why attempt to pour cold water on their enthusiasm? After all, their message is a positive one. And anyone who takes issue with it comes across as negative, mean-spirited, and unloving.

But the truth is, the Bible calls believers to test everything (1 Thess 5:21), especially when it comes to teaching. And especially when it comes to a highly influential Christian conference such as the one in question. We should all be like the Bereans in Acts who examined Scripture carefully to see if Paul's teaching was true (Acts 17:11). John wrote, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1). In the same vein, Paul wrote to the Romans, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God." (Rom 12:2). If we are to test everything, then, it follows that at some point we'll have to play the role of whistle-blower as well. (For recovering people-pleasers like me, this is never an enjoyable task). And so, after some "testing," and a deeper look into the conference sessions and some of the speakers (there's a fairly wide spectrum of theological positions represented), the root of my unease was exposed...

The idea that Christians should "get ahead" of our culture implies a need to go with the cultural flow in an effort to anticipate, and respond more effectively to, the issues and trends of the times. This has become an influential way of thinking among many church leaders today. The effort to be "relevant," "culturally sensitive," or "seeker-friendly," etc., is part of a widespread movement over the last decade or two to make Christianity more relatable to younger generations (who have been leaving the church in droves) by speaking more directly to their lives. But more often than not, trying to be relevant to young people has led churches to mirror secular culture as opposed to presenting a counter-cultural [ie biblical] worldview. This is because it seeks to please people first, not God first.

Furthermore, the assertion that we are to race ahead of, or somehow outfox, worldly culture, is found nowhere in Scripture. In contrast, Christians are simply urged not to conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2). Instead of competing with secular culture, then, we are to reject it altogether. In other words, the Bible teaches us that rather than attempting to surf the cultural tide, we are to go against it.

And the truth is, you can't surf the waves forever—for eventually, you're going to be engulfed by them. Worldly culture is already seeping insidiously into our churches as it is—so any attempt to ride its treacherous waves seems like opening the flood-gates. While it is true, as the conference emails states, that "our environment is constantly advancing, constantly shifting, constantly adapting," attempting to "stay head" of these rapidly evolving developments seems like an exhausting, futile—even deadly—undertaking! For getting ahead of the curve is near impossible when the waves of our worldly culture are in constant, often tumultuous, motion.

And even if we do succeed in riding one of the waves for a moment, it will soon come crashing down even so. In other words, the world will ultimately bring us down even if we rise up for a time. How many celebrities have we see rise and fall in popularity? How many stars who were once idolized have we seen plummet from fame? They may seem fashion-forward, edgy, or culturally relevant for a moment, but they are soon outmoded by the inevitable next-best-thing who rises up to steal the stage.

After so many "ground-breaking" artists, TV programs, and movies, the foundations of our culture have been shaken to the core. How much ground left is there to be broken before everything falls apart? In light of this, we mustn't forget that our broken, crumbling world is ruthless and fickle—leading many who pursue its approval only to death. Those intent on earning it's favor, therefore, will soon become last month's flavor, and yesterday's news. Why, then, should the Church even attempt to win worldly popularity and acceptance in the name of outreach or "loving neighbor"?

But wait! You might say. Shouldn't the church be outreach-minded and provide a welcoming, unintimidating environment for seekers to find Jesus? Yes and Yes. But it is not our job to finesse or tweak the Christian message to make it more culturally appealing. It's the job of the Holy Spirit to draw people to His Church and to convict hearts. Christians are called to be witnesses, not sales representatives.

But surely the Church needs to stay up-to-date on current issues facing young people today! You might also say. Surely the Church should speak directly to those issues in order to remain relevant to peoples' lives! This is a valid point. There are contemporary issues that the Church must grapple with. But while the Church should take a biblical stand on these issues, strategizing about how to repackage Christianity to make it appear more culturally relevant is missing the mark. This can—and has—led our churches down a dangerous path.

Within Emergent churches, for example, Christians strive to incorporate culturally sensitive approaches to reaching the postmodern, un-churched population with the Christian message. In doing so, however, these churches often promote a feelings- and experience-based relationship with God, while downplaying the need for sound doctrine and a cognizant understanding of His word. Polarizing and inconvenient biblical truths, along with the gravity of sin in the eyes of a just and holy God, are often glossed over in an effort not to alienate anyone and to make everyone feel more comfortable. But once you downplay sin, you detract from the amazing grace of the gospel. It isn't so much about making people feel guilty as it is about highlighting the vast extent of God's love and mercy for them. It is this that makes the gospel of grace so amazing.

The truth is, the gospel isn't compatible with what our culture demands. While our culture will encourage us to be proud of ourselves, to promote and "actualize" ourselves, and to seek worldly status, pride is actually our biggest hurdle to salvation by grace. The Bible counters that we need to let go of our pride (Prov 16:5; 16:18; Ja 4:6). To brush sin under the rug is prideful because it tries to elevate the self to a holier status that it deserves. And enabling sin is not acting in line with the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:14).

Our focus, then, shouldn't be on cultural relevance and sensitivity, but on the transcendental truth of the gospel. The gospel is always applicable to people's lives, regardless of their cultural or demographic context. Furthermore, if we go with the cultural flow, instead of remaining anchored in Christ, we may find ourselves following an abstract Jesus—a false Christ—of our own making.

The distinction between numbers-driven popularity and furthering the authentic Kingdom of God is becoming increasingly blurred in the minds of many Christian leaders today. But, if we base the way we "do church" on worldly opinions, we will find ourselves being blown about by every wind of teaching. Outreach strategies and church models that do this, often end up being inconsistent with Scripture. It's when we turn to God's Word, however, that we can drop our anchor and withstand the swirling chaos. Unlike worldly popularity and cultural trends, the love and truth of God endures forever. In light of this, we should seek to please God first, not people first, in how we lead our churches—even if doing so might not win us mass appeal, make us more culturally relatable, or seem cutting-edge and innovative in the here-and-now.

The mass email I received told the generic "me" that I am a change-maker. But it's not I who can change the world. It's the transformational gospel of Jesus Christ. While I am merely a messenger, empowered by the Holy Spirit to be His witness in the world (Acts 1:8), it is Jesus who actually changes lives.

I guess the conference representative's sales pitch reminded me of Paul's words to the Romans, "For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive." (Rom 16:18). This may sound harsh, but I think the gravest mistake the Church is making today is to look to the world first, not God first on how to further His Kingdom. When this happens we begin to devolve—we begin to look and sound more like the world, and less like the One whom it has rejected.

And as foreigners in the world (1 Peter 2:11), then, we should stand out from the crowd, not blend in. Sometimes, this might mean we are rejected by the world, just as Jesus warned us (John 15:19). And it might mean that we aren't getting ahead of the cultural curve. But we shouldn't be measuring ourselves against the bell-curve of this world, which rises and falls, and tapers away to nothing. Instead, we should set our feet steadily on the eternal, immovable, unchanging ROCK that stands high above the stormy seas.