Am I Supposed To Treasure God’s Commands Or Just Do Them?

Mike Leake

I’ve preached through several books of the Bible, but I think preaching through Jonah has been one of my favorite. There is so much in Jonah that I’m half tempted to try to write a book on it, but I don’t think I could capture the beauty. One of the things I believe Jonah teaches us is about the nature of repentance and obedience.

What are repentance and obedience?

Repentance, and the concept of repentance, comes up frequently in the book of Jonah. The pagan sailors have some form of repentance. Jonah repents in the belly of the whale. The Ninevites repent. God “repents” of destroying Nineveh. But the story of Jonah doesn’t end in Jonah 3. And the existence of Jonah 4 tells us a bit about what true repentance looks like.

Consider a couple of questions. Is the story of repentance something like this: I once cursed like a sailor but God really brought some serious conviction and now I don’t do it anymore? Or I once was and addict, I hit rock bottom, God gave me a second chance now I don’t do that stuff anymore, at least I try not to…but, oh how much I would just love one more hit. I’d love to get turned up one more time, but I know that God would be angry with me, so I don’t do it. You can replace this with any sin of your choosing…is repentance fundamentally, I once did this and now I don’t do this thing anymore? Is that the fundamental nature of repentance? Is that really what biblical repentance looks like? Or is there something more to it?

Obedience is really the other side of the repentance coin. And Jonah teaches us a bit about the type of obedience that God is looking for. Again a few questions will be helpful.

Am I fully and completely faithful just because I’m obedient? If God says to me “speak my words to this people” and I do it but I don’t really care much about the people I am speaking to, am I being faithful? If God tells you to do something in His Word and you do it—but you do it begrudgingly—is that the obedience that God is looking for? Do I have to like and treasure God’s commands, or just do them?

To summarize the questions, Is repentance simply I once did that thing and now I don’t or is it something more? Is it an absolute change of heart and mind? Is obedience simply doing what God told me to do or is there something more to it? Am I supposed to treasure God’s commands or just do them?

Lessons From Jonah

If all God cared about was obedience then we wouldn’t have Jonah 4. We’d just see a prophet who had now been compliant…he did what God told him…Nineveh was saved…revival broke out…who cares if the prophet is angry in his heart and thinks God did something evil?

Jonah thought it would be okay for him to sit outside the city of Nineveh and wait for its destruction. Can you relate to his attitude? “There…I did what you wanted me to do…” I wonder, before the events of Jonah 4 did the prophet figure that God was now pleased with him? 

But God isn’t done with Jonah. He is after more than just obedience. He wants Jonah to treasure his commands. He wants to give Jonah His heart of compassion. Jonah, and the Israelites he represents, must have kingdom-eyes for the Ninevites.

What God does with Jonah should open up many questions for our hearts. What of my obedience? Does God just want lip service? Is that all I’m giving to him? Am I going to repent with my heart or just rituals?

God doesn’t just want begrudging obedience. He desires us to have hearts which reflect His. Until this happens our hearts will be off-center. Jonah, and our, greatest problem is a worship problem. His ethnocentrism, lack of mission, is fundamentally a worship problem.

God doesn’t want mere compliance. He is after joyous obedience.

God isn’t after moralistic and merely obedient people—he isn’t about creating older brothers—he wants prodigal son type of worship. Slay the fattened calf. Celebrate. Party at the wonder of redemption.

Does your view of repentance and obedience match this?

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Photo source: here

Read This! 01/03/17

Mike Leake

10 Things You Should Know About the Lordship Salvation Controversy

The controversy itself might no longer be raging but I see the effects of it still in local churches.

Speaking to Pastors Before They Preach

Amen! For me the worst is getting criticism or getting major problems dumped in your lap right before. That can be really hard to shake. Also with announcements I am so apt to forget those when they are given right before hand, just the way my mind works.

10 Major Trends for Churches in 2017

Some of these are incredibly sad. Others a bit more encouraging.

16 Fast Facts About Homestar Runner

I’m a huge fan, so I enjoyed these interesting facts.

10 Questions to Ask at the Start of a New Year

Don Whitney excels at writing these probing questions.

The Hyper-Examined Life Is Not Worth Living

Very good. And worth considering as you make all these beginning of the year examinations and resolutions.

This could so easily be me:

Tired of Controversy? An Encouragement for 2017

Mike Leake 1 Comment

I try my best to stay out of online controversies. There was a day when I got all wrapped up in that hullabaloo but I mostly stay out of that stuff these days. But I’d be lying if I didn’t confess to occasionally getting myself involved in the occasional kerfuffle. I am a writer for SBC Voices, after all. So a bit of controversy is bound to follow me around on occasion.

You know what I’ve found? I can count on a fist how many times I’ve been spiritually enriched by a contentious debate. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when a man needs to stand on the truth of God and boldly proclaim. But there is another way in which we can be defenders of truth to the peril of our own souls. If we find our hearts getting even an ounce of joy out of controversy then we would do well to heed the words of Proverbs 17:19, “Whoever loves transgression loves strife…”

I had a conversation with a group of bloggers awhile back about the old days of blogging when almost everything was motivated by controversy. One person noted how many of those former stalwarts in the blogging wars were now out of church altogether. Some have mellowed, others stopped writing, and some even abandoned the faith. But rarely is one able to keep up with battle blogging for a lengthy period of time. It just kills the soul.

I wonder if any of that has to do with what happened to the church at Ephesus that we read about in Revelation 2. They might have been the first discernment bloggers. They worked their tails off and they had the truth market cornered. These were to be commended by Jesus. Not mocked. Not held in derision. Not made to mock and dismiss and say, “ah, let’s forget theology and deeds and focus on love.” Their problem wasn’t theology or works it was that they lost their first love.

I think we might be given a clue as to why they lost their first love in how Jesus describes himself to them. “him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands”. He holds them and he walks with them. I think the church at Ephesus had forgotten this and it withered their soul. Somewhere along the way they started battling for Christ instead of battling in Christ.

Did the church get so bogged down in controversy that she forgot her first love? Was she so busy defending theology that she forgot about the importance of doxology?

I think they got so busy doing stuff and defending theology that they neglected the Christ who was right in their midst. To use the words of Spurgeon they labored hard to defend the lion when they really should have just let him out of the cage. Spurgeon says it better:

A great many learned men are defending the gospel; no doubt it is a very proper and right thing to do, yet I always notice that, when there are most books of that kind, it is because the gospel itself is not being preached. Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, a full-grown king of beasts! There he is in the cage, and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best “apology” for the gospel is to let the gospel out. Never mind about defending Deuteronomy or the whole of the Pentateuch; preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. Let the Lion out, and see who will dare to approach him. The Lion of the tribe of Judah will soon drive away all his adversaries.

If I really believe that Christ will defend his truth, and that he holds up his church, then I can rest a bit more. I don’t have to fight battles that aren’t mine to fight. I can humbly and lovingly present the truth as I see it in Christ and allow the Spirit to work and move and mold us all to look more like Jesus. It’s when I start trying to “defend the truth” that I get myself in trouble. Truth defends me, not the other way around. When I forget this my soul starts to whither.

2016 was filled with outrage and battles and shouting and controversies and long-ago established friendships burned under the bridge of politics. And I wonder if many of us are wounded and ravaged because of the toll that strife takes upon a person. If this is you, perhaps the words to the church at Ephesus will bring healing and repentance for 2017. Remember your first love, repent, and start doing what you did before you got all worked up and distracted trying to defend this tiny little god you created who couldn’t defend himself.

Christ holds you and walks with you.

Rest.

Today in Blogworld 12.30.16

Mike Leake

Aleppo

You’ve likely heard of Aleppo in the news. This from the IMB tells us a bit more and why it matters.

Why You Need a Sermon Calendar

And also how to make one. This is helpful and something I’ve always kind of done but will do more intentionally in 2017.

Borrowed Conviction

“A list of gurus is not the same as a developed set of theological convictions.” Jeremy Walker is spot on in this one.

Leaving and Loving Your Church

I appreciate this as it shows the importance of church membership and even membership covenants.

I love the logic of Rand Paul here, showing how many are not consistently pro-choice. Of course, this could easily be turned against a Pro-life argument as well: