When Did Jesus Fight?

Mike Leake

jesus-templWithin moments of perusing your social media feed you’ll be attuned to the outrage of the day. We live in a world of strife. And yet Proverbs 20:3 tells us:

      It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
       but every fool will be quarreling.

The word which is translated “keep aloof” is a word that either means to “sit” or “cease”. It either means don’t start the fight in the first place or if you’re in a quarrel walk away from the fight. To “keep aloof” is to stand still.

For those of us who hate confrontation, this is a phenomenal verse to misuse. If I’ve created strife in a relationship this is a good verse to hide behind so as not to deal with the issues which I’ve caused. And if the other person brings it up, I can clobber them with this passage.

It’s also a great verse to encourage passivity in the face of the suffering of others. I can combine this one with Proverbs 26:17 and convince myself that entering into a quarrel not my own is the height of foolishness.

For those reasons I absolutely love this proverb for keeping me out of taking responsibility for confronting the strife I ought to be fixing. But this isn’t a favorite verse for those times when my own honor is besmirched. Now that is a quarrel that is my own and one which I ought to enter in to—and try to reign victorious.

When I encounter Jesus in the New Testament it seems that he uses Proverbs 20:3 almost the exact opposite as I do. He doesn’t seem to ever be fighting for His own honor. Sure, he’ll clear up misconceptions. But his table flipping adventures seem to be reserved for defending others.

Because, you see, while it might appear that defending the vulnerable is “entering into a quarrel that is not your own” it’s actually quite the opposite. We are called to fight for the vulnerable.

And Jesus calls us in Matthew 5:23-24 to enter into the strife of broken relationships before we even go into worship. Proverbs 20:3 doesn’t give me an out when I’m the one who caused the strife. Rather Proverbs 20:3 tells me to be slow to fighting for my own honor and reputation. This includes fighting for my tribe.

Being absolutely dedicated to defending our own honor has a tendency to diminish it in the eyes of others. We do far better to fight for the honor of others and leave our own up to the Lord. Walking away from a fight, especially a fight that you could win, is the path to honor.

This is the proper use of Proverbs 20:3.

Do People "Just Not Value the Word Anymore"?

Mike Leake

14957378-9933-b__9811“These people just don’t value the Word!”

The previous Sunday he had given a 50 minute exposition on an obscure text in 1 Kings. It was accurate, scholarly, and the point of his sermon was indeed the point of the text. It was, as we Reformed-ish people like to say, “solid”.

It also fell flat.

Sure, he got several of those typical “good sermon preacher” messages in the foyer after church. But he saw the glazed over look on their face. And some of the comments afterwards weren’t as encouraging.

“I had a hard time following that one.”

“That was deep stuff. Over my head!”

How, then, does he assess this? He was faithful to the text, God’s Word doesn’t come back void, and yet the people didn’t seem to value the Word enough to dig deeper. They weren’t willing to go into the depths, where the pastor was.

Maybe they just don’t value the Word…

—-

“These people just don’t care about the Word of God anymore.”

The pastor had been at this particular church for almost a decade. When he first started the people were engaged and eating up his Bible studies. They were hungry for the Word, and he was happy to feed them.

But somewhere around year three, they didn’t seem to be nearly as engaged. He was preaching about the same message he had been preaching at the beginning. Simple and engaging talks that came out of the Bible. They were relevant and preached at a level that new believers would easily follow along.

But now people seemed bored. They weren’t getting fed anymore, it seemed. If you asked the people in the congregation they’d tell you that every message seemed about the same. They were helpful when he first came, but one can only remain engaged in the same message for so long.

What’s the pastor to conclude, then? Have they gotten “bored with the gospel”? Do they not value the Word anymore?

—

With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. –Mark 4:33

That little phrase at the end has massive implications for preachers. It also helps to solve the conundrum of both the pastors mentioned above.

Mark 4 is all about the importance of hearing and responding to the message of Jesus. It’s filled with parables that serve as little windows into the kingdom of God. But these parables also serve as an invitation into discipleship. Will it catch their attention? Will they follow the parable into its deeper meaning?

Jesus not only met people where they were, he also stayed a step or two ahead of them. And that is what is missing for the pastors in the above scenarios. For the one pastor he is so far ahead of his congregation that they don’t even know how to get to him. He’s not even speaking the same language. For the other pastor he’s not taking them anywhere. He’s got them, he’s fed them, but now he needs to lead them into greener pastures.

Parables are little stories that engage and reach someone where they are. And they also conceal a deeper meaning which invites the hearer into discipleship and further questions.

We would do well to follow Jesus in this. We don’t overwhelm with information and dump everything we know. But we also give enough to invite our hearers into receiving more. When they have a glazed over look we don’t assume they don’t value the Word—we assume we went a bit too far into the weeds. And when they seem bored, we don’t assume that the gospel doesn’t cut it for them—we assume that we’re not giving them next steps of discipleship.

It’s really a beautiful thing that Jesus is doing here. It shows us how dynamic faith actually is. It’s not stale and static. It’s more like a dance than a scientific exam. I appreciate these words of Ronald Kernaghan:

Faith for Mark is more like an adventure whose terms unfold as we pursue it. It cannot be understood from a distance, and we are never in control of what happens. Our part is to listen and act, and then listen and act again and again. That alone is an unnerving thought for people living in a postmodern world. In our thoughts and dreams the self is invariably at the center of things, but in this adventure the self has been dislodged. There is something or someone else at the center of things whom we can neither define nor control. We are invited to follow along when we have only an inkling of where we are going. (Kernaghan, 100)

We pastors do well to learn this dance.

Review of Live No Lies By @JohnMarkComer

Mike Leake

0525653120.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_SX500_Fake news.

That’s not a phrase we hear quite as frequently these days, but the concept is still there. It’s incredibly interesting that we even acknowledge that there is such a thing as a lie. in a postmodern society where we have unquestioning mantras like “just live your own truth” somehow we still carry about this notion of untruth.

Into this context, John Mark Comer has written Live No Lies. As a modern and civilized society we believe we’ve moved on from such dated concepts like demons and devils and personal sin and guilt. Yet, what if they’re real? What if they’re real and harming us.

Comer argues that “the world, the flesh, and the devil are alive and well; and aided by our skepticism, they are wreaking havoc in our souls and society.” (xxii) The idea of being at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil is not new to Comer. This is an age old argument. What is unique is how Comer ties them together.

His theory is that the strategy of the enemy is to use deceptive ideas (devil), which plays to our disordered desires (flesh), that are normalized in sinful society (the world). (xxiii)

Summary

The book itself is divided into these three categories. In the first four chapters the author gets at the heart of lies. He talks about the importance of ideas and shows how they have great power when we believe them. He peels the curtain back on some of the deceptive things we believe in our own culture.

We live in a world of half-truths, and Christians are just as prone to believing them. So Comer calls us to live in the whole truth—employing a few time-tested strategies to assist us.

In the next four chapters Comer gets to the heart of desire and shows how unabated our fallen desires will push us towards bondage and not freedom. One of the lies we believe is that living to our hearts desire will give us the freedom which we long for. He helps us redefine freedom with the biblical authors:

Freedom not just to choose but to choose the good. For them, freedom isn’t about autonomy but about liberating loving relationships from sin. And positive freedom means we need a kind of power from outside ourselves to overcome our (strong) desires for self-gratification and fulfill our (deep) desires for self-giving love. (137)

The Law of Returns is one of the strongest chapters in this work. He shows how choices leads to either freedom or slavery, noting that, “our freedom expands or shrinks with each decision we make”. (159) We reap what we sow and each moment we are establishing and building into our character. And as Comer says, “Character is our destiny.” (166)

As with the other sections, Comer gives a strategy to help us battle. Here the strategy is to live by the Spirit. Again, he pushes us towards ancient practices like fasting and confession. The devil will use our disordered desires to feed us lies, but when we practice fasting and confession we are better equipped to battle.

The final section, the world, is only two chapters. Here he attempts to expand our horizons into thinking about what actually comprises “the world” in the Bible. He notes that there is a “jarring difference between Jesus and both the Left and the Right’s visions of human flourishing.” (213) He aptly shows how there are things opposed to the kingdom of Jesus within the vision of each of these world systems.

He concludes by encouraging believers to gather with their local church. Living amongst other people will sharpen and shape us. The summary of this section serves as an apt summary of the entire book:

The devil’s deceptive ideas get as far as they do because they appeal to our flesh’s animal cravings. But these in turn find a home in our bodies through the echo chamber of the world, which allows us to assuage any guilt or shame and live as we please. As a result, evil is often labeled good, and good, evil; and the soul and society devolve into a reign of anarchy via the loss ofa  moral and spiritual true north. In such an exilic moment, the church as a counter-culture has the potential to not only survive but also flourish as a creative minority, loving the host culture from the margins. (243)

Conclusion

Comer’s thesis—and the execution of that thesis—is thought-provoking. I appreciate his solutions being time-honored traditions and spiritual disciplines. One can see that the enemy is using our disordered desires and the world system to continue feeding us lies and ultimately destroy us. But this isn’t a new strategy, it just looks new with each age. The tools used to battled the enemy throughout the centuries are still valid for today.

I would highly encourage reading this book. It’s both engaging and convicting. It helps me to think through lies which I might be believing, ways in which I’ve perhaps made friends with the world, and encourages me into simple disciplines. Now, it’s just a matter of rightly applying them and living them out.

Purchase it here.

Join Us For a Free Webinar

Mike Leake

logosOne of my passions in life is teaching the Bible. I also love teaching people how to teach the Bible. Tomorrow night, June 6th, I have a great opportunity to live out my passion by hosting a free webinar through Logos Bible Software.

Be sure to grab your ticket here.

What is a webinar?

I realize that for some of you I just spoke in tongues. What is Logos? What is a webinar? I don’t know how to do any of those things.

If that’s you, relax. You don’t need Logos (or even to know what Logos is, though I’ll tell you it’s a super helpful bible software). You also don’t need anything too fancy to join us for the webinar. If you have a computer or a smartphone, you can download Zoom, grab your ticket here, and you’re all set. You now have everything you need to join us. 

Why should you join us?

First, you should join us because it will get a couple free things into your hands. The first thing you’ll get is a workflow that can help you if you ever need to teach the Bible. It’ll even be helpful for your own personal Bible study.

What do I mean by a workflow? In Logos language that is a guide that you can use that is integrated with your Bible software program. But even if you don’t have Logos, it will still be of benefit. (And if you need a printed copy, let me know and I’ll hook you up).

Secondly, if you have been thinking about purchasing Logos, or don’t even know about the program but get excited after seeing what it can do through our webinar, I have good news for you. For attending this webinar you get a 15% off discount.

Lastly, you’re getting a free class. I truly believe you will learn something within this one hour. Yes, part of our goal will be showing you how amazing Logos bible software is. But really, the overarching goal is to equip you to teach the Bible effectively.

  • Are you a Bible nerd and love engaging the Bible?
  • Are you actively discipling someone?
  • Are you leading your children through the Bible?
  • Are you teaching Sunday school?
  • Are you preaching?

If any of those describe you then I believe you’ll benefit from this.

Are you thinking, “ah, man! I would LOVE to attend this but my underwater taekwondo class meets every Tuesday at 6:30”? Have no fear! You can still grab your ticket—watch the webinar later—AND get the sweet discounts.

So, join us. Grab your ticket today!