The J Word 8 & Final: See Jesus Clearly

Last week, I read an e-mail containing the blog post of Abraham Piper, son (prodigal son) of renowned pastor John Piper. If you have a prodigal or are ministering to someone with a prodigal, this blog post is worthreading,

Abraham Piper writes this: “Your rebellious child’s real problem is not drugs or sex or cigarettes or porn or laziness or crime or cussing or slovenliness or homosexuality or being in a punk band. The real problem is that your child doesn’t see Jesus clearly.”

Is Piper writing that in relation to our children or to God in relation to His children (us)? Because I agree. We so often times over-focus on the symptoms of poor decisions and living in valleys that we miss our real problem. We fail to see Jesus clearly.

In John 4, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, and their exchange dances around several issues through which the woman fails to see Jesus for who He is. Then, finally, she wants to chase a rabbit, discussing worship differences between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus answers that, and opens her eyes in verse 26 by saying, “I AM (caps) the Messiah.” I believe He was also letting her know, in a way that got her attention, that He was God (I AM). I believe she saw a clarity of God that cut her to the core. What does she do? She drops everything and runs to the village, telling everyone to come see Jesus. He ends up ministering there for two days, and many more heard his message and believed.

You see, Jesus looked straight through her problems and issues, including adultery, and brought her to see Him clearly.

In sharing Jesus with another person, that’s my ultimate goal: To help people see Jesus, clearly. It’s not to dwell on their inconsistencies and problems, but to say, “Where is Jesus in this?”

In Mark 8, 22-26, Jesus heals a blind man. And, in the healing process we see three stages of sight: (1) The man was blind; (2) The man had a blurry vision (v.24); and then (3) The man had a clear vision of Jesus.

You and I are surrounded by people who have a blind and blurry vision of Jesus, and we believers toggle back and forth between blurry and clear.
Blind people don’t know Jesus. Their lives indicate as much. They believe Jesus was a great man, a prophet, and a magician.

People with a blurred vision perhaps see Jesus as Savior, but have not surrendered to Him as Lord of their lives. Many of these good people are “Sunday morning Christians,” confusing church attendance with salvation; confusing church involvement with following Jesus. They say (we say), “I want Jesus for an eternity, but I don’t want Him complicating my life right now.” Even Jesus’ disciples struggled with this – not fully understanding Jesus until after the Resurrection.

And, then there are those of us who have come to a place of seeing Jesus clearly, or at least we get there and hold the position until we slip backwards into a comfortable blurry state for a time. The Holy Spirit then convicts us to wipe away our eyes and see clearly again. What does it mean to see Jesus clearly? How can I help others see Jesus’ clearly? As I minister to the blind and blurry-eyed, what can I tell them that will help them see Jesus clearly?

For me, here’s what I want people to know about my Jesus (no ranking).

1. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it; He came to save it. Throughout His life, Jesus built loving relationships with broken, bruised and hurting people, loved and served them, and encouraged them to follow Him instead of the world. (John 3:17). We can’t condemn others and help them discover Jesus at the same time.
2. Jesus is all God and Jesus is all man. (Isaiah 9:6) We need to remember that Jesus was God – all God – when He came to Earth. People who saw Jesus were in fact seeing Almighty God, Sovereign God. God is in three person – God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit. Jesus was also all man, and so He understands our range of emotions, how we are tempted, how we hurt for those we love, and why we fall down so often. As God is Love, Jesus is completely Love. (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, He gave His only son . . .” He gave Love. What does that Love look like? Think about the precious, precious moments when you love your children or you consider how you have been loved: Empathetic, sympathetic, patient, kind, gentle. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). Love expressed and Love in action defines the believer, but not all who love are believers.
3. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. In the deepest valleys of my life, I found unbelievable comfort in just closing my eyes and whispering, “Jesus, the Prince of Peace.” I would often ease into sleep repeating those words. Jesus brings peace to the lives of those willing to look in the mirror and cry out because they no longer love what they see – sinful, lonely, hurting, mistake-driven, relationally tortured, financially ruined, sick. Read Matthew 14:29. In a violent storm, Jesus called Peter to walk on water toward Him, and as Peter focused on Jesus the storm calmed. A focus on Jesus calms the storm. It may not go away, but Jesus holds it and brings peace in it.
4. Jesus is Grace in Motion (my words). His grace – forgiveness undeserved – is alive and active. For those who cry out for Him, Jesus sees past all the selfishness and says, “You are Mine.” For those following Him, Jesus forgives everything about our yesterday and even our today. Jesus reminds the woman about to be stoned that He does not condemn her, and He instructs her, “Go and sin  no more.” Oh, what grace.
5.  Jesus is the Only Way to restoration with God. Jesus is our only Savior from God’s wrath. As you talk to people about Jesus, you will be stunned to your core at how Satan has so confused people. Good people, smart people, have been confused and deceived into believing they can financially give their way into fellowship with God; that they can build resumes of church and community service, and secure relationship with God; and even that a ‘cloud of witnesses’ will testify in heaven that they should be allowed into the restoration with God. None of this is true. Following Jesus is the only way to escape God’s wrath on our sinfulness. How do I do that?
1. Publicly, among men and woman and children, confidently confess Jesus as your Savior. Romans 10:9. This marks your life. You do it often.
2. Pour yourself into the matters of faith: Bible Study (devotions, books anchored in Scripture – anything that opens your Bible and puts you in it – look for answers to life’s problems in Scripture).
3. Prayer (communicate with God. You may not know what to say, and that’s okay. Some of my best prayer time is just quietly coming before God, and focusing on Him. It’s not necessary to open your mouth; you will know when it’s time and what to say or cry out).
4.  The Fellowship of Believers (surround yourself with other believers for encouragement and correction).
5. Missional Involvement (in the name of Jesus, loving and serving others by putting feet to prayers).
6. Once You Follow Jesus, Nothing But Jesus Will Ever Do. You will not live a perfect life in a ruined world, but you will find love, peace and grace within it by walking with the Savior. The more you follow Jesus through Scripture, prayer, fellowship and service, the less things of the world will matter, and you will begin seeing more of the world as Jesus sees it and loving more people despite themselves.

The J Word 7: Don't condemn others

Last night, I was reading a story about the life of the actor Bill Bixby, who died of complications from cancer in 1993. Most everyone of the TV Generation remembers Bixby for his role on either My Favorite Martian or The Courtship of Eddie’s Father or The Incredible Hulk.

Bixby’s first marriage was to a beautiful actress by the name of Brenda Benet. The two of them had a son, Christopher, who died at six years old of a rare throat infection. Perhaps despondent over that death, Benet committed suicide less than a year later in 1982. She put a gun in her mouth.


Certainly, I didn’t know Bill Bixby, and for sure I didn’t know Brenda Benet. But, reading or hearing about a suicide – regardless of who it is – always leaves me empty inside. The news of suicide always leaves me hurting. How did the pain get so bad that all hope was lost?
At my first newspaper job, after college, I worked alongside another writer whose name was Jay. Jay was brilliantly awkward. He was so very intellectual, but he was also so very socially awkward. That combination left him alone a lot, and I presume it left him very lonely. We only worked alongside each other for a year and then I moved away. About 10 years later, I learned that Jay had killed himself. I just remember sitting at my desk and crying over that obituary. How did the pain get so bad that all hope was lost?  Why had he not turned to faith? How had the universal congregation of believers failed him? What did his death say of my faith 10 years before when I knew he was lonely but did not act? What did his death say of the believers surrounding him now, seeing his pain and failing to act? Perhaps, Satan  whispered that we were too busy for ministry, or that once we served Jay he would be difficult to get rid of should we tire of him. 


But, let’s look at this a different way.

What if Jay was outside of faith and fellowship because, throughout his life, he had been criticized by other believers, or scolded by the faith community, or made to feel guilty by the community of faith? What if, on the eve of his suicide, in the dark of a lonely apartment, he cried out for someone to love him, but had no faith in the church or its membership to love him right where he stood . . . broken, lost and in pain. What if Jay felt so condemned by the fellowship of believers that he felt he could not turn to it in his darkest hour? What if he had lost hope in God, but also in the humans who pledged to love God and others?

You and I must be very careful. We don’t know how the conversations, attitudes and actions of this day will affect someone tomorrow, in a decade, and in the valleys of their lives. We must be people who talk about salvation, grace and reconciliation. We cannot be people who condemn others and make them feel hopeless.

We like to focus on John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s the cornerstone of the gospel presentation. But, look at John 3:17, “God send his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus is about salvation from a fate that is already sealed.

And, so that’s our message to others: Salvation; not condemnation.
                 
In our ongoing story of Jesus and the woman at the well (beginning at John 4:15), we go back to last week’s exchange.  Jesus introduces the idea of the “living water” as opposed to the water that comes from the well. The woman appears eager to know more and Jesus says, “Go and get your husband.” And, she says, “I don’t have a husband.” And, Jesus says, “You are right! You don’t have a husband – for you have had five husbands and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” The woman says, “Sir, you must be a prophet.” And, a conversation begins that ends with v. 26, when Jesus proclaims himself as the Messiah.” In his conversation with this woman, Jesus acknowledged what she already knew – that she had previous husbands and wasn’t married to the man she lived with now. In that, He did not dwell on condemning her for it. He didn’t beat her up over it. He acknowledged the facts and moved on.

You and I know people who need Jesus. We know people whose lives are in pain and we see them turning to every solution – every solution except faith. Perhaps you have been one of those people – I know that I have. I have lived through painful valleys and turned to every possible solution except Jesus – except faith.
And, in those valleys, I can tell you the last thing I wanted or needed was for someone – especially in the name of Jesus - to come alongside me, kick me while I was down and say, “Why did you do that?” or “What were you thinking?” or “You are an idiot!” or “Here, you need to this (xyz) because this is how decent people live their lives.” No, what I needed was someone to come into that valley with me, and say, “Can I walk with you out of this mess? How can I help you? Where is Jesus in all of this?”


You see we like to condemn people. We like to beat on people.

• If I can beat on someone – then I don’t have to look in the mirror and beat on myself.
• If those around me are beaten down, it makes me stand a little taller.
• I love fixing people, and I can fix you.
• They have always seemed so perfect; it makes me feel good to see them suffer some, too.

But, beating people up never introduces Jesus because Jesus was not about beating people up. He was about loving them, serving them, putting an X on their pain and pointing them forward.

Now, this is not to say that Jesus won’t judge sin. He will. All the sin of the world will one day be judged. And, sinfulness – anything that involves me over the Lord or me over others – is evil, and wrong, and hurtful, and will be judged by God. Non-believers will take the wrath of God for sinfulness; Jesus has stood in the gap and has taken the wrath for those who believe in Him.Jesus didn’t excuse the adulterous life of the woman at the well. No, he acknowledged it, and used it to explain salvation to her.


We must keep in mind, always, that our ministry is a ministry of reconciliation. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:18, “And God has given us (believers) this task of reconciling the world to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

And, as we do this, reaching down and helping people see Jesus, we need to remember 2 Corinthians 5:16: “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.”
                 
Are you a reconciler in the name of Jesus? Or, are you a condemner?

All around me there is a Brenda and a Jay – people whose pain is extraordinary and who feel unworthy to approach faith. Maybe they just don’t know how to approach faith. What can I do today to help them avoid the darkest of all places – a place of dark, perceived hopelessness.

As we look into the eyes of their pain, and it cries out for a Savior, will we say, “Look at you, you deserve this” or will we ask, “Where is Jesus in all of this? Can I introduce you to Him? Can I help you find him again? Can I help you reach for the hem of His garment? Can I be your friend?”

The J Word 6: Pace Yourself

As a recap, this summer we are studying Personal Evangelism – me (as a believer) telling someone else about my relationship with Jesus as directed by the Holy Spirit. Each and every believer is instructed by Jesus to do this (Matthew 28:19) – “Go, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Jesus is not suggesting we do this. Jesus is telling us to do this because (v. 18) “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth, therefore . . .”

What we’ve learned so far:

1. Be Social – we must be out and among people to tell some about Jesus.
2. Find Common Ground – when the Holy Spirit presents someone to us, we can find conversational common ground around family, hometown, hobbies and interests.
3. Spiritual Arousal – as we develop a conversation, we lean on the Holy Spirit for the opportunity to talk about faith, church, Scripture, prayer and, yes, Jesus. If we converse with people long enough, we’ll hear opportunity to move beyond hometowns and hobbies, and insert faith into the conversation. We don’t have to have the answers, we just have to Be Willing as followers of Jesus.

And, now we look at some Guidelines to Personal Evangelism. The first is this: Don’t Go Too Far, Too Fast.

In 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, Paul writes to the church at Corinth: “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to mature Christians. I had to talk as though you belong to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn’t handle anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your own demons? You are acting like people who don’t belong to the Lord.”

In 1984, I was coaching a baseball team of boys ages 10-12. I was living in Statesboro, GA, serving as associate editor of the daily newspaper there. I had a good team, and I knew it. Jeff Yawn, Sean Sanders, Del Akins, Jonathan Stapleton, Jamie Sapp, and Chris Boyd were a few of the boys – now dads themselves – on that team. We won our division that year and I was able to coach All-Stars. But, the first day of practice, I was joined by two of the dads. While I gathered and completed all the necessary paperwork on the players, these two dads started practice. And, right off the bat, they put players at positions and started working on complicated cut-off plays between the outfielders and infielders. I watched in disbelief. I could tell the boys had no idea what these men were talking about, and the men were getting a little frustrated. So, here I am, 25, and I walk out to these two dads, and said something like, “We’re not doing that. We don’t need to teach them the entire game of baseball, we just need to teach them what they need to know at 10 and 12 to be competitive. Then, at the next level, someone can add to the foundation we’ve advanced.” And, so I called the boys in, apologized, and told them how we were going to it. We had so much fun that year, finished 15-5, and won our division championship. The lesson that I learned was this one: Sometimes, you can go too far, too fast – you have to meet people where they are, love and coach them right there, and nudge them on to the next level.

Each and every one of us is walking up a spiritual mountain. As new believers we are “born again” at the bottom of the mountain. Our climb up the mountain represents our spiritual growth. Spiritual growth occurs as we shed the priorities and wants and desires of this Earth, and replace them with the priorities of God to completely love Him, completely love and serve others, and make disciples. Up, up, up, we are called to climb. But, we can’t forget about those just starting out at the bottom of the mountain *or* those who don’t even know about the mountain! And, we can’t expect someone just starting a spiritual journey to suddenly join us where we might be. That’s like asking a first-grader to know Algebra, or feeding an infant a breakfast of steak, eggs and pancakes. No, we have to meet people where they are, listen and love them toward taking their own steps up the mountain of spiritual growth. One of the best testimonies we can give is to say, “Come on, friend, you can do it. I know what you are thinking and going through because I’ve been in that same place on this mountain.”

Even Jesus understood this. The backdrop of this Personal Evangelism study has been Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, John 4:13-16, he said to her, “People soon become thirsty again after drinking this well water. But, the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.” She says, “Please sir, give me some of that water! Then, I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to haul water.” And, Jesus says, “Go and get your husband.” She says, “I have no husband.” Jesus says, “Right – you’ve had five of them and you aren’t married to the one you are with now.” You see, Jesus had the opportunity to move from the analogy of the living water to real faith conversations, but Jesus instead steps back and focuses the woman on her life and her life’s decisions. She had to confront her sinful (self-focused) choices, repent from them, and then embrace the living water of Jesus.

It’s easy to say, “I can’t do that” or “that’s not my comfort zone (to talk about faith with others)” but again – you and I, as believers, have no choice. If all authority has been given Jesus and He has instructed us to go and tell others, well, we must do it or we aren’t following Jesus ourselves. (That’s not good). When someone approaches me about faith or I have those common ground conversations, I never *plan* a strategy to talk about faith. I don’t go into those conversations with this calculated, strategic method of talking about Jesus. No, I just listen to the urging of the Holy Spirit as conversations unfold, and then I act on those urgings. My experience is that He will always provide the words and the direction and the answers that I need. And, sometimes the answer is “I don’t know, but let’s find out together.”

A Warning: While we are saying “don’t go too far, too fast” we can’t use that as a stalling tactic until we find the courage to talk to others about Jesus. No, this is not a method to let us off the hook or excuse our inadequacies. Because hovering over each day of our lives is an urgency to help people discover Jesus as Savior. People – men, women, teenagers – who die without confidently confessing Jesus as both Savior and Lord will spend an eternity separated from God. You and I need to bite down on that reality. We are not living a game. I know we are a culture of mercy and grace, and of second and third and fourth chances, but in this there is no second chance after death. All around us there are men, women and teenagers who have never heard a friend or family member talk about Jesus,  and there are people who wrongly believe a church ceremony standing only on its own merit secured their eternity. There are people attending church every Sunday who believe that good works secure their place in heaven. Most sadly, are those who have attend church all their lives, know all the answers, and carry a Bible yet have never confessed Jesus as their Savior. They want to confess Jesus, I know they do, but Satan has convinced them that they will be embarrassed by doing so as adults – especially living in the church as a believer for a long time. You and I must be Christian Soldiers in all of this confusion. We must share the gospel. We must balance the urgency of the hour with meeting people where they are, and helping them along. We must tell the world that we love Jesus, and be ready for Him to send people to us.        

My prayer is this:

1. If you are clinging to the world’s priorities, I want you to let go of that and lay your life down for Jesus. I want you to say, “I can’t do this life by myself, anymore. I’m tired of doing the same old thing all the time.” You and I must get right with Jesus so that we have a story to tell those who don’t know Him.
2. If you are committed to follow Jesus, I want you to get urgent about the people in your life. Do you love others enough to ensure they hear about Jesus. You can’t save them – all you can do is talk to them. Do you love them that much? Do you value you relationship with them more than you value their relationship with the Lord? You can talk to people about Jesus without being condescending or critical or ugly. Do you love them?
3. Can you take the time to meet people where they are in life, and help them take baby-steps toward faith? Can you build a relationship that involves a lot of time, a lot of prayer, a lot of conversations, a lot of your own self-reflection? Can you be patient, be authentic, be genuine, and love others toward a relationship with Jesus – regardless of how long it might take?

The J Word 5: Be Willing

By Chuck Cordovano -- Over the past month, we’ve discussed getting comfortable with Jesus; sharing our stories about Jesus with others, and encouraging others to talk about Jesus.  We should all develop our own concept of personal evangelism – how we share Jesus with others.  We’ve talked about two things we must do:

1.      Be Social – Jesus was social and Jesus called us to make disciples of others. 
In the 40 days after his crucifixion Jesus returned to the Apostles from time to time.  The Apostles kept asking him if the time had come for him to free Israel and restore his kingdom.  In Acts 1:7-8 Jesus says, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” So, we too, are called by Jesus to witness – telling people about Him in our lives.

2.      Find Common Ground – Once we decide to be social, we have to find common ground with the people we are around to allow the Holy Spirit to move within us and find the opportunity to speak about Jesus.  In Acts 17: 16-33 Paul preaches to the Athenians.  It’s a great example of finding common ground with others in order to talk about Jesus.

I would add one more thing we must do to share Jesus with others . . . Be Willing.  We’re around other people, we’re working out, we’re on a business trip, we’re having lunch with a friend; we have to be willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and look for every opportunity to share Jesus with others.

Two weeks ago, Scott gave a convicted lesson on the Holy Spirit in each and every one of us.  Do you hear God’s voice inside you?  Do you feel you should do something, say something, help someone, and yet you don’t respond?

I do.  All the time. 

Many of you know I’m an alcoholic.  But, by the grace of God, I have not had a drink in more than 11 years.  Through my experiences and my struggle with alcohol I came to know Jesus.   One of the foundations of our class is the concept of having a faith story.  We have been urged to write our faith story and share it with our family, our friends, those un-churched; whoever the Holy Spirit nudges us to tell.  If you can’t tell someone your faith story and explain how Jesus has worked in your life, you may find it hard to witness to others.  If you need help with your faith story, ask, or go to the web site where we have a link that will help you understand how to tell your faith story.

I was blessed to be asked to share my faith story with the class a few years ago.  Although it was hard to stand up and tell a bunch of Baptists that I was a sinner and an alcoholic, it was the truth and admitting that truth to myself led me to Jesus.  I won’t go into that story with you today but I’m happy to share it with any of you.  Sharing it has given me the opportunity to help others.  I will say this:  Alcoholism is a disease of dishonesty.  Alcoholics are the biggest liars in the world.  Our inability to see what our illness does to those we love and the excuses we make to them result from the lies we tell to them and ourselves.

I have a beautiful wife and daughter who have never seen me drink and that is a blessing.  Unfortunately, I’m still a sinner.  I’ve seen so many people turn away from church because they believe we are hypocrites.  They also have been so beaten down by churches and religion in the past that they just figure they are going to hell anyway so . . .

Although we are sinners, although we are human and fail, we have to try to live and love others as Jesus would have us live and love.  We have to “live it.”  As much as I try to live a life of faith, I constantly fail. 

I do try and share my faith with others.  I look for opportunities.  Mention church on the tennis court and I’ll ask you what church you go to and tell you about mine.  If you don’t have a church home, I’ll invite you to LBC and the V Class.  I attend MOVERS, our men’s group that meets Saturday mornings.  We are always reading and discussing a book that relates to our Christian life.  So, when I travel I usually board a plane with a Christian book.  It opens opportunities to share with others. 

A few years ago, after we spent some time talking about the importance of our faith story, I was in Chicago with a client I had come to like very much.  We were on Michigan Avenue and across the street was Second Presbyterian Church, a beautiful church dedicated in 1874 known for its architecture and stained glass.  The Holy Spirit moved me to ask Rusty about his faith and tell him my faith story.  It turns out Rusty was troubled and had little faith in Jesus.  I urged him to find a church home and a Sunday School class and I told him I loved him.

Last year, another client, Eddie, spent almost two weeks in Lexington so we could work on a project.  Eddie is a wonderful young man in his 30s with a wife and two small children.  Eddie had never been to Waffle House.  So, I took him.  As he ate hash browns, scattered, smothered, covered, chunked, diced… with EVERYTHING on them I asked him where he went to church.  Although he was Christian, he didn’t go to church, and, being young, was confident he was in control of his life.  As an old alcoholic, I knew Eddie was not in control of anything and told him so.  Again, a chance to share my faith story, urge him to find a church home and Sunday school class, and to let him know I loved him.

A few months later, Eddie learned he had stomach and testicular cancer, and he and his wife had a new baby on the way.  I hope Eddie’s faith helped him get through the cancer.  He is in remission today, has a two month old baby, and a new house.  I hope my sharing with him helped him become closer to Jesus.  I thought of calling him and asking but decided the fact that we could talk about Jesus is enough for me.  The sharing is enough.  Being willing to share, being willing to listen for the Holy Spirit and to ACT is what’s important.

It’s the times I believe I hear the Holy Spirit and don’t act that affect me the most.  But, if I am social and looking for common ground with others and I’m willing to listen for the Holy Spirit’s quiet urging and, I try to live my life that way, I become closer to Jesus and help others do the same.