On materialism

Anything by Platt or Piper is usually worth listening to. This sure is.

T or F: Jesus wants us to be happy and content

Does Jesus want us to be happy and content? And the correct answer to this depends on your perception of happy and content.

If I look at the life of Jesus, and specifically ask, "Did he want his disciples to be happy and content?" I would have to look at how he treated them. Let's see, he called them away from their comfort zones, took them away from the vocation that they knew, traveled a lot, didn't directly answer their questions, told them things like they must pick up their crosses, called Peter Satan...should I go on?

Yet, he spent time with them,he showed them mighty miracles, gave this same Peter keys to the kingdom...totally confused yet?

Here is my perception: Jesus was not so much concerned with their comfort as he was with their understanding of what it meant to be a disciple. He was honest with them,he loved them, he was okay with letting them struggle. He was very desirous that they grow. He was preparing them for a great mission. Had he sugar coated the reality, that would not have been love. Yet he wanted them to be joyous. He wanted them to know God and find their strength in Him.

As a disciple, should I expect any less? Or the tougher question, should I pursue anything less? Jesus wants me to be filled with joy, but not the joy that is based on circumstance. Rather, he desires that I find the unspeakable joy of knowing God as my Father. The Bible says that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. (He 12:2) Some think that that refers to the joy he found in providing salvation for you and I. I think it was the joy he found in being obedient to his Father.

My son, 10 years old, is allowed some reading time each day in class. The other day, he brought a book to me and asked if he could read it at school. It was Radical by David Platt. The smile on his face when I told him yes was ear to ear. Is it because my son loves Dr. Platt? No, it was the joy he found in pleasing his father. That is the joy I want. That is the happiness that Jesus wants me to find.

Abrasive like sandpaper

I admit it, I can be abrasive. For instance, my wife never asks if "these pants make my butt look big," because she knows I will tell her the truth. I have a thing for the truth, even when it hurts sometimes.

The gospel is like that. It can be abrasive and rub people the wrong way. I went to David Platt's "Secret Church" simulcast last Friday. There were about 100 people there, most whom I did not know, a few I did know. There were some local ministers in the audience.

At one point, David said (not an exact quote), "You can have said a prayer, signed a card, been baptized, even be in church leadership, and still not be saved!" Do you think that some found this abrasive? I think some did. But the bigger question is, is it true? And if it is, David would be doing a disservice to the gospel by not saying it. People can take it however they want, they can choose to act or not act upon these words, but David was not wrong in speaking those words to them.

Sometimes the truth hurts. Sometimes we would rather hear a lie. Sometimes we would rather believe a lie that tells us we are okay, that we are safe and secure in God's arms and nothing bad is going to happen to us. That sounds so good, doesn't it? I want that kind of religion. But that is not the religion that Jesus preached. I seem to recall something about carrying our own crosses, not denying Him, going the extra mile, etc.

Listen! Then ask yourself, Does my preacher love me? Is he telling me the whole truth, or just stepping on my toes enough to make me uncomfortable a bit (if at all)? Is he motivating me to have a deeper walk with Christ, or just to modify my behavior? Is God the center of his message, or something else? Do you walk away from there feeling like you want to embrace God or feeling ashamed and thinking you must try harder?

The real gospel is abrasive, and some will reject it. But to those who have open hearts, the real gospel is like a steak dinner, drawing us to it, letting us taste and see that it is good, and satisfying us completely. But don't eat too much, cause it might make your butt look too big.

This feels comfortable

I love our couch. Being 6'3", it is sometimes hard to find a couch that is comfortable to sit in and one that you can lay out for a nap on. This couch does both. It has fluffy arms that start low and get higher as you move out, almost like a pillow when you lay, but great for your arms when you sit. And, they are wide enough to hold a plate. Nirvana! No wonder I hold on to the couch even though one arm has a "slight" hole where the dog chewed it, and it is starting to show wear in other places as well.

David Platt, in his book Radical, says, "...somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves." (page 7)

We read this book in Journeymen last year. I thought that the presenters had done an admirable job of presenting a message that many really don't want to hear. At the end of their time they shared and discussed Platt's challenges at the end of the book. They are as follows:

• Pray for the entire world
• Read through the entire Word
• Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose
• Spend your time in another context
• Commit your life to a multiplying community (page 185)

Challenging and uncomfortable stuff. Jesus said a lot of challenging and uncomfortable stuff too. But this is stuff that I need to face up to. Maybe not these specific ones, as David Platt is not Jesus, nor would he claim to be. But I need to take a closer look at this.

Oh, the commercial is over. There, that is much better. Now I can get back to my couch.