Curriculum Year 4: HEAVY METAL. Background Music: Mark 12, John 13, Ephesians 5, Romans 10. Memory Verse:

Transcription

1 Curriculum Year 4: HEAVY METAL Day 5: Spiritual Formation Conforming to a Biblical Worldview Background Music: Mark 12, John 13, Ephesians 5, Romans 10 Memory Verse: 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God is making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For God has made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 INTENT: To spur one another on to the type of unconditional love and selfless deeds that would sound God s Gospel truth through all time and all ages around the world. Introduction: Have you ever listened to music through some broken or cheap headphones? Have you ever been in somebody s car or at a concert where you could clearly tell one of the speakers was broken? Isn t it horrible?! You know how we like to pump music as loud as we can until we create some hearing loss, right? Well, several times in my life I have done that and in the process blown a speaker or two here and there. It s terrible. One speaker may be perfectly fine, while the other has a faint sound or that awful static sound we call white noise. Isn t it true that no matter how good the instrumentation sounds in that one speaker and no matter how much you love the artist playing, that you can t get passed the blown speaker with the white noise? It s unbearable! If you haven t caught the revelation yet, God has given us the opportunity to be His mouthpieces and therefore His speakers. Clearly the pun is intended, and rather self-explanatory, but I ll keep going anyway. In this study, we desire to challenge each other to repetitively, loudly, aggressively, and emphatically preach the Word of God with our lives, as well as with our lips. Often, we quote St. Francis of Assisi, Always preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words. But if we were to be honest, many of us have traded the principle of this statement for the idea that everything we do proclaims the Gospel, so why speak? In doing so, we have become undercover Christians with private testimonies, able to openly share our views, excitement, or disgust regarding Scandal, `Black ish, Key&Peele, the Samsung Galaxy S5, iphone 6, the newest movie, who s dating who, the latest celebrity gossip, sports, clothes and clothing stores, newest shoes from a famous athlete, Obama and all things related to politics, what s wrong with the church, music, etc. I don t think our issue is talking about the truth of God s Word and His Gospel so much that people get offended. I think our issue is that we don t say anything about our personal walk until it is advantageous for us, like when speaking up about homosexuality, abortion, politics, or holidays. I think people are tired of people who say one thing and do another. People are tired of shallow hypocrites, Sunday-morning Christians, Christmas/Easter service attending pretenders, religious fanatics focused on law over love, and naïve slaves to culture who call themselves followers of Christ but submit more to cultural ideas than to Scripture, so as to not be considered narrow-minded. I think people are tired of Christian Mr. Nice Guy and Miss or Mrs. Christian Good Girl, who never sins, is always appropriate, never has doubts, and can never be wrong. People want character, authenticity, substance, and humility. People are tired of church people who don t even know what their own Holy Writ says, and will just come up with their own ideas about how we should live because that was a long time ago and is not as relevant today. It s not the U. S. Constitution; it s God s Word. We can t just make it say what we want it to say in order to feel comfortable in this untoward generation. If someone gets mad at you, just say, I am only a speaker. If you really want to take issue, talk to the audio source of my transduction and projection. The speaker cannot project sound without it s tie to some input and the Word of God should be our input. If you won t shoot the mailman for bringing you bills, then clearly, I m not the one either. BUT, if someone wants to speak with you about your lifestyle and beliefs that are based on Scripture, don t hesitate to make like a speaker and get 20

2 TURNT UP! Turnt has many meanings in modern culture, and while many are negative, where I grew up, the word turnt was regularly used as the past tense of turn. Isn t that the reason for its use in hip-hop culture? Isn t it the idea that the process of rising to the occasion happens so quickly it is already past tense before it starts? So how does that apply to us? Well, if we re turnt up, we better be consistently turnt all the way up! ALL: READ MARK 12:28-34 Jesus quoted two texts to answer the lawyer s question. In Matthew 22:34-40, He adds the whole law and all that the prophets taught hinge on these two commandments. Deuteronomy 6:4 is the first part of His answer. Notice the recurring word, ALL followed by the heart, the soul, the mind, and the strength. The heart is the center of all physical and spiritual life. It is the seat of our intellect, will, and emotions because it is the trunk of the conscious mind. It determines our attitudes and drives our delights and desires. So to love the Lord with all the heart means to give Him the greatest treasure of our attention, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, (Matthew 6:21). The more you pay attention to something, it doesn t take long before it begins to grab your delight and desire, causing you to feel a certain way about it and think on it more often. This leads us to loving Him with all of the soul. Soul is the animating factor and essence of our being that God blew into Adam upon creation, making him a living soul. It is often called the spirit in Scripture. It is what makes us alive, without which, we would be dead. Remember, death is separation and physical death is when the spirit separates from the body. Thus, to love the Lord with all the soul means committing to Him, with the deepest allegiance, the very essence of our being. It means we devote ourselves to Him, allowing Him to choose for us the path of life that He desires. In doing so, we understand how much we need the Lord and learn to want the Lord even more than food. Mind is the faculty of understanding. It s the ability to construct concrete ideas from abstract realities. To love the Lord will all the mind is to trust Him with our strongest affection. If He has the treasure of our attention and our deepest allegiance, our decision-making is not far behind. Remember, James said, A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways, (James 1:8). That said, a single-minded focus that allows the Lord to have our desires, delights, and decision-making is what it means to love the Lord with all the heart, mind, and soul. Strength, is force or ability. In addition to loving the Lord with our desires, delights, and decision-making, we also must love Him with what we do. Ultimately, our attention, allegiance, affection, and appetite manifests through actions. After all, actions speak louder than words. We are speakers, right? So, yes, the pun is intended. THE WAY: READ JOHN 13:31-35 Remember, Jesus quoted two texts in Mark 12. The first was Deuteronomy 6:4 and the second is Leviticus 19:18. But Jesus said, A new command I give to you and the command is to love one another. How is that different than what we heard in Leviticus 19:18. If you look, Jesus actually said love one another, as I have loved you, (verse 34). Love each other like Jesus loved us? We have to be willing to completely give up our lives for others? Is He commanding to give up our lives willingly, inviting Judas type individuals into our circle of influence and befriending wishy-washy people like Peter? Are we supposed to accept people like that into our inner circle? Does He expect us to serve people who will hate us? Does He want us to intentionally spend time seeking out the broken and hurting to bring hope and healing? Really??? Yes. If we are to be turnt up speakers who output His input, then we must proclaim the same truths with our lives and our lips. UP: READ MATTHEW 20:20-28 Dr. Adrian Rogers often spoke of how Christianity is counterintuitive. Regarding pride and humility, he quipped, The way up is down and the way down is up. It is true. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud, (Proverbs 16:18-19). God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6). In the passage you read, Jesus said the one who desires to be the master and leader must serve, even as Jesus served. As a matter of fact, the Scriptures often command us to imitate our Lord, walking as He walked (1 John 2:6). To be turnt up, all the way up, we love the Lord with everything and output His input. And if that s who we choose to be, it will be no surprise to anyone that we 21

3 WALK THIS WAY Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked. 1 John 2:6 We could take years reviewing Matthew 16:24-27, Luke 9:23-24, Luke 14:26-27, John 13, Philippians 2 etc. to discuss how Jesus walked, but we will focus on 1 passage containing 3 specific ways Jesus walks through us. JESUS WALKS: EPHESIANS 5:1-17 #1: WALK IN LOVE (EPHESIANS 5:2) Paul charged us to love as Christ loved. He roots the description thereof in Jesus giving Himself for us. In 1 John 4:9-10, we hear In this the love of God was made known among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the covering for our sins. The Romans out there know love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13: 8-14). The Galatians know love is the summation of the law (Galatians 5:14). The Corinthians know love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes the best in all things, expects the best in all things, and perseveres through all things. 8 Love never ends. Shouldn t we live out the center of God s character and greatest commandment? I m third is more than just a catchy camp-ism. It is the chief command of Scripture and the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13). #2: WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT (EPHESIANS 5:8) Paul addresses actions next, and reminds us that we are no longer in darkness. God is our Father, and 1 John 1:5 says, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. That said, as His children, walk in light of your new name. A good name is always important (Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 7:1). While I didn t enjoy comparisons to my parents and grandparents, I knew I carried our last name. Names carry a certain expectation. I knew my actions represented a name, people, and culture, for which I am a speaker. As a Christian, how much more is it important to understand our new name and represent the family well as children of Light? #3: WALK CAREFULLY (EPHESIANS 5:15) Lastly, Paul references time, charging us to walk wisely. Proverbs 9:10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom The Greek word for carefully (or circumspectly in some translations) is the idea of being exact. It is the precise, intentional way a meticulous person would diligently observe details (redundancy for emphasis). In my home, we call it being on your Batman. Bob Kane created Batman in the image of Sherlock Holmes. Without superpowers, Batman must constantly study, paying attention to every detail to solve crime and win the day. We must live in such an exact and meticulous way that we constantly seek best ways to love the Lord, listen intently to His voice, and remain diligent to present [ourselves] to God, [laborers] who [need not] be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, (2 Timothy 2:15). Romans 6:1-4 says, What shall we say then? Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. I was once told, Somebody will always be upset with who you are or what you do, so be yourself and do what s right. If you are afraid to be a speaker who loudly, repetitively, aggressively, and emphatically outputs the input of God s Word, you have missed the purpose of your newness. In fact, 2 Corinthians 5 says the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded that One has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and was raised for them 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake God made Jesus to be sin, though He knew no sin, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God. Everything about you is new when you know Christ, even what you speak about. So, of course, now you 22

4 TALK THIS WAY Have you ever met someone who says, I m a Christian, but when you ask what that means, they don t know. I often meet people who say they have faith and receive a good report from the community of believers, but struggle to communicate what the Gospel means and what Christianity is. Therefore, we will end with the challenge in Romans 10. THE GAME: ROMANS 10:1-3 Paul addresses his Jewish community regarding their salvation. He expounds upon why many have yet to believe. He says they are excited about God, but not due to personal encounter. They played the game we often play. Though we know the truth of our sin condition apart from Christ, we often act like God can side-step His perfect standard. We either pretend the Ten Commandments were suggestions or focus so much on the words written in the law that we miss loving God and our neighbor. It reminds of my kids. My kids were running through our home shouting loudly. I commanded them to stop running and to not talk so loudly. About 5 minutes later their voices were elevated again and as they rounded a corner in the house I reminded them of what I said. The oldest looked at me and said, I wasn t running. I was skipping. And we were singing. I proceeded to give him the principle we often communicate in our home. The goal of the command is to thwart chaos and keep the stress level down. The louder it is, the more chaotic the house becomes and the higher the stress level. The higher the stress level, the more poor decisions are made, and then comes discipline. My kids know the game. You know it too. We set up false boundaries and stipulations that make us think we are keeping the command. That is why Jesus communicated the spirit of the law in Matthew 5. He said lusting was equivalent to adultery and anger to murder. He said give to everyone who asks and be perfect, even as God in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:1-48). He gave impossible standards for the purpose of allowing us to see our Sin. But we try to change and soften what He said so we can think of ourselves as good people. But we miss the standard of God s perfection. DA TRUTH: ROMANS 10:4-13 Therefore, Paul uses verses 4-13 to communicate the way God made for us through Christ. I once heard, The object of your worship will be the subject of your witness. In other words, the size of your God will determine the intensity of your worship. Is God perfect and all-powerful, full of grace and never-changing? This morning I shared with my kids how easy it is to talk about everything but Jesus. Paul used Old Testament texts to remind the Jews what it means to come to the Lord. He rooted salvation, as we did in the third study (The Rock Star), in repentance and faith. He doesn t use the word. He uses the concept. The word confess is the Greek word homologia. You might notice the prefix homo which means same or together and logia or logos, which means word, reason, account, or speech. Confession means to agree with God what He already knows. Remember the definition of Repentance: agreeing with God about the truth He already knows regarding our inability to be rescued by anyone other than God Himself due to Sin, and therefore the conscious turning away from Sin. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. James 5:15-16 says, if [the one who is sick] has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. Never forget that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). The humble recognize the only way to God is turning from Sin to Jesus by grace through faith. Paul addresses faith, which we earlier defined as the conviction that receives as truth the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth and therefore, sinless life, His death as the only satisfaction for God s wrath against Sin, His bodily resurrection from the dead on the third day, and His seat, given by God at God s right hand of authority to stand up on behalf of those whose lives are changed by resting in Him and in Him alone. You can see that in this text, as Paul connects the idea of a changed life that leads to changed lips. Jesus said, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, (Matthew 12:34). Ephesians 4:29 says, Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Colossians 4:6 says, Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. That is why this text references what we talk about. We talk about what we love, right? We don t talk about something until we love it, but rather we love it and then talk about it. People have asked me, Are you saying according to this text that if I don t share my faith openly with my mouth that I am not a Christian? I respond with a question. If a person told you they were a Steelers fan, but never watched a game, rarely talked about the Steelers, never spent intentional time with other Steelers fans, never listened to Coach Tomlin, didn t know the roster, and told you that the Ravens were one of their favorite teams, would you believe they were a Steelers fan? Again, we talk about what we love, from television shows to phone apps, movies and magazines. So if a person claims Christianity, you would expect that person to pray on a 23

5 regular basis, listen to God, the Coach, to know His game plan for each day, get excited about being with other believers, know what the Bible teaches, and reject the foolish philosophies of this world s culture that is run by our adversary and rival, the Devil. But how can the world come to know the truth if we are not loudspeakers, emphatically, repetitively, and aggressively outputting the input of God s Word? That was Paul s question too. WALK IT OUT: ROMANS 10:14-17 It is inherent in being a Christian to be a missionary. You are either a missionary or a mission field, either in need to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul or compelled to share His truth in obedience and submission to Scripture. THAT is how people come to know Jesus. Isn t that what Paul says in the verses you read? Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ, (verse 17). And why is that so important? Because you may be the only Bible some people read and trust me, if you call yourself a believer in Jesus Christ, people will judge Christ by how you live. In 2 Samuel 12, after David s adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Urijah, the prophet Nathan told him that he scorned the name of the Lord by despising His Word. In other words, people would learn to reject the word of the Lord because they saw David reject the Word. Remember, we are ambassadors for Christ and therefore represent His kingdom in this world. As Christians, we are in this world, but not of it (John 17:16-18). If you are trying to fit in, let me help you out. WE AREN T SUPPOSED TO FIT!!! In fact, some call us misfits. But when you know Jesus, you adopt a whole new type of fitness and I don t know about you, but I would rather not be called a misfit. I would rather be called CROSSFIT!!!!! 24