Glory Redirected

It is human nature to want to be praised, honored, liked, adored, and highly thought of. We love to be recognized for our achievements, seated among the elite, and glorified among the masses. But the Bible teaches us that believers need to suppress this desire. We need to remain humble in the sight of man, but more importantly, in the sight of God. True believers know that every good thing comes from God. It is to him, and for his name, that all glory should be placed, because in Psalm, chapter 115, verse 1, we find these words:

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”

The author of this Psalm wisely, and humbly, redirected any glory back to where it belongs. Only God deserves the glory, and only God deserves our praise. The wisdom behind this Psalm, when applied, can remind us of our place in relation to the creator of the universe. For us, God is everything. All of our love, our adoration, and our heart, soul, mind and strength should be upon the glorification of God. It would do all of us well, to brand this verse upon our heart. When we reflect upon it, it should suppress our pride. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.”

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It goes against our nature to want to redirect any glory that we receive back to God. When someone exalts us, we want to bask in it. When someone congratulates us, we want to take credit for it. When someone honors us, we want to think we deserve it. And when we are glorified, we don’t want to share it. But in all cases, humility is the right path. True believers know this because the Bible teaches it. This Psalm is only one example of this principle, but it is evident throughout the scriptures. So I encourage you, with your mouth and with your heart, to redirect any glory that is poured upon you back to where it belongs. After all, every good thing comes from him, and the Bible attests that he will not share his glory with anyone.

Like a Child

Remember when you were a child? Anything your parents told you, no matter how outlandish, you believed. They may have told you that Santa Claus was real; that a large man with a big heart who lives at the North Pole would magically fly all around the world on a sleigh giving presents to good children every Christmas. Or you may have been told that when you lose a tooth and place it under your pillow, the tooth fairy will come at night and replace it with money. Whatever your parents told you, you believed. You believed because you had the faith of a child. Faith is one of the most important ingredient in any believer’s life. The Bible reminds us that without faith it is impossible to please God. That is why Jesus says in Luke, chapter 18, verse 17:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Why did Jesus use this analogy? Because he knows that children have great faith. It is easy for them to believe in the impossible. How is your faith? Are you able to believe in the impossible? Do you really believe that nothing is impossible with God? Do you believe that when you pray for the miraculous it can, and will, happen? Jesus tells us to believe and not to doubt when we pray. In essence, he is telling us to pray with the faith of a child. It takes great faith to believe in the salvation that Jesus offers. We must first believe in God. We must believe there is a heaven and a hell. And we must believe that sin is real and has real consequences. We must believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, his resurrection from the dead, and the promise of eternal life with him; all this without seeing any of it with our own eyes. But if we have the faith of a child, it isn’t difficult to know that it is all true. I encourage you to have the faith of a child. 

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I’ve been open about my belief in the danger of teaching a child that Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny are real. If you are a parent, or when you become a parent, I would encourage you to heed this warning. A child’s faith is great. They will believe whatever you tell them. So, if you lie to them about fictitious characters, what will happen when you tell them about Jesus? Can a parent really expect a child to know which stories are true and which are false? I believe that these kinds of innocent games can actually erode a child’s faith, especially as they grow older. But if you tell them the truth at the beginning; if you purpose in your heart that you will not lie to them about any such thing, when you tell them the fantastic and scientifically unbelievable story of Jesus, you will never have to later tell them it was a lie. Their faith can grow, not erode. I know many believers think telling their child that Santa Claus is real is harmless. But I encourage you to consider the ramifications of that fantasy. Not only will it crush their little spirits when they learn the truth, but you may have unwittingly planted seeds of doubt that may ultimately affect their very salvation.

Price of Hypocrisy

It is no secret that one reason many unbelievers reject “religion” is because of what they perceive as hypocrisy within the church. The natural response from believers is to explain that Christians are just human beings; that we are not perfect, that we make mistakes, and that we are still sinners even though we “follow” Christ. When we respond in that way are we, in effect, making excuses for our hypocrisy? Are we side-stepping their argument by justifying sin? Are we pushing unbelievers further away by agreeing with them that hypocrisy can be found within the church while, at the same time, not condemning that same hypocrisy? If we do, I would argue that unbelievers are, in a way, justified in their resistances to the faith. If we are okay with not practicing what we preach, or condoning or minimizing the sin that we commit, how can unbelievers see that we are any different than the world? Paul warns the Jews about this in Romans, chapter 2, verses 21-24 which says:

“You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: ‘God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’”

It is true that we all sin. But to justify, or to minimize, sin when addressing any hypocrisy that the world sees in the church, in my opinion, is counter productive. One problem I have with how far the world has gone away from biblical principles, is that, not only is it happening, but sinful behavior is being celebrated and presented as “good”. We, as believers, should at least acknowledge that even though hypocrisy can be found in the church, that it shouldn’t be, that it isn’t good and that God is against it. When we justify hypocrisy, we begin to sound like the world. Without saying it, we may project the idea that it is okay; that it is normal and expected behavior. We may even begin to project that it is accepted behavior. When we do, we may find that “God’s name is blasphemed” among unbelievers because of it.

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I understand the sentiment behind believers saying that the main difference between believers and unbelievers is that we are forgiven. But shouldn’t our differences be more than that? The Bible reminds us that we are to live in the world but we are not of the world. We shouldn’t look like them and we shouldn’t act like them. When we minimize sin, we are saying, whether overtly or in the subtext, that “we are just like you, we only claim to be different”. We are saying that sin and Christianity does, and should, go hand in hand. But that is not what the Bible says. The Bible reminds us that sin separates us from God. It reminds us that we shouldn’t use our security in Christ as a license to sin. It reminds us that we are to be perfect as Christ is perfect. That is the goal. Yes, we fall short, but we should never be okay with that, because when we are it could be said that, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Demons Fear Hell

One of our mandates, as believers, is to share the good new of the salvation we have in Christ with unbelievers. The hope is that when an unbeliever hears this good news, they will accept the truth and ultimately become a follower of Christ. I’m convinced that it is not by our persuasive words that anyone ever accepts Christ. It is the Father who draws souls unto himself. So, we shouldn’t expect to always find acceptance when sharing Christ with others. We may even find resistance. We may hear them mock God, curse us or even make light of hell. Have you ever heard someone say, that they don’t fear going to hell because it’ll be one big party? Or that at least when they go to hell, they won’t be alone, implying that if others are suffering with them, it won’t be so bad? The truth is, in their ignorance, that don’t really know what they are saying. They don’t truly understand what hell will be like. I would argue that none of us fear hell enough. Why do I say this? Because in Luke chapter 8, verse 30 and 31, we learn that even the demons fear hell. It says:

“Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Legion,’ he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.”

If hell is so undesirable that even the demons don’t want to go there, I would imagine that no human would either. The Bible says that the demons begged him repeatedly not send them to hell, or the Abyss. That sounds pretty serious to me. In this story, Jesus healed a man possessed by multiple demons. When he commanded the evil spirits to come out of him, they begged him not to order them to go into the Abyss. Instead, they begged him to let them go into a herd of pigs, which he did. This should raise an alarm within all mankind - not just unbelievers. I’m not sure what comes to your mind when you think about hell. But the reality is likely worse than anything you can imagine. It is so bad that even the demons don’t want to go there.

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I used to think the worse aspect of hell was eternal separation from God. I imagined a great chasm, like the one referenced in Luke 16; that those in hell would be able to see heaven, and the blessings and happiness that believers in Christ enjoy, but would not be able to cross over. The Bible tells us that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This kind of behavior supports the imagery from Luke 16. If you were forever separated from the eternal joy of being in heaven and confined to eternal misery, I’m sure you could imagine yourself weeping and gnashing your teeth in anger and jealousy. But I think this picture is still incomplete. The Bible also says that for those in hell “the worms that eat them do to die, and the fire is not quenched”. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it doesn’t sound good. And I still don’t think that is the entire picture. Eternal agony sounds horrific. Separation from God sounds unimaginable. But when the demons fear hell, we may need to even further adjust our thinking. So, the next time you hear someone making light of hell, you might want to remind them of this truth.

The Inside

One of my favorite verses in the Bible comes from Matthew, chapter 6, verse 33; “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” One of the reasons that verse impacts me so much is that it does an amazing job of simplifying a truth we tend to complicate. We learn that instead of concentrating on all of the worries of life; instead of taking our eyes off of God and striving in our own strength to make sure we have our physical needs met, we should turn our attention to just one thing: seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness. If we do, Jesus explains that the very thing we were worrying about will take care of itself. There is another saying from Christ that helps to simplify a truth we tend to complicate. It comes from Matthew, chapter 23, verses 25 through 26, where Jesus says:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.”

So, just as when we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, we don’t have to worry about our physical needs, if we focus on cleaning our insides, we won’t have to worry about our outsides. Many of us spend an enormous amount of time making sure that we appear holy and righteous. We can participate in highly visible ministries and Christian activities. We can learn to speak using all of the right Christian words and phrases. We can dress formally and modestly making sure we don’t have a hair out of place. We can make every effort to appear as though our Christian walk is impeccable. But in Matthew, Jesus called the Pharisees who did that, “hypocrites”. Because though they looked righteous on the outside, it was their insides that were dirty; it was their insides that were full of sin. He told them to clean the inside, then the outside would take care of itself. We need to heed these words as well. We need to concentrate on our insides. We need to make sure that our heart, or our insides, line up with the character of God. If we do, the outside will clean itself.

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Have you ever met a physically attractive person who looks amazing on the outside, but when their personality is revealed and you find out who they really are, you are repulsed? In your mind you might’ve wished that the inside of the person was as attractive as the outside. You may have felt disappointment because you didn’t find what you were expecting. When it comes to our spiritual walk, we need to concentrate on our heart first. As Jesus says, we need to make sure that we “first clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean”. I encourage you to spend the majority of your Christian efforts working on cleaning the inside of yourself, or cleaning your heart. That is what matters most to God, and that is what should matter most to us. Because when we are clean on the inside, people will be genuinely attracted to the outside as well. It may not be an attraction that can be seen with the naked eye, but it will be a much deeper and a more genuine than mere physical beauty.