Truth – Plattsville Church

Do you love Jesus, or your theology about Jesus?

It is the deconstructive work that is painful because we have learned to emotionally invest , not in Jesus, but in our theology. A good test to determine whether Jesus or our theology takes precedence is to discern the degree to which we are willing to unlearn something and learn something new about Him. Michael Hardin

Ooh that one hits home. The truth is our theology is never perfect, but are we actually open to having it be changed by God? Are we actually willing to unlearn something, to learn something new?

As I look back on my life as a Christian, pastor, and theology-nerd the amount of stuff that’s changed is dramatic. The question though isn’t how have I changed, but am I willing to continue to be changed by the prompting of God’s Spirit and Truth? Because one thing is for sure, I don’t have it all perfectly together. And I need to invest in Jesus, not in my theological thoughts about Jesus. And the difference between those two things can sometimes be wider than we think.

But what about you? How have you changed and grown in depth with Jesus? How has your theology changed? How is it changing?

Because one thing is sure, we all need to become more like Jesus and that process involves change and it never ends. May we be open to that process and to the prompting of God’s Holy Spirit to conform us more and more into the likeness of Christ.

Personal Musings

Why Being Real Matters So Much, and Why Its So Hard

Being real matters to me. That doesn’t mean I’m good at it (I’m trying though), but that it deeply matters to me. I don’t know how you can have trust without authenticity ~ and trust is the currency of relationships.

What I mean by that is that without trust relationships don’t work, and they actually aren’t relationships. Without trust relationships devolve into contracts, conversations, or mutually aligned interests but they aren’t deeply committed friendships.

Which brings me back to authenticity. Because trust is based on being real, authentic, and true. But being authentic is hard in today’s world. It’s hard to be true. It’s hard to be content with who we are, and to be real about that. I read other people’s Facebooks and want my life to be as cool as others. I read other people’s posts about their kids and wish my kids said deeply spiritual things. Instead Hudson said at Sunday School, when they were discussing the burning bush, that if Heatwave (a Firetruck Transformer) was there he would have put it out. Yep that’s my son – thinking about dousing Moses’ burning bush.

But what’s the point? The point is that even though it can be tempting to puff up our lives, to embellish, to become jealous, and to wish we were something different or more – it’s not worth it.

It’s not worth it if you want true relationships. It’s not worth it if you want things that last. It’s not worth it if you want your life to mean something. Because in the end the only thing that matters are relationships. And those are all built on trust, and being true and real.

So while at times I wish Hudson was deeply spiritual, the truth is he loves Heatwave and Transformers. And while sometimes I wish my life was as “cool” as other people’s seem to be, the truth is I’m pretty content with my everyday rhythms staying at home and watching Netflix with Krista.

The point I’m trying to make is that being real is hard, but it’s worthwhile.

So the next time you’re tempted to be anything less than real, muster up the courage and let people see the real you. The person who doesn’t have their house, parenting, or life put perfectly together. Let people see the real you, trust in you, and in the end your life and theirs will be better for it

Theological Musings

The Dynamics of Holding the Truth: Gritted Teeth, Judgement, or Love

The other day I was reading through Ephesians, and one verse just jumped out at me.

It always seems weird to me how sometimes you’re reading the Bible and a verse just leaps off the page, and you wonder, “Has that always been there”. I don’t know how many times I’ve read Ephesians, but I can tell you that this for sure isn’t the first time. But here is the verse that just caught my attention:

“Instead, we will hold to the truth in love” Ephesians 4:15

And that verse just sounded so beautiful to me. Because isn’t that what we should be doing? Isn’t that what our world needs? For us as Christians to hold to the truth in love?

Because I don’t think we, as Christians, are so good at holding truth in love. We’ve got the hold the truth in self-righteousness down pat. We really know how to hold the truth in judgment over someone. We know how to hold truth in anger and aggressive verse quoting. But do we really know how to hold the truth in love?

I just think that this is something so worth striving for. Wouldn’t it be beautiful if when people talked about you or I they said, “They sure know what they believe, but they are so gracious with their beliefs” or “Even though we disagree, their love shines through.”

For me that verse just so clearly gave me a goal – for love to permeate all of my interactions. That I might hold the truth in love, share the truth in love, and live the truth in love.

I’m sure I must have read that verse before, but for today it just seemed brand-new, and needed more than ever.

What about you? What do you think of it?

Sermon Reflections

Speaking Truth and Getting Rid of Promises

On Sunday we looked at Jesus’ teaching on oaths, vows, and promises in Matthew 5:33-37. In this teaching Jesus teaches people not to swear oaths by anything earth, God, Jerusalem, or heaven. He summarizes his teaching with saying, just let your yes be yes and your no be no.

And here is why I think if you have to add an oath, a vow, a provision, or an extra promise to something, it points to the fact that trust is low. Dallas Willard puts it this way, “The essence of swearing or making oaths is to try to use something that, though impressive, is irrelevant to the issues at hand to together to believe you and let you have your way. This is wrong. It is unlike God”. And he is so right. The NLT translates the last few sentences of Jesus’ teaching this way, “Just say a simple Yes I will, or No I won’t. Your word is enough. To strengthen our promise with a vow shows that something is wrong”

I think Jesus’ teaching comes down to the point that we need to be people of truth. That as his followers we need to be committed to truth – getting rid of all lies, oaths, vows, and half-truths. Just let every word you speak be truthful.

So we ended with the challenge to be people who speak truth this week. And to help that happen I gave three suggestions.

First, we need to confess to God our sin. This seems a bit counterintuitive but the point is that unless we are truthful with God we will not be able to be truthful with others. Bonhoeffer puts it this way, “Complete truthfulness is only possible where sin has be uncovered and forgiven by Jesus. Only those who are in a state of truthfulness through the confession for their sin to Jesus are not ashamed to tell the truth wherever it must be told”.

Secondly, we talked about needing to speak truth all the time. What this means is that everything I say needs to be true, but I don’t have to say everything that is true. I don’t need to reveal everything I think is true, in every situation. I can have tact, and discernment, but everything I do say or reveal needs to be true. This is our calling as Christians.

And lastly, that we need to speak truth softly. Whenever we use our words as a weapon to hurt, injure, or wound we’ve missed the point. Jesus previously in this chapter has already taught us to rid ourselves of anger. So any words that are spoken without compassion, is just veiled aggression and isn’t to be part of the kingdom. Stanley Hauerwas puts it this way: “Christians are thereby, committed to plain speech. We seek to say no more or no less than what needs to be said. Speech so disciplined is not easily attained. Too often we want to use the gift of speech as a weapon, often a very subtle weapon, to establish our superiority” .

So we ended with a challenge to be people of truth. To confess to God, to speak truth to others, and to speak it softly. This is so important because if we want to have churches, marriages, and communities that are stable, healthy and whole, they need to be built on truth and trust. So go be a person of truth today…

“There is not truth toward Jesus without truth towards other people. Lying destroys community. But truth rends false community and founds genuine fellowship”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Sermon Notes:

Big Idea: Be a person of Integrity

Take Aways…

What if we actually did what Jesus said?
“The only proper response to this word which Jesus brings with him from eternity is simply to do it” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Old Testament verses point to being people of truth
People swear oaths because of a lack of trust
The essence of swearing or making oaths is to try to use something that, though impressive, is irrelevant to the issues at hand to together to believe you and let you have your way. This is wrong. It is unlike God. Dallas Willard
“Just say a simple Yes I will, or No I won’t. You’re word is enough. To strength our promise with a vow shows that something is wrong” – Jesus
Thus disciples of Jesus should not swear, because there is no such thing as speech not spoken before God. All of their words should be nothing but truth, so that nothing requires verification by oath. An oath consigns all other statements to the darkness of doubt. That is why it is from the evil one. Bonhoeffer
Speak with truth
Confess your sin, to be able to speak with truth
Complete truthfulness is only possible where sin has be uncovered and forgiven by Jesus. Only those who are in a state of truthfulness through the confession for their sin to Jesus are not ashamed to tell the truth wherever it must be told”.
Everything I say needs to be true But I don’t have to say everything that is true
“Christians are thereby, committed to plain speech. We seek to say no more or no less than what needs to be said. Speech so disciplined is not easily attained. Too often we want to use the gift of speech as a weapon, often a very subtle weapon, to establish our superiority” Hauerwas
“There is not truth toward Jesus without truth towards other people. Lying destroys community. But truth rends false community and founds genuine fellowship” Bonhoeffer

Adult / Group Discussion Questions: What stuck out to you from the sermon? What was challenging to you? How did God speak to you through it? What was new?

How do you use your words? Would you say you use them to build up or tear down? How thoughtfully or intentionally do you use your words? How can you this week start to become a person of deeper integrity? Who can help to support you and keep you accountable in being truthful and honest.

Discussion Questions for Young Families: Talk to your kids about being a person of truth. Tell them why it matters in your own words. Maybe take a moment and promise to them that you will always speak to them with truth, and ask if they would do the same with you.

Challenge for this Week: Speak with truth

Sermon Preview

Followers of the Truth, and Speaking Truth

On Sunday we are looking at an incredibly important piece of Scripture found in Matthew 5:33-37. The whole focus is on oaths, vows, and promises. And even though this might seem a little removed from our day to day life in our day and age – I think it does matter for us. I know that many of us probably don’t make large vows everyday to clients, friends, or our spouses by swearing on god, our mother’s graves, or other things. But I do think Jesus’ teaching matters for us, because its about telling the truth.

Jesus is asking his followers to be people of the truth. To be trustworthy, and to be people of integrity. The honest truth is this: we cannot be the church God has called us to be if our lives are founded and function in deceit, half-truths, and compromised integrity.

To be a true follower of Jesus, means that we would be committed to telling the truth. So on Sunday we are going to work out how that happens, what that means, and what’s going on. But for now I have one question to ask you that I think matters. Are you a person of integrity?

And here is a second but an even better one. How can you today, this weekend, and this week become a deeper person of integrity? And come Sunday that’s what we’re looking at.

Sermon Preview

Fighting the Darkness Around Us – Theology of Spiritual Warfare

On Sunday we are exploring a new series, looking at a new topic often called “spiritual warfare”. While many people have many different thoughts and opinions on what spiritual warfare is, a simple definition for me that works is how we are called to challenge the darkness and evil that is around us.

I think this is simple yet easy to understand. The reality is that in our world we do see evil and darkness around us. Often we don’t have to look very far, we turn on our TV’s or look around in our neighborhoods. And what we might see is greed, hate, loneliness, anger, war, racism, injustice, sin, and pain. These are all simple examples of the darkness that is around us. And as Christians we are to be part of challenging that darkness, and changing it to light.

Jesus was clear that he is the light of the world (John 8:12), to bring light, life, and hope to anyone and everyone. Jesus came not simply to save us from our individual sin, but to overthrow the powers of darkness and evil around us. He came to show us a different way to live, and a different Kingdom to follow. So for the next few weeks we’re going to be looking at what that all means, how it happens, and how we can be part of it.

I know surrounding this whole topic of “spiritual warfare” the spectrum of what people believe is huge. The point for me isn’t what other people believe, but what do you believe? And more importantly, how can you start to change the darkness that’s around us? I don’t think a lot of people debate that there is hurt, pain, sin, anger, and hate around. The question is then how do we transform those anti-Kingdom things into Kingdom things of life, love, grace, hope, and mercy. So that’s what we hope to discover, but why wait? This week if you see something that’s running counter to God’s Kingdom, why not try to bring a little of God’s Kingdom and love to that situation, place, or conversation.

Theological Musings

How Honest are you with God?

I was reading the Psalms and something struck me – the raw honesty of the prayers to God.

It’s really quite shocking actually. In some places the Psalmist asks God to approve and see how deep his hate goes towards his enemies. In other places it talks with vivid openness about the doubt, and difficulty the Psalmist has in belief in God.

In essence, the Psalmists are absolutely and radically open to God.

I wonder if we are missing some of this in our culture and in our day and age?

I wonder if we play around the edges of prayer, with false piety not really telling God what we are feeling. Do we say, “God we’re frustrated”, rather than downright furious? Do we say, “God your will be done”, when we don’t want God’s will but change in our situation. Do we say, “God bless them”, when deep down like the Psalmist we feel deep hate towards someone?

I’m not condoning hate, anger, or anything like that. What I am condoning, recommending, and even encouraging is that we become absolutely honest with God. If you are struggling and doubting God, say it and call him out on his actions. If you don’t want to forgive, follow God, or do what he says – express it and get it out. If the Psalms teach us anything, they teach us we can be honest with God. We don’t need to hide behind false piety, we can be honest with our God.

The irony is that it’s only through being radically honest, that we embrace the reality of where we are at, and simultaneously the possibility of transformation. God will not get rid of our hate if we keep denying it’s there. God cannot change our doubt if we refuse to acknowledge it.

So this week be honest to God. Bring to him the good, the bad, and the ugly and see what he might do with it. Offer it to him, and be like the Psalmist radically open with God. Because when we are radically open and honest, this is the start of radical transformation.