You took my joy - I want it back.
- Lucinda Williams, Joy
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
- Matthew 11:30
A little hiatus was in order for my blogging. I began this blog (about a year ago) and I immediately decided that I would write one entry a week and at first I couldn't wait. Noticing things here and there to write about I was eager to return every Monday morning to write/journal again. But somewhere things took a turn.
Around 2 months ago the anxiety began. "What should I write? Is that really worth writing about? Who cares about that? Who's even reading this? Maybe this would be better than that?". I was paralyzed. Megan wisely advised, "Don't make yourself do it if you don't want to! This has become a self-imposed chore - it should be a joy".
It was true - I had lost the joy in blogging but I continued to labor joylessly. I had put myself under a new law: YOU MUST BLOG ONCE A WEEK! I was anxious at the thought of blogging and continually nervous throughout the execution.
What
started in freedom and was once a joy was now a burden because I had
begun to make it a part of my weekly "checklist". Suffice to say that
while I'm writing this week, there is no safe bet that I'll be back at it
again next week; I think (I pray!) I've learned my lesson.
As
has been well documented on this blog I hate working out. Maybe it was
the doctor telling me I have high cholesterol or maybe, in the spirit
of full disclosure, the “mirror don’t lie” BUT I’ve finally resorted to
working out with some consistency.
Specifically
I’ve been spinning. Basically, a stationary bike is being ridden
with zero abandon for an hour or so two or three times a week by yours
truly. I feel like Richard Simmons on wheels yet I furiously
peddle forward (getting nowhere!) to the sound of music that (except for spin class) I have very
little use for. Think Black Eyed Peas' I’ve Got a Feeling and then rip the knob off!
Specifically
I’ve been spinning. Basically, a stationary bike is being ridden
with zero abandon for an hour or so two or three times a week by yours
truly. I feel like Richard Simmons on wheels yet I furiously
peddle forward (getting nowhere!) to the sound of music that (except for spin class) I have very
little use for. Think Black Eyed Peas' I’ve Got a Feeling and then rip the knob off!
The
variable that makes spinning so difficult occurs when the pressure or tension
around the wheels is applied. It instantly requires more muscular
involvement which leads to a harder workout, higher heart-rate and for
me an endless stream of sweat. Maybe 15-20 times throughout the class
our instructor shouts, “Ok, please give me another half turn, you
animals!”.
I’ve
been considering of late how we apply pressure to our lives in a variety
of ways leading to altogether unnecessary stress and dis-ease within
the Christian faith senselessly stripping The Gospel of it’s power to
free us from "trying" and cheapening the infinitely costly grace of God in Christ.
(Please note here that the pressure to which I'm referring is of an self-imposed, internal sort and not the external pressures with which all humans must inevitably confront be it through suffering, relational conflict, disillusionment etc... Incidentally, this space, it is said, is where true character is revealed)
(Please note here that the pressure to which I'm referring is of an self-imposed, internal sort and not the external pressures with which all humans must inevitably confront be it through suffering, relational conflict, disillusionment etc... Incidentally, this space, it is said, is where true character is revealed)
Christians are those that, by
definition, come to a place in their lives when they realize they are now (and have always been) in need of God's
forgiveness and subsequently come to believe in Christ's substitutionary atonement on the
cross and God's institution of a New Kingdom in which Christ, having
been resurrected from the dead, is the first fruits (1st Cor. 15:20).
Unfortunately, after salvation, like an institutionalized prisoner (think Red in Shawshank Redemption),
Christians begin to slump back into their old self-reliant,
achievement-oriented ways. They ratchet up the resistance on their
proverbial bikes. It is then that they return to seeking
self-control.
No longer free to "let go" by God's grace, they begin to, once again,
hold on to their lives for dear life and with all THEIR might believe
that they steer their decision-making, life-changing process.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
- Matthew 10:39
Fundamentally the
Christian life is about grace leading to rest and peace and transformation - not about trying but about
relying. Our over-acheiving, busy-ness and people-pleasing are all
inhibitors to the peace that the knowledge of Christ's finished work
provides. Paul who called himself a "prisoner of Christ" (Eph. 3:1)
also called Christians "more than conquerors through him that loved us"
(Rom. 8:37). What a paradox! How can a prisoner also be a conqueror?
Paul
concluded that although he was saved (read: freed) by Christ's atoning
work, in his flesh he was still a slave to the law in his mind. A
Christian may give ascent to Christ's power to forgive without embracing
The Spirit's power to free us now of shame (read: take away our
internal pressure!)
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but
I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my
mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a
wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to
death? - Rom. 7:22-24
Not stopping there he goes on to deliver one of the most glorious and temporally liberating lines in God's Word.....
Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! - Rom. 7:25
We
can now rejoice knowing that the Cross of Christ brought us the death of
doing. We are delivered from our DOING because in Him it is DONE!
(John 19:30)
It
is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words
that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. - John 6:63
Christ
made a blessed distinction drawing a line in the sand between the work
of the flesh and the work of The Spirit. Being found poor in MY
spirit (Matt. 5:3) requires a cognizance of the futility of my striving to
relieve pressure and dissipate shame and the beginning of dependence
upon HIS indwelling spirit to have it's way with me.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law
of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and
death.
- Rom 8:1, 2
So many choruses in our churches seem to proclaim our
future intentions to love God, honor God, seek God, praise God; Our doing seems to
be the emphasis of these undoubtedly well-intentioned songwriters. But sincerity before God demands intellectual
honesty about the state in which we overwhelmingly find ourselves:
helpless. I wonder how we may be increasing the pressure on our hearts
even within our worship services through renewed pledges and vows to DO
more for God instead of only and always feeding on WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US!
Our
admission
that we are helpless to love God and walk in His holiness without His
very inward working power is the first Spirit-empowered step. It is
the degree to which we relinquish our illusions about our perceived
power that God will truly empower us to move toward Him in the
righteousness of Christ for His Glory and Honor.
Grace and Peace,
Matt
*Exercise: Take a moment and listen to this haunting Andy Williams classic against the backdrop of a life in Christ....
* Wednesday Men's Group - Tempted and Tried by Russell D. Moore - Intro and Chapter 1 @ 7am - 2 American Center, 5th Floor (Ritcheson Law Firm)
* Saturday - The Magills at The Forge in Ben Wheeler, TX w/ Jake Armerding and Kevin Gosa - Costumes optional but will be appreciated - 7pm! (Our Special Guest Vocalist Stephanie Carter will also be joining us for a few tunes!)
* Sunday - Green Acres Baptist Church, Tyler, TX - Jake Armerding and Kevin Gosa w/ The Magills - 9:45 and 11:15 services
Next Week...
* Monday Men's Lunch - Dakota's 12pm - Chapters 11 & 12 of Andrew Murray's Humility
DON'T MISS!!!
* The Gospel According to Pixar featuring David Zahl of Mbird.com, Chris Legg and The Magills - November 11, 2011 and PLEASE "like" this event on Facebook.com
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