Tag: BQOW

book quote of the week
How to Get More Out of Your Pastor’s Sermons

How to Get More Out of Your Pastor’s Sermons

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I always enjoy reading and recommending books on how to become a better Church member. There are many books on becoming a better preacher, counselor, or pastor but not as many focused on the average Church attender. Many believers don’t fully understand what their role is as a normal Church member. One outworking of this uncertainty is how people respond to their Pastor’s sermon. A question commonly asked is how to get more out of your pastor’s sermons?

One of my favorite books to recommend for instructing normal Church members is “Duties of Christian Fellowship” by John Owen. It is short, accessible, and intensely practical. If you have not read this book, I recommend you do so and then purchase a few dozen to give out at your Church. It truly is gold and I cannot possibly recommend it enough. Drop whatever you are currently reading and get through this book first; it is that important.

The first section of the book deals with the question of how to get more out of your pastor’s sermons. The quote below is worthy of consideration, particularly the last sentence.

The failure to consider these principles is the cause of all the negligence, carelessness, laziness, and indiscipline while hearing the world, which has taken hold of so many these days. Only a respect for the truth and authority of God in the preaching of his word will bring men to hear it soberly and profitably. It is also the case that men grow tired of hearing the word only after they have grown tired of putting it into practice.

“Duties of Christian Fellowship” by John Owen, emphasis added

What the quote means

“Duties of Christian Fellowship” is organized around “rules” for Church members. The first 7 deal with how Church members should interact with the Pastor and the second set of 15 focuses on how Church members should interact with each other. The quote given above comes after the very first rule Owen gives: Christians should regularly attend a local Church to listen to preaching and to partake in the ordinances.

But as in every era of Church history, not every person puts a high emphasis on the public preaching of God’s word. Owen’s answer is given in the quote: most of the time believers tire of hearing the word preached because they have long since stopped trying to apply the sermons they here. In other words:

If you fail to correct your life based on the sermons you hear, you will eventually become a passive listener.

What Owen does here is shift the focus of the question “how can you get more from your pastor’s sermons” from the pastor to the Church member in the pew. If you aren’t “getting anything” from the faithful preaching of God’s word, the first problem to examine is in the mirror, not the Pastor. What Owen writes is right in line with the first chapter of James:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

James 1:22-25 ESV, emphasis added

Why it is important

It is easy to approach Sunday morning as a consumer rather than as a worshiper. This means going to Church thinking to get some type of “product” whether that is a “good sermon” or “authentic worship”. If you are not pleased with what you get, then the consumer-mindset blames the Pastor or the worship leader or someone else. And there is no aspect of corporate worship in which it is easier to think as a consumer than preaching.

In today’s culture, congregants can often attend Church wanting entertainment, a “positive, inspiring message”, or a practical self-help type talk. When you come to service with any of these expectations and those expectations are not met, you naturally blame the Pastor. “That sermon wasn’t his best,” you might say or “It was alright, but I wish it was more relevant or practical.” Worst of all, you can give the Sunday sermon the epitaph of “I just didn’t get much out of it.”

What I love about this Owen quote is it directly challenges anyone who listens to a sermon as a consumer. There are only two questions for you to ask after listening to your Pastor’s sermon:

  1. Did the sermon faithfully and clearly explain the truth of Scripture as God has communicated it?
  2. If so, how does my life need to change based on what God has communicated to me through the pastor?

Owen says to the person who “didn’t get much out” of their Pastor’s sermon that the problem is most likely a passive, rather than an active mindset. A believer with an active mindset goes to Church to hear the Word preached so their lives can be confronted and conformed to Scripture. A passive mindset leads to a “eh, I’ll take it or leave it” response to preaching.

Your heart as you drive to Church on Sunday should be brimming with anticipation not because you expect some entertainment or life-changing emotional moment. Rather, you should be excited that God is going to teach you through your Pastor so that your life can change to better reflect Christ in the coming week.

Takeaways

1. Spend more time reflecting on the sermon than on critiquing it

If you want to get more out of your Pastor’s sermon, step one is humility: your job is not to be the resident “sermon reviewer”. Rather, your job is the mull over the Pastor’s exposition in your mind until you are gripped by the truth of the text. To get really practical, watch closely how you talk to other people about your Pastor’s sermon. If you find yourself saying things along the lines of “this is how well I think my Pastor preached” instead of “this is what God taught me through the Pastor”, you might be taking on the role of sermon critic.

Focus your energy on reflection rather than critique and you will begin to get more out of your Pastor’s sermons.

2. Set aside times during the week to remind yourself of what your Pastor preached on Sunday

One of the reasons I have spent time designing tools to help you reflect on your Pastor’s sermon is most of the time you forget what last Sunday’s sermon was about by the time you get to the next week. Humans are forgetful, especially when we don’t use the information we hear. So if you want to better remember what your Pastor preached on, start building in times throughout the week where you revisit the sermon text, your sermon notes, or even listen to the sermon itself a second time.

This is also a great action to take with others. If your Church has a small group, that is a great context to reflect on the previous Sunday’s sermon. Perhaps you meet up informally with Church members during the week. That is also a great time to reflect as a group on what God is teaching you corporately.

3. Prayerfully consider what God wants you to start doing, stop doing, or continue doing based on your Sunday sermon

There are dozens of sermon application questions out there to help you practically live out the truths you hear. But if you want three simple and memorable questions to ask after a sermon, look no further:

  • What do I need to start doing in light of the sermon?
  • What do I need to stop doing in light of the sermon?
  • What things should I continue to do in light of the sermon?

I love this list because it is so easy to remember and gets at three aspects of God’s word: it instructs us what we should do, it corrects our behavior when it is sinful, and it encourages us to persevere in doing what is right. By thinking in terms of “start, stop, continue”, you can figure out what God’s word is communicating to you each week. Like I discussed above, both the Epistle to James and John Owen make it clear if you stop trying to apply God’s word, you are going to forget what you heard or think there was “nothing in it for me”.

If you want to get more out of your Pastor’s sermons, come to your Sunday service ready for your life to change.

Don’t get tired of hearing sermons every week: even on your Pastor’s worst Sunday preaching there is some truth God is sovereignly ordaining you to hear. Let us be doers of the Word when we hear it for there is no greater stewardship then obediently responding to God’s glorious Word.

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How to Read Scientific Papers Intelligently

How to Read Scientific Papers Intelligently

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As an engineer, I read scientific papers quite frequently. I am convinced most people do not know how to read scientific papers intelligently. This doesn’t need to be the case: you don’t have to be an expert to think critically about a study and its results. In a society which is obsessed with scientific discovery and “scientific truth,” Christians in particular need to be wise when engaging with modern science.

If you want to better engage with scientific findings, you are going to know certain questions to ask as you read scientific papers. Additionally, you are going to have to get a good grasp of the uncertainty inherent to any good science. Recently, I read a book that gives both a series of questions to ask of a scientific paper as well as a good analysis of the uncertainty inherent to science in general.

The book is called “Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth” by Stuart Richie. Although written by a non-Christian, it is an essential read for any Christian working in a STEM field and is useful for any believer who finds themselves looking up the latest “scientific study.” For today’s Book Quote of the Week, I want to look at questions Stuart Richie says you should ask when reading a scientific paper.

Is everything above board? Authors from reputable universities, companies, labs? Journal published in look professional?

How transparent is it? Can you find data set online anywhere?

Was the study well designed? How was the control group treated? When seeing headline claim, should ask “compared to what”

How big is the sample? How many subjects were included from the final sample and why?

Are the inferences appropriate? Causal language when only a correlation study? Experiments on animals jumped to humans?

Is there bias? Does the study have obvious political or social ramifications and do the scientists write about these in such a way that seems less than impartial? Where was the study funded?

How plausible is it really? If study involves human participants imagine yourself having taken a part…did the environment of the study even approximate the setting that the scientists want to know about?

Has it been replicated? Stop relying so heavily on individual studies

Questions from “Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth” by Stuart Richie

What the quote means

These questions come at the very end of “Science Fictions.” The entire book looks at the ways researchers intentionally or unintentionally publish results which are misleading in one way or the other. The results can be over-hyped, they can ignore important data, or the conclusions can be impossible to replicate in a future study. All of these questions laid out by Richie are designed to help you as you read scientific papers to ask the simple question “is this true?”

Some of these questions are harder to answer if you don’t have a STEM background. But the basic questions of “how was the study designed? Who were the people who did the study? What were the conclusions of the study and do they make sense?” are always useful to have in the back of your mind when reading a “scientific conclusion.”

Now, the goal of these questions isn’t to cause you to never trust another scientific conclusion again. Rather, they are tools for you to more intelligently discern whether an article like “10 Superfoods which reduce aging instantly” is something you should read and take to heart, or not. These questions help you sort the “wheat from the chaff” so to speak.

Why it is important

The scientific method is a gift of God’s common grace. Many of the good things in the modern world would not be possible without science and scientific discovery. As Christians, it is important to remember one of the assumptions of the scientific method is that the universe is designed in such a way that observation and testing is possible and yields valid conclusions.

It is the Christian worldview that has the foundation for scientific discovery.

However, like all of God’s good gifts, humans make science an idol. Unbelievers consider scientific discovery “the way, the truth, and the life” rather than Jesus. A practical outworking of this is a society that accepts any sort of “scientific discovery” at face value. And if you aren’t in a STEM field and familiar with the uncertainty and approximations inherent to the scientific method, it is easy to think “science says it, that settles it.”

Christians value science as a useful tool God has given mankind. But Christians do not get their wisdom and insight exclusively from scientific conclusions.

All things must be compared with infallible Scripture. And what I think “Science Fictions” does best is show that science really isn’t infallible and was never meant to be. Scientists are humans like anyone else with motivations for funding and to publish “breakthroughs” in order to climb in their field. That doesn’t mean you should never trust a scientist. It just means you accept that science is oftentimes fallible and an always changing body of data.

Therefore, if you are a Christian, you should leverage the questions Richie gives to better engage with scientific papers. Again, the goal is not to discredit any scientific discovery. Many great scientists in the past were Christians who understood that the universe was created by a glorious, powerful, wise Creator.

Takeaways

1. Christians should not reject science. Rather, they should model intelligent, thoughtful engagement with scientific research

In a culture that idolizes science and elevates it over the Word of God, it is easy for Christians to simply reject it outright. But there is a better way.

The scientific method is not the problem: sinful human hearts are.

Therefore, Christians, especially those in STEM fields, should model humble engagement with scientific findings. Christians should not pretend that science is a perfect, objective, infallible source of truth. But they also shouldn’t have cynical attitude every time a scientific discovery is made.

Again, Christian scientists in the past have seen the theological foundations of the scientific method. It is a good gift from God, although it should never be elevated over God’s revelation. If you want to live in this tension practically, use the questions from “Science Fictions” to start thinking through different scientific conclusions you read. As you read scientific papers, write down answers to the questions above so you can model thoughtful engagement with the findings, rather than blind acceptance or blind rejection.

2. For the Christian, science is an avenue for worship of God

I really don’t know how anyone in STEM disciplines can remain cynical about the idea of God. When you see the order, the beauty, the detail in the world around you, it really is “awesome” in the most literal sense of the world. To think that people can live in the scientific world amongst wonders every single day and still attribute those wonders to “random chance” is beyond my comprehension. But Romans 1 clarifies what is going on:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Romans 1:18-20 ESV, emphasis added

Truly any scientist who does not see evidence for God all around him is without excuse. But what about for the Christian in a STEM field? Don’t ever think your job in a scientific field is separate from your Christianity. As you carry out the scientific method in your job, you should be worshiping God every step of the way.

  • Stand in awe at the creation God has made
  • Thank the Lord that He allows scientific breakthroughs to benefit sinful humans
  • Mediate on how your specific work displays God’s “eternal power and divine nature”
  • When you see the chaos and curse within the created order, remind yourself of the new heavens and new earth God will create free from the effects of sin
  • Ask yourself “what kind of Being could and would create something like this?”

Christian, read scientific papers intelligently. The questions “Science Fictions” gives are a helpful starting point. And as you see God’s glory revealed in Creation, let that lead you to worship and to giving God thanks. Being a Christian employed in STEM is a high calling and a difficult one in our current culture. But it is truly a glorious field to be in as a believer in Christ.

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Life Lessons from Emma

Life Lessons from Emma

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My wife and I have always enjoyed Jane Austen books. While “Pride and Prejudice” will always be a favorite, I personally really enjoy the story of “Emma“. I recently watched the most recent movie adaptation with my wife and it brought to mind the many reasons I thoroughly enjoy the story. As a Christian, I think there are several valuable life lessons from Emma.

As for a quote to analyze, I can’t do much better than the opening line from the book. Austen had a habit of writing some of the wittiest and most enjoyable opening lines of any author I have read. This opening quote tells the reader a great deal about the book’s main character in a single sentence.

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

Emma by Jane Austen

What the quote means

If you have not read Emma, I suggest you make time to do so. Like all of Austen’s books, there is a ton of analysis written about Emma, it’s characters, and every detail you could think of. For this post, I want to focus on lessons from Emma the character. One of the great benefits of reading fiction is you can learn from characters going through experiences that you have never gone through yourself. Emma is no exception.

This opening quote really sets the stage for who Emma is. In the first half of the quote, you read that Emma seemingly has all that a person could want: wealth, comfort, beauty, and a great personality. What is the result of these blessings of station and personality? Emma had lived her life with very little suffering or difficulty.

As the story continues, you see that who Emma is and her life circumstances cause her to make several mistakes and poor judgements with respect to those around her. She has an inflated view of herself and limited life experience, so she ends up hurting people around her while trying to help them. It is only when she is confronted with how she has treated those around her that she finally sees herself for who she truly is.

Why it is important

The dangers of self-satisfaction are rarely emphasized in our culture. According to the culture, most of your problems are caused by not having high enough self-esteem, not believing in your dreams enough, not having enough money or power or whatever else you might think of. Reading a story like Emma is helpful because it shows having every life advantage will not make us behave rightly towards others.

Due to her station and power, Emma is incredibly self-satisfied for most of the book. This self-satisfaction is not a neutral thing or a virtue; her high view of her self causes her to hurt others. It is only after Emma is humbled and confronted with how she was treating those around her that she grows up as a person. The pathway to her growth was not more pleasure or higher self-esteem. It was humility. Only when the mirror was held up to her and Emma saw how she was treating those around her did she begin to evaluate herself soberly.

This is a valuable lesson for you and I today. If you have a high view of yourself and your abilities, if you live a life devoid of suffering and growth then you will not treat others better by default. Self-satisfaction makes you proud and pride causes you to treat others poorly. It was only after Emma was humbled and “repented” that she could move forward and grow. There are several lessons from Emma and her character progression that Christians should make note of.

Life Lessons from Emma

1. Cultivate humility or the Lord will humble you

One of my all time favorite hymns is “I asked the Lord that I might grow“. Each verse contains profound insight on the Christian life. The basic thrust of the hymn is God uses suffering and difficulty to break our dependence and love of self.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and ev’ry grace,
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

(God speaking)

“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

I Asked the Lord that I Might Grow, John Newton

You and I are always fighting self and pride. Just like Emma, in our modern ease and comfort, it is easy to think very highly of ourselves and to be very self-satisfied. But such an attitude causes us to behave poorly towards God and towards those around us. So, our loving Father brings us through trials to humble us.

Like Hebrews says, no discipline is pleasant at the time. But if you and I don’t cultivate humility in our hearts, then God will grow it through suffering. Each time you come to the end of yourself or each time you are confronted with a sin or each time you realize you hurt someone or think you can’t go on, it isn’t pleasant. But these situations remind you that you aren’t God. You don’t have all wisdom, power, knowledge, insight, or goodness.

It is only when you see how weak and sinful you really are that you stop relying on yourself and run to the all-powerful God.

Don’t despise His discipline. Each time He humbles you, it is out of love so that you become more like Christ. Just like Emma, you and I need to see ourselves for who we are so we don’t have an inflated view of ourselves.

2. How you view yourself will affect how you treat others

Having a high view of yourself is a virtue in modern culture. Everyone is obsessed with “living my truth” and being their “authentic selves.” The Christian worldview sees the fundamental danger in this: your authentic self apart from Christ is a sinner who rebels against God in word, deed, motivation, and feeling. So your probably don’t want to live your authentic self out. But beyond the theological problems with having a high view of yourself, one of the lessons from Emma is pride will cause you to hurt those around you.

In the case of Emma, she hurts her best friend multiple times and insults a lady who considered herself a friend of Emma. Emma’s high view of herself causes her to treat the people around her almost like toys rather than real people with feelings. How easy it is for us all to fall into the same trap!

Pride can make you view people as characters in your own personal life story rather than individuals made in the image of God.

How did Christ view people? He came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. He washed His disciples feet. When a leper asked to be healed, Jesus was moved with compassion, touched the leper, and cleansed him. Jesus and His disciples were going to go away and take a break but when Jesus saw the crowd around Him, He stopped and ministered to them.

Jesus actually was all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-wise. Yet Jesus used that power to directly show love to those around Him and to point them to Himself, the fountain of living water. Rather than comparing yourself to those around you or cultivating a high view of your own abilities or status, compare yourself to Christ. See how Jesus treated those around Him.

When you look at Jesus and who He is, you will be humbled like Emma was and start seeing yourself properly.

For the Christian, it is looking to Christ that causes growth.

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Staples of a Balanced Bible Diet

Staples of a Balanced Bible Diet

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How can a believer consistently internalize the word of God on a day to day basis?How does one cultivate a balanced bible diet? Most mature Christians I meet have two fundamental realities they face each day:

  • They want to spend time with the Lord in His Word to grow in godliness
  • Each day’s schedule is incredibly busy and packed with activities and tasks that have to get done

What is the best way to daily put yourself before the word of God in the midst of all the normal, everyday things that need to get done? I have asked myself this in every stage of life so far and with my family newly expanding, I find myself thinking through this issue again.

I have already written about the book “The Practice of Godliness” by Jerry Bridges. As I have been working through the book, it continues to prove itself an excellent read. I want to analyze a quote I recently read which helps answer some of the questions posed above. Bridges gives 5 staples of a balanced bible diet to work into your day.

A prominent part of our practice of godliness, therefore, will be our time in the Word of God. How we spend that time varies according to the method of intake…hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating.

The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges

What the quote means

This quote appears in a chapter which discusses training yourself for godliness. Bridges rightly argues that one of the primary means by which a believer becomes more godly is through diligent and disciplined exposure to the word of God. Bridges then cites the Navigators five different methods of Scripture intake: hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating.

These five different categories of Scripture intake are incredibly helpful to keep in your mind. Hearing has to do with listening to the exposition of the Word of God from your Pastor or a teacher. Bridges describes “reading” as a structured Bible reading plan you go through in a year. The basic idea is getting a broad look at Scripture. Studying has to do with going deep into a text using analytical tools and then organizing your information afterwards.

The last two, memorizing and meditating, are closely related. Memorizing is internalizing Scripture to the point you can recall it easily to your mind. Meditating means “murmuring to yourself” the words of Scripture so you are constantly mulling a text over in your mind. Personally, I think meditating is the highest form of Scripture intake and all the other four support the goal of meditating on the Word of God “day and night.”

Why it is important

There is an old adage that goes “variety is the spice of life.” Similarly, I would say “variety keeps you engaged with Scripture.” If you want a balanced Bible diet, you need to think about all five different methods of Scripture intake, not just one or two. In our flesh, you and I are lazy thinkers, readers, and “remember-ers”.

If you want to retain and live out what you read in the Bible, you need to have times of hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on God’s Word.

Varying how you engage with Scripture does two things:

  • It allows you to fit time in the Word into the various contexts you find yourself in each day
  • You will keep you mind from becoming bored with one passage or mode of Scripture intake

Oftentimes, one quiet time is not enough in a day. You will need several times throughout the day and oftentimes each session in God’s word will have to look different than the last one. Rarely can you do an in-depth study of Scripture 20 times a day. Instead, you can vary the modes of Scripture intake so that you can stay engaged with God’s word whether you are at work, at home, at the store or wherever you find yourself.

Create as many avenues to Scripture in your day as you can.

Takeaways

1. Look at your schedule to see where you can work in each type of Bible engagement

You might not be able to study Scripture in depth on your commute to work. But you can definitely listen to a sermon on the drive. Or you can listen to someone reading through the Bible. Perhaps during your lunch break, you can’t listen to sermon but you can take a walk and meditate on what God taught you in your morning quiet time. Your mind might be wandering during your Bible reading; why not force your mind to focus by memorizing a couple verses?

There is an opportunity for you to be growing in your knowledge of the word of God no matter where you are or what you are doing.

Why else would the Psalmist talk about meditating on God’s law “day and night” if it wasn’t possible? If this doesn’t describe your current life, you are going to need to work on building the habit of exposing yourself to the Word throughout your entire day. As you look at your schedule this week or for an individual day, think through times in which you could read Scripture. Hear Scripture. Meditate on Scripture.

I am confident God has given you time throughout the day for each of the five parts of a balanced Bible diet. You just have to look and plan. Your goal shouldn’t be to have one quiet time of good Bible study a day. That certainly is great and you make time for it. But your goal should be more than that: fixing your life around God’s truth day in and day out. Easier said than done, I know. But it is a goal worth working towards.

2. Shift between the different Bible diet types if you aren’t able to do one

Are you tired and exhausted? Then maybe you shouldn’t do a full inductive Bible study on the book of Romans. What I love about the five different modes of Bible intake that Bridges lays out is you have options depending on how you are feeling. A lot of times, you might want to read your Bible but there is some external barrier keeping you from it. But as Bridges describes, you actually have five options of Bible intake.

Even if there is a barrier keeping you from deep Bible study, that same barrier might not keep you from listening to a sermon. And, of course, Bible meditation can always be done as long as you have a verse in your mind to think through. As I have had to stay awake with a new born, I now understand the wisdom of the Psalmist who meditates on God’s word during the “watches of the night.”

Regardless of how you are feeling or what your schedule is, there is a way for you to engage with God’s word

This post is part of an ongoing series called “Book Quote of the Week”. Click here to read any posts you may have missed. If you found this post helpful, share and subscribe below. Be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram to get more content.

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Don’t Wait for the Perfect Situation

Don’t Wait for the Perfect Situation

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The amount of choice you and I have in the modern world can be paralyzing. You go to a store to buy paint and you are greeted by 100 shades of every color you could want. Or maybe you search for a job online and find dozens of openings in locations throughout the world. Decision making becomes difficult when faced with an abundance of options. And just when you are about to make a decision, the question creeps into your mind “Why don’t you wait for a perfect situation or option? Surely it is out there somewhere!”

I recently began reading through a book called “Think for Yourself: Restoring Common Sense in an Age of Experts and Artificial Intelligence” by Vikram Mansharamani. The book so far focuses on how the amount of options you and I have each day leads us to trust experts, computer algorithms, and protocols to make decisions for us. “Think for Yourself” has some incredibly insightful points relevant to living in the modern world. Today, I want to look at one of the most impactful quotes in the beginning of the book.

This explosion of data dangles the possibility of an optimal decision, leaving us with constant low-grade regret and fear of missing out on the best option.

Think for Yourself, Vikram Mansharamani

What the quote means

More data, more problems

This quote contains one of the main propositions of the book: you believe that if you only had enough time and information, you could choose the perfect option. And “Think for Yourself” argues that this belief leads to a constant regret over the decisions you have made and keeps you consistently afraid of missing out on the perfect option.

Vikram points out in his book just how much data you and I have access to. When I say “data”, I mean “information that you can use to make a decision.” For example, let’s say you want to go out for dinner at a restaurant. You are not limited to the restaurants you currently know of. Instead, you can simply look up on your phone all the restaurants around you. Depending on where you are, you might get about 20 restaurants to choose from.

That is what Vikram means when he says you and I have access to an “explosion of data.” With a few clicks, you and I can see every restaurant option within 20 miles of us. At first, you might think this is a perfectly good thing. Isn’t more options better than less options? What I find most profound in the quote above is what Vikram says this amount of choice leads to: the “possibility of an optimal decision.”

What this means is you believe in the back of your mind that you can choose the perfect option if you have enough time and information. In our restaurant example, after seeing all the options, you start searching through them not just find a “good enough” place to eat dinner; you want to search the options to find the perfect, best, ideal restaurant for you at this exact moment in time.

This belief that the perfect decision is out there, just waiting to be discovered leads to two things according to “Think for Yourself.” First, it leads to low-grade regret. You can never be certain that you actually chose the best option out there. When you finally choose a restaurant and go to it, how can you know you chose the right one? And if you are disappointed in any way with your choice, isn’t that a sign that you didn’t find the perfect, ideal restaurant? Thinking this way leads to regretting the decisions you made.

Secondly, the belief you can find the perfect option leads you to have a “fear of missing.” Perhaps you look at the list of restaurants and you narrow it down to five top choices. How do you decide which to go to? Making this final decision can become difficult because you are afraid of choosing wrong. What if you pick the second best restaurant?

You have as much choice as you could want, but this choice ends up making it harder to decide in the end.

Why it is important

Don’t wait for the perfect situation or complete information to make a decision

What struck me as I read this quote is how frequently I have personally experienced this mindset in my life or in the lives of believers around me. My Church is close to several colleges, and college students frequently ask the questions “who should I marry?” and “Where should I work?” These are big decisions, and it is here where the desire to make a perfect decision creeps in.

Everyone, including Christians, is susceptible to the belief that the perfect is out there, just waiting for us. If you only have enough time and information, you can marry the perfect Christian, get the perfect job, serve Christ in the perfect way and so on. “Good enough” is seen as “settling for less.” And “Think for Yourself” is exactly right when it says this mindset leads to regret and fear of missing out.

The “who should I marry?” question is a great example. Scripture is clear Christians should marry only believers. But God does not spell out in the stars who you should marry. Furthermore, the Bible makes it clear that even the most godly person is nothing more than a redeemed sinner. But it is easy to think if you had enough time and information, you could find the absolute perfect, compatible, amazing match and gain nothing but happiness once you marry this person.

Such a mindset (which I believe comes from the world not the culture) will make you terrified of choosing the wrong person to date. It will will also cause you to start thinking “maybe I didn’t choose the right spouse” if you do marry that person and they disappoint you. This same pattern plays out in dozens of decisions you make whether it is as important as what job you choose or as mundane as what restaurant you eat at.

What is the solution? Don’t wait for the perfect situation. Even with all the technology and information you and I have access to, we still live in a fallen world. More than that, information does not become omniscience. God alone is all-knowing and all-wise.

To implicitly think you can make a perfect decision purely based on information is to ignore basic theology. Christians make decisions in faith with full dependence on the Lord.

Takeaways

1. Act in faith and humble dependence on the Lord

Don’t wait for the perfect situation to make a decision. Oftentimes, you don’t need more information, you need to trust the Lord and then act based on the information you have. There is a place for getting wisdom from a “multitude of counselors” and there is certainly a place for seeking the Lord in prayer and in the Word. But even if you ask every Christian in the entire planet, read every Word of the Bible and spend a month in earnest prayer you will still have to make a decision based on faith and trust in the Lord.

It is foolish to believe that you can figure out God’s secret will if you just wait long enough to make a decision. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God” Deuteronomy 29:29 says. At some point, you must act in faith, trusting that God is the one in control of your life, not you. You rely on the Lord, seek His will, and then act based on what you know to be true. This frees you focusing on finding the perfect decision to every choice you are faced with.

2. Trust that God is sovereign over your decisions

Now, you might be thinking “if I don’t wait for the perfect situation, won’t that mean I could choose the wrong thing?” To answer this question, I would remind you that God is sovereign over all things, including decisions you make. That does not mean you won’t sin or make a “wrong” decision. But that does mean as you act in faith, seeking to be as obedient to God as possible, you can live without regret or fear of missing out.

If God is working all your life together to make you more like Christ, you can truly “forget the things which are behind and reach forward to the things that are ahead.” What a freeing perspective! Instead of getting caught up in trying to make perfect decisions in every situation, you act in faith and trust that God is active in and over your life. This allows you to look back on the decisions you have made and look for God’s providential hand, rather than looking for where you chose the less-than-ideal.

3. God makes your paths straight, not more information

One of the most profound verses in Scripture is “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

There is a subtle idolatry which occurs when you think if you only had more information, you could make a perfect decision.

To put it another way, it is easy to think that if you looked through all the data, you could make your own paths straight. This is leaning on your own understanding.

Even in the “modern world” where you have access to a ton of information and can grow your “understanding”, you cannot make your paths straight. That is what I love about the quote from “Think for Yourself.” It is a reminder that all the information apart from God will just lead to regret and fear of making the wrong decision. The Bible offers a better way: acknowledging God in all your decisions.

You cannot make your own paths straight, but God can.

So don’t wait around for the perfect situation. Trust in the Lord, acknowledge Him in all your ways, then go and live in obedience to His revealed will.

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The Dichotomy of Christian Character

The Dichotomy of Christian Character

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My Pastor recently bought a Jerry Bridges book called “The Practice of Godliness” for me and my fellow Deacons to read. So far, I have really enjoyed the book, particularly with Bridges’ emphasis on devotion to God. I highly recommend you pick it up if you have not read it. However, there is a sentence in the introduction of the book that intrigued me and I want to discuss today. The quote introduces a dichotomy in Christian character.

The last two divisions reflect the seeming dichotomy of Christian character: sternness with ourselves and tenderness towards others.

The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges

What the quote means

Two different sets of character traits

Bridges writes this quote when he describes the overall structure of the book. The latter chapters in “The Practice of Godliness” are individual studies of different aspects of Christian character. The characteristics Bridges says believers should have related to themselves are holiness, self-control, and faithfulness. Bridges then lists peace, patience, gentleness, kindness/goodness, and love as characteristics Christians should have in relation to others.

Bridges goes on to say holiness, self-control, and faithfulness enable Christians to deal “sternly” with themselves. On the other hand, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness/goodness, and love are qualities which enable believers to deal graciously towards others. The quote given above is Bridges summary of the differences in these lists of Christian character qualities: believers are stern with themselves and gracious towards others.

I take the word “stern” to mean Christians don’t give themselves a pass. They discipline themselves. Curb sinful desires, subject themselves to self control, and expect faithfulness to the Lord and to others. However, when they deal with other people, Christians are “swift to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry.” Bridges rightly calls this a “dichotomy” in Christian character.

How you treat yourself as a believer is different than how you treat others.

Why it is important

The counter-cultural stance Scripture takes

At first glance, you might think this dichotomy between how you are to treat yourself and how you treat others makes no sense. Why should you treat yourself differently than you treat others? But I would argue most of us live in this same dichotomy every day, just in reverse: we are stern towards others, and very gracious towards ourselves. The dichotomy is not the issue; it is where you place yourself in the dichotomy.

I have written previously about the need for worldview-confronting teaching from Scripture. This dichotomy in Christian character that Bridges highlights goes directly against the wisdom of modern culture. When was the last time you heard someone talk about being “stern” with themselves? How often do you hear others use ungracious language with other people? Are people quick to notice your own sins and faults, or are they quicker to excuse themselves and point out the faults of other people?

It is easy to believe the worst about other people and the best about ourselves. Such a perspective does not come from Scripture; it is what everyone naturally does in the flesh. Just scroll through social media for a half-hour and you will see what I mean. There are countless online interactions which take one of two forms:

  1. Ungracious and stern criticism of others
  2. Dogmatic justification of one’s own stance and/or excusing one’s own behavior

It is just how the culture functions. Other people need self-control, to correct their behavior, and to meet their responsibilities. But you rarely turn the mirror on yourself. You can easily come up with a hundred excuses for why you do what you do. Self-justification is not a new problem.

The reason why Bridges’ quote stuck out to me is it sets the order straight. You and I need to “love our neighbors as ourselves” while at the same time “train ourselves unto godliness.” If you get the dichotomy wrong, you will not grow spiritually. You will end up overlooking the areas where you need to grow in Christ-likeness while at the same time becoming preoccupied with other people’s behavior.

If you truly knew the depths of your own sinfulness, you would spend more time working out your own salvation than you spend correcting other people.

Takeaways

1. Make every excuse for other people.

This is something my Pastor mentioned once while preaching through Ephesians. Christians should be quick to make excuses for other people. Someone cut you off in traffic? They probably have to get somewhere quickly. A family member responded harshly and unfairly to you? They most likely have something going on behind the scenes that has nothing to do with you. Pastor hasn’t returned your text and you asked if you could meet up? He no doubt is preparing the sermon and is deep into the text.

Sound crazy? That is because you and I are so accustomed to jumping to the worst case scenario when other people do things we don’t like. It is easier to assume a sinful motivation on the part of the other person than it is to control your own poor reaction to what they did. If you want to become a more gracious person, start defending those who upset you. It sounds odd, and it is a difficult habit to get into, but it is freeing.

Instead of assuming the world is out to get you, remind yourself of how Jesus reacted when people hated Him, misinterpreted everything He did, and ultimately crucified Him. If anyone could have played the role of “victim,” it was Jesus. But 1 Peter 2 says Christ behaved differently

 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

1 Peter 2:21-23 ESV, emphasis added

2. Try to go a single day without justifying or defending yourself. See how hard it is.

The flip side of making every excuse for the other person is refraining from defending yourself. Try it for a day. Don’t defend yourself or seek to justify yourself to others. How long will you make it through the day? For me, I might make it until I interact with my first person of the day. Deep is the human capacity for self-justification.

But if Bridges is right, and I think he is, part of Christian character is denying yourself and controlling your behavior. When someone tells you that you are wrong, the default response of your heart is “I couldn’t be.” When you are questioned, your first thought is “I can’t be wrong.” In fact, oftentimes you jump to the conclusion the other person must be wrong or in sin to even approach you.

If you want to grow spiritually, you are going to have to become stern with yourself. A good, memorable summary of this perspective is “suspect yourself first” or “suspect your own heart first.” That summary is from one of my favorite books of all time “When Sinners Say I Do” by Dave Harvey (buy and read this book immediately if you have not already). It is a book about marriage, but the principle applies to all aspects of life. You don’t know the sinfulness of another persons heart. But you do know your own heart.

If you are going to jump to a conclusion, jump to the conclusion that you are wrong or mistaken. Then work your way back from there.

If you want to have this mindset, you are going to have to refrain from defending yourself. Pause. Pray to the Lord “reveal any wicked way in me” before responding. Humble yourself that God may exalt you in due time. There is freedom in behaving sternly with ourselves and graciously towards others.

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Living Out Your Identity in Christ

Living Out Your Identity in Christ

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The past few years, I have heard sermons and read dozens of articles discussing my “identity in Christ.” It is a crucial Biblical concept. But I have personally found it difficult to connect my identity in Christ with my behavior day by day. “Identity in Christ” can easily become an abstract doctrinal truth which does not enter enter my mind throughout the day.

Recently, I was reading a section of a book called “Grit” which helped me understand how identity and action relate. I have previously written about the book in last week’s “Book Quote of the Week.” It is a helpful book for the most part, but there is nothing in it which is not already in Scripture. There is, however, a brief section which deals with “living out who you are.” I think it gives some helpful questions to aid you in living out your identity in Christ.

Who am I? What is the situation? What does someone like me do in a situation like this?

Grit by Angela Duckworth

What the quote means

Who you proceeds and informs what you do

In “Grit”, author Angela Duckworth discusses how passion and perseverance (or “grit”) both predict, to some degree, “success.” The chapter in which this quote appears focuses on developing a culture of grit. The point she makes is grit does not come from calculation or cost benefit analysis. It comes from “the strength of the person we know ourselves to be.”

Now, buried in this mire of self-focused self-help is the important point: most of what you and I do is not based on some sort of pros and cons calculation. For example, let’s say you saw an old lady fall over in front of you. How do you decide what action to take next? Do you sit down and write out the benefits of helping her up compared with the amount of time it would take out of your day? Perhaps you write out the pros and cons of coming to her aid?

Of course not. You would not do either of those things. Instead, you simply act: you either help the old lady up, or ignore her. The type of person you are will determine what you do. Most of your actions throughout a day are not calculated (although granted, some bigger decisions like what house you should buy are often calculated). They proceed simply from who you are. Your character. Your values.

Why it is important

How does Christ change your actions?

What I love about the quote I gave above, is it gives three memorable little questions for living out your identity in Christ. “Who am I? What is the situation? What does someone like me do in a situation like this?” Now, for Angela Duckworth and the American culture as a whole, identity is self-defined. Personal values and personal essence are a buffet as it were: you pick and choose who you want to be. But the Biblical worldview could not be more different.

God defines your identity. And for a Christian, you are “in Christ.” United with Christ. Paul constantly reminds almost every Church he writes to that they belong to Christ and therefore cannot continue living in sin. In fact, they must kill sin and “put on” Christ. So a Christian version of the three questions Duckworth gives is “Who am I in Christ? What is the situation? What does someone who is in Christ do in a situation like this?”

These three questions have really helped me live out my identity in Christ. You and I experience dozens of situations a day, some unexpected, some expected. You no doubt want to respond to each situation in a God-honoring, Christ-exalting way. But how?

Respond to each situation by asking yourself “What does a sinner redeemed by God’s grace in Christ and living under His Lordship do in this situation?”

Oftentimes, just asking the question will re-frame the whole situation. Instead of responding based on your own ideas or desires, you focus your mind back on Christ. What does Jesus value? How does the Lord want me to respond in this situation? What is the action which most pleases Him?

Living out your identity in Christ is not complicated. You just have to pause and remind yourself of who you are. If you do, oftentimes the Lord will bring to your mind Scriptures which clarify what you should do or what you should value.

Takeaways

1. Remind yourself of who you are in Christ each day

You can only live out your identity in Christ to the extant that you know who you are in Christ. Thankfully, this is clearly important to the New Testament authors. Reminding yourself of the gospel and theological truth is not some abstract, heady thing. There is nothing more practical than taking yourself back to the source of your life and hope: Christ.

How can you respond to situations in a Christ-honoring way if you don’t remind yourself what honors Christ? You and I have short memories. In the absence of Biblical truth, you will define your own identity and values. You will respond in a way that “feels best” to you. But one of the great joys of being a Christian is being free to live for Christ, not self.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20 ESV, emphasis added

Are you a Christian? You no longer live. The identity you made for yourself is dead and gone. But Christ lives in you. And the life you are living now is completely centered on Christ. In order to practically live that out moment by moment, you must remember who you are.

2. Don’t trust your instincts. Pause and reflect before you respond

It is so easy to live your day on autopilot. You go from one thing to the next without asking what you are doing and why you are doing it. You can easily live by “instinct” rather than by conscious obedience to Christ and His word. The old person you used to be before Christ with its attitudes, actions, and values can easily appear in how you respond to those around you. The antidote: pause.

Someone cut you off in traffic? Pause. Just for 5 seconds. Long enough to ask yourself “what does a Christian do in this situation?” Your spouse lashed out at you unfairly. Give it five seconds. Maybe ask the Lord “what would you have me do?” Reflect before you respond. Remind yourself of the omnipresent Lord of your life before you act. It is not actually that difficult and does not practically take very long.

Develop the habit of thinking of Christ before you respond to a particular situation

This is a tough habit to develop and maintain. But if you really want your “identity in Christ” to have a definite impact on your life, you need train yourself to constantly return to Him and who you are in Him. Behavior modification won’t work. Analyzing every possible response to a given situation is not possible or practical. You must pause, pray, and act as a Christ would act.

Transform your day simply by asking each moment along the way: How would Jesus want me to respond? In 90% of situations, just by asking this question the Lord will give you insight into how you should act.

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Live Out Your Calling Today

Live Out Your Calling Today

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“What is my calling?” Is that a question you have ever asked yourself? I am almost certain you have met a Christian who has asked that question at some point or is currently asking it. “What is God calling me to do? Where is God calling me to go?” And probably most important of all: “What is God calling me to do with my life?”

I don’t think I have met a sincere, Christ-loving Christian who wants to waste their life. Christians want to live out God’s will for their life, to spend the time allotted to them in a God-honoring way. But this often is easier said then done, especially when you aren’t clear what God wants you to do.

Recently, I have been reading a book called “Grit” by Angela Duckworth . It is a pretty useful book which focuses on the positive effects of perseverance in life. If you are a Christian who reads your Bible consistently, you almost certainly understand and know all that Duckworth says in her book. But there was a “parable” she gave in one of her chapters which helped me think through what “calling” is and how it connects to the Biblical idea of “renewing your mind”.

Three bricklayers are asked: “What are you doing?”

The first says, “I am laying bricks.”

The second says, “I am building a church.”

And the third says, “I am building the house of God.”

The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling.

GRIT by Angela Duckworth

What the quote means

Perspective is everything

What I love about this little story is how memorable it is. You have three people doing the exact same job: laying bricks. On the surface, there is absolutely no difference between them. But when asked what they are doing, their answers could not be more different.

The first is focused merely on the task at hand: laying bricks. It simply is a task; there is no higher calling. This is why the first bricklayer merely has a “job”. You have certainly met people like this: they come to work to get a paycheck, that is all. There is no bigger picture or larger goal. There is simply the task at hand, the task they are paid to accomplish.

The second bricklayer has a bit better perspective. Rather than focusing on the task, the second bricklayer focuses on a larger goal: building a Church. This second person is connecting their work to something bigger than the individual task. They are conscious of what their work means and what goal their individual task contributes to. This bricklayer is said to have a “career.”

But it is the final bricklayer that is the most important for our discussion. This last bricklayer connects their work to something larger than their individual task, and larger than the final “product.” Despite the sketchy theology in this parable (see 2 Samuel 7 for what God thinks about David building a house for Him), I think it is a profound illustration of Biblical truth. This last bricklayer connects his or her work to God, to theology, to a their larger worldview.

And it is this bricklayer which is said to have a “calling.”

I would summarize the three bricklayers as follows:

  • The first bricklayer is focused on the daily tasks
  • The second bricklayer is focused on the end goal of the tasks
  • The third bricklayer is focused on why they are pursuing the goal

Why it is important

Don’t try to figure out God’s will for your whole life. Live faithful today.

“Calling” is a tough word to define. A lot of times, when I hear Christians ask what their calling is, what they mean is “I want to know the specifics of God’s will for my life. I want to know for certain what I am to do now and in the future.” But this certainty is not promised in Scripture.

J. I. Packer in his book “Knowing God” contrasts two views of “knowing God’s will.” What you and I often want is to see the whole picture, like if you were to look at a whole map of a subway system. You want to know exactly and with certainty all the different paths God wants you to take. But knowing God’s will is not like looking at a subway map. It is more like driving a car: you can only see and make decisions based on what is immediately ahead of you.

This parable of the three bricklayers builds on this idea. You don’t “find your calling” by figuring out God’s sovereign plan for your life. You live out a calling by connecting what you are doing in the present with your Theology. The last bricklayer has a calling by connecting his daily tasks and the goal of his job to God. God is not going to write out His sovereign will for your life in the sky for you to read. But He does promise to guide your steps as you trust in Him.

How can you live your calling? Remind yourself each day “this is God’s sovereign will for my life.” And then work for His glory, not your own. I think we need to re-define “calling” to “obeying God commands in all He ordained for you to do while staying conscious of how what you are doing connects to God’s larger plan.” In other words

You turn your tasks into a calling simply by connecting it back to God, the Scripture, and the Gospel

“What does God want me to do with my life?” is an impossible question because God doesn’t promise to answer it in specifics. But I guarantee there are daily tasks you have to accomplish each time you wake up. These tasks are the part of God’s plan for your life that He has revealed. God has prepared good works for you ahead of time so that you can walk in them (see Ephesians 2). Don’t focus on the part of God’s will that you don’t know. Focus on faithfulness today by doing all your daily tasks to God’s glory.

Takeaways

1. The most practical thing you can do each day is renew your mind with Scripture

An implication of all this is to renew your mind each day. The last bricklayer had a theological, God-focused mindset which enabled him to connect what he was doing to why he was doing it. He had a different perspective than the other two. It does not get more practical than this.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2, ESV emphasis added

You aren’t naturally going to wake up with the mindset “all I do today is for God’s glory.” The natural perspective of life when you wake up is that of the first bricklayer: just get done these tasks and be done with it. But as Christians, part of the privilege we have is doing all that we do for God’s glory and to make much of Christ.

Your theology should transform your most mundane daily tasks.

Don’t buy the lie that says Theology is some study of God divorced from anything you actually do during the day. There is absolutely nothing more practical than renewing your mind with the Word. It changes everything. The parable of the bricklayers argues that it is your mindset, your perspective, that matters each day. The Bible makes it more explicit: you must renew your mind or you will be conformed to this world.

2. Ask God to show you what faithfulness looks like today. Let Him work out your long term “calling.”

If God explained to you every single plan He had for your life, do you really think your life would be better? I think God is merciful to allow us to take one day at a time. Your calling is to die to self daily and subject each day’s tasks to the Lordship of Christ. That is hard enough to do without also knowing everything coming tomorrow.

“Sufficient is the day for its worries” Jesus said. You can only be certain of what God is calling you to do moment by moment. So pursue faithfulness and obedience moment by moment. As a Pastor I know once said “Do the next faithful thing.”

You might not know God’s long term plans for your life. But you know today you are called to “glorify God and enjoy Him.”

3. Consciously, through prayer and meditation on Scripture, offer each part of your day up for the glory of God

To get even more practical, doing all things for God’s glory probably means praying a lot. “Without ceasing” as Paul says. The mindset of the third bricklayer is not easy to maintain. There are dozens of distractions and sins each day that cause you to lose sight of why you are doing what you are doing, and for whom you are doing it.

Dedicate time throughout the day to read Scripture. Call out to the Lord before you start a new task. Ask yourself “how does what I am going through connect to any Bible passages I have heard lately?” It is only through focus on God that our tasks become a calling. Why? Because God has called His people to exalt Him in all things.

What tasks do you have to accomplish today at work? At home? For Church? Will you merely check the boxes? Or will you realize everything you do is done before the presence of God?

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The Underappreciated Blessing of Duty

The Underappreciated Blessing of Duty

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When you hear the word “duty” what do you think of? A soldier? A parent? Someone doing something they don’t really want to do?

I recently purchased an anthology of English romantic poetry and read a poem by William Wordsworth called “Ode to Duty”. The intriguing title immediately attracted my attention. You can read the whole poem here, and I recommend you do so. But a couple lines stood out to me that discussed the relation of duty to desire. I think they are significant enough to discuss and reflect on here.

Me this uncharted freedom tires;

I feel the weight of chance-desires:

My hopes no more must change their name

I long for a repose that ever is the same

“Ode to Duty” William Wordsworth

What the quote means

Contrasting duty and desire

In these lines, Wordsworth is presenting a contrast between desire and duty. He uses profoundly vivid images to do this. He calls his own changing desires “uncharted freedom” and “chance desires.” He describes his own hopes as something almost chaotic and untamed. They change. There is a wildness to their freedom.

And these changing desires are not insignificant: Wordsworth says he feels the weight of them. Weight has a connotation of something burdensome. Think if you are carrying a heavy backpack: it’s weight drags you down and burdens you. Depending on how “weighty” something is, you might use up a lot of your energy to carry it. Wordsworth uses this imagery to describe your desires.

Then, Wordsworth presents duty. Unlike personal desires, duty is described as something constant and unchanging. Personal desires are chaotic and liquid, but duty is ordered and solid. And this unchanging nature of duty brings “repose” or rest. This is in contrast with the weight and burden of changing desires. Wordsworth’s point is simple:

Your personal hopes and dreams are always changing and burden you by their shifting goals. Duty, on the other hand, is constant and gives the peaceful rest of knowing what is required of you.

Why it is important

Duty sets in order our shifting personal desires

I think one reason “Ode to Duty” stuck out to me is how accurately it paints our modern culture. You and I live in a world that elevates personal desire above everything. And it is exhausting. The wisdom of the age says being true to yourself and following your dreams brings freedom. But how often the opposite is true! If you live solely for your own desires, Wordsworth says, you are in bondage to something chaotic and always changing.

Ask yourself these questions:

  • How often have your own personal goals or plans changed?
  • When was the last time you fulfilled some dream or goal of yours? How happy did it really make you?
  • Have you ever received something you really wanted, but after receiving it, realized it wasn’t what you thought it was?

The point here is you often do not really know what you want. You think you do, but you can want the wrong things. Or end up meeting a goal that ends up disappointing you. Or, to Wordsworth’s point, you might wake up today with a completely new set of ideas and goals than you did yesterday.

If you live based on your own changing feelings, dreams, and desires, you are setting yourself up for a chaotic life.

So how does duty help? Duty gives you a set of responsibilities and expectations apart from your own dreams and desires. Put another way, desire is internal and duty is external. Your desires shift almost daily and change as you change, but duty gives you expectations that are long-lasting.

I interpret what Wordsworth says in these lines as duty frees you from subjecting yourself to constantly changing desires. It brings a rest of knowing what is expected of you and knowing that those expectations don’t change easily. I don’t think Wordsworth’s point is to never have desires. That would remove an important part of what it means to be human. But personal desires and goals must be submitted to an external, rigid standard it you are to have a good life.

Duty and the Christian

Now, all that was merely reflections from a work of art. But I think it accurately pictures the tension you see in Scripture between duty and desire. Now, the word “duty” I have found can get a bad rap in Christian circles. A common response to duty is “well, God wants you to serve Him with your heart. God loves a cheerful giver. It is not enough just to obey God, you must want to obey God out of love for Christ.”

And I 100% agree. But I think “duty” means more than just “doing something you don’t want to do.” I would define duty as “external responsibility.” Something outside of yourself that has a claim on how you live your life. Now, you can “do your duty” either joyfully or begrudgingly. Christians should be in the joyful group. But I don’t think it is debatable that the Bible gives a standard of duty that promises a joyful life. It is a set of responsibilities that starts with Jesus and the gospel and permeates to every aspect of a Christian’s life.

God in His word has given us a set of responsibilities to set in order our often chaotic, selfish lives.

“Duty” is not a depressing word for the Christian. Like Wordsworth describes, God’s commands, imperatives, and responsibilities lead to a more restful life than living for self and your own desires. Why? God’s word does not change like your desires and dreams. You can know what God expects of you. You can’t know how you or your own goals will change. But “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Takeaways

1. Continually read Scripture so you know what God requires of your life

If you claim to be a Christian, you are claiming to have an objective, unchanging standard of truth to base your life on: the Bible. So read it. Study it. You cannot live according to God’s standard if you don’t know God’s standard. See what the Bible has to say about your marriage. Meditate on the implications the Bible has on how you work. What place should local Church life have in your week?

Ask yourself “Do I think about my own goals and dreams more than I think about God’s word?” As Christians, you and I need to be preoccupied with pleasing God through obedience to His word. Not to earn His favor. You have that in Christ. But if you are a new creation in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit to empower you to actually bear fruit and live a life pleasing to God. So get to know your duty. Study Scripture to know what God requires of you in every facet of your life.

2. Stop living your life based on your constantly changing dreams

This is a tough one in modern culture. To live for something or someone other than yourself is a radical idea. Living according to a standard outside of yourself is an even more radical idea. Conforming personal desires to an unchanging standard when those desires clash with that standard is about as radical as you can get these days. But ask yourself: Is following your dreams and pursuing your goals bringing you peace and happiness? Or is it exhausting you?

Wordsworth says in “Ode to Duty”, it is the latter. In my own personal experience,the more I focus on my own dreams, the more I lose my happiness. Why? Because most of my ambitions are either sinful, selfish, or transient. Perhaps you want money. Fame. Success. Living for these goals is not going to give you the happiness you desire. But if you submit your life to the word of God, happiness is not just hoped for. It is promised:

How happy is the man
who does not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path of sinners
or join a group of mockers!
Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
He is like a tree planted beside streams of water
that bears its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3, HCSB emphasis added

Don’t listen to the lies of the world. Living for your own desires will destroy you. Subjecting yourself to the duty of “glorifying God and enjoying Him forever” is the only path to lasting happiness.

3. Joyfully live out the duties God requires of you

It is not enough just to know your responsibilities or avoid living for your own desires. You must actually live in obedience to have the rest Scripture promises. Again, this is not an obedience which tries to earn God’s favor. This is not subjecting yourself to the rigid laws and regulations that Christ has abolished. But it does mean taking the commands of Scripture seriously.

The gospel does not remove duty. It gives you the power and motivation to actually fulfill what God requires of you.

One of my favorite verses is 2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness…” Everything. You don’t need your own desires fulfilled in order to live a good, happy life. You need to run to Christ to receive the power you need to live in obedience to Scripture.

Wordsworth in “Ode to Duty” sees a profound rest and freedom in living for duty rather than living for your changing desires. Christians have something better than mere duty, man-made rules, or culturally constructed standards. Christians have the unchanging standard of the living God, the creator of the universe. And this God has granted them, in Christ, the forgiveness and power needed to live in accordance to that standard. Don’t despise the word “duty”. It is a beautiful word for the Christian.

This post is part of an ongoing series called “Book Quote of the Week.” Click here if you missed the previous posts in the series. Subscribe and share below. Follow The Average Churchman on Instagram so you don’t miss any content.

book quote of the week
Don’t Dismiss the Simple Answer

Don’t Dismiss the Simple Answer

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During COVID, I read a number of business and professional development books for my work. Some were useless, some where somewhat helpful, and others were excellent. The quote I want to analyze today is from “Tools of Titans” by Timothy Ferriss. I don’t recommend Christians run out and buy this book. But it had a few helpful takeaways, one of which I want to present to you today on the subject of looking for the simple answer.

“Tools of Titans” is essentially a book of interviews. The author interviewed people from every type of industry to get their thoughts on life and work. In one chapter, a quote stuck out to me that I still continue to think about after I finished the book:

Be sure to look for simple solutions. If the answer isn’t simple, it’s probably not the right answer.

Tools of Titans, Tim Ferriss

What the quote means

Complicated does not mean better

I am an over-thinker. When I have a problem, I want to go through every possible cause and effect and analyze each detail of the problem and potential solutions. This quote was a helpful reminder that I should look for the simple answer to my problem rather than something convoluted and complex.

This quote is essentially a re-statement of “Occam’s razor” which, in the scientific community where I work, means you generally choose the simplest explanation for a phenomena. Now, that does not mean the world is not complex or that sometimes a more complicated solution is necessary. It simply means a simple answer is normally easier to understand and test. This is because the simpler a solution is, the less assumptions you generally have to make.

The point here is in a complicated, dynamic world, a simple answer should generally be preferred over a complicated answer. As an over-arching principle, I think this is helpful even if sometimes you need to embrace complexity in certain situations.

Don’t make things complex for their own sake. Simplicity makes things clearer.

Why it is important

Seeking the simple answer can bring clarity to your life

More than ever, you and I live in a world of decisions. When you go to the grocery store, there is not one brand of cereal; there are 10 brands to choose from. You are told from a young age to live your dreams and be true to yourself, yet half the time you aren’t even sure what you want or what you want to do with your life. In an era of maddening choice, the simple answer can bring clarity.

And Scripture is full of simple answers. The Bible is complex, yes, incredibly detailed and profound. However, a lot of “life’s big problems” are given surprisingly simple answers in Scripture. Here are a few examples:

  • How can a person be saved? “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Simple belief in Jesus changes a soul’s eternal destiny.
  • What does the Lord require of me? “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Simply loving the Lord and loving others are the two main principles revealed in the whole Old Testament.
  • How do I deal with all the fear and anxiety I struggle with? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” The simple antidote to anxiety is prayer and thankfulness to the Lord.

And those are just a few off the top of my head. Scripture answers some of life’s tough problems and choices with a “simple answer.” Notice, simple does not mean easy to live out or easy to believe as true. But there is a refreshing clarity with which Scripture speaks on these issues. Just look at the book of Proverbs: in single sentences God communicates life principles to live by. They are simple, memorable, and proven throughout history.

Takeaways

1. When Scripture gives a simple answer, prefer it over the wisdom of the world

Scripture is often mocked by unbelievers in light of the complexity of the world. How can you believe repentance and faith in Jesus can make a difference in this world full of suffering? How can the gospel be the answer to all of humanity’s many complicated and multi-faceted problems? Why do Christians constantly give the answer “trust and wait on the Lord” to so many life circumstances?

People often resist the simple answers of Scripture because they are humbling. Most people (including myself) love being the “problem solver.” The person who through their great intellect and will makes the world a better place. But the Bible offers a humbling and pride-crushing worldview: humans are so completely in love with their own sin and rebellion that it took God Himself stepping into time and dying in order to save us. God brings salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Not of man.

The answer the gospel gives to humanity’s problem is “look to Christ and live.” It isn’t try harder, be better, or work your way into a better future. The wisdom of the world would have you spend your whole life on these things. Thankfully, when Scripture speaks about life in this world, it speaks with a simple clarity that runs to one person: Jesus. He is the answer. So, when asked to make the choice between the different convoluted and contradictory solutions the world give to the problem, run instead to the simple clarity of Scripture.

2. Giving simple answers to other Christian’s problems might be the best thing for them.

In the “Tools of Titans” section this quote is taken from, there is a helpful example of the simple answer being the right one. How do you stay healthy and fit? As a kid, your probably got an answer like “eat your green vegetables.” A simple answer. Maybe as you grow up, instead of accepting this answer, you try out half a dozen diets and eating fads. Then it hits you: the simple answer your mom gave you as a kid was probably the right one all along (or at least a good summary of all the different diets).

Now, how do you apply this principle to your interactions with other Christians? After listening to another believer’s problem or struggle, take them back to the simple commands and promises of Scripture. The Bible has actual answers to our difficulties. And in God’s wisdom, these answers are generally direct and easy to understand. In our flesh, however, we often resist the answers God gives or question if God’s answer is the best one to give.

  • If someone shares with you their struggle with anxiety, isn’t it trite to say “be anxious for nothing?”
  • When someone is struggling with not having a spouse, is it helpful to remind them “godliness with contentment is great gain?”
  • Love your enemies? Aspire to live a simple and godly life? Pursue holiness? How can all these be the answers to our complicated life circumstances?

The problem is not with the simple commands and promises of Scripture. It is our own sinfulness and lack of faith which makes them seem insufficient.

God has given His people everything they need for life and godliness. That is a simple truth from 2 Peter. The question is, like all of Scripture, do you actually believe and trust the simple truths God has given you in His word? And if you trust them at a personal level, will you share those truths with other believers? Don’t be ashamed to give simple answers to other people’s struggles if those answers are from Scripture. Of course, you should be thoughtful and careful and loving in how you communicate Biblical truths. But if the answer God gives really is simple, don’t over-complicate things.

3. “What does God want me to do with my life?” probably has a simple answer.

The Christian University I attended for college often communicated to it’s students something like “go out, do big things for Jesus, and change the world.” It sounds good and inspiring, but the first question which comes to mind is “how?” No answer was given, and if students came up with their own answer, it often involved either making a lot of money, getting some level of fame, or dropping everything and going overseas for missions.

There are certain seasons of life, like post-college, where the question of “what should I do with my life?” becomes a constant one in your mind. And for good reason: no Christian should want to waste their life or make bad use of the time God has given them. But here is the reality: you don’t need some complicated plan to glorify God with your life. The simple answer to “what does God want me to do with my life?” is day-by-day faithfulness. You can become frozen trying to decide what you want to do until you accept the simple answer Scripture gives: “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

A lot of your problems in life come from not accepting, trusting, and living out the simple truths, promises, and commands of Scripture.

God’s word speaks clearly in our complicated world. It brings a singleness of purpose which nothing else in the world can give. If the simple answer is the right answer, seek those simple answers from Scripture. Don’t dismiss them. Your own convoluted understanding of life and events will probably end up leading you astray. God’s word, on the other hand, is a “lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path.”

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