Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Christians, Don’t Listen To That Other Voice

voice-in-your-headWhen Christians make decisions, they fundamentally only have two options. Either they can listen to the word of God or they can listen to themselves.

Admittedly, many of the choices that we make in this life are not directly mentioned in Scripture. The Bible says nothing about whether or not a person should eat at McDonalds as opposed to Burger King. The divine text does not tell Christians to skip basketball for piano lessons. And, the scriptures tells us little about which sofa to select.

But the Scriptures address the heart attitudes behind such decisions. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us,

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others.”

If we choose McDonalds even though our wife hates it, we have sinned. If we put our kid in piano lesson because the lessons will help her thrive we have done well. If we force our husband to buy the chair that he hates because we love it, we have sinned. The actually eating, playing, and buying are neutral. One can eat McDonalds having a great heart. Another can eat there with a selfish heart. By addressing the motives behind our actions, the Bible speaks to all of our lives decisions even the gray ones.

The Bible also speaks to the black and white issues. The Bible condemns sexual immorality, adultery, drunkenness, anger, and greed. If we choose these things, we sin and we must repent.

The question then becomes, “will we listen?” Will we obey the Bible even when it tells us to do things we do not like such as staying with our spouse, such as loving our dishonest coworker, and such as caring for our sickly mother-in-law? If we answer no and reject what God’s word says, we are left only with our own opinions. We have decided like the people of Israel of Old, that we know better. Yes, sin and slavery were never really that bad, where they?

Often our answers are not this blatant. We mask our disobedience behind wanting to be happy, behind the well wishes of our friends, and behind the norms of society. We cannot imagine that God will still disapprove of our actions after we won the support of our earthly friends. But he does. Sin by any other name is still sin.

Though our own opinions seem right, helpful, and able to expedite our goal of attaining a happy, fulfilled life, they will ultimately do none of the above. The apostle Paul said it this way,

“To set the mind on the flesh is death…those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Roman 8:6-8). If Christians disregard scripture if they shut out the voice of God and if make become their own god, they will not find joy. They will find death, bitterness, and despair. As Bonhoeffer said, “The basis of all human reality is the dark, turbid urges and desires of the human mind.” (Life together p.31.). Do not listen to this voice, however, appealing. Do not listen to the voice in your head that promises life and happiness apart from the commands of God. The promise is a lie. It is the promise the snared Adam and Eve and brought death into our world. It is the promise, the continues to destroy relationship after relationship.  And if you or I believe this promise, it will bring death to our lives. Do not listen to your mind and heart. Don’t listen to that demonic and alluring voice of death. Listen to God.

Will you stop listening to the voices in your head?

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

How Serious Are Our Sin Problems?

doctorI once heard of a man who went to his doctor  because his side was hurting. After a brief examination, his doctor informed the man that he needed to have an appendectomy right then. The patient was not convinced. And politely told his doctor, “I think I’ll get a second opinion and let you know what I decide.”

To this, his doctor replied, “No you won’t. If you leave here today, you will die. You will be dead within 24 hrs. if you don’t have the surgery.”

Often when it comes to our sin, we take the same exact view as patient. When we are confronted about our gossip, or about your infidelity, or my greed, we tend to minimize the other person’s concerns. We blow off our spouse; we ignore the pleas from our kids; and, we discount the concerns of our small group leader. Our sin is not that big of a deal. Christ died for it. We are done here. Move on, please. I’m do not need surgery. I am fine.

Although this is often the approach we take when coming face to face with sin, this is not Jesus’ approach to sin. In Mark 9:43-50 Jesus says these shocking words,

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell,[a] to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

Sin is not small matter to Jesus. He tells us to flee it at all cost. Even if we have to cut off a hand or a foot or pluck out an eye to be free from sin, the cost is worth it. Sin is death and all who love, minimize, and ignore their sin are on the path to death both physically and spiritually. Those who love Jesus will not coddle or ignore their anger, their porn addiction, or their frequently lies. They will confess them. They will seek out help from their pastor or from another mature man or women in the faith. They will do everything and anything they can to be free from sin.

Now a quick aside, I do not think Jesus is telling us to physically mane ourselves to achieve victory over our sins. Think about it for a minute. Jesus did not tell Peter to cut out his tongue because he denied Christ three times during the crucifixion narrative. And Jesus does not want us to cut off our hands because we steal, to cut off our feet because we speed through stop signs, or to pluck out our eyes because we look at porn. We do not sin because of our body. We sin because of our hearts. Our hearts and our thinking direct the actions of the body. Jesus clearly states this truth back in Mark 8:21-23,

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride,

We sin because our souls are corrupted and not because our bodies are fallen. Rather than encouraging us to hack apart our bodies, Jesus is calling us to sacrifice all for righteousness. He is calling the angry man to work fewer hours so that he can sleep more and spend more time with his family, creating a home of peace. He is calling the porn addict to give up his smart phone and to burn his computer. He is calling the drug addict to surrender his stash and to turn himself into the police. He is calling the liar to confess his sins to his wife, pastor, and friends. Jesus is saying we must being willing to lose all, including our good reputation, our friends, our family, our wealth, and every worldly thing to enter the kingdom of heaven. If we do not, we cannot reach heaven.

At some point, all of us will be tested. Everyone will face the pressure of divine inspection. The lies that masked our want of faith will be ripped away, revealing all the deeds that we have done in secret (both good and bad). The reality of whether or not we trust in ourselves or in the great physicians for salvation will be made known.

Those who refuse to flee from their sin will die. They will be cast into the fires of hell. Don’t mistake this. We may not take our sin seriously. We may not think, we have an illness leading to death. But God does. He is not fooled. He will judge us for our sins. All who love sin will die. And all who flee from sin will find eternal life.

And it is not enough for us to be around Christians. It is not enough for us to come from Christian families. It is not enough for us to flee secular friendships and to come to church. We must have true life within our very souls. Notice what Christ says in verse 50.

“Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be a peace with one another.”

If we embrace sin, if we view sin as insignificant, and if we love lawlessness, we are not the children of God. I once heard an old-time preacher tell a family that they had good genes and that he expected a lot of them spiritually because they were descended from a godly lineage. It was a nice sentiment. But, it is not true. Grandma’s righteousness does not mean you will be righteous. Your parents faithful church attendance does not mean you are a going to heaven even though you are always mean. Walking the aisle, talking to your pastor, getting baptized, and memorizing Bible verses does not compensate for your constant lying. The man, woman, and child whose life is characterized by disobedience cannot be redeemed or fixed by his or her surroundings. Salt that has lost its saltiness is worthless. Faith that clings to sin is worthless. Do not be deceived.

But that is not the end of the story. If you love sin, you can stop today. You can repent of your sin. You can confess that your are evil and in need of God’s righteousness bought for you by Jesus’ death on the cross. And then you can confess Jesus as Lord. If you do, he will liberate you from your sin. He will make you salty again. He will save you. He will fix your broken relationships; he will give you peace on earth and in heaven.

Guys and gals, God is good loving and full of glory. Anything we give up including wealth, prestige, power, and earthly satisfaction will be more than made up for in Christ. As John Piper often says, “We are most satisfied when he is most glorified.”

Our patient from before had an option, surgery or death. He choose surgery. He cut out part of his body so that he might live. He listened to the doctor and found life.

Friends, lets listen to our heavenly doctor. Let’s take sin seriously and cut it out of our lives so that we too might live.

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Can We Change The Gospel?

change-the-bibleCan we change the gospel? For years now, many theologians, politicians, and average Americans have been emphatically saying, “Yes.” According to them, we can and must change the gospel so that it can connect with the modern man and woman. Prohibitions against infidelity and homosexuality are deemed outdated and unnecessarily offensive. Instead of hanging onto the two-thousand-year old claims of a dusty book, we need to extend love and acceptance.  As Luke Timothy Johnson, a professor at Emory University, nicely summed this ideology writing, “I think it is important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority…We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience and the experience of thousands of others have witnessed to.” As Doctor Rachel Noami Remen said, “The complexity of the real world requires us to struggle to hear the Holy and develop a personal responsibility to live a good life.” We must unhinge ourselves from the slow wagon of gospel truth and embrace the rapid beauty of the human experience. We must allow people to change the gospel to fit their experience. Not too long ago, Katie Perry declared, “I don’t believe in a heaven or a hell or an old man sitting on a throne….I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable.” Depending on her shared experience, she found the modern, relevant God that she needs. To be loving and relevant Christians must embrace and tolerate such declarations of divine discovery. If we do not, we will find ourselves alone, bitter, and on the wrong side of history.

So can we change the gospel narrative? Can we add and subtract from Jesus message so that it will resemble our human experience? Should we trust ourselves?

Jesus says no. In Mark 8:31, Jesus begins to tell his disciples about his impending death, burial and resurrection. “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and killed and after three days rise again.” And like many of us, the apostle Peter takes great exception to Jesus teaching.

Did We Create The Gospel?

Peter had just confessed the Jesus was “the Christ,” the messiah (8:29). But he did not fully understand how Jesus was going to save humanity. And how could he? The human experience had led him to believe success and salvation equaled human victories, achievements, and crowns. Jesus proclaimtion debunked everything Peter’s thought. Jesus delcared that the very best people in society, “the elders and the chief priests and the scribes,” would perform the most horrible act in history.  According to Jesus, true Life was not found in the celebration of human accomplishment and goodness but in death and submission.

This is not the story that we would naturally want. This is not the story that mankind wants. This is God’s story. Prior to Jesus we could not concieve of a such a savior. We could not imagine such a strange narrative. We should not seek to change the gospel, because we did not create it.

Why Change The Gospel?

And because Jesus’ narrative was so radically different, Peter was disturbed. And so, he did what many of us do when we find Jesus troubling. Peter took Jesus aside and shouted, “Wrong!” Verse 32 says, “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” Peter took Jesus aside and said quite forcefully, “No. I do not want this gospel. This is not the gospel I signed up for. I want the Messiah who will vanquish the nasty Romans who have desecrated our temple and who have repeatedly robbed, abused, and denigrated the God’s people. I want the Messiah who will create a new and powerful earthly state. I want the Messiah that will fulfill and accomplish all my goals and place my high in authority. I want the Messiah who will validate my experiences, wants, and desires. I want the Messiah who does things my way.”

Today, you will be hard pressed to find anyone concerned about the Roman Empire imoratlized by its ruins. The modern man, woman, or child is not going to be too tempted to twist Jesus until the Messiah once again fits into the Jewish Revolutionary mold. That’s not our temptation.

We are tempted to daily twist the gospel to make a host of other goals acceptable. We tell Jesus that we will accept his gospel as long as we can have our sexual liberty. We tell Jesus that his gospel must allow us to be greedy and ignore the poor. We tell Jesus that his gospel must vindicate our harsh words directed to our kids, coworkers, and political opponents. We tell Jesus that his gospel must allow us to regularly disrespect our parents and those in authority. This is the human condition. This is our natural default condition. We want a gospel that does not require us to die to sin. We want a gospel that allows us to remain lord of our own lives. We want a gospel that vindicates a favorite sin, wants, and desires. We want a gospel that praises coveteousness and idolatry.

When we encounter Jesus’ gospel, we join the apostle Peter and scream, “No, I rebuke you, Jesus. Give me the gospel I want.”

Does Jesus Approve Of Our Changes?

What does Jesus say? Does he agree with Peter? Does he listen to Peter and hear out his concerns? Does Jesus think the human experience is a worthy standard by which to judge the world? No. Verse 31 reports, “But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Jesus does not allow Peter to change the gospel to fit Peter’s context and his understanding of the human experience. Rather, Jesus says that Peter’s ideas are demonic in nature. Why? Because they originate from earth. Peter’s thoughts are the thoughts of men. And men are not naturally good. Nor are they divine in their outlook. We cannot improve upon God’s plan because we do not think the thoughts of God. We think the thoughts of little insignificant creatures. And when we seek to change the gospel to fit our wants, we are maring perfection.

Many years ago, my brother and I received a couple of packs of airplane stickers while at an air show. We thought them quite becoming and decided they were just what our room needed. We went happily about our room sticking the bright little airplanes on all of our darkly stained wood furniture. A few moments later, we invited our mom to come checkout our decorating masterpiece. Instead of watching joy spread across her face, we saw her face fill with shock and horror. Needless to say, my career as an interior designer both began and ended that day.

Though my brother and I thought we were improving things, we actually made things worse. In effort to brighten things up, we destroyed the very beauty and worth of my mother’s furniture. We could not see her thoughts. We did not understand that furniture is worth more unstickered than stickered. And so we wrecked our bedroom suite.

When we attempt to change and to force the gospel to fit our ideas and goals, we are doing the exact same thing. We take the glorious gospel of God and decorate it we dumb stickers. We take that which is perfect and make it dirty and messy and worthless. Our ideas do not make the gospel heavenly. They make it more dumb, irrational, and foolish. We cannot improve the gospel. The creation cannot improve the creator. Do not argue with God.

When the world cries for us to change, to acquiesce, and to submit to the new cultural norms, we must resists. We must realize that the gospel is not our story. Because we could not conceive of it, we cannot change it. And we must realize that our experiences, our ideas, or wants are not divine or inspired. We do not add to the truth of the gospel. We take away from it.

And now we must all face the most trying question. Will we submit to the gospel? Will we listen to Jesus and obey? Will we daily as believers repent of the gospel inconsistencies in our own life – such as anger, greedy, and sexual immorality? Will we accept Jesus’ salvation? Or will we rebuke Jesus?