Gospel Wednesday | What Are We?

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

GWIn researching good sermons for last Friday’s post, I was torn between 2 excellent sermons by Rev Hans Fiene. I decided to go with the more recent sermon because I would like for this blog to track with the Church year a little better. However, the other sermon from January 8, 2017 at River of Life Lutheran Church, Channahon, IL, is so good, I thought we’d give it a listen today. The questions of “What are we? To whom do we belong? Where do we find our assurance?” are wonderfully addressed in this sermon.

Rev. Fiene is also the creator of Lutheran Satire, a multimedia project intended to teach the orthodox Lutheran faith through the use of humor. Lutheran Satire’s website can be found here (http://lutheransatire.org/) and the YouTube channel can be found here (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLutheranSatire).

Source: River of Life Lutheran Church

Sermon Text

Matthew 3:13-17 (ESV) | The Baptism of Jesus

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Sermon Audio

 

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

DiM | “Testify” by Need to Breathe

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

disapproveCCM Edition.

January 24, 2017. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Testify” by Need to Breathe which currently sits at #18 on 20TheCountdownMagazine.

The band has a great sound and I really like the lead singer’s voice. The tune is catchy and I like how they basically start with the chorus. Sadly, the song is very vague, mystical in form, synergistic, and presumes to speak in the place of God. It is such a mess, lyrically, we’ve placed it in the Disapprove category.

Official Audio

Lyrics (via K-Love)

Chorus
Give me your heart
Give me your song
Sing it with all your might
Come to the fountain
You can be satisfied
There is a peace, there is a love
You can get lost inside
Come to the fountain
Let me hear you testify

Verse 1
Into the wild
Canyons of youth
Oh there’s a world to fall into
Weightless we’ll dance
Like kids on the moon
Oh I will give myself to you
As soon as you start to let go

Give me your heart
Give me your song
Sing it with all your might
Come to the fountain
You can be satisfied
There is a peace, there is a love
You can get lost inside
Come to the fountain
Let me hear you testify

Bridge
Wave after wave
As deep calls to deep
Oh I’ll reveal my mystery
As soon as you start to let go

Give me your heart
Give me your song
Sing it with all your might
Come to the fountain
You can be satisfied
There is a peace, there is a love
You can get lost inside
Come to the fountain
Let me hear you testify

There is a peace, there is a love
You can get lost inside
Come to the fountain
Let me hear you testify

Verse 2
Mist on the mountain
Rising from the ground
There’s no denying beauty makes a sound
We can’t escape it
There’s no way to doubt
Mist on the mountain
Rising all around

Give me your heart
Give me your song
Sing it with all your might
Come to the fountain
You can be satisfied
There is a peace, there is a love
You can get lost inside
Come to the fountain
Let me hear you testify

There is a peace, there is a love
You can get lost inside
Come to the fountain
Let me hear you testify

Publishing: © 2016 Bear Lee Breathing Music (BMI) / Needtobreathe Music (BMI). All Rights Administered by Downtown DMP Songs (BMI). All Rights Reserved. Produced by Ed Cash and NEEDTOBREATHE Engineered by Bo Rinehart, Ed Cash and Seth Bolt at Plantation Studios, Summerville, SC Mixed by Robert Orton Mastered by Dave Kutch at The Mastering Palace in New York, NY

Writer(s): Rinehart & Rinehart

Discussion

Firstly, the song seems to bounce unexpectedly between a person encouraging others and what seems to be God speaking to us. There isn’t really a clear way to see which words are being attributed to God and which are the singers. Such confusion is unhealthy and even dangerous.

Chorus. This chorus is sung in full 4 times, and in pieces another 2 or 3 times. That’s a lot of repetition and focus on what can only be presented as an ultimatum by God to get all of the amazing thing being offered. “give me your heart” = Law. “give me your song” = Law. “come to the fountain” is vague. What fountain? Why? “you can be satisfied“. Oh, for the potential to be satisfied. I suppose “can” might be understood in the permissive sense, as in “you are permitted to be satisfied”… I think that’s stretching a bit, though. “There is a peace, there is a love, You can get lost inside, Come to the fountain, Let me hear you testify“. Emotional pabulum. There is indeed peace in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is indeed love. But scripture isn’t talking about an emotional sensation of peace, the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings us peace with a Holy and Just God.

Romans 5:1-11 (ESV) | Peace with God Through Faith

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Which brings me to the glaring hole in this chorus and in this entire song. It attempts to offer Gospel promises without the Law. I say “attempts” because popular evangelicalism thinks commands like “give me your heart” is Gospel. It isn’t.

Matthew 22:36-40 (ESV) “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “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.”

It is Law and it is Good. The problem isn’t in the command, it’s in the belief that you are capable of keeping it of your own will. You aren’t. I can’t. We fail in this daily. Yes, believers, too. Our fleshly hearts are wicked and incapable of loving God completely on our own. Christ fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. He loved God perfectly. The gift of the Gospel is that He fulfilled the Law for us. When we are baptized into His death and resurrection, we are granted the Righteousness of Christ by faith. So, through Christ, we are seen as righteous, holy in His sight. Christ bore the full punishment for our failure to love God and our neighbors by dying on the cross.

So, getting back to the chorus of this song, we have a big problem. God is not withholding His gifts waiting for us to fulfill the Law. God gave us the Gift of His Son, Jesus, while we were yet sinners… enemies of God. The song paints a false image of God and presumes to speak for Him.

Now, regarding the vague imagery of the fountain. It could be taken as a reference to water baptism. I doubt that is the intended reference given the mystical leaning of the song. Modern mysticism generally flows from ancient gnosticism which would reject a connection to actual water baptism. We could also view this as a reference to Christ, though we’d have to unpack the theology a bit to clarify. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he addresses several errors. In the build up to his longer teaching on the LORD’s supper, we find this reference to Christ in the wilderness:

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 (ESV) For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Paul is clearly teaching that the miracles in the Exodus all pointed to Christ. The mana from heaven, baptism through the Red Sea, the water that flowed from the rock that was struck… all pointing to Christ. We see this also laid out in the Gospel According to John.

John 4:7-15 (ESV) A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

John 7:37-39 (ESV) On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

So, given its best possible construction, the fountain is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:15-23 (ESV) | The Preeminence of Christ

[Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Amen. If we’re to believe this is the intended meaning of the song, then all of this is what is what must be assumed by the command “Let me hear you testify“. So, the song isn’t proclaiming the Gospel, it’s waiting for someone else to do it.

Verse 1. What a muddled mystical mess. The identity of the speaker is in each line is unclear here, and I don’t think there’s a good way to parse any of it out. It’s just bad.

Verse 2. This verse is no better than the other. Beauty makes a sound, really? Did Chuck Pierce write this line? There’s no clear doctrine of Scripture being presented in this. The same problem of who the speaker is in each line plagues this verse.

Bridge. As deep calls to deep seems to be pulling from Psalm 42, in the portion of despair. The psalmist here is describing discouragement. The Psalm turns to the clear promises of God. This song offers a revelation… as soon as you start to let go. Paul already took the time to explain the mystery of the Gospel in his letter to the Ephesians.

Ephesians 3:1-6 (ESV) | The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Praise be to God!

Conclusion

While some of the lines in the Chorus can be rescued with solid, Biblical Christology (both in the Old Testament and the New), the song overall cannot be salvaged. It’s a mystical ride through the emotions to create a “worship experience”. As I said in the intro, musically this song is awesome and the lead vocals are impressive. The song lacks clarity and substance and misrepresents the Gospel with mysticism and law.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV) Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

CTT | Civil Disobedience?

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

If you’ve missed the news over the weekend, the LORD be praised! If you didn’t miss the news, then you’ve heard about the rioting in D.C. mislabeled a “protest” and the miserably named “DC Women’s March” which was a vulgar, progressivist, demonstration attacking the unborn and rejecting pro-life women. By all accounts it was a disgrace. Police had to respond to the rioters with non-lethal force. Several arrests were made.

Sadly, this garbage filled most of social media throughout the weekend, and I saw professing Christians commenting in all directions. Today, let us look at what Scripture says to the Church regarding so-called “civil disobedience”.

Governmental Authority

Romans 13:1-7 (ESV) | Submission to the Authorities

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. When the Police stepped in to punish the lawless acts of the rioters, they did a good thing. They served their neighbors in their vocations by being a terror to bad conduct. They served their neighbor in their vocations as God’s servant for our good. That they did so using non-lethal means is a mercy and extension of grace to the lawless. The law of the land in the United States affirms “the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances”, but there is no right to destroy public and private property. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are not to engage in such lawlessness. Heed Scripture’s warning that if you do wrong, be afraid, for [the governing authority] does not bear the sword in vain. Remember, Paul penned this under the rule of Emperor Nero, so don’t try to make an appeal to the culture.

DC Women’s March?

I sure hope my brothers and sisters in Christ aren’t participating or championing this vulgar display over the weekend. There was nothing praiseworthy in this murderous (pro-abortion) and scandalous demonstration. What does Scripture say?

Titus 2 (ESV) | Teach Sound Doctrine

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Working at home. I’d like to comment on this one, because I know that the vast majority of western households are dual-income homes. I don’t think this is a ban on women having a vocation in addition to “housewife”; rather, this is to indicate that our primary vocations are in service of the home. Mothers and housewives are nearly irreplaceable in the home, whereas outside the home you are easily replaced for the sake of business. Similarly, fathers and husbands are nearly irreplaceable in the home, but easily replaced outside of the home. The focus of this is on the work at home. Lydia of Thyatira was a seller of purple goods (Acts 16), she had a vocation outside the home, but it did not replace her vocation at home. Most homes were family businesses in those days, we see Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers by trade, they worked together in trade. Paul stayed with them and also worked with them in their trade (Acts 18). Is it a sin for a woman to work outside of the home? No, unless she is neglecting her duties to her husband, children, and home. Is a man in sin for staying at home? No, unless he isn’t working or he is neglecting his duties to his wife and children. note: earning a paycheck is not the sole definition of “working”.

Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Here, again, we see no room for the Church to engage in lawlessness and public displays of vulgarity.

But there has to be an exception to the rule!

Sadly, it is often the case that those who focus on finding the exception to the rule do so because they have no intention of obeying the rule. In scripture we might see cases that seem to present exceptions to the rule, but when we look more closely we’ll see that such cases are being misrepresented as exceptions.

Acts 4:13-22 (ESV) Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

Acts 5:12-18 (ESV) Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

These rulers were corrupt and hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They commanded the Apostles in opposition to Christ’s commandment to them to preach and to baptize in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Their response to the council is often touted as an exception to the rule of submission to authorities. But notice, later on when they continue preaching in Solomon’s Portico and performing signs and miracles in the Name of Jesus, they were arrested and thrown into prison. The charge against them was unjust, and remained so for they submitted to their arrest and gave no further cause for punishment, that the Word of God may not be reviled, and that their opponent might be put to shame. God delivers them from jail in this case, but that is not guaranteed to happen every time. Paul wrote many of his letters while wrongfully imprisoned. Most of the Apostles died as martyrs, wrongfully punished for the sake of the Gospel. They submitted to the authorities, and they honored their calling in Christ to preach the Word. So is our charge as Christ’s Church.

Conclusion

The church isn’t called to produce “social change” or to somehow force pagan governments to bend the knee to Christ. Christ will do that Himself when He returns in glory to judge both the Living and the Dead. Despite what our society praises in the unholy sacrament of “civil disobedience”, the Church has no such call. Here in the United States, we are given some room to resist tyranny and to hold our government accountable. There is a process in place for just such actions. There are also those within this government charged with defending and protecting the U.S. Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. This is their vocation and their good works of service to their neighbor. Outside of these vocations, we submit to the authorities and we place our trust in God alone.

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

 

Friday Sermon | “Epiphany 2 – The Problem” by Hans Fiene

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

frisermonIf you are unfamiliar with Liturgical Worship, or following the church year, we are in the season of Epiphany. The season begins with the visiting of the Magi (Christ revealed to the Gentiles) through the Transfiguration. Today’s sermon text will be looking at Christ’s first recorded Miracle at the wedding in Cana.

Today we’ll be listening to the sermon given last week by Pr Hans Fiene of River of Life Lutheran Church, Channahon, IL.

Rev. Hans Fiene

was born in Duluth, Minnesota in late 1980. The son of a Lutheran pastor, Rev. Fiene and his family spent time in Utah and Connecticut before settling in Indiana. After graduating from Indiana University with a B.A. in English, Rev. Fiene began his studies at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana where he earned a Masters of Divinity in May of 2008.

After graduation, Rev. Fiene was ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry on June 8, 2008. He then moved to Denver, CO where he served as pastor of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church until accepting the call to River of Life. Rev. Fiene was installed as pastor of River of Life Lutheran Church on December 18, 2010.

Rev. Fiene and his wife Katie were married in August of 2005. God has blessed them with three young sons: John, August, and Anders. In addition to serving Christ’s flock at River of Life, Rev. Fiene also loves writing, singing, playing a little piano, and getting far too emotionally invested in the Indianapolis Colts.

Rev. Fiene is also the creator of Lutheran Satire, a multimedia project intended to teach the orthodox Lutheran faith through the use of humor. Lutheran Satire’s website can be found here (http://lutheransatire.org/) and the YouTube channel can be found here (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheLutheranSatire).

Source: River of Life Lutheran Church

Sermon Audio

Note: In a Lutheran Divine Service the sermon comes after the reading of the assigned texts (an Old Testament text, an Epistle reading, and a Gospel text) and the Pastor’s sermon will focus on one or more of these readings. That is why in this sermon you don’t hear the text being read specifically. The congregation has already heard the text read aloud while they read along.

Sermon Text

John 2:1-12 (ESV) | The Wedding at Cana

On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

I hope you enjoyed listening to this sermon. Pastor Fiene did a wonderful job of rightly dividing Law and Gospel.

Numbers 6:24-26 (ESV)

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge

 

 

CTT | Become all things to all people?

Faithful Stewardship Leave a comment

CTTIt has been a while since our last Completing the Thought (CTT) post so I thought we might do one this week. Normally, I try to post these on Mondays, but this past Monday was a Holiday so I thought we’d knock this out today. I Recently received an email from a reader via the Contact Us regarding a song we Disapproved in our DiM series. While the complaint is one that is commonly shared, I truly appreciated the reader’s attempt to make a Biblical argument. Let’s take a look at the referenced text and examine it in context to see what the Apostle Paul was writing.

To Jorge,
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9, “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.” I think you are reading too much into this song and video. If this song catches the interest of a young person and it leads them to the Lord they can be instructed in the faith after salvation. Like Paul she is reaching out to all…

The portion of scripture being referenced is 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. In this first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is writing to a church that is suffering from divisions of men by ethnic differences, social status differences, financial difference, and various examples of fleshly indulgences (abusing the spiritual gifts, sexual immorality, drunkenness at the Lord’s Supper). It’s all one letter and Paul is dealing with a lot of things at once, but Paul isn’t writing to unbelievers, he’s writing to the Church in Corinth. I’m going to be quoting portions of the text, but if you feel I’ve taken anything out of context, by all means call me on it.

1 Corinthians 1:1-3 (ESV)

Greeting
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,

To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

After a bit of greeting, Paul makes clear the purpose of this letter.

1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (ESV) | Divisions in the Church

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

I highlighted what Paul is saying is his primary calling, to preach the gospel of Christ. He isn’t saying he wasn’t supposed to be baptizing (because he did baptize and baptism is an integral part of the Great Commission); rather, he is clearly stating that he was sent to preach the gospel. He also points out that he does so without words of eloquent wisdom so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power, that by distracting folks into admiring his eloquent speech rather than the Gospel of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (ESV) | Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

This is an important point here that I believe the Apostle Paul will be reflecting back to in chapters 8 and 9. Paul preaches the Gospel plainly. The Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but for the Church (us who are being saved) it is the power of God. So, throughout the letter, Paul is going to be addressing various divisions and distractions from the Gospel, from the Word of the cross, that are taking root within the Church. Now, with this introduction to the letter fresh in our minds, let us jump ahead to Chapter 8.

1 Corinthians 8 (ESV) | Food Offered to Idols

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Why are we talking about food offered to Idols? Because this is one of the key factor in one of the major divisions within the early church, the division between Jew and Gentile believers. Paul’s letter to the Galatians addresses the Judaizing heresy, and the first Apostolic Council was regarding Gentile believers and which rules they should follow. Notice Paul’s focus throughout this discussion of food. Again, he’s talking about fellow believers, brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, and his concern is the Gospel. We know that since idols are false the foods offered to them have no real significance, for we know who God is. However, not everyone has this clear understanding, so to one whose conscience is bound to avoiding foods offered to false gods, it would be a sin to burden his conscience by consuming such food. Paul goes on to say that even though he is free to eat of any food, for food does not commend us to God, for the sake of his brother he’d commit to never eating meat. Paul isn’t just addressing the Gentiles here, he’s making the argument wide enough for the believing Jews who also cannot yet see their freedom from the strict dietary laws of the Mosaic covenant. Paul is teaching them they are free in Christ to eat whatever they like, but they are also told not to abuse their freedoms and sin against their brothers. Now, let’s get to the next chapter.

1 Corinthians 9:1-12 (ESV) | Paul Surrenders His Rights

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

Now Paul is really driving home his point here. This is definitely a one-up on the matter of food and drink, and it goes to his vocation as Apostle of Jesus Christ and his right to drawing his living (food, drink, shelter) from preaching the Gospel. Paul has the right to ask for provisions from the church to whom he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ, yet he has declined these rights in their case and worked on the side to pay for his provisions so as to not put an obstacle in the way of the Gospel of Christ. Let’s continue reading through the rest of the chapter. I’ll continue highlighting the mention of the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:13-27 (ESV)

Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Wow, such an awesome passage. Now, the underlined portion is the part that was quoted to me in the email. Here, we do see Paul addressing the preaching of the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles who are not yet believers “so that i might win more of them”. Indeed, to the Jew Paul became as a Jew. What does this mean? Well, in the context of all that he’s been writing, Paul would go to the synagogues and follow the Mosaic Laws (and even submit to the Traditions of the Elders like ceremonial washings and the like) so as not to become a hindrance to the preaching of the Gospel of Christ in their synagogues. Though he is free from the Mosaic Law and under the Law of Christ, these Traditions of the Elders are of no real value, Paul would observe the temple traditions so that they might listen to the Gospel he preached concerning Christ, so that by all means he might save some. Similarly, Paul would drop the Traditions of the Elders, and the strict dietary laws of the Mosaic covenant when he went into the Gentile market places to preach the Gospel of Christ, so that the Gentiles might be willing to listen to him. The unbelieving Gentiles knew full well who the Jews were, and that they were considered lesser beings because they were Gentiles. What remains constant in all of this, however, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul preached the Gospel. He was sent to preach the Gospel of Christ, and in that he was a servant to all, regardless of their status.

Conclusion

Indeed, we should become all things to all people so that we may not become a hindrance to the preaching of the Gospel. But we cannot use this logic to somehow rationalize the masking of the Gospel. Whenever a preacher claims to give a sermon and fails to preach both Law and Gospel, he is failing his duty. There is no validity in trying to say “I become all things to all people so that I might save some” as justification for failing to preach Law and Gospel.

In the DiM post that was being referenced, we disapproved the song due to a failure to present the Gospel. That is what we are looking for primarily in these DiM posts to grant a song an Approved rating. The song had other problems with it, which made gave it a Disapproved rating. The artist doing that song was not being like the Apostle Paul. It was just an 80s-inspired pop song with unclear theology.

If you’d like to contact us regarding this or any other post, please feel free to visit our Contact Us page and share your thoughts. I’ll try to respond in a timely fashion, not always in the form of a blog post.

Jude 24-25 (ESV)

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

In Christ Jesus,
Jorge