"Brothers, we are not political pundits"

This chimes so well with points I've blogged about on and off recently: https://clearlyreformed.org/brothers-we-are-not-political-pundits/. Very good article.

"Brothers, we can be pundits or we can be pastors, but we likely cannot be both." I don't know why the "likely" was included in that closing line, since the article preceding it made an excellent case that we just can't, full stop. The same man cannot both preach "please let me be completely clear that until you have Christ, you are lost and ruined, forever, and this matters more than the whole world; you need to understand that the kingdom of God has arrived in Jesus Christ, and transcends all the things you are attached to in this passing world" and also be someone known for responding to the 24-hour news cycle.

Anyone attempting to serve two masters will serve Christ badly, and quite often not be anything like as good as he thinks he is in the activity in which he's moonlighting too. Pastors and preachers are ambassadors. They must have the spirit expressed when Martyn Lloyd-Jones quoted Nehemiah when people told him that his oratorical gifts would be put to great use in parliament: "I am doing a great work; I cannot come down."

Learning by serving

If you want to understand better, then serve more, and focus your thoughts, energies and desires on those you're serving.

Big books can contain a great deal of profound wisdom. But our ability to absorb and rightly deploy any wisdom is seriously limited by unwillingness to hand over our lives for others and for God.

Without the desire to love God and love man, wisdom becomes knowledge which only "puffs up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). The raw materials are fed in, but they go into a machine whose innards are twisted, perverted - they are arranged not to produce the true good fruits, but something else, something lesser, something driven by an idolatry.

Jesus said "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority" (John 7:17). Failure here is why there are many who are "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7) - whether in the absolute sense, or in a relative sense, Christians stunted in their growth.

The Internet bears witness that there are many who are working hard at many things, but that it all centres around that vile idol, self. They know a lot: but they know very little.

If you want your children to be able to navigate this troubled world with true, godly wisdom, then don't just teach them. Don't just show them an example. Make service a vital part of their curriculum.

The modern world is very much against us here; it treats children and young people as those who must just receive. All must be made convenient for them to pursue education, and anything that hinders this is very much secondary, if not completely optional. Service can come later, later, always later. But once they're learned this, they won't forget it. (I'm busy with my important degree, I'm trying to impress at my first job, I need to get a deposit, small children use up all of our energy, I'm now making it into the higher levels, etc. etc.).

Authentic service is also a great antidote against being led astray by heresy, errors and simple dead-ends. Notice in Ephesians 6:11-14 how inseparable working and serving together in life is with avoiding "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine". Love leads on to more knowledge and discernment (Philippians 1:9). A good heart sees things more clearly, and results in greater light flooding the whole being (Matthew 5:22). "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). If our hearts are directed towards the love of God and the love of our unevangelised or suffering fellow-man, then this will help to keep us in the light. On the contrary, when the desires are elsewhere, then disease will ravage the whole body.

Is not failure here - failure to pay attention to sincerely doing the Master's will, practically, prioritising his priorities, in the tasks he's given us, out of love to the Master - behind so much trouble in the churches? One man has a doctrine he thinks he is so right about, another believes he sees some other issue so clearly, and perhaps both have some true and important things in what they say.... and yet, there's also a sense in the air that something important is not quite right. The machinery isn't going as it should, there is oil missing, and some parts are giving off noxious smells even if we can't quite describe exactly what they are.

Again: the master has given us work to do. There's much more sweetness in serving in some worthy causing alongside a brother or sister who has their heart in the right place, and yet hasn't understood a lot of things (and has misunderstood some others) in the Christian scheme of doctrine. There's no need to fret about them. If you keep serving with the desire to lift up Christ and help those who are in need, then you'll both draw nearer to Christ, and gain clearer views of his truth, and sweep away some of the mistakes. Progress will happen, because the way is open for light to come in. But on the other hand, you can be alongside brothers who are so, so doctrinally correct, and yet have a strong sense that something is still very wrong. The desire to do something costly for Christ just isn't there. Joy in service has departed. Some of the motions are still being moved through. But it's hard, hard, to stir people up to much of it. Why? Because the doctrines aren't being loved for the right reason. They're not in the service of crucifying sin that we might live with Christ, killing self so that we can serve others in his name. They're loved for some other cause - intellectual pride, one-up-man-ship, as tools to beat others down with, things to make us feel superior to those stupid worldlings with their Woke nonsense, etcetera, etcetera.

Brothers and sisters, if you want to know Jesus better, he's told us how. "Follow me". "Take up your cross". Find those whom you can serve in his name, inside and outside of the church. Seek to serve and thereby give a testimony to the marvellous love of your Saviour. You'll then find that so many things can be seen so much more clearly.

As the divine son, Jesus knew everything. As the incarnate one, Jesus had a perfect understanding of all the knowledge that he had, unclouded by any sin whatsoever. Driven by this perfect knowledge, he gave his life for others. We only really know anything to the extent that it teaches us to do the same thing.

In which I offer you my own profound and insightful analysis upon the election of Donald Trump

Following on from here.

Before the election of Donald Trump, American Christians, and Western Christians in general, were in the position of having sufficient freedom to preach the gospel, preach the whole counsel of God, reach out to the unconverted, raise their children according to the teaching of the Scriptures, demonstrate the reality of God's love through ministries of mercy to the needy, and generally do whatever they see as best in order to carry on their Master's business whilst they await his return.

Now that Donald Trump has been elected as US president,  American Christians, and Western Christians in general, are in the position of having sufficient freedom to preach the gospel, preach the whole counsel of God, reach out to the unconverted, raise their children according to the teaching of the Scriptures, and demonstrate the reality of God's love through ministries of mercy to the needy, and generally do whatever they see as best in order to carry on their Master's business whilst they await his return.

Now get back to work.

(The above is not an argument that the political sphere is irrelevant. Rather, it's an argument for the things it says).

God's temple: the best place to hide your idols

Stephen McAlpine nails it: https://stephenmcalpine.com/why-the-temple-is-the-best-place-to-hide-an-idol/

The killer quote in the article: “A [ministry] leader whose heart has been captured by other things doesn’t forsake ministry to pursue other things; he uses ministry position, power, authority and trust to get those things.”

Once, a missionary in Kenya observed to me that a number of people (thankfully, there are many who are not in this category) go to the mission field, or enter Christian ministry in general, because it gives them the opportunity to satisfy sinful and proud cravings that they'd never be allowed to get away with in the secular world, or in a bigger pond. Being lifted up high, away from scrutiny, controlling the information that goes to other places about yourself and your brilliance, controlling the mechanisms of accountability, and having open green fields in which to do things you couldn't do working alongside and under others - this offers such opportunities for the person who loves or is ensnared by something that they shouldn't.

The conservative evangelical church in the UK, and particularly Anglican conservative evangelicals, is being rocked (again) by scandal caused by appalling wickedness amongst well-known leaders, and the questions "who knew this?" and "for how long?", "when there were signs, why does it again look like the response was a cover-up, and how has it taken so long to come to light?" and, most damningly, "why did this have to be exposed by people outside the church, when the church is told to love justice, exercise repentance, and live in the light of the day of judgment when everything we declined to do and should have done will be revealed?"

Though there need to be specific answers for the specific cases, there's one big factor that is present in scandal after scandal. A lot of people love their reputation, position, influence, platform, conferences, networks, book endorsements, etcetera, at least as much as they love Jesus, and there are few signs we can see that this is changing. "Big cheese disease" seems to be present in every age: and thus, all the more reason why it needs dealing with.

But when did you last hear a prominent leader lay out, in detail, why evangelical celebrity cults and celebrity cultures are wicked, and a huge problem, and what in particular needs to be done to resist them and their evil influence? "Judgement must begin first at the household of God." "Physician, heal thyself." "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy."

If you're not pointing out that the Emperor lacks clothes, is it because you yourself are still hoping to receive the Empire's favours? When you read the gospels and see how Christ acted faced with wickedness in God's temple, can you conclude that your silence is Christ-likeness, or is it actually something else?

Lord, may I live no longer than you give me grace to walk every day in repentance and serve in a way that gives honour, only, to your Son. May I see his glory, and in that light, my unworthiness. May he increase, and I decrease, every day. Amen.

John MacArthur: I beg your pardon?

On one of his ministry websites, John MacArthur tells you that he is - calls himself - "the World's Premier Expository Preacher" - https://macarthurcenter.org/the-expositor/ .

And yes, he does call himself that. It's his centre, in his name, and every statement it publishes, especially if it's prominent, is thus endorsed as his statement until he retracts it as erroneous. And that page has said so since at least June 2021, and so for at least 3 and a half years:

Why am I drawing your attention to this? Are we not meant to hide things in our brethren that are embarrassing or dishonourable? On the contrary, those who publicly represent Christ must expect scrutiny, and invite it; Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ", and in Philippians 3:17, "Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern."

John MacArthur wants your attention to be drawn to this fact, so that you can sign up to learn from him. That's why he's put it in big type, at the top a main page of an eponymous ministry websites.

What to make of this?

For one thing, Jesus Christ forbids his servants to receive titles from men; how much more does he forbid men to award them to themselves?

Matthew 23:8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

Plainly this prohibition cannot be made absolute; it does not extend to titles that recognise and are used legitimately in connection with an office; Christ's apostles, inspired by his Spirit, used the title "apostle of Jesus Christ" to introduced themselves. Paul (1 Corinthians 15:10) told the Corinthians, again under inspiration, that he had worked harder than all the other apostles. But then, there, there were only a small handful of other apostles. Evidently, Paul said it knowing it to be objectively true - but let's also note the full context of what he had to say:

1 Corinthians 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.  

As far as I know, though, there is no office of "world's premier Bible expositor" that Jesus Christ appointed for someone to take up. Out of interest, when did MacArthur inherit this position, and who was his immediate predecessor?

Again, Paul said: "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ", 1 Corinthians 11, thereby drawing attention to his own example, which therefore cannot be absolutely wrong to do. But can you imagine Paul adding "and I am the world's premier imitator of Jesus Christ", even though that might actually have been true, given what we know of Paul's deep sufferings and what God, by the Holy Spirit, had to say about those sufferings?

You can make of John MacArthur awarding himself the title "the World's Premier Expository Preacher" what you will. I was quite sure that it wasn't me, so I'm certainly not disputing it on those grounds! Quite how MacArthur determined that he was the world's foremost explainer of the Bible, we are not told. We know that he is strongly against the concept of private revelations. We suppose he determined it some other way. However he determined it, he did think it was important to let us know.

Since you now know that John MacArthur has concluded that he is the world's premier expounder of God's word to man, and that he needed to tell you this, are you now helped to take him as seriously as such an important person should be taken?