I just got through reading the gospel of Mark. In Mark 16:17,18 Jesus makes this amazing statement, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
There are five promises in this passage for those who believe: authority over demons; tongues; protection from wildlife; protection from poison; healing. This is normal Christianity, and for two thousand years a lot of the church has been theologizing normal Christianity away. We have endured ridiculous, non biblical theologies like, ‘there are no more demons, Jesus got rid of them all on the cross.’ Healing and tongues were only meant for the first century church.’ ‘There is no super-natural protection; Christians simply have to be careful.’ None of these theological statements have any biblical support. What does have biblical support is deliverance, tongues, divine protection and healing.
What has resulted from this is sub-normal Christianity being called and accepted as normal? We are scandalized by prominent Christians being caught in adultery or greed. We are scandalized by the polls that show Christians don’t really live much different from the rest of the culture in terms of their morality. But we are not scandalized by our impotence. But our impotence is a scandal, and in some ways worse than the above mentioned moral failings.
We are the only people on earth filled with God. Jesus said don’t put your light under a bushel but let it shine. How is it we have only interpreted this morally and not in terms of power? Throughout the New Testament we are promised power to be His witnesses. Yet when we don’t pursue miracles it is the same as not pursuing moral righteousness, we are hiding the light of the Holy Spirit and depriving the world of an encounter with a miracle-working God.
The lack of the miraculous makes unbelief too easy for the world. The world can produce people who look as morally good or better than church-goers, and the demonic cults can counterfeit miracles. But only the people of God can produce people of purity and power. Our love, goodness and the miracles of God are our witness to Christ. To settle for anything less is a sin and it is boring.
If you have never cast out a demon, spoken in tongues, been divinely protected by God spreading His gospel or healed the sick repent right now and ask God to fill you with power and opportunity. If you have dabbled in these things but it is not normal, repent and tell God you want a new normal. This generation has the opportunity to make sub-normal Christianity obsolete and make normal Christianity visible to an unbelieving world.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Jon and Kate: Rebuilding from Fatherlessness
Jon and Kate are breaking up and getting a divorce. I never watched more than five minutes of the show but it has raised a very common issue. It is the issue of passive men and domineering women in marriage. I have seen this often in thirty years of ministry, the fatherlessness of our culture has contributed greatly to confusion in men and a real emasculation. We have also taught women to be very aggressive and fill the void left by passive men.
I have a couple of observations. First, the answer is not macho men. Machismo is a mask for insecurity and is not the antidote to passivity. Second, women are not to be doormats; biblical submission means respect and honor but not the loss of identity or blind obedience. Instead I think fatherless men need each other to regain their confidence to be initiators in their relationships and real leaders in their families. Women need to realize no matter how much their husband acts like a boy they cannot treat him like a boy. He cannot be nagged into growing up or being the man you hoped you got. If you treat him like a child most likely he will remain a child.
One thing I have a real problem with is the man leaving the bossy wife and saying he did this because he finally grew up. Running away is not growing up, it is as cowardly as passively letting her boss you around. Real growing up takes responsibility for the problems passivity has created and initiates change in the relationship. Instead of running into the arms of another woman, change your behavior toward the woman you married. Come out of your hiding place, learn to both love and confront your wife. Don’t act like a child, gently confront her when she tries to treat you like a child or corrects you like you are a child, and become a real grown up man worthy of her respect.
I have a couple of observations. First, the answer is not macho men. Machismo is a mask for insecurity and is not the antidote to passivity. Second, women are not to be doormats; biblical submission means respect and honor but not the loss of identity or blind obedience. Instead I think fatherless men need each other to regain their confidence to be initiators in their relationships and real leaders in their families. Women need to realize no matter how much their husband acts like a boy they cannot treat him like a boy. He cannot be nagged into growing up or being the man you hoped you got. If you treat him like a child most likely he will remain a child.
One thing I have a real problem with is the man leaving the bossy wife and saying he did this because he finally grew up. Running away is not growing up, it is as cowardly as passively letting her boss you around. Real growing up takes responsibility for the problems passivity has created and initiates change in the relationship. Instead of running into the arms of another woman, change your behavior toward the woman you married. Come out of your hiding place, learn to both love and confront your wife. Don’t act like a child, gently confront her when she tries to treat you like a child or corrects you like you are a child, and become a real grown up man worthy of her respect.
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