After last weekÕs editorial, one could easily ask, ÒWhy
would anyone want to be a Protestant Christian (leader)?Ó
The answer is freedom!
Freedom, from bondage and oppression in its many forms.
Free to move beyond the limits of what you want to be, to become what God
created you for. What an awesome set of gifts are yours for just walking in
that freedom. Now, I have a difficult problem understanding the gifts of God,
because they are not inherit in natural fallen man. They become yours by
learning about them, trying to appropriate them in your life, paying the price
of pain and suffering to receive them, and then wondering why the whole process
was so difficult. What a price, what an opportunity, to become the son or
daughter of the living God. It is the gift that the apostles and countless
martyrs through the centuries have received, for they understood in someway the
imperishable wonder of GodÕs gifts.
As America has lost her desire for spiritual blessings,
instead settling for just the natural, much of the promise of the United States
is rapidly deteriorating into violence, lewdness, and gross materialism. But,
thanks be to God what we call the rule of law is still in effect. It is
something that we still export freely to the rest of the world, it overcomes
the tyranny of oppression and the oppressor. It is the gift that still draws
immigrants to these shores by the thousands on a daily basis.
Most of the time we think of law as a series of ÒThou
shalt nots!Ó At the time of the founding of the United States, the founders
spent the time not dwelling on the thou shalt nots, for even the most worldly
of those men knew there were enough of those in the Bible, but instead they
focused their attention upon, ÒThe government shalt not!Ó This was written and
incorporated into the first ten amendments to our Constitution and is known as
the Bill of Rights. It is that Bill of Rights that has continued to maintain
freedom in the American state, her light of leadership unto this day. Over
time, many have tried to change these rights to serve their own self interest,
but the rule of law has continued to guarantee these blessings, only slightly
blemished by interpretation until this day.
Along that same line, the Protestant Christian finds in
the Bible a similar rule of law, a promise of freedom, which we could call the
Bill of Gifts. Gifts because they were codified at the beginning of time and
they are impossible for man to change, even though some times they may be
interpreted differently. Those gifts of God are Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit,
grace, faith, mercy, love, community, just to name a few. But for those gifts
to have any importance in oneÕs life, just as in the Bill of Rights, they must
be appropriated, they must be used to fully understand their value.
Our national Bill of Rights guarantees the freedom of
speech, assembly, and religion. Those Americans who when to church last Sunday,
did so because of those rights. Those who went to the mall, or stayed at home
to watch the Seattle Mariners win their 98th game of the season, against only
39 losses utilized these same rights, even though they are not all that
important in the eternal scheme of things.
As we have been talking about over the last number of
weeks, both naturally and Biblically, the promises of freedom are in the rule
of law, but not in the thou shalt nots, but in gifts of what you can do. For
example, those who watched the Mariners, and those who went shopping missed out
on the opportunity to assemble with the family of God, and hear directly from
God, the words, by a God called and anointed pastor, preaching a message that
sufficiency of Christ alone is available to meet all your needs.
There are those who will say, I get my church on
television, I donÕt like the religion in my local church. I am first to admit
that there are some local churches that are not worth attending. And I also
admit that there is some wonderful, God anointed preaching and teaching each
week on television. But that does not really speak to the greatness of the gift
of television preaching, but to the lack of sound local churches that understand the difference between
freedom and the bondage of religious legalism. Of course you can find that on
television, and along with legalism you can also find the misunderstanding of
GodÕs gift of community (or communion) present in the Body of Christ.
The Bill of Gifts, is what provides freedom to the
Protestant believer more than anything else. It is through those gifts, that we
learn to become, not just what we want to be, but to move beyond that into what
we were created to be. That means first of all that you begin to attempt to be
what you want to be. By paying that price, only can you begin to understand,
that in yourself is really nothing worth that cost. Then you can move beyond
the limits of self into the true appropriation of GodÕs gifts in the life for
you as an individual, and it is only then that you also begin to fit into the
big picture of GodÕs diversity and unity. You were designed to fulfill a
destiny and it is yours only to the extent that you are able to understand the
price of your redemption. This renews your heart and also your mind from moment
to moment, day by day.
This is where historic Protestant dogma separates from
the rest of Christianity. In orthodox Protestant Christianity it is all a gift
from God. In much of the Christian religion you contribute to your holiness by
works of some sort, ÒI work at being holy, therefore I am holy.Ó In Protestant
theology, ÒI am holy because of Christ alone, therefore in ChristÕs
righteousness, I am free to become what I was created to be.Ó My personal
holiness does not bring freedom, only more bondage trying to live to a standard
I can not acheive. ChristÕs holiness substituted for my sinfulness, sets me
free from the bondage of sin and death, and the thou shalt nots of the law.
Only then can you begin to understand the greatness of the Bill of Gifts. Only
then does the opportunity to become a disciple of Christ take on its full
meaning. Only then do you understand that it will cost you everything, just as
it cost Jesus Christ everything. It is not a religion of degrees and lines,
your purpose for being is established, and through your gratitude for your
freedom, you begin to pursue your true reason for living. A destiny well beyond
this fallen world but still at this time bound by the present reality of it. It
is in the tension, between future glory and present reality of a limited creation,
where the battle takes place.
From GodÕs side, the infinite becomes finite, (see
Infinity becomes finite; 22 August 2001),
and from our side the finite is becoming infinite, through a process
generally called progressive sanctification. It begins in this life and
continues throughout eternity. It hinges on our willingness to work through the
limitations of this world and ourselves, redeemed in Christ. But only with that
hope of eternity (one of the provisions of the Bill of Gifts) can we move into
that opportunity that God gives to each of His children. In that light we begin
to understand the community of the historic Body of Christ. In Christ, we experience all these free
and wonderful blessings that come by GodÕs gift of grace alone. Paul and others
in the Bible exhort us to move beyond the rule of law in the Bill of Gifts and
to experience the freedom that is yours through adoption.
Well, that in a nut shell, is as best I can convey the
freedom that Christ begins to allow you to live as a Protestant Christian. It
is why your leadership is so important in a world speeding along a freeway
headed in a different direction. Next week we shall attempt to move from the metaphysical into a more
tangible understanding of these truths as we look at the topic: Leadership, the art of building bridges
from bondage to freedom.
Well the new createleaders.org website is now up and
operating, with many of the early editions of Chronicles of Diversity available
for your reference and not much more. Soon the search engine should be active,
if you would like to take a look, your suggestions are welcome.
Please intercede for finances, for we have reached the
end of resources that the Lord so provided this summer. In order to continue
and move forward it will require blessing beyond my current knowledge, better
known as a miracle. This last week a lot of other stuff ran out also, as well
has me combating a summer cold. It has been a long time since I had a real cold
and while it really wasnÕt that bad, for a week or so it sort of saps your get
up and go. My desire is still to purchase the Little Dalles property in NE
Washington, the wait has been long and difficult, but the reward in GodÕs
economy is significant as well.