Episode 20: Statements We Could Do Without (Season 1 FINALE)
The Top 5 Statements We Could Do Without
(In the Christian World)
The Christian world is rampant with catchphrases. These throwaway lines that we use when we want to encourage or challenge someone. Statements we often don’t scrutinise for their accuracy. They are often inspiring, poignant statements that were made to be memorable. But they aren’t always very deep. But sadly this is what a lot of preachers are aiming for these days...memorable. They figure that if we can say something that sticks, that it will be easy to recall when you are in a relevant situation. As though our reasoning faculties depend mostly on what we are capable of remembering. But I don’t believe we live according to what we remember. We live according to our convictions, values, and unfortunately our compulsions. And we live according to revelation knowledge. That which has been expressly communicated and revealed by the Holy Spirit.
So in order to make these memorable entertaining statements, we often don’t consider what ELSE these statements might be implying. So I want to challenge just 5 of these statements with the hopes of deepening your revelation of God and His word.
Blessed to be a blessing
The basic idea behind this statement is that if God has blessed you, He has blessed you with the purpose of sharing that blessing with others. Okay, so it doesn’t sound so bad. So why am I picking on this one? The problem with this statement is the impression it gives you about God. God loves to bless. It is in His nature to bless. When He blesses you, sometimes it is just for you.
Now the truth is, we live in a very selfish and self-centred society. And our Christian communities aren't really particularly different. We aren’t known for sharing our wealth, our space, our time...not nearly as much as our Christian ancestors did. I mean in the early church, people sold their properties to provide for the family of God. I can’t see that happening today. I can’t imagine people giving up their prime location in Surry Hills, Teneriffe, or Toorak for the Body of Christ. And I gotta be honest, I probably wouldn’t too, however much I want to say I would.
So I understand that Pastors or leaders...or whoever coined this terminology were motivated by the desire to keep our focus on giving, sharing, helping others...instead of living these self-indulgent lives where we restrict our possessions and provision to our own four walls.
But still...it doesn’t paint the most accurate representation of God.
The underlying implication is that God gives with strings attached. Which could not be more untrue. In the famous love passage in 1 Corinthians 13, love is described as having no agenda. Love in its purest form has no intention of personal gain. It is not motivated by what it gets in return. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t eventually have benefits to the giver, but that’s never the goal of love. Jesus demonstrated this kind of love best on the cross. In Romans 5:8, it says:
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Christ’s sacrifice was given even though there was no guarantee of a return on His investment. To say that God gives you good things with the intention that you share is not really reflective of His giving style. Salvation and spiritual gifts are the only types of gifts that we are explicitly told to share. As in, preach the gospel when it comes to salvation and when it comes to spiritual gifts we are told that they are to edify the church. So yes we all should want to get to a place where sharing and blessing others is a major goal of our lives, and self-sacrifice is our default response in life...but it is not necessarily painting the right picture to say that God blesses us SO that we bless others. God blesses non-believers every day, even though they may never look to Him nor return the love.
2. God is in control
It never says in scripture that God is in control. He is not controlling us and people, to make His will come to pass. Control is not in the nature of God. It’s in the nature of the enemy to control. But the underlying sentiment is true - God reigns. He has ultimate leadership and authority over this world. So we don’t need to be stressed when things aren’t going ideally, because at the end of the day, He can handle it and it is within His power and genius to do so.
But the reason I don’t love the use of this “God is in control” business, is what it implies to the rest of the world. It implies that God is responsible for all the bad that happens. If God is in control, it means that He is to blame for Adolf Hitler...because God controls what happens. If God is in control, it means he is to blame for COVID.
Worse yet is what it communicates to those who have been exposed to controlling toxic environments. Whether it be situations of domestic violence, cults or any other circumstance in which the toxic framework of guilt and fear have harmed individuals and been used to force submission. It presumes that God is no different to those abusive situations and that He affirms those who have controlled others or that His mode of operation is to control. This is not a God that people would want to approach. And one of the greatest things about Jesus was how easy He was to approach. The gospels remind us that those who were rejected by previous religious traditions would gather to hear Him. Let’s not limit peoples desire to approach God, because of the inaccurate ways we describe Him?
3. The best is yet to come
If the only way we as a Christian society can handle a hard situation is to tell ourselves that the best is coming, we haven’t exactly understood the purpose of trials. The bible tells us that the greatest outcome of a hard situation or a trial or challenge is changed character. Not preferable circumstances. The truth that we see in scripture is that the more a believer surrendered to the process of taking up their cross, the more hardships you have. John the Baptist was called the greatest by Jesus, and His journey of following God led Him to LIVE in the wilderness. You know, often we hear sermons or prophetic words about how “our days of being in the wilderness are over” and we get excited and claim that word. But John the Baptist chose to LIVE in that wilderness.
Paul told Timothy not to be ashamed of Him because of how poor He was! I’ve heard all the debates about Jesus not being poor, and I have my own opinions of how true that was. BUT there aint no denying how poor Paul was for this gospel.
Two people whom we in the Body of Christ look up to, chose to live a life of unpreferred circumstances. They walked towards it. When Paul and John the Baptist were making their 5 year goals, I’m fairly certain they weren’t thinking that poor and destitute was their vision. They weren’t saying the ‘best is yet to come’...I don’t think they even cared about what their own personal future looked like and whether they would enjoy it. Paul only cared that the gospel was being preached, and John only cared about preparing the way. Their own personal success was not even a factor. Talk about fanatical…
What this statement points to, is how invested we still are in having a desirable circumstance for ourselves. It points out that we still put our hopes in having the right jobs, the right situations and creature comforts so that we can enjoy our lives. Assuming that joy can even be derived from such things. Joy, is a fruit of the spirit. It’s got nothing to do with what is outside of you...its got everything to do with what is in you via the Holy Spirit.
See trials and hardships exist to change our inner world, so that we perceive the external world according to what is in us. That is how Paul could say REJOICE, when He was in a Prison. Because of what was happening in His inner world.
Additionally, I’m really sorry to say, but if you really look at what scripture tells us about the end of days, the future of believers could not be described as the best. We are told by Jesus that in the end days we will be persecuted. It will not be a good time to be alive. The future of mankind just prior to Jesus’ return is the worst to come. But despite all of that, we still can have a genuine hope in Christ that would have us endure the worst circumstances...because He is good. So do you think we could stop saying this shallow statement that doesn’t give a genuine hope in Christ? And only a hope in more preferable circumstances?
4. God has more for you
As with most of these, there is some level of truth to this. But it’s not entirely accurate. It’s a half truth. God has more. But it’s not necessarily specifically about you. It might be more accurate to say that God has more in you. The Holy Spirit is capable of doing more in you and through you. The part that is for you, which is massive, is the fact that the Holy Spirit has more peace for you, more joy, more of those fruits that actually do lead to a truly satisfied life.
But the Holy Spirit also has more for you to impart on this earth. To say that God has more for you, implies that all that the Lord has for your future is for your own situational benefit. That God is trying to fulfil those preferences in your life, those career goals that in and of themselves are not bad, but aren’t always desired for the betterment of all. I mean sometimes our career and ministry goals are things we’ve concocted in our own imagination, and are gravely detrimental to our families and relationships. And the gospel!
Look, the fact is that when you have God you actually have all you need. He is enough, at least He is enough for our inner world. And our inner world is wholly and solely what interprets everything outside of us.
Maybe it would be more correct if we said God is more. Or there is more in God, for you.
5. The church is the hope of the world
I have heard this statement from the beginning of my church leadership journey. And never thought to question it, because it sounded right. But recently I looked into it and discovered a few things…
There is nothing in scripture that expresses this sentiment, certainly not exactly as it is used
And the closest passage I could find that might relay this idea is found in Colossians 1:27, which says:
“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Christ in you, the hope of glory. That statement is talking about us, the people of God. Well more precisely, we are not the hope, but the Holy Spirit in us is the hope. So here’s the thing, saying the church is the hope of the world...is not entirely incorrect, but it is kind of a misdirect. Now the reason I say it is a misdirect, is because the average person, Christian or otherwise, believes that the church is the organisation. Not the people, with the Holy Spirit abiding in them. And to be fair, so do most church leaders. Even when they tell you from the stage that ‘we are the church’ or ‘church is not a place’, it's their actions that contradict them. Because if we are really the church, there would be so many things that would not happen. Widows would not be poor, and struggling to support themselves whilst our conference preachers walk away with designer label goods, a massive paycheck and a free trip. Those who are disadvantaged in society, would never be treated the same within the church. Being black or female, would not be a limitation.
The full truth is that, you who walks around everyday, goes to work, looks after your kids, makes friends, plays sport...The Holy Spirit living in you, operating in you, forming and moulding you, speaking through you and your life...ministering, comforting, you and others...is the hope of the world.
It is really important to ensure that you understand this. The church, the organisation, is not the hope of the world. Having the right church strategy, the right amount of money or attendees, the right evangelism strategy...is not the hope of the world. Believers who chose to abandon all other pursuits and walk in sync with the Spirit - are the hope of the world.
Now maybe that is what Bill Hybels meant when He coined this phrase, but its not always how it's used. The most common time this phrase gets pulled out, is when its vision offering time. The assumption being that if you give to the vision offering, you provide hope for the world. Yes, maybe. Depending on what the vision offering goes to, and whether the leadership have genuinely sought the spirit and are submitted to the Spirits leading. But I would hazard a guess that they aren’t always being led by the Spirit when its vision offering time. And I’ll tell you why...At some point the entire church world globally decided that a yearly vision offering was a standard feature of church life. Its presence in church life is so rigid, that has almost become law. And yet It’s not necessarily a biblical concept. Certainly, Paul took up an offering for the church in Jerusalem. But it was not for the kinds of things the church generally uses it for today. Now the one thing I know about the Holy Spirit, is that He is almost always doing a new thing. God is a creative being. So why would the Holy Spirit have told every church that they are to take up a vision offering? Would they be open if the Holy Spirit, hey guys not this year? Do they even think to ask the Holy Spirit if He would like them to take up a vision offering? I mean I haven’t seen that yet. When was the last time a church leadership decided to give the whole offering to their community arm? Or the entire offering to homelessness in their city? Or to ask the local council or governments where they would love to see that money spent?
My point is that the church is the hope of the world, is a half-truth. The Holy Spirit is...when we are willing to be led and guided by Him