I'm a runner and usually log about 30 miles every week. I always wear my ipod but I rarely listen to music. Instead, I listen to the sermons of pastors - some of whom I love, some who challenge my theology, and some who, in my opinion, misinterpret scripture. Those messages usually make me run faster as my frustration grows. I listened to 3 of those guys during my half-marathon on Saturday and beat my personal record by 9 minutes.
Last Tuesday at about mile 5, I listened to a pastor from Texas who was in the middle of a teaching series about how we can "be better Christians". I've listened to him before and he consistently shares a theology of personal performance. He teaches that we can be more successful as Christians if we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and do the right thing.
"Pastor Dave" opened with a parable of Jesus;
"God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field." Matthew 13:44 (The Message)
His interpretation: Jesus is the treasure and if we make the right choices and make the right sacrifices, we will reach Him.
Next, he unpacked the story of the prodigal son. Again, he took a "self-driven" approach by teaching that the wayward son just needed to come to his senses, get up, and walk back home. Cue "Just As I Am" and invite people to the altar.
Over and over again we can see how self-centered our traditional interpretations have been. Jesus isn't the treasure - we are. Granted, the prodigal son came home but the real story is more about his dad - the accepting father who embraced his son without giving him a chance to make his empty promises. Our Father does the same thing for us.
We want to make the hero of the stories be ourselves, but the fact is that we're not the heroes. Jesus is. The Bible is a book that shows His greatness, not the need for us to "perform better" and raise our "goodness factor". The diagnosis: performance-driven self-righteousness. The treatment: A radical Pharisectomy.
It's not about us. It never has been. It's all about Him and His amazing grace.
I was unsuccessfully trying to clean up my war-torn office last night when I
came across an old notebook. Every six months or so, I go through a 150 page
c...
6 comments:
Good morning. Running with you on this one. May we have a good, God centered, humble following by those of us who are running ........
Just a thought about the prodigal and his father, and the point of the story. As you said "but the real story is more about his dad - the accepting father who embraced his son without giving him a chance to make his empty promises. Our Father does the same thing for us" I sure agree with the sentiment and truths about how our Father is towards us, but and I think you will like the fact, that I'm focusing on the Pharisees here, because you have mentioned them, and mention them often....But, if you go to the very first few verses of chatper 15, and see what was happening there, and how in verse 2 the Pharisees were judging Jesus for His association with sinners, that their judgment, was the basis for the three parables that Jesus taught. Each one of them designed to show that when something that is lost and then found, there is joy, and so it is when a lost soul is found, like the boy coming home, there is joy, BUT, that was not the case with the OLDER BROTHER. He was very critical of HIS father's actions, HE was indeed just like the Pharisees. So, it seems that Jesus was using the judgment of the Pharisees against Him, as an opportunity to try and show them the heavenly perspective that God has towards sinners. He loves them, wants to save them, and is so happy when they are. In other words, it seems that the point of the parable, was to show the pharisees that they were like the older brother.
What do you think?
The Pharisees were a group that had attitudes that I have found can show up right in my own heart. Jesus always said to beware of them, and of the leaven of their lives and doctrine. May God help us to those who walk in the truth of God's Word, walk in His love, and declare His wonderful gospel.
Have a fruitful day .....Bob
7:52 AM
Sorry about all the post's being removed, I just wanted make some corrections in my post. Thanks....
Lord, we also take this opportunity to pray in Your name, that many a prodigal today might be being ministered to by You, and that this very week, we might see some of them come home. Make us like You Father, and keep us from being like the Older Brother. You know, and we know that there is a little of that Older Brother in us from time to time.
And, Lord, please help us be those that used by you to go out and help someone who is lost, to find their way back to you. In Christ's name, amen.........
"Jesus isn't the treasure - we are"
Love it and affirm it.
"I am my Beloved's and His desire is for me" -Solomon 7:10. I know you read the Furious Long or God too.
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