Category — Radical Christianity

When you read those words, Extravagant Worship, what pictures come to mind?

Depending on your personal tastes in music and cultural background, you’re probably thinking about people who worship Christ “over the top” according to your evaluation, or the evaluation of your tradition.

That’s an immediate indicator that you have misunderstood the New Testament’s teaching on worship.

Worship isn’t about styles and traditions. “Good” worship isn’t the music you’re use to or whether or not people lift their hands, use icons and candles, or sit quietly listening to Gregorian chants.

The worship book of the New Testament is Romans, and the worship passage is Romans 12:1-2. After his eleven-chapter presentation of the mercies of God available to us in Christ, Paul says this:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Worship is a lifestyle, not an event. When you give your life to God in response to His mercies, you’re worshiping.

Good worship is any thought or action that comes from your redeemed heart’s response to His mercies.

• When you trust Him enough to do what He says, even the hard things—that’s good worship.

• When you’re so overwhelmed by His goodness on a Sunday morning you can’t control your tears—that’s good worship.

• When you’re driving down the freeway and singing your favorite hymn or rocking praise song because you can’t believe how good He is to you—that’s good worship.

• When you hear what He’ telling you to do and you do it, even when your friends tell you your faith is reckless—that’s good worship.

Your model for “good” worship? Mary of Bethany! She poured a year’s wages, her dowry of expensive perfume on Jesus when she considered what He was about to do for her—die for her sins (Mark 14:1-11).

Was it reckless? Was it over-the-top?

Not according to Jesus’ evaluation. He affirmed her greatly.

Really, when you define worship biblically—giving your life to God in response to His mercies—extravagant worship is an oxymoron.

What extravagant act of obedience, risky commitment, or reckless trust step is your redeemed heart telling you to do right now?

Do it. Jesus always affirms the sincere worship of His people!

Nothing excites me more than to hear someone say that they want to live all-out for the Lord Jesus. My pastoral heart moves toward them and Judy and I start pouring our lives into them.

There’s always some initial excitement and a lot of marvelous reports concerning God’s powerful movement in everyday life.

“You wouldn’t believe what’s happening at work. I’ve only been praying for this guy for two days. Out of nowhere he said, ‘Tell me about your church.’”

“We had no idea how we would survive if we gave what we felt God was telling us to give to the church. But we did it. The next day my boss came in to tell me that she was so pleased with my work that he had decided to give me a promotion.”

Even as the reports bubble out I’m always praying for them because I know what’s coming.

God is going to test their faith.

They’ve been living at that precipice of the Christian life that God insists upon if we want to experience His power. The precipice of radical trust, that place we live where we know that if He doesn’t show up, we’re sunk.

Some shrink back from that radical edge of life to the safety of their comfort zone, and it’s tragic. Soon they will be wondering what happened, why their Christian life isn’t as exhilarating as it use to be.

Others will keep on trusting Him, pass the test, and move on to the live they always wanted, the life Jesus wanted them to live and their redeemed heart longs for.

How about you? Is God asking you to trust Him for something big? Something that intimidates you? Something that doesn’t make sense to your friends? Something that will make you look stupid if He doesn’t show up?

Do it!

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Next Sunday I begin teaching Mark 13 at Church of the Open Door. Mark 13 condenses Jesus’ Olivet Discourse—His answer to two questions every follower of Christ asks when we read about end-time events:

When will these things be?

What will be the sign when these things are fulfilled?

I think it’s important to teach Mark 13 because I think prophecy is important to Christians. But not for the reasons a lot of people think of when you mention biblical prophecy.

It’s an intriguing truth that the general events of prophecy are pretty easy to establish if you believe that every word of the Bible is inspired by God and inspired. The details, however, are extremely difficult to interpret.

Ever wonder why?

Could it be that the Lord doesn’t really want us to worry and argue over the details?

Two dynamics about prophetic interpretation make me think that a focus on these details may be distracting for followers of Christ.

First, it doesn’t seem that prophecy was written so that we could understand God’s plan in advance, but so that we would be able to recognize that history is moving toward God’s ending.

Second, the ones who recognized the prophetic events predicted in the Old Testament concerning Jesus’ first coming weren’t the scholars trying to figure it all out but the simple people yearning for His arrival.

Prophecy isn’t for the ones using it as a scare tactic to solicit money from vulnerable people. Prophecy is for the ones longing for the coming of their Lord—the ones serving and watching, enduring affliction and persecution for lifting up His name in a world set against Him.

“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” –Jesus Christ speaking of His Second Advent (Mark 13:33)

What Tempts You?

What would you consider the most serious and debilitating temptation to a true Christian?

Sexual sin?

Lying?

Spiritual laziness?

How about none of the above?

The most serious temptation that derails Christians is the temptation to return to the law once they’ve received new life by trusting in Jesus. It’s a “Now that Jesus saved me, I better get to work to clean up my life and make Him proud of me!” temptation. And the so-called Christian culture cheers them on, “That’s right. Get to work for Jesus you sorry-little-sinner. That’s what we’re doing!”

No They’re Not!

That’s their dirty little secret. It’s not working. It’s not working because that’s not how God designed the Christian life. These “striving toward righteousness” rules and techniques will fail because they “are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23).

The New Testament is adamant about that truth! The Law wasn’t given to us to make us holy but to prove we’re not (Galatians 2:16; 3:11, 19-25).

It’s not about getting to work; it’s about trusting Jesus with your life (Hebrews 11:6).

It’s not about paying Jesus back for the Cross; it’s about the Cross motivating you to trust Him more (Galatians 2:20).

It’s not about controlling the flesh but about releasing the new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Is someone tempting you to leave your grace at the Cross and “get to work for Jesus”?

Don’t do it. It’s Satan’s oldest trick. Once you buy into the idea that you can make your flesh more moral, you’re sunk

Who Are You?

Romans 5-8 says that once you have trusted in Christ as your Savior, you’re not who you use to be.

And you do not have to live the way you use to live.

But it’s only when you trust in what God says about you as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthian 5:17) that you will begin to experience the life He gave you when you trust in what He said about heaven and hell.

How does this work? By grace, through faith, in Jesus and what He says about eternal life—how to get it and how to live it!

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace! (Romans 6:14)

What if?

What if you knew something that made every difference in your own experience with the Lord Jesus, something that your friends and loved ones didn’t know? What if this truth you understood was solidly biblical and had been affirmed by every faithful saint in history? What if your life had changed dramatically from the day you embraced this truth?

What if, though you knew this truth was exactly what your friends and loved ones needed, you failed to tell them because it was somewhat controversial? What if, in spite of this principle’s biblical accuracy and effectiveness in every serious disciple’s heart, a lot of Christians felt as if it were a private matter? What if more than that, many believers really became angry if someone mentioned the subject?

Would you feel that in spite of the tension, you should tell your friends and loved ones about this powerfully liberating truth?

Then I have to say…

If your answer to that question is “yes,” then you can understand why I challenged the congregation of Church of the Open Door to trust God enough to commit 10% of their income to His work.

Notice I didn’t use the word “tithe.”

There is no “magic giving percentage” that makes you a “faithful steward.”

The Old Testament “tithe” was required, but it didn’t lead to righteousness. Like the rest of the law, most Israelites disobeyed it. New Testament believers are not “law-givers,” we are “grace-givers.” Because of our new identity in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have the capacity to do what the Old Testament believer could not do. The New Testament assumes that church-age saints would go beyond the minimal requirements of the law in every area of life.

Still, if you asked the question, “Is there any threshold in Scripture or in the experience of the saints of history I should begin with?” the answer would be 10%. Before the Law, both Abraham and Jacob responded to God’s grace with a freewill offering of 1/10 of all they had. (Genesis 14:20; 28:22)

Randy Alcorn says, “I’ve interviewed many givers. In the great majority of cases they mention [ten-percent] as the practice that first stretched them to give more… and then watched God provide.”

I agree with Randy. But as soon as I teach this, someone is going to say, “You’re just trying to control us!”

Hoops or Holiness?

No I’m not. I’m trying to fulfill my responsibility as a shepherd in a community of faith. Loving shepherds never withhold critical information from their flock, no matter what the flock might think of them. Mature believers in a community of faith are commanded to care for, teach, and encourage the less mature from the Word and from their experiences with the Lord Jesus.

I’ve noticed over the years that when we try to tell a believer a difficult truth we feel is best for them, the first charge is often, “You’re just making me jump through hoops!”

• If we tell a young couple we won’t marry them until they go through premarital counseling.

• If we tell a missionary candidate he or she should submit to a lengthy training and equipping process before we can send them to the field.

• If we tell a husband he should take a break from ministry because his family is hurting.

Love doesn’t control, but it does express itself in wise counsel in a loving community.

It’s not about jumping through hoops; it’s about moving toward holiness.

These aren’t petty demands; they’re indications of deep affection.

Before you react…

Just because they feel like arbitrary requirements when you and I don’t want to submit to the love of God and others doesn’t mean they aren’t the exact reason Christ has put us in relationship with Him and others.

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).