Grace for the Race

Have you ever been driven in the direction of duty and service to God by the power of guilt?  I am sure we all have experienced this from both ends of the spectrum: having been driven by guilt and driving others by guilt, as well.  There’s no denying the fact that guilt is a very effective motivator for getting others to do what we believe God would have them do. 

• Parents use guilt to drive their children toward duty.
• Teachers use guilt to drive their students toward duty.
• Coaches use guilt to drive their players toward duty.
• Preachers use guilt to drive their flock toward duty.
• Spouses use guilt to drive their partners toward duty.

However, guilt that drives toward duty ultimately leads to dread.  In his book, Holiness by Grace, Bryan Chapell writes, “When it comes to changing people’s behavior, nothing is more efficient than motivating by guilt.  There is nothing more effective than guilt to get people to obey God’s standards, and nothing less efficacious in sanctifying them to God.”

If all we desire is a change in behavior, then guilt will do.  But if we desire a change in the heart, grace is the only lasting cure.  The Bible makes it clear that the liberty Christ purchased for us at Calvary frees us from guilt as a motivator for doing what God requires.  The shed blood of Jesus has washed us clean from the gnawing guilt of sin and the condemning wrath of God.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

(Romans 8:1)

Guilt has its rightful place in the life of the Christian.  The power of the Holy Spirit convicting our conscience with the presence of sin is a good thing, as long as that sense of shame drives us to the cross for cleansing and re-commissioning into the service of our Savior.

Jesus demonstrated this process with Peter by asking about his love three times after Peter’s three denials and then re-commissioning him for fruitful service.  Jesus didn’t condemn Peter for his sin.  He convicted Peter’s conscience regarding his three shameful denials and then cleansed and re-commissioned him. 

Jesus could have used guilt as a motivator in Peter’s life, but He did not.  Jesus knew full well that any behavioral change brought on by guilt never leads to a heart transformation and maturity.  Only the grace of the Gospel can do that.  Make no mistake; the guilt that condemns and crushes us is a very bad thing . . . and it was all nailed to the cross by Jesus.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  (Colossians 1:19-20)

“Guilting” others or ourselves into action is not pleasing to God and never moves us toward maturity.  Holiness in the life of the Christian flows out of grace . . . not guilt.  Guilt that drives toward duty always leads to dread, because a guilty conscience is never free to rest in the finished work of Christ.  It is too busy trying to finish the race on its own.  But when Jesus said “It is finished,” He meant what He said!  We have been set free to do what God would have us do—not out of a sense of guilt but out of gratitude, and this makes all the difference in the world.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Now that you’re no longer feeling like a freak (see Monday’s blog), let’s make one other thing perfectly clear: there are NO SUPERIOR SAINTS!  I learned a long time ago that the ground is level at the cross; none of us is standing on higher ground and no one is standing on lower ground.  In fact, the only reason we stand at all is because Jesus has raised us from death to life.  Everything we have (except our sin) and everything we are (except being sinners) is because of the grace of God.

My beloved Pastor Tullian often quotes William Temple’s fabulous one-liner: “The only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that makes it necessary!” Therefore, there are NO SUPERIOR SAINTS!  And yet the feeling of superiority and the seduction of putting others down is deeply woven into the sinful fabric of our lives. 

Steve Brown has a great suggestion for those of us who have a tendency to feel superior to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  He suggests, “I think it would be a great gift to the church if God was to make us all wear neon signs listing our ten greatest sins for all-the world to see. You say, ‘You’ve got to be kidding!  Everyone would know.  It would be horrible for people to look at me and see all my sins!’  No, as a matter of fact, they wouldn’t even be looking at your neon sign.  They would be too busy trying to hide theirs!  And then we would finally get honest.  That wouldn’t be half bad.” 

Steve’s on to something there!  If we were each wearing our own personal neon sin-sign, we’d be just like Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned: we would all feel so naked and ashamed that we would not be so focused on making others feel so naked and ashamed.  And that would indeed be a good thing!  The plank in our own eye would really bother us; the speck in others’ eyes would not.  We could devote our time to coming alongside our brothers and sisters, instead of judging them and trying to get them to conform to our image and our expectations. 

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.  (Romans 12:3)

God has made us all different—one body with many parts—so we can fit perfectly into His plan and purpose for the advancement of His kingdom.  It’s only when we are advancing the atrophied agenda of our own little kingdom that we find ourselves thanking God that we are not like other people.  When it’s about our little kingdom, we have an insatiable need to be sitting in the chief seats and we will do whatever it takes to get there.  But when we are focused on expanding God’s kingdom, superiority goes out the window. 

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.  (Romans 12:4-6)

Paul is telling us that each one of us is both needed and valuable to God’s kingdom.  Everyone has a place in God’s kingdom to carry out their God-given assignments.  When we understand this, we begin serving alongside the family of faith rather than feeling superior to them. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Have you ever felt freakish because of the trials and temptations you’ve been facing in your life, as if you are the only one going through what you are going through?  I have a word of comfort for you today . . . and it’s a word of comfort for me too!

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

(1 Corinthians 10:13)

A quick check for definitions of the word freak yields, “A person on exhibition as an example of a strange deviation from nature; monster.”  A “freak” is so far removed from “ordinary” that we are tempted to turn and gape in astonishment when we see one, as we might stare at the “bearded lady” displayed at a circus. A freak is in a special category.

Let me assure you that our struggles with temptation do not make us freaks!  The Bible makes it clear that because of our indwelling sin nature, we all wrestle with temptation.  No temptation has seized us except what is common to all men. 

Most of us have heard sermons preached on this verse. We tend to confine our focus to the last portion of the text.  We know God will provide a way for us to stand and have victory over our temptations.  But the first thing we need to understand—if we are ever going to find the strength to resist temptation—is the commonness of it.

Bryan Chapell writes, “The knowledge that others struggle as we do rescues us from the weakening despair of thinking that we are unique and strange when we feel tempted.”  In other words, you should no longer feel like a freak because of the temptations you are struggling with.  You are not alone! 

Temptation is a common life experience for everyone.  And a temptation is not a sin.  Yielding to it is sin, not the presence of it.  Remember, even Jesus Himself was tempted by the devil: “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). Yet we know there was no sin in His perfect life. Hebrews 4:15 confirms that Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.”

When we understand that others did and do struggle against the same temptations and trials we encounter, we feel less isolated and freakish.  Knowing we are all confronting temptation in one form or another is a source of strength in the battle.  If we feel we are abnormal and alone, we may easily give up and give in to the temptations that plague us.  And this is the place of abject surrender to which Satan wants to drive all of us. 

The Bible makes it clear we are not alone in our fight against temptation, and the Gospel gives us the power to resist.  And when we fail to resist, the Gospel gives us the grace to come running to the throne of grace, where we find unending forgiveness and unconditional love, which empowers us to go further in and further up into our salvation.  The less freakish we feel about our individual temptations the more we will desire to be faithful, knowing we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who struggled mightily, just as we do.

Most of us can repeat 1 John 1:9 from memory: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But have you looked at that verse in context lately? See how the Holy Spirit bookended that marvelous promise of God’s grace and forgiveness! I’m going to highlight verses 8 and 10 of 1 John to emphasize Scripture’s matter-of-fact appraisal of our fallen nature:

(8) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Do you see that?  Scripture is, in essence, telling us: “Don’t even think about trying to pass yourself off as someone who wins all your battles against temptation.  If you do, you’re a liar.  Worse still, you’re calling God a liar!”

Remember, there was only One who walked this earth and never once surrendered to temptation! Because of His victory, we can look forward to the day we too shall live in victory, a day when there will be no more temptation . . . no more tears . . . no more cries of “O wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24).

Until that glorious day, let’s fight in the strength of the Lord, knowing we are all in the battle together.  Know that He is there to battle with you!  “Because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:18).

Therefore, let us “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13). We’re all in the same leaky, sinful boat together. So let’s pray without ceasing and paddle like crazy!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Has your hope ever disappointed you?  Perhaps something did not work out the way you were hoping: a business deal fell through; a relationship headed south; perhaps sickness started testing the outer edges of your fitness plan.  When our hope disappoints us, we can be sure of one thing: we have the wrong hope.

Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  (Romans 5:5)

This “holy hope” never disappoints because God never disappoints.  God never disappoints because He is not only the giver of this hope, He is the God of hope.  Now, we need to be careful in our understanding of a hope that does not disappoint, because we sometimes do not get what we are hoping for and we find ourselves disappointed.  When we do, we can be assured of this: our hope was not a holy hope, rooted in what God wants for us.  It was rooted in what we wanted, when we wanted it, and God was gracious to halt our hope. 

Perhaps what we were hoping for was God’s purpose and plan for our lives . . . but just not within the time frame we were hoping for it to occur.  Sometimes a holy hope requires patience and perseverance—trusting in God’s timing and not ours.  God knows what is best for us and when is the best time for the realization of our hope.

Here are just a few examples of a holy hope that could not disappoint:

• Abraham hoped for decades for a son; God knew best when to deliver him.
• Moses hoped for decades for the Israelites to be freed; God knew best when to free them.
• Simeon hoped for decades for the Savior to arrive; God knew best when to send Him.

God always knows what is best for His people and His plan is always perfect.  That is why His hope never disappoints, because His hope cannot be denied or derailed.  When our hope is in Him, our hope is certain to happen.  The writer of Lamentations knew this well: “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,” he wrote, “to the one who seeks him” (Lamentations 3:25). 

When we are seeking God, our hope is a holy hope and we can be assured it will one day happen exactly as God has planned it to happen.  Think back to something you were hoping for that God finally made happen.  How did you feel?  Did you think that the time of waiting was wasted?  Of course not!  God’s timing is perfect, and He is perfecting our patience and perseverance.  Hope is not merely a good thing; it is absolutely necessary for one to live on this side of the grave. 

Years ago I read something that stuck with me: a man can live a few weeks without food . . . a few days without water . . . a few minutes without air . . . but not for a single second without hope!

What have you been hoping for lately?  If it is a holy hope—rooted in Jesus regardless of what your current circumstances may look like—the darkness of your seemingly hopeless night will, in God’s perfect timing and in God’s generous way, be followed by the hope-filled light of day. 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Ever curse your Creator?  We all do it from time to time; most people don’t even know they are doing it!  Now that I have your attention, consider the following thoughts within the church today:

• If only I had a better body . . .
• If only I had better looks . . .
• If only my teeth were straighter . . .
• If only I had a different personality . . .
• If only I could carry a tune . . .
• If only I had more hair . . .
• If only I had curly hair . . .
• If only my hair was a different color . . .
• If only I was more athletic . . .
• If only I was smarter . . .
• If only I was taller . . .
• If only I was shorter . . .
• If only my eyes were a different color . . .
• If only I was born into a different family . . .

The list, of course, is endless.  Did any of these resonate with you or is your curse something else not listed here?  Every time we think something like this, we are demonstrating our dissatisfaction with God’s creation of us.  Far too many in the church today worship God on Sunday and curse Him the rest of the week because they are not happy with the way He created them.  Working with the youth as much as I do, I am constantly confronted with short kids who want to be taller; bigger kids who want to be smaller; smart kids who want to be athletic; mechanical kids who want to be musical; geeky kids who want to be popular. 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.  I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  (Psalm 139:134-16a)

David wrote this passage in the full understanding that He was made by God just the way God wanted to make him.  When Samuel came to the house of Jesse to anoint the new king, the Scriptures suggest David might have been as handsome as his older brother, Eliab, but he was not as tall.  But the Lord admonished Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature” (1 Samuel 16:7).  It was not an accident that David looked the way he looked, because God created him that way.  Nowhere in Scripture can we find David looking to be remade by his Creator. 

So . . . what about you?  Are you dissatisfied with your Creator’s work in you?  Do you secretly wish God had made you more like someone else?  To be sure, we all struggle with this from time to time.  But the answer to rising above this kind of thinking is to be fully immersed in the truths of the Gospel.  Only the Gospel frees us to accept the way we have been fearfully and wonderfully made.  Only the Gospel frees us to embrace the way we have been knit together. 

Because we already have everything we need in Jesus, we don’t have to go looking outside of ourselves for the one thing we all crave: acceptance.  We have been made accepted in the Beloved; we are His masterpiece and fully loved just the way we are regardless of what others think about us.  The Gospel empowers us to no longer curse our Creator because we are not satisfied with the way we were made.  Made by God—for God—we fit perfectly into His plan and purpose for our lives.  And His plan and purpose for our lives transcends our plan and purpose for our lives.     

There is one added benefit to accepting the way God made us.  Resting in this truth also allows us to receive others just the way they are because they too have been made in His image.  One body, many members, all uniquely made as one-of-a-kind masterpieces in the hand of the Master!!! 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Ever wonder why God the Father would use flawed people to accomplish His perfect purposes in this world?  I did, and the answer God gave me was pretty simple: that’s all that’s available to Him!  “Wait a minute,” some of you might object.  “What about the heroes of the faith in the Bible—giants like Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, Peter, and Paul?  How do they fit into this ‘flawed’ picture?”  Let’s see.

• Abraham offered his wife to two different men in order to secure safe passage.
• Sarah offered her female servant to Abraham to conceive a son.
• Moses was a murderer.
• David was an adulterer and murderer.
• Peter was willing to deny Jesus to save his own skin.
• Paul was contentious and frankly admitted that he kept on doing “the evil I do not want to do” (Romans 7:19).

These are just a few of the examples in sacred Scripture where the word “flawed” seems like an understatement of gargantuan proportions.  Yet God choose to use them all in the advancement of His kingdom in this world.  Why?  Because that’s all that’s available to Him!  A few weeks ago, I wrote that there is only hero in the Bible: His name is Jesus Christ.  Everyone else we read about in Scripture is just like all those we don’t read about—great sinners in need of an even greater Savior.

This should give you great comfort today for two reasons: first, you can take anyone you have placed on a pedestal off it and set them right back on the ground where they belong (remember, the ground is always level at the foot of the cross).  And second, you are just as qualified as anyone else to be used by God because you are no more flawed than they are.  God has been using flawed individuals since the fall in spite of their failures, and His eternal purposes are being accomplished. 

In addition to the fact that the only people available to God are flawed people, there is another reason too: God delights in working through the kind of people the world could never imagine He would pick to be on His team.

Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

I don’t know about you, but I am reassured when I read the stories of the people who struggled with self-protection, selfish ambition, and other kinds of sin—just like I do—and yet were still used of God.  If Scripture only offered stories of those who walked on water and spoke from Sinai, it would be pretty discouraging!  Far from being inspired to excellence and a drive to serve God, I would be driven into the dust of despair.  Thank God He uses the flawed . . . of whom I am the foremost.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

How would you answer the following question; “How do you know if you are growing in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?”

For most people, the answer would be buried inside a list of things they do—Bible study, prayer, church attendance, service, community group participation, etc.—what we call the spiritual disciplines.  As good as it is to do these things on a consistent basis, this is not the measure of growing to maturity.  Remember, the Pharisees did all the right things, but for all the wrong reasons, and they were repeatedly singled out for the wrath of Almighty God.  Let’s take a look at the answer found in the Scriptures. 

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

(John 13:35)

May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you.  (1 Thessalonians 3:12)

We know we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.

(1 John 3:14)

So, what’s love got to do with growing to maturity?  EVERYTHING!  It is the fruit of our growing relationship with Jesus.  It is to be the universal mark of the Christian.  More than our theology . . . more than our service . . . more than our financial support of the expansion of God’s kingdom.  Love is to be the defining mark of the Christian.  Paul made it crystal clear that we can be doing a lot of good and important things for God, and look godly to those around us, but the absence of love makes all of it absolutely worthless.   

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.  (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

What an indictment on those who refuse to love their brothers and sisters in the Lord!  And make special note that Paul did not give us a pass when it came to the unlovable.  We are to love both the lovable and the unlovable . . . those we like and those we do not like . . . those from whom we get something in return and those we do not.

Our Lord also offered some very strong teaching on this subject:

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

(Matthew 5:43-48)

You see, when it comes to love, we don’t get a vote.  If we have been saved by the love of Christ we can do nothing but share it with everyone we come in contact with. 

Our love for others makes our God attractive and provides an accurate picture of who He is.  Remember, God is love; if we are His children, we too will show love to others—all others—regardless of the cost or circumstance.  To be sure, none of us can do this in our own strength.  We are far too selfish and self-centered to love unconditionally.  But thank God we don’t have to!  He has given us all the grace we need to unconditionally love all those He brings into our lives.

I cannot think of a better way to close today’s message of encouragement than to return to the “Love Chapter” and peer behind the curtain of Christ-like, unconditional love to see if our love looks anything like it. 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-5)

Remember, when you give this kind of love to others (albeit inconsistently and imperfectly), all you are doing is giving to them what you yourself have already received and continue receiving on a moment-by-moment basis from the One who bought you with His precious blood.  So, what’s love got to do with it—from the bedroom to the boardroom?  EVERYTHING!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

What have you been clinging too lately?  Where in your life are you currently investing your time, talent, and treasure?  What you do with these three “T’s” reveals a great deal about what’s most important to you.  Jonah spoke powerfully to this issue: “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs” (Jonah 2:8 NIV).   

When we cling to anything smaller than God, we are clutching what is absolutely worthless in light of eternity.  Sure, the physical things of this life might promise to meet you in your place of need, but in the end, they are never able to deliver on their promises.  Did that new car really give you more confidence in life?  Did that bigger house really bring you greater happiness?  Did that better job really provide you a deeper sense of significance?  Did cosmetic surgery really manufacture greater self-worth?  I could easily compile a long list of the vacuous promises dangled before us by the world . . . but they cannot and do not deliver, because God never designed the physical world to do for us what only He can do. 

God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.  (St. Augustine, Confessions)

A restless heart will never find contentment in anything smaller than God.  God, who fashions the hearts of all men (Psalm 33:15), made our hearts to be restless and fretful until we find our rest in Him.  Nothing in the created world is big enough to satisfy our deepest desires and redeem us from our discontent.  As the wise preacher said in the book of Ecclesiastes, everything under the sun—that is, everything in the created order—is all vanity, a chasing after the wind.  The world offers nothing that truly satisfies; clinging to created things is enslaving.  They capture our attention, rule our hearts, and shape our lives.  What was once a list of wants morphs into a list of insatiable needs that drive us to the conclusion that we simply cannot live without them.

And what we believe we cannot live without we will do anything to get.  We will compromise our values.  We will cut corners.  We will shade the truth.  We will love things and use people.  We become slaves to the stuff of this world, seeking to find life in things that can only deliver death.

So . . . have you been clinging to any “worthless idols” lately? 

Clinging to the Creator is freeing.  He is the only place where we can find what we need and where we actually need what we find.  God is gracious to leave us wanting when we are clinging to created things, because that emptiness will eventually drive us back to the only place where we can find meaning and purpose: in Jesus Christ!  If God allowed the stuff of this world to satisfy us, we would only grow into a fraction of the people He is calling us to be.  But God loves us too much to let anything other than Christ fill the God-sized void that is inside of all of us. 

Remember, clinging to the Creator or created things is always a choice, and the choice is always ours.  We can seek after and cling to all the things we think will make us happy and won’t . . . or we can seek after and cling to the only One who will: the Lord Jesus Christ.   

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Deep inside of every human being is the need to discover the answer to this penetrating question: What’s the point? There are, of course, only two possible answers: the first is you; the second is God.

So . . . what’s the point of your life?  Is it you? Or is it Jesus? 

When you are the point, life becomes all about your success . . . your fulfillment . . . your happiness . . . your significance.  Your goals are rooted in what you want and how you want your life to work out.  The key question you continually ask and order your life around is, “What’s in it for me?”  When you become the point of your life, you point only to yourself.  As I’ve often said, at this level of living you have shrunk the size of your life down to the size of your life!

On the other hand, when Jesus is the point, life becomes all about the advancement of His kingdom, regardless of the cost or circumstance.  The key question you continually ask and order your life around is, “What’s in it for the King and the advancement of His kingdom?”  Jesus becomes the point of your life, and when He is the point you point to Him.

This might be a moment for some self-examination.  Is what you are currently doing advancing the cause of His kingdom?  Or are you busy building your kingdom?  Are you the point of your life or is Jesus the point of your life?

Only the transforming power of the Gospel can keep Jesus in His rightful position as the point of life.  Grace empowers you to live for another King and His kingdom.  You are able to look past your own good and live for the good of others and the glory of God.  Your life expands beyond the borders of your own cares and concerns to the cares and concerns of Christ.  This is living large for a glory beyond your own.  This is “big living,” lived by “big Christians,” who are living doxologically—living coram deo, before the face of God—living for the glory of God.  Everything in life becomes an act of worship and echoes in eternity. 

Adam and Eve lived this way in the Garden . . . until they changed the point of life from God to themselves.  Instead of pointing to their Creator, they pointed to the creature (themselves) and plunged all of creation into a catastrophic cosmic fall, where the entire created order turned inward and plummeted downward.

Apart from Jesus, we are every bit as willful and rebellious and self-absorbed as our first parents.  But after Jesus shows up, we have the ability to make Him the point of our lives once again.  The grace of the Gospel enables us to point up to Jesus and out to others.  In doing so, we live the way we were originally designed to live—for God and His magnificent glory.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I am convinced that there is something we all want more than anything else in this life, and that thing is CONTROL!  More than power . . . more than prestige . . . more than position . . . more than pleasure . . . more than prosperity . . . more than anything else, we want control.  The more control we have, the better we feel.  We mistakenly believe that when we are in control our lives will work out better—with much more order and far less uncertainty.   

Webster’s defines a “control freak” as someone whose behavior indicates a powerful need to control people or circumstances in everyday matters.   Because of a lack of trust in others, a control freak moves beyond the borders of what would be considered a normal and rational desire for some measure of control in life.  It gets even worse for the Christian control freak.  Their desire to control life is the clear and present evidence of a lack of trust—not only in others, but in God Himself.  This can be seen in a single area of life or in many areas. 

Control freaks always know the right way and best way of doing things; when you are not doing it their way, they let you know about it!  They try to criticize you into their control.  They try to condemn you into their control.  They try to conform you into their control.  Their right way of doing things becomes the only way of doing things, and when you resist their controlling demands, they judge you for your “controlling” nature. 

They see the world as black and white, because without any grey areas they have more control over things.  Their narrow and dogmatic field of vision of the world around them helps them to manage their lives, while at the same time micro-managing the lives of everyone around them.  My friend and pastor, Tullian Tchividjian, says Christian control freaks “make up formulas and anxiously follow them to control their manufactured lives.” 

If any of this is resonating with you like it is with me, I want you to know there is a cure for the Christian control freak in you . . . and it is only to be found in the defiant grace of the Gospel.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.  (Romans 12:3)

Only the defiant grace of the Gospel can free you from the overwhelming need to try and control everything in life.  The defiant grace the apostle Paul had been given through the Gospel allowed him to not think so highly of himself and step down from the throne of his life, allowing Jesus His rightful place.  Defiant grace propelled Paul to the periphery of his life, where he could clearly see that the only One who has any control over anything is the Lord Jesus Christ.  The more Paul surrendered control of his life to Christ, the less controlling he became in the lives of others. 

You see, there is a Christian control freak who is truly faithful to the truths of the Gospel: it is the person who is controlled by the Spirit of Christ in every area of life.  For such a man or woman, their most passionate and profound desire in all-the world is to be under the control of the only One who knows what is best for us in every area of life.

Make no mistake, only the defiant grace of the Gospel can free you from the overwhelming need to be controlling, because Jesus has everything under His control—from the biggest dream you have in life to the smallest detail.  The DNA of every human who has ever lived all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden, is one of control.  And it is only the transforming power of the Gospel and the defiant grace it delivers that can free us from our desire to control life.  Defiant grace delivers you from the notion that you are not just the smartest person in the room, but the only smart person in the room! 

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!