CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

Return to CypresswoodJuly-August2007

August 12, 2007

25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373

www.geocities.com/adon77373/cypresswoodbulletin.htm

KEEP IN YOUR PRAYERS:

Our congregation     Various relatives, friends, and co-workers

Our nation, leaders and military   The spread of the good news

LET'S BE HONEST

"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body" (Ephesians 4:26).

I attended a class at Lipscomb's Summer Celebration (1) taught by Leonard Allen. He was discussing an update to his book, The Cruciform Church (2). He mentioned a comment from Philip Yancey about Alcoholics Anonymous and stated that this should be the way of the church. There are two important aspects of this group: radical honesty and radical dependence. Let's take a look at these.

One of the familiar aspects of Alcoholics Anonymous is the confession one makes at the beginning of the program. "Hi, my name is ______ and I am a alcoholic." Until a person realizes and admits his condition, he will not seek help from others. Interestingly enough, that is the same for any human being with God. God seeks those who are seeking Him but we also need to realize our situation; we are sinners. "Hi, my name is George and I am a sinner." Those are tough words for an independent person who is a self-made person who has pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. 

But radical honesty goes further. We need to be honest not only to ourselves but to God as well. Too often however, we would prefer not to know what I'm like with the idea that what I do not know will not hurt me. This is far different from David's attitude. Psalm 139 is a great chapter speaking about how wonderfully we are made and that God is everywhere; we cannot hide from Him. David opens the Psalm with this:

      "You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;

 you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you

      are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it

      completely" (vs. 1-4).

David admits that God knows him. Isn't that interesting! Will we admit this to ourselves? God knows us. I always loved the argument against dancing I heard many years ago. This is said by a parent to a teenager. "What if you go to the dance and God comes back?" The implication is that God would be surprised to find one at the dance when in reality God already knows you are there. God knows what we are thinking; that's frightening because there are thoughts I really don't want anyone to know. When we are alone in the car and curse someone for poor driving, God knows. David understands this. He is honest enough to admit it.

But it doesn't end there. David closes the chapter with these words:

      "Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if

      there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (vs. 23-24).

David asks something few of us would want to do. He asks God to search him and test him, and reveal any offensive or sinful way in him. Wow! What a powerful and radically honest way to live. If only we would be so honest! Sadly, that is not the case.

How would we deal with radically honest people? We can handle a new person who confesses a sin, and even a weak person who struggles. But what about the strong? What about leaders? Are they so perfect that they do not have any sins or struggles? "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). "I, my name is George and I struggle with lust, hateful and revengeful thoughts and lying." If a preacher said that to a congregation, how long would he remain a preacher there?

I'm afraid that we have put some people on pedestals that we just cannot deal honestly with their struggles. Joe Beam is an example of this. Joe describes himself as a rising star as a preacher in his twenties. He was popular and had been invited to speak all over the country. But in his thirties he had a crisis. He had been accused by some to be a "false" teacher and a liberal. Twenty years ago those words meant the death of popularity to any preacher and were, and are, still too carelessly thrown around. He quit preaching, left his wife, and fell into alcohol and drug abuse. But there were a few brave preachers who kept in contact with him. He repented, remarried his wife, and now works with Family Dynamics as a marriage counselor and preaches a number of times a year. He is also an author and has written about his experiences and the forgiveness found in Jesus. His is an inspiring story but it took him a number of years to come to grips with his sins. He finally admitted that he had to be radically honest with himself and with God.

How many times have you seen an elder confess sin? We all know, in our traditional view of things, that if an elder did that, he would be asked or expected to resign sometime during the confession. Why? Did God demand that David step down as king after he committed adultery and murder? No. Not that David did not have troubles; he did. Read Psalm 51 and see both his struggle and his desire. "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me" (51:10). There is an unrealistic expectation about leaders and sin. But even members of congregations find it difficult to be honest about their own lives and with others. I know this personally. I have often found out from others that someone has a complaint about me but has never made an effort to talk with me about it. No, I do not like criticism. Yes, I will try very hard to accept it and not respond defensively. 

Radical honesty is needed not that it will make things easy. But the more honest we can be, the better we will work with each other. Jesus was radically honest with people and many were drawn to Him. But He was also challenging and many could not handle it. This is where wisdom comes in play. There are ethical ideas that we need to balance out in this because we are human and sinful. That is a study for another article.

Then there is radical dependence. We are an independent people. It is part of our culture so it becomes difficult to break the mold. Government is certainly trying, wanting people to be dependent on government for everything from the cradle to the grave. Caesar is not the answer. In Alcoholics Anonymous, if a person is tempted to drink, the first thing he is told to do is to call someone. Make contact with someone. 

As Christians, we should have the same support system. If we are tempted to sin, we should be able to call someone, to talk with them. We should consider meeting and comforting one another. But then there is that little thing called time. Do we have the time to do it? Are we willing to go and talk with one who is struggling? We develop friendships within congregations and hopefully we can count on each other when struggling. The role of the shepherd comes into play here as well. We should be able to call our shepherds who will help us through struggles or to resist temptations. That is why elders need to get away from a board of directors mentality so that they will be out among the flock.

There is also the need of radical dependence on God. In churches of Christ, our theology of the 20^th Century has not been conducive to such dependence. There are those who do not believe that God is actively involved in the lives of His people today. We have the word, the Bible, and that is all that is necessary. Even prayer becomes an obedient action without expecting any response from God. If God is actively involved, then some of our theology will be called into question (3). Some have seen God from a deistic point of view; that is, God started it all and has left us on our own with His word to deal with life. Others have expressed it this way: God has given us a mind to reason with do so we do not have to pray and wait on the Lord.

Scripture is full of those who depended on God for deliverance from enemies and from sin. Jesus often prayed and in one of His last prayers asked that the Father to remove the cup of suffering from Him but that His will would be done. Not that any of these people, except Jesus, were perfect. They were radically dependent on God. Noah took one hundred years to build an ark because He believed God, knowing that God would do what He promised to do. The nation of Israel was dependent on God for its survival in the wilderness. Paul depended on God to show him the direction he should go (see Acts 16) and for deliverance (see Acts 27). 

How dependent are we on God? This is what fellowship is all about. Together as His people in His church, we trust God. Maybe that is the primary issue. Rick Marrs, in discussing the sin of Genesis 3, stated that the underlying issue was trust (4). Did Adam and Eve trust God or not? Do we have enough trust in God to depend on Him for deliverance, comfort, encouragement, and hope? 

God has been good to me, to my family and to my brothers and sisters in Christ. Beyond that, God is worthy of worship but there is more. I need to depend on Him in a radical way that might go against the logic of the world. Some will see this as foolishness (see 1 Corinthians 1). Others will think that we are out of our minds. Radical living is the challenge of the good news and of the life in Christ.

No, I have not arrived at being radically honest nor radically dependent. I venture to say that no of us has but it is something we all can work toward (see Philippians 3:12-16). One day at a time working with God's help, maybe we can become as honest as David and as dependent.

                                                George B. Mearns

(1) David Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee; this is their yearly lectureship.

(2) ACU Press, 2006.

(3) The work of the Holy Spirit, prayer, how we see natural disasters, war are just some of the ideas that would be challenged.

(4) "One Church's Decision to Incorporate Woman in their Public Worship" Pepperdine Lectureship, 2007.