Freedom in the Gospel of Grace

In the past, I have been a huge supporter of Bill Gothard but in the last year or so, I have had increasing concerns with his teachings. I do believe there is some truth in his teachings. It is good to be reminded to honor authority and seek to make restitution with those you have offended. But when people revolve their lives around his teachings (as is encouraged by Gothard), I think many harms come to them and to those around them.The following quote from Robin's Readings & Reflections has also, in many ways, been my experience with Gothard's teachings.

"...[W]hile [Bill] Gothard may appear to achieve tremendous response through brandishing on his listeners fear and guilt, the result is that, while our outward lives may become perfected through resolution and strength of will, inwardly we become self-absorbed, proud and over-conscientious. Though Gothard gives lip service to the gospel of grace, the extreme focus on ourselves leads people to become imprisoned to the letter of the law, forgetting completely the freedom in the gospel of grace.

One person who attended Gothard's seminar observed how "There seemed to be a lack of teaching on God's acceptance, or on the spontaneous growth that comes from a loving, accepting relationship. Instead, consequences of principle violations are given as the sole motivation for growth. Personal moral failure is the prime motiv[ation] for living a godly life. The system cannot stand unless the students are convinced that all pathology can be traced to moral guilt." This leads to a concept of God who is always ready to zap His followers as soon as they step out of line. The Christian life becomes like walking a tight rope, for unless you follow the right procedures, God will see to it that you are punished....

Although the Lord may use Gothard to help people, we must be careful not to assume that all who appear to be helped by Gothard were helped through the working of the Holy Spirit. The question is again not so much what are the results, but what is the source of those results? A teacher may produce many results through the energies of the flesh, by exhorting listeners to try harder and provoking people to action through psychological motivation. It is even possible, working in the energies of the flesh, to cause people to weep, make resolutions for the Lord, and become zealous, though this is worth nothing if the source of these results is not God's spirit. As Hudson Taylor used to say, “God's work must be done in God's way.”

I am convinced that the harms from Gothard's teachings outweigh the benefits and that the helpful concepts found in Gothard's materials can easily be found in other less harmful sources. Here is a short list of gospel and grace-filled alternatives to Gothard's materials.

Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges
Wordliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World by C.J. Mahaney
Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing by C.J. Mahaney
Idols of the Heart: Learning to Long for God Alone by Elyse Fitzpatrick
Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure by John Piper
How Can I Change? by C.J. Mahaney & Robin Boisvert

Beset With Weakness

I was reading through Hebrews a couple weeks ago and Hebrews 5:2 stuck out to me. I put it in context so you could see, well, its context. : )

For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. ~Hebrews 5:1-3

I want to be someone who deals gently with the ignorant and the wayward because I'm also beset with weakness myself. Anyone who finds themselves in a place of leadership or influence would do well to remember this verse in dealing with those who are ignorant and wayward.

Pray For Your Pastor

I do not pray for my pastors as I should and I thought the following sermon notes taken by Johnathon Bowers on Mark Driscoll's sermon at the Desiring God Conference were very helpful guidants. I bolded the parts I especially liked.

Pray for the shepherds. Pray for them more than you criticize, e-mail, gossip, or blog about them. Pray that they would have a discerning mind to know who is a sheep.

Pray that they would have a thick skin. Pray that they would have a humorous outlook. That they would laugh at themselves, that they would have a tender heart toward Jesus and the sheep. That they wouldn’t be hammered, that they would keep a tender heart, that they would have a humble disposition, that when criticisms are true, they would repent. That they would look at a criticism for a kernel of truth to be sanctified by.

Pray that shepherds would have encouraging families, that their wife would endure all the criticism, backbiting, people who would use her to get influence, that she would remain close to Jesus and be a place of refreshment for her husband, that she would know her job is to keep her husband from despair—not by always agreeing with him but agreeing that she will always be for him.

Pray for his children as people take shots at his family. That his children would not go astray because critics love that.

Pray that one of the elders in the church is a good sniper. That he could spot people who are trying to take down the pastor. If the pastor tries to do it, it’s a lose-lose situation. Some of you elders here need to get in the middle.

Pray that the shepherds would have evangelistic devotion, that they would not just feed the sheep, but that they would love the lost. That they would not waste their time checking their ratings and overlook Paul’s admonition to do the work of an evangelist. That they wouldn’t be so buried in firefights that they can’t see more people become sheep.

Pray for the shepherds, that they would learn selective hearing, that they would listen to their elders, that they would invite into their lives good counsel. Not everything that is said is worth a hearing. Shepherds can become so hard-hearted that their ears are closed and they spend time justifying themselves when they shouldn’t. They need to know who to listen to, who to heed, and who to not to.

Pray for the young shepherds, that older shepherds would not shoot them like wolves and wouldn’t criticize them like dogs, but would encourage them like dads.

HT: DesiringGod.org

Mental Health

I found this little gem of a quote by John Piper: “Periodic self-examination is needed and wise and biblical. But for the most part, mental health is the use of the mind to focus on worthy reality outside ourselves.”

I am very much an introvert. I could spend hours occupied just by my own thoughts. I can become quite depressing. That is why discovering reformed theology and reading authors like Piper, Mahaney and many others has given me so much joy. It is such a freeing thing and very good for my mental health to focus on God's all-satisfying sovereignty, greatness, and beauty.

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Psalm 43:5