Don't Beat Yourself Up

This post is a summary of the message shared at Titusville Branch on October 5, 2008.

Many Christians do not agree with a once common practice in the church: self-flagellation. Throughout Christian history there have been ascetics who promoted severe self-discipline and denial of many sensory pleasures. The term “mortification of the flesh” came from scriptures like, “...those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24, cf. Romans 8:13 and Colossians 3:5). This idea and these scriptures were used as a basis for things like self-whipping, extreme fasting, wearing hairshirts, etc.

From the Past to the Present
The following comes from Wikipedia’s article on “mortification of the flesh”:

• Dominic Loricatus is said to have performed 'One Hundred Years Penance' by chanting 20 psalters accompanied by 300,000 lashes over six days.
• Francis of Assisi, is said to have asked pardon to his body for the severe self-afflicted penances he has done: vigils, fasts, frequent flagellations and the use of a hairshirt.
• Catherine of Siena wore sackcloth and scourged herself three times daily in imitation of Dominic.
• At the latter half of the twentieth century, Josemaría Escrivá practiced self-flagellation and used the cilice, a modern-day version of the hairshirt.
• Pio of Pietrelcina, wrote in one of his letters: “Let us now consider what we must do to ensure that the Holy Spirit may dwell in our souls. It can all be summed up in mortification of the flesh with its vices and concupiscences, and in guarding against a selfish spirit... The mortification must be constant and steady, not intermittent, and it must last for one's whole life. Moreover, the perfect Christian must not be satisfied with a kind of mortification which merely appears to be severe. He must make sure that it hurts.”
• Pope John XXIII wrote: “But the faithful must also be encouraged to do outward acts of penance, both to keep their bodies under the strict control of reason and faith, and to make amends for their own and other people's sins... St. Augustine issued the same insistent warning: ‘It is not enough for a man to change his ways for the better and to give up the practice of evil, unless by painful penance, sorrowing humility, the sacrifice of a contrite heart and the giving of alms he makes amends to God for all that he has done wrong.’ ...But besides bearing in a Christian spirit the inescapable annoyances and sufferings of this life, the faithful ought also take the initiative in doing voluntary acts of penance and offering them to God.... Since, therefore, Christ has suffered in the flesh, ‘it is only fitting’ that we be ‘armed with the same intent.’ It is right, too, to seek example and inspiration from the great saints of the Church. Pure as they were, they inflicted such mortifications upon themselves as to leave us almost aghast with admiration. And as we contemplate their saintly heroism, shall not we be moved by God's grace to impose on ourselves some voluntary sufferings and deprivations, we whose consciences are perhaps weighed down by so heavy a burden of guilt?"

Back in 1990 my wife and I visited the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Leading up to this large church is a two-mile walkway called ‘Calzada de Guadalupe.’ Every year penitent people crawl on their knees the entire length to plead for mercy and miracles.

No Value Against the Flesh
It is true that Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” However, Paul writes in Colossians 2:23 that these types of activities have “the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” They only have the appearance, the facade, of wisdom. They come from self-made religion. And they have no value against fleshly indulgence.

True, we are not to live according to the flesh, we are to deny ourselves, and we are not to indulge fleshly desires. However, Romans 8:13 makes it clear one way we are to put to death the deeds of the body. Paul says here that “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Denying ourselves isn’t something we do for the purpose of “self-abasement and severe treatment of the body.” It is more a matter of obedience – obedience to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit may lead us to fast or to deny ourselves some pleasure. But asceticism only has the “appearance of wisdom in self-made religion” and has “no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Few People Practice this Today
I have never met any Christian that actually practices any type of strict asceticism or mortification of the flesh. Many baulk at such a thought. What I find interesting, however, is that there are many of us who practice a type of internal self-flagellation.

Sometimes we cannot get over ourselves when we fail, when we sin, when we make a mistake. We often have to brutally beat ourselves mentally before we can accept the Father’s forgiveness. We berate ourselves with verbal thoughts like: “You idiot. You’re such a loser. You’re such a failure.” And we can’t walk through the corridor of Christ’s mercy until a substantial time of self-flagellation has passed.

This, too, has no value against the flesh. This type of response doesn’t enable us to overcome.

Not only is this a type of false humility, this strips faith from us. Lack of faith hinders God’s work in our lives. Lack of faith displeases Him (Hebrews 10:38, 11:6). And lack of faith prohibits righteous living. Romans 3 says that faith is the very thing needed to be made right with God. Faith, not a self-whipping.

Do we place more confidence in beating ourselves, or in the atoning work of Jesus? Can he justify us without the help of our self-flagellation? I would submit that he cannot justify us when we beat ourselves up because we are placing our confidence in ourselves, in the flesh, rather than in his sacrifice for us.

How Long Does it Take to be Right with God?
How much time does it take to become right again with God when we’ve sinned? How long does it take to trust Jesus for his available mercy and forgiveness? Does it take hours or days of self-punishment? Or do we really have faith in Christ’s work? We can be right with God a split second after failing, if we only believe (see 1 John 1:9-2:2). Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Paul says that he did not have “a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3:9). How long does it take to believe?

Faith to Overcome
It takes more faith to get up and go on, than to beat ourselves up for how we have failed. (It takes more humility, too.) And faith is the only thing that enables us to overcome.

“... my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Hebrews 10:38-39

Please share your thoughts by posting a comment below.

A Modern Day Parable

The four CH-47 helicopters arrived through smoke and fire at the embassy in the capital of this foreign nation. Their mission? To rescue people trapped inside by insurgents’ gunfire and grenades. There were 87 people in the embassy, hanging on for dear life, hoping their own military would arrive before the nationals broke in.

The dissidents had already been pushed back by several AH-64 Apaches that flew by minutes earlier. Now troops were descending from the helicopters to the rooftop of the embassy. They entered the building, hurrying to the rooms where people were gathered.

Fifteen minutes later, the helicopters were lifting their quarry away to flight altitude. Twenty-five minutes later, the nationals broke into the embassy and torched it to the ground. Forty minutes after that, the helicopters landed at their military base nearby, celebrating what they considered a successful mission.

In the next hour, the nations around the globe grumbled at this superpower’s actions. In fact, the UN Secretary-General issued a statement denouncing the mission.

Nobody was condoning the terrorists who attacked the embassy, however. What the world found appalling was that the special forces had rescued less than half of the people in the building. Why, with four Chinooks, each with more than a 30 passenger capacity, did they only rescue 42 people? The nationals had been temporarily pushed back, so the soldiers had plenty of time to save all who were trapped inside.

This was no great rescue. The military had no right to celebrate. Forty-five people had died needlessly that day. And this superpower could have saved them without much effort. But for some strange reason it didn’t.

What is the purpose of this story?

For some, this parable could have begun with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is like...”

According to some traditions, God, the superpower of the universe, is said to demonstrate his glorious mercy by choosing a select group of people to be saved, while leaving countless billions to face the judgment of the lake of fire. Additionally, no one is able to respond favorably to God's grace without him giving them the gift of faith and repentance.

If this view is an accurate portrayal of scripture, then (to me, anyway) it begs a very important question. Why doesn't the infinitely powerful and the infinitely merciful God change everyone's heart and save everyone?

Finally, some theological views might add another element to this parable: that the superpower planned the assault on its own embassy, in order to show how great of a superpower it really was.

Hmmm... I just can't see how this view demonstrates a loving, merciful and just God as the Bible declares him to be.

"...but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight," declares the LORD (Jer 9:24).

Please share your feedback by posting a comment below.

Litany of Humility

This prayer was shared with some of us in Branch Ministries during a Pastor's Training Course. It really drives home how humility applies in more areas of life than one might expect.

by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930)

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

Church Growth: What Did Jesus Do?

Now That's a Crowd!
In Luke 14: 25 Jesus had huge crowds following him. Some of his crowds were between 4,000 and 20,000 total people. If only my ministry could generate such a following!

What would any of us pastors do in our day with such numbers? We would probably take up an offering. And we might even build larger buildings as monuments to the validity of our ministry.

Often, we evaluate our effectiveness in terms of numbers. A pastor recently asked me, “What do you run on a Sunday morning?” He wanted to know how many people attended our Sunday morning services. I believe I choked out a less than an agreeable response to his enquiry.

Not Your Crowd-Pleaser
Funny thing is, Jesus wasn’t impressed with numbers. When the large gathering followed him after he fed the thousands, Jesus said some pretty strange things.

This sure wasn’t a crowd-pleaser: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves” (John 6:53). In John 6:66 many of his followers stopped walking with him as a result.

I don’t get the impression that Jesus was concerned with the quantity of his followers, but the quality of his followers. He said things like, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me,” and “whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (We rarely hear this message any more. It might offend some people.)

And finally, when great crowds followed him in Luke 14, he said something that was sure to send them home. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

Maybe Jesus could have used some help from some of our clever, twenty-first century evangelism and church-growth techniques.

The New Testament Church

In order to have an understanding of one's place in the church it might be good to take a look at what the early church looked like. The book of Acts gives us some insights into the development of the church: what people did administratively, and then what God did to keep His purposes in place. Paul also wrote in three epistles about the gifts that God employs in His people for the encouragement and building up of His church.

What the People Did:

• They prayed until they were endued with the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 and 2)
• They devoted themselves to: the apostles' teaching, to breaking bread together, to fellowship, and to prayer (Acts 2:42)
• They met from house to house
• They appointed deacons to deal with practical and administrative needs (Acts 6)

What God Did:

• He allowed the first church split - not because of differences and hurts! (Acts 8) Did the church become too comfortable? The result was people spreading the gospel beyond Jerusalem.
• He told the prophets and teachers in Antioch to set apart Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13) for evangelism & missions, expanding to the Gentiles. They also were led to encourage the disciples in different places.
• Paul worked for two years daily in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19).
  
• They also established elders in the churches (Acts 19, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1).
  

All of this happened against the backdrop of the apostles, deacons, prophets and teachers, etc. sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Gifts in the Body
God's Gifts. In Roman's 12 Paul mentions gifts that God gives and their accordant faith levels: Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading and Mercy.

Christ's Gifts. In Ephesians 4 Paul mentions gifts that Christ gave in order to equip the saints for the work of the ministry: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

The Holy Spirit's Gifts. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 about the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives for the common good: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, the effecting of miracles, prophecy, the distinguishing of spirits, various kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.

In each member of the church there is overlap from these three groupings of gifts that Paul writes about. And God's design is to use these gifts in us for "the work of the ministry" and for the building up of the body of Christ. And Paul says He distributes these as He wills.

An interesting note to me is that many people will readily agree that the gifts in Romans 12 exist in the church today, while they might pick and choose gifts they think exist today from Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12. However, I have never seen any scriptural grounds that suggest that some of these gifts are not for His church today.

Church Expectations

In the first post in this category, "The Church", I postulated that there are three different ship allegories for how we view the church. The first is where members are all on individual boats sailing the same direction. The second is a cruise ship where the Captain and the officers/staff do all the work while the rest are along for the ride and for their enjoyment. The third, and most biblically accurate, is a ship like a clipper, where individuals in the church are on the same ship, each functioning with their specific giftings, responsibilities, and tasks so that Jesus' ship can be directed to His desired port of call.

With this in mind, what are appropriate expectations people should have for church? People have left churches because of music, because of hurts and difficulties in relationships, because the church fell short in keeping someone's child on the right track, because the children and youth programming weren't to a parent's liking, because a pastor didn't visit them when they were sick, etc. These motivations for leaving a church point to expectations people often have but are maybe unspoken.

But are these expectations realistic and right? If not, what expectations are correct in the church context?

Appropriate Expectations
To stay consistent with our ship analogy, when a sailor signed on for duty on a ship, there were certain expectations he would have: food, a place to sleep, and payment. Of course there was also the real possibility that he could die at sea. In actuality, the sailor would NOT expect there to be any real level of comfort.

And there would be expectations on him by the Captain. He would be expected to work. He would be expected to help the other sailors with their work as the need might arise. He would be assigned a "watch", and he would be on call rain or shine if there was any emergency. He would be expected to obey all the Captain's orders, even if there wasn't any explanation given.

Jesus is the Captain
If Jesus is the "head" of His body, then the individual members of the body must comply with what "orders" are received from Him. If He is the Christ and the Son of the Living God, then those who follow Him must obey Him as their authority. If He is the Captain of His ship, then we do not come to His ship with expectations of comfort and ease, but rather of basic necessities.

And the real and right expectations come from Jesus to us, rather than from us to the church. Are we in a place where we have yielded to the Captain's right of command for our lives within the church context?

Upon this Rock

In the recent post "Which Ship Are You On?" I mentioned three different ship analogies of how we can perceive the church. One is a bunch of individual sailboats, perhaps all headed the same direction. The second is a cruise ship where the church leadership does the "work of the ministry" and everyone else is along for the ride. But perhaps the analogy most consistent with scripture is the clipper ship, where everyone is on board, doing individual functions, but all working together under one Captain's command.

This last example obviously requires more commitment. In an individual sailboat, one could decide not to go along any more and turn back. One might decide to sail a different direction, of have a different agenda. But on the clipper ship, one must be committed to the good of the whole, and committed to the purpose of the Captain. One couldn't on the spur of the moment decide they don't want to participate. Everyone is needed for the proper function of the ship. People couldn't avoid others with personality conflicts. In this ship people have to learn to work together.

The Gates of Hades
Jesus had an interesting response when Peter acknowledged that Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus said to Peter in response, "You are Peter (Petros - a stone), and on this rock (petra - a large rock) I will build My church..." Jesus wasn't saying that He would build His church on Peter, a stone, but "upon this rock", this principle that Peter referred to.

Jesus' Place as Authority
Christ means Messiah, the Anointed One, anointed as King, Priest, and Prophet. The fact that He is the Son of the Living God connotes ultimate Authority. Jesus would build His church upon this principle. He is the Captain of the ship called His Church.

His place as King, Priest, Prophet and Ultimate Authority is fundamental in our understanding of His church. He is in charge, and He has the right to command His ship, and everyone on it. And for those who participate in His church in this way, have certain privileges.

One of the privileges is that the Gates of Hell will not prevail against His church. Do you feel overwhelmed by the gates of Hell? Are you on His ship or your own ship? Are you submitted to the Captain's authority? If so, then Hell will not prevail against you. Additionally, you will walk in authority: "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Which Ship Are You On?

The recent analogy came to me that many times the people in our churches look like this picture: individuals independently sailing along, maybe sailing in the same direction. But sailing independently none-the-less.


But I wonder if the better picture of what Christ wants His church to look like is this one: individuals in the church on the same ship, each functioning with their specific giftings and responsibilities, so that Jesus' ship can be directed to His desired port of call.

This seems consistent with Philippians 2:1,2: If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

Paul was saying that maybe the church is a very encouraging, loving church, full of the fellowship of the Spirit, and affection and compassion. But there is more. We can do all that but miss the next part: being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Is the church today full of people independently serving their gifts, rather than serving Christ's church with their gifts?

I recently saw a book whose last chapter was entitled: "Your Pastor is not a Five-Fold Pastor". There is no way the pastor can do it all. Additionally, the church leadership is NOT called to do the work of the ministry. If the pastor and the elders were to do it all, then the rest of the body would be passengers, and the boat would look like this:


A cruise ship! That is not Jesus' design for His church. Ephesians 4:11,12 says that Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, "for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." It is every member of the church who is called to the work of the ministry, for the whole body's sake.

Sometimes we use our gifts the way WE want, rather than for the edifying of Christ's body. He gave the gift, and He has the right to define how we use the gifts He's given. Sometimes we set our own parameters based on our preferences, feelings, or attitudes. But this hinders Christ and His work in His church.

In order for the church to meet the purpose Jesus has for it, individuals must surrender their right to their own vessel, and climb aboard His. And then they must use their gifts and abilities primarily for the service of Christ's vessel.

Which ship are you on?