If I want to present my best ideas, I need to be open to the helpful, sharpening critique that people close to me have to offer. My first idea sounds great, until others come along to make it better.
“In so far as I am Man I am the chief of creatures. In so far as I am a man I am the chief of sinners.” —G.K. Chesterton
Cold case detective J. Warner Wallace applies the same scrutiny to examining the evidence of the New Testament as he does with a suspect. “There are four critical questions that must drive our examination of any eyewitness, ancient or modern: Were they actually present to see what they claim? Can their account be corroborated in some fashion, even indirectly? Have the key elements of their story shifted over time? And finally, do they possess ulterior motives or bias that would tempt them to lie or embellish? This is not a uniquely religious or anti-religious method; it is simply good investigative practice.”
“Few men, if any, step into responsible positions without preparation. Sometimes in our shortsightedness we seem to get the idea in regard to Bible characters that they come on the scene ready-made, fully prepared; here they are, God’s gift to the world! They take up the work, and that’s all there is to it. But if you will read more carefully, you will find that usually—I think we could even say always—there is a period of preparation behind them. God lays His plans well in advance.” —William Sanford LaSor
The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise. (Proverbs 27:21)
The Message paraphrase says you can tell what’s in someone’s heart by how they react when they are praised—“The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame.”
The Amplified Bible says you can tell what’s in someone’s heart by listening to what they praise—“A man is judged by what he praises and of what he boasts.”
These are two sides of the same coin, and both are equally true. How we handle praise and what we praise both reveal what’s inside our heart. Both of these are responses to which we shouldpay careful attention.
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Jude calls Christians to contend for the faith without contention and without compromise. Instead, we are to loving serve Jesus by engaging with others mercifully, peacefully, and lovingly. This means we have to contend without quarreling.
But that’s easier said than done because people love to pick fights, and we hate to lose an argument.
Look at the ministry of Jesus. His adversaries couldn’t get around the perfect logic that He used based on Scripture, so they came up with all sorts of controversies in the hope of tripping Him up and silencing Him. They posed seemingly unanswerable dilemmas like: In heaven, which one of the seven brothers will be married to the woman they all married on earth? Should we pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay the temple tax? What’s the greatest commandment of all? They tried to get Him to take the bait about religious traditions, laws concerning the Sabbath, and the punishment for a woman caught in adultery.
Jesus never got fluster or frustrated—He never took the bait to quarrel with them, but He simply stood unwaveringly and lovingly on God’s Word. But once again, that’s easier said than done!
King Solomon pointed out the difficulty of this in Proverbs 26:4-5. Do we answer a fool or not? Yes, but we answer wisely not foolishly.
I believe Jude would agree with Solomon, Jesus, Paul, and Peter, but then he uses three examples that could spark a controversy:
the fate of fallen angels (Jude 6)
Michael and the devil arguing over the body of Moses (v. 9)
Enoch prophesying (v. 14)
But notice that how Jude uses these examples by not addressing any more than what we already know from Scripture. In this way, Jude keeps this from becoming a foolish, quarrelsome controversy (v. 10).
Notice the consistent instruction of the Bible on how to handle critics:
Michael the archangel: The Lord rebuke you! (also 2 Peter 2:11)
Jesus: Away from Me! (Matthew 4:10) and Get behind Me! (Mark 8:33)
James: Submit to God and then resist the devil (James 4:7)
Peter: speak gently, respectfully, and with a clear conscience (1 Peter 3:15-16)
Paul: warn people without becoming quarrelsome (2 Timothy 2:14, 16, 23-25)
In Luke 13:1-5, Jesus addresses two events that could have become quite controversial, but Jesus defused the controversy by simply saying, “No matter what, everyone needs to have their sins forgiven by God.” Paul continued this singleminded focus on Jesus. I love how the Amplified Bible captures his words in 1 Corinthians 2:2. And then Paul encourages his friend Timothy to operate the same way (1 Timothy 1:15-17).
Don’t let foolish controversies sidetrack you from the faith entrusted to us, but take everything back to Jesus as He is revealed in the Scripture.
If you’ve missed any of the other messages in our series called Earnestly Contending, you can find them all here.
Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble. Don’t fret because of evildoers; don’t envy the wicked. (Proverbs 24:17, 19 NLT)
We don’t rejoice when evildoers stumble, nor do we fret when evildoers succeed. Why? Because our attention should be captivated by our Savior.
God’s peace shall be yours—that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is—that peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7 AMPC)
God’s transcendent peace comes into our heart like an elite special forces team to guard our heart from enemies. We are the ones who welcome in this special force by being content with all God is for us in Jesus. That means we can dismiss this special force by being discontent.
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Paul makes it so clear that the Holy Spirit is a Person with Whom I should be in regular and intimate conversation. In the span of just a few verses in Galatians, Paul uses five different Greek words to fill out the definition for what it means for a Christians to walk by the Spirit.
(1) Walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). This word means to conduct my life at the Spirit’s speed. Not rushing ahead; not lagging behind. As Solomon might say, “Trust the Holy Spirit with all your heart, and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take” (paraphrase of Proverbs 3:5-6).
(2) Led by the Spirit (5:18). This means to be attached to the One Who is conducting my life. Just like Jesus explained about branches staying connected to the Vine in John 15:1-5.
(3) Live by the Spirit (5:25). To consider the Holy Spirit as my one and only vitalizing Source. He is more important than the air I breathe, the food I eat, or the water I drink.
(4) Keep in step with the Spirit (5:25). I march obediently as a soldier under direction from my Superior Officer; attuned to His voice to obey His every direction.
(5) Live by the Spirit (6:1). This describes one who is filled with and governed by the Holy Spirit’s life-force.
Christians who live this way cannot help but exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in such abundance that their very lives become a living, breathing testimony to others of the delight in walking by the Spirit on every single step of our life’s journey (5:22-23).
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Sanctification (saint-ification) is an ongoing process that brings out fruitfulness, joy-fullness, and enhances our testimony to others. And an essential part of this process involves other saints. Notice that this word “saints” it plural. That’s because it is a plural word every place it appears in the Bible.
Saints have gotten themselves into trouble when they tried to go solo. Like David’s sin with Bathsheba, Elijah’s slide into depression, or Peter’s denial of Jesus. But we also see saints thriving through difficult situations when they have a fellow saint alongside. Like how Barnabas gave Saul his start, Paul and Silas could sing together in prison, Silas and Timothy helped Paul minister, and how Jesus sent out His ambassadors by twos (Luke 10:1).
How does accountability to other saints work? Since we see togetherness so much in the early Church (look for the phrases like “each other” or “one another”), think A.C.T.S.—
(1)Admit my need for accountability. James tells us that we all stumble and that even my so-called little slip-ups are major in God’s eyes (James 3:2, 2:10). So I need help.
John Maxwell said, “Every person is undisciplined in some area of their life; in the area that I am undisciplined, that is the area where I need greatest accountability. I will not do well in my areas of weakness unless I am held accountable for better results.” We all have blind spots, we all have weak areas, and we must be humble enough to admit to those things.
(2)Choose my accountability partners prayerfully and carefully (Proverbs 12:26; 2 Corinthians 6:14). These should be trustworthy people who have the emotional and spiritual capacity to be able to come alongside me (Proverbs 17:9; Galatians 6:2).
(3)Trust my friend. Trust their counsel even when it stings a bit (Proverbs 27:6), and trust the effectiveness of their prayers for me (James 5:16).
(4)Stick with them through thick and thin. Be your brother’s keeper and let them be your keeper (Hebrews 3:12-14). We need to keep at it especially in difficult times. Notice the phrase “let us” that appears five times in Hebrews 10:19-25.
If we are living with a biblical worldview, we realize that the saints here on earth are those we will also be with for eternity. Our biblical worldview should form our understanding of both being accountable to another saint and holding other saints accountable as well.
As Jack Hayford so wisely noted, “The believer’s best defense against self-deception is through mutual accountability to one another.”
If you would like to check out the other messages in our series B.A.S.I.C. Christianity, you can click here.
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When you’ve been hurt, you probably want someone to tell you that it was all the other person’s fault. That’s what you may want, but a true friend will tell you what you need to hear.
Do you want to lead better?
Yes!
Then ask God for wisdom.
Got it?
Yes!
Good!
Now ask Him for more—“If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God Who gives to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5)
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Ahab, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, are strategizing a battle plan against Syria when they call for God’s prophet to share with them God’s counsel in this matter.
Then Micaiah said, “I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’ … Now, you see, the Lord put a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets; and the Lord has spoken evil concerning you. … If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me” (2 Chronicles 18:16, 22, 27).
You would think this would cause these kings to scrap their battle plans and keep their armies at home. But the next verse says they utterly rejected the prophet’s warning. “So Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead” (v. 28).
What in the world is Jehoshaphat doing?!
He asked for a prophet from God and then when he hears from God that this combined army will be defeated, Jehoshaphat still goes with Ahab?!
But let’s back up: Why was Jehoshaphat even here hanging out with Ahab? And before even hearing from Micaiah, why does he commit his army and cavalry to this joint-venture (v. 3)?
I think the clue is in v. 1: Jehoshaphat “was allied by marriage to Ahab.” Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram is married to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah (2 Kings 8:18).
Jehoshaphat thought this was a strategic move. Like a chess master moving his pieces on the board, he calculated that this alliance would give him an advantage. But instead this move resulted in years of heartache and destruction.
First, Jehoshaphat feels trapped into allying with Ahab in this ill-fated battle against the Syrians. Ahab is killed in this battle, and Jehoshaphat barely escapes with his life, although his army is embarrassed in defeat.
As he is returning to Jerusalem, another prophet meets him and pronounces this heartbreaking message, “Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord” (2 Chronicles 19:2).
Later on, Jehoshaphat again partners with Ahab’s son, “After this, Jehoshaphat king of Judah joined with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly” (20:35).
After Jehoshaphat died, his son Jehoram ascends the throne.
His reign as king is only eight years long, and is noted for him walking “in the ways of the kings of Israel” by doing evil in God’s sight (2 Kings 8:15). Jehoram was killed in battle.
Ahaziah his son then sits on the throne in Jerusalem for only a year, manipulated by his mother Athaliah. “He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord, as did the house of Ahab, for his father was son-in-law of Ahab” (2 Kings 8:27). This alliance led to another disastrous joint military campaign with Israel. Ahaziah was killed by Jehu shortly after this.
Look what happens next: “When Athaliah the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal descendants (2 Kings 11:1). This began a six-year reign of terror in which Athaliah assumed the throne.
Where did all of this mayhem begin? When Jehoshaphat calculated his own destiny.
We have such a limited view; whereas, God is timeless, all-knowing, all-powerful. It is the highest form or arrogance to think we can out-maneuver God’s plan, or that we can even begin to know what’s best for our lives.
The One who has all of our days written in His book is also the One who tells us that we can call to Him to learn things we don’t know and access the wisdom we don’t have (Psalm 139:16; Jeremiah 33:3; James 1:5).
Think of the misery that could have been avoided if Jehoshaphat would have heeded the counsel of his forefather Solomon: “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6 AMPC).
What a miserable strategist I am when I make plans that I think are clever! Instead, I’m trying my best to follow Solomon’s counsel, and I pray you are too.
The mind of the prudent is ever getting knowledge, and the ear of the wise is ever seeking (inquiring for and craving) knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15 AMPC)
It is a humble person who says, “I don’t know it all; there is so much more to learn.” Thusthe humble person becomes a lifelong learner. This pursuit increases the learner’s knowledge base, which requires diligence to make sure a know-it-all arrogance doesn’t creep in and block future learning.
Humility starts the process and humility can keep the process going for a lifetime. But be on guard: the more you learn, the easier it is to become proud of your learning. This arrogance will derail future learning and growth.
To maintain your gains and to continue to learn more, you have to fight to remain humble. Check out the blog post and flowchart Humility is a Daily Choice.
Craig T. Owens 