The Truth of Man

 Here is a sermon by Dr. John MacArthur.  He asks the important question, "what's wrong with our gospel?"  Here are (mostly) his words.

There was recently a survey of ‘evangelicals.’  People were defined as evangelicals if they believed the Bible, if they believed Jesus, the gospel, and if they felt they were responsible to communicate the gospel to other people.  Those who believed these four were considered evangelicals.  Interestingly, the survey also revealed that the majority of ‘evangelicals’ really have no idea what they believe.  One survey question, “everyone is born innocent, agree or disagree?" 65% of evangelicals agreed.  Another: “the Bible is not literally true,” agree or disagree?  55% of evangelicals agreed.  Finally, “God accepts worship from all religions.”  56% agreed. “Jesus was a good teacher, but not God.”  43% of evangelicals agreed!

This is so shocking, so dystopian, the idea that anybody who presumably has a sound sense of doctrine could answer “agreed” to these untruths.  How did we get to this sad point--'evangelicals’ who don’t even believe what is necessary to be saved?   Dr. MacArthur believes “this is he legacy of our leadership.”  People don’t rise above their teachers.  Truth is, the evangelical churches, over the last 30 years, have been too busy trying to find ways not to offend non-Christians, trying to take the offenses out of the message.  They design approaches to non-believers that don’t create hostility, or rejection.  But that voids the gospel of the truth.  And it does more, as we shall see.

Why do they do this?  Because the gospel is offensive.  The ‘good news’ is hated by non-believers.  Let’s focus on the main reason why that is so.  Let’s select John 15:18:

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

One thing that the disciples knew, the world hated Jesus.  We’re not just talking about pagans, but even the Jewish religion.  They professed to following God.  Well, Jesus is God Incarnate.  But they were blind to that. Once they heard the message of Jesus and what He preached, they rejected it—and Him. But why the hate—toward Him who was (and is) the most merciful, compassionate, loving Person in all the world?  Here’s the answer, in blunt language in John 7:7:

The world…hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.

That’s alluding to the “Doctrine of Depravity.”  It declares that the whole human race is sinful.  But that doctrine brings out hate in Fallen Man, who is always trying to find a way to tolerate himself--so, as you can see, his dominant sin is Pride.  He creates an image of himself that escapes ultimate condemnation, spinning a web of delusions.  He says that he is good—anything but that his ‘deeds area evil.’ This was compounded by Jesus telling the Jews, ‘you are even evil in your religion.’

You can see, in the Gospel of John, how their hate plays out.  In 5:16, the offense was He was doing these things on the Sabbath.  He could have avoided much of the hate by only doing God’s work six days a week, but God doesn’t work under man’s restrictions.  Limiting God?  Who would do that?  In 5:18, He said the Jews were plotting already to kill Him.  Imagine, it’s only the fifth chapter of John!  They want Him dead.

Of equal offense to them was that He called God His Father, making Him equal with God.  They judged that blasphemy.  Of course, that was irrational because His miraculous and kind deeds proved otherwise.  They had no proof of their charge, ever.  Later in John, they tried to arrest Him, they wanted to stone Him, but His time was not yet.

Isaiah 53's prophecy says He was an offense, they treated Him as nobody, nothing.  But He was compassionate to widows, to the disabled, to the children.  He brought a message of eternal life and forgiveness. In John 8, Jesus tells of the nature of their hatred; He says “you Cannot hear my words—you are of your father, the devil.” There’s some offensive words. Now please don’t point the finger at the Jews:  ALL OF US began life separated from God; OUR father was the devil.  And he still is, unless we are truly saved.  We do not start out ‘innocent,’ you see?  A trait from Adam. Jesus, in v. 45, says, ‘Because it’s the truth, you can’t believe it.’ Our minds are totally irrational on this subject. We are pre-programmed to believe lies—because, as Jesus says, the devil—our father if we are not saved—is the father of lies.

This is a profound diagnosis of the human condition. And we seldom hear it.

You may, like most, be offended at Dr. MacArthur’s words.  Please don’t fall into the trap of excessive pride; face up to the truth..  It could cost you eternal life.

So the Jews concluded about Jesus, ‘you have a demon. Not us.’ But calling Him that is the worst blasphemy of all.  Their world was inverted, perverse.

Dr. MacArthur gets back to his original point, the flaw in today's gospel.  He says,  I don’t know what kind of evangelistic strategy you can devise to tell the truth and yet overcome natural human resistance; the truth is, you can’t.  The greatest Evangelist of all time, Jesus, had no strategy to bypass or soften reality.  He said we are, before Christ, sinful, dead, blind, ignorant, darkened to the Scriptural facts, and under satanic control. The truth is alien to our nature.

When we talk the gospel, it’s obvious that we may avoid certain subjects, like this depth of human sin, covered vastly in Scripture.  To do hat takes courage, a willingness to obey Jesus who said we must endure persecution.  When their return for the Truth is to hate us, we should train ourselves to say, that’s what we expect, a further evidence of the sinful characteristics of man.  Jesus said we should rejoice when this occurs—even though we kick ourselves because we could have said it better, or we should hope for better because ‘that person seemed a wise thinker.’

I must reveal the Calvinistic sway of Dr. MacArthur here, his true belief in Total Depravity.  The extremists of Calvin say that we have no capacity to receive the truth, until the Spirit puts the spark of regeneration in us first.  This work is done by God randomly, without regard for our previous righteousness or non-righteousness.  God chooses who is saved and who is not saved—and thus hell-bound.  I do not believe in this, what I consider a non-Scriptural characteristic of God.  I follow Jacob Arminius, who argued against Calvin in the 1600s by stating that God gave us ‘prevenient grace,’ that He gave us free will to choose Him, even in our tragic sinful condition, if we desired to seek after Him.  Despite the bad news about Arminius, and things done to him, he was a godly man.  But let’s not get sidetracked.  Our subject is how we have strayed from and watered down the whole gospel. Because people are so hostile--and the feeling is, “how can we tell them about man's depravity, about hell and judgment?  It makes them irrationally hostile.  Now they’re not thinking straight.  So let's try a different tact: Let’s avoid that subject.”  Truth is, people aren’t thinking straight to begin with.  You can’t do anything to prevent it.

You should burn the bridge totally, by telling them that they are under eternal judgment.  Paul does that at the Areopagus on Mars Hill—as we read in our last blog.

But what do you have now, instead? Here's the current gospel:  Jesus wants you happy, He wants you successful.  Thus, He is willing to satisfy your carnal desires.  Truth is, He paid the price on the Cross for our sin—so He owns us, we are His servants, we should simply seek His will for all we do in all our lives.  We realize how we deserve hell, but we gained heaven, so we love God for saving us.  Thus, we seek endlessly in Scripture for His commands, to find true morality, and in developing love for our Savior..

Today’s sermons leave off the sinful condition that we’re born into.  It avoids that in the second Coming, Jesus is the Judge, the Son of God whose next appearance will give us the unchangeable decision of hell or heaven for us.  The 'gospel' twists the simple fact that Every word in Scripture—even the negative ones—are all true.  By pastors not preaching on some subjects, we follow by not believing in those subjects. They cover God as an idol of their own making, a grandfatherly, forgiving type.  This is idolatry, truthfully; it ignores the Old Testament God, The 'gospel' accepts pretended humility and works to gain righteousness; He loves all religions.

Hence the answers that you see above, as proof that what I’m saying is an accurate conveyance of these false and incomplete 'gospels' rampant in society.  No other religion has the Bible's true doctrine, even false forms of ‘Christianity,’ even the Jews in Jesus’ time (they twisted the truths in Old Testament Scripture).  They are all dooming more people to hell, teaching that basically, we are good, and we can reform ourselves into a better life (or lives), and eventually, through purgatory or renewal or whatever, gain heaven.  Or universal peace. God will approve of our righteousness. Most people go to church to relieve some guilt.  Most pastors don’t shake them from this fable.  People in the pews, who say they are Christian, hate the truth—and thus reveal that they are NOT Christian.  Most pastors are deluded enough to believe that the people that are there regularly are Christian.  But the pew-sitters believe lies, like the survey above shows.  Many of their pastors would get fired if they preached the truth for more than one week straight.  So it is in wealthy America.

The best Scriptural summary for the Truth of Man might be in Ephesians 4:1-3:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

The concluding statement says that we are all hell-bound, unless we grasp Christ as our Savior., and hang onto Him with all we have.  Now see Ephesians 4:18:

…having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;

Ephesians 4:19 adds the word “callous,” in the ESV, which means our minds, unsaved, are scarred over so that we cannot sense the truth.  In Genesis 6, God destroyed humanity except 8, saying all He saw was evil continually. Jeremiah says our hearts are desperately wicked.  As we said in our last blog, Paul laid out the whole Gospel.  The Old Testament does too.  Scripture spells out the sad facts and destination for us.  We don’t have to look far for it.  Jesus raised the issues of hell and final judgment iv EVERY chapter of Matthew, from chapter 3 to 25.

Just as Paul, Dr. MacArthur is laying out the truth of man.  He simply finally says that we must be reborn, as Jesus told Nicodemus. We cannot fix ourselves, our reforming, getting 'good enough' for heaven is not an option.  Truly, we don’t know where the source that sparks our salvation comes from, that we ‘see the light,’ and get the real gospel. We are here maintaining simply the main point of the sermon; that we need to put the Truth of Man back into our gospel.   'we need it back into the gospel to appreciate the deep love and sacrifice of God.  We need that aspect of the gospel to have the motivation to realize that we belong to Him, that we want to forward His kingdom by anything He wants us to do.  Only by knowing all the gospel will we be eager to read Scripture to know more about our lover, if I may use the term, namely God and our Savior.  Only with the true gospel will we be eager to follow our Lord’s commands, to please Him and to know what His morality really is.  Today’s “gospel” leads to ‘mental assent’ salvation, not deep-rooted enough to fight off the worldliness.  If you still have worldiness, you have idols—of materialism, of envy, of greed, of jealousy.  God does not save idolaters.  No love for Him thinking about the world, not Him.  Today’s gospel leads to a ‘Laodicean’ salvation, which is not a salvation at all; as Revelation says, He will vomit us out of His mouth.  We will not be part of His body when judgment day comes.  Let us spread the word.  The reason why churches have lost their power is because they most teach a false gospel. I urge you to read Scripture, and find out what Scripture really says.  Try the Gospel of Matthew first.  Your eternal life or hell depends on it. And if you communicate, you MUST include the Truth of Man.  Today's gospel doesn't work, so why not?  Pray, and have your dedicated believers pray, that the Spirit will convert people's hearts, that they will see the light.  Come from death into life, if you read this and are unsaved.  Be free from sin, idolatry and pride.

 

 

 

 

Compromising the Gospel

 

I have another great sermon by Voddie Baucham I would like to summarize for you.  He is speaking mostly to evangelists, and he has some important things to say.  Have a thoughtful reading experience:

There is much discussion about how we interact with culture, and how we can most effectively impact culture.  Right now, there is the sense in which the way we do that, is by becoming more like the culture.  That way we are more palatable to the culture. We have to learn the culture’s language, the culture’s music and clothing styles.  And not just learn them, but to adopt them, and mirror them.  We become what the culture is.  Then they will listen to us.  That’s the prevailing ideology, especially dealing with younger generations.

They say we must also go into the most influential areas, adopt culture, gain acceptance, so then we can transform them with the gospel.   The classic example of this is the Christian musicians, who make their music appealing, become a star, so then they have a platform for the gospel.

This is a bait-and-switch.  Once I am enthroned as popular, then I will flip the switch, and tell them about Jesus.  The world will listen, so I can be part of many being saved.  Are you sure?

But…is that what we see in the New Testament?  Does the apostle Paul use that technique?  Let’s read Acts 17:16 to begin:

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols

Everywhere he had been—Thessalonica, Berea—his speaking drew a revival, or a riot—or both.  But he is asking the Lord what to say.  He is “provoked”—exceedingly angry, to the point of being emotionally undone.  He knows what God feels, since he worshipped Him so much.   Given his background of training in Jewry, if he abhors anything, it is idolatry.  Now he looks at temples, and monuments, and statues to demon-gods, not to the real God.  He doesn’t feel superior; he senses an overwhelming mandate, arriving from his God-given compassion toward these people who simply do not know, nor have not heard, about the greatness of God.

This is the first departure between what we see in culture, and how he sees, on his missionary trip:  We don’t say “It sickens me.”  We say, let’s learn about them.  So we embrace these very idols, or at least act as if we do.

What does he do?  He “reasoned” with the Jews and devout people in the synagogue, and in the marketplace.   If you want more of that “reasoning” idea, study Thessalonians for his tactic.  In the synagogue at Athens, similarly, he gets right into showing, using the Old Testament, how Jesus is the Christ predicted there.  He is copying Jesus’ method, like He did in Emmaus in Luke 24, like Jesus did in John 5, where “Moses spoke of Me.” How Jesus is the Anointed One, the Messiah, in the Old Testament.

In the marketplace, though, where people don’t know the Old Testament, he uses a different strategy.  Now keep in mind, today, our tactic is, we don’t want to offend the culture, we don’t want to be too overtly Christian.  We’re “down low” until we “get to the right place.”  But that’s not Paul.  The Epicureans are saying, “what does this babbler wish to say?”  That’s insulting:  the word “babbler” speaks of one who picks up seeds and spits them out.  So they’re saying, he just comes up with ideas, undigested, and spits them out all over the place without ruminating on them seriously first.  So they didn’t think Paul was “cool,” similar to today. But he did not hide his Christianity; he refused to try and “synch” with them. He is about to go on the biggest stage of his day (the Areopagus in Mars Hill)—but he didn't get on that stage  by compromising.

He quoted their philosophers to get their attention, but he directly went preaching on Jesus, His crucifixion, and His resurrection—he is not truncating the gospel at all, nothing to impress, nothing to embrace.  Results?  Verses 19 and 20 quoted many of them:

May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? ²⁰ For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 

He did not gain their attention by embracing their culture; in fact, he got this break because he did not.  First,, hiding the gospel is wrong, even if you spring in on people later. That’s dishonest. Secondly, the “embrace the culture” idea is faithless.  God doesn’t need your help in making the gospel attractive.  God can get you where you need to be by His own might and His own power.  This is demonstrated with the life of Paul.  He goes faithfully to the synagogue, reasoning with them that Jesus is the Christ.  He goes faithfully to the marketplace, preaching the gospel, no-holds-barred, about the resurrection--to people who are opposed to the idea of resurrection.  God honored his faithfulness by giving him the biggest platform of his day.  He had to figure out what to preach, since they don't have the same background or worldview like fellow Jews.  He has to bring the over-arching meta-narrative of God in history:  namely,  the Creation, the Fall, the Redemption, and the Consummation.  So this is how he starts in Acts 17:22:

“Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; ²³ for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:  TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.

Note that he observed the culture.  Very important.  You do not want to be an enemy of all the culture, or ignorant of it.  There is a difference, though, between being an objective observer of culture and being an indiscriminate consumer of culture--doing it because it's popular, then doing the 'bait and switch.'  All man's method.

Note what he does next  (vv 23-25):

Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: ²⁴ God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. ²⁵ Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 

This pronouncement that God created the world goes contrary to their beliefs.  But, hey, consider the majority opinion in our culture.  They say that we are ignorant, narrow-minded hicks if we believe that God created the world. We worship Charles Darwin, after all. They said the same thing to him too--most of them.  But that didn't change God's message, and that's what Paul delivered. He is basically telling them that their religious philosophy is all wrong.

That's creation; the next topic is Fall.  He has implied sin in their midst; God is not worshipped like you are worshipping Him.  Next, vv. 26-30 of his sermon:

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, ²⁷ so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ ²⁹ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 

So he is saying, "In your attempt to honor Him, you're sinful.  Even in your attempt to 'cover' yourself by making a statue to the Unknown God, well...He is here--and He is not pleased.  That's not the right way to worship Him.

Then he lays it down heavier:  v. 30:

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent

Now Redemption:  How do you get right with this God? Repent; turn from your sin.  So Paul, unlike today, says, "Your world view is wrong; not only is it wrong, it's an affront to God.  You're in sin.  But the good news is, God has extended an opportunity for you to repent; to turn away from sin, to turn away from this wrong effort to appease Him, this God that you don't even know.

Well, that's Creation, Fall and Redemption--now we see Consummation in v. 31:

because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Note that he throws that resurrection in there again.  That rumor is why they called him names in the first place.  So not only has he called their worship into question, but he has suggested they are in sin, and they need to change what they are doing to get it right.  Now, for extra-good measure. he, knowing they hate the resurrection idea, deliberately brings it up. What's the impact of doing the opposite of what we do?  V. 32:

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.” ³³ So Paul departed from among them. ³⁴ However, some men joined him and believed

When you think about the comparison between the two methods, today we compromise--and sin against God, by fearing to be unpopular, by fearing their mocking.  Even when you finally develop a voice today, some will still mock, some will want to hear you further, and some will believe.  So why compromise in the first place?  There is also the danger that if your gospel is also fearful, i.e., it lacks mention of repentance, or our wicked sinful nature, or the dangers of hell, then those who believe will be only skin deep. They often don't really see the need for a Savior, see no need to turn their lives over to Him--and will flee when tough times come.  But Jesus promised that we will experience persecution. We need to preach the Whole gospel.  Cover the bad thoroughly, unpopular though you will be, then how we're in a box, then cover the good, escape from sin--and heaven at the end--and His love throughout. Paul says in Romans 1:17:

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes

The power of God doesn't result from popularity, or using our influential name to get the gospel out.  But God uses the despised things to shame the things that are (I Corinthians 1:18-24).  So what should we pray?  "Oh, God, make me weak--so they will see Your strength."  Since He has a name that is above every name, what makes us think He needs ours?

The goal of our life must not be a scheme to gain popularity to be used by God.  No, it is:  to know Him better, that we may serve Him more faithfully.  If you think you need a lot of credentials, your God is not big enough.  Wherever He places you, low or high, you be faithful to Him.  Our world is not aching for another superstar.

 

 

Ministry Among Drug Runners in the Colombian Jungle

 

David and Gloria Martinez moved deep into the Choco area in 2005 in the dangerous country of Colombia to share the gospel, give Bibles, and plant churches.  They studied the local language and learned to live off the land, building relationships among the region’s large Afro-Colombian population and with numerous indigenous people.  They eventually learned to live in close proximity to right-wing paramilitary groups and armed rebel groups, such as the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).  They began to train church leaders and establish churches in the area.  Many came to faith in Christ.   “That’s when it got difficult,” Gloria said.  “The devil was mad.  So the spiritual attacks started; the witchcraft and the different armed groups started to intervene.”  The couple had a 9-month old daughter at the time, so they began imploring God for protection. 

They had met while attending a missionary school in central Colombia.  David felt called to bring the Gospel to the jungle.  And Gloria, his girlfriend at the time, had already visited Choco on a short-term mission trip.  After their marriage in 2004, they moved to Choco, a jungle area, one of the poorest regions in Colombia—and it was a hub of violence and drug trafficking.  The mission school provided 180 Bibles to get them started, but they received little money.  “God showed us the way in,” David said, smiling. 

The thick rainforest of Choco, the large rivers, and lack of developed roads make it inaccessible, even to Colombian security forces.  So it became an ideal spot for boats transporting cocaine, where it went to Central America and Mexico.  The few Christians in the area had experienced persecution in the past.  In 2002’s “Bojaya massacre,” the FARC bombed a church, killing more than 70 people, and displacing 6,000 people—they were fearful about staying there.  About a year after David and Gloria moved to Choco, a prominent guerrilla commander in Colombia declared all pastors in the country’s “red zones” (which Choco was in) “objects of war.” 

When locals figured that David and Gloria knew who helped transport cocaine, they threatened them.  David said “we had to decide if we were going to leave or stay.  We decided to stay and spread the Gospel.”  Then, one day a rebel leader with about 60 guerrilla soldiers came to the couple’s house and told David he had to support them.  “They knew everything about me,” he said.  “They knew all my wife’s family members, all of my family members.  They knew the offering I was receiving every three months, the exact amount.”  They told David that they would triple his salary and allow him to continue his pastoral work if he would join them, as other pastors already had.  David was bold.  “If they are collaborating, they are no longer considered pastors.  I won’t do it; you kill people.  The only person who should have power over life is God.”  The rebel leader didn’t appreciate David’s words.  “You are lucky it’s me and not some other guerrillas, as they would have shot you in the head already,” he said.  “We are going to talk tomorrow.” 

Holding their daughter, Gloria began to pray for protection from God.  “A lot of the guerrillas are famous for taking kids,” she said.  “I feared for her.”  The next day, the rebel leader and 60 guerrillas returned to David and Gloria’s house, but this time the leader had a changed attitude.  He told David that his mother was a Christian.  Though surprised, David relaxed as the two began to discuss the Bible.  David said, “I became good friends with this man.  I told him to listen to God.  He said, ‘I will only come to Christ when I am injured in the war.”  David urged the man to place his faith in Jesus as Savior before he died in conflict, but he resisted.  Still, before the rebel leader left, he accepted 60 Bibles from David to share with the other fighters.  Fifteen days later, the rebel leader was killed in an attack by a paramilitary group. David hopes he read the Bible and came to faith.  “When he received his Bible, he remembered his childhood.  He thanked me.” 

After developing a relationship with the rebel leader’s replacement, David continued to supply them with Bibles.  He and Gloria gave them 400 Bibles over the next several months as guerrilla fighters rotated in and out of the group.  But the superior of the new leader finally burned the Bibles.  Since the commander told David that he had read a few pages, “then those Bibles burned have not been a waste.” 

The rebel groups watched David and Gloria’s movements.  To buy food and other goods, they had to walk through both FARC and paramilitary territories.  “Every time we passed the paramilitary, they thought we were collaborators with the guerillas,” he said.  “They threatened us.  They told the indigenous people they were going to kill us.”  Finally they decided to transfer to a safer part of Choco.  But in five years there, they had raised up four indigenous pastors and planted churches in two communities.  And 70 people had come to faith in Christ.  So the believers would carry on well when they left. 

Even after they moved, David, Gloria and their children continued to experience persecution from all sides as the government, paramilitaries, rebel groups, and organized crime syndicates vied for control of territory and the money income.  “There were weeks we had to run out of the community,” Gloria said, “because the drug situation was really bad.  There was a lot of fighting.”  But at their new location, for the first few years, most of the persecution surprisingly came from a local religious group.  “For four years, they wouldn’t rent us a good house,” David said.  “We always had houses that were falling apart.  I would fix them, and then they would kick us out once I fixed it.”  Then, a group of indigenous village leaders prohibited David and his family from entering their community.  The village even sued them, claiming David’s family was “damaging their cultural identity by introducing and spreading Christianity.”  David said, “We have been able to demonstrate with those who are believers that we are not here to damage their culture.  We always try to teach in their language.  We talk to the kids in their language.”  To keep the peace, David and his family moved out of the indigenous community and into an Afro-Colombian community—still in Choco.  Those people were descended from those brought to the Americas from the slave trading days.  Some of them continue to practice African folk religions, which involve much superstition and questionable medical practices—besides heretical views about Jesus. 

Among this community, David and Gloria now lead a mixed congregation from indigenous and Afro-Colombian backgrounds.  They still minister to 20 indigenous believers in the community they left as well.  “Those people can’t kick us out again because we are already out,” David quipped.  In 2019, David and his family visited 25 of the 28 indigenous communities in the area, often receiving threats as they passed through guerrilla and paramilitary territories.  Although the Colombian government and the FARC signed a peace agreement that was ratified by the nation’s congress in November 2016, the peace deal has not brought peace, especially in Choco.  In fact, they said, the guerrillas are taking the opportunity to regroup and rearm.  “Right now we are a military target for the armed groups because we were not born in the area,” Gloria said.  “We are always praying to become invisible.  Actually, the Christian indigenous people experience a lot more persecution--from their community, and in many cases from the armed groups as well.” 

On a spiritual level, David and Gloria are battling the guerrilla groups for the minds of the region’s youth.  Guerilla groups lure the children into their ranks with the promise of weapons and cash.  Thousands of Colombian children have fought in the country’s war; many were raised in guerilla camps and trained as fighters from a young age.  The FARC alone has reportedly recruited 3,700 child soldiers throughout its history.  To help children follow Christ instead, David and Gloria started teaching a children’s Bible class two years ago.  At first they held the class in an indigenous village, but after receiving threats, they decided, with parents’ approval, to pick up about 200 children each weekend using a boat that Voice of the Martyrs helped provide.  David picks up 50 children at a time, takes them to their home for the Bible lessons, and then returns them.  David and Gloria also watch for vulnerable children whom the guerrilla groups might target as recruits.  They help the children’s families enroll them in school and even transport them to and from school when possible.  David thinks they have prevented about 10 children from joining the guerrillas.  “God helped us to save these kids,” he said. 

As for their own children, David and Gloria bring them wherever they go, relying on God to help them recognize risky situations.  “There was only one time that God showed us they shouldn’t accompany us on a trip,” David said.  Although Samantha, now 13, has, in the past, occasionally  expressed fear and anxiety when traveling through guerrilla territory, even having nightmares, her parents said she has largely overcome those fears as she has gotten older.  “I am not afraid,” she said.  “Because I know that God is protecting us and there are a lot people praying for us when we do this.  I really like being in the ministry, the adventure of so many rivers, so many challenging places, and I like it with the family.”  Juliana, 10, and Daniel, 7, help their mom with Sunday school and share the gospel with children in their own ways.  “I am a little embarrassed to say a lot to them, but when I play with them, they see Jesus in me,” Daniel said quietly.  David and Gloria admit that raising three children while ministering in a dangerous area has been a challenge, but God has helped them.  David says, “Sometimes people say they don’t go to the mission field because they have kids, but we say, “You can work, you can do ministry, and your kids will be fine. God will help you… Right now in school, our kids all have very good grades.”  Samantha takes online classes, and Gloria plans to homeschool the others until they are in fourth grade.  “I will go to the city to download all the homework; I take it to the jungle, and I upload that onto the platform they gave me.” 

David and Gloria know their children are getting a spiritual education by being a part of their ministry work.  “We don’t limit what they see as we minister,” Gloria said.  “They also must have their own personal devotion.  They need a personal relationship with God and not just what they see their parents do.  I learned it that way when I was growing up.  If I didn’t have a personal relationship with God, I wouldn’t have felt the call.” 

About two years ago, Voice of the Martyrs helped the family attend a retreat with other pastors and their families.  It was their first “break” from the intensity of their jungle ministry in 14 years.  “We give the glory to God,” David said.  David asked us to pray for their protection from the armed groups and from spiritual attacks.  And for those they’re reaching with the gospel.  Gloria thanked Voice of the Martyrs.  “Through your prayers, we go together.  We don’t do this alone.  If it weren’t for you guys praying for us, I don’t think that God could make us invisible. “ 

Acknowledgement:  Voice of the Martyrs magazine, June, 2020

Radical Truth #3: Ignoring I and II Leads to Covetousness

America has been, considering the wealth of the median-income person, the richest nation on earth—so it is our unique responsibility to obey our Lord’s Words regarding the use of money. The first two radical commands to do that I previously outlined in Parts I and II: stop storing up excess assets; and, for those you have now, sell them and give to the world’s truly poor. There are two steps: (1) Sell all our excess possessions and give the cash raised to the world's poor; and (2) live frugally enough (buying only necessities), so that your income exceeds expenses—then regularly give the difference to the truly poor.

Let’s clarify one thing first: When Jesus was quoted in Luke 12:33, “Sell your possessions and give to the poor” this order was not directed to the "rich young ruler," as some assume.  Read it: it was to  ALL of us that have wealth and income in excess of necessities.  I suggest you redefine "necessities"--do you need 200 channels, over 3 TVs, or can you live on 60 channels over 1 TV?

Looking to the other extreme, was He wildly suggesting that we sell all our possessions, thus making ourselves poor? No; read Luke 3:11:

He (John the Baptist) answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”

Thus, we are to keep the necessary item for use, and give away the extra item--or items--i.e, the “excess beyond need.” We should do this with our savings funds, too.  You may object to that one: “only having only a small account means I don’t have a backup if something goes wrong.” Well, relax; God sees you; He will find a way to take care of you if something disastrous happens. (I'm not against a normal insurance on a spouse, by the way.) So, resolve yourself to sell your past accumulation of cash and property that isn’t truly necessary, as Jesus commanded.

Men, do you really need two complete sets of tools, if you're not in that profession? Sell one set. Give away the proceeds.  And keep the remainder of your tools that remain, organized, so you can live on one set. Ladies, is it essential that you have even one set of chinaware—if you only use it once or twice a year, for the real purpose of impressing others? Why not sell even the one? Are you worried about using average utensils at Thanksgiving?  Make your impression to relatives all year round by your godly character (Gal. 5:22-23), not by showing off luxury items.  Men, do you need that boat—after all, don't you take it out many Sundays so your family doesn’t even attend church regularly during the summer? Do you need six sweaters, five heavy coats, twenty shirts, ten pairs of pants? Ladies, does God really care if you show up in church wearing the same outfit twice? Will people talk?  Who cares? By giving to people in need, you have given glory to God--that's what counts.  Should we care that much for people, if their only measure of us is how classy and conformist we look?  Shouldn't we care more about God being more offended by our extravagance? And who is more important here—your friends of influence, or Him?  Your eternal Judge, of course--please Him. Here’s a big issue for married couples in the U.S.: Do you need two cars? Can’t one spouse drive the other to work, or can’t one of you use public transit? Or carshare to work? Or even Uber?, if you only need the second car on occasion?  Is your evening schedule, or the kids' schedule so hectic, that you need both cars to meet everyone's appointments?  Well, maybe you should slow it down by cutting some things out--are you the type who can't say "no" to every suggestion of assisting someone?  Be at home, have Scriptural time.  Family life could be improved if the kids are at home doing homework and everyone is there for dinner and getting to know your family's inner lives through discussion at dinner.

And for those whose expenses always manage to exceed income, so nothing goes to God, or even debt collectors: Have you set financial budgets, or goals in life--other than thinking about your next worldly purchase? Is your only concern when buying, how low is the down payment?  Have you searched determinedly for ways to be more frugal? There are plenty of helps online for you. Another argument people raise against giving to the Lord is telling Him if we give away our frills, we will deprive our children of some enjoyment. But what if you obey His will, by giving your frills away first, and tell your kids why they need to give things away--then what do your children see in you? Sacrifice. Then the lesson they learn is Love. Instead of Materialism. They learn that true love includes sacrifice. And we Christians are nothing without God's definition of Love (I Cor. 13: 1-8). The problem with America is, many families have enough money to satisfy each person in the family to do their own thing, without anyone sacrificing for another. The problem with that is, with no sacrificing, there is no sharing, no real love being learned. And with everyone doing their own thing, there is no bonding, no teamwork, and the children learn nothing about the importance of another’s feelings or likes—which makes them far less prepared for marriage, and close relationships. So yes, discard that second car. One of you stay at home.  Get rid of that second house, too—that one in upstate Michigan or down in Florida. And stop the cruises. How can we go to God on judgment day, when I can imagine He will show a split screen video—us on one side, living it up, and on the other side, people in impoverished nations that we ignored, scratching for subsistence? How then are we different than the rich man ignoring the poor Lazarus in Luke 16 (see my Radical 2 blog)? Will our final destination be any different than his? Are you absolutely sure that your salvation won’t be affected by our uncaring frivolity, since God sees all.  There are many Scriptures indicating beneficence to the poor and people who need help is essential to show that you truly are saved.  Just by not having a second car, your family can save over $6,000 a year, even if your second car is an older one (this dollar figure also realistically considers depreciation’s hidden cost as well as gas and maintenance and insurance). Do you realize the difference you could make by giving that kind of money to the worldwide poor instead of making your life a little more indulgent, or a little more convenient?

Let’s talk about America’s appetites to buy more, our continual grasping to raise our standard of living. Did you know that this is covetousness? Most people define that word as “wanting what belongs to another.” But as Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words points out, the Greek word translated "covetousness" is “pleonexia.” But the word simply means "a desire to have more… always in a bad sense" (e.g., wanting more possessions or power).

Let's discuss an unfortunate byproduct of the American economic system: In truth, the growth of our economy is founded upon advertising and consumption. That means our government blesses spending, and loves it when we are covetous. They even makes it our patriotic duty to be bathed in materialism. We talk about the latest trinkets, smartphones, and big trucks with our friends constantly, so these things are on our mind constantly. What is real love?  What we think the most of all.  We live in materialism, we breathe it.  We want more--we covet.

But covetousness is a serious sin. Let’s look at Ephesians 5:5:

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Read that definition of covetousness again: It is idolatry, loving something more than our God. (What we think about, what we talk about, wanting it to satisfy our desires--these are the true meaning of "love.") Is that you? And where is the eternal destination for this idolatry? NOT in the kingdom of God.  That means hell. That radical idea is confirmed in Colossians 3:5-6:

Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

As the superb commentary Precept Austin puts it, “covetousness is synonymous with idolatry because it places selfish desire above obedience to God…it is basically people doing what they desire, rather than what God desires. This in turn amounts to worship of self rather than worship of God, and this is the very essence of idolatry.” Note the verses above; covetousness invites the wrath of God.  Because America is so deeply ingrained in this sin, I would like to suggest that many (perhaps most) Americans are idolaters, as defined, and bound for hell, unless there is sincere repentance. There are a LOT of people in this country who think they’re saved because they “believe in Jesus”—but they don’t obey Jesus, because they accumulate superficial assets, spend frivolously, and ignore their poor brothers and sisters in the world who are dying unnecessarily. Remember, again, my Radical Part 2: the fact that the rich man was blissfully unaware in Luke 16 was no excuse for him. He still was judged for hell.

Here's another thought:  What else does Jesus say on this subject?

“Woe unto you that are rich!” (Luke 6:24).

(“Woe” is a word of denunciation, used for the unsaved, such as Luke 11:43-47). In Matthew 19:23ff, Jesus says, in part:

“it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven….It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

I remind you, we cannot argue that “I’m not rich.” God isn’t comparing you to Americans—He’s looking at the entire train of world history, in which most Americans would have to qualify as “rich.” (I have a different blog that discusses that subject). Let’s not deny our responsibility. Look at the threatening words again for being rich and getting heaven: “It is hard.” What does that really mean? We Americans, our richness has taken us away from God.  To overcome the disadvantages our wealth has given us, (how it makes us idolaters, selfish, and independent of God), to get to heaven, we have to be more passionately determined to be holy.  We have to really discipline ourselves to bully the desires of our flesh out of the way, to persevere in seeking God’s heart, to fight against the natural tendency in wealth to be complacent, or not depend on Him. We need to fight against the FALSE theology that “I’m doing well, and I know this comes from God, so God loves me.” (Most Americans have that belief.)  We have to fight against placing all our trust on this world, depending on our savings--and not thinking about the next world--which is a lot longer in duration! We too easily fall into the trap of Revelation 3:17, spoken to the church at Laodicea:

“You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

The severe denunciation of this church was because of their lukewarmness, their deception (well-off people who figure they do not need God every day), their complacency and self-deception, all go hand-in-hand.  But what does Jesus do to these lukewarm people?  Vomits them out of His mouth.  They don't belong in His Body.

May God help us to see us as He sees us.

Jesus' Radical Truth #2; Sell Excess Assets and Give to Poor

 As I indicated in the first "Radical Truth " blog, there are two commands by Jesus that form this radical doctrine, and I’ve only covered one--Matthew 6:19-21 clearly tells us not to accumulate excess assets:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven….

The other command is in Luke 12:33. In the NIV it is very plain:

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

These verses are paired (note the "thief" and “moth” illustration in both) in giving us God's will regarding money and assets. So here is our combined doctrine: In Matthew 6, we were told not to accumulate wealth assets. Now, if we have been accumulating assets, the Luke verse tells us to what to do with them; we are to sell them—and give the money to the poor. This doctrine will radically change how you handle your finances—if you’re interested in obeying every command of Jesus, and really WANT to have treasure in heaven.

But when I mention this doctrine to church folks, they get quiet and mildly uncomfortable, evidently not excited about building treasure in heaven. Overall, based on dollars given, versus income, it seems the plain fact about America is this: There are a lot of middle class people who call themselves Christian who really don’t care about giving serious money to the poor. (They may be thinking domestic poor, but I’m referring to the worldwide poor, those who die tragically early, without clean water or enough to eat, or in refugee camps, or suffering from easily preventable disease). It's also true that most peoples' giving that they do, will go to their church, so lots of it gets spent boosting the church facility and the programs and salaries. So little tithing goes for the worldwide poor, per se.

Does the images of starving folk bother church people?  Does anybody in a Christian group say, “The Holy Spirit is definitely beating me up about something in my daily prayers—how many of these poor people worldwide dying every day from malnutrition or sickness could have been, or could be, my brothers or sisters? It just blows my mind that I could actually save their lives but I’m wasting my money on the unnecessaries instead. Let’s get together and discuss fasting on occasion and living frugally and pool the savings and give it to them. We could save lives!” Music to our Lord’s ears! But rare.  Very rare.

American “Christians,” wake up! Consider again Luke 12:16-21, covered in Part 1 of this study, about what happens to a man whose sin was "he lays up treasure for himself:"

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Are we that rich fool? Could God be angry at us--maybe even eternally angry--because we just want to build better, lay back and retire?  We consume it, we stock it up, and are not thinking much about helping the poor, or what "treasures in heaven" even means. Read Luke 16:19-25:

“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell[a] from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.

The rich man is in the bad side of hades, flames and excruciating pain and all, so don’t you think Jesus wants to tell us how to avoid that, or what one of his major sins was that got him there? Of course Jesus wants us to know! Are you going to say, “Well, we don’t know--because Jesus doesn’t say." On such an important issue, paradise vs hades, is God going to be silent? That doesn't make sense. No, the ONLY conclusion is, the rich man is in hades because he had no compassion for the suffering poor man, the only other person in the story. The problem is, he knew the man was there, “at his gate.” But he walked right by him whenever he left home, and whenever he returned. But he didn’t help him. Well, are we churchgoers in America a step above this today? Maybe you’ll say, “None of these poor folks are at my door.” But they’re on your TV, they’re on the internet; you may even get calls from charities on the phone or in your mail. That means they are at your "gate." Do you walk by too?  Will you end up, surprised as this man was, at the same horrible final destination?

Jesus makes another related radical statement in Matthew 19:23:

Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

He even stresses the point by saying it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. The disciples were shocked at hearing that; they assumed (as we tend to do) that getting wealth is proof that God loves you. Jesus says completely the opposite. Jesus is really saying wealth will almost certainly distract you, obsess you, wrap your time up in material possessions, and tear you away from God so much that it's more likely you won’t make it to heaven. Think about that. That really makes gathering riches like gathering venomous snakes; here you are, making wealth as a precious goal, when in fact it will hurt you. (I’m not saying a high income is a curse. I’m saying plowing it into personal expenditures and excessive savings is a curse). Would you work hard and grasp something if you knew it would almost wipe out your chance at heaven? You’d think, “Nooo way.” But we do that very thing when we desire wealth. Now of course you might say, throughout this paper, “No problem; I’m not rich, in fact I have credit card debt, so I don't have a problem with this verse.” Well, in the Big Picture, almost all Americans are rich. We are the richest society, by far, in all of world history—in fact, our poorest 5% are richer than India’s richest 5% even now, to just give one perspective. So, you who are reading this—even if you’re middle class, even just below middle class, in America—you’re rich by world and historic standards. If you have credit card debt, it simply means you not only spent what God has lavishly given you, but you overspent and have not saved for short term emergencies. (There is no problem with saving a reasonable amount for short term emergencies).  The big problem with our relative wealth is, we tend to be sinfully callous about the horrible lives that many people live.

Many Christians who don't give rationalize by saying those people got there because they're lazy, or they haven't got proper goals for their lives. But how far do you want to take that argument?  Will you let them suffer malnutrition because we think they'll just waste it?  Really?  If you're rationalizing that their corrupt governments will prevent gifts of food from going to the poor people, so "I won't give," that's mostly a lie:  It's a proven fact that  most governments will allow safe transport of gifts to the proper destination--unless they are coldly practicing genocide (which doesn't happen often).  It may have been a bad farm year, it may be that government's ideas about how to run the economy were wrong, it may be that water is compromised for some reason. But should we let the people suffer from someone else's incompetency?  Maybe you decide not to give to a Communist country or a Muslim country thinking that's patriotic to the U.S.  These are enemies; letting them die, that'll teach them a lesson!  That sounds like stupid revenge.  But which does Jesus require--revenge, or love?  Let's not cop out, or rationalize our way out of this sacrifice for the Lord.  That's what He did; He gave to the people who were disabled, people who had no hope, the low end of the income scale--since nobody else cared.

But when you don't give from your excesses,  you are deceived into thinking a deadly thought--that you’re already fine with God, and you rationalize that more giving won't get you any more 'good with God.'  But in reality you’ve drifted away from His commandment.   You become complacent, you drift away from needing God.  You could get to a dangerous place--no longer a branch feeding off the Vine for spiritual life (per John 15). And what happens to non-abiding branches? What happens to lukewarm people? They go to the fire or are vomited out of the body. Remember, Jesus said in Matthew 7:14:

“...narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” 

When you really meditate on these verses, how the few get to heaven, and how it's even harder for the rich to get to heaven, you get the radical idea that the odds are stacked against Americans going to heaven. Our relative wealth falls under the severe warning of Matthew 19:23 above.   So if few people make it to heaven, even fewer rich people make it, could a large number of us be self-deceived into thinking we’re going to heaven when we aren’t? Consider His warning in Matthew 7:21-23:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.

And what is "the will of My Father?"  Love, mercy, justice, and--When you consider America--giving. The truly worldwide poor are your sisters, your brothers! They need it more than you do!

It takes a lot of faith to give away excess income, and also to liquidate excess assets and give away that money too.  But that's what He wants.  May God help us to do His will

A Radical Truth: Jesus Taught That We are Not to Accumulate Wealth

 Jesus taught us a strange and radical doctrine: that we are not to accumulate wealth. He made two commands that together form this doctrine. The doctrine is further supported in Acts and in the Pauline epistles. The first command I will cover here in Part I. It is found in Matthew 6:19-20:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Since the Greek for “treasures” means “concentration of wealth,” Jesus is clearly commanding us not to accumulate wealth assets on earth. This command is radical—and seldom preached. Dr. William MacDonald, late president of Emmaus Bible College, author of 84 published books, had this to say in his Believers Bible Commentary about these two verses:

“…contains some of the most revolutionary teachings of our Lord—and some of the most neglected. In verses 19-21 Jesus contravenes all human advice to provide for a financially secure future … This teaching forces us to decide whether Jesus meant what He said. If He did, then we face the question, “What are we going to do with our earthly treasures?” If He didn‘t (mean what He said), then we face the question, “What are we going to do with our Bible?””

Most Christians don’t even think about the real meaning of the Matthew verses; they are either reading their Bibles without asking the Holy Spirit for interpretation; or their pastors, when covering this Scripture, have distorted the teaching to make it more palatable--such as emphasizing our “attitude” about our possessions. The pastor simply only cares that we don't get obsessed with accumulating more wealth, or obsessed with protecting what we have. So they often tell us that our sin here is to “treasure in our heart” our possessions. Unfortunately, that severely changes the verse, detracting from its clear meaning of not accumulating assets; they "define" it to “not coveting,” a much more vague concept--and one easily dismissible by many nominal Christians--so, people conclude, "I'm not sinning if I'm not coveting."  Thus, they say we can forget the radical demand of the verse.  We get into a complacent mood (which we usually are). But the verse should be taken literally; it is simply a command not to lay up, or “store.” To preach that we need to look first at our heart to determine whether our possessions are our “treasure” is the exact opposite of what the verse says: as Jesus says in verse 21: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Jesus knows (better than we do) that if our treasures are on earth, then the heart’s desire focuses on protecting it, and is avaricious as well.

For further proof, let’s go to Luke 12:16-20. Here is a man who simply wants to be a saver, an investor, then retire—normal godly traits, we assume. If we didn’t read verse 20 and following, we would assert that he is a model of wise behavior:

"The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

This man DIES, and we can read clearly the reason--he accumulates. Jesus' judgment is contained in v.20: "Who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" No other motivation is given for God's reaction. People assume he's complacent; well, in American middle class, who isn't?  Maybe some people assume his sin was to eat, drink, and be merry.  Not so stated.  He has prepared for himself  this wealth.  Hmmm. God evidently does not see the virtue of “saving” as we see it (not a surprise, actually; see Isaiah 55:8). What was the sin of the rich man, that he was called a “fool?” Was it that he forgot to ask God’s advice on what to do with his riches? Was it his intent on laziness? His pride? Well, Jesus answers that question in the next verse. Did Jesus say, “So is he who forgets to seek counsel from God?” Or, “ so is he who is proud?” No; Jesus says in verse 21:

 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

This is so clear as to be unassailable.  Yet preachers everywhere twist the clear meaning into something smoother, more palatable--less radical. Let me emphasize this: His sin that made him a fool and paid with his life--was laying up treasure, accumulating wealth assets for himself and family--the same sin as quoted in Matthew 6 above. The verses point out a radical and  definite command from Jesus to us.  Will we obey that command, on faith?  Meditate on what you're reading here. Let’s call this concept Jesus’ command to Non-Accumulate. Yes, this is a financial life-changing doctrine. I suspect that pastors generally don’t believe that non-accumulation is a genuine command. They say, “Jesus cannot be teaching us to be so imprudent. What if I lose my job? If I haven’t saved some wealth, what could happen to me and my family? They say, Jesus must be using allegory here; or, He doesn’t mean this for everyone at all times. So, since it is not a real command, I can ignore it.” Well, there are two answers to this train of thought. The first answer is: If it’s a command, it’s a command to obey, no questions asked. Our job is to obey it, not explain it away because it might leave us feeling insecure. Let's not forget--God loves us.  And He knows--and can manipulate--the future better than us. We can’t always know why. We should have faith in a loving God as His children that He will sort out the repercussions of not saving to our best spiritual interest. The second answer is: Where is your faith in God’s power? Jesus knows our concern here and answers it only a few verses later—in Matthew 6:26 and 31-32:

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?…So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

In other words, trust in God, not in yourself (your savings). Look, we all need to see God at work more, to know that He is real. What better way to experience this than seeing God rescue us, as when we obey His command, and we get into a financial tough spot? If He doesn’t rescue in a tight spot, maybe He is telling us: Hey, how did you get in that spot?  If we got there by overspending,  maybe we need to get less worldly in the use of our money and time. A second possibility may be that He wants to teach us not to buy an item yet—that would teach us patience, or maybe we would use such item to indulge in some sin, or idolize it, pulling us farther away from Him. In any of these, we get away from getting closer to Him and His will if we just reduce some savings to pay for the item.  We should leave ourselves open to God speaking to us—which He can only do if we don’t just fall back on our savings or credit card, our own security, for rescue. Families with kids living with them should get their children involved too. First, you teach them giving--'til it hurts,' as they say. Then, say you're in a tight financial spot.  Lost your job, say (hopefully through no fault of your own).  If you and your kids actually plead with God and then see God rescuing you, or if your family sacrifices enough to do away with worldly desires and spend less and do a new budget, you—and the kids—are more likely, to see God's love for you in raining blessings and rescue down.  From that personal touch from Him, you can, as a family, grow to being “sold out” for the Lord. Isn’t that where you want your family to be? What would really sell the kids—and do good for humanity—would be to use your extra cash to give to the needy (to be discussed in second blog) rather than add to savings. By even giving away your savings or extra cash above necessities, you test Him (Malachi 3:10). He will be happy to show that He is your security, not your reserve savings. We need to make sure that we are not insecure in Him. According to Psalm 37:25, you are not vulnerable to poverty if you are in the center of God’s will. You can’t be in that wonderful place by trusting in yourself rather than God.