"Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22 (NKJV)

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Week 34: Keep in Step with the Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." ~ Galatians 5:22-25

A few weeks ago, God convicted me that in my effort to obey His commands, I had committed the sin of pride. The sin isn't that I'm proud of my obedience. I'm not. If you've been reading this blog, then you know it's more about my failures than my successes. My sin has been in thinking that I could transform my life by my own power---that by sheer will power I could make myself more like Jesus. That's not just been my attitude for the last year. It's been my attitude for my whole Christian life. The truth is that I'm a proud person and like to feel self-sufficient.

God's conviction has at least given me another chance to practice repentance. And, now, a bit of confession to all of you. Maybe you noticed that The James 1:22 Project has been on hiatus for three weeks. The truth is that I've been extraordinarily busy at work and home and haven't had much time for blogging. I've also been thinking and praying about whether I should continue the blog.

Over the last couple weeks, God has repeatedly brought me back to Galatians, Chapter Five. What I've grasped (and this never sank in before) is the Apostle Paul's emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in changing believers. Many times in my life, I've looked at the list of the fruit of the Spirit---love, joy, peace, etcetera, and resolved that I would change my life to better exemplify those qualities. What has never sunk in before is that all of those things (love, joy, peace, etcetera) are the fruit of the Spirit---not the fruit of human effort. Self-control, for example, is a fruit of the Spirit. In other words, self-control is beyond my control! I can't make myself be more self-controlled. According to Galatians 5:18, "If [we] are led by the Spirit, [we] are not under the law." It's doesn't say, "if we follow. . . ." It says, "if we are led."

The Spirit takes the initiative.

The Spirit leads us.

The Spirit changes our character.

The Spirit causes us to obey with right hearts.

We can't possibly transform ourselves. So, what are the practical implications? Is it wrong for Christians to make an intentional effort to do what the Bible says? Should we just do what feels right, depending on the Spirit to give us pure hearts? And, what does all this mean for The James 1:22 Project?


There's another side to Galatians, Chapter Five. According to Paul, we don't play a completely passive role. We are commanded to "live by the Spirit" (Gal. 5:16) and to "keep in step with the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25). God commands us (our thoughts, emotions, speech, and conduct), because we have some measure of free will. We don't have the ability to put to death our sinful nature by our own power. God does ask us, however, to choose whether we will trust and follow His plan or pursue the desires of the flesh.

I don't think "living by the Spirit" or "keeping in step with the Spirit" rules out making an effort to obey God's commands. To the contrary, I think that part of keeping in the step with the Spirit is choosing, over and over again, God's plan over our sinful desires. That, however, cannot be the end of it, or we would have a tendency to fall right back into prideful, self-reliant, legalism. To live by the Spirit means to choose, over and over again, God's plan over our sinful desires, while daily repenting of our self-reliance and confessing that we cannot conquer our sinful nature without the Spirit's power.

The James 1:22 Project continues. Stay tuned for Week 35. We're on the home stretch, with six weeks to go.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Week 33: Love Your Enemies

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?Do not even pagans do that?" ~ Matthew 5:43-47

I'm a trial lawyer. On a daily basis, I'm engaged in an aggressive adversarial process. The idea behind the American civil justice system is that when two parties have a dispute that they are not able to resolve, instead of slugging it out or shooting it out, they will hire lawyers who will fight it out in court. Litigation is a civilized proxy for physical combat. Sometimes, however, it's not very civilized. In fact, things can become very hostile and unpleasant. I don't consider every attorney on the opposite side of a case to be my enemy. Despite the reputation of lawyers, many of them are as gracious as possible within the adversarial system. Some lawyers, however, have earned their bad reputation. And, if you're a trial lawyer, you can never forget that even the nicest lawyer on the other side is still on the other side, and his job is to defeat you.

What does it mean for us Christians to love those who oppose us? In this passage, Jesus shows us a couple of practical things that we should do. In verse 47, Jesus indicates that we ought to greet them. In other words, we don't have permission to snub or ignore those who oppose us. In verse 45, Jesus says that God causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the unrighteous and the righteous. In other words, God meets the physical needs of those who follow Him and those who oppose Him. If we are sons of God, then we should have the same character. So, as far as we are able, we should meet the needs of those who oppose us. In verse 44, Jesus says we ought to pray for our enemies. How should we pray for them? By following the model that Jeus gives just a few verses after commanding his disciples to pray for their enemies. We should pray for God's kingdom and will to come to the lives of those who oppose us. We should pray that God would lead them to repentance. We should pray that God would meet their needs and show us how we might help them. Finally, we should pray that God would forgive them for their sins, help us to forgive them, and forgive us for our unforgiveness.

I've always tried to be kind and courteous to opposing attorneys. For me, this passage places spiritual significance on those relationships. We ought to be kind to others, not based on a hope that cosmic karma will return that kindness to us, but out of obedience to our Lord and based on trust in Him.

This passage has also been a call to pray for my adversaries, which I've never done before this last week. As I've tried to pray for those who oppose me, the prayers have sometimes been difficult to speak. When someone has been unkind, rude or dishonest to me, it's difficult for me to wish them well. My natural tendency is to want to see them punished. I want justice, darn it!

From where does the power to sincerely bless our enemies come? I believe it comes from faith in God's justice. Several times this week, God has reminded me that He is just and that justice belongs to Him. For those of us who follow Jesus, God's justice for our sins was satisfied on the cross. As for those who reject Jesus, there will be justice for their sins also.