Jan 24th, 2024 marks the one-year anniversary since officiating my brother’s funeral service. I think about him often. Todd was a fun-loving guy, and he had an incredible mechanical aptitude. In his mind, he could visualize the mechanical function of just about anything. This gift allowed him to be quite successful in his machining career. Additionally, at his best, he was a great son, brother, and dad.
This does not mean in any way that Todd was without his faults. From his teen years, he enjoyed drinking. It was fun for him. Through the years though, “fun” Todd became frustrated, emotional, and not so much fun to be around. That which he chose, had now chosen him. What he once controlled now commanded a costly influence in his life. There were many casualties in the wake of his choices. Many. Several failed marriages. Heartbroken children, parents, and siblings. Job losses. Health issues. All the rest.
None of this should remotely be a surprise to any follower of Jesus.
31Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; 32At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.
Proverbs 23:31–32 (NASB95)
Admittedly, this post is a bit different from others I have written. Part of that is because I am mindful of the day. Another part relates to the urgency of action for others who might be slipping ever so subtly toward a similar precipice at the edge of losing everything.
I am a little weird. I stopped drinking back in the 90s. Faith had taken a more proper and significant role in my life. I came to recognize my influence on others. But I also looked at the days of my early adulthood and recognized that the Chris who once drank, did things that were not good, honorable, or healthy. They carried an emotional price that others had to pay with me.
I continue to abstain from alcohol today. Not because I believe the Scripture universally condemns consuming alcohol. Drunkenness is condemned. Abstention is commended as wise. But it is a stretch to say that any consumption of beverage alcohol is sinful. Frankly, too much attention is often given to this subject by those who want to press the case for total abstinence or Christian liberty. I make my case a bit differently.
Two primary motivations influence my position and both feed into a posture of worship.
First, there is a cost. I can look at my own foolishness of youth. I can look at the deaths and destructive patterns in my family that are directly attributed to alcohol consumption. The cost is too high and even if the Scriptures do not condemn the consumption of alcohol, wisdom beckons us to avoid it at any cost.
Second, I abstain because I want to be as missionally effective for the King as possible. Most people associate alcohol with conduct other than that of a disciple of Jesus. Many of the world’s religions reject drinking by those of their faith. The Bible universally commends the pursuit of wisdom and universally treats avoiding alcohol as wise conduct. For example, It is the only position commended for King Lemuel in Proverbs 31. What I know is, that my ordering a Coke Zero, sparkling water, or sweet tea at a party has never cost me an opportunity to share the gospel. A beer in my hand just might. Do I care that others who are disciples of Jesus see this differently? Of course I do, but it is not a test of fellowship for me.
What I am painfully aware of today is the weighty burden that alcohol placed on the shoulders of my nieces and others in my family. Alcohol was voluntarily chosen until suddenly, and against his will, my brother was taken captive by it. I watched him battle the addiction for many years. Today, I take some comfort in knowing that my brother no longer wrestles against this demonic influence that razed the harvest fields of his life.
For those who see alcohol as a social grace, a prop for peace, or help of some other sort…know that I once did also, and so did my brother. I stepped away before it was too late for me. It caught him. And the only sure defense for you is to turn back now. You’ll not regret it. Yes, some will think you’re weird. I will join the counsel of Scripture in thinking you’re wise.
Frank Robinson. That’s who first said, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Actually, the quote by the Hall of Fame player, coach, manager, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005) in its entirety which appeared in Time Magazine (July 31, 1973) said, “Close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
Close can be but is not always close enough. Take, for instance, this encounter of a religious leader and Jesus.
18A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20“You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 21And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” antis
Luke 18:18-22, NASB95
As resumes go, this guy had some high points. Since his coming under the Law (think age-of-accountability…or bar-mitzva), the leader had kept the Mosaic law perfectly. That’s quite a statement! Yet, Jesus still pointed to something that was missing. He tells the man to divest himself of worldly possessions and become a follower. Jesus is not advocating a vow of poverty. He is chipping away at what this man relied on for righteousness with God…apart from surrendering to the Messiah.
This man would point to his achievements, his background, and his affiliations as accomplishments. Jesus treated them as obstacles. Not that the Law was a stumbling block. We know that the Law is good…unless we trust in it to make us righteous before God. The same is true with security. Sometimes we can trust more in our retirement account for the future, than the God who holds the future. We can trust more in our training than in our calling. We can trust more in our success than in the Savior. That’s the point. We NEED/REQUIRE someone to save us. We cannot save ourselves. No matter how perfect we think we are. No matter our training or background. No matter what our genealogical record is. To be righteous before God, we must be rescued by God.
Does God rescue everyone? Of course not. In fact, when we read the rest of this story (Luke 18:23-30), Jesus indicates that this man was not a believer because of the difficulty of surrender. The Gospel writer records that the man left Jesus’ presence filled with sorrow BECAUSE of his vast wealth. He wanted to bring one thing with him into the presence of God. Just one. But God requires that we come to Him empty-handed. The opening verse of the beloved hymn, “Just as I am,” captures this perfectly: “Just as I am, without one plea. But, that Thy blood was shed for me…” (Charlotte Elliott, 1835).
Since there are no perfect Christians, who then can be saved? Jesus said that salvation is impossible with man’s efforts but achieved perfectly by God’s grace (Luke 18:27). Who then does God save and how can we be assured of it? The Bible says that Salvation is a gift by God’s grace and experienced as we exercise faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, assurance is tied to the demonstration of faith. That’s as true for us as it was for the religious leader. If there is any command that we refuse, we cannot be fully assured of our right-standing before God. (That’s why the ruler came to Jesus even though he had such a strong religious resume). Something was missing and he hoped to obtain it.
Recently I was asked about the importance of baptism. While baptism is not a requirement to be saved, it is certainly a command for those who are saved and evidence of one’s faith in Christ as Lord. All believers are commanded to be baptized as a confession of their faith. Baptism is the biblically required confession of faith. It is not a second level of grace or the product of an extended discipleship journey. It may be difficult to submit to, but that doesn’t make it irrelevant or unachievable.
Baptism is an act of obedience. It is either ON or OFF. No one gets kinda baptized. You either are, or you’re not. I have watched friends wade out into some of the snakiest watering holes in South Asia or step down into murky springs behind fortress-like walls to be baptized. These candidates came, at times, from hours-long journeys to confess faith in Jesus! And they do so in the predominantly Hindu culture where it can be a capital offense to “convert” someone from Hinduism to Christianity. They risk their lives and their family’s lives and the lives of their church family to confess Christ. Why? Because Jesus commanded believer’s baptism as a profession of faith in Him. Jesus Himself submitted to John’s baptism (over and against John’s initial protest…which is another sermon entirely). Baptism is important and I maintain that the Bible teaches, and experience affirms, that apart from it, something is lacking. Something is amiss. Like with the religious ruler to whom Jesus speaks, “One thing you lack,” the peace with God that He desires and provides is elusive until we yield completely to the Master’s commands.
One last observation on this gospel story. Jesus let the man walk away. He did not compromise on His instruction. He did not accept the premise that the man was close to the Kingdom and that close was close enough for now while the man grew in the faith necessary to follow Jesus. He permitted the man to walk away, sorrowfully. That sorrow was twofold. Jesus was sorrowful, desiring the man’s repentance (See Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34). I imagine that the religious leader spent many sleepless nights thinking about how close he was to the peace of assurance of eternal life. I imagine that Jesus’ instructions played on a loop in his mind and heart. In fact, I have enough experience with this kind of surrender that I can say without any doubt…the conviction of needed surrender remained until the man either hardened his heart against it or surrendered his will to it. God is too loving to leave us “close.” Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
So how do we, as believers, view and deal with a person’s, in this case the ruler’s, unwillingness to surrender? This may be the most significant point of all. We love the ruler and continue to press for surrender. We continue to pray for God to grant repentance. We labor under the burden of concern for as long as there is a burden. We express the same sorrowful desire Jesus exhibited when crying out that He longed to gather Israel to Himself, but they were unwilling. We never give up on the rulers we know, and we never surrender the steadfast assurance of God’s Word. That’s true for the man who refuses baptism. That’s true for the woman who refuses to relinquish a stronghold. Whether this person is a genuine believer or not is above my paygrade; however, my loving, kind, encouraging, and exhortative call to obedient submission is the centerpiece of my mission as a pastor, but more significantly as a Christ-follower. After all, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
Once a week. That’s usually how often I am asked. “When do you think it will be safe to come back to church?” I wonder if the question is actually eclipsing the answer.
Why? Because ours is not a safe faith. Ours is not a low-risk proposition. Ours is not a comfortable existence. At least, not in its design. Having been arrested and threatened by the same people that ordered the death of their Rabbi, these disciples found themselves weighing out risk and praying an unusual prayer:
29“And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” 31And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:29–31 (NASB95)
These disciples felt it odd to ask Jesus for safety. They instead asked for boldness. Of greatest importance in their lives was not survival but significance. They worried less about their untimely deaths than their neighbor’s eternal lostness. They prayed for boldness.
We learn from this prayer where confidence…that which the disciples begged God for…comes from.
Confidence (boldness) is a supernatural gift. They asked God for confidence.
Confidence is an exhibited gift. As they prayed, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with boldness.
Confidence is rooted in God’s Person. The first words of their prayer was to ask Jesus to take note of the circumstances: both their threats and our calling.
If Christian doctors valued safety over mission, they’d never show up for work. Instead, they wash up, glove up, mask up, and press forward. If Christian police officers valued safety over mission, they’d never show up for work. Instead, they stand up, strap on their gear, mask up, and head out to protect you and me. The mission before us as Christ-followers is no less important than that of medical professional and police officers. Perhaps we might consider and pray, Lord, take note of our circumstances, and grant that your servants might engage our culture, express praise in worship, demonstrate confidence in an all-knowing and all-powerful God, while you extend your hand to heal and save.
Originally published in The BEAM, March 2021, Englewood Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, NC www.englewoodbaptist.com
I am asked a lot (especially in these days) what Bible Translation I preach from. Most folks that ask the question are part of the church I am privileged to teach weekly and simply want to follow along to the preaching text more closely. I respect that. In fact, one of the first things I did many years ago was grab a translation that matched the one my pastor used.
I made the decision almost twenty years ago to center my preaching ministry on the text of the New American Standard Bible (NASB). From early on in Bible College and Seminary, many of the professors required this translation because it was considered to be one of the most accurate translations that held to “formal equivalence translation philosophy.” That means (essentially) that the translators sought to use the English Word that most accurate translated the precise word in the original language: either Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek; and, to use the essentially literal equivalent word even if doing so made the sentence a little more difficult to read.
That said, I am not married to a particular translation. You’ll not hear me get on a rant about one translation or another. In fact, most English translations are useful for their intended purpose.
Remember that the sixty-six books of the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Throughout the ages, these writings have been translated into popular language to make the text accessible to the masses of people. Unless you’re a Hebrew scholar, you’re likely unfamiliar with Hebrew vocabulary; therefore, the best way to make the Old Testament accessible to you is to translate it into English. Whenever you translate between languages, you have a difficulty to overcome…not every language has an exact equivalent word for every other language. Furthermore, specific language nuance (such as colloquialisms) carries with it shades of meaning.
For instance, If I wrote in a letter, “That Clemson safety killed that receiver on that last play,” you may have trouble translating word for word into Hindi without confusing the reader. After all, no one actually died in the football game. Because of this, some translators choose to modify the words in the receptor language to capture the idea of the original. (Think NIV).
Other translators also use a philosophy like that of the NASB, but they are a little more open in their word choices, seeking to make the sentence structures more easily readable (Think ESV or CSB, NKJV).
So, why do I use the NASB? As you know, I make a big deal out of words and word meanings. I think that’s an important aspect of my teaching/preaching ministry. Therefore, I chose a translation that most accurately reflected an essentially literal equivalent to the original language.
Do you only read the NASB? No! I read a passage from several translations in my preparation process and will occasionally use different translations in the act of preaching if another translation communicates the passage better.
Do you recommend that we get a NASB Bible if we are under your teaching? Bible translations (to me) are an intensely personal decision. So, my answer is, “It depends.” If following along word-for-word with my sermon text is important to you, then you will likely be most interested in getting a NASB Bible. If you have memorized a thousand verses in the NKJV and that is your heart language (so to speak) then stick with what you prefer. There are no bonus points or demerits for using a particular translation. As a side note, there is no uniformity among the pastors on our staff at the church. We use the ESV, NASB, NKJV, and even a KJV just on our staff. I personally have been reading the CSB devotionally all year and have grown to like it.
How should I choose a translation? First, I would probably use a Bible App and read a passage in several translations. For instance, read John 3 or Philippians 1 in the NASB, NIV, ESV, and NKJV. See which one is easiest to comprehend. You may even find the NLT to be helpful. I personally find it to be very conversational in tone but difficult to study (since I am a big “word” guy).
Will you always preach from the NASB? I would hate to commit to “always,” but it has served me well for almost two decades and I don’t see a reason to shift to anything else on the market today. I will switch to the 2020 update in a few months from the 1995 version that I currently use. This is primarily because those who use Apps to read the text will almost all get the 2020 version when they select the NASB rather than the older one from 1995. Also, the minor language adjustments I have seen seem to be helpful.
Will you ever use another translation? Yes. Count on some cross references coming from other translations at times; however, I will typically use the NASB for my primary Bible text.
Why do we have so many translations anyway? That’s a great and “common” question. When you read the front pages of a translation, the translators explain their rationale and philosophy. Also, there are other issues that inform translation work, but that is a conversation for another day and a good reason for you to enroll in one of my studies in the future on the Doctrine of the Bible. Again, I find different translations helpful since I am not an expert in any of the ancient biblical languages.
Why did you write these 1,000 words about your bible translation? That is the best question of the day. I thought I might try to answer a question I am often asked by others. I hope that if you made it this far, the article was helpful.
1You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1–2 (NASB95)
What does “success” look like?
Numbers matter. Yep, I said it. As a pastor, I constantly fight the feeling within me to focus on “numbers” as a proper measure of success. Many days I have walked away from a great sermon and felt like it “flopped” simply because the attendance was low. At other times, I’ve taught an average (or below average) lesson and felt like a rock star because the room was more filled than normal.
Activity matters. There have been days when I was really proud of the fact that I preached four or five times…or I taught for six or eight hours. After all, if you are doing a lot, you must be successful.
Truthfully, activity is important and numbers are a reasonable measure of influence; however, neither activity nor numbers are effective indicators of success. In the passage above, we see that the Apostle Paul instructs Timothy in his ministry…to entrust what he has learned to faithful men who will entrust these things to others. No amount of activity is given as a standard. No base line of numbers is identified as acceptable. What is articulated is duplication…or more accurately, multiplication. Stated differently, Paul says to Timothy: your ministry is to multiply people who do what you do, which is to take what they’ve heard and teach it to others. Another word for this is discipleship.
Discipleship is not a class or a multi-week study. It is not an hour set aside on Sunday or Wednesday evenings. It is not a program, a pathway, or a track to follow. Discipleship is a descriptor of the life of a Christ-follower. Discipleship describes a life of learning, obeying, and teaching others to learn and obey. It alone is the measure of success.
I expect that many will be surprised when standing before Jesus one day. These will try to tell Jesus how busy they were, how many groups they were in, how many hungry people they fed, how many spiritual crisis situations they intervened in. These people will point to the breadth of their ministry lives. In then end though, when they came to the end, so did their ministries because they never multiplied their influence.
Is it possible that one faithful person who intentionally discipled one person a year who went out and did the same could better obey the Great Commission than the most active of church members and eloquent of teachers?
Reflection: Who are you discipling right now? Who is discipling you? If you hesitate on either or both questions, then the next step is to ask the Lord for forgiveness and commit to begin the discipleship journey today.
These days of social distancing have been equal parts of testing and encouragement for me. I love seeing how the body of Christ rises up to serve their neighbors. I love seeing pictures of families playing games together, doing schoolwork together, and studying the bible together. I love seeing families freed from the stresses of incessant commitments to dance, sports, events, and travel. I love seeing parents breathe.
How about you? Do you long for the days of jamming your schedule full of extracurricular activities again? Don’t get me wrong! I love sports and love watching parents cheer on their gymnasts, future ballerinas, and the like. I think all of these things are good; I just think that living with some intentional margin could be beneficial for us all as well.
In these days, many of us have been given a gift. We have the opportunity to restart. We can begin again. There is no need to rush right out and rebuild everything as it was before. What if we, instead, planted some intentional markers in our lives…boundary stones if you will, that became immovable points that we built our lives around?
For instance:
If family dinner has been amazing and fruitful, why not make family dinner 2, 3 or 5 times per week a fixed boundary stone?
If daily exercise, or morning quiet time has been fruitful, why not make it a fixed boundary stone?
If working together on memory verses or a family bible study has been fruitful, why not make it a boundary stone?
If shutting off email and rolling all phone calls to voicemail after 6 pm has been fruitful, why not make it a boundary stone?
You may ask, “What good is a boundary stone?”
Long after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, there will be opportunities to join a new bowling league. If it interferes with family dinners, then your decision has already been made—it violates a boundary stone, so it is not a good fit for you. If you are offered a promotion that requires you to work deep into the night returning calls and emails, then the decision is already made because you erected a boundary stone.
If you are like me, you did not plan to be as busy as you were. You always intended more family time. You always wanted to prioritize your faith walk, your rest, and your physical health. You simply added a few little things periodically until there was no longer margin.
My personal goal and pastoral prayer is that we learn from our past and lean on this corrective season. How about you? How will you change your lifestyle moving forward after the pandemic has cleared and life begins to accelerate? I pray that your boundary stones will serve you well.
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