LCMI - An Open Letter

I wrote this letter quite some time ago, but was REALLY impressed by the Spirit to use it for a Reflection this week. It is not an article – it is an open letter that I wrote to work out some things that I was going through at the time. I pray that the Spirit of God would allow you to see my heart as I share openly and vulnerably with you. Shalom – Mike

I am writing, not to anyone in particular, although I am sure the Lord will have me send this to people as He sees fit to do. But I am writing to work out some things for myself, and to be reminded of the greater TRUTHS of my calling. I pray that anyone who reads these words will be challenged, encouraged, and blessed as I share my heart.

As so often happens in this ministry, I receive criticism from people who are concerned about me, the ministry, or a particular point of my theology. It saddens me that people are not willing to hear my heart, are not willing to hear the deep convictions of my spirit, or to hear and understand how difficult it is for me to walk this path God has called me to walk. I am reminded of the old native America saying, that you cannot judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes. Christians would do well to learn from this old saying.

I admit that there is a huge wave of self righteousness that wants to raise its ugly head in me at times like that. I work hard to be open and honest about my struggles and shortcomings and I feel very violated when I invite people into my inner world only to have someone come in and try to rearrange all my furniture, so to speak. Amen, that is a choice I make whenever I open myself up, but none-the-less, it does not make it any less painful.

Who are you that judges another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. But he will stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Rom 14:4 MKJV)

This verse has application in so many areas of this issue, both for the one who is judging me, and likewise for me in relating to those who judge me. I feel like I am walking a thin line, especially when the ones who are judging me are people whom I have discipled and counseled for hundreds of hours. I have to be faithful to my calling, yet I know I need to be open to receive whatever the Lord may have through the interaction. It is a difficult line to walk to say the least.

One interaction I had recently saddened my heart deeply and gave me insight into what Paul was writing to the Church at Galatia.

“I marvel that you so soon are being moved away from Him who called you into the grace of Christ, to another gospel, which is not another, but some are troubling you, and desiring to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from Heaven preach a gospel to you beside what we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, and now I say again, If anyone preaches a gospel to you beside what you have received, let him be accursed. For now do I persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ. And, brothers, I make known to you the gospel which was preached by me, that it is not according to man. For I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it except by a revelation of Jesus Christ. (Gal 1:6-12 MKJV)”

It is important to remember that no one has the correct theology, doctrine, and beliefs. We are ALL messed up in this area. It is ARROGANT to believe that what we believe is totally the TRUTH. In fact, it is purely self-righteousness. Nearly every time I am confronted about something it is because of a doctrinal or theological dispute. Anyone who insists that his or her way is the “right way” is self righteous. As I often point out, I am not even sure I agree with everything I teach all the time. But I will say that I am convinced that there is TRUTH in it, or I would not teach it. Remember that Jesus is TRUTH. Nothing else is TRUTH besides Him. So what I am really saying is, I am convinced that Christ is in what I teach. It is Christ that people recognize and respond to not anyone’s “profound” teaching or counsel. Whenever something that is true of Christianity or of Christ’s life becomes the focus of our belief systems, it will always end up becoming a distraction from Christ. In fact, I am becoming more and more convinced that Christ is not in those things at all; they are vain imaginings.

But He answered and said to them, Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. However, they worship Me in vain, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Mark 7:6-7 MKJV)

In fact, these distractions can become an end in themselves, and can ultimately become an idol. In other words, theology and doctrine can be idols, they can become what I cling to and worship rather than Christ.

O foolish Galatians, who bewitched you not to obey the truth, to whom before your eyes Jesus Christ was written among you crucified? This only I would learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, do you now perfect yourself in the flesh? (Galatians 3:1-3 MKJV)

We must hold our beliefs loosely, and cling to the person of Christ. We do not rule our beliefs, the things we believe rule us, and we are always limiting the power of God in our lives through our faulty beliefs. In fact, unbelief is really just false belief. It is a belief structure that is built around something other than totally trusting the person of Jesus Christ. The following verses all deal with unbelief in its various forms. Matthew 13:58; 17:20; Mark 6:6; 9:24; 16:14; Romans 3:3; 4:20; 11:20, 23, 32; 1 Timothy 1:13; Hebrews 3:12, 19; 4:6, 11.

All of the lesser doctrines of Christ must give way to the Life of Christ Himself. Obedience, confession, repentance, restitution, forgiveness, honesty, humility, charity, love, faith, works, righteousness, holiness, etc, are all the RESULTS of the work of Jesus in a person. But the moment I focus on ONE aspect of His work, I lose sight of the bigger picture, and the person of Christ. Something that is true distracts from the Truth.

Because our human tendency is to chase after the secondary things of God without first having the primary things in place, God has called us to a ministry of re-establishing His order for life. We were teaching this at a conference one night when someone asked about the place of obedience in the Christian life. My response was a simple question: "The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. How are you doing on that?" He responded by saying that he wasn’t doing too well.

We chase after the nuggets of God while missing the gold mine. If you have the gold mine, you get the nuggets. When the primary things of God are in place in your life all the secondary things fall into place. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) This is what Jesus meant when He said the Law and the prophets were summed up in the greatest command -- Love God (Matthew 22:37). Let’s put this in perspective. A person can’t love God and hate his brother. (1 John 4:20) There are people I don’t like a whole lot. The Lord has shown me that my love for them indicates how much (or little) I actually love Him. When I come to the place of seeing I really don’t love God and others, then I see that I need a life that does. This is the Life of Christ. When I see I can’t, He says, "I can!"

Jesus loves His Father and Jesus dwells in me. Christ is my life! The Christian life is so simple, but it gets muddied with our misunderstandings and we end up chasing after the secondary things of God. I could personally never find victory and Life until I was willing to embrace the fact that Jesus is all I need. The whole point of all God’s commands is to show us we can’t. It reveals how desperately we need Jesus.

To the angel of the church of Ephesus write: He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, says these things. I know your works and your labor and your patience, and how you cannot bear those who are evil. And you tried those pretending to be apostles, and are not, and have found them liars. And you have borne, and have patience, and for My name's sake you have labored and have not fainted. But I have against you that you left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. But you have this, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:1-7 MKJV)

In the first part of Revelation chapter 2, God addresses the church at Ephesus, saying in essence, "I know all about what you are doing, and you have a lot of good things in place. But there is one thing I have against you, that you have lost your first love."

We often believe that the first love God talks about is our love for Him. As a result, we set out to either be sure we properly love God, or we attempt to whip up some love for Him. However, scripture defines scripture, and our assumptions get us into trouble when we do not seek His mind on things. God has clearly told us that, "We love because HE first loved us." (1 John 4:19) The first love we have lost is NOT our love for Him, but the awareness of His overwhelming love for us.

My challenge is this: Ask the Lord to give you a glimpse of His love for you. As you ask Him to reveal His love, be prepared. God clearly shows in His word that whenever people catch a glimpse of Him, it is more than they can bear. Not because He is so terrible, but because His love is overwhelming and all consuming, making us feel as if we will fall to pieces or explode. This is illustrated in the story, "The Golden Key" written by George Macdonald. One of the characters, Tangle, meets up with "the child" and describes him this way:

"There was such an awfulness of absolute repose on the face of the child that Tangle stood dumb before him. He had no smile, but the love in his large gray eyes was deep as the centre. And with the repose there lay on his face a shimmer as of moonlight, which seemed as if any moment might break into such a ravishing smile as would cause the beholder to weep himself to death…. The child drew near and looked up in her [Tangle’s] face so that she burst into tears…."

Receiving Jesus’ love into our lives is a moment-by-moment occurrence, not just a one-time occasion. Let Him love you with your heart wide open. As you grow in the awareness of His love for you, you will respond by loving God. This in turn will result in a love for others that will totally amaze you.

"…Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." Jude 21

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:14-20

The reason I write all of this is not to teach anyone anything, but to work out my own thoughts and feelings, while also being reminded of the TRUTH – i.e. being reminded of Jesus, and the first love.

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; (2 Corinthians 4:5-13 KJVR)