The East Balsam Beacon April May 2012

Being loud and brash or awkwardly meek does not demonstrate strength or gentleness. The man who punches the wall is no less gentle than the man who who won’t speak to children for fear of them.  Neither of them are gentle although one is more obvious in his temper.  The point is that gentleness is active and not passive.  It not about what you don’t do and more about what you do. The boy who looks away when his friend is being beat up on the playground is not a gentle boy. He is weak and timid. Gentleness faces fear and uses controlled strength to protect and love others.

Gentleness is on Paul’s list of the Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Fruit here is singular. These qualities work in unison. So joy, love, peace and patience work together with gentleness. These fruit “clusters” are marks of a person controlled by the Spirit. So this profound quality of gentleness is not something one can achieve apart from the Spirit’s influence and initiative. All good things come from God alone and not as the result of our effort. So then, this fruit grows naturally and painlessly as an outflow of the Spirit’s presence in a person’s life.

But this is not to say that gentleness always comes easily.  Paul admonishes the believers repeatedly because of humans proclivity toward brashness and/or avoidance. “You who are spiritual should restore him (the transgressor) in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1). Timothy is to correct his opponents “with gentleness” (I Tim. 2:25) and to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness” (I Timothy 6:11). And Paul wishes to come to the church in Corinth not with a rod but “with love in a spirit of gentleness” (I Cor. 4:21).

Gentleness then reminds us of how we are to behave in the face of our opponents and the sins of others.  It pushes us into battle with the goal of restoring, loving and caring for the broken and disobedient. It has a game face, soft and gentle but set like flint. So when you pray for the fruit of the Spirit to grow in your heart, don’t forget to pray for more gentleness. It will make you stronger.

So as sour as we feel and as badly we want the bug to go away, being sick does put us in our proper place. Not that we belong in a state of sickness but we do belong in a state of dependence and gratitude: “Thank you Father that I am not always like this. Thank you that I will get better. Thank you that you have saved me from the eternal torment of hell and its demons. Thank you that my body will be transformed into a heavenly one.” And with phrases like that, sickness causes deep and genuine worship. Sickness reminds us to share the gospel with those on whom the wrath of God still rests. And it tells us to make good use of our days because they are few and health is fleeting.

So don’t let the stomach flu come and go without repenting, worshiping and remembering the vapor like essence of life. God will make the bug give Him greater glory. You should too.

Resistance makes stronger muscles and stronger men. Avoiding responsibility and difficult decisions makes men weak and flimsy. Men who go uphill and face challenges head on are the men who truly grow up and take Christ’s command seriously to bear burdens, lead their families and shepherd their churches. Sometimes this comes naturally but most of the time, it doesn’t.

Dads, are you embracing the weight of fatherhood? Are you bearing the brunt of responsibility for the spiritual, emotional and physical care of your family? Do you exemplify to your children a biblical man, a man you want your sons to be like? Listen to these words from Doug Wilson in “Future men: Raising Boys to Fight Giants”

“This is a great need in the Christian Church today- we have a dearth of genuine fathers. We have males who have begotten more males but we do not have many true fathers. Many men who should now be training their boys to be men are not yet men themselves. The gauntlet which their boys need to run is a gauntlet which they themselves failed to run. The battle their sons face is battle which they once faced, and lost. Because of this, many of the lessons about masculinity contained in Scripture must first be internalized by the fathers. Such men must learn to be men themselves before they can teach their boys to be men.” (pg. 32)

What is the gauntlet that you yourself need to run? What are the battles that you have faced and lost that you need to face again?  What point of resistance do you pull back from that needs to be confronted?

Shoveling snow is easy. Fighting giants is hard. So when you put the shovel back in the garage and turn your face back to your home and family, remember that the work has just begun.

1. Christ loved the church while she was dead in her sin

“But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8)

“But God, being rich in mercy…even while we were dead in our trespasses and sins made us alive together with Christ.” (Eph. 2:4)

“You did not choose me but I chose you.” (John 15:16)

Application: Love your wife unconditionally. Don’t wait for her to be just the way you want her and then start loving her. Start loving her now. Remember that Christ loved us even when we were dead in our sins.

2.    Christ did not just die for the church, he continues to sanctify her.

“….that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word….” (Eph. 5:26)

“….He always lives to make intercession for them…..” (Heb. 7:25)

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Heb. 10:14)

Application: Loving your wife is not a one-time act or a state of mind, it is an ongoing activity.  Any fool can pull together a few good days of loving your wife. The command to love your wife is ongoing.

3.    Christ takes pleasure in His church

“….so that he might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing….” (Eph. 5:27)

“Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

 His aim is his own delight in the work He has done. 

Application: Take pride and pleasure in seeing your wife flourish under your gentle leadership. Make your wife your trophy.  Take more pride in your wife then your fishing gear, deer heads and trucks.

4.    Christ went to war with sin, not the church

“In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (I John 4:10)

 “He Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” (I Peter 2:24)

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

Application: Do not fight your wife, fight your own sin.  Do not go to war with your wife, go to war with your own flesh.   Don’t wake up in the morning and say, “how can my wife conform to me” but say “how can I kill my own sin and conform to Christ.”

5.    Christ took responsibility for His church

“He became sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Cor. 5:21)

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” (Heb. 10:12)

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever……” (Hebrews 6:19-20)

Application: Assume full responsibility for your wife, regardless of her successes and failures. Don’t pull away when she fails. Use every occasion to nourish and cherish her.

Homes are not prisons or incubators that keep people from the rest of the world. They are the world itself. Mothers are at the heart of the planet. The home is where Christ dwells with His people, shapes marriages, forms and designs babies and broadcasts to the world His relationship with the Church.  It is a beautiful place.  It is the place that husbands should long to come “home” to. It is the place where boys become men and little girls become women.

And beautiful homes are not formed by accident.  Gardens don’t grow without tending. Sure something good might come up by chance but the vision must go beyond managing and getting by. Homes ought to be colorful, vibrant, full of light, full of truth, soaked in joy, steeped in hope.  That type of garden takes some work. Homes ought to be the gardens that God, Himself, walks in by His Spirit.

So instead of “stay at home moms” I am proposing a different title: “center of the planet moms.” You can take it or leave it. Either way, I would do well to land there as often as I can.

We work, play, raise children, pay our taxes and do good to our fellow neighbors and friends. These are normal activities. But we do more than that. We are not defined by our surroundings or county of residency. It is not our first citizenship. Our first citizenship is in heaven with Christ as the Mayor, Governor, President and Lord of all. We are people from another world, going to another world; of another city going to another city. We give allegiance to only One Being and all others are secondary.

This is what makes our church special. Not because we have unique qualities that distinguish us from other people but because we are aliens and foreigners in our own land. Many of us were born here. Many of us have never left Western Wisconsin or the Midwest or this continent. But that does not change our first identity as the people of God, called out by Christ, bought with His blood. We have sworn allegiance to God in our hearts. We live in Wisconsin with our hands.

100 years ago, a few Swedish immigrants felt compelled to start a church. Why? They had arrived in America. There was much to do: jobs to begin, homes to build, connections to make, mouths to feed and children to educate. Sound familiar? Life for them was busy in ways we can’t imagine. Hours of T.V. watching was an impossible thought at best. The tyranny of the present was not just a pithy statement. It was a fact. These people had no pensions or 401 ks or 403 bs. They had no guarantees for a better life or even life at all. Still, their new residency in America did not swallow up their deeper, greater and longer lasting identity as the people of God. And it was this identity that compelled a new church to launch in Balsam Lake, Wi.

Now in 2012, we are still here. Many concerns have not changed. Food, clothing, education and friendships are still essential needs. Winters are still cold. Summers are still beautiful. Men still court and marry the women they love. Life is a revolving door that has not yet closed for good. So also the church has not closed its doors. Many still enter it. And many more are being called to enter it. So come and be saved, not saved by the church but saved by Christ, not saved from sorrow but saved to greater joy, not saved to sit but saved to run.

Many arguments and lofty opinions will come that threaten the purity of our church, your home and our mission in the world as believers. Are we ready for it? Are we ready to destroy the work of Satan and expose his subtle schemes? Father give us the Sword of the Spirit to fight all foes by the Word of your power. All glory, honor and power are yours alone.

Indwelling Sin Not Only Abides, But Is Still Acting
“Sin does not only still abide in us, but is still acting, still laboring to bring forth the deeds of the flesh. When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even where there is least sus- picion. Sin does not only abide in us, but “the law of the members is still rebelling against the law of the mind” (Rom. 7:23); and “the spirit that dwells in us lusts to envy” (James 4:5). It is always in continual work; “the flesh lusts against the Spirit” (Gal. 5:17); lust is still tempting and conceiving sin (James 1:14); in every moral action it is always either inclining to evil, or hindering gaps, broken areas cease from that which is good, or disframing the spirit from communion with God. It inclines to evil.”

- From John Owen Of the Mortification of sin