3 Old Enemies of a Christian

(Courtesy of TYC)

As Christians, we profess the authority of God’s word. We vow to stop living lives our own way and begin to follow the way in which God wants us to live as revealed in the Holy Bible as we put our trust in His word. But in practice we might have 3 old enemies that get in the way of letting God’s word be spoken into each and every aspect of our lives. These 3 old enemies are experience, reasoning and traditions. These 3 things are valid authorities in lives. They are God given. We do and must make decision based on our experience, reasoning and traditions. But the problem comes when these come head on clash against God, His word and His wisdom in the gospel.

Powerful Experience

We hear people saying, "I feel I should do this." more than "I think I should do this." Most people make the biggest decision based on feeling. Example: marriage. One might say that she FEEL she should marry Joe. But 5 years from now she might not feel she should marry Joe anymore, or feel married to Joe. If we make decision purely or mainly based on experience, and in this case, the experience of pleasure, it becomes the little judge or idol in our lives. It’s no longer God and His word that empowers you to make decisions and take actions.

Victims, who were sexually abused by fathers, find it hard to accept the authority of God’s word, which reveals God is Heavenly Father. They long for a heavenly mother, or gentle free god. This shows that when person experience of pain is so great, it may shut off the voice of God in His word.

Sometimes, evangelical Christians are quick to point fingers at other Christians for how their experiences of tongues, visions and a personal word because their authorities in life as they based their Christian life on these experiences. But many evangelical Christians allow the experiences of pain and pleasure to get in the way of listening to God speaks His word into every area of our lives. We live in a world, which increasingly idolizes and worship the trouble-free, pain-free and happy live. And anything to do with pain must be bad and is not from God. More people firstly leave Church, and then Christ altogether because of pain, especially relational pain. It usually starts with anger sin, dispute over the speech sin. Brothers and sister hurts each other in actions and speech. Everybody gets lumped in this relational brokenness and pain and these whole anger and speech sin just destroy us. How are we different from our formal gentile way of life and from non-Christians around us? We are of no different.

Eph 4:31 ESV Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Eph 4:32 ESV Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Notice the word ALL. It is only those who live in the kingdom of God who should be so absolute.

How will we walk? Will some personal experience, especially those of relational pain, be the number one authority? Will we make decision based on the authority of God’s word or on the experiences of pain and pleasure? The world says, “I feel I should live this way because of my experiences of pain.” We should say, “I know I should live this way based on what God has done for us in Christ.”

Popular Reason

Cultural argument goes along this line: Part of the bible teaching is culturally binding and hence is out of touch with our progressive and contemporary cultures.

When a denomination voted last year to ordain a practicing gay pastor in Australia, they proclaim the volt as a new work of the Holy Spirit in our journey of spiritual progress from conservative evangelical Christianity. This shows that our human reasons and popular cultures is very contrary to God's word and is a very attractive Trojan Horse in the matters of our sexuality and men women relationship.

Sexuality

Church embrace homosexual as valid lifestyle less we are deemed sexually old fashion by our progressive cultures. It is different to accept a repentant homosexual like we accept repentant adulterer, greedy people, idolater, and we MUST accept them, but it is another matter to accept practicing homosexuals who justify their lifestyle based on the bible.

Eph 5:3 ESV But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.

Which voice will we listen to in the matters of our sexuality, the voice of popular culture that declares God and His words to be old fashion and repressive or the voice of God’s Word that declares God?

Men and Women Relationship

We are tempted to accept that women-submission in home and churches is relationally oppressive and old fashion. But the message of God in Creation in Genesis 2 and the message of New Creation in Christ is that we are equal in creation and salvation but we are different. Husbands are to lead and love their wives sacrificially and wives are to submit to husbands as to the Lord. This is true to Christian household and Christian Church as there’s no different between the Christian household and Christian Church. The world shouts equality at all cost. The bible shouts complementary at the cost of Jesus dying on the cross. What God purpose, harmonious men women relationship, the man leading by sacrificial love, the woman helping by submission, is jeopardized by sin. Christ redeemed by his cross and continues to effect by his spirit.

Which voice in conduct of men and women relationship, the voice of popular culture or God’s word, which is so contrary to our world?

Binding Tradition

Tradition is a body of belief and behaviour that is handled down from one generation to another. We might regard many traditional Asian religions as pagan worships but actually all of us have sinful weakness keeping tradition in our lives. Anything can become a non-negotiable tradition in our Churches and it becomes our confident in our walk with God

Example:
Traditions of songs: Some Churches deems that true Christians only sing hymns, chorus, or only songs from a certain producer.

Version of bible: Some Churches deems that true Christians only read NIV, KJV or ESV.

Ways of worship in songs and prayers: Some Churches deems that true Christians only worship a certain way, which they usually define by their own denominations.

Practices of freedom: Some Churches deems that true Christians do not read Harry Potter. Some Churches deems that all Christians must do Quiet Time, must fast, must do one to one bible study or must evangelise at least once a week and the list goes on.

And all too soon our gospel traditions become gospel truth as our adherences to traditions and more decide if we are true Christians.

Col 2:23 ESV These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Hence, as Christians we have these 3 old enemies that enslave us as they stand in the way of us living a Godly lives. We will do anything to get our own ways in life. And we will use these 3 enemies to simply not trust God and listen to His words to live Holy lives. Many Christians have no problem professing the authority of God's word but the practice is another matter. Which authority rules in our Church, family, married and personal lives? When God’s word often challenges, and is contrary to our powerful experiences, cultural reasoning and entrench traditions, which will have the first and indeed the final say, God or us?

When we do bible study, God is not asking us for our opinion of his word. That would make us god sitting in judgment of Him and His living eternal word. Rather, when we do bible study, God is demand our obedience to him and not expecting our opinion of Him. Even if experience, reasons and tradition tell us other wise, we must obey God's word, above all other authorities. That would be truly recognise God as God.

Will we give God His worth, and His word, it due in every aspect and time of our lives. The sincere answer to these questions may reveal who’s really God in our lives. If we are idolaters of selves: our experience, reason and tradition or we are true worshipper of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Taken from sermon, "A New Start" by Pastor Chris Chia from ARPC)
(To listen to the whole audio sermon, click here.)
(The link of the sermons can be found here.)