According to Ephesians 2, grace should lead to humility (boasting is excluded). But I (as a professing Christian) know that I am not humble.
I was born in the 1980s: my generation (some call us "millennials") suffers from an utter lack of humility. We were the unique snow flakes who could achieve anything, if we just gave it our all!
This excessive self-esteem means that we live lives of constant boasting. I'm afraid this proves that we have not understood (internalized?) the multi-faceted glories of God's Grace. That grace can only really be understood after a person internalizes the extent of his inadequacy and weakness and failure.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Boasting
From Tim's sermon on 10/30/2011: "Alive with Christ"
Ephesians 2: 8-9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
Tim's analysis of this passage said that a "boast" is something in which you place your confidence. His analogy was to a warrior in the ancient world, who would look to his chariots and horses and boast about his ability to defeat the enemy. In a similar way, we "boast" and take comfort in our talents or money or relationships, wrongly believing that these will save us.
Tim gave a very powerful illustration from his own life, in which he tended to justify himself and seek comfort and worth from the fact that he is such a hard-working minister. He didn't want to ask his wife to allow him to take a few hours off to do something fun; he wanted her to initiate and suggest that he take a break, because he had been working so hard. He wanted recognition and he wanted his hard work to have earned the break. He had been seeking value and worth on the basis of his hard work, not on the basis of Christ.
But my question is: doesn't the passage suggest that the boaster believes he has achieved salvation without the need for God? Doesn't it suggest a narrow type of religious boasting in which the boaster thinks he is so righteous that he doesn't need grace? Is it really correct to broaden our understanding of boasting to include all ways in which we seek value outside of God? For example, I may seek a feeling of worth and value from my wealth without ever believing that my wealth takes away the need for God's grace.
Ephesians 2: 8-9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."
Tim's analysis of this passage said that a "boast" is something in which you place your confidence. His analogy was to a warrior in the ancient world, who would look to his chariots and horses and boast about his ability to defeat the enemy. In a similar way, we "boast" and take comfort in our talents or money or relationships, wrongly believing that these will save us.
Tim gave a very powerful illustration from his own life, in which he tended to justify himself and seek comfort and worth from the fact that he is such a hard-working minister. He didn't want to ask his wife to allow him to take a few hours off to do something fun; he wanted her to initiate and suggest that he take a break, because he had been working so hard. He wanted recognition and he wanted his hard work to have earned the break. He had been seeking value and worth on the basis of his hard work, not on the basis of Christ.
But my question is: doesn't the passage suggest that the boaster believes he has achieved salvation without the need for God? Doesn't it suggest a narrow type of religious boasting in which the boaster thinks he is so righteous that he doesn't need grace? Is it really correct to broaden our understanding of boasting to include all ways in which we seek value outside of God? For example, I may seek a feeling of worth and value from my wealth without ever believing that my wealth takes away the need for God's grace.
Ezekiel 2
This is not a post about a TK sermon...forgive me...
In Ezekiel 2:
In Ezekiel 2:
The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.This is only one example, but there seem to be a number of places in scripture where somebody is commanded to preach or prophesy even though the words are not likely to reach receptive ears. Are Christians too concerned with speaking God's word in a way that will make people happy and elicit a positive response? We've been given a gospel and we've been commanded to communicate it.
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