Some Rambling Thoughts on Luke 4

And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'" Luke 4:5-8.

Some reflections that God gave me while meditating on this passage over the past few days:

I was thinking about the phrase "all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time." Glenn, feel free to jump in here, but to me this sounds like the "in a moment of time" phrase may refer to the future. I'm not sure Satan knows the future. Perhaps for the sake of argument, since he is a part of the spiritual realm (whole other topic), he can see somewhat into the future. Thus, perhaps what Satan is showing Christ here is the Roman empire, the Ottomans, the numerous Chinese dynasties, Indian dynasties, the Soviets, Napoleon, even modern America.

Christ came to earth so that His name would be renown among all people and all creation. Thus, from the initial appearance of Satan's offer, Christ would do this simply by taking Satan up on his offer. This raises some huge practical issues. What would it be like for Satan to have give Jesus glory and honor among all of these kingdoms of all time? What if all ruler's loved Jesus? What if Christianity was mandated by all governments and rulers? From one angle, it's a very tempting prospect. What then happens to the church? What happens then to the crucifixion? Would the Jews of the day still hate Christ and demand He be put to death?

If Christ had said yes, he may have succeeded in making his name known throughout history (of course we know He has still accomplished this) - BUT it would not have come through the regeneration and rebirth and repentence of souls. People would know and honor Christ but would they love Him?

You see, there is a reason that Satan is called the Great Deceiver. (Here's the point that God made real to me yesterday that got me pumped and inspired me to write this to you). Forget for a moment that you know that Christ is already the ruler and already has the authority and glory that Satan is trying to promise him. Satan tells Christ he is going to "give" Jesus "all this authority and their glory." But what's the cost? Worshipping Satan. Thus, to agree to this, is to become a puppet. Is Christ really in authority over these kingdoms and does he really receive their glory? How could he if Christ was worshipping Satan? Christ would then be acting as a funnel for glory to Satan. Then how long is it before people realize, "hey we're worshipping Christ, but He's worshipping Satan, so maybe we should just worship Satan instead."

Thus a less painful, seemingly easy short-cut ends up ultimately undercutting Christ and His ultimate purpose.

Now, of course, we all know this is wild, crazy speculation. After all, Christ didn't do this and wouldn't do this and thus it is a completely moot point. But I do think it has relevance for how Satan tempts us. We are tempted to take easier, less painful, short cuts because they may get us to the ends that we desire - ends that may be truly Biblical.

I remember once asking my mom when I was a kid, "If I could be a movie star, I could give lots of money away and push for good causes and tell people about Jesus. However, I might have to say cuss words in movies or kiss a woman who I wasn't married to, etc. But wouldn't God think that was okay since ultimately, I was doing good things for Him?" Though I don't remember her exact words, she said "No" and then explained why that wasn't really what God wanted us to do. That he would rather have us be poor and honor Him, than to dishonor him by getting rich.

Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"Take heed to yourselves, lest your example contradict your doctrine, and lest you lay such stumbling blocks before the blind, as may be the occasion of their ruin; lest you unsay with your lives, what you say with your tongues; and be the greatest hinderers of the success of your own labors." - Richard Baxter (English Puritan)

Take courage brothers. The road is long and narrow and difficult. God will challenge you and refine you and allow you to be tempted, but stay true to Him and His word in your ends and in the means you choose to seek those ends.

The more I get saved, the more they get lost.

When I feel true joy, security, happiness, and community and then I encounter someone who does not have that. I want that for them. I want them to have Christ.

It's a perspective issue.

If our lives aren't different than non-Christians then we don't see the reason for them to follow Jesus. Because we don't feel its effect on us. At the same time, they don't see the difference either, and they in turn don't see the reason to follow.

Work out your faith and follow Christ.

Driving Mrs. Karen

Another analogy to think about.

Remember when you were young and your parents let you sit in their lap and drive the car down the road. Who was driving the car / who was really in control / who was responsible for the car? What if this taught children that they were independent enough to drive a car on their own. It would be disastrous!

When we begin to think that we are in control, and our skills are the main source of our doing good works, breathing, making money, or sharing Christ; that is when we could "go get in the car and drive it ourselves". That is dangerous.

We are not driving. So make sure you pray and ask God to keep the car on the road in all things. Acknowledging that he is really in control makes driving so much safer.

The Treasure Principle

Quotes and thoughts from "The Treasure Principle".

Like Christ
"Gaze upon Christ long enough and you'll become more of a giver. Give long enough, and you'll become more like Christ."
Good point.


Gain
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain with he cannot lose."
"Giving doesn't strip me of vested interests; rather, it shifts my vested interests from earth to heaven - from self to God."
What we do is for gain. One gain can be for ourselves. A better gain is when that gain is in God's Kingdom and for Him and not me.
Pursuit of gain is not sinful. The gain must be for God's Kingdom.


Owner and Money Manager.
It is all God's. When we use our/his money it should be used in light of it being his that he has granted to us to use for him.


Practical Principles for thought

Don't buy anything you won't loan. If you are going to be too protective of something so much that you won't let someone else use it this is a problem. Comes back to thinking that it is yours. Not that it is yours on loan from God.

Don't buy anything that you would be upset if someone you had given money to used that money for. Don't buy a bedroom suit that if you gave someone else some money and they bought that bedroom set you would be made for their extravagant use of the money.
Kristen was great when she pointed out to me that if we did this we would have forgotten that we are doing the exact same thing with God. He has given us money and we would be using it to make extravagant and unnecessary purchases. I really like this principle.

Solid

Danny Franks was sharing at our most recent men's group meeting about the pharisees and followers of Jesus. They both studied Jesus, followed him, asked him questions.

The difference was the pharisees were trying to take Jesus and put them in their mold of religion. They wanted to take what Jesus was saying and call it good or bad. If it fit their ideals and rules then they would except him. Of course it didn't fit. So they labored to oppose him. The disciples did the same things; studied, followed him, asked question. And the disciples even had some bad ideas about Jesus. They wanted him to be a military ruler, to conquer this world, and make them great.

The difference in the two is that the pharisees were trying understand Jesus and change him so they could put him in his appropriate place in their lives to make their lives better, put him in a box or throw him out of their box. The disciples wanted to be understood and changed by him.

This made me think about how much weight we currently place on people being "solid". I'm not saying that this is bad. Having strong, good, solid theology is not bad. It is good to understand and know God more. But that is not being a Christian. Rather than measuring a person's "Christian-ness" by their theology and understanding shouldn't we measure that by their willingness to follow Christ and be changed by him.

Being a Christian is not about how much correct knowledge you have it is about your posture before the Cross.

I am very guilty of this. When I read books, study scripture, go to church, listen to sermons, I am trying to learn so that I know and can be seen as one who understands. Rather than this, I should do these things with a heart desiring to be more like Jesus.

We should grow in knowledge of him, but let us support those who follow him and are changed by him, not just if they can quote piper.


(addendum; talked with a friend last night about this and he commented that when he says solid that he is referencing the person following Christ and not their theology. solid is not a bad word, I just hope we don't become pharisees in that we feel superior as Christians because of what we know. We all have some bad theology in there somewhere, Jesus asks that we follow and pursue him.)