Trusting God for Who you Are

There are many people in our world who look in the mirror with some form of disappointment or perhaps disgust.  They see a funny looking nose, or a receding hairline.  They note that they are too tall, or perhaps too short, too thin or maybe too rotund.  Just about everyone can find something about their appearance they are discontented with.

The fact is, God made people different.  Our facial features are shaped differently, our hair looks and acts differently, we are of different heights and weights and our personalities, our likes, our dislikes, and our tendencies are different as well.  All those differences were put there by God.  As King David reminds us, God knit each of us together in our mother’s womb, and the result of that is that each of us are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Ps. 139:13-14)  And so, if we have difficulty accepting ourselves the way God made us, we find ourselves in conflict with our Creator.  The fact is that God created you just as you are, and He wanted you to be that way because He loves you and wants to glorify Himself through you.

I have been rereading Jerry Bridges’ wonderful book Trusting God with my summer intern Chris.  This week we read the chapter about trusting God for who you are.  It is a chapter that challenges the reader to trust that God knew what he was doing when he knit each of us together in our mother’s womb.  God gave us our physical characteristics out of love, for His glory.  God gave us our personality, also out of love, for His glory.  Accepting that is foundational for our spiritual, and relational health.  Bridges quotes wise words from James Hufstetler that come right to the point:  “You will never really enjoy other people, you will never have stable emotions, you will never lead a life of godly contentment, you will never conquer jealousy and love others as you should until you thank God for making you the way He did.”  Friends, that is so very true.

God made you who you are biologically.  Yes, that body you look at in the mirror and perhaps cringe at – God made you like that.  He created that nose, that hairline or those funny looking toes.  For me, God created me with bad eyesight, unruly hair and crummy digestion.  I can fight those things, which I have.  I can curse God for those things, which thankfully I have not.  Or I can be content with those things, which is what I am learning to be.  I also can open my eyes to see how God can be glorified in those things.  For example, my crummy digestion has caused me all sorts of pain (literally and figuratively) over the years.  As a pastor, there are times when I have to be present, bad stomach or not.  But I can tell you two good things my bad digestion has done in me.  First, it has made me more dependent and prayerful.  God’s grace has been sufficient for me, and there have been many times His power has been made perfect in my weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9)  Second, I have seen the faithfulness of God through it – I do not believe my digestion has ever prevented me from fulfilling any pastoral roles in 24 years of ministry.  You see, even our disabilities – great or small – can be used for God’s glory and our growth in maturity.

God also made your personality.  Are you funny?  Are you shy?  Are you a deep thinker?  God made you that way.  And although our personalities are often so very obviously corrupted by sin, the fact is God made you who you are from the inside.  And He can be glorified in that as well.  Think about those times when we are made aware of the ugliness of the sin inside of us.  Perhaps we struggle with pride, or bitterness, or anger, or impatience or jealousy, the many and varied sinful reactions to our circumstances.  But God knew we would have those reactions, and out of those reactions He can be glorified.  The sinful side of our personality should drive us to His grace and to the cross where that grace was demonstrated to us.  Our sin should prompt us to seek God in confession, to ask for His transforming power, and to renew our trust that He will complete the good work He began in us. (Phil. 1:6)  All those things are for our good, and bring God glory.

And so, whether we struggle with our outside looks or our inward make-up, we need to be assured that God created us that way.  Whether we have abilities or disabilities, we want to learn to receive them from God.  In all those things we can learn to give thanks, and we can know that God can and will use those things in our lives for our good and His glory.

Book Review: The Enemy Within: Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin

I choose books to read for a lot of different reasons.  I read history books because the topic is interesting or even at times obscure.  I read biographies because the person in question is often fascinating on some level.  I read some books because I like the author, or I need to learn more about the topic the book discusses.  But rarely do I intentionally pick up a book in order to be completely convicted of my sin.  That has happened more than once, but sadly it is not because of an intentional choice of my own.

The Enemy Within:  Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin by Kris Lundgaard is a book that falls into the last category.  It is a book recommended to me by a good friend.  It is a relatively short book, about 150 pages.  And it is a book in which the author probably says nothing I had not heard before.  But he says it is such a way, with such truth and directness, that God’s Spirit used it to speak to my heart.

The Enemy Within is a book about sin.  Depressing right?  But as Kris Lundgaard notes, this is a necessary topic.  Getting to know our sin is wisdom.  The more each of us discover about the power of indwelling sin, the less we will suffer its effects.

The apostle Paul knew the power of indwelling sin.  This is how he described it in Romans 7:21:  “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.” (ESV)  Sin is a law living inside of us, a law that fights us even in our best moments, a law that never rests or gives up.  It is a traitor working from the shadow of our hearts, a usurper to the throne and authority of God in our lives.  Indwelling sin, or the flesh as the Bible describes it, will fight us each and every day we live on this earth – we cannot make peace with it, we can only defeat it.

As the prophet Jeremiah clearly notes, our hearts are deceitful and wicked, beyond cure and understanding. (Jer. 17:9)  We could never design a house as complex as our hearts or gather enough monsters to fill it.  Our heart as the Bible understands it, is made up of our mind, our will, our affections and our conscience.  Each of those aspects of our heart, the Bible says, is unsearchable and deceitful above all things.  (As a side note, consider the implications of a verse like this for the case of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner.)  Deceit is what the flesh uses to confuse our minds, entangle our affections and persuade our wills that sin is either good for us or at least, not as bad as God says it is.  The flesh works to weaken the spiritual conviction we feel when we sin, reminding us to cling to the remedy of grace - God’s forgiveness of sin - but conveniently persuading us to forget the design of grace – to make us holy.  It has the ability to use spiritual things for its purposes, as long as those spiritual things do not lead us closer to God.

All this is rather depressing.  The picture the author gives is a true one – our flesh is a powerful, ruthless, unrelenting enemy that will fight against anything that leads to true communion with God.  Thankfully, Lundgaard does much more than merely give a troubling description of the flesh.  He also offers hope.  He makes it clear that while the flesh will never be completely defeated in this life, God has given us all the tools we need to fight the flesh, to weaken its power and to live a life that glorifies Him.

God has given us His Spirit.  While it is true that our hearts are deceitful, wicked and unknowable, it is also true that God has given every believer His Spirit who lives in us.  And the Spirit, thankfully, knows our hearts even as we do not.  The way to fight the flesh is through the Spirit.  The Spirit helps us meditate on God and His gracious, good character.  The Spirit enables us to meditate on God’s Word, His truth revealed.  The Spirit empowers us to expose our sinful hearts to God’s holy character and the truths of His word, which leads to conviction, repentance and change.

God has given us minds that are being transformed and renewed, minds that can be trained to love Him.  Guarding our mind is an essential part of obedience, which weakens the grip of the flesh.  Obedience is not just doing what God says, but doing what God says in God’s way.  The work of the mind of a believer is to know God’s rule and apply it to all we do before God.  As the apostle Paul notes in Ephesians 5:15 – “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.” (ESV)

Finally, God has given us faith.  Faith is the only thing that truly destroys the power of the flesh because salvation comes from the Lord.  By faith, we are able to fill our souls with thoughts of the purpose of Christ’s death, on the meaning and implications of his shed blood and his work on the cross.  And by faith we can anticipate help in our struggles from Jesus – he does not leave us to struggle against the flesh alone.

The flesh is an implacable enemy.  Indwelling sin never gives up and never takes a vacation.  It fights against anything and everything that leads us to real communion with God.  But ultimately, for the Christian, the flesh does not have any real authority.  We belong to God in Christ.  He is transforming our hearts, writing His law there.  While the fight never ends in this life, God has given every believer the weapons he or she needs to be increasingly victorious in this life-long battle.

Book Review: What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?

One of the most polarizing issues in our society today is the whole issue of homosexuality, especially when it relates to homosexual marriage.  While very few people would insist on discriminating against someone with a homosexual orientation with regards to a job for example, there are many who struggle with the homosexual lobby’s attempts to redefine marriage away from the traditional (and biblical) definition of one man and one woman.

Into this hot button issue steps Pastor Kevin DeYoung with his new book What does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?  With a blend of serious scholarship, clear thinking and a pastoral heart, DeYoung explains what the Bible does say about homosexuality and then counters many of the common arguments society offers against the biblical data.

DeYoung begins by saying that while the Bible says something about homosexuality, it is not a book about homosexuality.  Rather it is a book about God, His creation, sin and salvation.  It is a book about God seeking to dwell eternally with His creation, His holy people.  And so while the Bible is not a book about homosexuality, the issue of homosexuality touches on many of the important truths the Bible upholds.  The question then must be asked:  “Is homosexuality a sin that must be repented of, forsaken and forgiven, or given the right context and commitment, can we consider same-sex sexual intimacy a blessing worth celebrating and solemnizing?” (p. 15)

DeYoung begins to answer this question by first unpacking the handful of Scripture passages dealing directly with homosexuality.  He begins in Genesis 1-2, which sets out God’s clear design for marriage as a union between one man and one woman.  He argues that heterosexual relations are the only relations that fit the biblical description of a “one-flesh union.”  DeYoung moves onto to Genesis 19 and the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  It has become fashionable to argue from Ezek. 16:49 that the sin of these cities was a lack of hospitality.  But when one views Ezek. 16:49 in context (Ezek. 16:47-50), it becomes clear that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is abomination, the same word used in Lev. 18 and 20 for homosexual behavior.  Moving on to the Law of Moses, DeYoung investigates Lev. 18:22 and 20:13, arguing that these verses forbid homosexual behavior because it is an affront to God’s holy order.  He then lists 6 reasons why these verses cannot be just set aside as an ancient law for another time.  In his chapter on Romans 1, the author makes a clear case that God sees homosexual practice as an example of mankind’s rebellion against God and a willing, sinful suppression of the truth of God’s good design.  Finally, DeYoung investigates 1 Cor. 6:9-10 and 1 Tim. 1:8-11, two passages based on the Leviticus law in which the apostle Paul condemns men who have sex with other men.  According to DeYoung, the argument of Scripture is clear – homosexual activity of any type is a sin against the clear creation design of God.

Having unpacked what the Bible says, DeYoung moves on to counter 7 common arguments against the clear teaching of Scripture. They are:

·  The argument that Christians are making much too big a deal about this, since the Bible hardly mentions homosexuality. 

·   The argument that the kind of homosexuality practiced today in committed relationships is not what the Bible is condemning. 

·   The argument that the church is hypocritical, failing to deal with its own sins.

·   The argument that the church should be a place for broken people, and labeling homosexuality a sin closes the door for such people. 

·   The argument that in opposing homosexual advances, Christians are on the wrong side of history.

·   The argument that labelling homosexual behavior a sin is not fair.

·   The argument that says that God is a God of love who would never condemn someone practicing homosexuality.

In countering these arguments, DeYoung communicates truth, but does it in a sensitive, pastoral way.  Not everyone will agree with his conclusions or his counter-arguments, but despite that I believe DeYoung does a good job staking a position on the truth of the Bible.

The author concludes his book with three appendices worth reading.  The first explains what is at stake in the homosexual marriage debate.  The second provides 3 building blocks in dealing with the issue of same-sex attraction.  And the third lists 10 commitments every church should make in response to the issue of homosexuality.

As I mentioned, some people will disagree and hate this book.  They may even hate my review.  But in a time when the homosexual lobby has been incredibly successful in changing public perception and opinion regarding homosexual marriage and homosexuality in general, this is a book that every serious, thinking Christian should read.  Is it the ultimate resource on the issue?  Probably not, but it is a great one, a resource that will equip you to think seriously and biblically about one of the most contentious issues of our day.

Book Review - Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town

I usually pride myself in not following the crowd, but I will admit that this week, I did just that.  I grabbed a copy of Jon Krakauer’s new book, Missoula:  Rape and the Justice System in a College Town.  It is flying off the shelves in our area, making Krakauer the most popular (or unpopular) man in the county.

Mr. Krakauer must have a thing for Montana.  He has questioned the integrity of Montana icon Greg Mortenson in his book, Three Cups of Deceit.  Now, with this new release, he uses Missoula as his tableau in his exploration of non-stranger rape, college towns and a faulty justice system.

A few years back, Missoula made the headlines for being the “Rape Capital” of America.  As Krakauer’s book notes, it is an unfair description – Missoula is merely average when it comes to incidents of sexual assault.  But since Missoula is average, it becomes a great case study for Krakauer on how such sexual assault is handled in a small city.

Missoula is also a college town and the football team rules the town.  It is Griz nation, and the community reacts violently when one of its favored sons is accused of a crime, especially rape.  And so when two high profile Griz players – quarterback Jordan Johnson and running back Beau Donaldson – were accused of rape, much of the community rose up to their defense.  Tracing the trials of Johnson and Donaldson, along with the troubles of other Griz players and U of M students, Krakauer paints a rather disturbing picture.  A word of warning – in painting this disturbing picture, Krakauer is graphic.  This book is not for the faint of heart.  The description is not at all titillating – I found it rather nauseating – but it is graphic.

As Krakauer discovers in his investigations, rape is not all that rare among the U of M crowd.  And the vast majority of the rape cases, as they are nationally, were non-stranger rapes.  These were rapes perpetrated by friends and acquaintances of the victim.  Contrary to the vision we have of rape being about a man in a mask jumping out from behind a bush, about 80 percent of rapes in America are non-stranger rapes.

The book tells the story of four victims, only one of whom received any form of justice from the legal system.  Your heart goes out to them as he tells their story.  It is meant to do that – Krakauer is clearly on the side of the victims here.  Is it a hit piece?  Some will say so.  The current county attorney is suing over allegations made in the book.  Krakauer is not neutral, but he does appear to be thorough.

                

These are stories of pain, fear, misplaced trust, betrayal and extreme disappointment.  In Krakauer’s mind, the system in Missoula failed in a variety of ways.  The University and the local police for both failed to protect victims.  But Krakauer reserves his harshest judgment for the local county attorney’s office, especially both the former and current county attorneys for failing to pursue justice for women who have been raped.

                

Four things stood out to me as a read this book.  Two of the things Krakauer discusses, the other two are not discussed at all.  First, Krakauer paints a pretty sordid picture of trial lawyers, especially in the context of rape cases.  Both the county attorneys and the private defense lawyers come off pretty badly, especially with regard to the lengths they will go, or not go, to win cases.  I recognize that they are there to win, it is the lack of ethics displayed in the attempt that disturbed me.  The second thing Krakauer brings up is the vehement reaction of Griz nation to the tarnishing of their heroes.  A football player in Missoula is always innocent, no matter what.  A woman accusing a football player in Missoula is always guilty, no matter what.  And the comments that are made, especially on the “anonymous Internet”, curdled my stomach in their hateful surety and lack of compassion.

There are two things Krakauer definitely does not discuss which seem to me to be central to the issue.  Those things are the presence of alcohol and the campus hook-up culture.  I realize he is a liberal, so he cannot go there, but I wish he would have.  The book’s dustjacket states, “College-age women are not raped because they are promiscuous, or drunk, or send mixed signals, or feel guilty about casual sex, or seek attention.”  That statement is correct – these women are raped because of the horrific actions of a predator.  They are victims deserving of compassion.  But know this: every assault portrayed in Krakauer’s book involved alcohol, often to excess, and often involving underage drinkers.  Every assault!  I wonder what removing the alcohol-fueled party scene would do to the incidents of rape in our area?  Krakauer has nothing to say on this topic.  A second topic is related – the casual sex, hook-up culture found on campus.  As a Christian, I believe the Bible lays out the only proper context of sexual activity, and that is marriage.  You can agree with me, or disagree with me, go right ahead.   But the fact is, trouble always follows when sexual activity is let out of the box that God intended it to be practiced in.  Again, what would happen to the rape culture on campus if the casual sex culture, and our wider sex-worshipping culture, was not there?  Mr. Krakauer does not deal with these topics, and I honestly don’t expect him to as they are taboo in liberal circles, but they are part of the problem.

Missoula is a good read.  It is disturbing and powerful.  And as a man with two daughters, including one in college, the topic of campus rape is one that concerns me personally.  I am glad that the Missoula police, the University of Montana, and even the Missoula Country attorney’s offices are making changes.  Let’s hope they are enough to bring justice to victims of these horrible crimes.

Should Christians Complain about the Weather?

When Montanans talk about the weather, you often hear the phrase, “Well, if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it’ll change.”  While that phrase may be true in many places, in the mountains of western Montana is seems especially appropriate.  One never knows for sure whether or not a drenching rainstorm lurks beyond the nearest mountain range, ready to wipe out your planned hike, or whether brilliant sun is just over the horizon to melt the icy roads.  Even the weather professionals in western Montana rarely get it absolutely right – the past few years have been filled with storm warnings that never materialized or predictions of 2 inches of snow that resulted in 10 inches of snow.

One thing that never changes – whether in western Montana or elsewhere – is that we tend to complain about the weather.  This past year, we have had a mercifully short winter and a gloriously warm February and March.  (That said, yesterday morning snow was falling…)  And while many are loving the weather, others are complaining, noting that we need more snowpack in the mountains to prevent summer forest fires.

So the question I want to ask here is this: should a Christian complain about the weather?  Should a Christian grumble about what the day holds in terms of weather?  Jerry Bridges, in his wonderful book Trusting God: Even when Life Hurts, writes that believers should not complain about the weather for two reasons.

First, the Bible teaches that God is sovereign over the weather (see Job 37:3, 6, 10-13, Psalm 147:8, 16-18, Jer. 10:13, Amos 4:7 for examples).  If God is sovereign over the weather, and we complain about the weather, we are actually complaining against God.  We are intimating that God is not powerful enough or wise enough to handle the weather in the right way.  Perhaps we are even suggesting that we would do a better job than God in managing the weather.  Complaining about the weather is actually sinning against God who controls the weather in his power, might and wisdom.

Second, not only are we sinning against God when we complain about the weather, we also deprive ourselves of the peace that comes from recognizing that our God is in control of it.  The doctrine of the sovereignty of God should bring us peace.  I admit, sometimes that peace is hard-won.  When we turn on the news and see someone’s house wash away in a flood or we see a family sifting through the ruins of what was once their home before the tornado struck, we are apt to question why God allowed this to happen.  It would be so much easier to just chalk everything like that up to an act of nature and leave God out of it.  But the Bible assures us that tornados and floods are not just random acts of nature.  God controls them.

The peace comes when we accept God’s sovereignty, and when we believe that God is sovereign, but also good and purposeful.  Do we understand why things like weather events or natural disasters happen when they do?  No, but we can say this with assurance:  they come from the hand of God, God is good, and God has a purpose in them.  We will not necessarily understand what God is doing, but like the prophet Habakkuk, we must trust Him.

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.  (Hab. 3:17-18, ESV)

Repentance or Regret – what’s the Difference?

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.  For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Cor. 7:9-10, ESV)

In 2 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul speaks of two kinds of grief or sorrow.  There is godly grief that produces a repentance that leads to salvation.  There is also a worldly grief that does not and cannot lead to salvation, but rather brings only death.   The question a passage like that prompts in us is this:  When we get caught in sin, how do we respond?  Do we respond with regret (worldly sorrow) or repentance (godly sorrow)?

You see, there is a great deal of difference between regret and repentance.  In his book, The Peacemaking Pastor, Alfred Poirier does a great job differentiating between the two.  What is the difference between regret and repentance?

1.         Regret runs from God, repentance runs to God.  When we are merely regretful about sin, we typically try to cover it up.  We are regretful that we got caught, and because the regretful person is more concerned about man’s opinion than God’s opinion, we do things like cover our sin, try to win sympathy or garner support for our views.  Repentance on the other hand has no desire to hide our sin, rather the repentant person exposes it, first to God (Ps. 51:1), and then to others (James 5:16).  The repentant person runs toward the cleansing and forgiveness found in God through Jesus Christ.

2.         Regret seeks to make atonement, repentance accepts atonement.  The regretful person often has a guilty conscience and seeks to repair the damage.  Sometimes they offer substitutes for their sin, like directing attention to all the good things they have done.  Repentance does not try to atone, but recognizes and receives the atonement offered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

3.         Regret sorrows over our failure to achieve, repentance sorrows over the state of our hearts.  Regret forces a person to admit that they are not as great as they thought.  Often they say that they cannot believe they did what they did.  They insist they are not that kind of person.  They pledge never to do it again.  The repentant person knows that statements like these are only attempts to cover up the true state of one’s heart.  The repentant person recognizes their own sinfulness and grieves over the state of their heart.  Like Paul, they cry out, “Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24)

4.         Regret leads to self-righteousness and/or self-condemnation, repentance leads to Christ’s righteousness.  The one who is regretful is often quick to beat themselves up, to beat others up, to resent others, to take offense easily and to point out the faults of others.  The regretful person either displays an unhealthy self-loathing or an arrogant self-righteousness.  The repentant person rejoices that what they could never achieve, Christ already did achieve.  They rejoice in the fact that while their sin is serious, because of Jesus they are not condemned. (Rom. 8:1)  As a result, they are free to glory in Christ’s perfect obedience and love.

5.         Regret moves a person away from the people of God, repentance moves a person toward the people of God.   When our attitude is merely regretful, true reconciliation never really happens.  Regretful people are unwilling to do what is necessary to bring reconciliation – to truly confess the depths of their sin and humbly, gently seek the forgiveness of others.  Repentance leads a person to just that – to recognize the pain their sin has caused in others and to approach them with the goal of forgiveness and true reconciliation.

So, what will it be the next time you are caught in a sin?  Will it be a regret that is only sorry about getting caught and leads us away from God’s provision and people?  Or will it be a repentance that recognizes our sin, and throws ourselves on the mercy, grace, forgiveness and righteousness provided in Jesus Christ?

Are you Captivated by Christ?

The other day, I sat down for my monthly meeting with our church’s deacons.  We have a wonderful deacon board in our church – godly men who are gifted to serve the body.  As we usually do, we started with devotions.  A few years ago, I began using good Christian books as devotional tools with my leadership.  At this time, our deacon board is reading and discussing The Grace of God by Andy Stanley.

The topic of this month’s chapter was the Ten Commandments and the whole issue of law versus grace.  In our discussions, our conversation wandered around to the whole issue of someone who is lukewarm in their faith.  What do we do with the person who claims grace of God but exhibits no evidence that the grace they claim is actually changing their lives?  As the discussion continued, various people were brought to my mind.  These were people I knew, people I had taught and ministered to, people I had counseled and sought to care for.  They were also people who, despite my best efforts, displayed no evidence of the transformation Jesus brings to a life.

At those situations, a typical pastor often does one of two things.  Either we write that person off, convinced that any help they need is not going to come from us.  Or, we get down on ourselves, thinking that it was our failure to connect, to communicate, to help, that has them in that spiritual position.  And while there may be some truth in those reactions – we may not be the person who will ultimately help them or we might have taken more time with them – the heart of the matter is often something very different.  The heart of the matter is often this: that the lukewarm Christian is more in love with the world than they are with Jesus.

After my discussion with the deacons, I was reminded of a passage I read this past fall from Michael Reeves’ book Delighting in the Trinity.  Interspersed throughout this wonderful book are small vignettes about historical figures and their thoughts on the Trinity.  In one of those sidebars, Reeves quotes Thomas Chalmers, a 19^th century Scottish pastor and scholar.

In a sermon on 1 John 2:15 entitled “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection,” Chalmers discusses where the power to change comes from.  Our lives are naturally guided and controlled by our love for the world.  That is our default setting, a tendency that we all are born with.  What can we do to change that?  Is it possible to convince ourselves that the world around us is not so alluring after all?  Can we adjust our heart’s desires so that the world does not seem quite so attractive?  Chalmers concludes that trying to change our hearts by ourselves is “altogether incompetent and ineffectual,” for nobody can “dispossess the heart of an old affection, but by the expulsive power of a new one.”  In other words, our tendency to love the world can only be changed when we learn to love something or Someone else more.  We always love what seems to be the most desirable to us.  As a result, we will only change what we love when something or Someone proves to be more desirable to us than what we already love.

To put it another way, you and I will always love sin and the world until we truly sense that Christ is better.  We will be stuck loving the world first and foremost until we are convinced, by the power of God, that loving Christ is a better and truer option.  We will love the world until we are convinced again of the truths of the gospel.  You see, true change happens when we are overwhelmed by the grace of God in Christ.  True change happens when we grasp anew the height and breadth and depth of the love of Christ for us.  True change happens when we experience the freedom of forgiveness and the assurance of salvation.  True change happens when God’s Spirit convinces us that God is indeed good.  True change happens when we truly grasp hold of the truths of the gospel and are captivated by Christ our Savior.  That is the answer for everyone – whether they are a “lukewarm” believer or not.