The Four Wise Men
Daniel 1:3-4, 17-20
I’ve had this sense something’s terribly wrong for quite some time
-but the crisis is so broad and it manifests itself in so many different
ways that it’s tough to pinpoint...which makes it difficult to
diagnose and therefore nearly impossible to cure
--it’s a
malady that it has infected nearly every church in
not to mention millions and millions of believers...and perhaps
most frightening of all, very few even realize what’s happening
---and therein lies the hidden danger...
Just like you cannot see your house’s foundation crumbling
-just like it’s more enjoyable and more impressive to the neighbors
to sink money into a new pool or nice paint, we focus on the wrong
things and all the while disaster is lurking just beneath the surface
OK, I realize I may sound like I’m being overly dramatic just to make
a point, but stick with me for a second
I began to figure this out when I recognized the symptoms in myself
-I was reading a book—Ordering Your Private World—by Gordon
MacDonald when I came upon
these lines à I
discovered...I was
coasting...and not
giving adequate attention to the development of
my mind. I began
to see that unless I did something about it, my
mind would not
adequately serve me in later years when I wanted
to be...doing and
giving my very best. ...To become a
more
effective preacher, a
more sensitive [counselor] of hurting people,
and a more useful
leader, I would have to take seriously the
challenge of
sharpening my mental capacities...Although I was not
entirely asleep
intellectually, I was not doing the hard, disciplined
work that would help
me to be the innovative and [thoughtful]
person...God want[s]
me to be.
I was so incredibly convicted by those words...because MacDonald
was describing me perfectly...and once I admitted that, I began to
understand how widespread the epidemic has become
You must remember throughout this message...this is about so much
more than your GPA, ACT, or IQ
As you turn to Daniel 1, I have a short, true-false quiz for you
1. God loves you regardless of your intellectual capacity. [T]
2. God can use you, without respect to your level of “intelligence”
provided you are willing to serve. [T]
3. How “smart” you are is not a reflection of your worth. [T]
4. God is not particularly impressed with your diplomas/degrees. [T]
Listen how the Bible describes Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego in Daniel 1:3-4 [Read]
-these four guys were “Bright Flight” material, no doubt about it, but
as they studied and learned, as they were obedient to God, He
blessed them even more
--Read Daniel 1:17-20
-if you are familiar with the rest of the story, you’ll remember God
uses their abilities and puts them into this position not for their
benefit, but so they can be a godly example to the other Jews in
exile and so they can be a faithful witness to the Babylonian king
My contention is that one of the primary reasons the American church
is so weak and largely ineffective is that we Christians have allowed
our minds to become weak and largely ineffective
-you could say we have, in essence, lost our minds
-and that means we’ve lost our ability to engage in real dialogue
with those who oppose or who are ignorant of Christianity
--Read Acts 17:16-19
-it means we’ve lost a key discipline in our personal holiness
--Philippians 4:8-9a à ...whatever is
true...noble...right...pure...
lovely...admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—
think about such things.
Whatever you have learned...put it
into practice.
-it means we’ve lost a significant part of our capacity to love God
--Mark 12:30 à Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and
with all
your soul and with all your mind and
with all your strength.
---in fact, Jesus says this is first part of the most important
commandment in the Bible...so our expression of our love
for God is lessened if our mind is weak
-and it means we have surrendered a significant part of who we are
--Romans 12:2 à Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
--J.B. Phillips translates
the same verse like this à Don’t let the
world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God
remold your minds from within.
---given the opportunity, the world around us will do everything
in their power to make us more like them, and less like
Christ...and we allow them to have that opportunity when
we fail to renew our minds continuously
Remember, I’m not talking about our intelligence...I’m talking about
the collective collapse of the Christian mind
-perhaps this failure has occurred because we are so easily
entertained...and we choose to turn off our minds in front of the
TV rather than engage our minds with books or blogs or
meaningful, spiritual conversation
-it may have happened because we think we’re too busy or we
don’t think it’s important
-some Christians, no doubt, believe that developing their minds is
wrong because it goes against faith...or because those who read
too much or get too much education end up turning into liberals
The problem is that all of our reasons or excuses fall short of the
clear teaching of the Bible
-God has given us a mind...He intends for us to use it for His glory
-our minds keep our focus where it needs to be
--Colossians 3:2 à Set your minds on things above, not on
earthly things.
-the renewing of our minds—as described in Romans 12:2—is an
on-going process that requires our active involvement
--like muscles or cardiovascular strength...without regular
exercise, training, and development our minds will get flabby,
deteriorate, and eventually not be very useful when we need it
Let me give you a couple of examples to support my claim that we
are a nation of weak-minded Christians and weak-minded churches
-several years ago at the annual meeting, I heard the M. B. C.
president preach about Jesus calling His disciples
One of his 12 points (literally!) was this: James and John were
washing their nets when Jesus called them, therefore we should be
cleaning our hearts so we can be ready for the day Jesus calls us
-all around me, pastors were taking notes, figuring they were
getting a free sermon for the coming Sunday
--but do you see the problem? James and John weren’t
washing their nets to exhort us to clean our hearts
---so why were James and John washing their nets?
----of course! it doesn’t take a Bible scholar to figure out
that the sons of Zebedee were washing their nets
because their nets were dirty and they needed to be
cleaned before they were used again
-----Luke was not inspired by God to tell us that
detail because there’s some hidden spiritual
meaning...Luke was inspired by God to tell us
that detail simply because that’s what the two
brothers happened to be doing when Jesus
came along and said, “Follow me.”
--sadly I heard comments about how “biblical” the sermon was!
-you see, we’ve checked our brains at the back door leaving us
with churches full of people who are wowed by preachers who
claim to have found phenomenal, spiritual truth out of the most
mundane biblical texts
--but that’s not spiritual truth—and it’s that type of interpretation
that gives preachers free reign to make the Bible say
whatever in the world they want it to say and then claim
they’re getting it all from “Scripture”
Some people surely recognized the faulty logic of the preacher’s
point, but they must have rationalized that the point itself wasn’t
heresy...so there’s no harm, no foul
-I couldn’t disagree more
--those people were surrendering their willingness and their
ability to think for themselves to the guy behind the pulpit
---and pretty soon they don’t have to trouble themselves with
the hard work of thinking...because they just let their
pastor do all of that for them
----and after awhile, they will have rendered themselves
completely incapable of recognizing the difference
between truth and heresy
You want another example?
-an article in the November 2006 edition of Christianity Today, tells
about
power to create wealth is one of God’s gifts.” And then he cites
James 5: 3, 7 as a promise “that in the last days there is going to
be a great transfer of wealth [to Christians].”
--Pastor Parsley invites church members and TV viewers to “sow
a seed” expecting God will bless them 30, 60, or 100 times
-but any middle school student could read James 5 and realize that
v. 3 is a rather stern warning to those who are rich, while v. 7 is
simply a call to be faithful until Jesus returns
--at best, the Scripture he quotes has nothing to do with his point
--at worst, the Scripture he quotes actually condemns himself...
because Pastor Parsley owns a small mansion in
vacation home in
Read James 5:1-3
I realize that some of you may be saying, “Gee, James, who are you
to judge? It sounds like you’re jealous of his success.” [Hardly!]
--my issue with him is not his material wealth (that’s God’s issue)
--my issue with him isn’t even with him...it’s with his church: is
there not a single person in his 12,000-member congregation
who has retained the ability to think for themselves?
---does every person simply accept every word, every teaching,
every biblical interpretation that comes from this guy?
---have they handed over their ability and willingness to think to
him just because he has a title or a position?
As a Christian, you have not only the God-given freedom to use your
mind, you have the God-given responsibility to do so
-you have an obligation to be discerning...to consider carefully
what you hear (including my preaching), what you read (including
books by popular, respected authors), and what you listen to (just
because a song is on the radio or the music is good doesn’t
mean that its lyrics are theologically sound)
--study your Bible, use it as your guide, and, please, think!
There’s one more example I need to offer to you...and this one may
hit at lot closer to home
-I’m convinced this one serves as evidence our minds have turned
to mush...but that it also one of the causes of our decline
We have made emotion the supreme god in many, many
churches
We evaluate songs, sermons, and entire worship experiences largely,
if not solely, on how they stir our emotions
-the ultimate criteria determining what’s good/true/right is how I feel
--a song or a sermon that triggers an emotional response is
always and automatically superior to one that does not
-conveniently, because they are feelings, they’re not open to debate
--“It’s just the way I feel” is what you’re likely to hear...as if that
settles everything...like their feelings are the ultimate trump
card...and there is simply no way their feelings could be wrong
-oddly, is doesn’t seem to matter which emotion is evoked
--a sermon that pumps you up to share your faith...or that makes
you laugh...or that makes you feel guilty about sin...is always
light years better than any sermon that “only” makes you think
---seriously—wouldn’t you prefer a sermon than makes you
cry over one that makes your brain hurt?
-which is why you rarely hear and preachers rarely preach so-called
“doctrinal” sermons...because here’s what happens when we do:
--say I preach a sermon about God’s immutability and after the
service all I hear is an occasional “nice sermon”...so I
interpret your lack of enthusiasm to mean that you don’t want
to hear doctrinal sermons...so I don’t preach them and then I
secretly blame you for your lack of maturity and depth
---but there’s another problem—I’m allowing your “felt needs”
influence what I preach—and I’m being disobedient to
God because, frankly, that’s not your call to make
--but it’s happening all across the country...and it’s leaving us
with weak churches filled with mindless Christians who no
longer know how and who, by and large, don’t care to know
how to think...which is what Paul warns Timothy about...listen
Read
2 Timothy 4:2-4
Here’s what every single one of us need to be doing
-pray for godly
wisdom...James 1:5 à If any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God, who
gives generously to all without finding
fault, and it will be given to him.
-be discerning without being critical/mean
-develop your mind so that you can study Scripture better...so you
can engage in deeper spiritual conversations...and you can read
more challenging books
--it takes more time and effort to read Dallas Willard than John
Ortberg...or C.S. Lewis than Lee Strobel
---of course, if you’re not currently reading anything other
than light fiction, then start with Ortberg and Strobel
--Mary Underwood, our church librarian, should be one of the
busiest people around
-think! 1 Peter 1:13 à Prepare your minds for
action
Let me leave you with a few terribly important cautions
-watch out for the ugly monster of pride!
-don’t take faith out of the picture
--logical reasoning never replaces faith...you’re still saved by
grace through faith...you still live by faith, not by sight
---but faith must never cancel out wisdom
-one final warning: beware of the demand to feel “fed” by the pastor
--sermons should spark questions...stir conversations...prompt
further study—it’s unrealistic to expect a 30-minute message to
satisfy every need you might think you have
--my job is to offer you food for thought
---one of my big pet peeves is when people complain about
their former church where they “just weren’t being fed”
--it’s not your pastor’s job to put a bib on you and feed you...you
have a God-given responsibility to study and learn on your own
Read
Luke 14:25-33
Do you notice what Jesus is doing?
-Jesus doesn’t appeal to their emotions...He doesn’t reveal some
hidden spiritual truth...He doesn’t tell them what they want to hear
...He doesn’t try to make the large crowd happy
--simply, Jesus tells them the truth
---and He doesn’t ask, “How does that make you feel?”
--He tells them, “This is important. Think about it. Then act.”