Gospel
David Platt v. the American Dream [Book Review]
David Platt is taking a swing at our long-established national ethos…
The one that says citizens of every rank can achieve a “better, richer and happier life.”
The one that says with hard work and a can-do attitude you can buy the perfect home with a picket fence…two cars in the garage…and a monster flat screen television pinned to the living room wall.
Unfortunately, it’s an ethos at odds with Jesus Christ.
Nasty Side Effect of the American Dream
Originally quoted by James Truslow Adams back in 1931, “The American Dream” is rooted in the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence:
“all men are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
It’s an idea that motivated immigrants of all stripes. That drives our bulldog entrepreneurial spirit. And feeds Olympic-sized dreams.
But it’s got a nasty side effect: conspicuous consumerism.
In other words, it breeds the sense that we are not people until we have the large house in an exclusive subdivision with a 28-foot boat parked at the marina.
In this version of the American dream, material goods and worldly success rule because it provide us with a sense of safety, satisfaction and security.
And unfortunately, Dr. Platt argues in his forthcoming book Radical: Taking Back Our Faith from the American Dream, it’s hijacked the American church.
The Tension Between Building and Mission Budgets
The American church is obsessed with budgets. Building campaigns. Entertainment value. Head count. Comfort level. Presidential hat tips.
A systemic problem considering the church wasn’t built to pamper us. It was built for something completely different.
Platt points out the tension between the American church and its original purpose with two headlines he saw recently in a local newspaper: One headline declared a church spent 1.5 million dollars to build a new sanctuary. On the same page that same church gave $5,000 to missions in the same year.
There’s something very disturbing about that picture. And it says something about us, too: Our American view of the gospel makes much of us.
Jesus’ gospel, on the other hand, makes much of God and his mandate to reach the lost and the poor.
It’s an obsession with missions.
Now, before you think Dr. Platt is a small-town pastor frustrated with larger churches and their enormous budgets and congregations that rival small cities–think again.
Platt is the pastor of Birmingham, Alabama’s 4,000 strong The Church. That means he’s coping with the same ills as most megachurch pastors.
And he’s finding it hard to live with this model, a model that is on a collision course with Jesus.
The Original Purpose of the Church
In Matthew 28:19 Jesus commanded his disciples to go and make disciples of all the nations.
One thing is clear: No one is exempt from this commandment. We are all responsible for spreading the gospel and training believers.
Look around a contemporary American church and what do you see? Not much training. Discipline. Or hardship.
Look at churches overseas, though, and you get quite a different picture. Here’s how Platt described one underground church he visited:
A woman who lived in the city and knew some English shared, “I have a television, and every once in a while I am able to get stations from the United States,” she said. “Some of these stations have church services on them. I see the preachers, and they are dressed in very nice clothes, and they are preaching in very nice buildings. Some of them even tell me that if I have faith, I too can have nice things.”
She paused before continuing. “When I come to our church meetings, I look around, and most of us are very poor, and we are meeting here at great risk to our lives.” The she looked at me and asked, “Does this mean we do not have enough faith?”
Sharp contrast wouldn’t you say? He paints another humbling picture of this contrast when he compares the American church with the history of the SS United States.
Short History of a Luxury Liner
The SS United States was originally designed to carry over 15,000 troops anywhere in the world at speeds of 40 miles per hour or faster.
It was the biggest and fastest combat ship of its kind. However, it never went into combat.
Instead, the Navy used it to carry presidents, heads of state and celebrities to enjoy 695 staterooms, 4 dining rooms, 3 bars, 2 theaters, 5 acres of open deck and heated pool while they sauntered across the Atlantic Ocean.
Platt writes:
“Instead of a vessel used for battle during wartime, the SS United States became a means of indulgence for wealthy patrons who desired to coast peacefully across the Atlantic.”
Replace SS United States with the America church and you have a startlingly real picture of what we’ve become.
This is hot tub religion. Not what Jesus intended.
Jesus Versus the American Dream
Jesus intended the church to prepare Christians for battle. And to actually send them into battle. It’s purpose is to mobilize a people to accomplish a mission.
However, we seem to have turned away from a sense of mission to share the gospel with pagans and alleviate suffering and adopted the gospel of American consumerism dominated by “self-advancement, self-esteem and self-sufficiency.”
It’s our bliss versus their pain.
But the church never should’ve gotten to this point. Long ago Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
In essence, Jesus Christ and the American Dream are NOT compatible.
What Platt Isn’t Saying
Understand: This is not a call to abandon abundance. No–it’s a call to rethink how we use it. Scripture clearly teaches that God intends our plenty to supply the needs of others.
And it’s not a question of “What can we spare?” No. It’s a question of “What will it take?”
Over a billion people are headed to a Christless eternity. Over 28,000 children will die of starvation before the day ends.
The implications are huge: We don’t have time to waste our lives on the American Dream. Not if we all have been commanded to take this gospel to them.
In the end, Jesus said we will be betrayed. Tortured. Killed. This is the undeniable truth behind being a follower of Christ.
So if we want a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, then we should stay away from the biblical Jesus and continue to cling to the American Dream.
What Does It [Really] Mean to “Call Upon the Lord”?
For all the talk of God’s sovereignty, election and spiritual bondage, the Bible unequivocally clamps down on our reaction to the gospel…
There’s no missing it: We are responsible for exercising our faith.
We are, in the end, held accountable to “call upon the Lord.”
Here’s Peter and Paul’s take on it:
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Acts 2:21
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13
But what does “call upon the Lord” mean? More importantly, is it the same thing Jesus described in Matthew 7:21 when people came to him saying “Lord, Lord”?
No, it’s not. It’s way more complex than that.
When Peter was asked what one had to do to be saved, he commanded, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”
Paul said that this calling upon the Lord can’t happen until a sinner hears the gospel. A sinner cannot “call” until after he has heard the Word of God–and believed it.
So then, every non-believer who wants to obtain salvation does not get it by simply praying to God or saying, “Lord, Lord,” but by submitting to God’s authority.
Ultimately, a genuine Christian, among other things, obeys God’s commands, reject this evil world, longs for Jesus’ return, loves other Christians and discerns between truth and error.
Only when a person submits to the will of God can he accurately be described as “calling on the Lord.” And only then can he enjoy great confidence in his eternal salvation.
There’s no short-circuiting that process. At all.
Monergism.com: A Quick and Dirty Guide
Monergism is the name for the doctrine that the Holy Spirit acts independently of the human will in the work of new birth.
It’s also the name for one of the best online resources for all things reformed: Monergism.com.
In many ways, it’s the reformed communities best kept secret.
But it’s not likely to stay that way for long.
The Birth of Monergism
Around the year 2000, web developer John Hendryx started to get disturbed by the growth of heretical information on the web.
At the same time he also noticed that there wasn’t anywhere online you could go to find sound doctrine in a single place. Naturally, he felt like he should use his God-given creativity to spread the gospel.
So, in his spare time, he built Monergism.com to help recover the true biblical doctrines of the historic faith by collecting and centralizing reformed resources across the web on one site.
And what began ten years ago as a small website with a handful of links has grown into a mammoth directory of all things reformed.
Five Things You Can Do at Monergism.com
Monergism.com amounts to a vast archive of online articles, PDFs, books and mp3s. So if you’re new to monergism–whether the doctrine or the website–start here…
With over 80 links to topics on regeneration, the will of God, justification and biblical devotion you’re likely to be busy for awhile–especially if you settle into the 26-part audio lecture on Calvin’s Institutes.
The second great way to use Monergism.com involves the exposition of Scripture. Simply pop in any Bible verse into the search box, press submit and voila: a stout list of written and audio commentaries on that verse.
The third great feature at Monergism.com is it’s biography pages. Take Tim Keller, for example. On his bio page you get a professional summary then a long list of resources.
Then there’s the Monergism mp3 library–a massive archive of sermons and lectures on just about any topic under the reformed sun. Name a living theologian or pastor–like Tim Keller or D. A. Carson–and you are likely to find all their available sermons.
Lastly, Monergism.com has developed into a bookstore where you can find classic Puritan works by Flavel, Edwards and Newton to current works by Francis Chan, Kevin DeYoung or Adrian Warnock–often at reduced prices.
Keep This in Mind
Monergism.com is a non-profit organization. That means Hendyx and Co. work off of donations and book sales…
Anyone who’s worked in non-profit knows that this often amounts to dirt, which should give you an indication when you consider the size and quality and longevity of Monergism.com that this venture has a lot to do with one man’s unrelenting vision to see the historic confession of Jesus Christ dominate the theological landscape…
Something I can wholeheartedly get behind. What about you?
Secret Sin: The Hideous Corpse in the Closet
**Guest post by Daniel Wilson of Desire Spiritual Growth.**
You know what it’s like to struggle with secret sin that has a death-grip around your throat…
Secret sin gnaws at your conscience more than anything else…
You feel like a hypocrite with moral standards fluctuating with the presence or absence of an audience…
Endless cycles of determined resolve and dismal failure continue as you try to break off the secret sin…
Your soul has some sickened bent toward feeding at the swine trough even though every taste leaves you with a regretful hangover…
Intimacy with God is almost nonexistent because no two lovers can remain relationally intimate while one plays the harlot…
You may rightfully doubt your own salvation because–despite having gained a lot of knowledge about God and the gospel–you look back on the past few years and see little victory over secret sin…
And you are weary of new techniques and three-step processes to bring freedom.
They never work.
If that sounds like an insider’s description, it’s because I left tracks in mud on the miserable path of secret sin.
Secret sin creates an inconsistency between our outer and inner lives.
Hypocrisy. We do behind mentally or physically closed doors what we would never do out in the light. This shows that whatever is motivating our public deeds is not strong–or not relevant–enough to govern our private deeds.
Where Does the Struggle with Secret Sin Originate?
In general, we sin because we are sinners. Until our sanctification is complete, we will not cease to wrestle with sin.
We are seduced by promises that sin cannot deliver on. We struggle to believe that sin is profitless and costly and thus we are blindly attracted to something that is repulsive in reality.
In particular, our heart is fertile ground for secret sin when we use righteousness to gain approval. We become concerned only with outward appearance. That opens the door for secret sins because they are hidden from view and do not affect public approval ratings.
Struggling with secret sin is an indicator that our outward righteousness is primarily motivated by a love for man. If our outward righteousness was motivated by a love for God, then we would use the same motivation to live righteous private lives.
This is a heart problem: love for God is not filling our heart, enabling and motivating our deeds publicly or privately.
Jesus gives us a profile of this problem in His diagnoses of the Pharisaical heart. The Pharisees did all of their deeds to be seen by men. That’s all they wanted. Concerned only with outward appearance, their hearts were far from the Lord. They were like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness (Matthew 23:5, 26-27; Mark 6:7).
Contrast that with a former Pharisee whose heart was changed–the Apostle Paul:
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
The difference between convenient obedience and full obedience is a matter of where our heart’s affections lie. We either serve and love God above all, or we serve and love man. And only one of those two loves can enable and motivate us to reject secret sin.
The Unsurprising Yet Singularly Effective Solution
Where do we get such a love for God that enables and motivates us to obey?
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15
We are not naturally filled with love for God. Nor are we the filler that we may fill ourselves. We are helpless to bring about the required heart change so that we can overcome secret sin.
On Our Knees
Gripped and crushed by our powerlessness, we are finally where we ought to be. We are ready to cry out for God to fill us with love for Him. Let Him break, mold and fill us as He sees fit.
“Let thy personal weakness, O Christian, be an argument to make thee pray earnestly to thy God for help…Let not the doctrine that you, unaided, can do nothing, make you sleep; but let it be a goad in your side to drive you with an awful earnestness to Israel’s strong Helper.” – CH Spurgeon
“By the law is the knowledge of sin’ [Rom 3:20], so the word of grace comes only to those who are distressed by a sense of sin and tempted to despair.” Martin Luther
“The loss of all confidence in one’s self is the first essential in the believer’s growth in grace.” A. W. Pink
What is our desperate prayer request? That the Lord will direct our hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ so that we will do the things that we have been commanded, for our good and His glory.
But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:3-5
[Also see Ephesians 3:14-21]
That is the gospel: God requiring of us what we cannot supply on our own. And then giving us the supply.
Does anyone wish to overcome secret sin, to be rid of it at last? Then take hold of the gospel daily. You will find no victory as you wage war against sin until your heart is filled with love for God.
10 Hard Truths about Being Born Again
What does it mean to be spiritually dead? And why is the new birth so precious?
The following nine posts unpack the hard truth that we are dead apart from the new birth…
Spiritual Death
What does it mean to be spiritually dead? A biblical answer. With a little help from my friend John Piper.
Hard-Hearted Ignorance
On the surface our problem–that is, our condition apart from the new birth–looks like ignorance. But it’s something deeper.
Resist Christ as Lord
Did you know that new birth draws you AWAY from your lusts TO Christ? Yet, the drawing is not moral persuasion. It’s something different. And superior.
Spiritual Blindness
People who reject Christ are blind. And there’s only one cure. Fortunately, these people who follow this blog know the secret and aren’t shy about it.
Bondage to Worldly Wisdom
Intellectual discussions deserve exchanges of argument and counter-argument. The only problem is, sin is not an intellectual problem. It’s something else.
Children of Wrath
Why do you need to be born again? Because you are a child of wrath. And how you got to be that way may surprise you.
Enemy of God
The person dead-set on embracing all the world has to offer can never please God. And that’s a dangerous thing.
Hates the Light
Two things essentially arise from an abandonment of Christianity: Your sense of morality and your bitterness towards God. This is what it means to love the dark.
Slaves to Sin To be a slave to sin is a terrible thing. But enslavement to sin doesn’t mean one struggles against it. Quite the contrary.
Slaves to Satan
The path to new birth is strewn with opposition. And as if that wasn’t enough to discourage or depress you, let me add another one.
Update: Added Slaves to Sin on Thursday, January 7, for a total of ten hard truths about being born again.
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