Ch. 10 – A Life of Freedom (The Practice of Secrecy)

In 1998 Jim Carey starred in a movie called the Truman Show. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a life about a man who was born on TV, but he doesn’t know it. His entire world is one big elaborate TV set. All his friends, family, and co-workers are actors and he has no idea. Every moment of his life is broadcast for the world to see. Truman has no idea that he has no privacy, there is nothing he does that is in secret because there are cameras everywhere. The entire world is his audience and he’s oblivious.


Contrast that to our reality TV lives of today. In this world of facebook and selfies, we all produce our own reality show for everyone see. This generation is a generation of TRUMANS, the only difference is that we want all the world to see us. We live in a “Look-it me” world. Think about our facebook posts. Look at me, look at my family, look at my stuff, look at my problems, or look I’m happy.


Now, it may sound like I’m condemning our or your facebook statuses, I’m not. I’m just stating the fact. We live in “look-at me” world! Period J Therefore, we must take this spiritual discipline, the practice of SECRECY, serious. If there ever was a generation who needed this practice as a part of their spiritual lives it’s the one we live in now.


For those of you who haven’t read this chapter, you need to get the book and read this chapter. If you don’t read any other chapter in this book, you need to read this one. This one chapter will greatly increase your spiritual health and strengthen your relationship with God if you implement it into your everyday life. WHY, because to practice this discipline of spiritual secrecy will set you free from the chains of our “look-it me” world. Every time we give in to the desire to impress others we give a little of our freedom away. And if we are not careful, bit by bit, post by post, our freedom is taken away and we can easily become slaves to this “look-it me” world we live in.


So again, for those of you who did not read this chapter, I’m not going to give it away. This blog is not meant to replace the book that Ortberg wrote. My purpose is to add some commentary, start some discussion, and hopefully encourage you towards actually engaging in these spiritual exercises. However, I will give you one small little exert from this chapter that might encourage you to read it…“The practice of secrecy is Jesus’ gift to APPROVAL ADDICTS” (p.168).


So if you struggle with living your life to gain the approval of others, if your happiness is greatly dependent upon your status and what others think of you, and/or if your happiness goes up and down based upon how many likes you got on your facebook post—then you need really need to learn the art of spiritual secrecy or as Otrberg puts it “Righteous Anonymous”.


When you learn this practice, then you’ll be set free from trying to control what others think of you. There will be only ONE person who you will really need approval from and only ONE you will live to please. That Life You’ve Always Wanted is just an audience of ONE away.

Matthew 6:1 (NASB) -  “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

pj

Ch. 9 - The Guided Life: Receiving Guidance from the Holy Spirit

Let me start by saying this chapter makes me uncomfortable. Therefore, I am going to offer some cautions to take about receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to discount what Ortberg says in this chapter. I understand that Ortberg is trying to say, “when we listen to God, we receive guidance from the Holy Spirit”—that biblically makes sense (i.e. Galatians 5:25). The part that makes me uncomfortable is how we receive that guidance. It may be me being overly cautious, but it seems to me Ortberg leaves the door too wide open for the possibility that God speak to us directly? Now, Ortberg admits he has never heard God speak to him audibly and I don’t hesitate to say I have never heard God speak to me audibly or directly. However, I do believe God guides us through his Holy Spirit.

Before I mention how, I want to first offer some cautions and reasons why it makes me uncomfortable when I hear someone else say that God has spoken to them.

1.  Cults: Throughout history, people have used that as an excuse to do destructive and evil things. For example, most cult leaders claim to have some divine link to God. Their atrocities range from sexual molestation, to mass suicide, to creating entirely new false religions.

 

2.   It creates conflict: If you say God told me to do something and someone else says God told me the opposite. Who’s right? …because God doesn’t contradict himself. (Mt. 12:25)

 

3.    Adding to scripture: God warns us not to add to or take away from his Word (Rev. 22:18-19). This is a slippery slope that creates division amongst the churches.

 

4.    Free Will: God has given us free will. If you take being guided by the spirit to the extreme it can paralyze you and you will constantly be questioning yourself and others. For example, there is wisdom in the person, who asks, is it God’s will that I buy this house or take this job. But what about the question, is it God’s will that I eat at McDonald’s or Taco Bell for lunch. It sounds ridiculous, but where do you draw the line?

 

I think the line can be drawn or best understood with Ortberg’s statement on page 150,

 

“God’s purpose in guidance is not to get us to perform the right actions.

His purpose is to help us become the right kind of people”

 

How does God speak to us?

 

A)    Through the Bible: The Holy scriptures from Genesis to Revelation are God’s inspired word to the church. 2 Timothy 3:16^NLT says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” In other words, God’s speaks to us through his Word and thus helps us become the “right kind of people”.

 

B)    Through other Christ Followers: Ortberg speak to this on page 153.
 

C)    Through Revelation: In scripture we have seen revelation happen indirectly through prophets and angels and then directly through prayer and dreams.

 

First let’s address ANGELS: The Bible says it is possible. Hebrews 13:12^NIV - Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. However, the caveat seems to be in this verse that we might not actually realize we have talked or interacted with an angel.

 

PROPHETS: A few prophets talked directly to God, Moses comes to mind. And in the NT, even though Paul was considered an apostle,  he meets many of the descriptions of that of a prophet one of which is-- the risen Christ spoke to Paul directly. There are a few other examples, but sense this happened so sparingly in the Bible, I question when I hear of prophets today. Why, because God plans for Christ (the Messiah) and his Church have been implemented. In essence, an argument can be made that the need for the role of a prophet is no longer needed because God has already acted and spoken.

 

Then there are those with the gift of prophecy. Those who have the gift of prophecy are not Prophets. One is a spiritual gift and another is a specific calling by God to deal with his people (plural). We don’t have time to address the gift of prophecy, but I will say this. The Prophets of the Bible “prophecied” only 5% of the time and sometime less than that. And so, I question those with the gift of prophecy today when they “prophecy” more than a Biblical prophet. The primary purpose of those with the gift of prophecy is NOT to speak of the future, but to declare what God has already said to be true. Their job is to deliver the truth of God with incite and discernment in order to help an individual repent from their sin.

 

DREAMS: God spoke to people through dreams in the Bible, Joseph (the earthly father of Jesus) comes to mind. Also, Joseph (one of the twelve’s son of Jacob) comes to mind. I don’t know if God still speaks to us this way, but he can if he wants, remember he’s God. I tend to think that he does, not because I have experienced it. But others close to me have. However, in each instance it seems to be a one time deal not an ongoing gift or ability. The one instance that comes to mind was when my sister-in-law had a dream that our home caught on fire and the cause of the fire was in our dryer vent. Out of curiosity I checked our vent, and to my surprise I found a dead bird clogging up the vent. Lent was building up around it and it was a fire hazard! Did God speak through my sister-in-law. I can’t say definitively, but I sure won’t rule it our either. Before I became a pastor, one of the sweetest and most loving faithful Christian ladies I know told me she had a dream that I would become a preacher. I told her she was crazy and that it would never happen. She kept having the dream and I kept telling her she was crazy. Now was God speaking directly to her, did she have the gift of prophecy to see into the future. I don’t know, but years later when I decided to make the commitment to become a preacher-I’d be lying if I said her words to me had no bearing on my decision. I remember having to eat crow when I told her, but it was the best crow I’ve ever eaten.

 

PRAYER: Most people think of prayer as a time we speak to God, but it’s actually one of the best times to listen to God. Ortberg lays out in the opening for this chapter that in order to receive guidance from God you have to be willing and able to listen. Prayer is the best time for this. And while in prayer,  what are we listening for…an audible voice? NO, we are listening for the Holy Spiri’ts guidance on what God has already revealed to be true in his Word.

 

Concluding Takeaways: When you need Spiritual Guidance
 

1)    Pray – Don’t let the noise of the world and your own desires drown out God’s voice. Listen to God in your quiet time (1 Kings 19:11-12 ^{Look up this verse, you’ll see what I mean).} You need silence and solitude for this—without it you won’t be able to hear God very well.

 

2)    Pay attention – God opens and shut doors. Use common sense when making decisions.  If God is calling you to do something, he’ll open the doors if you follow him in faith. If you decide to not listen to God and break down or through doors in life that he really does not want you to go through, you’ll suffer the consequences and he’ll get your attention one way or another.  2 Corinthians 2:12^(NLT) - When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me.

 

3)    Test -  So however you hear from God, use wisdom and discernment and test the message. 1 John 4:1^(NLT)  - Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. If some tells you God told me this, then test it against God’s Holy Scripture. If it contradicts the Bible, their message is not from God. If you feel God is calling you to do something that is a sin or contradicts God’s Word, it’s not from God. For example, if you hear a voice say, it’s ok to cheat on your spouse, that’s not God’s voice. If you hear a voice tell you to take a job that compromises your Christian values, that’s not God’s voice. If you hear a voice tell you to help someone financially and you’re in debt and can’t even feed your own family, that’s not God’s voice. God won’t have you grossly neglect your family at the expense of helping another family.

“HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR”!!!

 

Jason

Ch. 8 - Life Beyond Regret (The Practice of Confession)

Regrets, I've had a few…and regretfully my confessions have been even fewer. Why is that? Why don’t we confess more? Afraid of gossip, afraid of judgments, afraid to face our weakness. I’ll admit, those are fears of mine. However, I do crave confession. There is something appealing to me that makes me want to sit down in a catholic confession booth and unload. There are even friends and family members that I’d like to confess my struggles too but I don’t because I’m afraid what they might think of me or I’m afraid they will tell someone. But I need to confess, we need to confess. Why, because when we don’t confess we tend to avoid God! When we don’t confess our sin it eats us up and keeps God’s healing grace at bay. So, how do we confess? Ortberg gives a lot of good biblical incites about confession in this chapter, but I thought I’d give you a few practical and biblical ways you can actually practice this discipline of confession.

 

First, in your prayer time: If you can’t confess to God (the one who knows all your sins anyway) then you’re not going to be able to confess to others. You might ask why do I need to confess something God already knows about. Psalms 38:18 (NLT) says, “I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done”. So we see here in this text that sorrow comes with honest confession and this “Godly” sorrow is what brings about a changed behavior. Furthermore, no matter what we have done or who we have wronged, all sin is an offense against God. So when we offend someone, we ought to apologize. Finally, your prayer time is shallow if doesn’t include confession. If your prayers consist only of “LORD help me” or “LORD give me”, then that might explain why your prayer life seems powerless and ineffective.

 

Second, in the midst conflict: Life is full of conflict. And for some reason we seem to fight with the ones we care about the most. And the biggest reason most relationships fail is because they don’t know how to fight fair and own up to their own mistakes. Confessions that are shallow and not backed up with remorseful and then corrected behavior are nails in the coffin of relationships. The following exert is taken from www.peacemaker.net (this is great resource for how to handle conflict biblically).

 
 

 Get the log out of your own eye

One of the most challenging principles of peacemaking is set forth in Matthew 7:5, where Jesus says, "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." There are generally two kinds of "logs" you need to look for when dealing with conflict. First, you need to ask whether you have had a critical, negative, or overly sensitive attitude that has led to unnecessary conflict. One of the best ways to do this is to spend some time meditating on Philippians 4:2-9, which describes the kind of attitude Christians should have even when they are involved in a conflict.

When you identify ways that you have wronged another person, it is important to admit your wrongs honestly and thoroughly. One way to do this is to use the Seven A's of Confession.

The most important aspect of getting the log out of your own eye is to go beyond the confession of wrong behavior and face up to the root cause of that behavior

As God opens your eyes to see how you have sinned against others, he simultaneously offers you a way to find freedom from your past wrongs. It is called confession. Many people have never experienced this freedom because they have never learned how to confess their wrongs honestly and unconditionally. Instead, they use words like these: "I'm sorry if I hurt you." "Let's just forget the past." "I suppose I could have done a better job." "I guess it's not all your fault." These token statements rarely trigger genuine forgiveness and reconciliation. If you really want to make peace, ask God to help you breathe grace by humbly and thoroughly admitting your wrongs.

One way to do this is to use the Seven A's.

Address everyone involved (All those whom you affected)

Avoid if, but, and maybe (Do not try to excuse your wrongs)

Admit specifically (Both attitudes and actions)

Acknowledge the hurt (Express sorrow for hurting someone)

Accept the consequences (Such as making restitution)

Alter your behavior (Change your attitudes and actions)

Ask for forgiveness                                                                    See Matthew 7:3-5; 1 John 1:8-9; Proverbs 28:13.

 
Third, the need for accountability: When you’re struggling with a sin that keeps defeating you, then God has provided help through the process of accountability. An accountability partner or group needs to be fellow person(s) in Christ of the same sex (one exception could be your spouse). This could range from a formal Christian counselor to small group to a good friend or (like I just stated) even your spouse in some cases. No matter who it is, they need to be someone you trust, who is mature (new Christians do not make good accountability partners!!!). Most importantly, they need to be someone who can keep things confidential.

Finally, when not to confess: Many of us struggle privately (in our minds) with sins and temptations. These types of struggles do not always need not to be confessed publically. Some things need to be between just you and God. For example, if a guy goes confessing every time he has a lustful thought—everyone is going to think he is a perv. In general, private sin is confessed privately (to those who need to know) and a public sin is confessed publically, not always but in general. Basically, think of confession as a need to know to discussion. If someone doesn’t need to know (if it’s none of their business), don’t make it their business—you have the right to remain silent. Confessing to the wrong people can be harmful. Keep it to the parties involved and you’ll generally do the right and responsible thing. God is where we start with confession and then let him lead you from there.

James 5:16 (NIV) – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”.