Real zeal vs. False Zeal

                                            

Posted on March 25, 2023


By Elizabeth Prata

A regenerated heart means different affections, different point of view, different citizenship. It means the world will hate the believer. And it does. It does.

Post-salvation, I learned that some of the most vicious and difficult evangelistic responses don’t come from the world, but sometimes actually come from people calling themselves other Christians. That is because I learned there are false Christians who possess a false zeal. Or, actually, it’s a true zeal, but it’s misplaced from glorifying God in truth, to glorifying satan in hate.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:1-2).

By this verse we see there is such a thing as a zeal that is not of God. There can be zeal, or fervor, or energy around religious things, but not according to what we know from the Bible. AKA knowledge.

This contrast of false zeal vs. true zeal was highlighted recently with several events in the news. Of course, the “Asbury Revival”, a week-long event that had occurred at a college in Kentucky where a seemingly spontaneous move of God spread across the campus, drawing hundreds of matriculated students, then busloads of students from other campuses, then rubber-neckers. The event seemed to indicate a spiritual move of the Spirit to awaken dead sinners. Or was it? There certainly was an abundance of zeal present. Was it real or false? How to tell? At the very beginning it was especially hard to tell.

Zeal: great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. Synonyms: passion, fervor, enthusiasm.

In addition, another zeal event occurred. Beth Moore’s third memoir was released in February and the enterprising little Bible thumper from Texas has been busy as a bee flitting from interview to interview. The book rests at this writing at the top of famous best-seller lists. It’s creating quite a buzz. She has been on TV, streaming, and print, her opinions delivered with as much verve as ever, and are eagerly absorbed by audiences, never waning despite her 65 years and over 4 decades in the Christian biz.

Beth Moore has been consistently described through the years as “energetic”, “charismatic”, “passionate”. She puts out an energy as zealous for God.

But how can we discern if we observe a true zeal or a false zeal? Let’s turn to the scriptures.

As Paul finished Romans 9, and remember, there were no chapter breaks in the original letter, before he went on to mentioning false zeal in Chapter 10:1, had reminded the Roman Christians that Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not attain that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. (Romans 9:31-32).

They appeared to be doing a religious effort, they looked like they were on the right track, and part of that appearance is because of their fervent energy.

They went across the world to make one proselyte, but wound up making him twice the sons of hell they were. (Matthew 23:15). That verse is the example of zeal without knowledge. You can be passionate, you can be busy making disciples, but a false zeal will make disciples who miss the mark completely and will wind up in hell as a son of hell. Zeal, no knowledge.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached on the Romans 10:1-2 verse in a sermon called False vs. True Zeal. The sermon is stunning, relevant, and informative. He laid the foundation as he always does, logically, then laid out tests to determine of someone is exhibiting false zeal. Then in the later part of the sermon he laid out how to determine if a person is exhibiting true zeal. I’ll paraphrase his sermon below in 2 parts. Today, we have an exam of false zeal. Tomorrow, true zeal.

Lloyd-Jones’ sermon can be heard here, for free: True Zeal and False Zeal: A Sermon on Romans 10:1-2. Or on Youtube with closed captions (which might help due to his accent).


I think almost invariably that zeal is one of the most prominent characteristics of people who belong to the cults.Martyn Lloyd-Jones


Test of False Zeal
by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, paraphrased & quoted from his sermon

Here is one thing which should always raise the query in our minds and that is that our zeal has been imposed upon us by somebody else and we are just conforming to a pattern. You’re becoming just like the rest of them, conforming to an external pattern.

Secondly if it is a zeal that has to be whipped up or organized as it were, or that we have to be kept up to it. If the stimulus has to come from other people on the outside, it may very well be a false zeal.

A third test if you find that you put greater emphasis upon doing than upon being, it’s always an indication. You should be careful if you are more anxious to do things than to be a saint, you better examine your zeal again.

Another way of putting that my fourth test can be put in this form that involves zeal the activity is always very prominent and at the center of the life rather than the truth. The thing you are hit by all along is the activity, this energy that’s being put forth, rather than by the truth which even the people themselves claim to be representing. In other words, there’s always a tendency in false zeal to overdo things. There’s always an element of excess where the activity is more in evidence than the thing which is claimed.



In the fifth place the more prominent the machinery and the element of organization the more likely it is to be a false zeal. When methods and means and organization of machinery are very prominent it’s good presumptive evidence that it is a false zeal.

As my sixth test MLJ grouped a number of things together under the heading of carnality carnality. He meant that by that the flesh. In false zeal there is always this carnal element and it shows itself by a kind of lightness, a lightness of spirit, almost sometimes even a frivolity.



This can sometimes be seen even in religious meetings. There’s a lightness and a joviality and the kind of jovial superficiality. You can’t imagine such things anywhere near the Apostle Paul or any other of the Apostles or anywhere near our Blessed Lord himself, but you get it in these meetings. They’re very zealous. I’m not quitting their zeal I’m granting their zeal. I’m granting their enthusiasm but they always overdo it and there is this light touch about it.

Indeed I have often on some occasions in a certain type of meeting I’ve had to remind myself that I am in a religious meeting. The spirit I have felt present has been the spirit of a cricket team or a football team. The spirit of doing something worldly some wealthy entertainment. Now the people were absolutely sincere but there was lightness in the atmosphere there was no sense of awe, no sense of God, no sense of holiness no sense of reverence but everything was bright and breezy. It was being carried along with the verve and wonderful organizing power I say these are indications of carnality, not of true zeal.

Still under carnality, if there is an element of self-confidence and of assurance and of being in control of the situation, you can be quite certain it is false zeal. Any impression that is given by men – I don’t care how zealous he is, I don’t care how sincere he is – if he gives that impression that he’s in control and self-confident in the show I’m suspicious of his zeal and of his sincerity. If there’s any suspicion at all of his being proud of himself, it is still worse.

But let’s go on to test number seven – false zeal is always impatient to the examination. It dislikes being examined. It dislikes being questioned.

It resents this- it says ‘Can’t you see that I’m zealous … I’m enthusiastic … I’m sincere … I want to do …’ But you say ‘Well but let’s make sure because of the teaching.’ No, no, it’s impatient of all that. It wants to get on with things, must be doing something.

False zeal dislikes slowing down long enough to be examined.

Eighth, that is surely a very bad sign and when it is impatient of teaching. It is still worse they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. They don’t want the knowledge, for they’ve rejected the knowledge. They are not interested in it. They must get on with it they say. They don’t want to be taught and teaching is unnecessary. The thing to do is to be doing something that’s the spirit of the false zeal test number nine.

—end Martyn Lloyd-Jones tests of false zeal from his sermon.

As you read along of the 9 tests, did anyone come to mind? I can think of a lot of Christian celebs I see on social media who resist being tested, or don’t like their teaching being compared to the Bible. I can think of several people who exhibit a zeal but after having seen them PERFORM, their teaching actually evaporates. Their teaching has no substance when parted from their charismatic personality.

Monday I’ll post what Lloyd-Jones outlines as tests of true zeal. You’ll notice the difference immediately. Meanwhile, don’t be one of the many who think that just because a person seems passionate for God, they possess a true understanding of the faith. There IS such a thing as false zeal.


There is a danger of setting up zeal or sincerity to the supreme position.Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Why Should a New Convert Not Open-Air Preach?

 (I contend that this also applies to new Christians teaching, discipling and leading groups)

by Brandon Rhea

10/21/2016


New converts to Christianity usually have an unmatched zeal for the gospel. The freshness of their salvation through the precious blood of their Savior propels them to action. Their enthusiasm can lead them to engage people in evangelism. Some veteran street preachers even take the passionate babe in Christ with them for an outreach. Very quickly, this opens the door to their opportunity to step up on the box. While I admire such fervor to preach the gospel in the open air, I must caution against this approach for six reasons.

1. New Converts Need Time to Grow in Character

A new believer needs time to grow in the fruits of the Spirit. In Ephesians 4:17-32, Paul addresses the Ephesians on how we should live differently from the unconverted. We must put off the old self and put on the new self. This includes putting off unrighteous anger and corrupting talk. Open-air preaching is a temptation for new converts to respond in unrighteous ways to the mocking, scoffing, and apathy of the non-Christians. A new believer does not know how to respond to cursing with blessing. They have not learned to rejoice when persecuted. If the man struggled with bitterness, wrath, malice, and violence before Christ, then he will need time for the Holy Spirit to sanctify him through the Word. The consequences of him exploding in an ungodly way would be the discrediting of the gospel message.

2. New Converts Need Discipleship

In Acts 18:24-28, God gifted Apollos to speak in the synagogues about Christ. In verse 24, we learn that he is an eloquent speaker and competent in the Scriptures. In verse 25, Luke tells us that Apollos received discipleship. Someone instructed him in the way of the Lord. This verb, instruct, means “to teach in a systematic or detailed manner.” Apollos went through a systematic discipleship program on the meaning of the Scriptures. Yet, he still needed correction. In verse 26, Priscilla and Aquila heard him preach, but he needed more instruction. They took him aside and taught him the way of the Lord more accurately. Then, God used him marvelously in Achaia to refute the Jews.

If Apollos received detailed and systematic instruction and still needed correction, how much more does a new convert? Most baby Christians have not read the Bible completely. They usually know the basics of the Gospel, but they are not competent in the Scriptures. People saved from nominal Christian backgrounds or other religions usually know very little about the Bible. They need time to learn the Scriptures through their church’s preaching and personal study in order to be prepared to preach the gospel accurately.

3. New Converts Are Students and Not Teachers

If a man is not competent to preach on Sunday in the pulpit, then he is not competent to preach on Saturday on the street corner. In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul exhorts Timothy to “preach the word.” The word, preach, in this context means “to publicly announce religious truths and principles while urging acceptance and compliance.” There are only two differences between preaching on Sunday in the pulpit versus Saturday on the street corner. First, in one circumstance the preacher has a roof over his head. Second, it is a different context. On Sunday, it is a worship service to the people of God. On Saturday, it is on the street corner to mostly unbelievers. However, the act of preaching is the same. Both are public declarations of Biblical truth with the desire to see people accept it.

When a man stands up on the street corner to preach, he is declaring to the pedestrians that he is a teacher of the Bible. He understands the message and is going to proclaim it for their consideration. A new convert is not at the level of a teacher. He is still a student who is learning the basics of the faith. Imagine if a young man took a French class. After six weeks, he has learned the basics like pronouncing the abc’s, numbers, and rudimentary vocabulary. What if this young man decided to go to the street corner in order to teach people French? The assumption by the crowd would be that he is fluent and can teach. Unfortunately, they would be quickly disappointed since he is a new student to the study of the language.

A person may object and say, “Does this mean that he cannot share the gospel with anyone?” No! You are assuming that preaching is the same thing as having a conversation with a person one on one. It is not. In a conversation, a new convert does not set himself up as a competent instructor of the Bible. Instead, he is sharing what he is learning from the competent teacher at his church. Let us go back to the French student. Would it be wrong for him to share with his parents the new words he is learning in French? No, it would not, because he is not portraying himself as a French teacher. Instead, he is sharing privately the lessons that he has learned in class.

4. Teachers Will Receive a Greater Judgment

James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” In this context, the word, teacher, means “one who provides instruction.” This does not have to be a public proclamation but can be private. Preaching is always a public teaching activity. Therefore, we can apply this principle to preachers. There is greater judgment for them. We should not encourage a new convert to take greater responsibility before they are able to handle the stricter judgment. They are unprepared spiritually and doctrinally to be held to this greater standard.

5. A New Convert May Not Have the Ability to Preach

In 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, an elder must have the ability to teach to be qualified for the office. While a person does not have to be an elder to preach, these passages do show that it is a gift from God. There are some men who may have the desire to preach, but they do not have the ability. Either they have poor communication skills in contrast to Apollos or they cannot rightly handle the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)

If a new convert feels the desire to preach, then he should do two things. First, sit under the preaching ministry of his church. By hearing the preaching of God’s Word every week, you will grow in your knowledge of the Lord. Besides this, it demonstrates to him what good preaching looks like. By seeing a gifted man of God preach the Bible with care, it will disciple him to do the same thing. Second, ask for an opportunity to preach at your church or teach in Sunday School. It is wise for you to cut your teeth as a preacher in the local church with a friendly audience. By learning in the church, then it will sharpen your skills in order to preach in the open-air.

5. New Converts Are Prone to Pride

In 1 Timothy 3:6, Paul wrote, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.” This warns churches to avoid choosing a new convert to become an elder. They are particularly prone to becoming prideful. The devil will use the new office as an opportunity to have them fall into his arms. This principle can be applied to preaching as well. The public recognition of preaching can act as a stumbling block to a new convert. They start to think that they are a mature follower of Jesus since they are preaching the Gospel on the street corner and most believers are not. This pride turns into an unteachable spirit and can turn to isolation. Unfortunately, I have seen men err into false doctrine and they refused to be corrected. The open-air ministry puffed up their pride. Even though they thought they were teachers, they became fools.

What Should a New Convert Do?

I encourage men who open-air preach to take new converts with you. However, see it as a discipleship opportunity. The new convert is coming with you in order to learn. By inviting him to go, it forces the new believer to face the fear of man. Also, the conversations in the car are advantageous moments to discuss spiritual matters. When you go to your spot to preach the gospel, it grants more instruction to the babe in Christ to meditate on these truths. When there is interaction with non-believers, he will witness you demonstrating gentleness while delivering truth. Besides this, he will be exposed to new arguments against Christianity and the appropriate response from the Scriptures. Please see outreaches as discipleship opportunities, but do not push the man onto the box while he is still on a diet of milk.

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing?

 

One major way Christian self-help books damage you

Posted on March 12, 2019

By Elizabeth Prata

“Christian” self-help books saturate the publishing market. Isn’t the notion of Christian self-help an oxymoron? We can do all things…through Christ, who strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13). Apart from Him, we can do nothing. (John 15:5).

Yet the books keep coming. Osteen, Hollis, Warren, Niequist, Lusko, Shirer, Meyer…all under the guise of helping you and all sold under the banner of the spotless Name.

These books and ideas harm you. They steer you away from Jesus and that always hurts a Christian.

I was listening to a John MacArthur sermon titled The Hope That Overcomes the World, and though the sermon was not remotely on self-help, something Dr. MacArthur said brought the issue to my mind.

Trying to secure a meaningful, lasting relationship in marriage seems well-nigh impossible. Families are full of chaos and disintegration. Add to this decades and decades of propagating self-esteem and pride, and what you have is people who are consumed with their own desires and their own wants, who then double-down on the impossibility of making meaningful relationships because they’re so self-centered. Source

That’s where self-help books fit so well into the chaos. Using these kind of books or materials will only help you circle the drain. Why? Our natural penchant for self-involvement due to our thorough depravity and sin, engenders this. Turning to these books, instead of to Jesus, for help will only propel us to double down on our sin and selfishness.

I liked the use of the phrase “double down”. It’s apt. The natural man wants his own desires and will seek them in any way he can. We are to rely on the Spirit to slay that old man and kill those desires. Allowing these materials to come into your heart and mind will only double the propensity to turn from Jesus and begin a downward spiral…it’s what the false teachers are there for, to help you do this.

How does it double down? That’s the trap. When the first book doesn’t “work” to help solve the problem of the hour, you’ve tried this or that from the bulleted list the author has earnestly told you will help, you’ll go back and make a second trip to the bookstore, looking for what will help. As one becomes more involved in the journey back to self, the possibility of making meaningful relationships diminishes because we’re ever more focused on self rather than Jesus, who is the source and flow of all meaningful relationships- because He is the primary relationship.

2 Peter 1:16 says, For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

What false teachers have to peddle are myths. They’re cleverly devised, which makes them dangerously hard to spot. They purposely exploit the unwary for gain, with these stories that “they have made up”. (2 Peter 2:3).

When we have been witnesses to His majesty, not eyewitnesses like the Apostles, but witnesses in seeing Him through His revealed word, why turn to myths and stories, and allow ourselves to be exploited? Some books are written by true teachers and may be helpful, but the genre is riddled with the false. Be careful, sister, and watch out that the natural man’s flesh isn’t creeping to the unhelpful. If we double-down on anything, it should be His word made alive in our heart and mind.

How Do You Handle Compliments?

Article by
John Piper


One of my very wise teachers did something I have never forgotten—something I have never had anyone else do since. He apologized for paying me a compliment.

Having heard that my Old Testament professor liked a paper I had written, he was in the midst of telling me how impressed he was when he stopped, mumbled something about the dangers of pride, and quoted a proverb, “A flattering mouth works ruin.” The conversation turned to other things.

I have often thought of this incident as I have faced the problem of getting and giving praise. Some six years later I am coming to see more clearly why my teacher’s apology was wise and loving.

Not all getting is good, so we have the word “greed.” And some giving is bad; so we have the word “bribe.” Therefore praise, which always involves a giving and a getting, may not always be good. It may be flattery.

In a day when the therapeutic and motivational powers of praise are getting such good press, may we do well to ask, exactly what is bad praise?

The Greek word for it (kolakeia) occurs in the New Testament only once. Paul defends his ministry to the Thessalonian Christians: “We never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others . . . (1 Thess. 2:5–6, NASV). It is more than incidental that flattery and greed fall together here.

The idea of flattery is present in Jude 1:16, where Jude accuses certain men of “admiring persons for the sake of their own advantage.” This same Greek phrase for “admiring persons” (thaumazontes prosopa) is used in the Old Testament to describe something God never does, namely, “show partiality.” In Deuteronomy 10:17 and 2 Chronicles 19:7 this phrase is followed by, “neither does he take a bribe.” The NASV translates Jude 1:16, “they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage.”

In the Old Testament much more is said about flattery, especially in the Proverbs. In all the texts which are cited, the Hebrew word for flattery is derived from halak which means “be smooth, or slippery.” Our word “flatter” comes from the Old French falter which means “to smooth, caress.”

In the book of Proverbs a man is warned against “the smooth tongue of the adulteress” (6:24), “for the lips of an adulteress drip honey and smoother than oil is her speech” (5:3). The meaning is that “with her many persuasions she entices him; with her flattering lips she seduces him” (7:21). But wisdom is able “to deliver you from the strange woman and from the adultress who flatters with her words” (2:16; 7:5).

Flattery is dangerous not only in the mouth of the adulteress but in any mouth: “A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin” (Prov. 26:28). “A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps” (Prov. 29:5; Ps. 5:9). Therefore David says of the ungodly, “With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips” (Ps. 12:2, 3).

After all these warnings, it is not surprising to read, “He who rebukes a man will afterwards find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue” (Prov. 28:23).

As a college teacher, I am a prime target for flattery.

For example, Dick was a transfer student in my New Testament history course. He was behind in his credits and needed to pass my course. For about five weeks Dick took every opportunity to tell me how superior my course was to a similar one at his former college. But after he got a D on the second exam, his praise ceased.

He came to me later in the semester and explained that he had to pass my course in order to finish school with his class. I told him what the final exam would be like and how to study for it. He flunked it, and came into my office to try to get me to change his grade. After reviewing his scores, I refused.

“I don’t think I could stand to take another Bible course here!” he said as he walked out.

In an instant I knew that all of Dick’s earlier praise had been mere flattery.

Flattery is bad praise. It is bad because it is given with a view to obtaining some advantage (Jude 1:16). Good praise or a good compliment is prompted by a sincere delight in something good or beautiful, and it aims only to bring this delight to completion by expressing it. As author/theologian C. S. Lewis says, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the joy; it is its appointed consummation” (Reflections on the Psalms). But flattery does not flow from a sincere delight in the thing praised. It is elicited by some other benefit which it hopes to entice or win through flattery.

Therefore, there is a duplicity in all flattery: “With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak” (Ps. 12:2). Outwardly, Dick gave the impression that he was moved by delight in the quality of my course. Inwardly, the quality of the course was irrelevant. His praise was not a sincere response; it was a device to curry my favor.

His flattery, like all flattery, was one of the many forms of hypocrisy.

Even if the compliments of a flatterer are true, he is still a liar, because he feigns delight in the thing praised when really his delight is in some other hoped-for favor. Here the essence of the flatterer’s sin emerges. There is an emptiness or insecurity in his heart which he is trying to satisfy by finagling human favors. He is not content or secure in God but is covetous or greedy (1 Thess. 2:5; Jude 1:16) for some benefit he can obtain by dishonest, hypocritical means.

His sin, therefore, is that he chooses to pin his hopes on some fleeting approval or advantage which he may obtain through flattery, rather than on the promises of God in whose hands are pleasures forever (Ps. 16:11). He thus exchanges the glorious trustworthiness of God for some man-made security. In so doing, he insults his maker.

Flattery is not only a sin for the flatterer, it is dangerous to the flattered.

Dick’s flattery in the early weeks of the semester was like an advance payment for services he hoped to receive. It was like a bribe, not a wage, and was offered to my pride. It was an attempt to gratify my vanity.

Since pride and vanity crave to be complimented, we are sometimes willing to return a service for the flattery. This service may be in the form of returned flattery (witness the proverbial “mutual admiration society”). Or the service may be a boost in rank, a hike in salary, or (as Dick was hoping) a good grade in school.

It is evident, then, that Dick was not only giving in to temptation; he was also giving a temptation—namely, to me. Pride and vanity are our arch enemies, for they are the arch enemies of faith. Flattery fans the fires of pride and resurrects the old self which Jesus has commanded us to crucify. This is why the Old Testament sage said, “A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps” (Prov. 26:28; 29:5).

How, then, can we avoid flattery?

One of the marks of a Christian is that his spiritual eyes have been opened to see and appreciate the glory of God in all of his gifts. There is nothing good in all the world that is not a gift from God (James 1:17; 1 Cor. 4:7).

For the Christian there can be no thought of praising men for some things and God for others. In all praise of men and things there should be an implicit praise to God. Only a person who does not love the glory of God resents this. As St. Augustine prayed in one of his moments of supreme eloquence, “He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee which he loves not for Thy sake” (Confessions X 40).

Another characteristic of good praise and proper compliment is that in it there is no ulterior motive, no duplicity. Good praise is drawn out naturally by our sincere delight in what is good and beautiful.

When I fell in love with my wife back in college I experienced something very refreshing, namely, the pleasure of complimenting someone without the slightest tendency to be insincere. The question of sincerity didn’t even arise in me because my response to her personality was so spontaneous.

This, I think, is a pattern for all good praise. It is not calculated like a bribe to achieve anything other than the proper consummation of itself. It is the spontaneous overflow of the enjoyment of truth and beauty.

Next comes the nitty-gritty question of when—if ever—to praise children, students, and employees in order to encourage and motivate them. Does this involve duplicity, hypocrisy, bribery? For example, there is no denying that rewarding a child with praise will tend to produce the rewarded behavior again, just as punishment will tend to deter the punished behavior. Given this situation, I would suggest two guidelines.

First, praise should be genuine, that is, it should spring from a sincere delight in the child’s good behavior.

If my three-year-old son climbs down from the lunch table, washes his hands in the bathroom, and climbs into his bed for his usual nap without saying a word to me, my first response is sheer delight in the rightness of his uncoerced behavior. My next response as I tuck him in is to let my happiness overflow in a few words of appreciation and praise.

The overriding motive in praise and commendation always should be the pleasure that comes from bringing to expressing the delight we have in what is good and right. That this spurs the child on remains an inevitable, but quite secondary consequence. If we start calculating our praise to him at what is secondary, the child will perceive our hypocrisy sooner than we think.

The second guideline is this: our goal for our children should be that they come to love what is good for itself and not because it wins the praise of men. The more we think of our praise as reinforcement of their good behavior, the more they will see good behavior as nothing more than a means to getting praise. Therefore, we must seek the sincerity to praise a thing because it is praiseworthy and not because it will elicit more good behavior.

There is perhaps one qualification which would limit this spontaneity which makes good praise. As a teacher I have many occasions when I am drawn by a student’s performance to praise him or her. But there are excellent students for whom another compliment would make their swelling heads explode. In such cases I may check the natural, spontaneous impulse to praise.

In this fallen world, in which we battle daily against pride and vainglory, even praise of a good achievement may engender pride and stimulate vanity. The Christian will always, out of love, beware of feeding the fires of pride. He will seek wisdom from Christ to know when, for his neighbor’s sake, a compliment should be withheld. So there will be times when he sacrifices his own pleasure of praise so as not to “spread a net” for the steps of another.

It is sad that for now the joy of praise is so closely linked to the sin of pride. But it will not always be so. There will come a day when we will be transformed into the image of our Lord. Pride and vanity will vanish. Our delight in each other will be complete and our praise unrestrained. All of this will resound to the glory of God like the praise of a painting to the glory of the artist.John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons.

God vs America?

The original idea of democracy comes from the Greek societal concept of a polis (“city” or “city-state”), which was developed under the assumption that humankind could rule itself autonomously.

Free market capitalism added fuel to the fire of man’s search for individual significance, and a proliferation of this worldview went global at a truly astonishing pace. Pride in our tremendous abilities had become a contender for the souls of men on the world’s stage through a Darwinian-based ideology of its own.

In our efforts to be a tolerant people, Christians have allowed ourselves to be delegated to the backseat of the bus.  And while we are told we must not give a voice to our beliefs lest that be considered intolerant, there is no similar message being doled out to the militant secularists or the radical Islamists.  And so they take the opportunity handed to them on a silver platter and use it to their advantage.

With its irreligious, amoral veneer, militant secular humanism may have won the most “converts” of all;  and there appears to be no end in sight.  In terms of numbers, secularists, non-religious people and atheists come in third place, just behind Christianity and Islam, accounting for 16 percent of the world’s population (approx.  1.1 billion).  It offers no system of moral absolutes. It is a relativistic paradigm that attempts to develop morality from the situation at hand, relative to the needs and wants of the individual perspectives involved.   

To those who do not believe in good and evil, the actions of suicide bombers and Holocaust –deniers do not register for what they are.  They naively reason there must be valid social factors motivating this behavior. Poverty is the most common explanation this rationale has to offer. When everything is relative to circumstance, there is always a way of justifying any action, however heinous. 

They (militant secularists) ridicule or dismiss as extremist any who refuses to throw in the towel on absolutes and join them in their relativistic, “anything goes” malaise.

Christians must use the democratic platform for freedom of expression to speak the truth in love – at every opportunity living out their faith, being salt and light in the culture and manifesting godly character in government, media, the arts, religious settings, education, business and finance.  Jesus admonished His followers to be a light on a hill and not to hide or retreat (see Matthew 5). America was founded by Christian believers to be that “city on a hill.”  Yes, such activity will be attacked and ridiculed by the other two houses (radical Islam and militant secularism).  The battle for the minds and souls of citizens will be unremitting, requiring tremendous sacrifices of times, resources and energy. In the end, we have the sure hope that truth will eventually prevail.

Christians must give up our false idol of America and instead use the opportunity God has given us to spread His gospel by speaking the truth boldly.  We have no problem waving the American flag, raising banners that speak of patriots and freedom yet fall short of thanking our God in the public square.  We are bold when it comes to speaking out for our country yet timid when it’s time to speak about our God.  Have we developed an unhealthy pride in America?  Our God is a jealous God (Ex 34:14) and will not tolerate false idols.

Perhaps we Christians have been lulled into complacency by the lifestyle we cherish so much.  Perhaps we have become lazy and unwilling to sacrifice.  Are we so comfortable that we no longer desire to seek God’s will for our lives but instead do the minimum and tell ourselves that is enough – that He doesn’t require anything more?  Would God have asked so much of our forefathers and so little of us?  How we love to quote Washington, Lincoln, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson and the rest, yet dishonor the sacrifices they made by doing so little to keep the vision they had from God alive today.

It’s time to stop blaming everyone else – the radical Islamists, the illegal immigrants, the militant secularists, the feminists, the humanists, politicians – for our lack of commitment.  We have been given opportunity after opportunity – chance after chance – and yet, like God’s chosen people, we throw them away.   Start today by praying for hearts that will repent and beg God for mercy.  And then pray every day that we would once again be the light of the world – the city on the hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14).

Seek his will in all you do,

And he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:6

Brown type from Robert Stearns No, We Can’t