FCC's 40 Days of Purpose!
If you have any questions or remarks regarding the daily readings from The Purpose Driven Life, topics discussed in worship, or Don's reflections here - or if you have something you would like for Don to comment on in his remarks - feel free to e-mail Don at dmorrow@fccbentonville.com
Week 4: YOU WERE CREATED TO BECOME LIKE CHRIST
Links to other 40 Days pages: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 5 Home
DAY 22: Created to Become Like Christ
It's right there in the very first chapter of Genesis: "In the image of God He created them; male and female, He created them" (Gen.1:27). You were made in the image of God! So in order to live up to all God created you to be, you must reflect the godly image that is within you.
The bulk of what Warren writes here on Day 22 is great, but I cannot let one statement he makes early on get by without comment (partly because a couple of people have already asked me about it). In his opening remarks (PDL p.172), he states: "The Bible says that all people, not just believers, possess part of the image of God; that is why murder and abortion are wrong." First, let me just say that I, too, believe the Bible indicates that all people are created in the image of God. That is a foundational truth for me, and one reason I find it difficult to cast aside - and to think that God would cast aside - those who tap into that image of God within them in a different manner than I do. As far as Warren's comments on murder and abortion... clearly, murder is something prohibited in scripture. Indeed, one of the Ten Commandments is "Thou shalt not kill." To throw abortion in the same light is questionable at best. There are no texts in the Bible that comment directly on the issue of abortion. (As a personal aside, I am against abortion in almost all cases - not just for the sake of the child-to-be, but also for the sake of the mother-to-be. I have seen women who were wracked with guilt over past abortions. But having said that, I am not against the legality of abortion. For one, the legislation of morality seldom works, and usually does more harm than good. Just as importantly, because individual cases vary so greatly from one person to the next - covering everything from health risks of mother and child, to rape and incest - in my opinion it is too difficult for a general law to be able to adequately cover all of the details. But that's my opinion only.)
The biggest point of this day, and this entire week, is to teach us and remind us that throughout all of life, God is trying to help mold us and shape us into His likeness. And I love the way Warren states it: Christ-likeness is not produced by imitation, but by inhabitation. Christ lives in you! It's not like God is asking us to become something that we are not; God is asking us to become who we already truly are!
But that does take work. As Warren says, while effort has nothing to do with your salvation, it has much to do with your spiritual growth (PDL p.175). You have to be committed to spiritual growth in order to truly achieve it. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us to let go of the way we were, to think about things differently, and to become more like Christ. That means learning to love like Jesus loved. That really lies beneath the surface of each of these five purposes: to live in love the same way we were created in love. That's why Warren goes so far as to say that "there are many different careers that could be in God's will for your life." It's not WHAT YOU DO in life that matters, as much as WHO YOU ARE and WHY YOU DO IT. (By the way, while I completely agree with that statement and the understanding that God gives us a great deal of latitude in areas such as career choices, it's hard to make that understanding of God's will jive with some of Warren's other beliefs. It seems inconsistent with his belief that God prescribes every detail of life, for example, as he writes on Day 2.)
DAY 23: How We Grow
How do we achieve spiritual growth? We do it first and foremost by committing ourselves to achieving that growth, and that commitment begins by setting our hearts and minds on the spirit. Spiritual growth is not automatic, by any stretch of the imagination. You have to be intentional about how you grow and what you hope to become (or who you hope to grow up like). To be intentional means to do something deliberately and with intent - in other words, to do something on purpose. To grow, we must be purposeful about our growing.
Warren quotes Proverbs 4:23 from the Today's English Version translation, where we read: "Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts." The NRSV renders that same verse more literally as: "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Really, when it comes to the Bible, the heart and mind can be used interchangeably. What the author is writing about in that text, though, is living life with a godly purpose and intent. It's incredible how much your attitude, the way that you think about things, can influence the way you live your life. As I said in my sermon on Sunday, one of my life's mantras is YOUR ATTITUDE determines YOUR ALTITUDE. You know, on an aircraft the "attitude" of the plane refers to the plane's orientation with respect to the horizon - so a plane with a positive attitude is pointed up with respect to the horizon and is climbing, while a plane with a negative attitude is pointed down with respect to the horizon and is descending. Likewise, I fully believe that when you have a positive attitude toward life, you will raise above whatever is facing you, while a negative attitude may destine you towards a jolting crash landing! BE CAREFUL HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS! It really affects all of your life! As Paul put it in Romans 12:2, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." One of the greatest ways to effect a change in your life is to first change the way you are thinking about things. As Warren puts it, the way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act (PDL p.182).
If you want to grow, the first step is often changing the way you think. Think about others instead of thinking about yourself. Focus on the other person in each situation, and try to look at things from their point of view. And most of all, think about how God might be present in whatever it is you are experiencing - whether it be a time of joy and celebration, or sorrow and pain.
DAY 24: Transformed by Truth
I heard another pastor say that with PDL, Rick Warren has written the book that every pastor in America wishes they had written. I agree. But as you can tell by now, I would have written it slightly differently - and this particular chapter I would have written completely differently. I agree with Warren's assertion that it is TRUTH which transforms us. Where we might disagree is on exactly how to ascertain the "truth".
Warren submits that "spiritual growth is the process of replacing lies with truth" (p.185). I really think of spiritual growth more as growing and maturing in our understanding of the Truth. It's not so much that we believe in "lies" when we are spiritually immature, as it is that we don't fully understand the "Truth" to which we adhere. The more I mature in my relationship with God, the deeper my understanding is of God's love for me. It's not so much that I ever believed in a lie, as much as it is that I didn't as fully comprehend the Truth.
Where I have a real problem with Warren is in his implication that "the truth" = "God's Word" = "the Bible" (he never says that exactly, but clearly implies that). One reason I seldom use the term "God's Word" in reference to the Bible is that I draw a distinction between the living Word of God (the Spirit of God which inspired and spoke to the authors of scripture, and which inspires and speaks to us still today) and the words of scripture. The words of scripture, which are static and unchanging, can only become the vibrantly alive Word of God when we hear, read or speak those words while also opening our hearts and minds up to God's Spirit, the Word. John Wesley once wrote, "The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote the Bible, but continually inspires, supernaturally assists, those who read it with earnest prayer" (Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament, p.794).
The distinction between God's Word and the words of scripture is of crucial importance in my life of faith. For instance, Warren says we must accept the authority of God's Word. I have no problem with that. He's right when he says that "many of our troubles occur because we base our choices on unreliable authorities" such as culture, tradition, reason or emotion. He says, "all four of these are flawed by the Fall. What we need is a perfect standard that will never lead us in the wrong direction. Only God's Word meets that need" (PDL p.187). And that's true as long as we understand that God's Word (the living, speaking, interactive, creative Spirit of God) is different from our reading of the words of scripture! God's Word is not flawed; but our understanding and comprehension of God's Word is almost always flawed! After all, God is God and I am not!
A little further in this section, Warren goes on to say that the most important decision you can make is what will be the ultimate authority for your life, and urges you to "choose the Bible as your final authority." I agree with the sentiment; but I urge you to choose God as your final authority. God may say something entirely different through the Bible to you than God does to me. That's one reason we have so many different translations of the Bible - because various translators see God as saying things differently. Part of that is because none of the Bible was originally written in English (it was written in Hebrew and Greek), and there is some difficulty and latitude in translating from one language to another. But it is also because people simply read or hear the same words of scripture differently. That's one thing that makes the Bible so powerful. Understand that any time you read scripture, you are reading through a particular set of lenses; that is to say, you will read a certain passage of scripture differently than someone who comes from a different set of circumstances. Some of my most powerful moments with God have come in reading and studying scripture - but most of those times were not when I was studying what the scripture was saying in any generic sort of sense, but what GOD had to say TO ME through that particular scripture at that particular time. Warren is absolutely right about spending time with the scriptures being a vital part of spiritual growth - but it's not so much so that you know what "the Bible says" as it is so that you know God's voice. Use the Bible as a means of keeping your on-going conversation with God (a powerful form of prayer) open.
I do agree with Warren's closing section in this chapter on our need to apply the principles we learn from God through the scriptures. The Bible is not here just to teach us about God and about Jesus. It's primary use is not to give us knowledge. The Bible is here so that we might use it as a means of drawing closer to God, and become more like Jesus. I really like the quote Warren closes with from D.L. Moody: "The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives."
DAY 25: Transformed by Trouble
Warren begins this chapter by saying, "God has a purpose behind every problem." I would adjust that to say that God can use any problem to help achieve God's purposes. The difference is, while I don't think all "problems" originate with God (God lets them happen, but doesn't necessarily make them happen), I do believe God can take even the bad things of life and help them point us toward His greater good. That's the meaning I find in Romans 8:28, where we read that "all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." And it's not just that God will use bad things just to help "those who love God"; God would love to use all things to help all people! Warren is just flat wrong in interpreting this passage when he says, "This promise is only for God's children. It is not for everyone" (PDL p.196). This promise is for everyone, as we are all God's children - but not all of us wake up to the truth of this promise. For it's only in truly loving God and making God your heart and mind's priority that you can find the hope and truth and life that God offers, even in the midst of hardship, sorrow, despair, or even death. As Warren says later in the chapter, in order for you to see God bringing good even out of the bad, it is vital that God remain as your focus instead of focusing on your pain or problem.
Warren is absolutely right in saying that God uses circumstances to develop our character, and to draw us closer to Him. If you make a chart, so to speak, of your spiritual journey, and plot out your spiritual highs and lows throughout life, more than likely you will discover that your greatest spiritual highs came in the midst of or immediately following some of the worst circumstances of your life. Warren says: "Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days - when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you're out of options, when the pain is great - and you turn to God alone... We learn thing about God in suffering that we can't learn any other way... You'll never learn that God is all you need until God is all you've got" (p.194). How true. The opportunity afforded us by life's deepest troubles is that we are often left with nothing to rely on, save God Himself. When you're in the waiting room at the hospital, there is no where else to turn. When you're waiting on those test results, there is no where else to turn. It's in those moments of utter helplessness that we finally realize we are not in control, so we let go of the reigns which we so feebly held in the first place, and allow God to take over... because we have no other choice. But in that way - when we see that God can see us through that trouble, even when we were out of control - God uses those troubles to teach us to trust Him.
I've mentioned this before, so I won't go off too long on it, but I just don't agree with Warren's statement that "every day of your life was written on God's calendar before you were born" (p.195), so everything that happens is of spiritual significance... and I'm curious how to make that connect with Warren's statement regarding career choices back on Day 22. He said then, "The truth is, there are many different careers that could be in God's will for your life. What God cares about most is that whatever you do, you do in a Christlike manner" (p.177). I happen to agree with that statement - but how does that fit with saying God has preordained absolutely every day of your life, and that everything is of spiritual significance? Those two ideas seem mutually exclusive to me. In fact, I find it extremely difficult to say that God has given us free will and the freedom to choose, while at the same time saying that God knows how we are going to choose at every step along the way. People make that argument, but I find it almost impossible to understand. Having said that, however, I must admit that my not understanding how that could be true does not keep it from being a possibility, as I cannot even begin to fathom God's ways. After all, God is God and I am not.
DAY 26: Growing through Temptation
I really like the way Warren presents temptation as "just as much an occasion to do the right thing as it is to do the wrong thing" (PDL p.201). And I think he is right, that it is precisely when we are faced with difficulties that we find growth. It is when we are tempted by someone unlovely that we learn to choose love anyway; it is when we are faced with times of sorrow that we learn the everlasting joy we have in faith; it is only when our patience is tried that we really learn to be patient; etc.
Temptations, in Warren's way of looking at it, come from Satan in response to an innate desire within us, in order to tempt us to fulfill that desire in a destructive way. Satan's role in temptation is not entirely clear to me - but however you think of it, I believe Warren is right when he says that temptations begin within us, and that whatever it is that tempts you would have no power to tempt you were it not for an internal desire already present in you. So while you may or may not be able to have power over whatever outside forces may tempt you (Satan, other people, culture), you can exercise power over what is internal to you. That is what I think Paul was talking about in Romans 12:2 when he said, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God." Your mind really is greater than matter. I am convinced that almost nothing we can do as human beings can alter our lives for the good as much as keeping a positive attitude, and keeping our minds focused on what is good and right. As the King James puts it in Proverbs 23:7, "For as a man thinketh, so he is." (By the way, Proverbs 23:7 is some sort of idiomatic phrases that we do not completely understand, which is why, if you look at different translations of that same text, those translations vary widely. For instance, the NRSV says, "for like a hair in the throat, so are they." Huh?... Again, a good example of how hard it is to sometimes says "the Bible says thus-and-so..." But whether the KJV is an accurate interpretation of this verse or not, I like what it says!)
DAY 27: Defeating Temptation
In what is a continuation of thoughts from Day 26, we again see that fighting temptation begins with gaining control of your thoughts. I think Warren is right: "Since temptation always begins with a thought, the quickest way to neutralize its allure is to turn your attention to something else" (PDL p.210). Trying to NOT think about something never works. Instead of trying NOT to think about what you DON'T want to focus upon, FOCUS on what you DO want to focus upon. When you effectively turn your attention to something else, that temptation, whatever it may be, no longer has the opportunity to reel you in.
So part of what Warren is saying here is be smart about the way you live your life! There are really two parts to living smartly with regard to defeating temptation. First, don't put yourself into situations where you will be tempted by things which you know are alluring to you. Recognize your weaknesses, own up to them... and then don't allow them the opportunity to be your downfall! As Warren says at the end of this reading, "it is easier to stay out of temptation than to get out of it (p.215). Second, keep your mind focused on good things. As Paul writes in Romans 12:21, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Or as he commends to us in Philippians 4:8: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable,... think about these things."
Another means of defense against temptation Warren lifts up is finding someone or some group to hold you accountable, and upon whom you can depend for support. Ecclesiastes says "you are better off to have a friend than to be all alone." After all, as we have already discussed and explored, God made us for relationships! We were not created to do things and handle life all by our lonesomes, regardless of the American ideal of independence. It is healthy, despite what some psychologists may tell you, to be codependent to some degree. God's plan for you involves other people. In fact, it is my experience that God speaks to me through other people as much as by any other means. And it is certainly true that a godly friend or group of friends can help to keep you from stumbling. Sharing your temptations and faults with those people you trust is one of the powerful ways to keep those temptations and faults from trapping you. Warren is absolutely right: the very act of divulging some secret that has you gripped in its power is one of the surest ways of breaking that secret's grip on you!
While I don't go as far as Warren does in saying that memorization of scripture is also a good defense against temptation (he claims "if you don't have any Bible verses memorized, you've got no bullets in your gun" in your fight against temptation), I would attest that memorized scripture is an awesome source of help, comfort and guidance in times of trial or temptation. It also gives you something "true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing and commendable" (Phil.4:8) to focus on when you are tempted to stray.
DAY 28: It Takes Time
I'm always leery of people whose lives are transformed in an instant. All too often, instant transformation is not a lasting transformation. (That is not always the case, just often.) For real, deep, lasting maturity to take place, it takes time. Growth cannot happen overnight. For one things, as Warren points out, we have a lot to unlearn. In spiritual growth I think this can be one of the biggest obstacles to growing and maturing. We have to unlearn our negative, erroneous, or destructive habits and thoughts. Of course, before we can unlearn them, we have to figure out which ones they are! All too often the things we have been taught to believe, and they ways we've learned to act and behave, keep us from developing as deeply as God would like.
I think this is especially true in the church. Let me give you an example. We think of certain behavior as "belonging" in church, while other behavior does not belong in church because it's "not spiritual" or improper in some respect. But exactly what kind of justification do we have for thinking that something that is okay in some other forum is not okay at church? I hear people say this to kids all the time, that "We don't act that way in God's house." Well... where is it that we can go that is a place not belonging to God? When we leave the church building, have we left the church body - the Body of Christ? Of course not! And what is more important, that we are in "the church" building or that we are in the church BODY? Being in the Body is what is important, and you are never NOT in the Body... so whatever it is that is appropriate for you to do elsewhere should be appropriate for you to do "at church", in some sense. (The exception to that is when your actions "cause a stumbling block" for others, as Paul would put it.) The point is, even in the church, we have habits and ways of thinking that need renewal... and in some cases need removal.
That process of renewal and removal can be painful, both on the corporate church body level and on the individual level; but we cannot grow unless we are willing to change. The old workout adage is true in our spiritual workouts and development as well: no pain, no gain. All living things are in a process of change, which means that if you're not changing, you must be dead!
Warren's last words of wisdom on this topic are simply to be patient. I know that can be difficult, as patience is not always my strongest suit either. But you have to trust that God will work in you and through you as long as you are faithful, even though His timing may be different from your own. Warren's advice about keeping a journal is a great discipline to help in this spiritual growth journey. As I mentioned in my sermon, this is more than just keeping a diary, where you simply log the things that happen to you each day; it's more about reflecting on what has happened to you, or places and ways you see God each day. Often, in order to really see how active God is in your day-to-day life, you need to take time to sit ("Be still and know I am God"), listen, and reflect. You'll find that patience coming more easily when you recognize that God really is present with you each step of the way in this growth process.
Warren ends today's reading talking about a button I am unfamiliar with, but I love the idea of it. The button reads, "PBPGINFWMY", which stands for, "Please Be Patient, God Is Not Finished With Me Yet." So don't get discouraged. Be patient, and be open to change. For God ain't done with you yet!
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