Trading Gold for Brass

In the book of First Kings, chapter 14, there is a paragraph that is seemingly inconsequential.  That is until one looks closer.

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.  He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house.  He took away everything.  He also took away all the shields of gold that Solomon had made, and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house.  And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guard room.

                                                                                                                         (vs. 25-28, ESV)

Did you catch that?  Shishak took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made and Rehoboam replaced them with shields of brass.  The greater was replaced with the lesser.  The more valuable was replaced with the less valuable.  Rehoboam took the easier, cheaper route.  Instead of the genuine article, he just kept polishing up the artificial and trotting it out as the real thing.  I wonder how often this is the case for us?  How often do we replace our Shields of Gold with Shields of Brass?

In the interest of full disclosure, some time ago I read a book by O.S. Hawkins entitled, Shields of Brass or Shields of Gold?:  Reestablishing a Standard of Excellence in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I tried to locate my copy of this book to make sure I am not plagiarizing Dr. Hawkins points, but apparently I have lent my copy out.  Please know that any similarities are accidental and unintended. 

With that being said, here are some ways I think the church trades our Shields of Gold for Shields of Brass.

1.  We value programs over prayer.  Everyday my email, my FaceBook feed, and my Twitter feed are full of the latest and greatest programs to help you lead your church to explosive growth, regain momentum, and be the catalytic leader you have always wanted to be.  Interestingly, the ideas of prayer, fasting, and waiting on the Lord are often absent in such programs.

2.  We value rapid growth over real growth.  I grew up on the gulf coast of Texas.  On the gulf coast of Texas there are two trees you can find in abundance: Oak Trees and Tallow Trees.  The Oak takes years to grow and develop.  It is a strong tree that revered for her permanence and greatness.  On the other hand, the tallow is a fast growing tree that is disease prone and has a suspect root system.  The only advantage to a tallow is her ability to provide nice shade in just a couple of years, but she will soon be gone. 

Often we want growth patterns in our churches that resemble the tallow tree.  We want rapid growth, but we fail to realize that the believers we are producing have suspect root systems and they are prone to theological disease.  Let us instead aim to grow believers that are like the oak, strong and steady. 

3.  We value the methods of man over the moves of God.  Let’s be honest, with methods, we are in control.  With moves, God is in control.  We can direct were methods take us, we are at the mercy of God when He moves.  Often, God takes much longer to move while our methods seemingly produce more rapid results.  The difference however, is in the quality and longevity of what is produced.

The list could go on and on.  The point however remains the same; in our culture of fast moves and quick results, let us remember to trust in God.  The work of God cannot be imitated.  The less valuable, the easier to obtain, will always be revealed for what it is, a counterfeit.

Let us not trade our shields of gold for shields of brass.  Let us not sell out for a cheap substitute as Rehoboam did.  Let us do the work, let us trust in God, let us wait for Him so that we might know what it is to have the real thing, not a polished, look-a-like, imitation product.

Who Are You?

There is a very interesting habit that God has in scripture.  Often, when He encounters an individual, He ends up changing his or her name.  This happens twice in Genesis 17.  In verse 5, The Lord says, “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”  Again, in verse 15, “And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.”  There are at least a couple more occurrences of this in Scripture.  God changes Jacob’s name to Israel (Genesis 32:28) and changes Simon’s name to Peter (Matthew 16:18).

Each of these name changes come in the context of an individual having a life changing encounter with the living God.  Their new name represents who they are NOW.  This leaves us to draw one conclusion:  an encounter with the living God is a life changing, character changing event.  Anyone who has come face to face with the living God can never be the same again.

Do not be mistaken, if you have come to the point of surrendering your life to Christ you have had such an encounter.  You are not the person you once were.  Scripture tells us all of the old is gone and all things are new (2 Cor. 5:17).  Allow God to continue the process of shaping you into His likeness.  Do not allow Satan to tell you that you are the same person you always were.  In Christ, we are a new creation.  Just as God had appointed each of the previously mentioned individuals for something unique, so too does He have a unique call on your life.  Do not consider yourself disqualified when Christ Himself has qualified you.

Sufficient Faith

Genesis 15:6 – And he (Abraham) believed the Lord, and he (God) counted it to him as righteousness.

This is a familiar passage that is quoted in the New Testament as well.  Romans 4:3 reads, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  The question that must be answered is, “What is so essential, or key, about this belief?”  Obviously, this is not a simple belief in the idea or concept of God.  James 2:19 makes it clear that such a belief is not sufficient, “You believe that God is one; you do well.  Even the demons believe – and shudder!”  So what sort of faith is Abraham exemplifying here?

The faith that God saw in Abraham was a belief unto action.  It was the sort of faith that affected the way Abraham lived his life.  This is the sort of faith that causes people to repent (change the direction of their life) and pursue God and His will.

To believe the testimony of scripture, whether it is speaking about Christ, the character of God, or God’s promises, must change the way we live our lives.  A simple cognitive knowledge of the existence of God is never enough.  To truly believe in God is to abandon all that we are and pursue all that He is.

As you go about your day, put Christ first.  Live your life in such a way that it reflects the instruction of scripture.  Allow your thoughts and emotions to be rooted in the promises of God.  Allow your goals to be submitted to the will of God.  True saving faith is a faith that impacts our lives.  A faith that makes no impact on our person or our character is an insufficient faith.

Grace and Repentance

Matthew 4:17 - From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of heaven is near.”

In recent days I have struggled with the balance of grace vs. holiness.  We do not often hear the words repentance, holiness, or even hell these days.  Our message has become one that is much more focused on grace, which is an important doctrine, but are we guilty of an unbalanced approach?

As a man who stands in the pulpit each week, I struggle with these issues.  Obviously, people do not come to church to leave feeling guilty or bad about themselves.  However, just as is the case when I go to the doctor, certainly we want to leave with the truth, not just feeling good about ourselves.

I find Jesus’ words in Matthew 4 comforting, though challenging.  The first word of Jesus’ gospel message is “repent”.  If the first word of Jesus’ gospel message is “repent,” then certainly the first word of “our” gospel message should be repent.  Not only should the first word of our message be “repent,” but the first word of our practice ought to be “repent”.

It has been said many times that the word “repent” is a military term that means “about face”.  This definition is accurate but we are given much more in Matthew 4…we are given an example.  Jesus says to Simon Peter and Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.”  We are then told that “they left their nets at once and followed him.”  The scripture continues, “A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets.  He called to them to come, too.”  Their response, “They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.”

The call to follow Christ is a call to repentance.  It is a call to stop what we are doing, leave it all behind and follow him.  To be saved does not come by praying a simple prayer.  To be saved is to recognize that Christ is who scripture describes Him to be, to recognize that He is who He claimed to be.  To follow Christ is to leave behind the life I have known and follow Him.  Grace is real and it is available to all who will repent and follow Christ.