E-Note 7/9: Set Apart Christ

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you know Thetford Baptist Church is on the threshold of transition. In a few weeks I will complete my service among you and you will begin seeking your next pastor in earnest. It is absolutely necessary that we acknowledge that the Lord has woven together the fabric of our lives for 10 years now. The friendships and the hardships and the worship we have shared have fashioned each of us more and more into the image of Christ. This fabric of churchliness and gospelized friendship can not be pulled at without causing some pain and confusion. I could wish it not so - the pain and confusion, that is - but such a wish would be to wish that we had never become more than mere acquaintances. We have become more than that because Christ Jesus is more than each of us and more than all of us together. When Jesus stands at the center of a fellowship, whether it is between two believers or twenty, that fellowship becomes rich with the gravitas of Christ's Kingdom. A sense that we posses everything in Christ and yet nothing of this world settles upon a fellowship where Jesus reigns. Though for Christ and his Kingdom we now lose one another for a short while, you shall not lose Christ nor shall I. He remains Head of his Church and thus with us all.

It is my hope that my departure will be fruitful for TBC in many ways, but I can think of no greater fruit than this: that each of you will have cause to freshly set apart in your hearts Christ as Lord (1 Peter 3:15). A pastoral transition is an opportune time for all of us to examine our hearts by asking, "Why am I in Christ's church?" "What am I after?" "If I could lead my brother to my left and my sister to my right to one thing in Christ's church, what would that be?"

The truth is that too often we set something else apart in our hearts as Lord. Something other than Christ. And that something slowly becomes the answer to the three questions just asked. This is how in all our churchliness we can still become idolaters, worshipers of a god that is not God. Paul Tripp and Tim Lane help us face the truth about church-sanctioned idols. In their book "Helping People Change" they list seven counterfeit gospels. Read through them carefully and "take it by faith" that you have at least two of these counterfeit gospels vying for your affections and allegiance, leading you away from the glory of God in Christ:

Formalism. “I participate in the regular meetings and ministries of the church, so I feel like my life is under control. I’m always in church, but it really has little impact on my heart or on how I live. I may become judgmental and impatient with those who do not have the same commitment as I do.”

Legalism. “I live by the rules—rules I create for myself and rules I create for others. I feel good if I can keep my own rules, and I become arrogant and full of contempt when others don’t meet the standards I set for them. There is no joy in my life because there is no grace to be celebrated.”

Mysticism. “I am engaged in the incessant pursuit of an emotional experience with God. I live for the moments when I feel close to him, and I often struggle with discouragement when I don’t feel that way. I may change churches often, too, looking for one that will give me what I’m looking for.”

Activism. “I recognize the missional nature of Christianity and am passionately involved in fixing this broken world. But at the end of the day, my life is more of a defense of what’s right than a joyful pursuit of Christ.”

Biblicism. “I know my Bible inside and out, but I do not let it master me. I have reduced the gospel to a mastery of biblical content and theology, so I am intolerant and critical of those with lesser knowledge.”

Therapism. “I talk a lot about the hurting people in our congregation, and how Christ is the only answer for their hurt. Yet even without realizing it, I have made Christ more Therapist than Savior. I view hurt as a greater problem than sin—and I subtly shift my greatest need from my moral failure to my unmet needs.”

Social-ism. “The deep fellowship and friendships I find at church have become their own idol. The body of Christ has replaced Christ himself, and the gospel is reduced to a network of fulfilling Christian relationships.”

Do you see how these gospels become counterfeits? They become the only tree in the garden. They become the tree of life to us. They become the one place to which we bring others to feed. And in this we lose Christ and so does our brother.

What then does it mean to set apart in our hearts that Christ is Lord? It means that by faith and through the Holy Spirit we let Jesus have dominion over every quest of the human heart. In Spirit and truth we acknowledge again and again, day after day, that Jesus' covenantal faithfulness through his shed blood is the answer to our heart's every quest. Beneath each of the above "church idols" is your heart on a quest, and you will either find rest in Christ alone or you will peddle on in slavish restlessness looking for a little more control, a little more self-justification, a little larger population of people who really admire you. Praise be to God that Christ still stands in the midst of his church and says to the restless hearts of the redeemed, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

Yours in Christ, John