I am currently at a pastor’s prayer retreat and we have been given the assignment of following the spiritual discipline of silence. It’ s not as easy as you might first think – “just don’t say anything for 24 hours.” But once you close the noise coming out, there is also the noise inside your brain. Why is it that we have such a hard time simply being quiet and listening for God’s voice?

It might be that we associate silence with death (“dead men don’t tell lies.”) If I am speaking, then I am alive, or apart of what’s going on, or active with the conversation. Or even if you don’t want to take that morbid path, we at least have to deal with the internal question, “Am I ok?” If not, then I want to keep the internal dialogue to a minimum and keep my hands busy, or the tv loud, or the car tires rolling (with the radio turned up). Anything to keep me from having to quietly face God and the question, “Am I ok?”

After the battle of Mt. Carmel, Elijah (after having his life threatened) runs away. In God’s grace he comes to Elijah and says, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”[1]

The Lord was not in the great wind, or the earthquake, or the fire. He was in the whisper. It is not very hard to miss an earthquake, and wind that levels mountains, or fire sweeping in front of you – but you might very well miss a whisper.

So if God desires to communicate with you in whispers, and not mighty acts of nature, then how do we discern or hear Him?

Make An Effort
1. You have to make an effort to approach God. Yes, God came to Elijah first [2] but Elijah had to come out and approach God. We have a relationship with God through Christ so there is no need to cover our faces – but we must still go to Him. Elijah walks out of the cave.

Stop Talking (Outside and Inside)
2. God speaks in whispers, not earthquakes, fires, etc… so stop looking for Him in the loud world and quiet your soul to listen. This again requires effort and discipline. It’s much easier to turn on the tv and mentally check out, verses having to stay focused on listening and remaining quiet.

Any time I have to listen to someone who speaks in such a way that is unnatural to my ear (broken English, some other language, foreign accent) it will after a while mentally exhaust me. Listening for and to God can be tiring – but like learning a new language it gets easier.

Think of it as two people yelling at the same time – there’s a lot of noise, but not very much communication. God intentionally speaks softly so that we have to quiet ourselves to hear Him. We need to hear what God is saying, not the other way around.

Study the Bible and Remember Why You Were Created
3. In the Garden of Eden everything was perfect, yet God still came and talked with
Adam and Eve. Even though life was perfect they still needed God to help them “figure out life.” [3] Mankind is like a mirror – we were created to reflect the light of Jesus Christ. So how do we reflect His light into the world or “Bear His image?” We have to listen and remember the reason for our existence – to reflect the glory of God into our world. We need him to help us figure this out.

Salvation is not about filling an empty spot within us (or giving us something that we need or want). Instead, it is the ability to once again give God glory or “reflect” the image of His Son in your life. Mirrors don’t have batteries, they simply reflect what’s in front of them.

[1] 1 Kings 19:11-13
[2] see also1 John 4:19
[3] Mark Driscoll. Doctrine (Crossway, 2009) p. 117

A couple of days ago my neighbor asked me, “what does it mean to be an ‘image bearer’? So not satisfied with the answer that I gave him, I wrote this blog entry. David I hope this helps.

Genesis 1:26 says “Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.” Being made in the image of God, or bearing His image makes mankind distinctly different from the rest of creation, since mankind is the only being to be made in the image of God.

The rest of creation points to a Creator because it is so wonderfully complex and orderly that it must have a Creator (as a man who finds an ipod in the forest knows someone at one point made it).[1] While mankind also points to God as having a creator because of the complexity and beauty the human body holds, it also plays a far more important role. The role of “bearing the image of God.”

So what does this mean, to be made in the image of God? The word “image” in the Hebrew is where the word “idol” comes from. You don’t have to read vey much of the Old Testament to see that idols were forbidden, and caused much trouble for the people of God. God’s people, the Israelites, would follow a false god, and create an idol (or representation) of the god, that they would then bow down to and worship it as the one true God. The representatives made of stone, metal, straw, etc. represented the god. These images angered God because they did not accurately represent Him and His character, and it was not the way that God had directed that he was to be worshipped. [2]

There are certain attributes that God posses as part of his nature that we also posses (holiness, love, truth, righteousness, beauty, etc… ) and attributes that we do not posses (omnipresence, omnipotence, eternality, etc…) [3] Mankind can show love; dads love their daughters. This is true if a person knows Jesus or not. But it is through a relationship with Christ, that the father is able to point his daughter to God in love.

Think of being an image bearer where the human is a mirror. He was created to reflect; specifically he was created to reflect God. It is in reflecting, that God receives glory and the person does what he was created to do. Idols are forbidden because they do not accurately represent God as he truly is – In fact it is only mankind that can “bear His image.” But we bear His image in order to reflect the glory to God our Creator. This does not make us gods, anymore than the mirror is its’ maker.

But because mankind is sinful the mirror is covered with mud. It reflects nothing. This is mankind apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We do not bring God glory and we do not live a life of reflecting the image of God. God saves us; we then reflect our Creator (Jesus) and He receives honor, worship, praise, and glory. We have a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction because we finally are doing what mankind was created to do (Genesis 1:26).

There is also another problem. Once a person receives Jesus’ free gift of salvation the reflection that he gives is not a perfect reflection. Yes, Christians still make mistakes! In fact it’s much like a House of Mirrors at the local county fair. The image is distorted, warped, and weird. Thus begins a lifelong process of making the image more and more accurate (theologians call this Sanctification). It is only in eternity when we will as the image bearers of Christ accurately reflect Him as we should. Also, because we are all created different and unique we have been designed to reflect that light differently. One person will reflect the attribute of love differently, but they both reflect love.

Therefore the Church (the body of believers) is like a chandelier. Many pieces of cut glass or crystal, grouped together to create a magnificent display as the light shines through it. Light is reflected, and it bounces and shines all throughout the room (or the world).

[1] Romans 1:18 ff.
[2] Exodus 20:3, 4
[3] Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Doctrine (Crossroads; Wheaton, Illinois, 2007) 121.

This coming Sunday at the Delaplaine the DBCC student ministry is inviting everyone who can make it to an evening of games, snacks, and BIG HAIRY QUESTIONS! Bring a friend, a snack to share, and some BIG HAIRY QUESTIONS.

Develop a Definition of Success

Lately I have been thinking about the strategy that the church uses as a means to encourage the spiritual formation of others, specifically children. The following is a continuation of articles that attempts to understand how we can do this (better).

With any strategy, a teacher must have some way of knowing when she is reaching or has achieved her objectives. The church must, therefore, have a simple way of acknowledging whether it is being successful or not. Barna suggests three such standards for defining success and the author will give another. The first is “widespread parental involvement in the spiritual development of the children.”[1] This is a simple way for determining whether the children’s ministry is successful or not. One could simply take the parents of the participating children and determine how many of them are involved. The second is “strategically equipping parents.” One could observe how many equipping opportunities are available for parents, and of those available opportunities, how many parents took part in the training. A third measure of success would be “the transformed life of the child.” This measure is very subjective because it is hard to determine what is going on in the heart of a child by watching the behavior in the limited time a teacher has with the child during a class or other activity.

Proverbs 4:23 states, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.” The way a person acts is an expression, a wellspring, or overflow of the heart. The heart determines behavior. Mark 7:21–23 says, “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” Luke 6:45 says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” A strategy of the church must address the heart (what is going on inside) along with expressed outward behavior.

In addressing a similar issue Tripp says, “A biblical approach to educating children involves two elements that you weave together. One element is rich, full communication. The other is the rod or correction (See Proverbs 23:13-19, 22, 26.)”[2] The didactical writings of the Bible, specifically the Law of the Old Testament were given to make the people of God see the impossibility of keeping it and to cry out to God for mercy.[3] The law must be followed (telling the truth, honoring one’s parents, etc.), but it is only when one’s bend is toward God that they can keep the intention of the law which is a dependence upon God. If that bend is away from God, a person becomes like the Pharisees. Matthew 23:27–28 references this type of outwardly religious but inwardly rebellious person; “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” If a church focuses only on correcting outward behavior, but does not communicate enough with the children to determine what is transpiring in the heart, they have not successfully ministered to children. This is not a suggestion that the church should “bear the rod” of correction but only that the church should emphasize relationship and communication in its educational endeavors with children.

The Pharisees looked religious and obedient to God on the outside, but their hearts were far from God. The measure of success should not be proper behavior alone (sitting quietly in their seat, saying “yes ma’am or no ma’am,” etc.) but a heart reliant upon and sold out for God. Discipline in the classroom and the home must be carried out to show specifically where the child has displeased God. It is this process of showing the child, according to the Bible, why what they have done is wrong that the child makes the decision to follow God and not the world. If the parent or church stops at only correcting behavior alone, and giving no explanation of why a standard of behavior is required, then they are raising Pharisees not true worshippers of Christ.[4] Again, the earlier this process begins, the easier it is for the child’s heart to be bent toward God and away from their natural heart’s desire to sin.[5] This is the heart of Deuteronomy 6 where it discusses a constant conversation with the child. This ideally is to be accomplished by the parents during their daily living, not one hour on Sunday morning by a teacher.

Romans 1:18–20 states, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” In the language of Romans, a child will either respond to God by faith or they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. In his rebellion, he will actually hide the truth from himself. It is the parent’s and the church’s responsibilities to guide the child toward faith in God (through teaching and correction) and to point out when the child is worshipping something other than God, thereby suppressing the truth in his life.

A fourth way of defining success is to have a diagnostic test of some kind that would effectively measure the knowledge of the child as he progresses through the years and stages of the ministry. One such test could be a life application challenge given in the classroom. For example, if the lesson is on “Spending Time with God,” the life application challenge could be for the child to have a daily devotional time. The teacher could then ask the child in a nonjudgmental fashion, “Did you have a devotional time this week?” When this information is received and reviewed, it can become the goal of the church to increase the total average over time by trying different strategies. Actual numbers and data give the leadership and parents something to work with as a basis to project realistic goals. Regarding this issue Barna has said, “In order to meaningfully operationalize these (or other) desired outcomes, we start by tying our search for clues (for spiritual growth) to the means of measurement. Here are some means through which we can evaluate outcomes: Formal evaluation tools – written tests, oral tests, essays, competitions and homework assignments. Self-report evaluation tools – surveys, inventories and profiles. Conversation and dialogue – language used, reasoning skills, foundational worldview expressed and interactive engagement. Observable behavior or perspectives – attendance, volunteerism, invitations, donations, professed beliefs, memorized beliefs, physical condition and body language. Inferences from choices – character of friends, media preferences, spending habits, social activity, attire and appearance.[6]

Assessment can be formal or informal. At the more formal extreme are written tests of ability and knowledge. On the informal extreme would be casual observation. Both of these measurements can be used together to give an administrator a more complete picture.

[1] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 101.
[2] Tripp, Shepherding A Child’s Heart, 74.
[3] Rom 3:20
[4] John 4:24
[5] Ps 51:5
[6] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 130.