What to Think When a Pastor Commits Suicide

It’s happened again—a pastor has committed suicide. In this day of social media, news of such tragedies travels quickly, especially since these stories have a certain shock factor to them (“A pastor? Really? How could that happen?”).

Since many people might be wrestling with what to think in response to such news, I thought I’d write out a few thoughts that could serve as a guide for your thinking. This post is by no means a comprehensive discussion of suicide, anxiety, depression, counseling, or any other related issues, so please don’t read it as the last word on any of those subjects. I am also writing generally in this post—I’m not trying to analyze why any particular pastor may have committed suicide.

Here are a few thoughts for you, in the format of some do’s and don’ts.

DON’T be astonished

You might be thinking to yourself, “How could a pastor reach such a point of despair? You guys draw close to God all the time through the Word and prayer.” Yes, we do—and who could possibly do that so often without being frequently reminded of his own failures and sins? Many times as I read the Bible I’m reminded of a sin I need to forsake or a virtue I need to develop—and I read the Bible a lot! A pastor can end up feeling like Isaiah when he had a vision of God in Isaiah 6: “Woe is me! I am undone!”

Pastors face two related temptations as we go about our ministry. The first is desensitization. This is when Bible study, preaching, prayer, counseling, etc. become all-too-routine, too commonplace. Someone said it well: “He is most unholy whose hands have been cauterized by holy things.” (I would gladly give credit for that quote if I could just remember where I read it!)

The second temptation is despair. This is when the whole process of ministry becomes too raw, when our every act of ministry is like re-opening a fresh wound. When this happens, we give our own failures too much weight and the grace of God too little.

Pastors are like all Christians in this regard—we must build our identity on the work of Christ and constantly seek refuge in Him. It is a tricky balancing act to deal with your own sins and insecurities while developing a genuine confidence to lead others at the very same time. And as we all know, maintaining balance in life is a challenge.

DON’T be discouraged in your own struggle with suicidal thoughts

If you struggle with suicidal thoughts, it may be very easy to think, “If a pastor gives in to those thoughts, what hope do I have?” You look up to pastors—and that’s not inappropriate according to Hebrews 13:7: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Pastors are supposed to be spiritually mature, and so generally speaking they will be setting a good example. But spiritual maturity is not the same thing as being perfect. Pastors still have temptations and struggles, and we don’t always respond to them in the best of ways.

Also remember that each person’s struggle has unique details to it. I suspect you’ve heard examples of pastors embezzling money from their churches, but you probably didn’t think, “If a pastor does that, what hope is there for me to avoid stealing from my employer?” The difference in your response could be in the details—some pastors have considerable access to and influence over church funds, whereas you may not have much access at all to your business’s finances. Due to this difference in details, you don’t despair when you hear about a pastor committing that act of theft.

So if you struggle with suicidal thoughts, there could be significant differences in the details of your struggle versus those of any individual pastor, so don’t despair! Don’t lose confidence or give up hope on the basis of someone else’s choices.

DO acknowledge that suicide is sinful

As we seek to deal compassionately with anyone who is contemplating suicide, I fear we face the temptation to stop short of calling it a sinful act. I don’t believe the Bible allows us to evade that conclusion. Suicide is an act of murder, even if the perpetrator is also the victim.

We should acknowledge that suicide is a sin, but at the same time we must resist putting it in a special category of sins and making it worse than all others. Suicide is not an unpardonable sin—the Bible never calls it such, nor does it hint that murder is unforgivable. Some people have thought that suicide might be unpardonable because you don’t get a chance to ask forgiveness for it before you meet God, but this view is built on a faulty understanding of salvation. Our salvation is not based upon our faithfulness to ask forgiveness for every act of sin we ever commit. And thank God that it isn’t, because who among us could have any assurance of salvation on that basis?

So if someone commits suicide, we ought not damn that person to Hell in our words or thoughts (I should also add that we should not use the threat of going to Hell as a counseling tactic to encourage someone not to commit suicide). But we can and should still acknowledge that suicide is sinful. Though it sounds impossible to modern ears, it is possible to acknowledge that an act is sin yet still maintain love and compassion for the person who has committed it or is considering it. This is the delicate but necessary balance that a Christian must maintain in any discussion of suicide.

I will say it again—don’t read this post as the final word (not even MY final word) on suicide, depression, counseling, or any related topics. But if it stimulates or even clarifies your thinking in some way, I am grateful to God.

Does Isaiah 26:3 promise us a life free from anxiety?

Peace of mind. A life free from worry and anxiety. Days that are free of mental turmoil.

It seems that almost all of us are looking for those things these days, and there is a verse in the Bible which, at first glance at least, appears to be a promise from God offering us exactly that – perfect peace of mind. This statement is found in Isaiah 26:3: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

You’ve likely seen this verse around. It is a favorite for greeting cards and home décor, and understandably so— it has a very encouraging tone to it. But have we been understanding this verse correctly in the way we’ve traditionally interpreted it? Often we read this verse and we take it to mean that we can have undisturbed and continuous peace of mind in our lives if we will simply trust God and keep him in the forefront of our thoughts. If this interpretation is correct, it leads us to a potentially unsettling personal problem — probably no one among us experiences undisturbed and continuous peace of mind in our lives! Does that mean we are all just miserably bad at trusting God?

Before we settle on that conclusion to the matter, we should ask ourselves if we’ve been interpreting this verse correctly. After encountering this verse again a few days ago in my daily Bible reading, I’ve started to think that this verse is actually saying something somewhat different than what we’ve typically thought. Allow me to share two observations that have led me to this conclusion.

First, Isaiah 26:1 states that the verses coming after it are part of a song which will be sung “in that day.” In fact, the phrase “in that day” is a very common one in the surrounding context (24:21, 25:9, 27:1, 27:2, 27:12). What is this “day” that Isaiah is talking about? According to the context, it is a day in which the Lord of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem (24:23), a day in which God will take away the reproach of his people from all the Earth (25:8), and a day in which the enemies of Israel will be defeated (much of chapters 25 and 26). These statements are describing nothing less than the future kingdom of Jesus on this earth! Since the whole context of this passage is looking forward to that future time, we have to consider that the “peace“ mentioned in 26:3 might not yet be achieved and thus might not yet be available.

The second observation centers on the word “peace” itself. This word is the somewhat familiar Hebrew term shalom. This word can refer to peace of mind, but it’s range of meaning is much wider than simply that. It can also express ideas like prosperity, health, and safety. Its meaning in a given verse has to be determined by the context. In this case, the next usage of the word “peace“ in verse 12 is rather informative, in my opinion. There, the word seems to mean something like “safety” because the people’s adversaries are defeated (v. 11) and no one but God rules over them (v. 13).

Given these observations, I think the NET Bible has a more accurate translation for Isaiah 26:3: “You keep completely safe the people who maintain their faith, for they trust in you.” That may not go quite as nicely on home décor, but it does seem to be a bit more accurate. Even with this translation, keep two observations in mind. First, the phrase “the people” does not focus on individuals but on God’s people as a whole. Second, this verse is still part of a song that will be sung “in that day”—the time of Christ’s future kingdom on earth. Thus, the safety spoken of here is not yet fully realized for God’s people, so it shouldn’t be taken as a promise that we could claim for ourselves today.

So if Isaiah 26:3 is not telling us how we should go about pursuing peace of mind, what other passages should we turn into instead for that information? For one, I would point you to the example of the Psalms. In many psalms, a heart-broken person cries out to God in his anguish, sometimes being very blunt and descriptive about his feelings. Yet these authors eventually turn their thoughts back toward God’s promises and find renewed peace and comfort in them. So be fully honest with God about your thoughts and feelings—vent your spleen to him, so to speak—and then review his promises once again. Clear the air with God and then let his promises be the atmosphere from which you breathe.

And of course, Philippians 4:6-7 speaks very directly to this whole subject of peace of mind: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Pray to God, make your requests, and thank him for the many blessings that you already have. I have always found that the more I thank God, the deeper my peace of mind becomes. Yet even these verses are not a promise that we can stare down anxiety once-and-for-all and never face it again! They simply tell us how to respond whenever anxiety comes knocking at our doors once more.

So the next time you battle anxiety, don’t heap false guilt on yourself because of a misunderstanding of all things! Follow the example of the Psalms, take the advice of Philippians 4:6-7, and worship God for his promise of a coming day when fears and worries will assault us no more!

Staying in Our Lane as God's Creatures

During my childhood, the Army had an ad campaign with a short jingle that said, “Be all that you can be in the Army.” I think the Army had a pretty good thing going with that jingle. It really is an inspiring thought that you can be all that you can be; to think that you can live out your greatest potential.

Unfortunately, ever since mankind’s fall into sin, we have been busy trying to be what we cannot be--we have been trying to be just like God. We’ve been living as if we don’t need his guidance, and we have been living is if we don’t have the limitations that we truly do have as creatures. Early on in my recent sabbatical, I read a book by Christopher Ash entitled “Zeal Without Burnout.” This book discussed what God truly expects of us as his creatures and it reminds us about our genuine limitations—limitations that we cannot ignore without paying the price.

In this post, I’m going to discuss some of the thoughts from that book—thoughts that take us all the way back to why God created us and the limitations that we have as created beings. These thoughts are seen most clearly in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, so you may want to briefly read those chapters before you continue reading this post. In those chapters, we can clearly see the honorable role that we have been given by God, and the limitations that we have as creatures.

1. We have the honor of being productive through our labor

From the time mankind was created, God has given us the honorable task of laboring in his world. Remember, this task was given before mankind’s fall into sin, not after. It is not as though Adam and Eve sinned and then God said, “ I know the perfect consequence! I will make them punch a time clock for the rest of their puny existence!” No, work itself is not a curse, just the difficulties that we now encounter in it.

Labor itself truly is an honorable task. It may not be too much to say that God has intended for us to be  co-producers with him in his world. God did not design his world to come to its greatest fruition apart for mankind. In Genesis 2:5, we read that vegetation--and perhaps cultivated crops in particular--had not yet begun to grow because “there was no man to work the ground.” And remember that God did not drop mankind into a world that was already filled with things like computers, medicines, and tools. God has allowed us to discover how to produce such things from the natural resources of his planet.

So labor is honorable because it makes us co-producers with God. However, our labor was always meant to be kept in an appropriate balance!

2. We need rest

In our society, we tend to be over-producers and over-consumers, and in that crazy cycle, rest often loses out.

If you need just one example of our overproduction, go to the grocery store sometime and go shopping for cereal or tortilla chips. As you stroll down the cereal aisle, ask yourself, “How many varieties of Cheerios do we really need?” You can get plain old Cheerios (the kind with no taste!), Honey Nut Cheerios, Multigrain Cheerios, or Protein Cheerios. You can get the designer brand of Cheerios or any one of three other brands that are cheaper but basically the same thing.

The tortilla chip aisle is even worse! You can get thin tortilla chips or regular tortilla chips. You can get round tortilla chips or triangle tortilla chips. You can get tortilla chips that are shaped like little bowls so your chip dip won’t fall off as you raise it to your mouth. You can get yellow corn tortilla chips or white corn tortilla chips or blue corn tortilla chips. You can get tortilla chips that were locally produced or tortilla chips that were imported from another continent! It takes a tremendous amount of labor to support the kind of overproduction that we see all around us.

And to give you just one example of our overconsumption, consider the fact that Americans today carry $13 trillion of consumer debt. That number does not include things like medical debt—it includes purchases over which we have quite a bit of control, like which homes we buy and our personal possessions.

To maintain our overproduction, we tend to burn the candle at both ends. But we feel like we have to do so in order to support our overconsumption! As this crazy cycle rolls along, rest often falls by the wayside. But we need rest in at least two ways.

A. We need the daily rhythm of evening and morning

in Genesis one, we find the familiar phrase repeated over and over: “ there was evening and if there was morning.” this phrase was used to count off each successive day of the creation period.

Since evening is mentioned first in this phrase, the Jewish people have always considered a new day to begin at sundown. This perspective on when your day begins shines an interesting light on the balance between rest and work. If your day begins at sundown, what’s the first thing you do each day (especially in times and places with no electric lights)? You rest! You go to bed! Perhaps you first have a meal with your family or some conversation or recreation with your neighbors, but before you ever get around to the day’s labor, you rest up for it, because the day’s labor doesn’t begin for many hours.

This need that we have for rest makes us quite different from God. Psalm 121:4 says that God does not sleep nor does he slumber. Thus, he is always awake and alert to watch out for his people. When the prophet Elijah had his great showdown with the prophets of Baal, he mocked them by suggesting that there so-called god was asleep and could not hear their requests!

No, God does not need sleep, but we do. According to the Centers for Disease Control, adults need 7 or more hours of sleep each day, children need 9 to 12 hours, and teenagers need 8 to 10 hours. Clearly, in order to give ourselves the opportunity to get all the sleep we need, we must exercise some discipline over ourselves and our daily schedules. Certainly there are seasons of life and circumstances that make this difficult and even beyond our control, but as far as it is within our power, we need to take steps to give ourselves the best opportunity to get our daily rest.

If you research this topic at all, you will find recommendations to maintain a regular daily schedule. This discipline will help your body know when it is time to unwind to go to bed and when it is time to gear up to be awake. You will also find a recommendation to stick to a regular exercise program. Here is part of our balance with labor—we need to work and exercise our bodies in order to use up our energy. Exercise also helps relieve physical tension in the body that makes it hard for you to sleep. Experts also encourage us to avoid caffeine and electronics later in the day so our brains can begin to wind down.

If we habitually neglect our need for sleep, we are acting more like God than the creatures that we are. It is inappropriate for us to act more like him than we truly can be, so we should embrace this limitation that we have and learn to live within its boundaries.

B. We need regular breaks from the routine

In addition to our need for daily rest, we also need regular breaks from the routine. This lesson can be taken from the Sabbath day that is mentioned in Genesis 2:1-3. On that day, God did not rest because he was tired; He did this to set an example for our benefit. He didn’t wipe his brow after the sixth day of creation and say, “I really need a siesta! I think I’ll take tomorrow off!” No, he was setting a pattern for us to follow.

Now in the Old Testament, the Jewish people had some clear, God-given regulations about resting on the last day of the week. The New Testament makes it clear that we are not bound by those precise regulations, but nevertheless, this pattern from the Creation Week still stands. We need to take a break!

In my opinion, it is wise for us to take a break from every responsibility that we have. That would obviously include your job, so don’t neglect your regular time off each week. Whether you have Saturday and Sunday off or just Sunday or perhaps some other day of the week, don’t neglect to take that time off! Also, use up all of your vacation days. Even if you don’t actually go anywhere, just take the time off to get a break from the routine.

I also think it’s wise for parents to take some time away from their kids. Go off together as husband and wife and enjoy a date night or a weekend away. Have those meaningful conversations that always seem to get interrupted when the kids are around, or that you’re too tired to have at night after they’ve gone to bed.

Spouses, take some time apart every so often to go out with the guys or the gals. Men, grab some beef jerky and your golf clubs or shotguns and go have some fun in the great outdoors. Ladies, grab whatever it is you like to grab and get together for some heart-to-heart time (with a box of tissues, of course!).

Take a break from your volunteer and service roles as well. Faithfulness does not require that you do the same role week after week, forever and ever, amen! Step out of the routine and rest a little bit. Once you’ve pulled your nose away from the grindstone, you may look up and discover that there’s a different need somewhere else for which you are better suited.

3. We need companions

In Genesis 2:18, we find that familiar statement, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Do you think that Adams condition was a surprise to God? Did he say to himself, “Oh my! I told the man to be fruitful and multiply but I didn’t realize he couldn’t do that without a partner!” No, God made Adam alone at first for Adam’s benefit, so that he could feel and be convinced of his need for partner.

The first marriage came to be as a result of God’s next creative act, but marriage is not the only relationship that can satisfy this need that we have for companionship. First Corinthians 7 teaches us that marriage is not a necessary relationship for the Christian. We can glorify God perfectly well as single people, and even with particular advantages over those who are married. But even if we may not enter into marriage, we still need companionship with others.

We are living at a rather fascinating time in western culture. By “fascinating,” I mean fascinating like a car wreck—you’re horrified by what you see, but you just can’t look away! Today, we are living through the logical conclusion of the whole project of western civilization, which has been to elevate the primacy and importance of the individual. This project has produced some good fruit, such as a recognition of basic human rights that should not be violated. But it has also yielded some bad fruit, which I think we can see right now in such developments as the transgender phenomenon. We are told today that we are free to make our gender whatever we want it to be and everyone around us is supposed to fall in line with our proclamation—regardless of any biological facts about ourselves. That is radical individualism in action!

So we’ve been on a centuries-long quest to exalt the individual, and I think we’ve finally arrived at that destination. But we have found that this destination is a painfully lonely place to be. Many people in the United States over the last few years have been declaring that we are facing a “loneliness epidemic.” Even the surgeon general has sounded the alarm about this condition, quoting research that declares persistent loneliness to be as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day!

We have forgotten this basic limitation that we have as God’s creatures—we were never meant to live life all alone. We are made in the image of God, and the Trinity has relationship at its very core. The Trinity has never needed other beings outside of itself because loving relationship is part of what it is. We, however, do not possess that same quality as the Trinity, so we do need other beings outside of ourselves.

We need others for many reasons. For one, we need others so that we can utilize our spiritual gifts. Have you ever noticed that the spiritual gifts are social? You can't use them without a relationship with others! How can you use a gift for teaching if you have no one to teach? How can you use a gift for serving if you have no one to serve? We really ought to think of spiritual gifts as gifts that we can give to other people—not capacities that have been given to us for our own benefit.

We need others so we can spur each other along toward love and good works (Heb 10) and so we can exchange comfort and encouragement (2 Cor 1). Think of this like running a long race with a partner. Just as you start to feel that cramp in your side, your partner is catching her second wind, so she can set the pace and encourage you to keep going. Then as she wears down, you’re getting your second wind, so now you can become the one offering strength.

We need others to share in our joys and sorrows (Rom 12) and to provide accountability for us (James 5). As we are learning in our society today, we neglect this need for relationship at our own peril.

We have a great honor to labor in God’s word and serve him, but we do have some distinct limitations as creatures. If we live as if we don’t have these limitations, we are acting more like God than is truly appropriate. So rather than act like we don’t have these limitations, let’s embrace them and accept them as part of what it means to live out our role in God’s creation.

Discipling Artists Rather Than Idolizing Them

Lauren Daigle is making some waves in Christian circles right now after recently stating in an interview that she cannot say whether or not homosexuality is a sin. You can read more about this developing story at https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2018/december/christian-singer-lauren-daigle-on-homosexuality-i-cant-say-one-way-or-the-other-im-not-god (This report will also allow you to find audio of the interview if you wish to listen to it).

After being asked if homosexuality is a sin, her response was not biblical, nor did it express an accurate understanding of theological truth about what the Bible is—a message from God in which He clearly states His thoughts on such questions. Until I hear some clarification from Ms. Daigle, I’m willing to consider that she was caught off guard by the question and didn’t answer exactly how she would have if given more time to form an answer. Haven’t we all, after further reflection, cringed over the way we answered a question? Could not Lauren Daigle be doing that right now? I’m anxious to hear some clarification from her and I hope that such clarification would be biblically accurate. I enjoy several of her songs, and my little daughter does as well.

My main point in writing, however, is not to linger on this story, but to point out how it is a symptom of a deeper problem in Christian music, worship, and the Church today. One reason why Lauren Daigle may have struggled to answer that question is that, to the best of my knowledge, she has no formal training in the Bible or theology (someone please correct me here if I am wrong). In that position, she has a lot of company in the modern Christian music world.

Much of the Christian music that is produced today comes from brothers and sisters who, though sincere, nevertheless have a rather shallow well of Biblical knowledge and theological precision to draw from. Some of this is not their fault—many of these artists are young people who are still learning about the depths of Biblical truth and how to express it clearly and artistically. And yet, because they can sing well or play the guitar with real talent, they are thrust into the spotlight and their songs are quickly adopted into church music lists because the songs are popular.

One result is that the ministry of music in the church, which should be a powerful teaching tool, has been largely given over to artists who do not meet the criteria that most churches have for their teachers—some display of skill in interpreting the Word, or confirmation of skill through a formal process (like an ordination or a training certificate or a theological degree). This is not to say that everyone who writes music must have a degree, but those who might lag behind in training themselves could work with believers who have greater Biblical knowledge. Keith and Kristen Getty are a good model of this kind of collaboration—they have stated before that they ask their pastors to review all of their lyrics before they ever perform them or record them.

I feel for Lauren Daigle if she has been thrust into a spotlight that she may not have been ready for. I call on the Church to consider how we can protect, disciple, and develop artists without idolizing them.

Should Christians no longer grieve the death of a loved one, since "death has lost its sting?"

It’s a well-known phrase among Christians, made popular by several songs. It’s a phrase that makes us feel vaguely encouraged because it sounds a note of triumph—death has lost its sting. I say “vaguely” encouraged because when we hear it, we probably don’t know exactly what it means.

So what does this phrase mean, and what does it mean for our behavior and our responses to death? Most importantly for now, how should we answer the question that forms the title of this blog post? Does the word “sting” in that phrase refer to emotional pain over someone’s death? Would we be dishonoring our hope in Christ, then, if we felt emotional pain over someone’s death?

It’s important to note that the phrase “death has lost its sting” is not found in the Bible in that exact wording. That’s not necessarily a big deal, but making that observation helps us understand that the phrase is an interpretation or a summary of the exact language of the Bible. Interpretations can sometimes be less than accurate, and summaries can actually be unhelpful if they miss the heart of what they intend to condense. Is that the case with this phrase?

In this case, the phrase “death has lost its sting” is meant to summarize the teaching of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:56, which I present here in its context:

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Two observations are in order here. First, notice that Paul is writing about a victory that is assured to us right now, but it not yet a reality. This victory will be realized “when the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality”—that is, when we’re resurrected in our imperishable, immortal bodies. That is a victory that not even deceased believers have enjoyed yet, since they are still awaiting the resurrection, too.

Second, notice that Paul defines for us what the “sting of death” is—it is sin. Sin is the tool through which Death (personified here) inflicts its harm; it is the means through which Death captures its prey. Sin creates this opportunity for Death because of the Law of God, which calls for death as the penalty for law-breaking. But since Christ perfectly fulfilled the Law on our behalf, and since his death has “[cancelled] the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands (Col 2:14),” we are now presently assured of the ultimate victory over death—resurrection!—even though we may have to experience physical death first.

So has death presently lost its sting? Yes and no. Perhaps we should compare it to an army that is cut off from its supply lines. Such an army can still do damage at the moment, but its days are numbered. The life-blood of its power to harm is draining away and will not be replenished. So it is with death. Though we might die physically before God wraps up the fullness of His plan for the ages, death’s days are numbered. Paul was right—thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

To answer the question that sparked this post, it is perfectly appropriate to grieve the loss of a loved one. To do so does not dishonor the hope we have in Christ. If you’ve ever felt guilty for grieving because you thought this phrase meant “death is no longer painful,” please leave behind that misunderstanding. Grief is normal, but thank God that as Christians, our grief is not the same as those “who have no hope (1 Thess 4:13).” In Christ, we have the assurance of one day seeing our loved ones who have shared our faith—an assurance which can take a bit of the edge off of our grief.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”—1 Peter 5:10

Did God promise to grant any request made by two or three people gathered in His name?

A few days ago, a post by a Facebook friend caught my eye and stuck in my mind for hours (that’s rare for me for a Facebook post!). This lady was asking for prayer for a baby who is facing a heartbreaking illness. It is good to invite people to pray, and her compassion was obvious.

What stuck in my mind, however, was the claim that her post made about God and his promises concerning prayer. I don’t know if this lady wrote these words or if she was simply sharing them from someone else’s post, but here’s what it said:

“The power of prayer. God says where ever there is three or more gathered in his name in complete harmony he will give them whatever they ask for. So please let’s all be in complete harmony and say this prayer…” What followed was a suggested prayer that we could all pray for this baby.

This claim about God grieved me deeply and stuck in my mind for hours. Why such a strong reaction, you ask? Because the truth is this:

If God made that promise, then he is utterly untrustworthy.

How did I reach that conclusion? Just think about what your own experience has taught you. How many times have you and a group of family or friends all made the same specific prayer request to God, only to see it go unfulfilled? I would suspect we have all lived through that experience a number of times.

Do you see the dilemma that our experience raises in light of that claim? If God did in fact make such a promise about prayer, then he has failed to deliver on it repeatedly. If any other person you know repeatedly fails to deliver on a promise, don’t you eventually conclude that he is not trustworthy? Logically, we are backed into a corner on this one – if God made that promise about prayer, we would be foolish to trust him, because he has failed to deliver on it time and time again.

So we have a crucial question to consider – did God in fact promise that “wherever there is three or more gathered in his name in complete harmony he will give them whatever they ask for?”

This language of “three or more gathered” is found in Matthew 18:15-20. Here is that whole passage, so you can get the context of the whole train of thought:

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

A couple of questions at this point will bring us some much-needed clarity regarding any promise that God is making in these verses. First of all, why are the two or three gathered in this passage? We quickly discover that they are not gathered for any general purposes regarding prayer, but rather for a very specific purpose – to help resolve a dispute that has arisen within the church body. Initially, they are gathered in verse 16 to provide evidence that the claims of the offended brother are indeed true. Then, they are (presumably) gathered with the rest of the church in verse 17 as the church makes a pronouncement regarding the unrepentant brother’s status within the church body (the meaning of “let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector”).

Second, what would the two or three be asking about in this context (their asking is mentioned in verse 19)? Here, we have to trace the line of thinking from verse 17 forward. At the end of verse 17, an action is prescribed as the end result of church discipline for an unrepentant brother – let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. This statement would refer to the removal of the brother’s privileges and responsibilities within the church body (it certainly does NOT mean anything like “act mean and nasty toward him”).

This act is then referred to in verse 18 as “binding” and “loosing.” Notice then that in verse 19, Jesus begins by saying “again I say to you.” The word “again” would indicate that Jesus is about to refer back to the action at the end of verse 17 in different language than what he used in verse 18. So then, what would the two or three be asking about in verse 19? The most natural answer, based on the context, is that they would be asking God to approve and confirm their decision to remove the unrepentant brother’s privileges and responsibilities within the church body.

Only now can we properly understand the statements “it will be done for them by my father in heaven” and “for where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Jesus is promising that if we take the proper care and caution in overseeing the discipline of the church, God will approve and confirm the decisions that are made through this process.

There is no general promise made here about any and all prayers that may ever be spoken. It’s very important that we don’t conclude that God is making such a promise here. Why is it so important? Among several reasons, this one stands out:

People sometimes lose their faith when they expect God to grant a request and he doesn’t.

This whole discussion thus becomes very relevant very quickly. We MUST make sure that the expectations we have for God are based on what he himself has said in the Bible and not simply on popular sentimentality. Otherwise, we may end up disappointed with God for no legitimate reason, but simply because we have embraced a misunderstanding about him. That is a very sad state of affairs, indeed.

We must be very careful when we start saying “God promised us this…” or “God promised us that…” We do not want to put God on the hook for things he did not actually say! There certainly is power in prayer. May I be the last person to ever discourage people from praying! But we don’t want to find ourselves in a crisis of faith that could’ve been avoided by simply spotting an unfortunate misunderstanding.

A Giant Concern for God's Honor--Life of David Series (A First-Person Sermon)

(Note: In a first-person sermon, I speak as if I am the character whose story I'm telling. In this sermon, I spoke as if I were King David himself.)

            Good morning to all of you! I’m so glad to be here with you today. I was flattered to hear that you are studying the story of my life in the Bible. I praise God for all that he has taught people through my life – both my good times and my bad – and if he teaches you something as well, I will praise him all the more!

            I was thrilled when I heard that I would get to come here today and talk to you about one of the most significant stories from my life – the story of God and the Philistine. Ah-- you thought I was going to say David and Goliath, didn’t you? I know that’s what people call it these days, but I’ve never really liked that title. It makes it sound like this story is all about me, but I don’t want anyone to get that impression. This story is about God and his honor and how great moments can come when we care more about God’s honor than anything else.

            I also don’t quite understand why people have made this out to be the ultimate underdog story. The whole reason I marched out there was because I never thought of myself as an underdog! I had God on my side, and I knew this puny little giant was no match for him. But I suppose that everyone else who was there that day did see me as an underdog, so I suppose that description kind of fits.

            I get kind of nostalgic whenever I get to tell the story, and I suppose there are a couple of reasons for that. First, this was the moment that God used to put me on the public stage among my people. Even after Samuel the prophet had told me that I would be the next king of Israel, I couldn’t help but think, “How could that possibly happen? I’m a nobody – the youngest son in my family!” Well, this battle became the springboard that launched me into the public eye.

            Second, this story is one of the highlights of the good old days for me. Before long, you’re going to read about some moments in my life that I would rather forget. Later on, I would commit some sins that would stay with me for the rest of my life. My actions would hurt so many people; my own family would come almost to the point of ruin.

            But this story was one of the shining moments, and it wasn’t because I was so brave or so courageous. It was just because at that time, I cared more about God’s honor than anything else. I hope you’ll remember that lesson from my story today:

The most significant moments of your life will come when you care more about God’s honor than anything else.

            When you forget about that, you’re asking for trouble. But when you live to honor God rather than just make yourself happy or to build up your own reputation, then you will always be in the right place.

            Well, let me get to the story. The Philistines lived to our West, between the land of my people and the Mediterranean Sea. We had been enemies for hundreds of years, and one day, they marched their army into the Valley of Elah, which was a very strategic place to control because one of the main roads went through that Valley for people who were traveling east and west.

            King Saul marched our army down there to meet them, and my three oldest brothers joined the ranks. You might remember that I had already served King Saul with my music, and I had been appointed as one of his armor bearers. But at that point, I was still so young and small that when real battle looked likely, I was left behind. So I was back with my father’s sheep and I was also acting as a messenger between my dad and my brothers.

            One day, my father asked me to take some food to my brothers at the battlefield and to bring back word of how they were doing. So the next day, I got up earlier than before to make the trip, and that turned out to be a fateful decision.

            The trip from my home in Bethlehem to the Valley of Elah was around 13 miles. I had gotten to know the path pretty well, and I even knew some shortcuts that allowed me to save some time on my walk. Before I even arrived in the valley, I could hear the commotion of our army mustering in their ranks and shouting our war cry. I ran down the rest of the path and got to our camp first, where I left all of the food with the man who was in charge of the supplies, then I ran out to the front lines where our army had positioned themselves.

Seeing and Hearing Goliath

            When I got to the ranks, the air itself was thick with tension and suspense. The two armies were positioned across from each other on opposite hillsides with the Valley in between, and down in the middle of the Valley was one solitary man – a giant of a man, over 9 feet tall. His body was covered in bronze armor from head to toe. All that armor must’ve easily weighed over 100 pounds, but he paced back and forth in that Valley as if he was wearing nothing at all!

            But it wasn’t the sight of him that astonished me the most – it was the words that came out of his mouth. This man looked up the hillside at us and bellowed, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together (vv. 8-10).”

            I could hardly believe the arrogance of this man! What you must understand is that at that time, we all thought of battles as not just contests between armies but also as showdowns between the gods – their god versus our God, and the armies were just the method of confrontation.

            This Philistine’s boasts made it clear that he had no fear of our God whatsoever – our God, who had humbled the Egyptians and drowned their army in the sea; who had stopped up the Jordan River and made the walls of Jericho come tumbling down!

            I couldn’t believe this man could think so much of himself and so little of our God. I halfway expected our boys to fight each other just to see who could take the first crack at this man, but to my surprise, our soldiers were moving backward, not forward. No one wanted to give even the impression that they were volunteering to fight this man.

            Then I thought, “Perhaps they’re just clearing the way for King Saul to come out.” Yes, surely that had to be it. Surely our king would go out before us and fight our battles! But Saul was nowhere to be seen.

            What was wrong with my people? Did they care so little about the honor of God that no one would even try to defend it? Did no one believe that God could once again do a mighty deed?

Conversing with the Soldiers and Eliab

            Instead of the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath, I heard the sound of talking among our ranks. One soldier was saying to another, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel (v. 25).”

            When our soldiers had retreated, they had come back far enough that I was now standing among them. I wanted to make sure I had heard these words correctly, so I asked, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God (v. 26)?”

            When I spoke those words, all the soldiers around me turned and stared at me with disbelief. One soldier came pushing and shoving his way through all the others, and when he got to me I discovered that I was staring right into the face of my oldest brother, Eliab!

            I was happy to see him, but it became clear right away that he wasn’t very happy to see me. His face was red with anger, and he said to me, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle (v. 28).”

            Friends, let me tell you – that’s when I began to realize that when you, in your own heart, put a concern for God’s honor above everything else, some people just won’t understand the way you act. They’ll misinterpret your motives; they’ll think you’re trying to act “holier than thou” or that you believe you’re better than them. Until someone has come to put God’s honor ahead of their own, it’s hard for them to understand why you do the things you do. Don’t let that stop you! Remember – the most significant moments of your life will come when you care more about God’s honor than anything else.

Conversing with Saul

            Well, as my older brother was doing what jealous older brothers sometimes do, some of the other soldiers had sent word to King Saul about the confidence that I had expressed through my words. The king sent for me, and I was taken to him. I’m sure he was rather surprised to see my face, but I said to him, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

            If I’m not mistaken, Saul was trying to suppress a laugh when he replied, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”

            But I had more experience with battle than he realized! “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father,” I said. “And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

            I hope you can understand from my words why I felt so confident. It’s not that I was just naturally more brave or courageous than anyone else. I just had complete confidence that God would help me take down this arrogant Philistine. When my people had first marched into the land of Israel, God had promised that he would drive out the Philistines before us if we would simply trust in that promise and take action to do it. And besides, the Lord had also proclaimed through Samuel the prophet that I would be the next king of Israel. I can’t tell you why he chose me, but he did, and as I stood there among the army that day, I just chose to believe that if God made a promise, then the matter was settled. I knew I could live and act as if his promise had already come true.

            Saul could see that I was raring to fight, so he gave me permission to go. He offered to let me wear his own armor, and he even had me try it on, but you have to remember – King Saul was the tallest man in all of Israel. With his armor on, I looked like a boy trying to walk around in his dad’s shoes! I was going to trip all over myself if I tried to fight with that stuff on, so I declined as politely as I could, and I decided just to go out with the tools that had always allowed me to defend my sheep before – my staff and my sling.

The Battle

            Now you have to understand – my sling truly was a deadly weapon in the right hands. It was an overhead style sling, and I could sling a stone out of it at about 150 mph! That didn’t impress this Philistine however, because when he saw me walking out there to challenge him, he just about fell over laughing!

            “Am I a dog,” he said, “that you come to me with sticks?” Then he said something about his great and mighty gods, and I thought, “Just you wait, buddy! Your statues of stone couldn’t hurt me unless you threw them at me!” Then he said, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”

            I had had enough of him insulting my God, so I said, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

            I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what this encounter was really all about. It wasn’t about me or anyone else who was on the field that day. This was about upholding the honor of God and giving him a chance to put his power on display.

            I apparently got under the giant’s skin with my words, because that was all he wanted to hear from me! He started to walk toward me, and I was more than happy to oblige, so I ran toward him and got a stone loaded into my sling. I twirled it over my head and aimed it right at that big, ugly head of his, and the Lord made it fly true. The stone struck him in the forehead with such force that it sank in and lodged there.

            I don’t know if the Philistine really was this arrogant or what, but he acted like he never even saw my sling. He just kept coming at me, so when the stone struck him, his momentum caused him to fall forward onto his face. He almost crushed his own armor bearer, and when that guy saw what happened, he took off running for the hills.

            I marched right up and true to my word, I took the Philistines own sword and cut off his head. Now please don’t think of me as some brute or butcher. You might think differently about it today, but that was standard warfare back then.

            With that, the battle was on! The Philistines turned tail and started running back home, and our army chased them all the way there before they came back to collect the spoils of victory.

            As I looked out over the ranks of my people celebrating, I prayed to God that they would remember that God could be trusted and that His honor is worth defending. We are His people—and you, today, are His people—so the way we act reflects directly on Him. When we act in confidence that His promises are true and His commands are right, we bring great honor to Him.

The Lessons

            As I thought back on that day over the years, it dawned on me that in just that one event, the Lord highlighted some of the most significant lessons that he kept trying to teach my people over and over again. I wonder if you noticed any of them.

            The first was this – do not see merely as man sees. Don’t live your life based on nothing more than what you can see! King Saul and the rest of the people – all they could see was Goliath’s stature. They couldn’t see that the real battle that day was not physical but spiritual. God’s honor was being called into question, and what were they going to do about it? If they would’ve acted for the sake of his great name, he would come through for them!

            Second, do not trust in the strength of man to save you. So many times, my people got into trouble and danger because of their own sins. But rather than just confess those sins and return to the Lord, we thought, “If we just make an alliance with the Egyptians or the Syrians, then we will be okay!” We thought we could make all of our problems go away through our own strength or our own wisdom, when all we ever needed was to stop running away from God and just obey him once again.

            Third, the God of Israel is the living God; all other so-called gods are lifeless and powerless. Time and time again, we gave our worship and affection, our money and our resources to these things that could not help us at all. They held out nothing but a false hope, when all the while our God – the living God – promised to give us all we would ever need if we would just obey him.

            Fourth, God delights to work through unexpected channels. How often has God chosen the most unlikely person to accomplish something great for him! If you think there’s something about you that would prevent God from using you, think again! You might be the most likely person for him to use, so just prize his honor above anything else and get ready to see the great ways that he can use you.

            Fifth, the people of God represent God. The most shameful thing about that day was not the Philistine’s insults but the cowardice of my people. Their actions betrayed a very small view of God. Never forget that your actions reflect on the God you claim to love. Everything you do reflects on him either for the better or for the worse.

            Sixth and lastly, God acts on behalf of his people for the sake of his great name. God didn’t give me victory that day just so we could control a strategic valley, even though that did happen. He didn’t give me victory just to catapult me to fame, although that happened, too. He won the victory that day so that all the earth would know that there is a God in Israel. Everything he does for us he does ultimately to put his glory on display. God highly values the honor of his name, and so we should, too, more than anything else in life.