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Here’s a classic teaching by Dr. Bill Gillham, author of Lifetime Guarantee, on “The Flesh.” Enjoy…
In Philippians 3:3b-9, Paul describes his “flesh.” “… We… put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.” What does he mean when he uses the term “flesh”? The Bible is very clear on what he has reference to in verses 5-6: all the things which Saul generated and depended upon during his earthwalk prior to Saul’s being crucified in Christ and being resurrected the new man, Paul. Paul’s “flesh” is Saul’s old ways by which Saul generated and maintained his acceptance (love) from people and from himself (self-acceptance).
Can you picture Saul rising early in the morning, long before most of his peers, lighting a lamp and studying the Mosaic law? Can you see him “resting” in the fact that he had never made a slip in his life? It enabled him to feel good about himself, to accept himself, to respect himself. There were no skeletons in his closet for which he had to carry the shame, things in his past which were a blemish on his record which would cause him to be unable to respect himself. So far as he could judge he counted himself “blameless” with regard to the Law. He didn’t feel guilty. He understood perfectly well why God would accept someone such as he! He would, too, if he were God! After all, he was the best Pharisee of all…he performed better than any of them. He was the Heisman Trophy winner! These “darling things” were the key to his self-acceptance. How about you? How do you generate and maintain your self-acceptance, via the flesh or via the Spirit?
Can you also see Saul using these things to generate and maintain acceptance from the other Pharisees? Can you see him reciting the law without a mistake and see how envious some of the less capable or less diligent Pharisees would be of him? See them admire him and hear them marvel at his zeal and ability. Watch them jostle one another for a seat next to him in the public meeting so as to extract a little acceptance out of the crowd through “sitting by my good friend Saul.” Hear the younger, “aspiring-to-be-Pharisees” men discuss Saul over coffee cups. Can you hear their admiring statements? Do you hear them slightly embellish a tale when “once when they were with Saul” and he performed some marvelous act of wisdom or he successfully routed one of the Sadducees in a debate? Where is your source of acceptance? Do you rest in God’s acceptance of you or do you continually “milk” it out of people via the flesh?
Can you see how well Saul could generate and maintain not only acceptance from his peers, but how well he could accomplish the same result from himself! You see, a young man in Saul’s day didn’t “make it” with the peer structure by coaching the little league team, by becoming a member of the million dollar round table, or “Jaycee of the Year.” He made it by working his way up the Pharisaical ladder of success. Every culture in the world has a ladder you must climb if you want the acceptance it offers. Some of them require you to wear a bigger bone in your ear. Some are based on speed at coconut husking. Some are based on the right brand of three-piece suit with a house on the hill occupied by the prettiest wife in the block, etc. And whatever medium of exchange is required to extract the acceptance payoff from the culture is usually identical to the one required to milk acceptance out of one’s self.
I fully realize that what I’m about to say runs counter to the “dominant Christian culture” as expressed in bestselling books written by preachers who fill basketball arenas or religious TV hosts with dazzling white teeth…
I also realize that it’s biblical…
Our faith is forged in the fire of trials.
James, the brother of Jesus and the earliest leader of the church said that trials were to be endured with joy, because they produced endurance that makes us mature and complete.
The apostle Paul experienced difficulties that made him wonder if he wouldn’t be better off dead. Yet, in those trials he learned an enormous truth: God’s grace is sufficient no matter what, and when we are reduced to weakness, He shows up strong.
At the end of John 13, Jesus tells Peter that he cannot go where the Lord is going yet, but, Jesus says, “You will…” When? After Peter had gone through wrenching personal failure.
Yes, Romans 8:28 is still true, but we’ve got to live through the “all things” to get to God’s good.
The issue is our brokenness. To most of us, a broken dish is worthless, and a broken television is no good, broken things get thrown away… But to God, brokenness makes a vessel more usable. God makes beautiful, purposeful use of broken things. The little boy brought the five loaves and two fish to Jesus and He broke them and fed thousands. The sinful woman came to Simon’s house with jar of perfume that had to be broken before its contents could be used to anoint Jesus. The body of Jesus had to be broken before we could be forgiven.
If I want God to use my life to give Him glory, I have to realize that I must be broken for Him to do that. That’s why I have to go through trials and difficult times. If I always try to “tough it out” or “shake it off”, then I’m not broken…
God will sometimes allow us to suffer more than we can bear – but it”s okay, because His grace is sufficient, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness!
Welcome to the new homeplace! I know it looks like no one’s been in here in years!
Well, I guess no one has, except for faithful readers who logged on looking for wit and wisdom, got diddley-squat instead, and grew disenchanted, moody, and estranged…
What can I say? Other things muscled their way to the front of the line and the blog waited in the back like a chubby kid with horn rims and dress shoes on at a pickup basketball game.
Well, I’m gonna try to get the place back in shape for company…
Note to RWW and CR: Your tactics of shame and humiliation finally worked. Aren’t you proud?
I welcome your comments, I really do. I enjoy reading them. I have found it necessary to moderate comments because, the WWW being what it is, I don’t want to risk nasty, negative messages being put out under the “Fierce Grace” banner.
Here are some guidelines that help comments make the cut…
- The obvious: no profanity or vulgarity. If you wouldn’t want your grandmother to read it, don’t put it in your comments.
- Don’t go “anonymous,” unless you’re in the Federal Witness Protection Program. Have enough backbone to sign your name. If you want your comment to be anoymous, just let me know and I’ll edit it so you can’t be indentified.
- Control your urge to debate. This is my personal web log, not a public debate forum. You don’t always have to agree with me, and are free to say so, but lengthy rebuttals are not likely to make the cut.
- Use a spell checker.
That’s about it really… One always wonders if anyone is reading their blather. Your comments are confirmation that there are a couple of other people in this world who are slightly unhinged. 
Some of you who read a copy of my “Annotated Bibliography” a few years back will remember that Jerry Cook’s first book, Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness, was on my all time Top Ten list. It’s still there, and it’s now been joined by it’s sequel, Monday Morning Church.
MMC is one of those books that made me say, “Yes, this is what I’ve been trying to communicate to the church!” Of course, Cook’s thoughts are cogent and persuasive, while mine rattle around my head like the last two Milk-Duds in the box…
The book is about what it means to “be the church” in the world we live in, rather than “going to church” in a building.
Here’s an excerpt that I hope will whet your appetite:
Everyday Evangelism: Christ in You
You are called not so much to do great things, as to be a great person–and that person is Jesus Christ. The Church is the resident presence of Jesus in the world.
No matter how big church attendance is on Sunday, it will never penetrate the culture with Jesus. The reason is clear: The church on Sunday is experienced by the church community; it is only observed by the unbelieving community.
However, Monday through Saturday, the church operates in the experience of non-believers. It lives on their turf, moves in their society, and operates in their culture. On Monday Jesus becomes incarnate through you. And because He can be seen and touched, He can be received or rejected. True evangelism is possible.
I’m working on a project and here’s what I’m needing – We use the “Finding Your Spiritual Gifts” inventory by Peter Wagner with our folks who are seeking to know more about their gifts. It is a revised and expanded version of the old Wagner-Modified Houts Questionnaire. And yes, I realize Wagner’s identification of 27 spiritual gifts is controversial in some circles, but I managed to get past that and I’m not too interested in discussing whether or not he’s right.
What I am interested in is rethinking the gifts with an “outward” or missional focus. Traditionally, we have encouraged people to use their gifts in “service to the church,” but I see Christ’s followers being told to wait for the Spirit’s empowering so they could fulfill the Great Commission, which takes place in “the world.” I want our folks to begin to see and use their gifts in service to the community beyond our church walls.
So, I’d be interested in your ideas. What types of outwardly focused, missional ministry could be facilitated by someone with, say, the gifts of mercy and helps? Leadership and administration? Miracles and healings? Etc.
On a forum I am active in, a fellow member, and pastor, wrote this:
A local minister on Sunday rose and told the congregation that he would be taking a sabbatical with his wife. They had had problems and the marriage was suffering greatly – they were crashing. The leaders allowed them to take some time away. If when they return things have not improved then he will resign his position. It is sad for this guy. He seemed like a nice guy. Always active in many things. But in the end the one thing that should have mattered suffered.
Too often the flock in our immediate reach go untended and then the wolf attacks them scattering them to far off places. It is even more a wake up for me. This guy had kids who were out of the house and on their own, so they did not have to take care of kids on top of everything else. My wife and I, on the other hand, do. Though we have managed to keep boundaries intact for now, the fact remains we must be careful.
I immediately went back in my mind to a national Pastor’s Conference I attended 20 years ago. A well-known and successful pastor of a large church was speaking to us. I don’t remember most of what he had to say that morning, but I will never forget his eyes welling up with tears when he said, “For almost 30 years now I have done ministry the way I was taught, the way it was modeled for me. I went to every meeting of every group and committee in the church… I made every hospital and nursing home visit… I attended every service and function even remotely related to the church… I knocked on thousands of doors… I answered every call and went everywhere and anywhere anytime anybody in my church needed anything. On top of all that, I prepared two sermons, a Sunday School lesson, and a Midweek Bible study every week. Today my church is large, and some would say, influential… But I have no relationship with my wife, and my daughters basically grew up without my involvement in their lives.” At this point the man broke down and began to weep openly. In a moment, he recovered enough to say, “Please don’t allow yourself to get so caught up in your work that you neglect you family… I would trade everything I have today to get back the time I missed with my family.” It was one of the most sobering experiences of my life.
