God’s People Always Have a Song

In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life. (John 3: 14-15, The Message)

Over a week ago, we arrived at the summer camp where me met to pick up our two sons; one of whom had been working there for 17 weeks, the other who was there just over 13 weeks. I love Christian camping and its mammoth potential in the life of a child or teen. If you are one of the ‘givers’ and you’re looking to invest in ministry for maximum lasting impact, I encourage you to seek out an interdenominational camping ministry — they’re the ones that don’t have a source of automatic funding — and ask what their current capital needs are.

Anyway, the staff were having a wrap-up lunch, and even though I hadn’t been there, I got the same lump in my throat that I would have gotten having spent the 13 or 17 weeks there myself. I looked at one young man who was fighting back some tears and I just about lost it.

The staff watched a slide presentation that included four of the songs they had come to love over the summer, one of which clearly engaged them more than the rest, Let it Be Known by Worship Central. It’s not just that the song has a catchy rhythm and physical actions. I believe that God always has a song; that a song gets raised up in every time and place and season.

Let it be known
That our God saves
Our God reigns
We lift You up up
Let it be known
That love has come
Love has won
We lift You up up up oh

Some of the staff are returning to school, others to jobs, others to an uncertain fall season. Some will go back to Christian homes where they’ll be taken to churches on Sunday that sing the same songs; others to non-Christian families that beg the question, “How can we sing the songs of the Lord in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137).

But on that day, in that dining hall, the power of their corporate worship and the sheer volume the soundtrack pumping through the speakers, would empower any of them to say, “With God, nothing is impossible.” (Luke 1:37)

Come on let’s turn it up
We’re gonna sing it out
For all the world to hear…

…Nothing can stop us now
No one can keep us down
We’ve found our voice again…

…No need for fear and shame
There’s power in His name
Come on let freedom reign…

My prayer for them would be that after the energy has faded and they are back home — perhaps with other Christian friends, or perhaps feeling very alone — the power of the Holy Spirit would continue to be as strong in their lives.

God has new songs he is waiting to birth in the hearts of people in different locations, situations and junctures of personal and corporate ministry. Perhaps one of the young people in that dining hall will write one of them.  In the meantime, turn it up loud — really loud — and make their end-of-summer anthem yours as well:

The Essence of the Gospel

In certain circles it has become, if nothing else, fashionable to discuss the question, “What is the Gospel?” to the point where I am beginning to think that non-believers will simply know it when they hear it.   I just worry that sometimes we over-analyze something we should simply be living.

That dismissiveness aside,Tullian Tchividjian has been busy on Twitter compiling short statements expressing various aspects of the gospel.  Apparently, the gospel can’t be contained in a single statement.   Blogger Barry Simmons assembled a couple of lists at his blog The Journeyman’s Files both here and here.   I linked to it today at Thinking Out Loud, but thought we’d spell out a few of the statements here for C201 readers…

• The gospel reminds us that we become more mature when we focus less on what we need to do for God and more on all God has already done for us.
• The gospel tells me my identity and security is in Christ–this frees me to give everything I have because in Christ I have everything I need
• The gospel tells us we don’t need to spend our lives earning the approval of others because Jesus has already earned God’s approval for us
• When you understand that your significance and identity is anchored in Christ, you don’t have to win—you’re free to lose
• Christian growth doesn’t happen by working hard to get something you don’t have. It happens by working hard to live in light of what you do have
• The world says that the bigger we become, the freer we will be. But the gospel tells us that the smaller we become, the freer we will be.
• The gospel explains success in terms of giving, not taking; self-sacrifice, not self-indulgence; going to the back, not getting to the front
• The gospel empowers us to live for what’s timeless, not trendy–to follow Jesus even when it means going against what’s fashionable
• Because of Christ’s finished work, sinners can have the approval, acceptance, security, freedom, love, righteousness, & rescue they long for
• The only antidote there has ever been to sin is the gospel—and since we never leave off sinning, we can never leave the gospel.
• Because of Christ’s propitiatory work on my behalf I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, praise or popularity.
• The vertical indicative (what God’s done for me) always precedes horizontal imperative (how I’m to live in light of what God’s done for me)
• When you are united to Christ, no amount of good work can earn God’s favor and no amount of bad work can forfeit God’s favor
• Jesus came not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery to lesser things so we might become truly free
• The irony of the gospel is that we truly perform better when we focus less on our performance for Jesus and more on Jesus’ performance for us
• The gospel tells us that what God has done for us in Christ is infinitely more important than anything we do for him.
• Isn’t it ironic that while God’s treatment of us depends on Christ’s performance, our treatment of others depends on their performance?
• We need God’s gospel rescue every day and in every way because we are, in the words of John Calvin, “partly unbelievers until we die.”
• Daily sin requires a daily distribution of God’s grace
• The hard work of sanctification is the hard work of constantly reorienting ourselves back to our justification.
• Grace can be defined as unconditional acceptance granted to an undeserving person by an unobligated giver.
• The law tells us what God demands from us; the gospel tells us what God in Christ has done for us because we could not meet his demands.
• Paul never uses the law as a way to motivate obedience; He always uses the gospel.
• When you understand God’s grace, pain leads to freedom because deep suffering leads to deep surrender!
• When we depend on things smaller than Jesus to provide us with the security and meaning we long for, God will love us enough to take them away.
• The gospel is the good news that God rescues sinners. And since both non-Christians & Christians are sinners, we both need the gospel.
• The gospel grants Christians one strength over non-Christians: the strength to admit they’re weak.
• The gospel isn’t just the power of God to save us, it’s the power of God to grow us once we’re saved.
• When we transfer trust from ourselves to Christ, we experience the abundant freedoms that come from not having to measure up.
• The gospel makes wise those who know they’re foolish and makes fools out of those who think they’re wise.
• It never ceases to amaze me that God’s love to those who are in Christ isn’t conditioned on how we behave but on how Christ behaved for us.
• In the gospel, God comes after us because we need him not because he needs us. Only the gospel can free us to revel in our insignificance.
• Mt. Sinai says, “You must do.” Mt. Calvary says, “Because you couldn’t, Jesus did.” Don’t run to the wrong mountain for your hiding place.

Remember these is only about half the list; click on both of the above links to get the full list; and thank-you Barry for compiling this.