But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

- 2 Corinthians 12:9

I'm not sure I can articulate what I'm trying to say here (now there's a surprise! . . . oh wait . . . ), and thus the fewer words the better:

The iMonk linked to another brother's confessional (may not be the right word) post about his use of anti-depressants. This is an interesting, thought-provoking, and sometimes heart-wrenching topic, especially if you have experienced depression among family members, or in your own life.

The question the brother asks is "Is Jesus enough?" The comments thread has been full of grace, and that's so refreshing. But it got me wondering. Is "Jesus is enough" a Biblical thought?

Wait, don't go away. Let me explain. I mean, of course we know that Christ is our all-sufficient Savior. But have you ever known anyone who truly needed nothing else but Jesus? In other words, no food, water, clothing, shelter, medicine, etc.

I'm not trying to be hyperbolic here. But when we say "Jesus is enough", what do we mean? Do we mean that we currently need nothing else? If you say that, do you live that way? Is it wrong to have other needs?

Did anyone in the Bible ever say "Jesus is enough"? And here I am asking a genuine question. There may be a time when someone said that. But as I begin thinking through this, I begin wondering if that's really a Biblical statement.

What Paul said (or rather what God said to Paul) was that God's grace is sufficient. When we say (or sometimes even sing) "Jesus is enough", it almost seems that what we're saying is that we need nothing else, and any material, family, or emotional blessing here on earth is superfluous and somehow unnecessary.

And, on a more cynical note, "Jesus is enough" dances closely to what I call "brag worship". In this I lump all those songs we sing about how much we love God, how we would run for a thousand years to be closer to Him, how He is all we need and every breath that we breathe is for Him.

Do you see the difference in focus between "Jesus is all I need" and "His grace is sufficient"?

I like "His grace is sufficient" more as a Biblical statement of our dependence on Jesus. Grace works in every aspect of our lives, through the material, familial, emotional, spiritual . . . God's grace invades the air we breathe and the roads we walk, and it is there in our good times, in our bad times, in the times when we are full and overflowing, and in the times when we are desperately needy for a smile, a listening ear, a meal, a bath, some joy, a friend, money for the rent, a laugh, a cry, some fun, a light in the darkness, some deep thought, a good book, a good word.

I don't know if I can honestly say "Jesus is enough", because I'm not even sure I know what that means, and I certainly don't think I live that way. Jesus is my Savior, without him I am nothing, but with him I can live in the grace that he has given me, abundantly and without measure, enjoying and needing and growing and striving and alive in him.

His grace is sufficient.

I hope this made some sense. Feel free to offer any correction on this thought in the comments section.

It's not often that I post anything theological when the subject is something as difficult to understand as some of Christ's words in Matthew 5. Well, tonight I wrote three posts on the subject, as I prepare to teach Matthew 5:17-48 in the GAP class tomorrow.

I highly covet any expansion, correction, and enlightenment any of you can offer on what I have written in these three posts. And not just before tomorrow, but anytime.

What's a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 1

What's a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 2

What's a Christian to do with the Old Testament law? Part 3 (the Law of Christ)

Thanks.

The title of this post might catch you up short. No - I'm not saying that honesty isn't important. I'm also not saying that it isn't a command of God.

What I'm saying is that honesty, defined as full transparency, with every inward struggle and angst worn sleeve-ward, is not the highest virtue.

I got to thinking about this as I surfed through the blogosphere one day, reading people's feelings about this and that, and feeling like I was being sucked into a vortex of negativity. Now, negativity is something I can generally brush off like the black snowflake it often is, but when it's in the church (did I mention i was surfing the God-blogosphere?) it tends to have barbs on it.

What interested me in particular were the accolades being passed through linkage to these "fearless, honest" (but extremely negative) bloggers. Not only did I have to wonder at just how much bravery it takes, really, to press the "Publish" button, but I also wondered if it really does much good to splash one's darkest musings on the walls of cyberspace.

Then I began thinking about Mother Theresa.

And a post was born . . .

I'm a bit late to the Mother Theresa discussion, but you may have read of the recent disclosure that, based upon her private letters, it appears that she endured a decades-long dark night of the soul, and was troubled by doubts about God and his seeming absence in her life.

But Mother Theresa was born into a different generation; a generation that knew that life was hard and knew what duty was and understood the flitting nature of feelings and emotions.

And that's what amazes me. In the midst of all that she was going through internally, Mother Theresa obeyed what she understood God's call to be in her life, and she went to and served the least of these in a place that placed a crushing weight of tragedy, disease, and poverty upon her and the sisters of mercy that worked with her. She obeyed even when she didn't feel the joy of salvation or the presence of God. And she sustained this obedience through decades of service.

In a strictly legalistic sense, she wasn't very honest about how she was feeling. At least not publicly.

And in hiding her inner thoughts and, indeed, denying herself in that area she was able to continue the work Jesus had given her to do.

Perhaps she realized that the way we feel, right now, is rarely reality, and that the dimness of the glass that we look through has not diminished in the least the light of glory that awaits on the other side for those who persevere. And, through her suffering, perhaps she realized that it really wasn't, in the final analysis, about her.

God bless her. And may I grow to be half so wise.

I've got lots of post ideas. I just haven't found the time (or the guts, frankly) to post them. But here are some thoughts and links while I while away my lunch hour.

Remember the old cliche' "it's better to light a candle than curse the darkness"? My candle is not that bright and I feel sometimes that I'm walking through the inky-black darkness of the blogosphere holding aloft one of those little sparklers you find on a cupcake. But, doggone it, I'm going to grit my teeth and continue to do so. Yes, we need our Jeremiah's, our weeping prophets. And, of course, all is not well, in our country or in our churches.

But sometimes I think people can't see the light of hope for the darkness they've chosen to focus on.

Maybe I'm wrong. But, for those of us living in the western world at least, we live in an age of unparalleled material blessing and freedom. Even our poorest are rich by history's standards. And, if that wasn't un-PC enough to say, though the church in America is badly in need of reform, discipline, and a re-focusing, it is also full of some very, very fine Christians and some brave, stalwart pastors and leaders. And many churches are holding onto the truth, while simultaneously doing honorable work among our poor and dispossessed.

Am I whistling through a graveyard? The Bride is beautiful. And much maligned, even by those who are part of her.

There's a balance to be achieved. I'm not speaking against Godly criticism of our church culture. I have recommended (and heck, I will again) Gospel-Driven Church as an example of how to do this right. The Internet Monk is also a site I highly recommend, though he is no stranger to dark nights of the soul and confessional blogging (and getting mercilessly slammed for both). Yet he tenaciously holds on to the truth, to orthodoxy, and hope.

So I'm reading this passage in a new way today. Do you see it too?:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

- Romans 8:31-39

Also, apropos of (almost) nothing, check out this quote by J.D. Hatfield:

The New Testament is centered on Christ, and its exhortations on the holiness of believers. This is not a simple call to obedience, but to holiness. Holiness is not righteousness, righteousness flows from holiness. Holiness isn’t simply obedience; it is being set apart for God and depending on God by drawing your boundaries, as God would have them. Obedience flows from holiness, and holiness is cultivated by a right understanding of God and what He has done for us in Christ. To understand Christ more fully is to be made more holy in practice.

That's something for me to chew on, definitely (HT Transforming Sermons).

Finally, from the aforementioned Gospel-Driven Church, It's Not About Programming; It's About Culture. The final few paragraphs are below:

It is wearying trying to sell our churches on the notion that what they've been selling for so long doesn't work. It is difficult suggesting that the service-centered approach to reaching the lost has failed. It is a delicate thing to suggest that we have not exalted Christ and we have not glorified God and therefore we haven't really served the people we've claimed to.

And yet for some of us inside this culture, slogging away at discipling the culture into a more vital discipleship, it is incumbent upon us to, in our hearts and minds, say "Here we stand. We can do no other."

I rather like that, and I'm inspired by efforts to change the church that flow from sincere love and concern for the Bride and devotion to her Lord.

So I'm going to hold my candle aloft. And you can blow it out, but it's the frustrating kind that bursts back into flame without having to be relit [Bill makes his "booyah" face].

And I'm also going to attempt to start policing what I read on the Blogosphere and who I link to in my Bloogroll.

It's either that or Prozac . . .