Recently, I received a rejection from a Christian literary agency I have been communicating with. While disappointed, I was more discouraged by their reason.
“I am not well-known enough;” I’m not great enough for publishers to publish me. They want somebody famous. I was reminded even Christian publishing is a “business.” Truth is money has become more important than the message.
The Pharisee turned Apostle, Paul, wrote you are saved from conformity (Romans 2:29). The gospel is showing others the love of God, not money or our dreams... or anything this world has to offer.
Jesus helps free us from the patterns of this world (Romans 12:2). I am called to fix my eyes on things above. Christianity is saying goodbye to the cares of this world (Matthew 6:24, James 4:4).
The world is focused on temporary things, it has a self-centered mindset, they want to hit the lotto.
Christianity was never meant to be a popularity contest. It’s a life-changing, soul saving, world changing phenomenon.
Christianity shows there’s true power in humility, in serving the greater cause. The church was never meant to be a business. It’s the family of God, a body working together to fulfill His purpose. Not much has changed in the 2000 years since God came back to earth to show us the way up.
Two Millennia?
When Jesus arrived 2000 years ago, the religious leaders of God’s people were divided: the Sadducees and Pharisees, the primary difference between the two was the Pharisees believed in an oral law in addition to the perfect written law.
The Pharisees were the good guys at first; they challenged the conservative legalism of their co-parts. As the Pharisees increased in their expertise of the law, they established schools to teach others their interpretations of the law, these synagogues became places of education and a place to show off what they knew.
The brighter the students, the further they advanced in their training with the Pharisees. The Pharisees developed a dress code of sorts to display their expertise. Their elaborate clothing made them easily identifiable from the common Jew. It’s easy to see how their pride blinded them.
They taught earthly greatness. Even their interpretation of the Messiah was misconstrued. No wonder they were in opposition to Jesus, despite the miracles He performed. He challenged their vision of greatness.
Once, when Jesus entered the temple in Jerusalem, He overturned the tables of the money changers who set up businesses selling sacrifices and exchanging currency for a fee. He accused them of turning God’s house into a den of thieves (Matthew 21:12). This happened not long after Jesus had warned His followers about the yeast of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6).
Yeast makes bread rise, I t makes bread look bigger than it really is. The Jews would understand this because bread without yeast was used in the very first Passover. Jesus taught less is greater in God’s kingdom. No matter how great we think we are, we need grace.
Contrary to this, both the world and the modern church teach more is better and God wants to bless you; get rich or die talking about it, do life big. Like the Pharisees we’ve mastered the art of looking godly and living worldly.
PHONIES?
Religious people are more worried about looking godly, than living godly. They forget God knows their hearts better than they do, He sees through their light show.
God has never tolerated phony devotion or superficial love (Isaiah 29:1; 13, Matthew 15:8-9). The late nonconformist minister Matthew Henry states, “To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of it the mouth will speak; but there are many whose religion is lip-labor only. When they pretend to be speaking to God, they are thinking of a thousand foolish things.”
We are only night lights when we wave the Bible in the air instead of living it. You can’t write your story if God is the author.
When I was little my mother used to say, “God knows your heart.” Now that I’m older those words scare me, because I know how wicked my heart is. Our love for God is fictional, if our lives don’t illustrate the words we speak. Let it be love for others that motivates us not money or greatness. God wants to transform our hearts and let His love fall afresh on the Earth.
Last month we celebrated God’s return to the earth on that oh holy night. But, if we’re not careful we’ll miss the message God was showing us in the baby Jesus—He is with us. Humility is the humanizing trait of God, not strength and power. If we miss this, we are just 21st century Pharisees.
“I am not well-known enough;” I’m not great enough for publishers to publish me. They want somebody famous. I was reminded even Christian publishing is a “business.” Truth is money has become more important than the message.
The Pharisee turned Apostle, Paul, wrote you are saved from conformity (Romans 2:29). The gospel is showing others the love of God, not money or our dreams... or anything this world has to offer.
Jesus helps free us from the patterns of this world (Romans 12:2). I am called to fix my eyes on things above. Christianity is saying goodbye to the cares of this world (Matthew 6:24, James 4:4).
The world is focused on temporary things, it has a self-centered mindset, they want to hit the lotto.
Christianity was never meant to be a popularity contest. It’s a life-changing, soul saving, world changing phenomenon.
Christianity shows there’s true power in humility, in serving the greater cause. The church was never meant to be a business. It’s the family of God, a body working together to fulfill His purpose. Not much has changed in the 2000 years since God came back to earth to show us the way up.
Two Millennia?
When Jesus arrived 2000 years ago, the religious leaders of God’s people were divided: the Sadducees and Pharisees, the primary difference between the two was the Pharisees believed in an oral law in addition to the perfect written law.
The Pharisees were the good guys at first; they challenged the conservative legalism of their co-parts. As the Pharisees increased in their expertise of the law, they established schools to teach others their interpretations of the law, these synagogues became places of education and a place to show off what they knew.
The brighter the students, the further they advanced in their training with the Pharisees. The Pharisees developed a dress code of sorts to display their expertise. Their elaborate clothing made them easily identifiable from the common Jew. It’s easy to see how their pride blinded them.
They taught earthly greatness. Even their interpretation of the Messiah was misconstrued. No wonder they were in opposition to Jesus, despite the miracles He performed. He challenged their vision of greatness.
Once, when Jesus entered the temple in Jerusalem, He overturned the tables of the money changers who set up businesses selling sacrifices and exchanging currency for a fee. He accused them of turning God’s house into a den of thieves (Matthew 21:12). This happened not long after Jesus had warned His followers about the yeast of the Pharisees (Matthew 16:6).
Yeast makes bread rise, I t makes bread look bigger than it really is. The Jews would understand this because bread without yeast was used in the very first Passover. Jesus taught less is greater in God’s kingdom. No matter how great we think we are, we need grace.
Contrary to this, both the world and the modern church teach more is better and God wants to bless you; get rich or die talking about it, do life big. Like the Pharisees we’ve mastered the art of looking godly and living worldly.
PHONIES?
Religious people are more worried about looking godly, than living godly. They forget God knows their hearts better than they do, He sees through their light show.
God has never tolerated phony devotion or superficial love (Isaiah 29:1; 13, Matthew 15:8-9). The late nonconformist minister Matthew Henry states, “To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of it the mouth will speak; but there are many whose religion is lip-labor only. When they pretend to be speaking to God, they are thinking of a thousand foolish things.”
We are only night lights when we wave the Bible in the air instead of living it. You can’t write your story if God is the author.
When I was little my mother used to say, “God knows your heart.” Now that I’m older those words scare me, because I know how wicked my heart is. Our love for God is fictional, if our lives don’t illustrate the words we speak. Let it be love for others that motivates us not money or greatness. God wants to transform our hearts and let His love fall afresh on the Earth.
Last month we celebrated God’s return to the earth on that oh holy night. But, if we’re not careful we’ll miss the message God was showing us in the baby Jesus—He is with us. Humility is the humanizing trait of God, not strength and power. If we miss this, we are just 21st century Pharisees.
