Confessions of a Church: Pride, Moore, West

 The Psalm writer wrote:  Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received.   This is the word of God.  It is eternally true and applicable for all of life. 

Proverbs 8: 12-21
I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And I find knowledge and discretion. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom; I am understanding, power is mine. “By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. “By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly. “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me. “Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness. “My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, And my yield better than choicest silver. “I walk in the way of righteousness, In the midst of the paths of justice, To endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.

Hidden in Christ Jesus are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and it is only by His grace that we have access to these precious commodities. It is His Grace, which takes a natural man, an enemy of God, incapable of understanding the things of the Spirit of God, and adopts him as a son who learns to hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverted mouth.

The last couple of weeks we have seen two examples of how pride and perverted speech play out in the life of Christians.

On one hand we have Kanye West. For at least a decade, Mr. West had been a peddler of vile, profane, wicked garbage. A rapper who enjoyed pushing the envelope of people's sensibilities and challenging their comfortable existence. He was a textbook case of a rebel at war with God. Then, over the course of the last couple of weeks and months, we find out that Kanye has been born again, that he has given his life to Christ, and though he obviously needs much discipleship, testimony from others around him, and some very early signs of fruit, suggest that his conversion story may be true. Where the pride comes in, is how many in Christendom have clicked away on their keyboards in an endless stream of speculation about whether Kanye is a legit Christian, or a fraud. How much pride does it take for someone who says they have indeed been saved by grace, to then so quickly, demand some type of extra-biblical proof of a man’s conversion? Imagine Philip demanding of the eunuch “I hear your profession, recognize your desire to be baptized, but gosh, you have to pass my litmus test first. Only then can I call you brother.”

Now, I’m not suggesting some lackadaisical approach as to what constitutes a genuine conversion, or some “walk an aisle” or “pray a little prayer” type of profession as being all that discerning Pastors and Elders must look for in a person's conversion. What I am saying is that 99.9999% of the people commenting online and in the media about Kanye’s conversion with skepticism, do not know the man. They have not spoken with him, his Pastor, his family, or his friends. They just know that while God’s grace was powerful enough to cover their sins, Kanye West is a bridge too far. It’s prideful, leads to perverted speech, such as gossip, and all of us are capable of it. We see a man claim Christ, and pride leads to potential slander and twisting of the truth, all in a mad rush to be the one who gets to say “Told you so” should Kanye turn out to not be a brother. Let us be charitable, and use discernment, all the while working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, rather than being a bunch of busybody fruit inspectors. Just as you and I must, Kanye must persevere to the end. Other immature, baby Christians you know must persevere to the end. Rather than hurling darts, which is the devils work, why not instead pray. Pray for a heart full of compassion for these men and women. Pray that they will be protected from the schemes of Satan.

Secondly, we have Beth Moore. A decades long perverter of God’s Word. She tramples the headship of her husband, ignores God’s Word in regards to male headship, all the while playing the role of Pastor/Preacher and Teacher of men, while denying that she does it. She does this while batting her eyes saying “Well I declare, you men are soooo mean. I feel this is my calling. Jesus talks to me and says ‘You go girl’”. Much of the evangelical world doesn’t even bat an eye, they just go along with the charade. With feminism running rampant in the Church, it’s no surprise. She is idolized by millions of women for her strength, her intellect, and her ability to lead her home. Rather than encouraging Mrs. Moore to go home, submit to her husband, love her children, and teach the younger women, many Christians say “Come on in”. The men who sit under her teaching are just as pathetic, as they are led along like oxen to the slaughter. I mention her, because as Christians, we love to store up our teachers. We like the persons style. We like their voice. We like the bible translation they use. They have the most epic beard and coordinate their flannel just right. We like how they lie to us and flatter us. We find a teacher that tickles our ears just right, and this opens up the door for us to compromise. A little feminism here, a little critical race theory there, and down the rabbit hole we go, content all the way down.

Both of these examples exist because Christians have chosen to love the world, which is enmity with God, rather than to hate evil.  Christians in their pride have taken to call evil good and good evil. In this nice little cushy world where everyone is scrambling to out love Jesus, we as Christians are called to hate. Hate evil. Hate pride. Hate arrogance. Hate the evil way. Hate perverted mouths.

James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says ‘God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble’.”

Psalm 97:10 says “Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Who preserves the souls of His Godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked”.

Psalm 119:104 “From Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way”.

Psalm 119:163 “I hate and despise falsehood, but I love Your Law”.

The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. Where has pride led you? Have the smooth words of perverted mouths led you into bondage? Has hardness of heart led you to look skeptically upon immature Christians, rather than praying for and coming alongside them?

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:13-17 NASB)
 
If you are able, let us kneel and pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Son, our Redeemer, and for His Spirit, our Helper, for we are weak, frail, and forgetful. We cannot save ourselves, cannot sustain ourselves, and cannot seem to remember that we are all in desperate need of your grace, yet as mere worms, we manage to become prideful. Many of us have been led onto paths of righteousness for Your Namesake, yet because of indwelt sin, still find the evil way to be enchanting at times. Please be merciful towards us sinners. Your Word tells us that the sheep hear the voice of the Shepherd, and know His voice. Because we do not believe that Christ can supply all our needs, we find ourselves with itching ears, longing to be tickled by deceivers, and liking it. Please lead us into all truth Father. Guard our hearts and minds from the schemes of Satan. Father, please show us Grace that we might hate evil, wherever we find it. Whether within our hearts, our homes, or in the world. Please forgive us of our sins against You. In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.

Listen now to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to all that believe:

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. - 1 Corinthians 1:30

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!
(From the 10-27-19 liturgy of Sovereign King Church. Written by Aaron Sabie.)