I don’t know of anyone who LIKES to take tests. In fact, some people have a mental disorder that makes them very afraid of test taking. It’s called “testophobia” — no kidding. People who suffer with it get so afraid that they freeze up as soon as the test is passed out. Perhaps you know someone who just does not do well on tests. They know the material but when exam time comes they freeze up. They probably suffer from “testophobia.”
This week I came across some impossible test questions that are sure to strike fear into the heart of any test taker—even those who DON’T have this phobia. They are taken from real exams down through the years. As I share them see if they don’t make you remember some test fears of your own. The first is from the final exam for a history class—an exam that included this question:
- “Describe the history of the papacy from its origins to present day, concentrating on its social, political, economic, religious,and philosophical impact on Europe, Asia, America, and Africa. Be concise, specific, and BRIEF.”
I’m thinking that even if you knew enough to be concise and specific—how could you possibly be BRIEF in answering THAT question?!
Here’s another one. I think it is either from an astronomy class—or a philosophy class:
- “Define the universe. Give three examples.”
What does that even mean?
In my experience taking exams, there were lots of times when I came across test questions that seemed simple on the surface, but I discovered they were often not simple at all.
For instance, the answer to the question, “How long did the Hundred Years War last?” seems obvious, but the correct answer is 116 years.
When a test asks, “Which country manufactures Panama hats?” the answer is Ecuador.
The answer to the question: “Which state makes Louisville Slugger baseball bats?” is Ohio.
If you come across this question: “From what animal do we get cat gut?” The answer is sheep and horses.
“In what month do Russians celebrate the October revolution?” November.
“What was King George IV’s first name?” It was Albert.
I don’t know about you but test questions like these make us glad to be out of school—far away from trick questions thought up in some teacher’s lounge. But the sad fact is—as far as we try to get away from the rigors of academics, we still find our lives filled with OTHER kinds of tests. Think about it. We take drivers’ tests, drug tests, polygraph tests, eye tests, and personality tests. People in law enforcement have to take a test to qualify on the shooting range at least four times a year. Doctors are always having to take tests to make sure they keep up with things. In fact, most of you have to take a test in your chosen profession from time to time. Like it or not tests are a part of life.
I bring this up because in our text for this morning John shares two tests to determine if we are on the right track spiritually—tests that show whether or not we really know God personally—tests that indicate if we are indeed Christians—bound for Heaven. And this is something we must deal with because as David Allen puts it, “Trying to live the Christian life while lacking the assurance that you are truly a Christian is like driving a car with the brakes on.”
Okay—with all this in mind, take your Bibles and turn to 1st John 2. Follow along as I read verses 3-11 and as I do note the tests that John mentions.
3 – We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands.
4 – Whoever says, “I know Him,”but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
5 – But if anyone obeys His Word,love for God is truly made complete in them.This is how we know we are in Him:
6 – Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.
7 – Dear friends,I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.This old command is the message you have heard.
8 – Yet I am writing you a new command;its truth is seen in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9 – Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
10 – Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light,and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
11 – But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
If you are our guest this morning you should know that we have just begun a series on 1st John. Bobby’s message last week was the second installment in our three-month study. And, as we continue to focus on this little book, I want to issue a CHALLENGE. I challenge you to read the entire 1st epistle of John every day. It will only take you about 15 minutes—but I promise it will bless your day—and will help you keep our weekly studies in context. Plus—if you keep this challenge—by the time we finish this series you will pretty much have every word of 1st John committed to memory. Do I have any takers? Can I see a show of hands? Great! Now—as we begin our third installment in this study let’s remind ourselves of the background of John’s writing. As I said a few weeks back, John was writing to confront false teachers in the churches of his day—people who were saying that only the spiritually elite—only those with secret knowledge—only those “in the know”—can know they were going to Heaven. The rest of us “ignorant people” don’t know—can’t know—we can’t have the assurance of where we will spend eternity.
And this way of thinking has not died out. Even today many religious groups—some of them Christian—are similar to these 1st century false teachers because they say you can never really know for sure where your eternal destiny lies. You just have to wait to die and then you’ll find out. Well, John says that kind of thinking is not correct. He says that ANYONE can know they are going to Heaven. Later in his little epistle he says as much. I’m quoting 1st John 5:13: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.” This makes me think of something Charlie Brinkman told the people who came to the ROC last week when he shared the weekly devotional. Charlie said, “I have some bad news and I have some good news. The bad news is I have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. The good news is I KNOW where I’m going.” Charlie is right to embrace this comforting conviction. We can KNOW! As Christians we can have ABSOLUTE assurance of where we will go when this life ends. Well, how? How can you KNOW SO? As I said, John writes to help us know HOW we can know by citing two tests. If we “answer correctly” with our lives—we can have this assurance.
(1) The first is an ETHICAL test.
Look at verses 3 and 4 again. John says, “We know that we have come to know Him, IF WE KEEP HIS COMMANDS. Whoever says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.”Basically John is saying, “The best proof of your being a Christian is that you stop sinning. If you call yourself a Christian, then you have to start living like one.” So, to pass this first test we must live a life where our behavior is based on obedience to God’s commands. His law is our moral base. His Word is our ethical compass in life.
This week I read a sermon on this text by Bryan Wilkerson and he reminded me that Christianity Today had an interesting article a few years back. It was the cover story and was entitled, Hipster Faith: What Happens When Cool Meets Christ? The article explored a movement among younger believers who wanted to shed some of the trappings of mainstream, baby-boomer Christianity: things like bumper stickers, mega-churches, right-wing politics—stuff like that. These younger believers wanted a more gritty, relevant, justice-oriented faith—so they met in night clubs; their pastors cussed in the pulpit; and they canceled worship services once a month so they could go out and serve the poor.
As Wilkerson points out—on one hand, there’s something APPEALING about that. Wouldn’t you agree? I mean, these “hipster churches” were exposing the shallowness and hypocrisy of many in their parent’s generation, older believers who built bigger houses and better churches all the while neglecting the poor, and turning the Gospel into a commodity. At the same time, though, there’s something DISTURBING about this movement. You see, this new breed of Christian seem to think that as long as they’re doing social justice and unplugged, authentic worship, then things like drinking, swearing—obedience to God’s laws isn’t really a big deal. Well, I think John would have problems with both BOOMER Christians and HIPSTER faith because you can’t separate the spiritual from the material or belief from behavior. Obeying God is as much about sexual purity as it is about social justice. It’s about what we do with our bodies—not just what we do for our souls.
Remember, as I told you when we started this series, another thing the false teachers of John’s day said was that only the spirit was pure. And the flesh—matter—was evil. So, in their opinion, it didn’t matter what you did with the physical. You could sin all you want with your bodies. Since they were already impure—you could forget God’s laws on morality. Live it up! John disputes that kind of thinking then and now. He says if you want to know if somebody’s a real Christian, don’t just ask them what they believe. In addition to this look at how they live. He says REAL Christians show their love for God by obeying His laws.
In fact, John says, if someone claims to be a Christian, but they don’t do what God says, then they’re a LIAR. Their life is a DISHONEST one. Now—that sounds pretty harsh! We don’t let our kids use that word! Calling someone a liar is serious business, but that’s how serious John is about Christian ethics. That’s how serious he is about obeying God’s commands. And, unfortunately, those who embrace a “hipster faith” are not the only ones who are failing this first test. A lot of Christians aren’t making the grade. You’ve probably heard about the disturbing Barna poll that was taken back in 2007, comparing the behavior of so-called “born-again Christians” with the rest of the population. These were people who said they had accepted Christ as their Savior and believed the Bible was God’s Word. That survey found that in a 30-day period, these self-identified Christians were nearly as likely as anyone else to gamble, to visit a pornographic website, to take something that didn’t belong to them, to physically fight or abuse someone, to drink too much, to use an illegal drug, to have said something that wasn’t true, to have gotten back at someone for something they did, and to have said mean things behind someone’s back. Clearly there is a gap between the belief and behavior of many people who call themselves “Christians.” There is a lot of LYING going on.
Now—don’t misunderstand me. John isn’t saying that a real Christian NEVER sins. In the text Bobby covered last week he reminded us that John said as much. Remember? In 1st John 1:8 it says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
No—John is talking about HABITUAL behavior. He’s saying that an authentic Christians will not GO ON sinning. John’s not expecting PERFECTION. But he IS expecting PROGRESS. As we go on with God, as we go deeper in our faith, it will show up not only in our maturing beliefs, but in our daily behavior. Our walk will match our talk. We won’t just take notes on Sunday; we’ll live differently on Monday. We won’t just bask in God’s presence in morning devotions; we’ll do the right thing at work that afternoon.
Now, at this point I’d like to borrow an idea from Wilkerson and try a simple drawing. When we try to diagram a person’s spiritual journey, we usually draw a horizontal line across the page—a line like this. On one end we might write, “No God.” A person on this end has no faith at all. On the other end we might write, “Know God.” The person on this end has a fully-formed faith and a personal relationship with God. And we would hope that a person would make progress along this line, moving from one end to the other—left to right. At a certain point they come to believe in God, maybe, but they’re still not sure about Jesus. Eventually they come to a decision point, here in the center, and they believe Jesus is God’s Son and they decide to accept Him as their personal Savior and Lord. They invite Jesus to come into their heart and life. We sometimes call that “crossing the line.” At that point, we consider that person to be a
Christian. But they still have a long way to go, don’t they? They have a lot to learn about God and His ways before they fully KNOW God. So they continue to grow in their faith—studying the Bible, worshiping every Sunday, etc. You could say this line represents a DOCTRINAL journey where their beliefs—eventually lead them to a relationship with God through faith in Jesus—a relationship that grows.
But according to John, to fully understand authentic Christianity we have to draw ANOTHER line, this one going up and down. If the horizontal line is the DOCTRINAL axis, then this vertical one is the ETHICAL axis. At the bottom of this line we can put the word “Sinful,” and at the top we might put the word “Holy.” A person at the bottom of the line continuously breaks God’s laws and does whatever he or she chooses. A person at the top of the line is fully conformed to the image of Christ. And—in the same way a person needs to travel across the doctrinal axis—growing in her knowledge of God and His Word—he or she also needs to be traveling UP the ethical axis—becoming more like Christ in his or her character and conduct.
Let’s consider one example. Jesus reminds us in the Sermon on the Mount that God’s law says, “Do not commit adultery.” So we could put “Adultery” down here on the ethical line. I mean a habitual adulterer isn’t likely to be a real Christian. But then Jesus says, “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” So if this line represents SEXUAL ethics, then there are a VARIETY of sins along this line. If you’re unfaithful to your spouse, it probably goes down here at the bottom. If you’re sexually intimate before marriage, it might fall here, a little higher up. If you’re looking lustfully at a woman it might be here. It’s hard to say when a person crosses the line from non-Christian behavior to Christian behavior, but it certainly requires movement upward toward obedience…movement toward holiness, wouldn’t you agree?
Now, according to John’s way of thinking, where on that grid would you find a REAL Christian? Here, in the upper right quadrant, right? They’ve come to believe in Christ as Savior and Lord, and they have started resembling Christ in their character and conduct. Where would you find a non-Christian on this grid? Down here, in the lower left quadrant, right? Neither their belief nor their behavior gives any indication they are Christians. What would you say about people in these other two quadrants? Is a person a real Christian if they live like a Christian is supposed to live, but haven’t accepted Christ as Savior? (upper left) That person is not a Christian. They don’t KNOW God. How about a person who claims to believe in Christ, but his behavior gives no indication that he is actually following Christ? (lower right) If we’re going to be consistent, we probably need to say “no” here as well or at least put a question mark. According to John, a real Christian is located somewhere in this quadrant (upper right). It doesn’t matter WHERE in the quadrant, exactly. What’s more important than where they are is the DIRECTION they are moving in. Real Christians are moving up and to the right.
I don’t know about you, but I found that diagram very helpful. It clarifies the connection between belief and behavior. It reminds me that as a Christian I must pursue growth in both directions—that becoming a Christian isn’t just about information, it’s about transformation. It’s not just knowing more about Christ…it’s also KNOWING Him and becoming more like Him through that relationship.
Now, Wilkerson shares a couple of cautions here about this diagram. First, only God knows where a person is on this grid. You cannot capture the mystery of salvation on a flip chart. Only God knows when a person crosses the line of belief or behavior. It may not always be evident to us. Second, this test is meant to be used to evaluate yourself, not others. John didn’t write this letter so his readers could point fingers and pass judgment on others. He wrote it so they would know whether or not they were really a Christian, and how they could experience a deeper walk with Christ. Ok—don’t answer—but how did you do on this first test? Which quadrant are you in?
Before we move on to the second test I need to say one thing. We can’t pass this ethical test—we can’t obey God—on our own strength. We need Jesus IN US, empowering us to say “no” to sin and “yes” to God. In verses 5 and 6 John is saying, “The only way to live as Jesus lived is for Him to live IN YOU.” It is not by means of imitation that we walk as Jesus walked. No, it is through INCARNATION: through His indwelling Spirit. Let me put it this way. It’s not imitation—it’s HABITATION. It’s not just following Christ. It’s letting Christ live in you, possess you, empower you.
Frank Laubach was born in 1884 and became a missionary to the illiterate, teaching them to read so they could know the Scriptures. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. When he was 45 he became dissatisfied with his spiritual life and resolved to live “…in continuous inner conversation with God and in perfect responsiveness to His will.” He said, “Can we do God’s will all the time? Can we think His thoughts all the time? I choose to make the rest of my life an experiment in answering this question.” And Laubach was good to his word. The rest of his life was his constant attempt to obey God 24-7. But in his journals Laubach confessed that he failed repeatedly. He’d make it for an hour or half a day but then he would slip back into his old ways.
Early on in his experiment Laubach learned that we can’t OBEY GOD on our own. We need His help. We need to learn to rely on His power in us. He learned that as Paul says Philippians 2:13, “It is God WHO WORKS IN YOU to will and to act according to His good purpose” and in Colossians 1:27: “It is CHRIST IN YOU the hope of glory.”
So the first test is an ethical test. To pass it we need God’s help.
(2) The second test John mentions is a RELATIONAL test.
Look at verse 9. John says, “Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sisteris still in the darkness.” John is saying we can’t claim to love GOD if we don’t obey this command and love OTHERS.
This is a hard one because we live in a culture of hatred. Whether it’s in the political arena or in families or in the workplace or in churches, the sad fact is there is a lot of hating going on. Some of you may be thinking, “Well, that may be true about others but it’s not true about me.” You think you can skip this test because in your opinion you’ve already passed it—you don’t really have a problem with hate. But John would issue a word of caution and say there is no middle ground. We either align ourselves with God by loving others or we hate them by default. I mean, to act indifferently toward someone, to turn the other way when you see them coming, to behave like they don’t matter—that’s the same thing as hating them. Just as light and darkness are mutually exclusive we either hate or we love. There is no in-between.
John warns that part of the problem is that like darkness, hatred toward others can blind us. This week I read the story of a man named Michael Zwick, who lives in a Chicago suburb. His neighbor put up a new fence that Zwick decided he didn’t like. He had his reasons for not liking it, but the neighbor had not broken any kind of zoning regulation. She did ask him, however, not to put his recycling bins on the public parkway in front of her house because they were killing the grass. He continued to put his bins there, and began to blow leaves back onto her property, let weeds in his yard grow a foot high, and he aimed a fake security camera at her yard. She didn’t know it was fake and so she bought new shades and draperies for her windows to regain her privacy. The city finally ruled against Zwick, telling him not to put his recycling bins in front of his neighbor’s home. He defied the ordinance and continued to put them there. He was given more than 10 citations, and paid over $1000 in fines—all over a fence and some recycling bins. He didn’t like the fence because it created a dark area behind his garage where he was afraid teenagers who were up to no good might hang out. For $50 he could have installed a motion detecting light. Instead, he threw away more than a thousand dollars, and still refused to budge. This is an extreme example, but do you see how hatred clouds your vision? Do you see how it distorts your priorities? Do you see how it brings darkness into your life?
I don’t know if Mr. Zwick is a religious man, but I have known people in churches like him—people who seem religious because they speak the right jargon, but they don’t really walk as Jesus walked. They don’t love others and John makes it clear: if you hate your brother, you flunk the test.
Now—just like the first test—we can’t pass this second one on our own strength. We need Jesus IN US, empowering us to love as He loves.
I suppose I am like many pastors in that this spring I am immersed in weddings. In fact, I have three weddings three weekends in a row.I wasn’t here last weekend because I performed my niece’s wedding in Delaware. I had another wedding down in DC yesterday and a third this coming weekend.So—my mind has been on wedding homilies a lot as of late.Perhaps this is why I remembered one as I prepared for this message—a homily on 1st Corinthians 13—the “Love Chapter.” I’ve used that text in a lot of weddings, and when I do, I always tell the Bride and Groom that it describes a PERFECT love—the kind of love you only see coming from God.
You remember those words. Well, have you ever known a human being who is ALWAYS patient, ALWAYS kind, NEVER envies, and is NEVER rude or self-seeking? I haven’t and that’s because this love chapter sets a standard no human being could ever meet—ON THEIR OWN. In fact the only way I think this wedding homily text makes sense is to put Jesus’ name in place of the word “love” and say,“Jesus is patient. Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy. He does not boast. He is not proud. He is not rude. He is not self-seeking. He is not easily angered. He keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Jesus always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Jesus never fails.”
Do you see what I mean? Jesus always loves with this caliber of love doesn’t He!
I share this to point out that the only way we can pass this second test—the only way we can obey this command and TRULY love others—is to let Jesus love them through us. I think this is what Paul is talking about In Ephesians 3:17 when he encourages us to let our, “…roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.” You see, in the same way that a tree draws nutrients from the soil, we draw can nourishment from God. And that nourishment is what enables us to love one another with a Godly love—the kind of love that 1st Corinthians 13 describes—the kind of love John is talking about in our text. Listen—the ability to GENUINELY love each other is not within us. We need an outside power source to do this and that source is God.
The wonderful thing is that when we allow God to empower us to love in this way—not only do we pass this second test—not only to we prove to ourselves that we KNOW GOD—we show OTHERS that we KNOW HIM. And that makes them want to know Him too.
In his sermon titled “Think Hard, Stay Humble,” Francis Chan told the following story about a man named Vaughn who radiated the love of Christ to everyone around him. In his sermon Chan said: “A few years ago, a missionary came to our church and told a beautiful story about sharing the gospel with a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. At the end of the story this missionary said, ‘I should really give the credit to Vaughn, my former youth pastor who loved me and inspired me to live for Christ and share the gospel with others.’ The next week another guy came to our church and he challenged us to start sponsoring kids living in poverty. The second speaker also concluded by saying, ‘I’m involved in this ministry because of my youth pastor, a guy named Vaughn.’ I found out those guys were from the same youth group! Then the next week another speaker named Dan told us about his ministry at a rescue mission in the inner city of L.A. After Dan’s talk, I casually mentioned, ‘It was so weird: the last two weeks both of our speakers mentioned how much impact their youth pastor, Vaughn, had on them.’
Dan looked surprised and then he told me, ‘I know Vaughn. He’s a pastor in San Diego now, and he takes people into the dumps in Tijuana where kids are picking through the garbage. In fact, I was just with Vaughn in Tijuana. We would walk in the city, and these kids would run up to him, and he would show such deep love and affection for them. He’d hug them and have gifts and food for them. He’d figure out how to get them showers and clothing. Francis, it was eerie: the whole time I was walking with Vaughn, I kept thinking, “If Jesus was on earth, I think this is what it would feel like to walk with Him.” Vaughn just loved everyone he ran into, and he would tell them about God. People were drawn to his love and affection. And then Dan said this, “The day I spent with Vaughn was the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to walking with Jesus.” Chan confessed, “I wonder—would anyone say that about me? Would anyone say that about you? As I thought about all this, I prayed, ‘Lord, that’s what I want. I don’t want to be the best speaker in the world. That doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be the most intelligent person on the planet. That’s not what I want to be known for. I want to be known for someone saying, ‘Wow, he’s a lot like Jesus.’”
Don’t you have the same longing? Don’t you want to be known as someone who loved in the same unconditional, sacrificial way that Jesus loved?
As we finish up this morning, I’d like you to consider where you might put yourself on the grid I have drawn. Have you crossed the line and come to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? If so, are you moving upward on this ethical axis, obeying God—becoming more like Christ every day? Are you loving people like God commands? What steps might the Lord want you to take that will get you moving up and to the right, toward the deep walk and abundant life God has in mind for you?