June Newsletter Article

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are important things, and then there are important things. Knowing what time we must show up for our jobs or classes is important. Making sure you have all the ingredients before you begin baking a cake is important. Remembering which child goes to which practice at what time – and when to pick them up – is also important. None of these things, however, is equal to another in importance.

I think we would all agree that while we want to be sure to have everything in place before we begin mixing the shortening and the sugar, we would first want to watch the clock to be certain we can arrive in time to meet our work or school commitments. I think we’d also agree that if forced to make the choice, we would sacrifice time for our career to ensure our children are not left alone for hours, waiting for a ride. Everything is important, but not everything is equally important.

I write this because I have been struck in recent weeks at how carefully and cleverly the world, the devil, and our own fallen flesh work to undermine the gifts our Lord has given us. Christians are generally well prepared for the obvious and blatant attacks – few of us, I hope, would give credence to the so-called scholarship of Dan Brown in his popular novels, just like few of us are convinced that James Cameron will ever find the lost tomb of Jesus. We Christians struggle, however, when we assume that things are fine and that there is no assault taking place on our soul and against the faith we have been given, for that is when our enemies work the hardest – when they can fool us into believing that nothing is happening at all.

Our enemies often accomplish this toxic task by simply adjusting our priorities. The one I see (and experience myself!) most often is the gentle shift from seeing Christianity as ‘the Christian faith’ to seeing it as ‘the Christian moral code’ or ‘the Christian ethical guidebook to life.’ It is not that we are denying the former and asserting the latter – again, the world, the devil, and our flesh do not work against us so visibly – but rather that we acquiesce to the temptation that God cares just as much about what we do as he does about what we believe. Both are certainly important, but in God’s eyes they are most definitely not equal in importance!

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians – a congregation exhibiting a multitude of moral and theological problems – puts our priorities in order when he writes that he delivered to them (and us) first of all that which he also received: that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that he was buried and rose again the third day, all of this according to the Scriptures. In other words, the most important thing to Paul (and to God!) is not a moral exhortation to bring the sinful flesh into submission; the most important thing is that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that he rose again as the victor over death! Paul did also wrote about the moral problems in Corinth, and those words are no less true today than they were then, but Jesus’ death and resurrection is, first of all, the most important thing and the essence of Christianity. As we celebrate one year in the new facility this coming month and embark upon a much anticipated summer of warm weather, let us not give any way to the world, the devil, or our sinful flesh in rearranging the important things in our lives as Christians. Christ has risen from the dead and our sins are forgiven!

To him alone be all the glory, forever and ever, Amen.

Pastor Bakker