I Want Blood

I've been reading "Death By Love" which is a new book by Mark Driscoll. I have to share an excerpt from the book that is absolutely fascinating.

Pastor Mark Driscoll talked to a Christian guy in his church directly after his wife confessed to him that she had cheated on him by sleeping with his friend in their own marriage bed (back before she became a Christian). As you could imagine, this guy was ticked off. Driscoll said, "What do you want?" to the guy. He replied, "I want blood."

Here is an excerpt from the pastoral letter (found in the book Death By Love) to this man regarding the friend who stabbed him in the back:

"God does not have a heart of grace toward [your friend], because he is an unrepentant sinner. Second, Christ's death has not applied to him and will not unless he repents of sin and receives Jesus. Third, he is not justified and, therefore, stands guilty and condemned before God. Fourth, he is an enemy of God. Fifth, he is not reconciled to God. Seventh, the wrath of God remains upon him. Eight, if he continues in unrepentance and unbelief, Jesus' blood will not cover him, and he will spend eternity suffering in conscious, eternal torment. [He and the other] unrepentent sinners will be thrown like grapes into the winepress and Jesus will stomp them underfoot so that their blood flows as high as the bit in a horse's mouth for one hundred eighty miles (Rev. 14:19-20)."

Driscoll wrote this to encourage this guy by reminding him that he will get the justice he wants. He will get his "blood" in the future when his friend finds himself under the "boot of Jesus."

HOWEVER...

Driscoll reminds the guy that IF his friend-turned-enemy becomes a Christian and truly repents and follows Jesus, that Jesus' blood on the cross will cover his sin and cleanse him. When someone comes to Jesus, the punishment and wrath that the person deserves is absorbed by Jesus. Justice is served - but not on the guilty party, on Jesus. He substitutes himself for the guilty.

So, once again, if his friend-turned-enemy repents and follows Jesus, the justice blood that he wants and will get... will be Jesus' blood, not his friend's.

Pretty profound if you ask me.

Driscoll's last piece of advice is this: "Though not to minimize what your wife has done in any way, your sin against God is even more painful for [God] to bear than your wife's sin against you. Therefore, I would encourage you not only to look at the sin of your wife [and friend] but to also look at your own sin in other parts of your life to see where you too have betrayed God as your wife has betrayed you... Simply, your wife treated you like God's people in the Old Testament treated him, which is why the Bible repeatedly calls Israel a whore. Yet Jesus lovingly pursues and redeems [her]."

Wow.

Nudity Is The Point: Part 3 of 3

Spiritual nudity reflects a healthy relationship with God.

Spiritual nudity causes us to run towards God with all our junk.

Spiritual nudity causes us to run towards a Christ-following community so that we can verbally experience grace and truth through other people. This type of experience causes change and healing. Community is the pipeline of living water coming straight from God Himself. Exposing yourself and your junk in community is the physical manifestation of one’s inward relationship with God. Just as one person eats bread when they are hungry, so a person enters into community when they are hungry for God.

Sadly, most people never experience this type of healing and empowering community.

A teenage girl whose father left her when she was little will listen to the enemy’s lie that says if she would just date a punk who will give her acceptance through sex, then her void would be filled.

A successful businessman who feels like the next step up the corporate ladder will add value and respect to his life, listens to the enemy’s lie that says if he gets another promotion, then he will be valued more in society.

A Christian missionary who feels like his identity can be measured in how successful he is at ministry can buy into the lie that God will accept him more if he just works harder.

A college girl who spends all her time gossiping about celebrities or her friends buys into the lie that if she talks about the negatives, then it will make her feel better about herself or make her look better to others.

A fraternity guy who doesn’t want to show up to the spiritual group on campus for fear that his friends will make fun of him buys into the lie that his brothers’ acceptance of him will be more valuable and satisfying than God’s acceptance of him.

If I were to include you in the next example, what would I write?

What are you going after in the world today because you aren’t receiving it in community right now?

Out of pride are you pursuing success so that you can manipulate the system and make people say that they are proud of you? Or are you showing up in a community of people that say that they are proud of you simply because God is proud of you? Are you in a sexual relationship because it is easier to manipulate the system by making someone say they love you rather than showing up to a group of people who will tell you that you are loved because God is love? Are you giving into peer pressure, manipulating the system to make people accept you rather than entering into a community of people that will tell you that you are fully accepted even before you do anything good or bad?

When Adam and Eve ran from God and communion with Him, He pursued them… and he is pursuing you.

May you turn around and walk towards love and acceptance and value through the community of God's people close by. Are you ready to walk into the light? Are you ready for spiritual nudity?