Unusually, I'm writing the day after preaching a message. Actually, unusually, I'm writing. I’d like to blog more. After all, never have so many had so little to say to so few…
I feel prompted to write today because of a nagging sense that a message I gave recently at church (November 14, 2010) missed the mark in one essential respect: clarity.
I’m writing to clarify.
In 2 Corinthians, chapters 2-3, the Apostle Paul writes one of his more compelling descriptions of Christianity, lived authentically. Borrowing from language put in play by Pastor Ray Stedman many years ago, Paul says that life in Jesus as he has come to experience it is defined by unfailing gratitude (God's blessings are weightier than my trials), unvarying success (he always participated in Jesus' triumphs), unforgettable impact (he always left behind the fragrance of Jesus), unimpeachable integrity (he never watered down the Gospel), and undeniable reality (he actually made God-centered impact in the lives of others).
Paul makes it clear in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 that the key to such a mouth-wateringly appealing life is tied to living on the basis of the New Covenant.
The Old Covenant, while glorious, was temporary and condemning. By contrast, the New Covenant is more glorious, life-giving, and permanent. Believers in Jesus are living under the New Covenant, not Moses’ Old Covenant, and for that we are ever so grateful.
In the passage in question, Paul retells the story of Moses’ veil (Exodus 34), inserting an interesting detail that the Old Testament doesn’t include. That additional detail is that Moses kept the veil on his face AFTER the glory of having been in God’s presence had faded. Paul says that he kept the veil on to keep the Israelites from seeing that the Old Covenant glory faded. He was not being “open” about what was really going on underneath the veil.
Paul mentions Moses’ lack of openness on the way to urging believers in Jesus to live openly (or “boldly" "freely” “transparently”). The image he leaves us is that we are to live with unveiled faces.
While waxing eloquent in my sermon, I believe that I lacked clarity in what I said about living without a veil.
I urged that Christians stop pretending that things are better than they really are. My comments all had something of a negative ring to them. Well, after a very helpful conversation with my very astute wife, I have come to suspect that I wrongly beat the drum of “worm theology.” This is the theology that says, “I am worthless, utterly devoid of value, a loser in every way imaginable."
I seemed to have been accusing EVERY Christian of hiding terrible sins and failures and of wearing a veil to ensure that no one ever knows how badly they are living. As you may know, it is easy to overstate a case on the way to making a point. I’ve been told a trillion times that I shouldn’t exaggerate, but the temptation is real.
So here is my mea culpa. I know that not every Christian is hiding terrible sins. Many are walking with the Lord in integrity and are involved in open, transparent relationships where real life happens.
And here is my first throat-clearing “ahem.” From my vantage point as a pastor of a small church where everything is intensely relational, I can say with a good bit of confidence that many, many Christians are hiding devastating secrets, closet sins, and terrible pain. I long to see these folks take off the veil of secret-keeping and enter into the freedom of open living. As Paul says (2 Corinthians 3:18), such living is the start of real transformation.
And here is my second “ahem.” From my perspective as a Christian and pastor, I am confident that many, many believers are not consciously depending on the truths of the New Covenant to make impact for Jesus.
On the one hand, some are depending on themselves to be a change agent for Jesus, which is astounding hubris. On the other hand, there are those who aren’t all that concerned to make much of a difference for Jesus and His Kingdom. A lack of passion for Jesus and His Kingdom represents a culpable and lamentable apathy.
In applying New Covenant truth to daily life, I believe that Paul is getting at the same idea Jesus was making in John 15 when He said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” Jesus didn’t mean that people who don’t know Him can’t tie their shoes. He didn’t even mean that believers can’t preach sermons without Him. Both are clearly possible. What is impossible is for anyone to do anything of eternal significance without a deep dependence on Him (abide).
Were I to have the chance to re-preach what I said publicly (Monday morning quarterbacking doesn’t just apply to football), I would say something like this -
“Believer in Jesus, you may need to take off the veil of hiding your problems, pain, and sin. Don’t pretend that things are OK when your life is falling apart. Get honest with God and get honest with a few choice friends.
“And you may need to take off the veil of assuming that in and of yourself you can make impact for Jesus. Raise the bar of your expectation of life in Christ to the heights of Paul’s description (see the five marks of spiritual authenticity, above). Settle for nothing less and you’ll see that you need what only He can supply. You need the Holy Spirit’s New Covenant power coursing through you. That power comes as you live veil-less, each day coming to God in the same spirit in which you began your life with Jesus - everything coming from Him; nothing coming from you.”
