Category: Gospel and Culture
Fight Club Conference Audio
The audio and video is up from the Fight Club Conference. Be sure to check out Matt Adair’s message “Fighting for Gospel Transformation in Your Time.” Matt calls out the picture of Jesus as “The Ultimate Fighting” savior as bogus.
What Frees Us to Confess Sin?
In response to the Fight Clubs book, I recently received an inquiry about a particular sentence I wrote in the introduction:
“I can tell people my sins because my identity doesn’t hang on what they think of me.”
I wrote up a response, which Boundless published on their blog. In it I argue that most people approach others from one of two places, above (strong pride) or below (weak pride). Self-doubt sets us off in search of approval and pride sets us up for applause. We need something to free us from our search of approval and applause in order to confess our sin. Here is an excerpt and you can read the rest here.
When our identity is hung up on what people think of us, it becomes difficult to be honest with them. Some of us approach others from below, fearing their rejection or disapproval. In order to keep their approval intact, we refrain from allowing them to see the real, broken us. We may not lie to them (though we probably do), but we certainly don’t confess our sin to them. Why? Because we treasure their approval more than we treasure Christ.
Brew the Gospel
The Heart is a Brewery
The heart is the place where our identity is forged. From it flow the very streams of life (Prov 4:23). It is a brewery for identity. What we brew determines who we are. What are we brewing? Are we brewing grace and truth? Or are we brewing judgment and deceit, legalism and license? Are we brewing the gospel or are we brewing religion or irreligion? What we brew determines who we are.
Where is Your Identity?
Who are you? What will you brew today? Colossians 3:3 tells us that we “have died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God.” Are we hiding in Christ for life and value and identity OR are we hiding from Christ, from truth, and from grace? Are we striving to perform or resting in Christ’s perfect performance? Your identity is in Christ. In fact, your identity in divinity—filled with the Spirit, united with Christ, beloved of the Father. A cord of three strands is not easily broken. Remember that your identity is sinner redeemed by grace; your role is to serve by grace!
Brew the Gospel
How do we avoid the extremes of legalism and license, hypocrisy and idolatry? How do we escape misplaced identity? Brew the gospel. Get drunk on It. Everyone is intoxicated with something, but are we intoxicated with Christ? Our inebriation determines our identity. What we brew is what we become. What we drink determines who we are. How do avoid legalism and license, working for God or running from God? We get drunk on the Gospel. We take in Christ, Christ crucified for our sin and raised for our life. Take in Christ today. Drink deeply of his Word and brew the Gospel of grace.
(Adapted from the sermon Gospel Identity)