한 변호사의 죽음
프랑스 남부 아를 지방에 고급 저택에서 혼자 살고 있는
잔느 칼망이란 할머니가 있었습니다.
하루는 이 집에 한 변호사가 찾아와 제안을 했습니다.
“제가 할머니가 살아계시는 동안 매달 400만원씩을 드리겠습니다.
대신 할머니가 돌아가시고 나서 집을 저에게 물려주시겠습니까?”

집만 번듯했지 소득이 전혀 없이 연금만으로 사는 할머니는 흔쾌히 승낙했습니다.
변호사도 목돈을 들이지 않고 좋은 집을 구입할 수 있어서 만족했습니다.
변호사가 찾아갈 당시 잔느 할머니의 나이는 90세였습니다.

그러나 10년이 지나도, 20년이 지나도 잔느 할머니는 정정하게 살아 계셨습니다.
심지어 77세에 변호사가 세상을 떠났을 때도 할머니는 살아계셨습니다.
결국 변호사가 죽은 뒤 2년이 지나고 할머니는 돌아가셨고,
변호사의 가족들이 대신 집을 물려받았습니다.
그러나 그동안 변호사가 지급한 돈은 시가의 2배가 넘었습니다.

변호사는 자신이 찾아간 90살 노인이 122세로 기네스복에 세계 최장수 노인으로 등재됐을 지는
꿈에도 몰랐을 것 입니다.

이처럼 세상에는 확실한 것이 없으며 누구도 내일 일을 예측할 수 없습니다.
오로지 확실한 복음의 반석 위에 믿음의 터를 세우고 변함이 없으신 주님을 따르십시오.

아멘!!

김장환 목사

미국 건국의 아버지 벤자민 프랭클린이 하루는 등불을 집 밖에 두고 깜박 잊은 적이 있었습니다.

나중에 일이 있어 밖으로 나가다가 등불을 발견했는데
깜깜한 밤을 등불이 비춰주니 무서운 느낌도 들지 않고
여러모로 편하다는 생각이 들었습니다.

그날 이후로 집 밖에 선반을 만들어 등불을 밤마다 켜둔
벤자민은 도시의 모든 거리에 이런 불빛을 만들면 좋겠다는
생각에 깊이 연구를 했고 노력의 결실로 가로등을 개발했습니다.

그러나 벤자민이 설치한 가로등을 보고 마을 주민들은 크게 반발했습니다.

당시 등불은 집 안에만 켜 놓는 것이 일반적인 모습이었는데
그 귀한 등을 사람이 딱히 다니지도 않는 저녁에
그것도 온 도시를 밝힐 만큼 켜 놓는 것은 심한 낭비라는 생각에서 였습니다.

그러나 가로등이 설치된 지 하루가 지나고 이틀이 지날수록
사람들의 이런 불만은 잦아들었습니다.

밤에 거리를 비추는 등불은 사회를 더 안전하게 만들었고
밤에도 쉽게 길을 찾고 장애물을 피할 수 있게 만들어줬습니다.

이렇게 미국에서 유일하게 가로등을 설치한 필라델피아는
가장 안전하고 편리한 도시로 명성을 떨쳤고 이후 다른 주로도 가로등이 퍼져나가기 시작했습니다.

어두운 밤 가운데 단 하나의 등불만 있더라도
사람들은 빛의 유익을 누릴 수 있습니다.

점점 악해져가는 세상 가운데서 바른 진리를 선포하는 진리의 등불이 되십시오.

아멘!!

김장환 목사

Today, “living like a Christian” has taken on so many different meanings. While the core beliefs in Jesus as our redeeming savior remain, the ways in which we follow God differ greatly. To give an example, we need only look at modern politics in the U.S.A.: some Christians believe with all their heart that taking guns away from the people and leaving them with trained officials is the best way to protect the innocent, while another portion of Christians believe keeping guns in the hands of the people is the best way to protect. When the church body itself is so divided on major issues, how can we know which is the “most Christian”? How do we apply our faith to our actions and opinions about the world around us?

In order to answer this as best I can, I want to walk you through a few very important verses from the New Testament:

In other words, God has gifted our spirits with different strengths—we are not all created the same. He did not create all of us to be strongest in compassion or strongest in a sense of justice. Because of this, when faced with situations, some will naturally lean one way while others will lean another way and still more will feel even differently! None of these insights or opinions are necessarily “bad,” instead what is bad is to dismiss the other perspectives simply because they are not heavily based on the thought process you are best at. When faced with opposing opinions, take the time to evaluate what has influenced all of the opinions—are they based on care for human beings, a desire for holiness, or righteous anger? It takes all parts of what is “good” to find a well-rounded good solution to a problem.

In this verse, Paul reminds us of our duty as followers of Christ, to make God the center and reason for everything we do. He uses the phrase, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,” meaning that there is nothing we can separate from God. Therefore, if nothing is apart from God, all things can be done for God. When things are not done for God, they are done for the world which goes against our calling as servants of the Lord.

Practical Example: Recently, in my Theology of Marriage and Family course, our professor asked us to write a short paper explaining how we can change our child’s diaper to the glory of God. My initial reaction to this prompt was, “How?” But after contemplation, I came to realize there isn’t one but many ways to change a diaper for God: by choosing to love your spouse sacrificially and do the job for them, choosing to love your baby as a fellow image bearer by keeping them healthy and clean, choosing to do something unpleasant for God because Jesus did the ultimate unpleasant thing for us, and through realizing that changing diapers is just another way for God to sanctify us by growing in us more fruits. While there surely are more ways, I hope these give you a good head start for analyzing actions that are hard to view as glorifying God.

When asked by the Pharisees to choose the greatest piece of Law, Jesus answers with this. “Instead of promoting one command over another [like the Pharisees expected], Jesus defined the law in its core principles: love the LORD with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself,” explained the Enduring Word Bible Commentary on Matthew. Jesus understood that the core of the multitude of rules in the Law was simply a devoted love for God. When one has that, all else will follow. By doing this, Jesus removed the validity of the reasoning that you can only be a follower of God if you follow his rules perfectly. Rather, you are a follower of God if you genuinely love God with all that you are and look to Him for direction in all things.

The second law follows that we are to care for the people around us to the same degree that we care for ourselves. Understanding that every human being is created in the image of God and helps us to follow this law because it gives every person equal value—all man-made hierarchy is removed.

“For a long time before Paul knew Jesus, he thought God would accept him because of his law-keeping. But he came to the point where he really understood the law – understanding it in the way Jesus explained it in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) – and then Paul realized that the law made him guilty before God, not justified before God … ‘To die to the law is to renounce it and to be freed from its dominion, so that we have no confidence in it and it does not hold us captive under the yoke of slavery,’ (Calvin)” as explained by the Enduring Word Bible Commentary.

This means that to live a life that follows Christ is to choose to live by faith, putting no weight for salvation or righteousness on the Law. A true follower of Christ will do good works because He loves God and wants to glorify Him, not just because He ought to with the purpose of becoming “more righteous” in God’s eyes.

In other words, to live a life guided by Christ is to deny oneself of their own flesh-fueled desires in exchange for God’s desires for us. “Denying self is not the same as self-denial. We practice self-denial when, for a good purpose, we occasionally give up things or activities. But we deny self when we surrender ourselves to Christ and determine to obey His will,” says the Enduring Word Bible Commentary on Matthew. When we hand our body, soul, and mind over for God to use—that is when He uses us best. He can use anything we give Him for His will, but He wants to use everything.

In summary, there is no to-do list of actions or opinions that would summarize what a true Christ-follower should look like. I can only supply you with what the Word of God has given us: an understanding of what it means to be a Christian. From there, we must depend on God. Seek Him before making big decisions through prayer and fasting, read His word constantly in order to not forget His heart, and remember that your actions do not define your faith, but instead your faith in Jesus Christ. God hears your prayers and He wants to know your questions. Share yours with Him and He promises to guide you to the answer through His Holy Spirit.

I will leave you with one final verse:

Do you feel overworked? Is the unceasing strife of life wearing you down too much? If so, you may have heard this verse before as a response to that weariness…

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)

This passage probably sparks memories of pastors who instruct us to take off the yoke of the world in exchange for the yoke of the Son. These words are in fact a recording of Jesus’ own words of command for our own good.

But what exactly does his yoke consist of? And why is it better than that of the world (or myself)?

What is a yoke?

Merriam Webster’s Dictionary says a yoke is, “a wooden bar or frame by which two draft animals (such as oxen) are joined at the heads or necks for working together.”

A second definition listed is, “servitude” or “bondage.”

“Servitude” means “a condition in which one lacks liberty especially to determine one’s course of action or way of life” or “a right by which something (such as a piece of land) owned by one person is subject to a specified use or enjoyment by another.”

With these in mind, read the following illustration:

“Farmers used to train young oxen to plow by partnering them with stronger and more mature oxen. The job of the younger ox was simply to follow in the same direction and keep pace with the teacher ox. The older ox pulled most of the weight and understood the commands of the plow driver. As long as the young ox followed the older ox, everything was fine. But if the younger ox decided to speed up or lag behind, the work became much more difficult. Only by keeping pace with the older ox could the younger ox complete the day’s work without collapsing from exhaustion.” – Kerri Weems in “A Yoke for Rest?”

When you first hear that the solution to a heavy yoke is not to be unyoked but to take on a second yoke—Jesus’ yoke—it can seem illogical. Our natural inclination is to desire ultimate freedom, but what we don’t realize is how incapable we are of handling ultimate freedom. Freedom comes with a lot of responsibility and to use it well takes a great amount of wisdom and self-control—otherwise we will ultimately destroy ourselves.

Going back to the definitions of “yoke” we can see that one’s yoke is basically what they choose to serve. When we choose the yoke of the world—we are submitting ourselves to the burden of fulfilling the world’s desires, ways, and needs. When we choose Jesus’ yoke, we are choosing His desires and ways as our new burdens, submitting all others to Him

Why choose Jesus’ yoke?

Let’s break this down further…

When you choose the yoke of the world, you are choosing to let the world reign in your life. Its ways of cheating, suffering, fighting, corruption and loneliness will guide you.

On the other hand, when you choose the way of yourself, it is the choice to ride on your own pleasures, satisfaction and extremely limited wisdom. Why choose this and all of your mistakes over the guidance of a God who knows everything?

This brings us to the yoke of Jesus which is full of peace as He promises.

1. Jesus’ yoke satisfies all of our needs as a human being.

God created us to desire things that ultimately point us back to Him as our intelligent designer. Christianity—living a life like Jesus’—while not easy, will fulfill all of those desires. We will be satisfied in our self-esteem as created in the image of a God. We will be satisfied in our value as having a God who died for us and will listen to us whenever we call. We will be satisfied in our needs for intimacy by a God who dwells inside us, knows every piece of us, yet loves us fully anyway. We will be satisfied in our need for a purpose and motivation in life by a God who has commissioned us and promised each of us a purpose. We are satisfied in our need for a specialty and responsibility by God’s promise to have given us spiritual gifts that we can use to expand His name. I could go on, but I think you get it!

2. The yoke of Jesus is light.

Notice that Jesus said his burden is light in contrast to the heavy one from before. That his yoke is easy, but not completely non-existent. The yoke of the world is a heavy burden and it holds you hostage by every natural desire and corrupted motivation it can come up with. It tells us we have to acquire certain titles, a level of status, or various goals. On the contrary, the burden of Jesus is to let go of all of these worldly, effort-filled goals for the singular effort of keeping faith and trust in Him. Jesus only calls us to have faith in Him, which by extension means we seek to understand His desires, which will lead us to love Him, which will guide us into obedience. When we follow Jesus’ desire for our life, all other things will fall into place just as He intends rather than by our own striving and futile effort.

3. Jesus’ yoke fulfills the law for us.

The primary burden spoken of by Jesus that the Israelites lied primarily in the Law that had been provided by God and then expanded on by the Pharisees. This Law was supposed to be followed without fail in order to produce a life just worthy enough to be presented to God. Jesus’ alternate burden was the idea that they no longer had to work in order to be accepted by God, but instead have faith in Jesus and He would do the work for us. Jesus perfectly performed the Law while He was here on earth so that His perfect record could be shown to God in place of ours.

Nothing worth doing is easy. Similarly, the completely fulfilling life that Jesus has planned for us is completely worth being yoked for—it is freeing in thousands of ways—but it is still a yoke, and we have to be prepared for that. Many people walk away from the Christian faith because of its demands for repentance and pursuit of righteousness—for them it is easier to do whatever one pleases and pursue the whims of the world instead. But “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control,” (2 Timothy 1:7).

What is Self-Control?

Self-control is the last (and seeming culmination) of the Fruits of the Spirit listed by Paul in Galatians 5. It is a virtue consistently proscribed by Paul and exemplified by Jesus Christ Himself.

Self-control is what the name suggests, the ability of a person to control the inclinations of the self—whether that be holding oneself completely back from certain desires, or simply limiting the fulfilling of those desires. This is a key virtue for understanding that human beings have a flesh or sinful-self due to the fall that can be denied upon their rebirth as a Christian.

What is Life Like Without Self-Control?

“A man without self-control
    is like a city broken into and left without walls.” – Proverbs 25:28 (ESV)

This verse from the wisdom book is no joke. It is describing how vulnerable a man (or woman) becomes when they choose not to pursue self-control. When one chooses to let down all defenses and indulge any temptation that comes their way, they become fully exposed to the patterns of the world that ultimately lead to death.

Self-control always follows the same pattern—when you lose control in one area of life, it won’t remain there alone. It will spread, and you will begin to lose control in other areas of life as the little self-control you do have begins to wear down. For example, when you let yourself stop going to the gym regularly and give in to laziness, you will eventually start eating less and less healthy and then you might stop doing your homework on time as often, etc. Before you dismiss this as extreme, think about the ways self-control has been lost in your own life. Did it really only stay in one area? Or was your whole life beginning to unravel until you got back on track?

How We Gain It – Through Jesus

Jesus was the first man to exhibit perfect self-control. He was without sin and knew when to go and when to stop—even when faced with his own crucifixion. Because of this, we can truly rely on Jesus to support and understand our struggle when we are in a moment of temptation.

One of the primary ways we are told to battle sin is to pray against it. By praying, we are refocusing our mind on God and His desires which helps us see our tiny temptations proportionally rather than irresistibly. Prayer is also a form of spiritual warfare—a way to battle against the demons that are constantly trying to get us to sin.

“He [Paul] ‘agonizes’ by the power of Christ, not his own. Similarly he tells us, ‘If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live’ (Romans 8:13). ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts’ (Zechariah 4:6).” – John Piper from “The Fierce Fruit of Self-Control”

How We Gain It – Practically

1. Identify what you struggle with most often.

a) We’re all different, some people struggle with this or that. Set aside one week to really watch your impulses and understand the areas that you are most frequently tempted in.

• Do you frequently eat unhealthy foods? Do you spend your money obsessively on material goods? Does pride control your life? How about laziness?
•  In case you are having trouble narrowing down what specifically you struggle with, the list of the seven deadly sins is a good place to start: lust, greed, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy, pride.
• A more extensive list of sins can be found in Proverbs 6:16-19 and in Galatians 5:19-21.

b) Pray for the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to what is behind your vices.

• Sometimes our struggles in everyday life have deep seeds that we can’t find on our own. Only the God who knows and understands us inside and out can reveal those secret roots to our strange thoughts, actions, and feelings.

2. It is important to understand that the purpose of self-control is what we gain from it, not what we lose.

a) It can feel like we are losing out when we consistently deny ourselves the desires of our flesh. Pleasures that are seemingly harmless.

b) We must remember that self-control in all areas cultivates a beautiful life. There are practical reasons for self-control if the spiritual seems to abstract or distant.

• For example: If you struggle with gluttony or overeating, choosing to indulge your temptations will lead to a decline in health. Your body will put on fat, your arteries will clog faster, and you will lose energy and emotional health along the way because you body is not being fed what it needs most. Choosing to let go of self-control will ultimately shorten your life.
• Another example: Struggling with lust is an increasingly common experience in our increasingly sexualized world. It can be easy to say, “God would understand that my partner and I really love each other, that’s good enough!” or think, “He will forgive me afterwards.” But you must take a moment to pause and think about the ramifications of indulging in premarital sexual relations whenever you feel like it. Some of many include opening oneself up to sexually transmitted diseases very readily, causing an unplanned pregnancy, the emotional toil it would take on your relationship and on your future relationships if this one doesn’t last. Sexual indulgence outside of its intended setting will always lead to spiritual, emotional, and potentially physical suffering. Sex is one of the most intimate and bonding experience a husband and wife can have with each other, so to indulge in it causally is to wreck and abuse the most sensitive, intimate aspect of your human body and soul.

3. In addition to practical reasons, we need to remember God’s reasons.

a) To do this we must go back to God’s Word and re-learn what He says and why He says it. Read the Bible verses that tell the story of historical characters that also struggled with what you struggled with and see what God says about that. The New Testament letters is a great place to start because Paul always has sin to condemn in the churches of Rome or Ephesus.

b) When you’re needing a voice to comfort and empathize with you through the struggle, go to the Psalms and read the voice of David and many others as they learn to depend on God.

4. Tell Others about Your Struggles.

a) Accountability works wonders when you struggle with the same sin over and over. It can feel embarrassing, daunting, or plain mortifying to tell someone else about your sins, but we must remember that sin takes root and grows in the darkness. By exposing your sin to the light, it is naked and vulnerable and much more easily extinguished.

b) To do this, do pick someone who you trust completely and who shares the same faith as you so that they can encourage and admonish you through the scriptures. Pick someone who you respect and want to listen to as well—sometimes it’s more compelling to follow the guidance of an elder rather than a peer.

5. Understand what triggers that sin and try to avoid them.

a) Every sin typically has a catalyst that will make you naturally inclined to commit it. Some examples: being alone can be a catalyst for someone to lust, being dehydrated can amplify one’s proclivity to wrath, or being overly stressed can foster laziness.

b) Once you have an idea of what makes you more likely to commit your habit-sins, remove those situations from your life if possible or minimize them if you can’t remove them. More examples: try to avoid being along if you struggle with lust, but if you must be, remove access to certain content that further tempts you while alone, etc.

6. Lastly, Remember that failure once, twice, or thirty times isn’t the end!

a) It is normal to feel like you will never be able to overcome temptation when you give into it repeatedly, but that is exactly what Satan wants you to think. We are fallen creatures, mistakes are inevitable. What is most important is that, no matter how often we fail, we turn back and repent. God does not call for perfection, He calls for faith and repentance.

And as we close, let me remind you what repentance really means:

“In the Bible, the word repent means ‘to change one’s mind,’” – from “What is Repentance and Is it Necessary for Salvation?”

It means to acknowledge to God that what was done was wrong, and to make the conscious choice to do what is right from then on. God sees your heart and knows when you have truly repented, whether you mess up again or not.