It's Not About Me - Max Lucado [20]
Pony Express riders didn’t take credit for kind letters. Gallery guides don’t deserve applause for great art.
And we entrusted with the gospel dare not seek applause but best deflect applause. For our message is about Someone else.
GOD DOESN’T NEED
YOU AND ME TO
DO HIS WORK. WE ARE
EXPEDIENT MESSENGERS,
AMBASSADORS BY HIS
KINDNESS, NOT BY
OUR CLEVERNESS.
A European village priest in medieval times once gathered his church for a special service. “Come tonight,” he told them, “for a special sermon on Jesus.” And they did. They came.To their surprise, however, no candles illuminated the sanctuary. They groped their way to the pews and took their seats. The priest was nowhere to be seen. But soon he was heard walking through the church toward the front. When he reached the crucifix that hung on the wall, he lit a candle. Saying nothing, he illuminated the pierced feet of Christ, then the side, then one hand, and then the other. Lifting the candle, he shed light on the blood-masked face and the crown of thorns. With a puff, he blew out the candle and dismissed the church.2
May we do nothing more.
May we do nothing less.
CHAPTER TEN
MY SALVATION IS ABOUT HIM
10
A large American food company released the perfect cake mix. It required no additives. No eggs, no sugar. Just mix some water with the powder, pop the pan in the oven, and presto! Prepare yourself for a treat.
One problem surfaced. No one purchased the product! Puzzled, the manufacturer conducted surveys, identified the reason, and reissued the cake with a slight alteration. The instructions now called for the cook to add one egg. Sales sky-rocketed. 1
Why are we like that? What makes us want to add to what is already complete? Paul asked the same questions. People puzzled him by adding their work to a finished project. Not eggs to a recipe but requirements for salvation. Not much, just one small rule: You must be circumcised to be saved.
Such talk rankled the apostle. “We ... put no confidence in the flesh,” he declared (Philippians 3:3 NIV). “God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith—counting on Christ alone” (3:9 TLB, emphasis mine). Paul proclaimed a pure grace: no mixtures, no additives, no alterations. The work of Christ is the bungee cord for the soul. Trust it and take the plunge.
We quickly side with Paul on the circumcision controversy. The whole discussion sounds odd to our Western ears. But is it so strange? We may not teach Jesus + circumcision, but how about:
Jesus + evangelism: How many people have you led to Christ this year? Or:
Jesus + contribution: Are you giving all you can to the church? Or:
Jesus + mysticism: You do offer penance and pray to the Virgin Mary, don’t you? Or:
Jesus + heritage: Were you raised in “the church”? Or:
Jesus + doctrine: When you were baptized, was the water running or still? Deep or shallow? Hot or cold?
Legalism.The theology of “Jesus +.” Legalists don’t dismiss Christ.They trust in Christ a lot. But they don’t trust in Christ alone.
We’re tempted to dismiss legalism as harmless. After all, legalists look good. They act religious.They promote morality and decency and good living. Is there any harm to their teaching?
Paul responds with a resounding “yes!” He reserves a biting tone for the legalist. “Watch out for those who do evil, who are like dogs, who demand to cut the body” (Philippians 3:2 NCV). Ouch! Can you hear the intolerance in those terms? “Evil.”“Dogs.” Those “who demand to cut the body” or, as one paraphrase renders it,“knife-happy circumcisers” (MSG).
LEGALISTS TRUST
IN CHRIST A LOT.
BUT THEY DON’T TRUST
IN CHRIST ALONE.
Why the bared fangs? Why the hot ink? Paul didn’t go barefisted with others this way. Though antiadultery, he didn’t call two-timers names. He was intolerant of homosexuality, but he didn’t blast the gay crowd with a verbal blowtorch. He preached against drunkenness, but did he ever call drunks “dogs”?
And if you think he’s ticked off in this passage, read his wish for the legalists of Galatia. “I