What Should Tullian Do Now?

Posted on by kevinjandt

tullian-tchividjian

I decided on the spur of the moment that this article needed to be written. Not because I have anything important to say, or anybody important will read it, but because maybe someday the information will be useful to me. I serve as a Deacon in a small Reformed church in a semi-small town on the east side of nowhere Iowa. I don’t know why I felt compelled to write, but I think it’s important among the cacophony of voices I say my piece.

I don’t know Tullian and I don’t know anybody that does. I’ve never heard him preach, but I’ve observed his life from a distance for a few years. I’ve not even been saved as long as he’s been a pastor most likely, so why do I have the authority to write about him? Because I think God’s word speaks clearly about his life and he should listen. If he could hear my words, or read what I write I would want him to know a few observations I’ve had and what I think he should do moving forward.

Some of you probably don’t know of him or probably don’t know what I’m talking about but Tullian Tchividjian is the grandson of Billy Graham. He had been going through some marital issues and it was revealed that affairs had occurred within the marriage. Mutual affairs. A very sad and awful thing for a family to go through and especially for the children, nobody sees the devastation of sin from the before pictures, only the after.

Tullian is well known, in many circles, for what most would say are Antinomian tendencies.   He doesn’t seem to worry, or focus as much on living a holy life as he focuses on the grace of God. What I write is well documented in other places, and I care not to write about it here, but for some of us that cared this was a shipwreck waiting to happen.

A couple days ago it appears he has filed to divorce his wife and with that as the backdrop here are the things I would say to Tullian if I ever had a chance. I will write to him as a brother since I’m not aware that he has denied the faith, but his actions are questionable at best. Regardless, I’ll treat him as if he is indeed in the faith for the time being.

Don’t Divorce – I don’t know if Tullian knows that God hates divorce? I would imagine he has read the Scripture, but this is imperative; does he not remember he made a covenant with God?

…Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.   “For the LORD God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” – Malachi 2:14-16

Get Wise Counsel – I have no idea how the leadership of his church plans to restore this man, and he may very well need to seek someone outside of this body. That would indeed be a travesty if he cannot find men that would tell him the truth and not what he wants to hear.

Where there is no counsel, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. – Proverbs 11:14
It seems if there was good counsel in the first place, this may have turned out differently, but I don’t know the structure of his church, I hope they will learn from this.

He Needs to go Dark – Get off social media! I’ve seen some of his tweets and other things floating around, and for the life of me I don’t see a man that is broken by his sin, but a man that appears to believe God is visible in the clouds. God is visible in His written word, and this is where he needs to have his face buried.

Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

His Elders should put a restraining order on his activities and have him in intensive biblical counseling along with a thorough examination of what went wrong. This didn’t happen overnight. It was playing out in front of us all.

Repent in Biblical Fashion – David was a murderer and an adulterer, and many Christians are quick to point this out. Yes, of course, we know that, but look at how David handled his sin.  We see a disturbing pattern among “celebrity” Christians and that is to acknowledge their “mistakes” but never repent of their wicked and evil hearts.

For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight… Psalm 51:3-4

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. – 2 Corinthians 7:10

Endeavor to lead a Quiet Life – This goes along with getting out of the spotlight. It would appear he enjoys the attention and that will always keep him where he cannot focus on God, because he wants to focus on himself. He should flee attention, go spend a month in a cabin. I know of one if he needs a place to go. Better yet go serve the poor somewhere in some third world country and don’t tell anybody but your Elders where you are going. Drop your phone in the toilet on the way to the airport.

…that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. – 1 Timothy 2:3-4

Realize his Wretched Condition – Tullian is a sinful man. I am a far more sinful man than he is, and I can easily prove it. I expect he grew up in a very moralistic fashion, just like Josh Duggar. I was a fine sinner, perhaps as good as almost anyone and by the grace of God He picked me up and breathed His precious Spirit into my dead, cold heart. I don’t know if Tullian realizes his deplorable state. Perhaps he does, and I just don’t see it coming out of his mouth, but I confess that I don’t hang on every word he says, so I may have missed it. Can he echo what Paul said, what I say about myself?

This is a faithful saying and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. – 1 Timothy 1:15-16

What a proclamation by Paul! Do you realize this? Do I realize this when I think highly of myself? Do I realize that pride comes before a fall, and that by the grace of God and that grace alone, He keeps me from falling off the cliff every day? Oh the riches of His mercy, how amazing they are, for wretched sinners just like me and I hope for a wretched sinner like Tullian.

Kevin

Restore Me

Posted on by kevinjandt

galilee

At this time last week I would have never expected I’d be writing this post today. It just didn’t seem possible. There appeared to be too much sin and too much hardness of heart.   It looked as though someone I dearly love would remain entrenched and would go the way of many others. It was sad, it was heavy, it was heart wrenching…there appeared to be very little, if any hope.

But God!

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21

Amen! Let it be so!

God can sew in the hardest of ground and I saw a man stand before the assembly broken over his sin. He repented and he confessed his sin. He was afraid of the terror of the Lord, because he saw what sin does in the hearts of men.

We live on this earth for such a very short time and for the majority of the people they never consider their sin. There is no fear of the Lord! He’s a Sunday school story they heard and forgot long ago, He’s a by-product of some ignorant sheep herders, just something written by man thousands of years ago, certainly not relevant today.

Or worse yet, the practice of church discipline’s for the fanatics. It’s for the legalistic that only desire to go around pointing out others sin. “I’m okay, you’re okay”, is what they think. As long as we are here on Sunday, or Saturday night, everything is cool.

But God!

He’s rich in mercy and abundantly ready to forgive, yet that hard and stony ground must be plowed over and churned up, there’s difficult work that needs to be done. That hard and leathery heart must be pierced with the needle of the law so the gospel can enter in, and without the law breaking a mans heart there is no hope. [1] There must be conviction; there must be an adherence to God’s Word. It must be dealt with biblically, or it’s only man’s wisdom. Not the power of the Almighty Himself.

Bones must be broken…or there will be no healing.

 

For I acknowledge my

   transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.

Against You, You only, have I

   sinned, and done this evil in Your

   sight—

That You may be found just when

   You speak,

And blameless when You judge. – Psalm 51:3-4

 

Sin must be dealt with and the only way to deal with it properly is to first acknowledge the sin. Sin will blind us. Sin will harden us. Sin will deceive us and cause us to think all kinds of “good” things about ourselves. Only by God’s truth can we be set free, because sin also enslaves us.

We need God’s church and we need God’s Spirit to convict us, to call us to repentance and then to gently and lovingly restore us. I’m sure it didn’t feel very loving for quite a long time, because this battle has raged for what seems like a very long time. The enemy was well fortified, but God’s power is far greater and the victory has already been won at the cross.

But from our perspective we must remain engaged and fight. We don’t know if the soil is good or not. We must do our part and the Scriptures are clear, although mostly ignored by the “church” today.

Today the hard work really begins for this brother. He has a mess to clean up. Time will tell if the confession is real or not. It was really awesome to have him back, to see a completely different countenance than I’ve seen for almost a year. But when reality sinks in, and the pressures of life resume, outside the walls of the safety of the assembly, what will happen? Only God knows and time will tell.

The Lord Jesus Christ deserves His witness to proclaim His name. To seek forgiveness for the wrong that has been done, to acknowledge Him where He has been denied, to call sinners to repentance and preach the gospel of peace.

Outside of Him there is no peace and those that have been around this man need to know that. They need to hear a broken confession and humble acknowledgement of sin. It’s going to be a narrow and difficult path for sure if it’s a true testimony and I trust that it is. I trust he won’t fail the test, but the trials will be difficult most certainly.

Today I am hopeful, I’m joyful and I’m humbled. I feel a sense of peace that I’ve not felt in a while over this situation. I’ve seen it go the opposite way too many times. I’ve seen the hardheartedness of men too often turn away and go somewhere that isn’t quite as difficult. They might fool themselves, they might fool others but God will never be mocked and I hope it is well with their souls. The Christian life is full of trials, it’s full of difficulty and not every day is Friday. In fact most days are Mondays if we are truly in the faith.

 

Create in me a clean heart, O

   God,

And renew a steadfast spirit

   within me.

Do not cast me away from Your

   presence,

And do not take Your Holy Spirit

   from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your

   salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous

   Spirit. – Psalm 51:10-12

 

Kevin

 

[1] This thought from Behold Your God Page 164 – “The needle of the law must puncture the hard leathery heart before the thread of the gospel can pass through.”

Big or Little?

Posted on by kevinjandt
http://serhanvardarli.deviantart.com/art/father-and-daughter-136495150
http://serhanvardarli.deviantart.com/art/father-and-daughter-136495150

I can remember one of our children asking me, “Dad, am I big or little?” Well of course it was adorable coming from a three-year old, but it’s a good question to ask of ourselves even as “big” people. The implication here from my daughter at the time, was that she wanted to grow up. It’s funny how when you are little you want to be “big”, but as you grow older you don’t want to be little, but you’d like to be younger.

This morning I’ve been thinking about moral littleness and the role this plays in the life of a Christian. In this scope our desire should be littleness, and not bigness, if that makes any sense. Let’s look at the words of the Apostle Paul and see if this sheds any light on the topic.

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. – Ephesians 4:1-3

Paul speaking to the saints at Ephesus and speaking to the saints today is imploring us to walk worthy of our calling. The big question in this brief statement is “have you been called?” What does it mean to be called? The first three chapters of Ephesians tell us what it means, but let’s look quickly at Ephesians 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus.

It’s really important to note that it’s by the will of God.   Would anybody doubt that Paul was called to be an apostle by Jesus Christ Himself? It’s pretty obvious, that this is the case. Paul will go on to tell us that all saints have also been called out by the will of God, and here is where it’s more difficult for the sinful human heart to accept. We really don’t care much for the Sovereignty of God in Divine election. It just doesn’t feel good and therefore we would rather reject it.

This letter was written to the church in Ephesus, but we can see it was also written to the faithful in Christ Jesus. The faithful (pistos) those that believe in Christ, those that exhibit a life change by their belief, not just a mental ascent or a verbal affirmation.

If you are one of these, then you have been called and if you’ve been called you have a responsibility. You must now walk worthy of the calling and this all begins with an understanding of your moral littleness; a desire to be small.

David understood this.

…And cleanse me from my sin…

For I acknowledge my transgressions…

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity…

Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities…

Create in me a clean heart, O God…

Restore me to the joy of Your salvation…

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God…

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise. – Psalm 51

Our calling must begin with an understanding of our relationship to God before salvation; an understanding of our wretchedness, our inability to please God in ourselves and our need for Christ. This is the whole point of Jesus coming to this earth.

I need Jesus.

You need Jesus.

Why…because we are little. We have nothing to offer Him accept our wretched selves.

“God resists the proud,

                But gives grace to the

                     humble.” – Proverbs 3:34

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. – 2 Peter 5:6-7

Evidence of your calling is a view of your moral littleness and a desire to resist sin. You will then walk worthy of this calling by living and desiring to live a holy life that is pleasing to God. This shows the world that you are a new creation, a new birth has occurred.

It will be a radical change that causes people to take notice. Most of them won’t like the change. If you begin to walk worthy it will mean exposing darkness and calling others to repentance. It will upset apple carts and destroy worldviews that were so dominant in our lives before. Yet there is no greater purpose than to serve the Lord Jesus Christ with a pure heart, to bring Him glory, to proclaim His name, to submit to His Lordship, this is a walk that is worthy and there is no greater joy.

 

Kevin

You are that man!

Posted on by kevinjandt

Maes_Nathan_David2

Have you ever been confronted with sin in your life?  How have you reacted to someone that loves you enough to point this out to you?

Your reaction tells you a lot about yourself.

Did you get angry?

Did you become defensive?

Did you deny it, or accuse them of being self-righteous?  That’s an old favorite.

Did you notice that I said someone “loves you” enough to risk your relationship to tell you about your sin?  Did it mean they are without sin?  Of course not, we all sin, but don’t pull “judge not…” out of your hat, unless they are accusing you of something they are embroiled in themselves.

2 Samuel 12:5-9  So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!  And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing and because he had not pity.”  Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!  Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.  I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah.  And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more!  Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight?  You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword:  you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

David was a man after God’s heart, the king of Israel.  He was chosen by God to be of the royal lineage of the King to come.  How is it possible for this man to fall into such incredible sin; adultery and then murder?

The question before us today is how we deal with our sin, when we are confronted and how we deal with others sin, if we need to confront them.  I’ve appreciated a recent blog post by a friend as she is wrestling through her own judgmentalism.  Amy’s Blog Certainly, we must continue to check on our motives and we are not to be judgmental but we must be capable of discernment and judgements.

Brothers and sisters we must confront sin as sin.  We must call it for what it is.  If we really care for the souls of others we must be able to gently turn them from their sin (James 5:19-20).  Nathan skillfully but firmly showed David his sin, he didn’t hide from it or attempt to justify it.

Do you despise the chastening of the Lord? (Hebrews 12:5-6)  How does a believer react to sin?

2 Samuel 12:13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

This is a very straight forward and God honoring reaction.  No excuses, no justification, no buts…  “I have sinned”

David recognizes his sin.  He sees this as sin, how often do we excuse our sin as something other than what it actually is.  Do we realize when we are in sin?  Sin is deceitful; it blinds us to the actuality of what it really is.  We can so easily fool ourselves.

I’ve seen this recently from my last blog post on atheism.  Comments  She was offended that I would think to know what she was thinking.  I don’t know her thoughts by any supernatural power of my own.  I know her thoughts because the Bible shows me what she thinks.  Romans chapter 1 is a crystal clear example of this.  She is futile in her thoughts and in her wisdom she has become a fool.  So God gives them up and unless He grants her the ability to see her sin she will die in her sin.

Secondly, notice that David has sinned “against the LORD.”  When we sin my dear friends it is against a holy God.  Yes, we sin against others but ultimately our responsibility lies with God.  We’ve committed treason against the One who created us.  We are so arrogant and so self-righteous that we can’t even begin to see how offensive this is to God.  Does God really hate our “little” sins that much?  God hates sin so much that He would pour out His wrath on His Son.  Yes, God hates sin more than our minds can even possibly begin to understand.

Yet it also pleased God to crush His Son. (Isaiah 53:10).  Why?  Because God is love!  He loves those that love Him enough to provide a way out of the mess we are in.  We are in a mess even though we may not understand it.  Like a pig will go to slop before he’d eat a beautifully prepared prime rib dinner, mankind has no idea we love slop.

David recognized his desire for slop and out of that came one of the most beautiful Psalms ever written.  Psalm 51 should be a consistent and regular part of our reading.  If you dare forget God’s love or become sloppy in your worship of Him.  Turn to these words for renewal.

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;  According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight…  Psalm 51:1-4

I’m humbled beyond words for God’s mercy in my life and I can only hope I continue to see my sin for what it cost the Son.

May God have mercy!

 

Kevin