Why Your Motives for Ministry Matter

By / Oct 26

Sometimes you can do the right things for the wrong reasons. For example, you might want to preach so you become famous, lead worship to display your passion for God, or pursue a leadership role so people must listen to you. None of those opportunities are wrong, but they can be idolized if the end goal is self, not God. God calls you to worship Him and Him alone. You must live your life as He desires you to live it.

Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people” (emphasis added). “Not for people” includes you and me. We do not live for our own glory.

This does not mean you and I cannot have fun in this life, but our life focus, in every work, must be God’s glory. Ministry is never ultimately about building our own reputation or receiving the praise of others. Examine your motives and consider whether you have been ministering for self-glory or God’s glory.

Do Not Rely on Your Gifting

God gifted you to serve the church, but if you are not careful, you can rely on your giftings instead of the gift-Giver. For example, you might be a competent preacher. Over time, you may be tempted to rely on your eloquence or preparation rather than the Holy Spirit. If you sense you are burning out or losing passion while exercising your gift, consider whether your motive for ministry is purely God’s glory.

Practically, this means when people compliment you on a job well done, receive their encouragement with humility while giving God the credit and pointing others to worship Him. When you prepare a sermon or you prepare to lead in the church, your preparation should be covered in prayer, seeking God’s guidance. God is the one who gifted you in the first place.

Your gifting is not the issue, but could it be you have veered away from ministering for God’s glory? If that is you, rather than questioning your giftings or calling, prayerfully change your perspective on the opportunities before you, viewing them as opportunities to glorify God and make Him known.

Check Your Motives

While God still uses less-than-ideal circumstances for His glory, what gain is it for you to continue a lifestyle of self-centeredness? In his letter to the Christians at Philippi, Paul mentions that some during his ministry with them had been preaching the gospel with wrong motives (Phil. 1:12–20). Though wrong motives were paired with gospel preaching, Paul writes, “What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice” (Phil 1:18a).

Yet James, in his letter to the dispersed Christians of the early church, warns of the consequences that come upon those who minister with wrong motives. He writes, “Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment” (Jas. 3:1).

God’s mission will continue forward whether you are part of it or not. The question for you and me is whether will we join Him or make ministry about ourselves. We join God when we pair our giftedness with the motive of glorifying God.

Pair Your Gifting With Godly Motives

If God can work through wrong motives, imagine the fruit that can come from a Christian who pairs their gifting with godly motives.

Imagine a preacher who fully surrenders to preaching for God’s glory—one who is more concerned about pleasing God than pleasing people with his sermons (Gal 1:10). Consider a writer who treats their work as a service to others, trusting God to work in the lives of those who read an article like this, rather than seeking the popularity of their publications to affirm their identity. Think of a worship leader who recognizes that the only reason they are leading God’s people in song is because of His grace and mercy in their life.

God’s mission does not depend on us or our right motives, yet He graciously invites us to participate in His work (Eph. 2:10).

Glorify God and Serve Others

I am convinced that a constant check up on ministry motives is necessary. Like Paul challenged the church at Corinth to examine themselves to see if they are in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5), the same idea applies to pastors, preachers, church staff, lay leaders, and Christians who actively serve the church: Examine your motives for ministry.

Are you ministering for self-glory or God’s glory? Your gifting is not the problem, but your motives might be. Pair your gifting with a heart that seeks God’s glory above your own and discipline yourself for godliness (1 Tim. 4:7). Indeed, as Peter encourages:

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Pet. 4:10–11).



How can pastors maintain spiritual vibrancy?

By / Oct 20


10,000 Digital Guides and the Need for Spiritual Fathers

By / Oct 20

The Guides of Our Digital Corinth

Last week I spoke with a young man who attends our young adult ministry. He told me he was becoming convinced of Pentecostal Oneness theology from a “pastor” on YouTube. A few months earlier I met with a couple of young men who were being swayed by some things they had seen from Catholic apologists on Instagram Reels. Two years ago, I counseled a young woman who was considering changing her view on what the Bible teaches on sexuality because her favorite Christian influencer had become “affirming.”

In Paul’s day one of the main things Corinth was known for was sophistry. People went to Corinth to display their prowess at rhetoric. Not simply demonstrating they were wise, but that they were skilled at displaying their wisdom. The best would compete for greater reputation and larger crowds. Devoted disciples would attach themselves to a silver-tongued rhetorician in the hopes of kickstarting their own career.

This culture led to Corinthian Christians claiming Paul or Apollos over and against the other to the point of splintering the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 1:10–12). It was such a serious problem that Paul spent the opening four chapters of 1 Corinthians addressing this issue, leading to his final appeal in 4:14–17:

I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

After four chapters of a theological master class on the power of God in the gospel which confounds human wisdom, this is Paul’s closing statement on the issue. No more arguments, just an appeal: “you have so many guides, but I am your only father.”

I’m convinced we find ourselves in a similar situation, and an even more pervasive one, as the Corinthians. You and I live in a digital Corinth, and we too certainly have “countless guides in Christ” (1 Cor. 4:15). Podcasts, social media accounts, YouTube channels, book authors, Xers, Substackers, sermons from celebrity pastors we care for more than the ones coming from the pulpits at our own churches—we have countless guides in Christ. More countless than the Corinthians could have dreamed of.

And, also like them, we don’t have many spiritual fathers. The Corinthians at least had Paul. What about us? Can the swaths of Gen Zers getting the vast majority of their Christian content via their phones name anyone they could call a father in the faith?

And before you see a baby flying out with the bath water, this is not all bad. What a tremendous blessing to have at our fingertips so many godly and sanctifying resources! Where would any of us be without online Christian ministries? Having guides in Christ is not the problem—if they are truly guides “in Christ.” The problem for the Corinthians, and the problem that faces us, is when we try to use those guides to fill our need for spiritual “fathers.”

Not only this, but with the rise of social media and all the modes of Christian content mentioned above, how much of a felt need for spiritual fathers even remains? When constant access and seemingly unending resources—whether they be full online articles or 20-second reels—offer 24/7 instantaneous input laced with a dopamine hit to boot, how many Christians truly have someone who could be called a spiritual father? How many feel that they even need one? Just like with the Corinthians, the guides and gurus slowly but surely replace our felt need for would-be-fathers in the faith.

The trouble is that guides, even well-meaning ones, simply can’t do what only spiritual fathers (and mothers of course!) can do. Online or any at-a-distance guides remain woefully inadequate to do the two things Paul tells the Corinthians that only he can do for them as their spiritual father: love them and be their in-flesh model of the Christian life.

Love

Paul loves the Corinthians. Like a father with his children, he has a deep and genuine affection for them. They are his “beloved children” (4:14)—and not just anyone’s beloved children or God’s generally, but “my beloved children.” And Paul is their “father”—their only one, he not so subtly suggests—through the gospel. This is the core difference between spiritual fathers and guides. Gospel-fathers really know and really love their gospel-children. Because of that love, they have a unique relationship that guides simply can’t replicate.

It doesn’t matter how much you love Desiring God or John Piper himself (I count myself in that number by the way). It and he cannot love you back. Help? Totally! Guide? Yes! Know you? Love you? Feel for you and be concerned for your good like a father is for his children? No way. Not possible. And that’s ok. Being known and fully loved is what you need as a disciple. And it is something only a spiritual parent can offer.

Modeling

Secondly, the guides couldn’t satisfy Paul’s urge “to be imitators of me” (v.16). That’s the reason Paul says he is sending Timothy, so that if they forgot how Paul lived, Timothy can “remind you of my ways in Christ.” And notice that the purpose is to “remind.” It’s a refresher. Paul lived among them for at least 18 months. He was there, among them in person. They watched him live day in and day out. He had demonstrated his Christian life before them in such detail that they should know its shape and “vibe” and only need reminding of his “ways in Christ.”

Consider Your Ways

Who are you imitating? Not what Christian influencer, author, or preacher do you like. Whose life are you so close to that you could actually imitate them? What more-mature-than-you Christian are you tailing so closely that they are rubbing off on you? Whose “ways in Christ” have shaped and are shaping you because you’ve watched them be lived out in front of you?

I imagine most of us—especially younger Christians who have never known life without access to countless guides in the palms of their hands—struggle name someone whose life we are truly imitating. And that inability reveals our digitized Corinthian problem.

Rather than being content with digital and paper guides who cannot love us and whom we cannot imitate, we need spiritual fathers and mothers who love us and live in front of us.

We are not so different from our Corinthian brothers and sisters; our Corinth is simply digitized and our options for guides even more countless. We too need spiritual fathers and mothers who actually know and love us as their beloved spiritual children. We too need spiritual moms and dads we know are worthy of looking up to and who are actually around so we can follow in their footsteps.

So here’s a call to pursue spiritual fatherhood—both to those who need fathers in the faith and to those who need to become them for the spiritually fatherless. We don’t need to get rid of all the guides, though perhaps a few less wouldn’t hurt. But what we do need, like the Corinthians, are fathers like Paul who know and love us and whose ways we can imitate because we’ve watched and are watching closely.



One Indispensable Key to a Joyful Ministry

By / Oct 19

Christian ministry can be glorious. But let’s face it—ministry can also be hard. If you’re not careful, a challenging season of ministry can take a serious emotional, relational, and spiritual toll on your life.

Some of us spend so much of ourselves trying to be “on” at church that when we get home at the end of a long day, we become a person we don’t want to be—depressed, frustrated, self-pitying, lethargic—and our loved ones see it. They often witness what others don’t.

Such seasons can leave many of us asking: What can be done to counteract the painful, sometimes debilitating effects of the work God has called me to do? I don’t want it to be this way. Is there anything I can actually do to change?

Thankfully, we’re not left without answers. The Spirit of God has seen to it that there’s a treasury of precious resources available to us in the pages of Scripture. Many saints throughout history have discovered that one of these resources—which is indispensable—is a practice of gratitude.

An Indispensable Key

Consider Paul’s prayer in Colossians 1:11–12, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”

Paul understood that serving the Lord requires endurance because it can be hard. There are crises, controversies, conflicts, and criticisms along the way that can make the work of the Kingdom quite painful. Many in ministry have felt the way George Herbert did when he wrote, “Have I no harvest but a thorn?”[1]

Ministry also requires patience because it can take a long time to see the fruit of your labor. Most often, the Kingdom’s effects are hidden and gradual, not big and splashy (Matt. 13:33).

But Paul also understood that you can endure and be patient in a way that is essentially joyless. It is possible to endure something with white knuckles and a bad attitude. It is possible for patience to curdle into pessimism when it takes a long time to see a good thing come. This is why Paul prays for the Colossians to have endurance and patience mixed with joy.

Yet how can we experience joy in the midst of the pain and waiting that so often accompany our ministry? Paul’s answer is clear: by giving thanks to the Father. In other words, gratitude is one indispensable key to a ministry that remains joyful through each season.

Of course, our track record with gratitude isn’t what makes us pleasing to the Father. Remember what Paul says: God has qualified us (Col. 1:12). By grace, He has made us acceptable and equipped to receive every spiritual blessing that has come and is coming to His people in Christ. We must therefore never treat gratitude as a prerequisite for acceptance with God, but as a consequence of that acceptance.

Cultivating Gratitude in Ministry

Knowing that God has thus qualified and accepted us, how does gratitude actually work? How do we cultivate it when our souls are weary and our circumstances are hard? Three observations can help God’s servants to cultivate gratitude:

1. Gratitude Is a Decision

This reality breaks the false assumption that joy and gratitude are strictly emotional. They can be, but they don’t have to start there. You don’t always have to feel grateful before you can be grateful. There is nothing inauthentic about choosing to give thanks even when your most prominent feeling is pain. Choosing to be thankful grounds our attitude and outlook in agency and responsibility, not mood-chasing.

2. Gratitude is Built Through Practice

Learn a habit of slowing down your mind, paying attention to the graces of life, and openly expressing gratitude with words of thanksgiving. Embracing these simple acts will build the habit and reflex of thanksgiving over grumbling. Christian philosopher Kent Dunnington elaborates, “Gratitude begins by acting and speaking. Acting and speaking, more than feeling, are the favorable responses called for by God’s gifts. Of course, feelings will show up too, but they ought not be the focus if we hope to grow in gratitude to God.”[2]

Human beings are designed such that the things we do have a way of doing something to us. Before gratitude can be spontaneous, it will need to be intentionally practiced through speech and action. No one learns to shoot an effective jump shot or play a difficult piece of music without practice. The same is true of gratitude.

The psalmists’ examples are often challenging for us. For instance, it says in Psalm 138, “I give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart.” This kind of wholehearted overflow can seem impossibly distant when you’re just beginning to practice. But the psalmists aren’t describing a feeling you must have before you start. They’re describing where practice is meant to lead.

3. Gratitude Can Affect Culture

A pastor or ministry leader who practices gratitude doesn’t only foster their own joy. They also influence the culture of their ministry environment. When an elder meeting or staff planning session is marked by genuine thanksgiving, it changes the vibe in the room. When your family sees you choosing gratitude even in the midst of difficulty, they learn that it’s possible to have joy so real that it transcends circumstances. Your grateful practice becomes permission and pattern for others.

In fact, it is the very pattern of Jesus himself. Our Savior had a perfect track record of grateful, joy-filled ministry. Though he was the Man of Sorrows, suffering deeply throughout His earthly days, He also decided to be grateful and expressed it outwardly (Matt. 11:25–26).

Even as the world rejected him and the horrors of crucifixion loomed ahead of him, Jesus modeled a ministry marked by genuine gratitude and joy. His human soul never once failed to overflow with thanksgiving. Part of following Jesus and ministering in His name means that our souls learn to overflow with gratitude by the power of His Spirit working within us.

What are you grateful for? Stop and ponder that question. Invite the Lord to commune with you as you ponder it. Write down whatever He brings to mind. Tell someone else—a friend, your spouse, a fellow church member—what you’re thankful for. Do whatever you can to more fully learn the way of gratitude, because, let’s face it, Christian ministry can be hard. And you need as much joy as you can get.

[1] See Stephen Witmer, In All Things Thee to See: A Devotional Guide to Selected Poems of George Herbert (Crossway, 2026), 76.

[2] Kent Dunnington, Gratitude to God: The Heart of Christian Formation (Baker, 2026), 203.



4 Questions to Ask When Counting the Cost of Following Jesus

By / Oct 15

Addressing the large crowds that followed Him, Jesus said, “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). Jesus reveals an important truth: Not everyone interested in Jesus has counted the cost of following Him. One must love Jesus above everything else in this life—including their own life. They must be willing to give up everything to be Jesus’ disciple.

Four Questions That Reveal Your Commitment to Christ

So, how do you know if you have counted the cost of following Jesus? According to Luke 14:33, the big question to answer is this: Are you willing to give up everything for Jesus?

Here are four diagnostic questions to help you answer for certain.

1. Are You Willing to Do Whatever God Asks You?

When you decide to follow Jesus, you give up your own life plans. You embrace the reality of Proverbs 16:9: “A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.”

God placed you on this earth for a purpose, and you must decide if you will join Him in His plans or try to plan your own way through this life.

2. Are You Willing to Go Wherever God Asks You?

God told Abraham to leave his homeland (Gen. 12:1–4), giving him a promise before revealing the destination. God called Abraham to leave what was familiar and trust Him with the destination.

We are often tempted to follow God on our terms, including the location of where we serve Him. However, that is not “renouncing all that he [or she] has.” Following Jesus means being willing to go wherever God leads, even if it is somewhere you had not imagined.

3. Are You Willing to Go Whenever God Asks You?

Abraham left his homeland when he was 75 years old. Even at an old age, Abraham was obedient to God.

We must be ready for—and obedient to—God’s timing, which is often different from ours. God calls us to faithful obedience, whether His timing feels immediate or delayed. Whether it is age, a financial situation, a relationship status, or a wrench thrown into your plans, you must be willing to go whenever God calls.

4. Are You Willing to Interact with Whomever God Asks You?

Let me state the obvious: This world is filled with a lot of people—a lot of sinful people (Rom. 3:23). I say this to remind you that what God asks of you will involve other people in one way or another, whether it is whom you are moving on from, working alongside, preaching to, counseling, or asking for support.

We can be tight-fisted about what God asks us to do, where He asks us to go, and when He asks us to act. However, when it comes to people, we are more tempted to be tight-fisted about how God wants to do things. But renouncing all that you have means giving up your terms of what interacting with other people looks like. It might involve someone you dislike, someone who has hurt you, someone you think is weird, awkward, or crazy. It may also involve someone you have not had contact with in a while, someone who is not a Christian, or someone you just met in the grocery store. Are you willing to be around whomever God calls you to?

Are you willing to renounce all that you have to follow Jesus? Another way to ask this is: Are you willing to let God determine the “how” of your life? You might be willing to do what God asks you to do, but are you willing to follow His leading in how it happens?

Following Jesus is not about adding Him to an already established life. It is surrendering every part of life to His lordship. The question is not whether Jesus fits into your plans, but whether your life belongs entirely to Him. Talking about Jesus, going to church, going to seminary, and leading Bible studies are not qualifications to be a follower of Jesus. Those who are willing to give up everything they have—including their own lives—are the ones who have counted the cost of following Jesus.

Have you counted the cost?



Ministry Leaders Need Garden Friends

By / Oct 13

“Jesus could have done it alone, but he didn’t.” Our conference speaker, Dave Busby, had my attention. “Jesus asked Peter, John, and James to go with him to pray in the garden of Gethsemane. How much more will you need ‘garden friends’ in your darkest hours of life and ministry?” A seed was planted that weekend.

Jesus grew that seed into a bounty of spiritual fruit in a small group of us who have practiced garden friendship for over thirty-five years. Together we have weathered the anguish of our own Gethsemanes: cancer, church conflict, care and loss of parents, raising children, strained marriages, depression, chronic pain, being fired, and a grease fire. Here’s what we’ve learned so far about being “garden friends.”

What’s Special about a Garden Friend?

A garden friend is not a “garden variety” friend. “Garden variety” means ordinary, everyday, or common. In Gethsemane, a “garden variety” friend just wouldn’t do. Jesus was looking for a special kind of friend for His specific time of need.

1. Garden Friends Are Often Only Found in Special Gardens

Gethsemane means “olive press” and is a walled garden on the slope of the Mount of Olives where olives were crushed under a stone pillar to extract their oil. Here, Jesus’ soul was crushed to the point of brow bleeding agony (Luke 22:44). Jesus invited three disciples to remain near Him in the press of His loving service to sinners. Jesus was in no ordinary garden. He needed not-so-ordinary friends. Ministry leaders, you also need garden friends in the press of ministry life.

2. Garden Friends Are Few in Number

Garden friendships require a more intentional investment of time and attention that only a few people can provide. Jesus asked nine disciples to sit close by, but only three were asked to remain closer to Him in this desperate hour (Mark 14:32–34).

Who are the few garden friends you can safely invite into your special seasons of sorrow and struggle? My wife and I have been held and helped by the handful of garden friends with whom we’ve walked for decades. Ask Jesus for a few garden friends and for help to be a garden friend to a few people.

What Does a Garden Friend Do?

A garden friend finds pathways into another person’s pain and remains there as his friend wrestles with the Father. Jesus showed his friends the paths into his pain by what he instructed them to do.

1. The Path of Presence

Jesus said, “Remain here” (Matt. 26:38; Mark 14:34). He wanted them with Him. I sat alone in the burn unit waiting room the day after 38% of my wife’s body was burned in a kitchen grease fire. My garden friend, Damon, unexpectedly walked into the room and embraced me. He got on a plane that morning to be with us. The taxi driver dropped him at the wrong hospital, so he walked five miles to be with us.

2. The Path of Paying Attention

Jesus said, “Watch”—stay awake and alert (Matt. 26:40–41; Mark 14:37–38). He wanted them to remain alert to their own weakness, His pain and prayers, and the threat of the enemy. Weekly phone calls with my garden friend, Steve—who pastors in a different state than me—help us both pay attention to our ministry hearts and hurts, wins and losses, and joys and fears. Steve’s insightful questions allow me to be known by another and help me see Jesus. He walks the “watch” path well.

3. The Path of Prayer

Jesus said, “Pray that you will not enter into temptation” (Luke 22:40). Our group was inspired by the movie image of Roman soldiers shouting, “Lock shields!” as they brought together their individual shields around and above them to form a tortoise-like shell of protection from the enemy. Whether in person, by call, or text, one of us will say “Lock shields!” and ask for prayer. Sometimes we simply send the shield emoji. We pray for each specific need, yes, but more that our hearts will not doubt our Father, deny Jesus, or disregard the Holy Spirit.

My wife and I treasure the well-worn paths between us and our garden friends.

If the Disciples Failed, Can I Be a Faithful Friend?

Jesus’ hand-picked garden friends failed! They fell asleep and fell short of walking those paths with Him into His pain. I, too, have a willing spirit but weak flesh (Matt. 26:41).

The good news is that Jesus is the first faithful Garden Friend. When His garden friends stumbled, Jesus walked those paths back to them. Jesus returned to be present with them even in their weakness. He paid attention to their willing spirits and weary bodies. Then He locked shields with the Father against the enemy in prayer. He was pressed, and love flowed. He submitted to all He would have to suffer to crush Satan, sin, suffering, and death under the power of His love for failing friends. He was the true Garden Friend in their place and for their sake.

He is that garden friend for you! Jesus showed up in the flesh as “God with us.” He pays attention to every hair on your head and hurt of your heart. On the cross, He prayed, “It is finished!” paying the price of your failure to be His friend. By His Spirit, He enables you to cry out, “Abba, Father!” (Rom. 8:15).

Jesus trail-blazed the paths that garden friends follow, and He has filled us with His Spirit. For almost four decades, our garden friend, Jesus, has shown up in the flesh for us through our friends and for them through us. What a friend we have in Jesus!

Pray that the Spirit will help you find and be garden friends. Through garden friendship, you’ll tangibly experience the comfort of Christ’s presence with you in your trials and temptations.



Why We Resent Other People’s Success

By / Oct 8

The Invitation of Envy

The Bible is not naïve about the brokenness of the world around us. It doesn’t describe life according to our wishful thinking. No, it describes and matches life as it truly is. Proverbs 1:10–19 is a clear example of this.

The passage is blunt, realistic, and disturbing because it shows how evil works—not only through obvious violence, but through social dynamics, recruiting, grievance, and even shared resentment.

I think that’s why the father in Proverbs doesn’t begin by talking to his son about abstract concepts. Instead, he tells him the truth about the kind of world he is entering. He points out that sinners entice and evil always comes with an inviting attitude. Indeed, there’s such a thing as a kind of “reverse-evangelism” where fools don’t just want to sin alone but invite others into their dead-end lives.

“Come with us,” they say. They embrace the language of this kind of shared destruction. The end of that path isn’t always literal murder. Sometimes, it’s deeper and hits closer to home than that.

As I was studying this passage, one writer asked this question: Are you happy when other people succeed, or are you happy when they get their comeuppance?[1]

That’s a good question. Asking ourselves a question like that will reveal a lot about where we are headed. That question reaches beyond typical gang violence and beyond the thinking that someone is going to rob my grandma if I’m not careful.

It reaches into the ordinary poison of the human heart. The text points to pride, envy, greed, jealousy, retaliation, and what is called a kind of “bloodlust” deep in every heart. Violence begins there. It happens before hands ever move or weapons are ever drawn.

The human heart lies in wait for blood.

That is why success can become the unpardonable crime in the eyes of rampant sinners and even in the eyes of people we know.

For example, we can start with the person who writes better, speaks better, works harder, or is more successful than us. To the envious heart, these people seem guilty of every imaginable offense. Its cry is, “Down with him! Get rid of their success at any cost!”

When Another Person’s Success Feels Like a Threat

Think of Cain. Cain could not bear Abel’s acceptance, so he murdered him. Saul could hardly endure David’s praise, so he tried to pin him against the wall. Joseph’s brothers could not tolerate the favor given to him, so they put him in a pit and sold him into slavery. Even the religious leaders grew jealous of Jesus and handed Him over to be crucified. It’s clear then, that human beings don’t simply dislike evil; they often hate excellence, fruitfulness, favor, and blessing in another because their giftings and successes expose what is lacking or disordered in themselves.

For the envious heart, another person’s success can feel like the greatest offense. So they recruit.

Envy Always Wants Company

Sin is always finding people who agree with it. I think this is one of its darkest features. A man rarely stays content with his private resentment and will begin to gather others. His thoughts and feelings creep into all his conversations. We find him becoming increasingly obsessed. He wants allies and company because his grievance enjoys fellowship.

“Throw in your lot among us,” the sinners say (Prov. 1:14). From there, we watch a cause—even a negative cause—provide a context people can belong to, and it feels good. More than that, it feels meaningful. But when men gather around grievance rather than Jesus, that is not community at all. It is what Ray Ortlund calls counterfeit community, even black-market relationships.[2]

This is everywhere we look. Bullies at school, office meetings, divisions in churches, neighbors endlessly gossiping, political movements fueled by retaliation, and the list goes on. These are all variations of the same old invitation:

“Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood.”

Sure, the methods changed and the vocabulary became more respectable, but the call is the same. We build communities that, in one way or another, slit each other’s throats and call it justice and discernment.

So the question is: Is there something better?

Christ Offers a Better Way

Yes, Proverbs gives the son another option. The offer of wisdom in verses 8–9 is beautiful. The father says that wisdom will become a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck. In other words, wisdom adorns a person’s life with true beauty. It makes a person attractive in the truest sense of the word. The answer in Proverbs is continually the same: Get wisdom.

Paul’s command to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” captures the same idea (Rom. 13:14). Wisdom is seen in reasonableness, honor, humility, and a life that is not oriented around itself. Wisdom is not just asking for a life of rule-keeping. Wisdom is found in Christ. Wisdom is the attractive glory of Christ beginning to show itself in the human heart.

And the final answer to our bloodlust is peace. Not the world’s peace, but the peace found in Christ. The gospel reminds us that God is not lying in wait for our blood. He gave His own son at the cross. When the peace of Christ rules the heart, a person no longer needs another man’s downfall to feel justified. He can become, by grace, a peacemaker rather than a rival, a life-giver rather than a destroyer.

Do you recognize this attitude in your own life? Do you see it in your friends or your church?

Instead of joining communities built on resentment, become the kind of person who delight in the grace of God wherever it appears. The wisdom of Christ frees us to rejoice in another person’s blessing because our hope is secure in Him.

May we heed the father’s instruction: “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent (Prov. 1:10).

[1] Ray Ortlund, Proverbs: Wisdom That Works (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 38–40.

[2] Ortlund, Proverbs, 38–40.



FTC Film Club

By / Oct 7

It’s possible Jared just wanted to trick Ronni into talking about UFO’s again, but on this new installment in the FTC Film Club feature, the guys discuss the artistic excellence and spiritual resonance of M. Night Shyamalan’s 2002 film, Signs.



Make the Most of Your Singleness: Living Faithfully as a Single Christian

By / Oct 6

If you knew today that you were going to be single for the rest of your life, how would you begin serving God?

Perhaps this is the first time you have considered the possibility that you may be single for the rest of your life. This should prompt you to reflect on your own devotion to the Lord. Since God knows what He has planned for your life, you can devote yourself fully to Him in your present season and trust Him to orchestrate the details of your future.

Do not wait to begin serving God wholeheartedly until you are married. Rest in God’s sovereignty knowing that if He has called you to marriage, He will make it happen. As you trust God, I want to share a few reflections to help you maximize your singleness for His glory (Col. 3:23).

1. The Desire to Marry Is Good.

The desire to be married is a God-given one. Marriage can be a beautiful picture of the gospel, as shown in Paul’s instructions to the Christians at Ephesus about a God-honoring marriage (Eph. 5:22–33). The desire to be married is not sinful; rather, the New Testament shows that Paul gives God-honoring counsel to both single and married Christians. Therefore, you should take that desire to God in prayer often.

The Apostle Paul also acknowledges that some Christians will strongly desire marriage. Addressing Christians who are single, the Apostle Paul writes, “I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am. But if they do not have self-control, they should marry, since it is better to marry than to burn with desire” (1 Cor. 7:8–9). Paul recognizes that marriage is a God-honoring path for those who desire it. Therefore, if you desire marriage, bring that desire to God in prayer and trust Him with His timing and purposes.

2. Marriage Can Be Idolized.

While marriage has been created by God, it can become an idol in your life.  If that desire is not held prayerfully with open hands, it can grow into an idol, pushing God from the primary place in your heart. Paul calls out this temptation in the church at Corinth, “I want you to be without concerns. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord. But the married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife—and his interests are divided” (1 Cor. 7:32–34a). The demands of marriage and family bring additional responsibilities that can divide your attention in ways single believers do not experience.

This is why I challenge you to think about how you would live your life if marriage was not in the picture for you. Marriage is not meant to satisfy the God-sized void in your life. The fifth-century Christian theologian St. Augustine famously remarked, “You made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.”[1]

If you desire to get married, know that your future husband or wife will not satisfy you because only God can. While marriage is created by God, it is the union of two imperfect people. Do not idolize marriage; instead, be fully devoted to God in your singleness because this life is all about glorifying Him, not worshipping a spouse or expecting them to do what only God can.

3. Singleness Is a Gift from God.

Lastly, considering what has been said, I am not advocating that marriage should be dreaded. I simply want to draw out Paul’s point that singleness is a gift in the way that marriage is a gift. Paul says, “Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each has his own gift from God, one in this way, and another in that.” (1 Cor. 7:7; emphasis added).

Paul wishes that all were single like he is, but he recognizes that God has given the gift of marriage to some and the gift of being single to others. Marriage brings unique blessings, but it also brings unique responsibilities and challenges that single believers do not bear. Singleness is a gift because you can be fully devoted to God without the distractions of marriage and family life.

I want to ask you one more time: If you knew today that you were going to be single for the rest of your life, how would you begin serving God?

Make the most of your singleness by serving God with the same wholehearted devotion you would have if you knew you would remain single for the rest of your life. You have the gift of serving God with an undistracted devotion. There are so many ways to steward this gift well. Go on mission trips. Serve in your local church. Start a discipleship group. Find a godly mentor. Read good books. Write. Prioritize the spiritual disciplines.

This life is all about worshipping Him, so how will you steward the season He has given you? Don’t let your wishes about being married get in the way of your full devotion to God. And if God sees it fit to bring a companion alongside you to run the race set before you, trust in His sovereignty to work it out. Marriage, too, is a good gift.

[1] Augustine, Confessions, trans. R. S. Pine-Coffin (London: Penguin, 1961), 21.



Why Biblical Counseling Can’t Be Neutral

By / Oct 5

Restoring the Antithesis

The principle of the antithesis can be described in two ways. First, it is the fundamental opposition between the believer and unbeliever related to our spiritual state (Gen. 3:15; Matt. 6:24; Rom. 8:5–9).[1] Believers and unbelievers live in the same reality of God’s created world, but every person is either spiritually dead in sin in Adam or united by faith and given new life in Christ (Rom. 5:12–21)[2]. For instance, the sheep and goats are together (Matt. 25:31–46). The wheat and weeds grow together (Matt. 13:24–43). Nevertheless, this temporary togetherness will end when the believer and unbeliever are finally separated at the end of the age. For now, both live in God’s created world but are spiritually at odds with each other. While we share workplaces, live in the same neighborhoods, drive the same streets, and shop at the same grocery stores, the difference between Christians and non-Christians is no less than between light and darkness (1 John 1:5–10).[3]

Second, the antithesis is the fundamental opposition between the believer and unbeliever related to our epistemological commitments (Eph. 4:17–18).[4] As John Frame writes, it is “the opposition between Christian and non-Christian thought.”[5] We observe the same world, but we have drastically different starting points and opposing interpretations. This contrast is between rival worldviews. Every worldview begins with its own set of first principles. It is a frame of reference that orients and directs our thinking. It is directly related to our spiritual state. For example, a humanistic psychologist assumes that man is by nature good, growth-oriented, and will thrive if given the right conditions. These are worldview commitments that directly oppose a biblical view of man as a sinner in need of divine redemption. The fall plunged man into a sea of distortion, folly, and intellectual rebellion (1 Tim. 6:5). Sin has cast a thick darkness over the unbelieving mind. When consistent, the unbeliever will express futility in thinking from a spiritually darkened heart (Rom. 1:21–28). By default, he interprets and responds to the facts around him through the lens of unbelief. In contrast, believers have the mind of Christ and, when consistent, interpret the world according to God’s Word (1 Cor. 2:14–16). In either case, human reason is never spiritually neutral.

This spiritual and epistemological conflict shows up in systems of thought. For this reason, a complete contrast must be maintained between believing and unbelieving systems of thought (Col. 2:6–8).[6] God’s wisdom and ways are categorically opposed to the wisdom and ways of the world (Job 28:12–28; Prov. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:21, 25–31; 2:14; James 3:13–18).[7]

Beginning in the garden of Eden, there have been two opposing counsels—the counsel of God and the counsel of the evil one (Gen. 1–3). The two opposing counsels are presented in Psalm 1:1–2: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Adams comments, “The Psalms, in particular, from the first Psalm on, set up the antithesis between the two ways and the two kinds of people who walk on them. It is not right for Christians, therefore, to become enamored with the ways of the world. From the garden of Eden, it has always been a choice between God’s Word and the devil’s, between the way of life and the way of death.”[8]

Counseling and the Antithesis

What does the principle of the antithesis have to do with counseling? As Adams developed biblical counseling, he accepted Van Til’s claim that all unbelieving systems of thought are opposed to biblical thinking. In his words, he aimed “to expose sharply the antitheses that exist [between Christianity and the major schools of counseling]. For too long biblical presuppositions and methodology either have been ignored or blurred by eclecticism.”[9] For this reason, the antithesis serves as a foundational principle of the biblical counseling movement. Using Van Til’s language, Adams presents, “In God’s world, all men are related to him as covenant breakers or covenant keepers (in Christ). The judgments of unbelievers, therefore, are arrived at and presented from a point of view which attempts to divorce itself from God.”[10]

Powlison, too, acknowledges that man is “either a covenant-breaker bedewed with common grace, or a covenant keeper compromised by indwelling sin and prone to suffer.”[11] In either case, a theorist or counselee’s spiritual state will fundamentally determine his interpretive framework. For this reason, he prioritizes “discerning the antithesis between secularism and biblical truth.”[12] Such discernment must be applied both when evaluating other counseling systems and working with specific counselees. A systematic, biblical approach to counseling will oppose secular counseling systems over issues such as: (1) the epistemological standard for truth and authority, (2) the jurisdictional standard for who has the right to help, and (3) the remedial resources to diagnose and cure souls effectively.[13] Powlison presented at least these three areas of sharp contrast and fundamental disagreement.

On this account, the clash is over basic issues such as the nature of knowledge, what it means to be human, the nature of people’s problems, who is authorized to help troubled people, and what resources can bring true remedy. Powlison believed the modern psychologies launched a self-conscious, intentional attack against Christianity.[14] As such, there can be no peace between biblical Christianity and the modern therapies. Through Word-based ministry, biblical counselors must make it our business to take every system of thought captive to obey Christ by destroying the competing arguments and lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:4–6).

[1] Van Til used the term “absolute ethical antithesis.” Cornelius Van Til, An Introduction to Systematic Theology: Prolegomena and the Doctrines of Revelation, Scripture, and God, ed. William Edgar, 2nd ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2007), 64. James Anderson uses the term “spiritual orientation.” James N. Anderson, “Presuppositional Apologetics,” in Understanding Christian Apologetics: Five Methods for Defending the Faith, ed. Timothy Paul Jones (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2025), 95, Kindle. Oliphint proposes the term “covenantal” in place of “ethical.” K. Scott Oliphint, Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 47–67, Kindle. In this sense, then, the antithesis can be described as ethical, spiritual, or covenantal.

[2] Scott Oliphint argues, “An absolute ethical antithesis is one in which there are not two worlds but two kinds of people in one world; two activities—in principle—that are associated with these people. To use the language of Reformed theology, there is a covenantal antithesis between believer and unbeliever. All people are either in Adam or in Christ. These are the two, and only two, covenantal representatives whom God has appointed.”

[3] According to James Anderson, “This is a categorical difference, not merely one of degree.” James N. Anderson, “Evangelizing Fallen People: Apologetics and the Doctrine of Sin,” in Ruined Sinners to Reclaim: Human Corruption in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective, ed. David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2024), 858.

[4] James Anderson explains, “A biblical epistemology should also recognize the fundamental antithesis between Christian thought and non-Christian thought—that is, between believers and unbelievers with respect to their intellectual orientation and outlook.” Anderson, “Presuppositional Apologetics,” 108, Kindle.

[5] John M. Frame, Apologetics: A Justification of Christian Belief, ed. Joseph E. Torres, 2nd ed. (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2015), 289.

[6] Greg Bahnsen clarifies, “Van Til held that there are no main points, systematically basic principles, or central truths in philosophy where the disagreement between the believer and the unbeliever will not be seen.” As such, he argues, “The antithesis between the thinking of the believer and the thinking of the unbeliever must be systemic and total.” Greg L. Bahnsen, Van Til’s Apologetic: Readings and Analysis (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1998), 273–74.

[7] James Anderson asserts, “Paul draws a sharp contrast between the ‘wisdom of God’ revealed in Christ and the ‘wisdom of the world’ and correlatively between the ‘spiritual person’ and the ‘natural person.’” Anderson, “Presuppositional Apologetics,” 108.

[8] Jay E. Adams, Teaching to Observe: The Counselor as Teacher (Cordova, TN: Institute for Nouthetic Studies, 2020), 109, Logos Bible Software.

[9] Jay E. Adams, Shepherding God’s Flock: A Handbook on Pastoral Ministry, Counseling, and Leadership (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1974), 166, Kindle.

[10] Jay E. Adams, Competent to Counsel: Introduction to Nouthetic Counseling, The Jay Adams Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1970), 269.

[11] David Powlison, “Frame’s Ethics: Working the Implications for Pastoral Care,” in Speaking the Truth in Love: The Theology of John M. Frame, ed. John J. Hughes (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009), 760.

[12] Powlison, “Does Biblical Counseling Really Work?,” 64.

[13] David Powlison, “Modern Therapies and the Church’s Faith,” Journal of Biblical Counseling 15, no. 1 (Fall 1996): 34.

[14] Powlison, “Modern Therapies and the Church’s Faith,” 32.