What if your heart is no longer 'prone to wander?' What if God is more interested in releasing a noble goodness He's already placed within you, rather than pressuring you to be more 'holy?' Discover the book by Jim Robbins.
IDENTITY REFORMATION - Living our new identity is a new Facebook Page I created to showcase authors/bloggers/publishers who support the good and noble heart message. Here you will find resources and content from people like:
Current Contributors: Jim Robbins, Gary Barkalow, Kevin Miles, Joel Brueseke, Bob Regnerus, Matt Gillogly, Andrew Farley.
God is not nearly as interested in pointing out our sin as we think he is. Of course he may occassionaly have to redirect us or expose something unhealthy.
However, there is a difference between accusation and conviction. Accusation assumes the Christian’s very heart is still misguided and corrupted by bad motives. Accusation is a destructive posture that proceeds from Old Covenant thinking: “You’re sinning because you really are that kind of person.”
The opposite of accusation is conviction. Conviction is exposure without condemnation: “Yes, I know you did that, but I am not ashamed of you or disappointed in you. You will always be my delight.”
God’s convicting work is now embedded within a wholly new set of assumptions about us. God assumes there is a new vitality and purity about us, because he gave us his own goodness-of-heart by disabling our corrupt and former nature [heart] and replacing what was diseased with the very goodness of Jesus. We now live with hearts fully-alive, knowing that goodness is now our first nature.
Therefore, whenever God convicts, he exposes something that prevents us from experiencing the thrill of our new regal goodness.
You can grow up under 'Christian' parents, in a household devoted to Scripture and faithful church attendance, and still develop a debilitating sense of shame. As a child, your motives and actions will be nitpicked with the sharp stick of displeasure. Your motives and behavior will be picked apart with forensic and relentless scrutiny by your parents. You'll conclude that you are not nor ever will be fully-pleasing to somebody -- your family or to God.
And the parent does this because they believe it is an act of love.
I don't doubt these Christian parents deeply love their children. I've had to take a close look at my own approach to my children. We simply have been given a wrong set of assumptions about our kids [and our own] hearts.
So here's a better set of assumptions you can have about your children who know Christ:
1. They do not have a rebellious nature any longer.
2. They are not setting out to make your life difficult: There's always something going on underneath the "bad behavior." Is it fear? Hurt? Exhaustion? Do they feel harassed by constant nitpicking?
3. They need to know Jesus has made their hearts genuinely good.
4. They need to know that their heart matters more than their behavior.
5. They need to know that your primary focus is not on their sin or misbehavior: This is not a fault-finding expedition. Even if their actions need to be exposed because they are dangerous or violate relationship, our highest intent is to draw out the power and resources of their new hearts. Not every mistake or fault needs to be pointed out.
You can move towards your children with these assumptions because you have a good and noble heart. You already want to love them in this new way.
John Lynch is a blast. He is the co-author of the popular books, Bo's Cafe and TrueFaced. John and I talked about allowing our 'new nature to come out and play' -- rather than mistrusting our hearts, or assuming our first nature is sin.
Imagine a community that really believes that the heart of every believer is good and noble, and actually lives from that new identity: recognizing the mess, but knowing that the mess is not our identity. Imagine that kind of safe place. .................................................................................................................... Photo: John Lynch, co-author of TrueFaced, and Bo's Cafe.
............................................................ Jim's podcasts on iTunes.
Update on Friday, October 22, 2010 at 2:35PM by
Jim Robbins
"Our goal should be to have kids experience success and failure as information rather than as reward and punishment." -- Gerome Bruner, well-known educator
What if this is what God is after...with you?
What if this is what parenting is all about?
If there really is 'no condemnation for those who are in Christ" then perhaps God's response to us during failure and sin is to re-direct us.
What if God's intent is actually rescue and redirection?
Sherpa carrying load photo: Courtesy of PaulPrescott: paulprescott.com/
Update on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 4:18PM by
Jim Robbins
Note: Once you download the e-book, or open it in your reader, the clarity improves quite a bit. What you see on screen here is the preview version, which lacks a bit of sharpness.
The files and artwork have been sent off to the CD duplicator. The audio book CD sets should be shipping to me at the end of the week, and I'll make them available on the blog next week. [CD sets and MP3 download.]
"Christianity is not about how good we are, but how good God is."
Are we sure about that? [Even raising the question sounds heretical, doesn't it?] As my friend Mike cautions, "Don't poke the bear..." But what if the answer to the question is: It depends on who the "we" is, in that statement.
Part of the problem with preaching today is that it often has to be addressed to a large, diverse crowd, some of whom buy into the teaching of Jesus and some who are cautiously investigating. The speaker/preacher ends up delivering a broad, cast-a-wide-net message that isn't oriented to any particular segment of the crowd [and ends up confusing everybody], or ends up covertly addressing the "unbeliever" in an attempt to evangelize them, though he appears to be addressing everybody. [I used to be in that very position, so I understand the complexities.]
However, to preach or teach and not be clear with the crowd exactly to whom you are speaking [especially when making a statement like the one above] can have a bewildering and injurious effect.
For example, the above claim that: "Christianity is not about how good we are, but about how good God is" is true, but requires a clear caveat. If you're a Christian who hears that statement, you might assume that your heart [your true nature] remains selfish and sinful --because it's not about "how good we are," according to that statement.
This would in fact, be untrue and unbiblical for the Christian to believe. The idea that the human heart is desperately wicked is true -- prior to a person entering the 'in-Christ' life. After Jesus enters the person, he or she has a supernaturally and thoroughly-pure heart [true nature]. This is the classic notion of regeneration.
You can image the confusion many Christians have felt when hearing statements that are non-specific and unclarified like this. The affect of such an unthoughtul approach to preaching (and a misunderstanding of Jesus' rescuing of the heart] leaves many who are technically free, but functionally bound, like Lazarus: Invited into life, but unable to live freely, under the 'easy yoke.' They don't know they've been made radically good; and their spirits break under the weight of poor preaching.
Can you think of other apparently 'Christian' statements that really need clarifying and a deeper undertanding?
................................................................ Related post:
Update on Monday, July 12, 2010 at 3:05PM by
Jim Robbins
If someone were to read only this post and be unaware of my full perspective, they could conclude that I think we ought to condemn the person who has yet to follow Christ, or that Jesus himself approaches people through condemnation.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus didn't approach people this way, nor do I. However, neither can we ignore the conclusion that the heart [prior to Christ's rescuing work] is just as scripture describes -- in ruins, bent inward, unable to love and receive at the level Jesus loves and receives. [ -- what Scripture describes as 'deceitfully wicked.'] As an aside, "deceitfully wicked" doesn't have to look like rape or genocide. It's often much more subtle. -- Remember, Jesus' indictment of the Pharisees is that their righteousness didn't go far enough.]
Just because we want to think all people are basically good [whether Christian or not] doesn't make it so. It's easy to understand how we, in our attempt to make sense of troubling issues, can draw conclusions based upon what we wish was true. But this doesn't get us closer to what is real.
“For God is not merely mending, not simply restoring a status quo. Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity.” – C.S. Lewis
Here's the key part of that quote: "something more glorious than unfallen humanity." At what point in history did we have unfallen, untarnished humanity? Of course we have to go way back to Adam and Eve. Is it possible that we today, as restored by Jesus work, have a capacity that Adam and Eve did not -- even in their unblemished and shame-less state, prior to their Fall?
So how can you have people that are better than Adam and Eve began as? Well, we can't say that these "more glorious" ones Lewis is talking about would never sin like Adam and Eve; because even in our redeemed state as Christ-followers, we may still sin.
We also can't say that we now have God at our side to help us, for they enjoyed the tangible presence of God as well.
So what's our advantage over our unfallen Parents?
Alongside vs. Inside: While God may have walked alongside Adam and Eve in the Garden, he now moves inside us - on a permanent basis; inextricably bound to our bodies, hearts, minds and souls. He has enmeshed and entangled himself in us, through the restoring work of Jesus for us. We are now flesh of his flesh and he flesh of our flesh, spirit of our spirit, mind of our mind.
"Christ in you, the hope of glory" is not a description of the future alone: it is who you are right now.
What is better about this inside-you, God-bound-to-you, gift we were given?
Because Jesus cannot die, you cannot die.
What Jesus knows about living well, you can know as well.
Jesus' capacity for living well is yours now.
Do you see any other ways in which we in Christ are "more glorious" than unfallen Adam and Eve? (Leave your comments.)
I'll tell you why I raise the question: For many in the grace movement (of which I consider myself a part), there is the subtle transition away from the distinctive work of Christ for us (and the radical problem of personal evil it solves) towards a secular-humanism with a nod to Jesus, (but a revised Jesus.) This new 'grace' is a constraint-free, fully-permissive grace (but not 'profitable') that permits the adherent to believe whatever suits him or her.
This revised grace flows from a reconstructed version of Scripture that no longer values absolutes: Everything is now fluid and flexible. This has happened in large part because of postmodernism's affect upon the Church, as much as anywhere else. It has resulted in the deconstruction of everything, leaving many in the Church to develop their own stories piecemeal, and according to their own tastes...and wounds. (Our unhealed wounds lead us far more than we know.)
This new grace is also a reaction to the failures of institutional ideals (and there are many). I myself was deeply wounded by the institutionalized version of the 'gospel.' In many ways, an initial polarization against the things that once bound us is completely normal....as long as we don't stay there. Healthy development means continuously reassessing our current position so that we are lead to truer and deeper freedom in Christ.
Grace is a great thing, but it is not license to construct our own versions of the Gospel. I'm not even sure you need Jesus with this new and revised grace, nor do you need the testimony about him and his cure for the human condition as described in the scriptures. Many no longer even hold the Scriptures as the final authority against which all other voices are measured. (God does speak to our hearts outside of Scripture, but never in contradiction to it. So how do you evaluate what you hear if you've discarded the template altogether?)
Secular humanism, under the guise of 'grace' doesn't lead us into reality any better than the storylines we followed before we met Christ; for it becomes unhinged from the actual person and restoring work of the actual Jesus. This altered humanistic distortion of grace reconstructs the Gospel, leaving each of its adherents coccooned in their private plot-lines and fragmented narratives. How is that helpful?
Have you seen this dynamic at work? Do you agree, disagree?
Topic: "Striving vs. Action." When things aren't moving fast enough for us, how do we relate to God when we're feeling the pressure to make things happen? This was a fun interview. Thanks to Matthew Gillogly and Bob Regnerus, hosts of the Renegade Christian Entrepreneurs podcast for having me as their guest today.
Do you want to see how your answers compared to other people's? I've included the percentages below of those who answered 'false' and 'true' for each question.
1. Grace simply means that you are forgiven. False (84.4%) True (15.6%)
Answer: False. Grace does include forgiveness; but must also include a restored heart. Otherwise, we have stunted grace: much like a prisoner who is pardonned and his debt paid; yet the prisoner remains the same person who committed the crime -- unable to relate well and to live well. He's technically free, yet functionally bound. Unless he's transformed, his pardon won't help him.
Grace requires restoration. That's the offer of Jesus. Your heart was restored (the old was removed and a new one put in its place) when you said 'yes' to him. ..............................................................
2. God the Father looks at me through 'Jesus glasses,' so that he only sees Jesus and not my sin.False (68.8%) True (34.4%)
Answer: False. Because of Jesus' work on the cross and resurrection, your heart (true self) is absolutely pure. The old was removed. (Because of the flesh, you can still sin -- but that's not who you really are any longer.)
God can look directly upon you - without Jesus glasses - because you're actually good and holy now, not simply 'positionally' holy. God is not pretending. ..............................................................
3. My heart (my true nature) is totally clean right now. False (6.5%) True (93.5%)
Answer: True. Jesus gives us nothing less than his own heart and goodness. Your true nature is his nature. You now want and have the capacity to love as he did.
4. There's a mix of good and bad in my heart now -- like two dogs fighting for dominance.False (81.3%) True (18.8%)
Answer: False. Though the flesh remains, it is no longer you. It is like a thorn lodged in your body - it can cause pain, but it isn't actually you. You no longer have a divided heart. Your heart and flesh are diffferent things: The heart is the real you.
5. Any good in me is because Jesus now lives in me. False (56.3%) True (46.9%)
Answer: False. This might surprise many of you. It is certainly true that Jesus lives in you. However, he doesn't need to stand between you and the Father (like Jesus glasses). You are actually good now. Today. He made you so by giving you his own goodness.
Any goodness in you is now your goodness - coming from the new heart Jesus gave you. He certainly is the source of that goodness; but that purity is now your own. It is borrowed, but nevertheless your own. His righteousness has become your righteousness: It's the result of your union with him through his work.
6. Discipleship is about taking on the behavior and habits of Jesus. False (65.6%) True (34.4%)
Answer: False. Discipleship is cooperating with the Holy Spirit as he strengthens and releases the new desires and goodness of your new heart. Habits flow from heart. Otherwise we end up with behavior-management.
7. I grow more like Christ only because I am accepted by God. False (53.1%) True (46.9%)
Answer: False. This is also surprising to many.
Acceptance alone will not restore a person. Only restoration restores. We are indeed fully accepted by God; yet we needed something more -- a new life and power to love well. Otherwise, what you have is a fully-accepted dead person: much like pardonning and accepting a corpse. The corpse needs life.
I've put together a quick quiz to find out what people know (or what they are convinced they know about 'grace.') I've used SurveyMonkey.com to create this short quiz.
The answers to the quiz may be quite surprising to some - even for those who have been walking in grace for years.
The quiz is short - only seven true/false questions.
I'll be revealing the answers this weekend here on the blog.
Law enforcement and the military have a term for an inappropriate or mistaken response that was mislearned during training, a behavioral script that gets laid down during the officer's training that would clearly not be helpful in a real situation, or perhaps even yield a deadly result. The term is "training scar."
David Grossman, in his book, On Combat, describes an officer-in-training who learned how to grab a gun out of a would-be criminal's hand. During practice, the officer would grab a gun from a colleague, then give it back to him in order to rehearse it again. During a real confrontation with an assailant, the officer surprisingly grabbed the gun from the man's hand, then gave it right back to him. Fortunately, the officer's partner dispatched his own weapon and shot the attacker. The officer who had learned an inappropriate response during training -- giving the gun back -- nearly cost someone's life. That's a training scar.
The Church today is functioning with numerous training scars, or behavioral scripts that are not serving us well. These scripted beliefs are wreaking havoc on The Body. These rehearsed patterns of thought are perhaps even neurologically wired into our brains in ways that lock the spirit and body (Spirit and Body) into dis-ease. The training scar I'm particularly concerned about is our continuing belief that the human heart remains dark, inwardly bent and sinful even after Christ has given the Christian a new heart, goodness and identity at their conversion.
We have remained in the Old Covenant approach to relating, refusing to pass over into the New. Listen to most sermons on any given weekend, and you'll discover the following ingrained script: "Your heart is still selfish and prone to wander. Kill you heart and call that 'holiness.' It's our job to help you behave more like a Christian so that you can do more, be more committed, and stop being so spiritually inept. You don't really want to follow God, so we'll pressure you into becoming like him."
The script of "New creation in Christ, but bad heart, still" is the pervasive training scar of the day. It is not the Gospel. And the result to the unwitting Christian is this wound: "You're not pleasing to me. Try harder." ---------------------------------
For more on behavior scripts, see Laurence Gonzales' books, Deep Survival and Everyday Survival. "Training scar" gun story, from Everyday Survival.
A Mountain Search and Rescue unit gets a call that a climber has fallen on Mt. Hood, near Portland Oregon. The climber's pick axe failed to grab when he attempted to lodge it into a unstable pocket of ice. There was nothing to stop his fall. Other climbers found the body, mangled and barely alive, one-thousand feet down from where he started to slide.
When the mountain rescue unit got there, multiple bones were shattered, including the spine, and the climber was bleeding from his ears and nose. Rescue workers knelt near the bleeding body and spoke reassuringly to it: "We accept you."
And then they did nothing else. To comfort the climber, they again offered, "We accept you. You are loved and safe now." But nothing else was done - no attempt to discern the man's vitals or assess his awareness of surroundings. No attempt to stabilize and transport the body.
Only, "You are loved and accepted. It's o.k. now."
.................................................................................................. O.k., so I made up the story to demonstrate something. It is not enough for Christians to see themselves as merely loved and accepted by God's grace. That's a beautiful thing; but it won't restore a person or give them back the capacity to live well -- There was great damage that needed healing.
God is smarter than that. He restores us by equipping us with a new and noble heart so that we can relate well, live well, and enjoy this new grace we've been given. Anything less would be as cruel as the clearly shallow and insufficient 'hope' the mountain rescue unit offered the dying climber.
What have you been taught about 'grace' and 'acceptance.' Was it enough?
One of the members of The Good and Noble Heart community I moderate asked a great question. The core of her question goes to real the offer of Jesus. Here's her question:
What exactly did Jesus accomplish for us? I really believe that He brought us to a place of being able to be with the Father, unrestricted and free. That's how I life my everyday life with Him. But I really don't know how to see myself...am I really good now and therefore can go to the Father, or still the same old me, but completely accepted through Christ's dying on the cross, and that being accepted as I am gives me the hope and strength to be able then to change.
Her confusion is understandable and common to many Christians: Am I merely accepted by Jesus (which is a beautiful thing in itself) but am still essentially the same person I was before I met him; or did he do something to me -- making me truly good and pure of heart?
The trouble with seeing ourselves as only forgiven and accepted is that is doesn't solve the root problem -- a diseased and fatally-incapacitated heart. If Jesus were to 'accept' us without giving us the capacity to love and relate well to him, we would not be able to live or love as he did -- unable to fulfill the command to "love God with all your heart...." It would be a cruel and unfair expectation on God's part.
Further, we would be debilitatated and diminished in our capacity to love others: "Love one another as I have loved you." You can't love like Jesus unless you have his heart. And that's exactly why his offer includes acceptance ... and a gloriously new heart.
The salvation Jesus offers is a rescue of the heart. It has to be. There is no loving and living well without a reborn, alive and supernaturally-vibrant heart. ...................................................................................................
Is this understanding of the Gospel what you were taught?
Joel Brueseke, who hosts the Growing in Grace Together podcast, is a good friend and a guy who really gets the good and noble heart. Joel interviewed me today for a two-part series. Here is part one.
Listen in for some great conversation about why Christians tend to walk around in guilt and shame, and why there seems to be such a focus in the church on behavior management and sin management - and how living with a New Covenant mentality rather than an Old Covenant mentality, as well as a proper view of the new heart, will overcome all of that.
Update on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 2:03PM by
Jim Robbins
................................................................................................................................ All of my podcasts are also available on iTunes. Here's the link:
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 3:25PM 
IDENTITY REFORMATION - Living our new identity is a new Facebook Page I created to showcase authors/bloggers/publishers who support the good and noble heart message. Here you will find resources and content from people like:
