I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3 John 1:4

God gives his people so many reasons to celebrate. We rejoice in our salvation, the blessings of being part of God’s family, the eternal life we have in Christ. We can even find joy in our trials knowing what God is accomplishing in us through them. What brings you the greatest joy as a child of God? The apostle John writes, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

When John writes of “my children” he does not mean, of course, his physical relations. They were his “beloved children” in the spiritual sense, children in the faith (also Paul in 1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4). John, the last living apostle, wrote his three letters later in life. Therefore, he self-consciously strikes a paternal tone throughout, describing the recipients of his letters as “my little children” with regularity. These were Christians John knew well. He had taught them, labored with them, prayed for them. Therefore, the apostle took special joy in seeing this new generation of Christians flourish and grow strong in the faith as they continued “walking in the truth.”

When Simon and Nora were around three or four years old, Rachael and I would take them to the mall on rainy days where there was an indoor playground. It was bedlam when crowded. But everything was made of squishy foam so it was a safe place for them to get their wiggles out. On one crowded day there was a gaggle of older kids running hither and thither heedlessly knocking down toddlers in their wake like bowling pins. One such casualty began to cry and Simon walked over, helped him up, and dusted him off. Seeing our son act with such compassion made us beam with joy! This feeling is, in essence, what John is talking about.

This great joy, however, is only given to those Christians who are actively helping others grow, first by initially bringing them to faith in evangelism, then continuing to help ground them in the teaching of Christ and sticking with them as they mature in the faith. After long months and years of bible study, many earnest prayers, patient evenings talking through issues, countless deeds of service and other loving relational investments—in other words, after planting the seed of God’s word and watering the soil of the heart—we start to see the growth that only God can provide (1 Cor. 3:5-9).

All boasting, then, is excluded in such work because, after all, “it is God who works in [us], both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13) and we struggle “with all his energy that he powerfully works within [us]” (Col. 1:29). It is the simple, pure, profound joy of the farmer who toils in tears but perseveres (Psa. 126:6). There is nothing quite like seeing those we love “walking in the truth.” It refreshes our hearts in the Lord (Philemon 1:20).

However, this precious growth is constantly threatened by the enemy and must be protected at all cost. The faith of new Christians is fragile and easily shaken. So we must not be careless in our speech or actions toward them. The Lord holds those who cause these “little ones… to sin” accountable (Mk. 9:42). Therefore, we must “take care how [we] build upon” the foundation of another’s work lest we be found destroying God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:10-17). How sad when one who has not invested in another’s growth discourages them in tactless conversation! But how refreshing when they contribute to that growth by building them up!

In 3 John 1:4, we find both encouragement and warning. First, great joy is found in witnessing the spiritual growth and constancy of those we have labored to bring to faith. How are you helping others “walk in the truth”? Second, we must be careful never to jeopardize that spiritual growth through insensitivity. “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Rom. 15:2)

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

A creed is a formal statement that summarizes the essence of one’s religious beliefs. The Nicene Creed and Apostles’ Creed are popular examples. Usually, each line in the creed is followed by a Scriptural citation that justifies the statement. People swear by a creed to show their loyalty to what the creed affirms. But ought Christians to use creeds? One obvious problem with creedal formulas is that they may contain error. But even if all the statements in a creed agree with Scripture there are other reasons why we should avoid them.

First, creeds prevent personal discovery. When the Bereans heard Paul preach “they examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) This is the responsibility of each individual (2 Tim. 2:15). We cannot outsource the work of Bible study to anyone else because we have to know why we believe what we believe and be able to support our convictions with God’s word. We must test each teaching by holding it up to the divine standard of God’s word (1 Thess. 5:19-22; 1 Jn. 4:1). Creeds short-circuit the vital process of personal discovery. In our faith, just like in Math class, we must ‘show our work.’ That is, we must be able to support our convictions with reasoned arguments from the Bible to show how we reached our conclusion. Accepting the pre-packaged truth-claims in creeds may lead to intellectual laziness and blind indoctrination further down the road.

Second, creeds deny divine authority. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul claims that Scripture comes from God and is sufficient to equip us for every good work. If there is something we need to know to live the way God intends, we can find it in the Bible (2 Pet. 1:3). If Scripture is all we need, creeds are supplementary at best and subversive at worst. Creeds are tidy statements of belief, the kind the authors of the New Testament are notoriously reluctant to give us. The Bible isn’t written in bullet-points but rather forces us to study the context carefully, string ideas together, and draw the right conclusions. Consider the topic of salvation. There are many passages that deal with it. Therefore, to understand salvation requires us to consider each passage in light of the others. Only those who put forth this effort can respond appropriately.

Third, creeds fix favored interpretations. We have all changed our convictions about a passage or an idea. Honesty and humility demand that there is no teaching in Scripture that does not merit further study. This is not to say God’s will is indiscernible (Eph. 5:17) but is to admit our limitations and fallibility. No Christian has everything figured out; we all have room to grow and mature. But a creedal statement is set in stone, as it were. Once an interpretation makes it into a creed then it is as if the matter has been settled and the issue is now beyond the reach of further study because it has been tested and found to be true. The implication is that you don’t have to test it, you just have to believe it. Therefore, creeds fix favored interpretations. But what if those interpretations are wrong?

Finally, creeds contradict Christ’s attitude. Jesus believed in the absolute authority of God’s word (Mt. 5:17-20) and regularly opposed the religious establishment of his day, contradicting and correcting the accepted rabbinical interpretations of the Law. In Matthew 5:21-48, Jesus gives six antithetical statements which all begin the same way: “you have heard that it was said… but I say to you…” Because God’s word was being distorted by the teachers, either by restricting the Law’s demands or extending the Law’s permissions, Jesus corrected their errors and showed that living in God’s kingdom means obeying God’s word, with all its implications, from the heart. Jesus always appealed straight to God’s word as the sole authority, never to popular views or rabbinical precedents.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4:6

For most Christians, the problem with evangelism is not that we don’t want to do it but that we don’t know what to say when an opportunity presents itself. Before we talk about what to say, let’s get two preliminary details about evangelism straight.

First, we can never be effective in evangelizing the lost until we regard people as fellow image-bearers of God. That is, we mustn’t look at people as “projects” for our evangelism but as unique people in their own right. Get to know them and find out what they are interested in. In short, love your neighbor as yourself.

Second, we will be much more effective in evangelism when we “do” Christianity ourselves (Jas. 1:22). We must let our light shine to show others what living for Jesus is like (Mt. 5:16). Living a faithful life takes away any legitimate accusations from unbelievers and may even draw them closer to salvation (1 Pet. 2:11-12).

Once we see people as God sees them and live according to God’s word, we can be ready to take the opportunities God gives us by weaving our faith into everyday conversation. Since Jesus is all the world to us, our faith should naturally permeate our speech. In other words, there doesn’t have to be a hard stop in the flow of our conversation with people while we shift into a “now-I-am-telling-you-about-Jesus-and-why-you-should-obey-him” mode. By raising an aspect of our faith in conversation, even if it moves on to other subjects later, we are showing our neighbor how central Christ is to our life. This may be as simple as someone asking us what we did over the weekend and responding with what we learned in a bible study or how encouraged we were by the church or worship.

In addition to weaving Christ into our communication, we can ask penetrating questions to move the discussion into more serious matters. To do this effectively, we must know what they are going through (see point 1). Perhaps someone is suffering from chronic pain. We may gently ask them, “What if your situation doesn’t improve?” This sets up the chance to discuss the difference between human happiness—which depends on circumstances being good—and Christian joy—which transcends all earthly circumstances. Or perhaps we may ask the nature lover what they think is behind the beauty of the natural world. These questions are risky because we don’t know how people will respond but they are necessary because they open up evangelistic possibilities.

When the opportunity comes, what do we say? We must proclaim Christ (2 Cor. 4:5), but how? There are many ways but here are three concepts from Mark 8:27-35 to help guide our conversation.

Identity (who Jesus is) — Jesus was no ordinary human but Israel’s prophesied Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior and King of the world. (Mk. 8:27-30) The first question to ask is: Who is Jesus?

Mission (why Jesus came) — Jesus left heaven for earth to fulfill his mission to save the lost through his sacrificial death on the cross to overcome sin and his resurrection to overcome death. (Mk. 8:31) The second question to ask is: Why did Jesus come?

Call (how to respond) — Jesus’ identity and mission put a claim on our lives to deny ourselves and follow him. (Mk. 8:34-35) Jesus bids us to come and die—to ourselves—and to live for him. So the third question to ask is: How will you respond to Jesus?

As we engage people with these three subjects, we must ask questions to see if they get it, if they agree with it, and what they will do about it—always listening more than speaking. Evangelism is not about saying everything, it’s about telling the truth about Jesus. By covering these three basic concepts we can be sure we are faithfully preaching the good news. The rest is up to God (1 Cor. 3:6-7).

1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

2 To know wisdom and instruction,
    to understand words of insight,

3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
    in righteousness, justice, and equity;

4 to give prudence to the simple,
    knowledge and discretion to the youth—

5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
    and the one who understands obtain guidance,

6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
    the words of the wise and their riddles.

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:1-7

Wynton Marsalis, the Pulitzer prize winning jazz trumpeter, once said of his role as a teacher at The Juilliard School of Music, “If you want to learn, I can’t stop you. If you don’t want to learn, I can’t teach you.” His statement is reminiscent of the biblical book of Proverbs. The introduction to the book Proverbs (above) contains the purpose of the book in verses 2-6, which is two-fold: to develop moral skill (AKA “wisdom” 2a, 3-4) and mental discernment (“understanding” 2b, 6). We need both to overcome our stupidity and naiveté which add so much unnecessary trouble to our lives.

However, to acquire these gifts, one must know one needs them. “Fools despise wisdom and instruction” (1:7) because they already regard themselves as wise (3:7). Quintilian, a great Roman teacher of oratory said of some of his scholars, “They would no doubt be excellent students if they were not already convinced of their own knowledge… Blessed is the man who has the humility to know his own ignorance, his own weakness, and his own need.” To gain wisdom requires a proper view of oneself (humility, Mt. 5:3), which grows from a proper view of God (“the fear of the Lord”, Prov. 1:7).

This all reminds me of Jesus, the master Teacher. When opposition against him reached a certain point he began to teach in parables.  The greatest parable of all is the one by which all other parables are understood, the Parable of the Sower. In Matthew 13:1-9, Jesus tells the story of a man who went out to sow seed. The seed landed on various types of soil and was unfruitful for various reasons. However, some seed fell on good soil and produced a huge crop.

Before he explained the meaning of the parable (Mt. 13:18-23) his disciples asked him why he was teaching this way (Mt. 13:10). Jesus replied, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Mt. 13:13). He did not speak in parables to hide the truth from certain people. Rather, he spoke in parables “because” the truth wasn’t getting through to them in the first place. In fact, parabolic teaching is a very effective way to learn but only to those who want to learn. Thus the parables sift the audience into those who are fit for the kingdom and those who are not.

Are you teachable? The issue is not intellectual but moral. If the mind cannot understand it is only because the heart has “grown dull” (Mt. 13:15). It goes back to the quotes from Marsalis and Quintilian: the people who gain wisdom are those who possess a humble attitude and a desire to learn. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Mt. 7:7-8). Reverential fear of the Lord is the prerequisite to knowledge (Prov. 1:9) and foundation for wisdom (Prov. 9:19). It hates evil (Prov. 8:13) and results in a prolonged life, in more ways than one (Prov. 10:27).

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name”

Matthew 6:9

The first line of Jesus’ model prayer is familiar to most people but, perhaps, misunderstood. We must be careful not to use this prayer in the very way Jesus condemned in the previous verses (Mt. 6:7-8). By parroting these words without understanding we “heap up empty phrases” like the Gentiles and prayer ceases to be sincere communication with God and becomes instead ritualistic recitation.

What does our Lord mean by the phrase “hallowed be your name”? This is not a statement of praise (“hallowed is your name”), although that would be a perfectly appropriate expression of worship. Rather, this is request (“hallowed be your name”). It is an expression of a desire. But what exactly are we desiring?

To “hallow” something is to honor and respect it as holy. The word is translated in other places as “sanctify” or "consecrate." In this case, it is a request that God’s “name” be venerated and held in honor. In Scripture, a “name” stands for the person who bears it. God’s name represents all of who he is. Therefore, when we pray “hallowed be your name,” we are asking God to cause his name—and, thus, himself—to be honored in the world, exalted above every name. Praying some version of this prayer shows that we want God to be treated with the respect that he deserves. We want people to see God for who he is, to esteem his faithfulness and love as we do.

The Old Testament tells of Israel’s long history of dishonoring God’s name through their rebellion against him. Ezekiel 36 is particularly instructive. When God sent Israel into exile for breaking the covenant, a new problem arose. Since Israel was so closely identified with God, their disobedience “profaned” God’s name (Ezek. 36:20). But God had concern for his holy name, even if Israel didn’t, and promised to act to vindicate his name so that the nations would truly know who God is (Ezek. 36:21-23).

How would God vindicate his name? Amazingly, by saving his people! God promised to rescue Israel from slavery, gather them to himself, forgive them of their sins, replace their hearts of stone with hearts of flesh, and give them his own Spirit to cause them to—finally—walk in obedience to his will (Ezek. 36:25-28). These new covenant promises were realized when Jesus came to give himself for us. Thus, God's new covenant people (the church) hallow God’s name. How can we integrate this prayer into our lives?

God’s name is profaned in the world — To pray for God’s name to be regarded as holy is to acknowledge that it isn’t universally regarded as holy. Creation is fundamentally out of step with its Creator while so many disregard and blaspheme God’s name. Our hearts should mourn over this profanity and burn with zeal for the vindication of God’s name.

God’s name is honored in our lives — To pray for God’s name to be “hallowed” implies that we intend to hallow it in our lives, lest we be guilty of vain worship and fall into condemnation (Mt. 15:8). If Israel profaned God’s name by their rebellion, we honor God’s name by our obedience. Let us honor God by worshiping him according to his word, parenting our children in faithfulness, serving our spouse in love, respecting our leaders, laboring at work with integrity, caring for our neighbors with compassion, treating others honestly, patiently and mercifully.

God’s name is central in our prayers — In prayer, all our requests must reflect this ultimate desire for God’s name to be hallowed. When our prayers are shaped by our central concern for God’s name, it transforms the content of our prayers in two ways: first, God’s concerns will be given priority (“your name, your kingdom, your will…”) and, second, our needs will be put into perspective (“give us, forgive us, deliver us…”) (see Mt. 6:9-13).