No Substitutes

We are sinners who need to know and experience the grace of God.  We are, as the Bible teaches us, accepted by God, even though we have sinned against Him, and continue to do so.  James 4 offers the antidote:
(6) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

In and of ourselves, we cannot truly know God - we can try and try through human effort to come to Him, but we recognize that He loved us first, He knows us as we truly are, and He desires for us to lay down ourselves, so that we might know Him.  Through grace - through favor shown to us that we did not deserve, as it's been taught - we can experience the riches of His truth and His presence.  When we have questions, we can press into Him and discover more about the Lord, who allows us to come to know Him.

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I believe that we can reach a point in our Christian life where we admit that God is our sufficiency,
He is our "all in all," as the song says, and we exhibit utter dependence on Him. Psalm 73 says:
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.

The band Skillet has been in existence for over 20 years, having been formed in Memphis in 1996.  It even has its own Wiki page on the Fandom website.  It has a Platinum and a Gold album, and according to the Fandom website, they "are known for a relentless touring schedule, which garnered them a top five ranking in the Hardest Working Bands of 2011 by Songkick.com.."

John Cooper is the band's founder and final remaining original member.  He has the depth of experience and the credibility to address what he sees as a growing problem within Christianity: a lack of devotion to God's Word.  Against the backdrop of the high-profile declaration from former pastor Joshua Harris that he no longer considers himself to be a Christian, and the statements from songwriter from the Hillsong camp, Marty Sampson, expressing doubts about his faith, Cooper wrote a stirring Facebook post; it's been reported on far and wide, including on Julie Roys' website.

ChristianHeadlines.com reported on the post, quoting Cooper as saying:

“It is time for the church to rediscover the preeminence of the Word. And to value the teaching of the Word,” Cooper wrote. “We need to value truth over feeling. Truth over emotion. And what we are seeing now is the result of the church raising up influencers who did not supremely value truth who have led a generation who also do not believe in the supremacy of truth. And now those disavowed leaders are proudly still leading and influencing boldly AWAY from the truth.”

He takes aim at the replacement of Biblical teaching by worship music and the substitution of seasoned leadership with younger believers who have a platform through their music ministries. Christian Headlines lifts this quote:

“My conclusion for the church (all of us Christians): We must STOP making worship leaders and thought leaders or influencers or cool people or ‘relevant’ people the most influential people in Christendom. (And yes that includes people like me!),” he wrote. “I’ve been saying for 20 years (and seemed probably quite judgmental to some of my peers) that we are in a dangerous place when the church is looking to 20-year-old worship singers as our source of truth.

He closes out by saying this, as posted on Roys' website:

“Is it any wonder that some of our disavowed Christian leaders are letting go of the absolute truth of the Bible and subsequently their lives are falling apart? Further and further they are sinking in the sea all the while shouting ‘now I’ve found the truth! Follow me!!’ Brothers and sisters in the faith all around the world, pastors, teachers, worship leaders, influencers…I implore you, please please in your search for relevancy for the gospel, let us NOT find creative ways to shape Gods word into the image of our culture by stifling inconvenient truths. But rather let us hold on even tighter to the anchor of the living Word of God. For He changes NOT. ‘The grass withers and the flowers fade away, but the word of our God stands forever’ (Isaiah 40:8)”

As we ponder the words of Skillet's John Cooper, we can strive to be convinced of what we speak.  Perhaps you have grown up in the church and find yourself just going through the motions of the practice of Christianity.  We can be challenged to embrace the truths of the Scripture and discover more about who Jesus is and the relationship into which He wants to bring us.  After spending a couple of days on the periphery of the Gettys' "Sing!" conference, I perceived a real devotion to theology, and it was evident through the speakers and songwriters with whom I spoke.  We can exercise that devotion to good theology.

We can also be convicted in how we live.  It's more than just being a good person - the Bible says that there are none righteous.  It's more than trying to act in a legalistic manner, to do the right things so that we can feel good about ourselves.  We have to admit that the Christian life is centered on Christ living through us.

And, finally, we can be confident in the Lord.  He's at work in us; He is available, He is faithful, and He wants to show Himself mighty through His people.  If we're not experiencing His satisfaction in the Christian life, or if we are not experiencing closeness to God, we can consider why that might be, and take the necessary steps to draw near to God, so that we can know His truth and His presence.