Gospel Prism

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31

Last week, I spent some time answering the question, “How does God’s glory lead to our joy?” The answer to that question rests in this phrase, when God is glorified we are at our pinnacle of joy and satisfaction. And the means by which God was glorified and our joy was achieved was through the sacrifice of God’s Son for sinners such as us. When we respond to this great grace with a love, worship, and adoration of Him, this joy is not only unmatchable, but it is also never-ending.

So this week, I wanted to spend some time answering this question, “How do we live for God’s glory and our joy?” And to help with this answer, I’d like us to turn to 1 Corinthians 10:31 which will help us answer this question.

All Things for God’s Glory in 1 Corinthians 10:31

Paul writes to the Corinthian church: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” And to understand what Paul is saying we need to look at the preceding verses, 23-30. To eat food in a pagan temple that was worship to a pagan god was clearly a sin and Paul would have been the first to claim that to be so. However, to eat food that was sacrificed to an idol and sold in the market was not necessarily a sin, a freedom that Paul himself might have enjoyed (1 Cor 9:19-23) and also one in which he might have been judged (1 Cor 9:3). Paul’s argument in verses 23-30 is consistent with much of his teaching to the Corinthian church especially with chapter 13, that is, above all the love revealed in the Gospel must be a filter for one’s heart and actions. When this filter has been applied to all of life, then there is freedom to enjoy all things that is not inherently sinful. And so when a person eats food, they can enjoy it since Paul tells us in 1 Tim 4:4: “Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”

So when Paul is talking about eating and drinking in verse 31, he has this very problem in mind, that people were questioning whether he Paul was sinning by eating food sacrificed for idols. Paul’s answer to this problem, however, is so broad-sweeping that he overwhelms his critics with his response. You see, they are fixated on this one issue, eating food sacrificed to idols. They see this as a sin, which is the problem with sin fault-finders. Sin fault-finders find one issue as a problem and will criticize others on the basis of that one sin. But Paul wasn’t about to get into a “whose sin is bigger” debate, but rather, it was to raise the bar much higher. The bar is this, “…, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” In other words, everything that we do should be for God’s glory, or as the Latin says, Soli Deo Gloria. The Corinthians thought they had caught Paul sinning by eating and drinking food sacrificed to idols. But Paul tells them, yes eating and drinking should be to God’s glory (which he had done), but so should EVERYTHING that we do be for God’s glory. That is to say, God’s glory is not found merely in the “holy things” (church, HG, ministry, missions, evangelism, private devotions, etc.) and it is not merely shunned in what we commonly think of as the “unholy things” (e.g. Card playing, dancing, partying, sexual immorality, etc.), but that everything we do should be done in light of God’s glory. God does not distinguish between my “church life” and my “regular life.” God doesn’t say that during a retreat you should act like this and during a business meeting you should act like this. That’s called hypocrisy. There is no such dichotomy with God. All things should be done for God’s glory. And Scripture promises us that when we do all things for His glory, even the most mundane things like eating and drinking is to our utmost benefit and joy.

We see this especially in the Psalms. David notes in Psalm 4:7: “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.” Full joy for David is better with the Lord than any amount of earthly treasure. And in Psalm 21:6, David records: “For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.” Psalm 37:4 says: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 16:11 proclaims: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Clearly, the psalms resound with the joy of the one who whether they eat or drink, or whatever they do, does it for the glory of God. C. S. Lewis, in commenting on the psalms continual emphasis on our worship to God’s glory and our joy received in this worship, writes:

I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise…The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game—praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars…I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. (Quoted from John Piper, Desiring God, 37)

Do you hear what Lewis is saying? We need to praise, to worship, to glorify, to honor, to cherish God because our delight is not complete and our joy cannot be full unless there is such praise of Him. Paul’s exhortation to do all things for God’s glory is not a rule to misery and boredom. It is to grab hold of the only thing in this world that will give us complete joy. John Piper puts it well, “God’s pursuit of praise from us [our doing all things to His glory] and our pursuit of pleasure in him are the same pursuit.” (John Piper, Desiring God, 38) And what makes this pursuit possible at all is the Gospel, the full work of God’s Son giving us complete access to God so that we might enjoy Him forever (Romans 5:1-5).

How Can We Live for God’s Glory?

I took some time again emphasizing why you should live for this glory because I want to emblazon into your hearts through God’s Word, that to do all things for His glory is never, ever a sacrifice. This is not about giving up something greater for something lesser. This is not about living a boring, morose life. This is not about a set of rules that you now need to obey to “be a good person.” No, that’s not the Gospel. Christ died to become our righteousness, because we can never be good enough, or moral enough, or right enough, or happy enough on our own merit. The Gospel frees us to live with joy for God’s glory and so everything that I am about to say must always keep in mind this critical foundation.

So when Paul says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God,” he is essentially saying that we must be Godly. And to define godliness, let me begin with a definition of ungodliness which Jerry Bridges describes as “living one’s everyday life with little or no thought of God, or God’s will, or of God’s glory, or of one’s dependence on God.”

Biblically-speaking then, the converse is also true. Godliness is living one’s everyday life with much thought of God, God’s will, God’s glory, and having a full dependence on God. May I say therefore that godliness, given this definition, is synonymous with doing all things for God’s glory? Anything less than that is to be ungodly, or as Jerry puts it so well: “God is essentially irrelevant in his or her life…They are not wicked people, but they are ungodly.” (p. 54)

What Does this Look Like in Our Daily Lives?

So what does godliness or doing all things for God’s glory look like in our daily lives? I’d like examine 6 areas of our lives (please note that this is not an exhaustive list) that need to be filtered through the lens of godliness. The first area is our character.

Character

So what does godliness look like in our character? It means that we do not allow one aspect of our character to be shaped apart from the lens of God’s glory. For example, how many of us have taken a Myers-Briggs, and have believed that since we are “inherently extroverted or introverted,” we must be accepted on those terms? The introvert says to himself, “People need to understand that I need distance to get my batteries to recharge. I can’t give of myself when I feel this way.” The extrovert says to God, “God, you made me as one who needs company, surely you can’t expect me to spend significant time alone with you?” Godliness does not allow personality type to dictate our view of ourselves, but rather, what Christ has done for us becomes our filter in determining our personality.

We also must be willing to view our sense of humor through this spectrum. A sense of humor is a wonderful thing, a God-given thing. But like anything, a sense of humor could be either to the Lord’s glory or to our own, and often it’s the latter. If you have ever hurt someone with your supposed humor and then retorted, “I was only kidding, sheesh,” you know that your humor is ungodly, i.e. to your glory and not to God’s glory. To do all things to God’s glory includes our humor.

Another example of our character that must be affected by God’s glory is our sense of competition. I am not saying that to be a Christian means to rid ourselves of all competition. However, far too often our sense of competition in sports, in academics, in the work place, amongst our children drives our character and our behavior. If we do not have the Lord in mind, say on the basketball court, then we are sinning the sin of ungodliness.

Paul tells us quite clearly in 2 Cor 3:18 that we “are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” In other words, no one can say that their character is exactly where it needs to be. God’s glory must be exemplified through our transforming character and unless that is happening, we will live as though we never knew Him. Essentially, we are ungodly.

Family

Another area that must be shaped by God’s glory is our family. So what does godliness look like in our families? We need to remember that our family is a precious gift to us from the Father. God blessed Adam and Eve and told them to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28). Our families are meant to be a blessing. They are intended to reflect God’s glory, that God sustains this family, that God has saved this family from sin through Christ, and that God loves this family in their worship of Him. But if we take our eyes off the Lord and put it on our families, it can easily lead to ungodliness (a life and mindset without God). For example, to the new mothers, you will be very tempted to be ungodly during this time. You are so physically tired, perhaps your husband is not loving you as he should, and rather than turning first to Christ and seeing your life in light of what Christ ahs done for you on the cross, you will be tempted to react as if God was not a part of your life. You might begin to use your physical weariness as a reason to be ungodly. Your words could become more vindictive and sarcastic. Your frustration will exhibit itself in irritability and people will fear being around you, afraid to set you off at any moment.

Husbands, are you so busy with work, tired of trying to balance home and work and the rest of life that you have forgotten that your primarily responsibility is to shepherd your wife and child to love Christ and His Gospel? There are many wives who are parched spiritually because husbands do nothing to remind their wives of God’s grace. Marriage, a place where husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph 5), is bereft of all things to God’s glory. Perhaps men, you are so busy with the things you need to get done, that you tell your wife, “I at least provide the resources for you to buy those things and live in such a way.” God is nowhere in view to this man. Your leadership is no leadership at all, but ungodliness.

Also parents, are you considering your children’s future in light of God’s glory? What influences your hopes for your children, God’s glory or what your parents think should be done for your kids, or even more what other kids around doing? It is far too easy to go with the flow thinking everyone else has done it a certain way. When Shua and I were about to homeschool, I must say that one of my greatest fears was that since no one else seemed to be doing this, would we be messing up our kids? Since no one seemed to be considering this, were we strange? Do you hear what I was most concerned about, certainly not God’s glory. I was concerned about my glory. Parents, we far too easily can worship the education idol, just like so many of our parents’ have. I know Christians who were far more excited that their child got into Harvard than their child loving and adoring Christ. Isn’t this ungodliness, when we care more about our child’s success in a particular profession than our child’s acceptance of the good news of Christ? What would thrill you more, if your child was the top of his class or if your child was deeply moved by what Christ had done for him on the cross? Parents, what you determine is most important for your children speaks much about your own godliness or ungodliness, whether you live for God’s glory or your own glory.

Work

Work is another area that 1 Cor 10:31 must affect. So what does godliness look like in our work? Godliness must be integrated in what we do to make money. We cannot think of our job as separate from our life in Christ. Far too often, we think of the difficulties of our jobs or the boredom or dissatisfaction of our jobs, rather than the gift and providence of our job. How often do you say to the Lord, “Lord, I thank you for this job that you have given to me and may I work hard in light of your glory?” Rather, isn’t it true that we often work without even a thought of our Lord and His grace to provide for you and your family in such a way? One way in which we do things for the Lord’s glory is to thank him for the provisions He provides.

We need to work as Paul tells us in Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” And so our goals in work are not to rise on the ladder of success (though that might happen), or to make much money (though that could happen), but to do all things for His glory. Wayne Grudem puts it well when he says: “We should be thankful to God for money and profit, but we should never love money or profit. We are to love God and our neighbor instead. And so all business activity tests our hearts. The good things that God gives us through business are very good, but we must always remember that God is infinitely better!” (Wayne Grudem, Business for the Glory of God, 76) And this doesn’t just apply to business, but to any work. Work in light of God’s glory always believes that God is infinitely better.

Entertainments

Another area that needs to be examined in light of God’s glory is our entertainments. So what does godliness look like in our entertainments? It means how we spend that time is intentionally God-honoring. The fact is, we spend an inordinate amount of time this entertainments. Add up how much time and money you spend listening to music or the radio, watch TV and the movies, play video games, hang out with people, surf the web, play sports, and you get a sense of how much time we spend on entertainments. Outside of sleep and work, we spend more time on entertainments than anything else. But how many of those entertainments are done in light of the glory of God. I would venture to guess very few. Jerry Bridges has this to say about entertainments apart from God’s glory: “I believe the key to our tendencies toward worldliness [when the world’s priorities outweigh a view of God and His glory] lies primarily in the two words going along. We simply go along with and accept the values and practices of society around us without thought as to whether those values and practices are biblical.” (Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins, 175) And I think he is dead on target. Remember, I am not trying to be a party-pooper. I have spent last week’s message and the first part of this week’s message to show you that living for God’s glory will be what ultimately leads you to your greatest joy and delight. This is not to make you a boring morose Christian. No, this is to give you a satisfaction that will be incomparable to any petty entertainment that you think gives you pleasure. But you need to know that what Scripture says about your joy and delight is true.

Let me give you one example about our ungodliness and lack of God’s glory in regard to entertainments. How many of us who watch sports or read about sports or listen to sports radio and hear people rant and rave without any thought at all what God might think about such talk? Sometimes, what we listen to is absolutely ungodly. Also, sports and sex often goes hand in hand. Many Christian men will watch the beer commercial with the women dressed in the skimpy outfit, justifying in their mind that that’s part of watching sports. Many men will not turn away or change the channel. They’ll just sit back and glare going with the flow. And godliness is nowhere in view because it’s all in light of entertainment. Paul is telling us that our joy is being quashed because we fail to watch and listen to sports in light of God’s glory.

Listen to how C. J. Mahaney thinks of sports with his son Chad (and by the way, CJ is a self-professed sports fanatic): “Fathers who aren’t theologically informed are more impressed with athletic ability, statistics and final scores than they are biblical masculinity and godly character. So, prior to each practice and game (Chad plays basketball and soccer) I have a conversation with my son about how he can glorify God. Here is a sampling of the biblical priorities and practices I review with him:

* Humbly receive correction from your coach and ask your coach how you can grow in character as well as athletic skill.
* Thank your coaches for the way they have served you. And thank the referees after each game.
* Encourage your teammates for their display of godly character and athletic skill–in that order of priority.
* Encourage your opponents during and after the game. If you knock someone over, extend your hand to help them up.
* Thank the team manager for the way he served and recognize the humility and servanthood he is displaying each game. True greatness is sitting on the end of the bench.

When you do all things for the Lord’s glory, you can see how we play sports, how we surf the web, how we watch our kids play, how we have friendly conversations, what TV shows we decide to watch, are radically transformed. Our joy is no longer found in the vicarious delight of watching other people having affairs on the movie screen, but rather it is found in our souls being eternally satisfied in a God who loves us and gave His life for us.

Trouble

The next area that we must live in light of God’s glory is the area of troubles. By this I mean those experiences in life that are difficult, the loss of a job, when finances are strapped, when there is illness, tragedy, and even death. So what does godliness look like in our troubles? Godliness means that we can face pain and tragedy as one still who loves and adores Christ, even unto death because we believe with Paul in 1 Cor 15:55 that death has lost its sting. Death is not our end because Christ at the cross has conquered death. One man who knew this well was John Newton, the former slave trader turned pastor who wrote the unforgettable hymn, “Amazing Grace.” It was said that John Newton would pray years before his death so that when he died, he would die uttering words of worship and faith simply because he knew so many people who died with words of fear and anguished and despair. He wanted to end His life, bear pain, by a continual worship of Christ. When his adopted daughter Eliza died of a terrible case of tuberculosis at the age of 14, he wrote: “The Lord has done great things for us since we came home. He sent a chariot of love for dear Eliza…The manner of her dismission [death] had a merciful effect on us so that, though it was in one view like pulling off a limb, yet upon the whole we felt that praises were much more suitable for us than complaints. I still weep for her more or less every day, but I thank the Lord, I have not dropped one tear of sorrow.” (Jonathan Aitken, John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace, 283)

How does one weep and not drop a tear of sorrow at death, especially at the death of a child? Only if you know without a doubt that God is good, that He is loving, and that He is to receive glory even during times of trouble. Only if you believe with Paul in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Daily Circumstances

Finally, the last area of our lives that must be viewed in light of God’s glory is truly the ‘eating and drinking’ of 1 Cor 10:31, that is, our daily circumstances. By these circumstances, I mean our driving, commuting and travel, our conversations throughout the day with friends, family, store clerks, toll collectors, fitness club receptionists, UPS delivery men, the postal worker, our next door neighbor, our professor, all the cheaters we face (customer service, people who rip you off), our necessity for organization of cleanness, our busy schedules, the way we spend money day to day, our health, self-image, body-image, whether we are too focused on what we eat, whether we eat healthy and all natural, whether we don’t care about what we eat or whether we exercise, what possessions we own, how much we sleep, etc.

So what does godliness look like in all of these things? As Paul tells us in 2 Cor 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” We don’t simply just get by. Ordinary circumstances are no longer ordinary but instead, opportunities for joy and for transformation. Godliness in the ordinary is to give thanks in all circumstances (Gal 5:18), especially for the ordinary. If you listen to reports of people who escape death, such as the person who should have been in the Twin Towers on 9/11 but missed his train, they are usually so thankful for their family, the air they breathe, the fact they could see the sun, the traffic they just cursed at. Well my friends, godly 1 Cor 10:31 people are so thankful for being saved from eternal death, that the routine, mundane things of eating and drinking are done to God’s glory. And we are so thankful for such things, and especially for the One who has paid the price so that we might enjoy such things now, and enjoy God and his glory forever. And so with John, I agree: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)

God’s promise to you, proven by the gracious gift of His Son and His perfect righteousness, is that there is joy unspeakable for you as you trust that He is the source of your joy. Jesus died so that you might know this joy. You have been given full access to the Father on the basis of His perfect righteousness, as Jerry said this week, “Just as if you had perfectly obeyed.” You are fully accepted. Living for His glory in all things is not a command of obligation. It is an invitation to the greatest joy in your life, a joy that will never end. May you give Him the glory that He deserves for your delight. Soli Deo Gloria!