A Review of Tim Keller’s The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness

          Pastor Tim Keller became more recognized for his work after publishing The Reason for God. It was with this work I became acquainted with him, and have enjoyed his material ever since. When we look at the work for the freedom of self-forgetfulness we can say this is awfully short to be a book. What it was originally was a sermon that was transcribed and made into a book that is merely 46 pages long. The work is easy to read and delight to your heart if you ingest what the pastor is trying to gently serve you.

            In our culture we want to be the top dog. Most people in the secular world have no qualms about stepping on the next guy to get a leg up. What lies at the root of all this is pride; no matter what form it may try and take. And pride has the tendency to make us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. Surprisingly though Keller tells us that it runs both ways when he says,

“A superiority complex and an inferiority complex are basically the same. They are both results of being overinflated. The person with the superiority complex is overinflated and in danger of being deflated; the person with an inferiority complex is deflated already. Someone with an inferiority complex will tell you they hate themselves and they will tell themselves they hate themselves. They are deflated. To be deflated means you were previously inflated. Deflated or in imminent danger of being deflated—it is all the same thing. And it makes the ego fragile.”(21)

          This rings so true for most of the people I know who are worldly and even some Christians. We do have an answer and it lies in Scripture, we are not to think of ourselves to highly. Keller goes on to say, “The thing we would remember from meeting a truly gospel-humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking of myself more or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.”(32) Take a moment and think about that last thought. It hit home for me to remember to put the needs of others before my own. Just a Jesus Christ put us before Himself to be able to draw us near to him.

            This is a great little book; I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to feel closer to Jesus, because you will stop worrying about yourself and more about Him.

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well!

Sermon on 1 John 1:5 -2:6

Standards for Choosing Leaders

While the standards that have been set for Elders and deacons are high, we should have high standards for all of us in Christian service, but especially those in leadership capacity. There are some people who might say that it is unfair for us to hold such a high standard toward those who are not officially listed in Scripture. I would say however, that if you are going to be in any type of leadership role your character must be examined and your maturity in Christ thoroughly evaluated. Because you are no longer only representing yourself in your Christian walk you have now taken on the name of an organization that may have a great community presence and glorifies the name of Christ.

By setting the standards of leadership inside the church to highest capacity, it helps to ensure that there are godly men and women who are in the proper roles. This does not mean that there will not be times when someone may seem like the perfect candidate on paper; while in actuality their personality does not mesh well with the rest of the team. It should also be noted that Paul was mainly describing the roles of men in the church forms of leadership; we could ask “What are the rules for women?” The rules for women should not be any different with the exception of things that speak of being the husband of one wife, she should be the wife of one husband.

Even with all of the safeguards in place you still have guarantee that there will be a successful ministry to take place. However, by using the criteria set forth in Scripture you are setting yourself up to be more successful than if you went merely by your gut or your own collection of pre-requisites. It is our job to trust that God has given us these qualifications to meet in order to be effective leaders in the body as well as make an impact in the community.

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Trusting Leaders

            It would be easy to say that the culture we live in has bred us to not trust one another, because someone is always out to get one over on you. I would dare to say that it has to do with the fact that we are all totally depraved people and without Christ we cannot dare trust ourselves. In chapter 7 of Romans the Apostle Paul summed up the struggle we face when he said,

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7:15-20 ESV)

This makes it extremely difficult to trust those who are in leadership positions because we have no certainty that they have our best interest in mind when they are making their decisions. While in his book Being Leaders Aubrey Malphurs claims that it will usually take up to five years to trust a new leader. It is this writers humble opinion that this period does not have to be anywhere near that length. If you enter into a situation with new leadership you can determine their character within a matter of months to a year. Are they self-serving? Or do they sacrifice some comfort on their part for the greater good?

 Over years of working in different environments I have noticed that the bosses who are willing to show someone how to do the job more efficiently or even in the correct manner without being brash or degrading get more respect which in return breeds trust. Humility is another key to the character of the leader that will always play an important role. If our Lord can take on the lowest place in the house to demonstrate His heart, what makes us any better?