{"id":1387,"date":"2014-12-13T21:11:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T05:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2014-12-13T21:11:54","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T05:11:54","slug":"week-eleven-book-notes-avoiding-the-lies-of-pragmatism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/?p=1387","title":{"rendered":"Week Eleven \u2013 Book Notes Avoiding the Lies of Pragmatism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Week Eleven \u2013 Book Notes Avoiding the Lies of Pragmatism<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction:<\/p>\n

All of the lesser views of God can be grouped together because they all attempt to convince us that they offer the same thing as God at a fraction of the cost.\u00a0 Pragmatism promises the benefits without the sacrifice.\u00a0 It does not however deliver what it offers.\u00a0 It is a very subtle and deceptive advisory.\u00a0\u00a0 This week we will look at some biblical examples of those who attempted to find a shortcut to their service for the Most High.\u00a0 When we feel we are being held back in our walk with God by a fear of the cost of commitment, then we are suddenly and uncomfortably living in the world of the pragmatic believer.<\/p>\n

Pragmatism is a life philosophy.\u00a0 It values things based upon their apparent effectiveness.\u00a0 The saying, \u201cIf it works, it must be right.\u201d\u00a0 Personally, I was raised with the term, \u201cIf it works, don\u2019t fix it.\u201d\u00a0 This is the world view of he person who has very little time for thinking through the implications of what he is doing, preferring to just get out there and accomplish something.\u00a0 No doubt about it, this person is often one of the most valued people around any group because they get things done.\u00a0 As much as that is effective in our personal and professional work, it is poison to our spiritual life.\u00a0 There is a tendency to pursue more about what God can do than who God is.\u00a0 A useful God is the pragmatist greatest desire.\u00a0 The focus of the pragmatist is not bringing God glory but bringing God\u2019s good blessings home.\u00a0 And one of the dangers of this pursuit of God\u2019s blessings is that those blessing might even appear to be godly.\u00a0 That was the discussion of leader in the DVD from last week \u2013 Finney was a man who wanted to see many brought to Christ and so he chose a method because it produced what he was seeking.\u00a0 In the end, he found the success that he thought had been reached in fact was not success at all.<\/p>\n

The roots of pragmatism are unbelief (not believing what God said about Himself) and pride (not believing what God has said about our neediness).\u00a0 Pragmatism doesn\u2019t really work; it just has the appearance of something that works.\u00a0 It is the proverbial building of a house upon a foundation of sand.\u00a0 When we build on an incorrect view of God, we are practicing idolatry and we are attempting to make our walk with God primarily useful.\u00a0\u00a0 It is adjusting God to fit our desires. When we say it like that, we know it\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

Day One<\/strong>:\u00a0 The All-Sufficiency of God must be our Foundation<\/p>\n

Pragmatism is a denial of the sufficiency of God. \u00a0\u00a0We do our \u2018Christian\u2019 work with an under current of belief that God is no longer sufficient. \u00a0It is God plus something that we trust in if the work is to be done.\u00a0 The way to battle Pragmatism is to look to God as the Bible presents Him and to ask ourselves everyday:\u00a0 \u201cIs He not enough for this day?\u201d<\/p>\n

A.W. Pink \u201cOur labors are not intended to bring about what has not decreed<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On page 221, there are three questions asked:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Could I ever possibly need more than this God?<\/li>\n
  2. Could there ever be a situation in which it would be reasonable to doubt Him and to choose to turn to more practical schemes?<\/li>\n
  3. Could there ever be a more practical choice than trusting this God and following His commands?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We need to keep in focus that which is true and that is the challenge for our day. \u00a0Keep bringing these realities and looking at them throughout the week. And then live them.<\/p>\n

    Day One:<\/strong> The Wonderful Absurdity and the Impracticality of the True Religion<\/p>\n

    Richard Cecil: \u201cDuties are our \u2013 events are God\u2019s<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0The question that begs to be asked is what are those duties?\u00a0 In this chapter there is a list of Old Testament saints that rested their survival on one hope:\u00a0 That God was who He said He was<\/strong>. \u00a0The section on history reviews some of those lives.\u00a0 What is the purpose of studying the OT? \u00a0We can learn from the examples of people who walked by faith and we can learn from their example.<\/p>\n

    Ps 20:7 is a great verse and worthy of memorization. \u00a0Some boast in chariots and some in horses, But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God<\/strong>.\u00a0 \u201cPragmatism is satisfied with present success and shakes off any suggestion that it\u2019s work may go up in smoke on the day of Christ<\/em>\u201d. \u00a0A.W. Tozer.<\/p>\n

    Day Four<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I want to jump to Day Four since we only have one short class to deal with this topic. \u00a0What is the cure for Pragmatism?\u00a0 The answer is not a better version of the same error. We don\u2019t want to choose to obey the biblical commands just because we believe we can expect a better return on our effort. \u00a0Should we attempt to do this, we would be treating God as if He is our own supply closet.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Trust \u2013 We have to learn to live the truth that we know God to be sufficient. \u00a0When we do that, we will no longer look to something else to help us through the difficult situations that we confront. \u00a0\u00a0It is the character of God that is our hope. \u00a0His commands are our path but He is our Hope.<\/li>\n
    • Love \u2013 Love refuses to permit Pragmatism and choses trust and obedience precisely because it is our Lord\u2019s good pleasure that we do so.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

       <\/p>\n

      One of the mistakes that seem to creep into our minds is that we believe when we are following the biblical commands and living a pure life that everything will be just great. \u00a0That promise is impossible to find in the Bible.\u00a0 In fact, you find so many examples of the opposite that a person would just have to refuse to see that in the Bible. \u00a0Look at the examples that are provided in the Bible.<\/p>\n

      As I was looking at this, I believe there is also a warning to sound here.\u00a0 Don\u2019t chose the impractical just because it doesn\u2019t make sense. \u00a0We have become too busy to listen for God\u2019s strong but gentle pulling of our hearts towards those things He has planned for us to do.<\/p>\n

      Day Five<\/strong>: Men who refused Pragmatism<\/p>\n

      Moses \u2013 read Hebrews 11:24-29<\/p>\n

      See what Pharaoh offered Moses Exodus 8:25, 10:8-11, 10:24<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Daniel: The Problem (1:8), Daniel\u2019s Response (3:16-18), The Honoring of God through Obedience (3:28-30), Honor given to God by Daniel\u2019s Choices (6:25-27).<\/p>\n

      The Story of William Burns \u2013 Gave up a successful ministry to go the China, where he met Hudson Taylor and mentored Hudson. \u00a0It was written of Burn\u2019s influence:\u00a0 William Burns was better to [Taylor] than a college course with all its advantages, because he lived out before him right there in China the reality of all he most needed to be and know<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Week Eleven \u2013 Book Notes Avoiding the Lies of Pragmatism Introduction: All of the lesser views of God can be grouped together because they all attempt to convince us that they offer the same thing as God at a fraction …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[53],"tags":[71,70],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1388,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387\/revisions\/1388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hobart-community-church.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}