Category: Spencer Harmon

Articles written by Spencer Harmon

Babies and Bathwater

by Spencer Harmon

Baptism is a big deal.  When someone becomes a Christian, they are not merely subscribing to a local club that meets on Sundays; rather, a supernatural work of God has taken place.  Christians believe that when someone puts their trust in Jesus their old “self” – with its selfish desires, rebellious disposition toward God, and cold heart – dies, and a new “self” – with a heart inclined to obey God, love his Word, and pursue righteousness – is born.  It is this reality that baptism declares.  Baptism is symbolic – it talks to us and reminds us of these transcendent truths.  It screams out that just as this person is plunged down into these waters that envelop them so their old self has been plunged down into death with Christ; just as they rise out of the water and gasp for air, so their new self has arisen with Christ.

For Protestant Christians, there have been two views as to who should be baptized:  1) those who have professed faith in Christ (credo baptists); and 2) those who have professed faith in Christ and their children (paedo baptists).  I’m a credo baptist.  I don’t think you should baptize babies.

One of the strongest arguments for believer’s baptism can be made from an Old Testament passage:  Jeremiah 31:31-34.  It is here that God Himself delineates through His prophet Jeremiah his “new covenant”  This is God’s new agreement with his people that binds him to treat them in a certain way so long as they keep their end of the bargain.  However, the problem with God’s people over history is that they have never been able to keep their end of the bargain.  They always worship the idol; they always complain in the desert.  But God has a plan – a new covenant.  The newness of this covenant is found in that fact that God promises to give his people a heart that actually wants to keep the law (verse 33).  God promises that everyone will know him in a saving way, and that all of their sins will be forgiven.  God says that this new covenant will not be like “the covenant that I made with [your] fathers” (verse 32).  The newness of the new covenant is found in the fundamental difference between the people of God before and after the coming of Jesus.  Before Christ, the covenant members were those who were born into the people of God – this means that there where people who really loved God in the community, and those that just were among the group, but did not really know the Lord.  After Christ, God’s covenant members are only those who have been regenerated (i.e. given a new heart that truly loves God).

If Jeremiah is interpreted as an announcement of a regenerated covenant community, those who support baptizing infants need to reconsider their view.  For if the covenant community is only those who have been regenerated, then it follows that the mark of the covenant community – baptism – should be limited to this specific group of people.  The new covenant has a new sign and it is reserved for people who have new hearts.

Some Practical Concerns

  1.   It seems inconsistent for a paedo baptist not to include infants in the Lord’s Supper.  If they are seeking to emphasize the continuity of God’s dealings with his people in one overarching covenant, it would seem consistent to include the children of the God’s people in this rite as well.  However, this would pose problems.  First, if children participate in the Lord’s Supper, it seems like this would say something that is not true.  When I take the Lord’s Supper, my pastors say to me, “Spencer, this is the body of Christ broken for you; This is the blood of Christ poured out for you”  But we can’t honestly say this to babies until they make a profession of faith.  Second, babies are incapable of examining their conscience, or confessing sin (one of the things baptism should push a believer towards), so why should they participate in the Lord’s Supper?  Yet infant baptism seems to lead to this.
  2.   Another concern is that church discipline seems to lose its relevance.  If children are included in the people of God by baptism, how do you determine if they are ever not a part of the true covenant community?  If the church is constantly a mixed community of both believers and unbelievers, why would any church discipline a non-Christian from their midst if it has embraced a mixed church?  Some may object that if a paedo baptist church knew that there was an unbeliever in their midst, they would most certainly discipline them.  Yet, for every baby that is baptized, an unbeliever is added to their community.  Why the inconsistency in church discipline?

Conclusion

Baptism is a secondary issue, but not a small issue.  Baptism is the sign of salvation, and how the church understands this sign of salvation matter immensely.  To misunderstand the issue of baptism is to run the risk of false assurance to those baptized as children, and a distortion of a beautiful portrayal of salvation.  Although evangelical Christians ought to keep the main thing the main thing, we ought to openly acknowledge our disagreements over these important issues.  So, let there continue to be conferences; let pastors be together for the gospel, and let evangelicals make coalitions; nevertheless, let there be an open and plain acknowledgement of these distinctive beliefs that make whole denominations form.  For these issues are exceptionally important, and ought to be treated like it.  So, keep the baby, but throw out the bathwater.

 

The Christian Doubter: Too Deep For Words

by Spencer Harmon

Christian doubt makes you feel the waves and breakers of weakness.  If you ever thought you were strong, these seasons of life make you feel like you are on the ocean being tossed back and forth on choppy waters.  What is worse is that on many occasions it becomes hard to articulate exactly what is happening on the ocean.  You need a trained sailor who has navigated the waters, not just someone who has memorized the map.

Yet, like most other troubles in life, even the person who has been most experienced and can empathize most with your situation can fail at understanding the nuances of your doubt.  Someone could listen to you try to articulate your feelings of lostness, darkness, and despair for hours, but you could still walk away with nothing more than sentiments of an empathizer.  No doubt, we need community in our struggle with doubt, but there must be sturdier soil on which to stand.

In these dark days, God intends to use your inarticulate prayers.  In Romans 8:26-27 Paul has words for the weak saint.  He writes,

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Have you ever felt these words in your struggle with doubt?  The darkness rolls over your day like a storm from hell, and you get alone to pray – but what do you pray?  How do you pray in accordance with God’s will when you feel in the depths of your soul that this is the worst providence you could experience?  What do you pray for when you know that you don’t know what to pray for?

Dear brothers and sisters, God knows your soul, for he dwells in you through his Holy Spirit.  There is great help in your weakness because your unspeakable groaning is translated into perfect, articulate requests by the Spirit of God.  No, you do not know the will of God in these doubting times.  But the Spirit is interceding for you according to the will of God.  Tom Schreiner writes, “God searches the hearts of believers and finds unutterable longings to conform their lives to the will of God.  The Holy Spirit takes these groanings and presents them to God in articulate form” (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 446).

And the best news is that in your unutterable prayers of deep weakness, the Spirit prays for you with prayers that will always get a “yes”.  Why?  Because these prayers that the Spirit prays for you is on the same page with the Father.  He never prays imperfect prayers – and all this Spirit wrought power is working in your in your weakest moment.

So, keep praying.  Pray even when you don’t know how.  These bleak moments will be remembered as your most intimate with our father.  When you fail, when your friends fail, and even when your very heart fails – there is an answer for you with God.  In his Word, and through his Spirit.

The Christian Doubter: Your Perfect Faith

by Spencer Harmon

     What happens when zeal runs dry?  What happens when the faith you have known all of your life becomes your greatest suspicion?  The Scriptures are conspicuous and your heart is no longer drawn to the Lord in prayer.  Your assurance is shaking like a twig in a hurricane of doubt.  All the truth that was so clear, apparent, and true has become clouded with black fog that you’re questioning if you are even a Christian.

And here’s the kicker:  you love Jesus.  The reason why this desert is so ruthless is because you really are thirsty; nevertheless, you doubt. The feedback loop goes like this: You doubt, feel guilty for doubting, and then despair because you wonder if Christians can really doubt in the way you have.  Stop-rewind-repeat.  All of a sudden you seem to be caught in the sinking sand of second guessing and nobody is throwing a rope to help out.

When these dark clouds rise in our hearts, we do ourselves no good to find refuge in ourselves.  Finding your confidence in your ability to believe is like drinking sand when dying from thirst.  Why drink sand when water is bubbling up from the ground?  The only way to fight doubt is on the firm foundation of the faultless faith of Jesus.  Your greatest, most fearsome doubt can be destroyed at the cross of Christ.

So then, what am I to do when I am doubting and straying from the Savior I love?  I run to him and not away from him.  The secret to fighting doubt is not trying to make yourself feel better, but rather placing your trust in Jesus’ perfect faith in your place.  Jesus never doubted God’s existence – for you.  He always rejoiced in the truth of God’s word – for you.  On your darkest day you are smothered with Christ’s blood and the greatest Power in the universe is for you and not against you.  This is not because you have strong faith.  This is because Jesus’ faithfulness obliterates your faithlessness.

When the doubts come – and they surely do come – the way we fight is not through pulling up our spiritual boot straps, but by crying out to Jesus with empty hands; not by pretending to have strong faith, but by taking strength in Christ’s perfect faith that has been credited to you.  We must stop trying to calm the sea and let our Savior speak to the storm.

“When Satan tempts me to despair,
and tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see him there,
Who made an end to all my sin”

What the Demons Taught Me (part 2)

 

 

[this is part two of a series on The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. See What the Demons Taught Me: part 1 by Spencer Harmon]

 

1.)  Selflessness is self-forgetfulness

Screwtape constantly reminds his young nephew to keep his patient away from self-forgetfulness and encourages him to, “…teach a man to surrender benefits not that others may be happy in having them but that he may be unselfish in forgoing them” (141).  If my main goal in giving my money to the poor is so that I can be known as a “generous person” I have a sinful motivation.  Instead, I ought to find my joy in the joy of others.  My preferences, interests, and “image” should be like morning fog being burnt away by the heat of the needs of my neighbor.

2.)  Worldliness is worldliness no matter how many times you call it “experience”

Screwtape informs Wormwood that, “Real worldliness is a work of time – assisted, of course, by pride, for we teach them to describe the creeping death as good sense or Maturity or Experience” (156).  My American Christianity needs a good dose of this reality.  For it is easy to cloak my love for the things of the world by saying certain sinful things are bearable for “mature believers” while I lose my childlike desire to please my heavenly Father.  If the movie is sinful I should not watch it; if the music is sensuous I should not listen to it; if the party is a house full of temptation I should not attend it.  These are not legalisms that keep me from understanding my world better; these are prescriptions that help me see my Savior clearer.

3.)  Faith and repentance is better than your most spiritual promises

Screwtape scolds Wormwood for his patient’s response to a recent “fall from grace” because he is not making, “…lavish promises of perpetual virtue,” but instead, “only a hope for the daily and hourly pittance to meet the daily and hourly temptation!” (69).  Faithfulness does not always look flashy, and neither does daily dying.  So often a fiery sermon, a fresh new book, or a stirring conversation incites a desire to promise God feats that he is not asking of me.  Rather, God calls his sons and daughters to repentance and faith, and seeking his kingdom first.  This is the radical Christianity we have been wanting:  grace fueled obedience.

What the Demons Taught Me (part 1)

C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters has functioned in my life as a mirror to my soul.  So many times upon picking up the book I have had “Ah ha!” moments in which I discover a new insight on how spiritual warfare plays into my daily living – areas in which seem to me to be so “unspiritual”  I hope some of these lessons will encourage you as you follow Christ today.

1.)  Don’t Seek Feelings, Seek the Lord

While advising Wormwood on how to keep his man from praying, Screwtape says, “Teach them to estimate the value of each prayer by their success in producing the desired feeling…” (17).  The fountain of my spiritual feelings ebbs and flows.  To base the effectiveness or the frequency of my prayers on these feelings is detrimental to praying with confidence that God hears me.  We ought to seek the Lord’s face in prayer, and not some ideal fleeting feeling that will not always console us.  Pray through the night, even if it seems you are praying to an empty sky.

2.)  Even When You Are Doubting God, Obey  Him

This is perhaps one of the most famous quotes out of The Screwtape Letters, and hangs on many refrigerators wherever the book is cherished.  Screwtape warns Wormwood that, “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys” (40).  Obedience is the medicine of the soul who is sick.  Disobedience in times of doubting and spiritual dryness is one of Satan’s great weapons to keep the Christian in the feedback loop of despair and away from our Father’s best.  Even when you feel like doing nothing, be obedient.  Trust your Father.

3.)  Don’t Dress Up Your Sin In Humor

Screwtape counsels Wormwood that, “A thousand bawdy, or even blasphemous, jokes do not help towards a man’s damnation so much as his discovery that almost anything he wants to do can be done, not only without the disapproval but with the admiration of his fellows, if only it can get itself treated as a Joke” (56).  The weightiness of sin becomes as light as a feather when laughed about for long enough.  If I find my sin becomes a joke, my sin may become reality.  Sin should be dealt with in tears and repentance, not laughter and and hand waving.

Stop Being True To Yourself

Should you be true to yourself?  When I was a child, I remember hearing this pumped through movies, music, and even sentimental old folks giving me sagely wisdom when I told them what I wanted to be when I grew up.  As a 20-something living in the American culture, there is a whole lot of fuss going around about being true to yourself, following your heart, and doing what “feels” best.  So, here’s two reasons you should stop being true to yourself:

1.)  You were made to be true to Another

You are wired as a human being to be true to Another in order to be true to yourself.  Ultimately, you were made to forget about yourself, and to find your identity by losing it in something far greater than yourself.  This is how you were made; this is how you were designed.  Why would someone think that homosexuality is wrong, or that it is a good thing to stay pure before they are married, or to not plan on getting slammed this Friday at the nearest party?  Because they don’t buy the idea that their fundamental priority should be being true to their self.  Rather, the ultimate aim and goal is to be true to Another, and find satisfaction in Him.

2.)  You were made for transformation, not stagnation  

All humans are born as broken, dead beings in a shattered, graveyard world.  The Bible teaches that humans are born thinking, acting, and feeling in wrong and sinful ways.  Our fundamental disposition coming into the world is incredibly flawed.  The Bible presents an idea of humanity as being in need of not stagnation, but transformation; not continuing in the old, but putting on the new; not in rejoicing in evil, but turning from it.  Human beings can change, not by self-help, do-it-yourself improvement plans, but by supernatural repentance and faith in Jesus, who calls all humans everywhere to turn from being true to their self to be true to him.

So, stop being true to yourself.  You will never find satisfaction in appeasing all of the titillating inclinations of your mind and body.  Instead, turn from your sins and put your trust in Jesus.  Find your identity outside of yourself.  Lose your life, and you will find it in Him.

“Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in”  C.S. Lewis

 

Spencer Harmon

An Exercise in Talking To Yourself

Hey Self!

This morning you woke up again with that pit in your stomach.  Nervous, anxious energy greeted you out of  bed with a cold handshake.  You tried to remind yourself of the gospel to raise your spirits, but you didn’t feel any better.  You felt a little relief as you diverted your attention with answering some emails and doing a few other busying things, but soon after, anxiety was waiting to greet you again.

Now you have sat down to read and pray.  You are approaching the God of the universe for communion with Him.  I just want to remind you that all the anxieties you have today are not true things.  Don’t get me wrong, the feelings and situations are real, but to allow them to discourage you so deeply would be to live as though the gospel were not true.  But it is true.  This morning, God really is for you (Romans 8:31) and he really does delight in hearing and answering your prayers.  All of God’s wrath and anger on your sin was experienced by Jesus when he died on the cross for you.  So now you can fight anxiety as a free man who does not have to obey its wishes.  So, the next time you hear lies, talk truth back – even if you are not feeling it.  God’s Word is alive and it is active (Hebrews 4:12) and it can cut through all the lies that would try to have you believe your feelings more than you believe in the loving care of your Father.

So, I just wanted to remind you that you have a Father that loves you and is not against you and will fill you with His Spirit today.

All His best.

Signed,

Self.

Spencer Harmon

How To Be a Biblical Groomsman

Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.  And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”  John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.
John 3:25-30     

Being a groomsman has sacred significance.  The bride and groom are asking you to be witnesses of a covenant before God and to hold them accountable to it.  So, how can you glorify God and love the groom while being a part of his wedding party?

  1. Be grateful
    As John thinks about his ministry success preparing the way for Christ, he does not seek to keep it; rather, he acknowledges that his ministry was a gift from God.  In the same way, groomsmen ought to recognize the gift that their dear brother has been to them, and thank God for it joyfully.  Don’t spend the bachelor party, rehearsal dinner, and wedding thinking about how you’re losing a friend to marriage; instead, rejoice for the gift of friendship.
  2.  Step to the side 
    In the same way that John recognized that, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom” we ought to recognize that this marriage is not about us.  Rather, we should spend our time before, during, and after the wedding lifting up the meaning of marriage.  In the dressing room before the wedding let the stories of good times and belly laughs abound, but our primary role is to remind the groom of Christ and  highlight the weight of marriage.
  3.  Let his joy be your joy
    John says that he, “rejoices greatly at the bridegrooms voice.  Therefore, this joy of mine is complete”  In the same way, let the tears fill your eyes when your brother sees his bride for the first time walking down that aisle and his jaw drops a bit.  He is not thinking about you.  As a matter of fact, he probably has forgotten that you exist.  He is loving his bride.  His heart is filling with joy.  And as his heart fills with joy, yours should as well.

It is our great joy to share in one of the clearest human expressions of the gospel outside of the spoken word.  Let the weight of standing to the side hit us; and let us all – groomsmen, bridesmaids, bride and groom – decrease so that He may increase.

 

Spencer Harmon

Reflections on Heroes

I used to be that kid.

It’s the kid at the concert who is obsessed with the band.  It’s the over zealous sports junky rattling off the statistics.  It’s the impassioned believer listening to three podcasts a day of his favorite preacher.  I loved my heroes.

Of all these things have something in common:  admiration of heroes.

However, if you are anything like me, this can get out of hand really quickly.  Our heroes become unrealistic, air-brushed, plastic, over venerated saints that will fail our unrealistic expectations.  What does this do to us as believers in Jesus?

  1. It demands too much of our heroes and refuses to recognize them as sinners.  Much of the time, we elevate our heroes to such high places that when they stumble, we are appalled and give them much more grief than they need.  We slander their names privately to our friends, “Did you hear about…?  Someone told me that he was a jerk in real life…”  Instead of dealing with our leaders in gentleness, we impose standards that we would label as unmerciful if imposed on us.  Our heroes are sinners, and sinners sin.  We would do well to keep this in mind.
  2. It demands too much of those who work in the same arena, but are not as popular or gifted.  Some people are just flat-out gifted and can communicate with ease at moments notice; some people are incredible hard workers and have to prepare for days for a 15 minutes sermon.  To scoff at the nervous preacher, the mediocre (but faithful) worship leader, or the not-so-theologically nuanced friend lacks grace, patience, and compassion.  To compare our friends and local leaders with these men can be detrimental to community, and is fertile soil for unhealthy suspicion of good and faithful servants of Jesus.
  3. It communicates that Christian maturity must have a certain style or appearance.  Not long ago, my pastor made the statement that, “Christian maturity is diverse.”  This is a helpful thought to keep in mind as we interact with our friends and local leaders on a daily basis.  Your pastor does not have to carry himself like your favorite preacher to be a godly, spirit-filled preacher of God’s word.  Your girlfriend does not have to talk like Elisabeth Elliot in order to passionately pursue purity in dating.  God made people with unique personalities to reflect his own artistic flare and creativity.  Let him receive glory by growing all different sorts of people into Christ likeness – bringing all of their personality quirks, oddities, and altogether wonderful flavors of temperament with them.  Learn to appreciate personality instead of comparing it to your own preference.

I love my heroes.  I cannot tell you the impact men like C.S. Lewis, Ravi Zacharias, and John Piper have had on my life.  But I am not them; and I shouldn’t expect myself be.  Heroes are more like signposts, lining the way as we focus on Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2)

“As saints of old still line the way
Retelling triumphs of His grace
We hear their calls and hunger for the day
When with Christ we stand in glory”
-Keith Getty & Stewart Townsend

Lecture to Grandpa: A Critique of My Generation

I wrote this piece in high school.  It portrays a conversation between a current high school/college student and an old man brought into current times from the past.

Sleep in until noon in the summer; when school starts, wake up as late as possible and hit the snooze button as many times as you can.  Be sure to look at the magazine covers in the grocery store to see the latest trends, but make sure everything that you wear is your own “personal style.”  Be independent; nobody can tell you what to do.  You are the master of your fate; you are the captain of your soul.  You only live once; therefore, live for yourself.   If the assignment is not due tomorrow, it’s not homework.  Remember your needs: iPhone, long weekends, borrowed money, and ignorance.

 But what about family dinners, hard work, quiet evenings – and what on God’s green earth is an iPhone?

“god” is important only when he is convenient.  Here is how you text message to avoid contact with those in your personal space.  Here is how you avoid confrontation.  Here is how you learn only what you need to know to get by under the radar.  Don’t be too smart; people will think you’re a nerd.  Don’t enjoy things too much; people will think you’re foolish.  Don’t be innocent; people might think you’re stupid.  Don’t be pure; people might think you’re a child.  Here’s how to use Facebook and Gmail.  Here’s how you tweet.  Here’s how to critique the world from behind a computer screen. What do you mean you don’t use computers?  How old are you anyway!?  Make sure you listen to this music, and watch these movies, and never say “no” because people might think you’re puritanical.

But what if I really don’t like the trends?  What if I actually love good, and hate evil?  What if God is an actual reality?

Never mind that. Do you really want to be the prude – the wet blanket on the flickering flames of my youth?