Back in the 1990, Bill McCartney started a
movement called “Promise Keepers.” I
attended one of those Promise Keeper rallies in Dallas back in the mid
90’s. It was a wonderful event attended
by over 60,000 men. At that time in my
life I needed something to revitalize my commitment to Christ and to help
motivate me to be the best Christian I could be. I was attending seminary full-time, serving a
small church as the worship pastor part-time, and working as the facilities
manager of a large church full-time. I
was immersed in the Christian community every day, all day! Yet, I needed something to give me a boost
because I still felt like a failing Christian.
After experiencing this wonderful event, I just knew that God had given
me a boost of the spiritual energy I needed to keep going. I walked away with a recommitment to be the
best husband and father I could be, the best worship pastor, best student and
employee. I felt I could storm the gates
of hell with my renewed sense of commitment!
Here’s the bad news though, it didn’t work
for very long. I went right back to the
same patterns of behavior and feelings of inadequacy, with an extra dose of
shame thrown on top. Andrew Farley,
author of “The Naked Gospel,” said the first “promise keepers” rally happened
when Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from the mountain. The people, after hearing the Ten
Commandments, responded with these words, “All that the Lord has spoken we will
do!” (Exodus 19:8) That sounds like a
huge promise. I believe they meant what
they said, however, they proved their failure to do so over and over. I know I meant every promise I ever made to
God, but I too experienced nothing but failure.
Why do we find ourselves ultimately living
defeated lives after making these kinds of heart-felt promises? It seems to be due to our misunderstanding of
where our power comes from. I finally
came to realize that I was trying to let law be my guide for right-living. In other words, I was trying to live by
standards, principles, rules, precepts, etc…
No matter how well-intentioned I was, I could not keep a promise to do
better. I was working under the notion that
I was still a sinner by nature and that I needed to internalize these wonderful
Christian principles to help me make better decisions for Christ. I knew I was “saved” and that God loved me,
but I felt like God was disappointed with me.
I constantly went to Him with heart-felt apologies. If God wants us to live victorious Christian
lives, where does the power come from?
Obviously, the power to live victoriously
does not come from knowledge. Nor does
it come from commitment. True power
comes from Christ, not our knowledge of Him and His teachings, nor our love for
Him. It comes from Him, His life that He
has now placed in us. Paul said in
Colossians 1:27, “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Glory is not the state of being in heaven; it
is referring to the glorious nature of Christ in us! He is my hope for victory, not my knowledge
or commitment. The only way He could
place His glory in me was to crucify or kill the old sinner man that was me. That old sinner man had a heart desire to
sin. There was no way Christ could join
Himself to that man. He had to remove
that old man and place a new creature in his place. That new creature can now be joined with
Christ and experience His glorious nature.
So, what I could not do through trying to
keep promises, Christ did through the power of His life in me! When I finally realized my true identity was
a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), I was convinced that God could not and
would not be disappointed with me. I was
miserable sinning because I was a saint experiencing a behavior contrary to my
true nature. Christ is the only “Promise
Keeper.” He told Paul that His power was
perfected in Paul’s weaknesses. (2 Cor. 12:9-10) Paul rejoiced at the revelation that it was
not about His ability to keep promises, but Christ’s ability in him. True victory for Christian living is found in
the person of Christ living in us. It is
a relationship to be experienced moment by moment.
