Archives by: Gary Hoag

For they loved human praise more than praise from God. John 12:43

“The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Image, 1970) 400.

My son, Sammy, and I got to climb the Great Wall yesterday, making some unforgettable memories with some great people! The trek and the views were breathtaking. I hope you are enjoying the insights from The Seven Storey Mountain along the way. They pertain to life and what we live for.

For the applause of whom do you live? Some live for praise from their spouse. Others do it for their parents or children. The famous tend to live for praise from the crowds. A few, however, live for God. The only way to grasp the generous life is live for the One who gave you life as a gift to be enjoyed and shared.

Love not the world neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15

“That is to say, all men who live only according to the five senses, and seek nothing beyond the gratification of their natural appetites for pleasure and reputation and power, cut themselves off from charity which is the principle of all spiritual vitality and happiness because it alone saves us from the barren wilderness of abominable selfishness.

It is true that the materialistic society, the so-called culture that has evolved under the tender mercies of capitalism, has produced what seems to be the ultimate limit of this worldliness. And nowhere, except perhaps in the analogous society of pagan Rome, has there ever been such a flowering of cheap and petty and disgusting lusts and vanities as in the world of capitalism, where there is no evil that is not fostered and encouraged for the sake of making money.

We live in a society whose whole policy is to excite every nerve in the human body and keep it at the highest pitch of artificial tension, to strain every human desire to the limit and to create as many new desires and synthetic passions as possible, in order to cater to them with the products of our factories and printing presses and movie studios and all the rest.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Image, 1970) 166-167.

As my son, Sammy, and I travel abroad we get a clearer picture of ourselves and our own society. We see vividly how the things of this world in our own society cut us off from the charity of the Father. Like this closed center gate pictured above, our hearts are closed. Also on our journey we discover people willing to sacrifice all they possess, even their own lives, for the sake of Christ because they have tapped into the spiritual vitality of the charity of the Father.

Being generous is not about giving percentages, calculating gifts, or even selling possessions. It’s about receiving and giving the charity of the Father. Once we do that, everything else amounts to synthetic passions and artificial products. Merton had a keen sense to see all this because he stepped out of his culture. Stepping out of ours gives us clarity too.

Might it be time to take a day off, to have a quiet day of solitude, with no noise to sharpen your senses and restore your spiritual vitality?

For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. 2 Corinthians 8:12

“Souls are like athletes that need opponents worthy of them if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers and rewarded according to their capacity.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Image, 1970) 106.

My son, Sammy, and I are pushing ourselves, and each other, on this international trip. Great athletes push themselves to the limit of their abilities, and they often work out with souls of similar strength to push each other. Do you push yourself in your generosity? Do you let others push you for your growth?

The Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that acceptable giving was linked to two things: their willingness and the limit of what they had. Paul wanted them to push themselves to the limit of what they had, but he would not force them. Giving must be sacrificial (“we one has”), and it must flow willingly.

I can’t make you cheerfully release all you are and all you have to God, but I will push you to that end, because that’s the only giving that is acceptable to God!

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

“Indeed, the truth that many people never understand, until it’s too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most…This is another of the great perversions by which the devil uses our philosophies to turn our whole nature inside out, and eviscerate all our capacities for good, turning them against ourselves.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Image, 1970) 105-106.

My son, Sammy, and I have arrived safely overseas. So far we have met with some wonderful people, and though long, the trip has been uneventful and quite peaceful. While abroad, we will undoubtedly experience discomfort, perhaps even difficulties. The human tendency is to label such times as bad, but we must welcome them as vital for our maturity. If we want our generosity to blossom, or our “capacities for good” as Merton put it, then we must not avoid suffering but count it pure joy! Generosity flows by the Spirit through tested characters.

I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:16-21

“Our happiness consists in sharing the happiness of God, the perfection of His unlimited freedom, the perfection of His love.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Image, 1970) 451.

As this posts, my son, Sammy, and I are making our connection to fly overseas. Pray that we can share the happiness with everyone we meet. That’s why we are all here on this earth.

Think of a person right now that you could generously share the happiness of God’s love. Pray this prayer over them that the Apostle Paul prayed it for the Ephesians. Insert their name for “you” each time.

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 2 Timothy 4:6

“People have no idea what one saint can do: for sanctity is stronger than the whole of hell. The saints are full of Christ in the plenitude of His Kingly and Divine power: and they are conscious of it, and they give themselves to Him, that He may exercise His power through their smallest and seemingly most insignificant acts, for the salvation of the world.”

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) in The Seven Storey Mountain (New York: Image, 1970) 284.

As I will be traveling in places closed to the Gospel with my son, Sammy, over the next 14 days, and may have limited access to email, I have chosen to post excerpts of this spiritual classic over the next 14 days. We would appreciate your prayers for us to make it there and back again.

When we give ourselves to God that He may work through our small and seemingly insignificant acts for the salvation of the world, this is our greatest act of generosity. Join us, give yourself to God, not for fame but so that people may see the plenitude, that is, the abundance of Christ’s power!

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9

“Hospitality makes anxious disciples into powerful witnesses, makes suspicious owners into generous givers, and makes closed-minded sectarians into interested recipients of new ideas and insights…Hospitality is the ability to pay attention to the guest. This is very difficult, since we are preoccupied with our own needs, worries and tensions, which prevent us from taking distance from ourselves in order to pay attention to others…

This experience tells us that we can only love because we are born out of love, that we can only give because our life is a gift, and that we can only make others free because we are set free by Him whose heart is greater than ours. When we have found the anchor places for our lives in our own center, we can be free to let others enter into the space created for them…without fear. Then our presence is no longer threatening and demanding but inviting and liberating.”

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) in The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (New York: Image, 1979) 89, 91-92.

One of the greatest forms of generosity is hospitality toward others, or more precisely, paying attention to those who enter our path, our space, and our schedule. I have much room for growth in this area and have learned much from watching my wife.

I have also learned much from Nouwen on this. We must be anchored in Christ to be hospitable. That means we first must know that we are loved, that every day is a gift, and that we are set free by living in the truth, in order to love, give, and set others free.

When we extend hospitality to others, God transforms us into powerful witnesses, generous givers, and interested recipients! If you want to grow in hospitality, anchor to Christ, take distance from yourself, pay attention to others, and see what happens.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:5

“I now want to give a counsel that may sound strange. It is that we should learn to pray even when we are dwelling on evil. Perhaps we are waging an interior battle over anger, or lust, or pride, or greed, or ambition. We need not isolate these things from prayer. Instead, we talk to God about what is going on inside that we know displeases Him. We lift up even our disobedience into the arms of the Father; He is strong enough to carry the weight. Sin, to be sure, separates us from God, but trying to hide our sin separates us all the more.”

Richard Foster in Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (San Francisco: Harper One, 2002) 14.

With David, the psalmist, Jenni and I testify that not covering up sin but acknowledging it with regard to money paved the way for freedom, life, and victory for us. Society told us that good stewards stored up treasures on earth, so we did it, until we realized that Jesus explicitly told us not to do that, though most everyone, including Christians, did it. It’s humbling to admit.

When we took our greed to God while still wrestling with the implications of obedience, He graciously forgave us and showed us that He was not trying to rob us but trying to help us. Remember “storing up treasures on earth” according to Jesus is “greed,” and it’s sin (cf. Luke 12:13-21). Don’t hear this as condemnation, but as a liberating confession!

How can people grow in generosity? Not by giving a little bit more. Stats show that’s not the answer. The Scriptures point the way! Talk to God about your greed. Be honest. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you do, you will find forgiveness and freedom, help and hope from our generous God! And you just might discover your role on the planet in the process.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

“We are apt to think that everything that happens to us is to be turned into useful teaching; it is to be turned into something better than teaching, namely into character. We shall find that the spheres God brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us something.”

Oswald Chambers in The Love of God: An Intimate Look at the Father-Heart of God (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1988).

Father in heaven, we worship You today and thank You for Your love that You generously pour into our hearts through the Holy Spirit on good days and bad, to “make us something,” conduits of Your love who reflect Your character in the spheres where You lead us. Receive our praise in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Ephesians 5:16

“I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider a story from the February 1998 edition of Reader’s Digest, which tells about a couple who “took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30 foot trawler, play softball, and collect shells.”

At first, when I read it I thought it might be a joke. A spoof on the American Dream. But it wasn’t. Tragically, this was the dream: Come to the end of your life—your one and only precious, God-given life—and let the last great work of your life, before you give an account to your Creator, be this: playing softball and collecting shells.

Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: ‘Look, Lord. See my shells.’ That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Over against that, I put my protest: Don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.”

John Piper in Don’t Waste Your Life (Wheaton: Crossway, 2003) 45–46.

This quote is famous. Perhaps it’s familiar to you. Two things directed me to it two days ago. It’s all I could about yesterday, so it’s today’s post. First, I saw a seashell on an online Hilton banner advertisement yesterday. Then last night, I was watching the movie, Ironman, with my wife. In the scene where Tony Stark escapes from the cave with the help of Professor Ho Yinsen, we see the professor die to set him free. These were his last words to Stark (click to watch the one minute clip): “Don’t waste your life!”

Special thanks to Tim Macready, my mate down under at Christian Super, for sharing this seven-minute video with me a while back in which John Piper tells the full story. It’s powerful! I share this quote and these clips to remind everyone today to live every day generously for Jesus, because He died to give us the life we enjoy now and the gift of life eternal with Him! Don’t buy the American Dream! Don’t spend your days collecting shells and playing softball. Don’t waste your one and only precious, God-given life!