Latest / Reformed Thinking / Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes | John Piper

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Brothers, Beware of Sacred Substitutes | John Piper · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome you to Reformed Thinking.
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This is the show where we try to help you get a handle on some
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complex ideas with real clarity, always bringing in that
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spiritual truth that sticks. Each deep dive we do is really
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shaped for you, trying to get you well informed but without,
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you know, drowning you in information.
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We want to give you insights that genuinely cut through all
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the noise out there. Today we're jumping into
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something that really hits close to home for a spiritual life.
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And while our active service as Christians, it's about something
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that maybe surprisingly can become the biggest challenge to
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walking closely with God. It's a bit of a paradox, one
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that maybe many of us face without quite realizing it.
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That's right, we're going to look at how even the best
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activities, the things we'd absolutely call admirable, can
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subtly pull us away from key spiritual habits, especially our
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time set aside for prayer and really digging into God's Word.
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We'll be pulling from folks in history who wrestled with this,
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I think Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and also looking at
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powerful stories in the Bible from the early church.
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Yeah, our goal is to kind of unpack how these good things can
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turn into what we're calling sacred substitutes.
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Things that seem holy, seem right, but actually end up
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diverting us from what's most vital for spiritual health.
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So get ready to maybe look at your own daily stuff, especially
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the things that seem really beneficial with the maybe a
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fresh perspective. The subtle adversary ministry as
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its own greatest challenge. OK, so let's start unpacking
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this. Well, this pretty surprising
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idea that ministry itself, or maybe it's the good things
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within ministry, can be the biggest threat to a strong
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prayer life and real spiritual growth.
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That sounds completely backward at first glance, doesn't it?
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You'd think the world or temptations, those would be the
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main problems. It absolutely does sound
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counterintuitive. Usually we picture worldly
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distractions, you know, sinful desires, maybe outright
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opposition from outside. Those are the things we think
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fight against our spiritual progress.
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But the sources we're looking at make a really strong case that
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spiritual activity isn't usually destroyed by those external
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worldly things. Instead, the argument is that it
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has this sort of internal dynamic, a way it can undermine
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itself. Like, think of a system built
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for growth, but some parts of that system, if they aren't kept
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in check, start competing with the main purpose and actually
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weaken it. And this is a really key point,
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not just for pastors or full time workers, but for any
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believer who's seriously involved in serving Christ in
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any way. It highlights the subtle enemy
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that works from inside our dedicated Christian activities.
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OK, so if it's not the obvious outside stuff, what are these
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specific challenges that come from within our service?
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What are these internal dynamics that make it such a strange
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threat to our spiritual core? Well, there was this survey done
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with pastors which gives us some real numbers here and the
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results about what hindered their spiritual growth were
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pretty eye opening. The number one thing busyness
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that affected get this 83% of them.
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Wow, 83%. Yeah, and right behind that, 73%
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mentioned a lack of discipline, then 47% pointed to
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interruptions. But here's the kicker.
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Most of this busyness, most of these interruptions, they said,
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were directly related to ministry work itself.
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It wasn't outside stuff like shopping or, you know, dealing
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with personal life things. It was the ministry tasks
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themselves. So we're not talking about the
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usual time Steelers, like getting lost scrolling online or
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doing chores or fixing the car. We're talking about things like
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preparing the church budget, staff meetings, visiting people
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in the congregation, counseling folks who are hurting, answering
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tons of emails and letters, writing reports, reading
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theology journals, taking calls from church members, and
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spending hours crafting sermons or Bible study notes.
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These are all I mean. They're not just good
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activities, they're essential parts of Christian service.
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They're good deeds, not bad ones.
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That's it. Absolutely.
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They are all good, often necessary tasks.
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But the way the sources describe it, these are the very
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activities that tend to shove our prayer time into rushed
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corners of the day. They leave almost no room for
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that deeper spiritual exercise. Charles Spurgeon, you know, the
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great 19th century preacher, he really felt this.
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He talked about the incessant knocks at our door and perpetual
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visits from idle persons, not just as annoyances, but he
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called them so many buckets of cold water thrown upon our
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devout zeal. That's a strong image.
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Yeah, it really is. And then he said flat out that
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we simply must secure time for uninterrupted meditation or we
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will lose our strength. He saw these interruptions, even
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the well meaning ones, as a real chilling danger to spiritual
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life. That picture, buckets of cold
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water that really hits home. It paints a picture of a slow
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cooling down, doesn't it? Not a big sudden attack, but a
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gradual chilling. Like the heat just slowly drains
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away almost before you notice it.
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And then you realize that fire you had isn't burning so bright
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anymore. It's not a dramatic fall, just a
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quiet fade. The Apostolic pattern
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prioritizing prayer and the Word.
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OK, so this tension where good things can actually threaten the
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best things, that leads us straight to a really key story
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in the Bible that shows this clearly.
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The decision the apostles made back in Acts chapter 6.
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This is where we see this exact problem playing out right in the
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early church and how the leaders handled it.
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Exactly. In Acts 6 you have this genuine
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urgent need popping up. In the early church, which was
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growing fast, the issue was the daily food distribution to the
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widows. This wasn't some minor
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administrative task. Is about caring for vulnerable
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people a matter of justice and compassion, right Within the
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church family, it needed attention fast.
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So you'd think naturally the apostles as the leaders would
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just dive right in and manage this themselves, right?
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It was clearly a good thing to do.
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But they took a different approach, didn't they?
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They called everyone together, the whole group of believers,
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which shows it was a considered group decision, not just a whim.
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And they basically said it is not right that we should give up
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preaching the Word of God to serve tables.
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That's a pretty bold statement, setting a priority that might
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have seemed, well, maybe a bit harsh given the need.
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They drew a line. It's a really crucial moment,
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and it teaches us so much. The apostles saw that serving
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tables, while good and necessary work expressing the church's
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love, was directly threatening their main job.
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It wasn't bad versus good. It was one good thing competing
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with their primary calling, and they spelled out their choice
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very clearly. But we will devote ourselves to
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prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
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They called this their chief work, their main assignment from
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God. It was a deliberate choice to
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protect their core functions because they understood how
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vital prayer and the Word were for everything else.
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That phrase devote ourselves, it feels like it carries a lot of
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weight. It sounds like more than just,
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you know, we'll do this or fitting it into their schedule.
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What does it really tell us about their level of detonation?
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Oh, absolutely. The Greek word they use there is
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plus carteri. It paints a picture of this
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really steadfast resolve, like a strong persistence, sticking to
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a task without letting go. It means more than just being
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interested, it means to persist at to remain with something
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firmly. You actually see this word used
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elsewhere, like in Acts 10 verse 7, describing soldiers who
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served Cornelius faithfully, showing constant loyalty and
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focus. So when the apostles used
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prescarterase, they were basically declaring, look, no
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matter how many urgent things come up demanding our time, even
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really good deeds, we will not abandon our main job.
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We're going to persist in it. We won't be turned aside from
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the work of prayer. It speaks to this fierce single
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minded focus that protects this core activity from everything
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else, even other good things. So not just a casual interest
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then, it's a determined focus, dedication.
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Like they were fiercely guarding that time and function and this
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pattern. This wasn't just for the
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apostles themselves, right? It wasn't a unique calling only
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for the original 12. No, not at all.
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This idea of devotion to prayer, this proscar tere, shows up as a
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regular, essential practice throughout the early church
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accounts. It seems foundational for both
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personal spiritual life and for the church's impact.
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Think about Acts One verse 14. You have 120 disciples actively
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devoting themselves to prayer together before the Spirit came
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at Pentecost and what happened? Bold witness and 3000 people
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converted right then in Acts 2 verse 42, these new believers,
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what do they do? They devoted themselves to the
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apostles, teaching fellowship, breaking bread and a prayer.
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And the result signs, wonders, growth.
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You also see Peter and others praying right when they get
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filled with the Spirit, enabling them to speak God's Word boldly.
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Even Paul, who's constantly on the move, ministering
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tirelessly, he makes it clear how much he relied on prayer for
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his own ability to preach the gospel effectively.
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So this theme runs right through the early chapters of Acts.
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It shows that dedicated prayer wasn't just for the leaders, but
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was seen as a vital model for the whole growing church.
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That really shows a clear link between that kind of dedicated
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prayer and actual spiritual results, doesn't it?
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It suggests prayer isn't just one piece of the puzzle, but
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maybe the prerequisite for genuine spiritual growth and
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outward effectiveness. The labor of prayer requiring
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focus and solitude. It really sounds like the
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apostles thought about prayer very differently than how we
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often approach it today. You know, just trying to squeeze
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it in when we can. They called it a time consuming
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labor. What does that phrase tell us
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about what prayer actually is and what it demands from us?
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More than just a quick thought on the run it seems.
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It tells us pretty clearly that prayer, the way they understood
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and did it, needs real, dedicated chunks of time without
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interruption. The sources we're looking at
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directly push back against this modern idea that you can pray
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effectively while you're doing other things, like washing the
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dishes or cooking or driving between meetings.
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I mean, if prayer worked just fine with that kind of divided
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attention, why would the apostles have seen serving
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tables as a threat to their prayer time?
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The very fact they saw it as a competing demand, something they
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have to consciously choose against in order to protect
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prayer, tells you a lot about the kind of deep focus prayer
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they were aiming for. It suggests it needs your full
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mental and spiritual energy. So it really demands setting
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aside other tasks, a deliberate stopping of everything else,
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even the good productive things. Absolutely.
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And the apostles weren't inventing this.
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They were drawing on a long tradition.
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They knew stories like Jacob, who famously spent a whole night
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wrestling with God in prayer. That shows that extended focus
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Time can be part of it. But even more important, they
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were following the example of Jesus himself.
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How often did he pull away to quiet, lonely places
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specifically to pray? Sometimes he spent entire nights
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in prayer with his Father, before big moments, before
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choosing the disciples, before facing the cross.
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Jesus often went off alone to pray.
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He set that pattern of dedicated, solitary time with
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God. It wasn't just a nice habit for
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him, it seemed essential. Yeah, that really gives a strong
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sense of prayer. Not being just a casual chat or
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a mental checklist run through while distracted.
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Sounds more like serious, focused work that really needs
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solitude and specific blocks of time set aside for it.
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It's an active thing, demanding our presence.
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It is that work of prayer clearly required significant
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amounts of solitude and focused attention for Jesus and for the
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apostles, Mark chapter one, verse 35 says.
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And rising very early in the morning while it was still dark,
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he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he
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prayed. That makes it pretty plain that
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prayer isn't just a mental thing you do amidst the chaos of life
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or a side thought squeezed into the gaps.
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It's meant to be a full engagement of yourself, heart,
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mind, spirit that really needs a separate time and place to truly
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connect with the Lord. It's about intentionally
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creating that space for dialogue with God.
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The deceptiveness of sacred substitutes.
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OK, so this brings us back to that idea of sacred substitutes.
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It's really striking, isn't it, that the very act of trying to
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meet real needs, doing good, valuable Kingdom work, can
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somehow become an enemy of our prayer life.
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It's not the obvious sins we expect, but the good works
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themselves. They can be the sneakiest
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challenge. It is a powerful paradox.
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Yeah. Think about the widow situation
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in Acts 6 again. Caring for them was a real need,
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a legitimate one. It needed compassion, practical
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help. It was a clear call to justice
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and care right there in the church, a truly good and
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necessary thing. But it was exactly this real
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need that threatened the apostles.
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Time for prayer. So this shows us that the danger
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to our spiritual core isn't always from bad things, things
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clearly against God's will. Often the biggest threats come
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from other good activities, things that compete for a
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limited time and focused attention.
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And they often win because they feel so right and so urgent.
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So, thinking about today, beyond just being generally busy, what
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are some specific things in Christian life and service that
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can act like these substitutes? Things that subtly pull our
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focus from prayer and the Word? What makes them so easy to fall
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for? Well, apart from that general
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busyness that hits everyone. The sources list things
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particularly common for those really involved in church worker
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ministry. We're talking about things like
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careful budget planning, long staff meetings, making lots of
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pastoral visits, spending hours counseling people, dealing with
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endless emails and messages, writing up reports, reading
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important theological articles, always being on the phone for
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church matters, and of course, preparing sermons or lessons.
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All of these are valuable. They contribute to the ministry,
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but they are also exactly the kinds of demands that, because
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they feel urgent and holy, can just crowd out the time and
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mental energy needed for deep prayer.
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They feel like ministry, so we let them take over.
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And the sources seem to take it even further, suggesting that
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even tasks needing real spiritual maturity and good
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judgment can themselves become challenges to prayer.
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That makes it even harder to spot, doesn't it?
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Yes, even those. The implication in the text is
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that we should be willing to let go of even those kinds of
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opportunities, tasks that genuinely need spiritual gifts,
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wisdom, discernment, if that's what it takes to protect our
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devotion to prayer. And this gets reinforced when
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you look at the qualifications they wanted for the seven men
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chosen to serve tables back in Acts 6, verse three.
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They had to be people of good repute, full of the Spirit and
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of wisdom. That is really telling.
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It wasn't like they were just finding anyone to do the less
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critical jobs, was it? It wasn't that serving tables
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was for the less spiritual people.
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No, not at all. It shows that the work they were
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handing off was itself significant.
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It required spiritual depth and wisdom.
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So that just underlines the point.
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If a good deed, even one needing spiritual wisdom and the
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Spirit's guidance, can challenge Apostolic prayer, then prayer
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itself must hold an even higher, more critical priority.
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It also suggests, maybe, that the whole church body needs to
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be spiritually equipped for different kinds of service, not
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just the leaders focused on prayer and preaching.
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Every good work is needed, sure, but not every good work should
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be the main focus for every single person all the time.
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Figuring out the best use of our time, even among many good
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options, seems key. Voices from the past and
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practical counsel for prioritizing.
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Prayer now, this intense focus on these core spiritual habits.
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It's not some new idea, is it? It's something we hear echoed
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down through church history, from people whose lives were
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incredibly full and demanding. Like Martin Luther, for
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instance. His life was anything but quiet.
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Right. Martin Luther, definitely one of
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the busiest figures of the Reformation.
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He gives some really practical advice on this exact issue.
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Apparently his Barber, a man named Peter Beskendorf, asked
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him a simple question. Doctor Luther, how do you pray?
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And Luther's answer wasn't just a quick tip.
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He wrote a whole 40 page letter just for his Barber on the
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topic. The sheer length of his reply
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tells you how seriously he took prayer.
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It wasn't just a footnote in his life. 40 pages for his Barber.
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Wow. So what did he share with Peter
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in that letter? What was his main point about
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how to approach prayer, especially when life is hectic?
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Well, he used an analogy. His Barber would immediately get
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the act of shaving someone, he said.
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A good Barber has to keep his thoughts, his mind, his eyes
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totally focused on the razor of the beard.
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If he gets distracted, starts thinking about other things,
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looks away for a second, he could easily Nix the person, cut
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their lip, their nose, maybe even worse.
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Ouch. Yeah, that makes sense.
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So Luther drew a conclusion from that.
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Anything that is to be done well ought to occupy the whole man
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with all his faculties and members.
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And the flip side, he said, is that he who thinks of many
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things thinks of nothing and accomplishes no good.
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Then he applied it straight to prayer.
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Prayer, to be truly good and effective, must possess the
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heart exclusively and completely.
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It needs our undivided attention, our whole being
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focused on it. That's such a clear picture.
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It makes that idea of undivided attention and prayer really
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concrete. A very practical analogy.
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And didn't he also give some really practical advice about
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when to pray, not just how? He did.
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He gave very straightforward advice.
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Yeah. Make prayer the first business
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in the morning and the last in the evening.
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He knew how tempting it is to put it off, so he warned against
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those false and deceitful thoughts that whisper, oh wait a
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bit, I'll pray in an hour or so. I just need to finish this one
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thing first. He knew from experience, I
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think, that those kinds of thoughts almost always lead to
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prayer getting skipped all together.
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Other tasks just take over and the day ends and the prayer
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never happened. He really understood that
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tyranny of the urgent. Yeah, that sounds familiar.
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And it's fascinating how these ideas from Luther, coming out of
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his own intense life, connect with other voices from history,
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people calling for a really radical view of Prayer's place
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in our lives. Yes, definitely.
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You have someone like a A Bonar, a Scottish minister from the
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19th century. He issued this incredibly strong
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call for spiritual discipline that really pushes us to rethink
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our priorities. He said, oh brother, pray in
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spite of Satan. Pray.
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Spend hours in prayer. Rather neglect friends and not
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pray. Rather fast and lose breakfast,
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dinner, tea and supper and sleep too.
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Then not pray. That's pretty extreme sounding.
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Wow, that is quite a statement. It really forces you to stop and
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think about what actually comes first in your life.
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What does that kind of declaration suggest to you about
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where prayer should sit, if it's even above basic needs?
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Well, it suggests prayer isn't just some optional extra.
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You know, a nice thing to do if you find a spare moment.
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It presents prayer as absolutely central, non negotiable.
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Bonar's advice puts prayer right at the top of the list, even
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higher than fundamental physical needs or our social ties.
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Why? Because he saw it as utterly
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foundational to our spiritual life and for God's purposes, to
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actually happen in US and through us.
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It's about fiercely guarding this time, seeing it as more
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vital than almost anything else we do.
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It's the engine, you could say, not just cargo.
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The dire consequences of neglecting prayer.
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OK, so if prayer gets pushed aside by these sacred
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substitutes, even by good necessary activities, what's the
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bottom line? What does that mean for our
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spiritual lives and our ministry efforts overall?
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What's the end result if this neglect continues?
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Well, the results are serious, and they spread out further than
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just our personal feelings. The sources draw a very direct
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and frankly sobering line. Without extended and consecrated
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prayer, the ministry of the Word Withers up and bears no fruit.
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That's a stark warning. It means that all the spiritual
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activity, all the programs, the events, the busyness, it might
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look like it's happening, but it loses its divine power, it's
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actual vitality. If prayer isn't fueling it, the
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life giving connection gets severed.
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The activity might go on, but the spiritual effectiveness just
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drains away. And does it stop there, just
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with the ministry of the Word becoming less effective?
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Or are there wider ripple effects for us as individuals
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and for the church community? No, it doesn't stop there.
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When the ministry of the Word weakens because prayer is
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lacking, the sources say that faith and holiness also start to
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decline. It suggests this chain reaction.
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Weak prayer leads to a weak handling and receiving of God's
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truth, which then leads to weaker faith and less holy
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living. Now outward activity might keep
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going. Churches might still be busy.
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People might still look involved.
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The work might get done on the surface, but the inner life, the
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very core of spiritual health, starts to fade.
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The real spiritual life, the actual fruitfulness, it shrivels
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up. You might be left with something
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that looks like a functioning organization, but it lacks that
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dynamic spiritual core it's supposed to have.
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It just becomes activity for its own sake.
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So it's not just about missing out on feeling personally
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refreshed or close to God, it's about the actual work itself
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eroding, losing its foundation, its God-given purpose.
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That's much more serious than maybe we tend to think.
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That's exactly the point. The sources are still clear
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here. Therefore, whatever opposes
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prayer opposes the whole work of ministry.
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What that means is neglecting prayer isn't just a small slip
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up or missing one item on A to do list.
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That doesn't really matter much. It affects everything.
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It impacts the strength, the depth, the real effectiveness of
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everything we try to do for God's Kingdom.
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Without that consistent, focused prayer, the engine driving our
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spiritual efforts just sputters. Even the good things we do
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become spiritually weaker, less powerful, and ultimately less
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fruitful in ways that truly matter for eternity.
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It's the foundation that holds everything else up.
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Well, this deep dive is definitely laid out a strong,
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maybe even unsettling argument that the biggest hurdle to our
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spiritual growth and our effective service often isn't
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the stuff we usually blame, like worldly temptations.
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Instead, it can be the demands of good activities themselves,
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especially within ministry and Christian service.
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It's a subtle but really powerful dynamic to be aware of.
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Yeah, I think the consistent message from Luther, from the
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apostles, from others through history is pretty clear.
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Making time for focused, uninterrupted prayer and
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attention to God's Word isn't just one more thing on our
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spiritual checklist. It's really the source, the
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wellspring where all genuine spiritual vitality comes from.
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And it takes a deliberate, conscious choice to carve out
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and protect that time for God, especially when other good,
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urgent things are clamoring for our attention.
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So as you think about what we've talked through today, what
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really stands out to you? Maybe take a moment to reflect
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on your own daily rhythm. Are there good things in your
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life, maybe even things that feel very spiritual, that might
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be suddenly pushing aside that focus, time for prayer, and just
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being in God's Word. It's not about feeling guilty,
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but maybe just about honest evaluation, you know, spiritual
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discernment. Perhaps the real challenge for
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all of us isn't just to work harder for God, but maybe to
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pray better, to put prayer 1st and to pray with our whole heart
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and mind engaged. Hopefully you feel encouraged to
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really guard that sacred space for connecting with the Lord,
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understanding just how crucial it is for everything else you
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do. You've been listening to
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Reformed Thinking. Until our next deep dive, keep
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pursuing knowledge and seeking God's truth.