In December of 2014, I was preparing to go on vacation with my wife Holly. Back then we only had one child, our daughter Emma, and we were going to leave her with my wife’s parents while we were gone. One of the things I was looking forward to while we were on vacation was reading several books. The week before we left I got my hands on a book called Look and Live by Matt Papa. Many people might know of Matt Papa because of his music, and if you don’t you should check out his music. I had no idea that Matt Papa’s book would have such a profound impact on my life when I packed it for our vacation in 2014, but since reading it 6 years ago I have come back to it over and over again.
In February I had the chance to meet Matt Papa. He spent the weekend leading worship at a marriage conference put on by Saylorville Church. The day after the marriage conference Matt led a night of worship at Saylorville Church and I had a chance to talk to him briefly when that was over. Matt had already been talking with CJ McMurry who serves as Program Director at The Refuge because CJ and I have talked many times about stealing the title of Matt’s book to use as a tagline at The Refuge. Matt was very humble and gracious and told us to use it however we would like to.
Matt Papa’s book had such a profound impact on my life because it helped open my eyes to the reality that my greatest need is not to try harder and behave better but to fix my eyes on Jesus who alone is able to transform my life. I am reminded of something Jared Wilson said in his book The Imperfect Disciple, that “beholding is better than behaving.” I have always by nature been a timid and mostly compliant person (at least compliant on the outside). This easily leads me to try very hard to control my sinful behavior. I remember being a teenager and making many commitments to fight harder against lust but my strength was never enough, and to this day as a 33-year-old my strength is still not enough. I don’t need more effort, I need to behold Someone better and more glorious than my sin, Jesus Christ.
The truth that lasting transformation comes by beholding the glory of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18) came alive to me when I read Matt Papa’s book. I am still a work in progress, I have not arrived but by God’s grace, I will continue to be transformed little by little into the image of Christ. The truth of 2 Cor. 3:18 has also impacted how I approach counseling and helping men find freedom from addiction at The Refuge. Matt Papa says this in his book:
We don’t need more willpower. We don’t need to get ourselves together. We need a greater thrill…a more captivating beauty.
What we need is a vision of God.
We need to see glory.
Are you addicted? Anxious? Unhappy? Still fighting that sin you’ve been fighting for years? Exhausted from trying harder? From religion?
I do not call you to work or strive, but to simply lift up your eyes. “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
My aim is to help you overcome idolatry and certain sadness by pointing you to the all-satisfying, sin-destroying glory of Jesus.
We have one goal at The Refuge and that is to see the lives of the men who come be totally transformed by God. We know that we are powerless to change a single person and are totally dependent on the Lord to do the work that only He can do. This transformation starts with salvation if men have not repented of their sins and trusted in Jesus. We work hard every day to provide an environment where men can behold the glory of the Lord, which is most clearly in the good news that Jesus died and rose again to save sinners so that God can transform the men who come to The Refuge. We are not the ones who do the work but we want to be the vessel that God uses to do His work in every man who comes to The Refuge.
For months now I have been telling CJ McMurry that we need a tagline at The Refuge, something short and to the point that could serve as a hashtag or could be put on a t-shirt or hoodie. Our mission statement is “taking the light of the Gospel to the darkness of addiction” and we love that but we wanted something shorter to use along with that. I have had my heart set on Look and Live for months and when I found out that Matt Papa was going to be at the marriage conference I thought that could be a great opportunity to get his blessing. I am thankful for CJ because he initiated the process. I am not super outgoing and if he had not started the conversation I might not have done it myself.
Our passion at The Refuge is that men would look to Jesus and find abundant life, that they truly would Look and Live!
Blessings,
Ben Funkhouser