Category: charlatans

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Who Is Our Shepherd?

In John 10, we have the account of Jesus presenting himself as the good shepherd. We don’t usually have a lot of contact with shepherds, but they were a part of the culture in the first century. Kings were often pictured as shepherds, taking care of the needs of their people. The Jews carried the concept of God as their shepherd. They also saw their leaders as shepherds.

In this passage, the focus is not on the sheep, but is on the Shepherd. Too often, we tend to take our eyes off Jesus and become wrapped up in ourselves, in our interests. We do this as individuals, and also as communities. We do what we do out of a desire to make things better for us. Programs, buildings, schedules, etc. are often built around what we think are our needs. Can you imagine a flock of sheep standing around making decisions about where they are going to graze next? No, they trust the shepherd. They know in their little sheep brains that they are under the rule of the shepherd. He is the one in charge, and all they have to do is trust him and go where he leads them. Jesus is the ruler. He is the one in control, not us.

Jesus is the good shepherd. We can trust him because he lay down his life for us. That is what a good shepherd does. Not only did he lay down his life, he took it back up again. He has defeated death, so it holds no terror for us. We are absolutely safe in the care of our Shepherd. Nothing can harm us. In contrast to Jesus, there are bad shepherds out there that sometimes draw us away. These bad shepherds would be anything that takes our eyes off Jesus and what he has done for us. They could be things like wealth, pleasure, fame, sinful habits. Bad shepherds can also be good things like church activities, our favorite preacher or teacher, family, friends. It is good to ask ourselves from time to time if what we are following is the good Shepherd or a bad shepherd.

Our good Shepherd takes care of us individually and collectively. Jesus states that he calls his sheep by name. He knows our names. He knows us intimately, better than we know ourselves. Each of us who belong to him are his sheep and we follow him. We also follow our Shepherd together. When sheep follow their shepherd, they don’t wander in one by one. While they are individuals, they follow the shepherd as a group. It is when a single sheep gets away from the flock that it is in the most danger. We are no different. We are best served when we follow Jesus together with others. Jesus is the head of a body, not just a collection of body parts. We need community because it is in community that we help each other follow Jesus.

Bad shepherds, whether they take us completely away from our Shepherd or convince us that we can follow him all on our own, are thieves that have only come to steal, kill, and destroy. Our good Shepherd calls us to follow him, to be a part of his flock. In following Jesus, we find a life that is full and abundant. Not in a way that the bad shepherds promise, but in knowing that we are being cared for by a loving, powerful King who is in control.

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Happy All the Time?

I remember different times in my life when I heard people say that Christians are always supposed to be happy all the time, or at least give the appearance of being happy. The rational behind this was the desire to “keep a good testimony.” In other words, it was to make those outside of the faith think that, because we had Jesus, we never got down or discouraged. This was an attempt to show that Christianity “worked” and was worth trying. There are still those who preach that today, as well as those who preach that if anything negative happens to you, it is nothing but an attack from satan and can be thwarted by positive thinking and speaking. Neither of these ways of thinking match up with what Scripture tells us.

All through the Bible, there are instances where God’s people mourned and lamented. There was mourning for their sins, and there were lamentations when bad things happened. The Psalms are full of prayers that are cries to God for help in trouble and tragedy. I can’t recall any passages in Scripture that command us to be happy all the time. What you do see are warnings that we will suffer, that life is not going to be a walk down a tree lined lane into heaven. Look at the people Jesus hung out with. They were folks who had a hard life, who were the downtrodden and oppressed. Jesus never told them to put on a happy face because following him made your life problem free. He never told them to make positive pronouncements that would make them better. In fact, Jesus told those who wanted to follow him that they had to give up everything and die in order to follow him. Honestly, giving up my desires, my wishes, my life, is hard. It doesn’t always make me a smiling, happy person. Sometimes I do it with a frown and a grumble.

The idea that we need to put on a happy face as a good testimony is also wrong. We do a disservice to the cause of Christ when we give the impression that Jesus makes everything peachy. We are afraid to show grief because we are supposed to believe. We are afraid to get angry because our life is supposed to be wonderful. We ask each other how we are doing, and then don’t give an honest answer because we don’t want folks to think that we’re not trusting God. So, we tell everyone that our lives are wonderful, while families fall apart, faith is shattered, and lives go down the tubes. And then we say, “I never knew. They seemed so happy.” It is not the presence of a smiling face and assertions that everything is great that testifies to the grace and glory of God. It is when we are able to say through the pain and the tears, “I believe God is good. I don’t know why this has happened, and I hurt, but I know my Father cares for me.” A smiling face can hide deep despair, while asserting trust in God through tears shows a depth that can only come from the Spirit.

When we are open about our pain and heartache, we open the door to comfort from those who have been through similar things. We come to see that we are not alone. This helps us to see that our Father really is in control and really does love us. This can bring deep, abiding joy. It is this joy that shows that following Jesus is worth it.

Maybe you are going through some tough things right now, and your pain is more than you can bear. God knows. He experienced imaginable grief at the cross. Don’t be afraid to let your hurt show. Be honest to the Father about how you are feeling. Find some brothers or sisters that you can be open and vulnerable with. Let God use them to bring you comfort and grace. We are children of a good, loving, perfect Father and we are on this journey together. Take the masks off. Don’t be afraid.

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Christ or Narcissus?

Jesus Christ. Son of God. The Messiah. Called his followers to pick up their cross, die to their selves, and follow him, living a life that is others focused. Giver of eternal life.

Narcissus. Son of a Greek god. Self centered. Treated others with disdain, especially anyone who loved him. Fell in love with his reflection in a pool of water and couldn’t tear himself away. Died.

We live in a narcissistic culture. We have been told to look out for number one, and that the greatest love is a love for oneself. Even acts of altruism are many times done because of how good it makes us feel. We are encouraged to make sure we get what we want out of life, whether that be career success, fame, love, or just being happy. Advertisers make millions because they can convince us that we need the newest product to make our lives complete. We in the church look at the culture and say, “Boy those folks sure are selfish.”

What is sad is that there is a narcissistic Christianity that has infected the church. Jesus has gone from being our “personal Savior,” to someone who will give us whatever we think we need. In Jesus Manifesto,  Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola noted that at the beginning of the twenty-first century the majority of the 100 top selling Christian books were focused on the personal and private. 6 books were about the Bible, 4 were about Jesus, and 3 were about evangelism. The other 87 were essentially “self help” books. If you look at the titles in any Christian bookstore, you can learn how to have your best life now where every day is a Friday, you can find out how to be a king in your own personal kingdom and have dominion over everything that comes your way, or you can find out to be a better (fill in the blank). If you watch Christian television, you can find out how to increase your finances by giving to any one of a bunch of ministries. Sounds kind of like the lottery to me. There was even a preacher on one program telling folks how to get what they wanted from God, comparing the ruler of the universe to a fast food restaurant! It’s all about us!

Jesus calls us to something far different. He calls us to live as he lived. Instead of an inward focus, Jesus lived with an outward focus. His first focus was his Father. Jesus stated that he did nothing but what the Father told him, and that he came to do the Father’s will. His other focus was on those who needed love and grace. Pretty much everyone. Jesus’ mission was to redeem those who were in need of redemption. He went around doing good, forgiving sins, healing, and loving. He loved the Father, and us, so much that he died a shameful death in the most agonizing way known to that day. He was the sacrifice that did what we could never do, reconcile us with God. That death, taken for others, brought us life. We who follow Jesus are called to the same kind of life. A life that is focused first on loving God, and then on loving others as Jesus loved us. It is a sacrificial life, a life that gives up, a life that wins by losing. How well do you think that title would do in the market?

Christ or Narcissus? One died because he couldn’t get his focus off himself. The other calls us to come and die, and find that we may truly live. 

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Thoughts on Les Miserables

A little while back, Jan and I went with some of our church family to see the movie, Les Miserables. We thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one of those movies you want to see on the big screen and then want to see again on DVD because the story is so good. A lot has been said and written about the theme of grace vs. law and the triumph of grace. The movie was saturated with grace, and the embodiment of grace in Jean Valjean and law in Javert was thought provoking and emotion producing.There were a lot of tissues used, and hopefully a lot of thinking about God’s grace. My thoughts after the film, while still including grace, were a bit different than others that I heard.

There were many scenes in the film that made folks cry, and I choked up many of those times myself. However, what brought me to tears was the scene near the end when Javert dove off the bridge, finally holding on to law all the way to death and rejecting the grace that was offered. Now, keep in mind that I had not read the novel or seen any of the stage or film productions. In my wild-eyed optimism, I hoped that Javert would see the light and be transformed by grace as Jean Valjean was. It broke my heart.

My heart still breaks when I think about the many people who reject a grace that gives life and cling to law which brings death. Some don’t know any better, having been raised in religions that are all about human effort. I would include the American religion of pull yourself up by your own bootstraps self-sufficiency. Many however, should know better. There are multitudes of churches and organizations that will say they are all about grace but then proclaim rules to follow to be “right with God,” or any number of steps to be a better whatever. This includes those “ministries” who proclaim grace but then tell you what to do to have any number of “blessings” in your life.

If those things worked, churches would be full of perfect, completely fulfilled and whole people. Do you know any of those? I don’t. Law doesn’t work to bring life, whether it’s religious commands or simple human effort to get better. Our effort, whether it’s obeying regulations, following steps, or trying to have more faith, will not change us. It is only God’s grace that transforms us, making us into people who show love to others, who trust God, and who sometimes do the right thing. This comes about because the Spirit of the living God dwells in us and changes us from the inside out. We no longer live by law, but we live by grace, out of a heart consumed with love for our Father because he loves us with an unchangeable, everlasting love.

Let us reject law, with its striving and death. Let us embrace God’s grace, which does what we could never do and transforms us into the new creation God means for us to be. 

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Something Quick

Sorry I wasn’t able to get Weekend Wanderings up this weekend. I’ve been crazy busy. I thought of something tonight as our church looked at the parable of the sower. I’ll leave you with this:

Jesus did not come to make us happy and comfortable, to give us the American Dream. He came to turn our lives upside down and inside out and give us the Father’s dream of a Kingdom where the paltry treasures of this life pale in comparison to knowing and loving Him.

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Dead, Yet Alive

Those of you who have read this blog over the past three or four months know that one of the topics I wrote a fair amount on was death. Death to self, dying for others. Those posts came out of some recent experiences, and as I was thinking about them the other day, I was concerned that I may have come across as a bit morose. Over the last couple of months, I have learned a few things. Believe it or not, I am still very much a work in progress and am continually learning.

The biggest thing that I am learning is the difference between what so many of us see as living, and what Scripture tells us about life. Many people (Christians included) see life as all about getting as much stuff as you can. That stuff can be money and possessions, or career satisfaction and success. It can be friends and followers, or family. It can be any number of things. The prosperity gospel preachers tell us that if we just have faith, God will give us a life filled with health and wealth, and devoid of problems. Some preachers preach that if we just love everyone, our lives will be filled with friends. Many evangelicals preach that if we follow a number of steps (based on the Bible of course) we will have great marriages, successful children, and a joyous life. Even those who look on horrified at all those things teach that if we keep all the rules our life will be wonderful.

In John 10:10, Jesus states that he came so we could have an abundant life. There are many places in Scripture where a life of following Jesus is presented as the ultimate way to live. Jesus says in Luke 17:33 that those who lose their lives for his sake will find life. In Luke 18, Jesus states that those who give up family, etc. to follow him will receive those things back, and then some. Jesus does call us to come and die. He also says that dying is the way to real, abundant life. The problem comes when we expect that abundant life to include lots of friends, success in our endeavors, good health, enough money to do anything we want, or anything else we think will make us happy. We are like those described by C.S. Lewis in Weight of Glory, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”  

We tend to see life in terms of what we can see and touch, when the life Jesus offers us rises far above the mundane things of this life. We are far too easily pleased. We set our sights on things that will pass away and miss the eternal pleasures the Father has for us right now. I wonder how many of those who believe God is in the business of giving them whatever they want believe that they will have those things in the new heavens and new earth. I hope none of us really believe that the things of this earth are the things that count. We do act like it many times.

As Christ calls us to die, let us remember that he also calls us to live. Live in him.  

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How God Became King 2

In How God Became King, N.T. Wright states that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was the inauguration of the kingdom, that “The cross serves the goal of the kingdom. just as the kingdom is accomplished by Jesus’ victory on the cross.” Jesus’ victory was accomplished by taking the worst the kingdoms of this world (symbolized by Rome) and the one behind those kingdoms (Satan) could throw at him, and coming out the other side, having conquered death and hell. The establishment of this kingdom was not what everyone expected. It was a kingdom based on sacrificial love, rather than a kingdom like all the other kingdoms.

Wright goes on to state that Jesus followers saw themselves as participating in Jesus’ kingdom through their suffering. Jesus was very clear that following him meant suffering. We here in the West seem to have forgotten that. One one side are “Job’s friends,” who see any suffering as a result of some sin in the individual’s life. On the other side are those who see all suffering as coming from Satan, so all we have to do is have enough faith to “speak” the suffering away, in effect pretending the suffering doesn’t exist. Of course, if you don’t have enough faith to speak the trouble away, then it is your fault just as it is on the other end of the spectrum. I believe both ends of the spectrum miss the boat.

I was having a short on-line discussion with a friend the other day about an article I had read about a theology of suffering. The article stated that we need to teach that God doesn’t always heal, but that he is always present with us in our suffering. My friend made the comment that it can be as damaging to believe in a God who is present but doesn’t heal as it is to have a God who can heal but lets us suffer because of our lack of faith. I agree with that. This is where the idea of suffering as the means by which God’s kingdom comes to earth changes a lot of our thinking and practice. If we suffer, and the kingdom advances through our suffering, then we can say with Paul, “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) 


Paul also stated that he wanted to know Christ, to know the power of his resurrection. We have no problem wanting that as well. But then Paul goes on to say that he wanted to participate in Christ’s sufferings, becoming like him in his death. We have a hard time getting hold of that. But if the suffering of the followers of Jesus advances his kingdom, then we shouldn’t see it as a result of our sin or an attack of Satan (although those may be contributing factors), but rather see it as something that will bring glory to our King and good to his kingdom.



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What Message?

From the state that brought you the PTL network, with its excesses and failings, comes another Christian network with a leader who believes in his right to build a four million dollar house in a gated community in the mountains. Now, a multi-million dollar house in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, even though it seems to me to be a bit of overkill. The problem comes when the network which pays this man big bucks is laying off employees because their revenues are down, after taking tax incentives from the state and starting a large, expensive campus for the network and its “ministries.”

This network preaches what is popularly called the prosperity gospel. The basic message is, “Send us your money so we can build a bigger ministry, and God will give you every material thing you have ever wanted, and then some.” In the state to the north, the government operates a lottery which they call the “Education Lottery.” Their message is, “Buy lottery tickets to make our schools better, and you might strike it rich.” If you don’t win, it’s just your bad luck. The prosperity preachers’ run sort of a “Holy Ghost Lottery,” except if you don’t get what they promise, it’s due to your lack of faith.

In a way, many in both the evangelical and fundamentalist branches of the institutional church preach a similar message. One side preaches that following _____ principles can change your life and make you a better _______________. The other preaches that following the rules and regulations that they say are Biblical will keep you living right and enable you to please God and stay “right” with him.

All three groups are essentially saying that of you do X, God will do Y. It puts things in the hands of human beings, and brings pride or despair. It is the doing that brings favor, rather than the Gospel message that it is God’s favor that causes us to do good out of gratitude and love.

The church, in all its expressions, needs to stop running a game that encourages people to give more and do more to win or increase God’s blessing on them. We need to get back to the message that the world is a messed up place and the folks in it are messed up people, BUT there is One who has changed everything, who has overcome sin and death, and who is making all things new. It does not depend on our own effort, but rather on the work of Jesus Christ.

Some questions come to mind every time I hear these popular messages. What would these preachers say to the Christians in China, India, or Darfur? Would they tell them they need to have more faith? Maybe they would give them a number of principles to follow? Would they say that they need to get right with God?