Category: Christ

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Alone and Vulnerable

We are told in Scripture that the devil prowls around like a lion, hunting for someone to devour. While I don’t believe a Christian can be ultimately harmed by satan, I do think there is a warning to us when it comes to how we live our lives. We are to be vigilant because the lion has many ways to try and attack us. To me, this speaks of the necessity of being in community with fellow believers.

When lions or other pack animals hunt, they pick out the most vulnerable member of a herd. They look for an animal that is sick, or a young one that may be slower than the rest. They may focus on one that has strayed away from the herd a bit. When the pack makes its charge, the target can be brought down quickly unless it can reach the safety of the herd or unless one of the stronger members is able to defend it.
A follower of Jesus who is trying to go it alone is a vulnerable target for the enemy. If we are by ourselves, we lose the benefit of learning how to love as Jesus loved, the benefit of wise counsel from others, and the growth that comes from the messiness of sharing life together. It is very easy for us to get the idea that we are doing everything right without input from others. Our blind spots are just that. Usually we don’t know about them unless someone who loves us points them out. If we isolate ourselves and only hear one point of view or one teacher, we run the risk of embracing teaching that does not match up with Scripture. Many times, we need the give and take of a group in order to discern what God wants us to know and do.  
Jesus gave us the command to love our brothers and sisters as he loved us. We cannot do that if we are separate from them. We are also told to make disciples. That can only be done in a community of folks that are committed to helping each other learn to follow Jesus. It doesn’t happen in isolation.  
A community that loves, that challenges, that disciples, is a safe place. Yes, there will be messiness. Yes, there will be times when we hurt one another. But a community that is centered in Jesus and his gospel will provide what we need to follow Christ and be a light in a dark world.
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Coming Down

This past Sunday night, we were in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. During the message the speaker made reference to this commercial. Go ahead and watch. I’ll wait.

The point of the commercial was that the choices we make show our character. The men who were not normally in wheelchairs had made the choice to “come down” in some sense to be able to understand and include their friend in their weekly game of basketball. As he talked about this, the speaker spoke of how Jesus came down into the mess of our world in order to be like us and include us in the family of God. We could not reach up to God, so Jesus came down to us to show us the Father. This choice revealed the character of Jesus as one who is gracious and loving to the point of laying down his life for us so that we might live. As the players in the commercial immersed themselves, for a time, in the world of their friend, so Jesus immersed himself in our world.

We as the body of Christ, are called to do the same. Rather than being called to pull away from the world and wait to be rescued, we are called to “come down” and be fully in the world. Because we have the Spirit in us, we can do this without being of this world. Just as Jesus came into the muck that is the stuff of life, so we are called to get our hands dirty, living sacrificial lives that show the grace and love of God. Jesus met people where they were and gave them what they needed. Many times we try to give people something that they don’t need, and then wonder why they reject us. I have heard it said that the church too often is answering questions that no one is asking. Obviously we do what we do for others because of the gospel, and we are to invite others to follow Jesus. I’m not suggesting we don’t. But I am saying that maybe we start sharing the gospel by showing love to those around us in tangible ways.

Jesus said that our love would show that we belong to him. Maybe the choices we make really do reveal our character.

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Another Lesson Learned

One of the things God has been teaching me about lately is grace. I’ve had lessons on the Father’s grace for me, and how to walk in that grace. I have also been learning what it means to extend that grace to others. It has been said that a little child shall lead them. The other day I learned a lesson on grace from a ten year old boy.

As some of you know, I drive a bus in the mornings and evenings for a local camp. The ages of the kids range from six to twelve. Sometimes things are quiet because they are tired, sometimes it gets a bit noisy because they are still amped up from the day’s activities. One day I had asked one of the boys to put his sunscreen away because he was spraying it on the others. Wouldn’t you know it, the next day this same boy was spraying his sunscreen again! I raised my voice a bit and told him to bring the sunscreen to me. When I said that I had already talked to him about spraying the stuff, he said that was yesterday and he didn’t know he couldn’t spray it that day. Unfortunately, I reacted instead of responding. I lost it and yelled at him. He went back to his seat and slumped down. As we drove down the road, I realized that I had screwed up. He’s just a ten year old kid, and we all know that ten year old kids don’t always say the brightest things. So, I told him, in front of the other kids, that I was wrong and apologized for yelling at him. He said, “It’s okay. It happens.” He brightened up for the rest of the trip, and things are good between us now.

As I think about this, two things come to mind. The first is the way our Father treats us when we mess up. While he doesn’t excuse our sin, he doesn’t hold it over our heads either. Scripture says that he remembers our frame. He knows we’re not perfect. He doesn’t remind us of that. Instead, he reminds us of who we are. We are his children who have the righteousness of Christ, and the sin that we do is not us. It’s not who we are. Our Father is quick to forgive and move on, much like the ten year old boy.

The second thing is the way we should treat others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. We love because God first loved us. We are called to show the same grace to others as God shows to us. Jesus told us to forgive others  forty nine, or four hundred ninety times. The actual number doesn’t matter. The point is, we are to forgive those who sin against as many times as needed. We are not to keep track, but keep on forgiving. I believe that this assumes relationship, because you’re not likely to forgive someone multiple times if they are not around. The boy on the bus didn’t tell me that it was okay but he wasn’t going to ride my bus anymore. Things between us went back to normal and continued from there. One goal of  forgiveness and reconciliation is to bring wholeness to both parties. Another is to show God’s grace and glory to a watching world. Jesus said that the world will know we belong to him by the way we love one another.

Maybe, if  God’s children began to really love each other and seek peace and wholeness in our relationships, the world would look at us and see what we have to offer as something they would want. It worked in the first few centuries of the church’s existence. Why not now/

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Recycled or Brand New?

The other day I saw a church sign that read, “I was going to waste, but Jesus recycled me.” I’m sure the folks meant well, and the sentiment behind the words is a good one. Many things are rescued by being recycled, and Jesus certainly rescues us, but I would take it a step further.

According to the dictionary, something that is recycled is treated and converted into usable material or returned to a previous stage. What God does for us goes far beyond a treatment to make us useful. He creates us as someone brand new! Paul speaks to this in 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15. What God has done, based on the finished work of Christ, is created us. We are new creation! There is nothing that is simply treated, reworked, and then fashioned into a better version of the old us. It’s all brand spankin’ new. As C.S. Lewis wrote, when God comes in, he doesn’t just remodel a few rooms here and there, repainting and taking down a few walls, making the place a bit more livable. No, God comes in and tears it all down. Then he builds a completely new house. God takes us and fashions a totally new person, one who is, and who is being made, like Christ.

Don’t settle for mere recycling. Live in the realization that you are new creation. The old is no more, because the new is here.

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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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Community: Sunday at 10:30

There’s a church sign near us that reads,”Join our community. Sunday at 10:30.” Giving the benefit of the doubt, I imagine the leaders of that church meant well. They were inviting folks to come join their community of faith, which meets on Sunday at 10:30. Unfortunately, much of the time churches are simply inviting people to come into their building at a particular time on a particular day to sing a few songs and listen to a sermon.

Community has become a buzzword in society, including church circles. There are on-line communities, work communities, and housing developments have been replaced with communities. Some of these communities may develop a sense of camaraderie in the members, although I don’t believe the contrived, “planned communities” of houses are anything more than typical suburban sprawl. In the larger sense of the word, many “communities” in society may well bring people together.

I believe the church is different. Community is something that is not based on personal preferences, on a charismatic individual, on shared experiences. In the church, the only kind of community that matters must be based on the Gospel and our shared identity in Christ. The community that God wants is a community that lives life together, learning together to follow Jesus and love our brothers and sisters. In order to do this we must be together more than one day a week. Community needs time and contact to develop. The disciples were with Jesus 24/7 for three years. The first Christians met daily, going from house to house. I know things are different in the 21st century, but we still need time with each other often. We can not do this without learning from each other on a consistent basis.

We are family. While families go through periods where the members don’t spend as much time with each other as at other times, a functional family will not give up getting together. As brothers and sisters in God’s family, we are to spend time with each other. If you are part of a church body that meets in a building at a particular time on a particular day and gathers as friends and family at various times throughout the week, good for you. If not, why not begin?

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What’s Neglected in Worship

This morning, Josh turned me on to this article on the tendency of the church to neglect the reality of tragedy as a part of worship, instead turning to a form that gives the impression that the Christian life is all sweetness and light. I wonder if we try to forget the stuff of life in our worship because we really don’t trust God to redeem every part of our life, and don’t really believe God’s heart is good toward us.

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Identity

I spoke to our school’s chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes yesterday morning. The seats were filled. Well, one seat was filled. Anyway, as I was preparing what I wanted to say, I was reminded of some of what God has been teaching me over the past few years.

Like most folks, I have always gained my identity and my sense of worth from the things I did, or didn’t do in some cases. I was involved in sports at an early age, and by the time I entered high school I had turned into a pretty decent athlete. I had also been taught that, as a Christian, I was defined by what I did or didn’t do and where I went or didn’t go. As I entered my high school years, I more defined myself by the standards of my friends more than the standards of my church. Through college I was defined as a bit of a rebel, and also one who was training for “full time Christian work” (whatever that is). I began a career as a teacher and coach, and my identity became that. I was called “Coach,” and I loved it. I was also teacher, athletic director, bus driver, Sunday School teacher, worship leader, deacon, and elder through the years. Add to that son, husband and father, and you can see that my identity was tied up in  a lot of things.

A few years ago, God decided it was time to change my identity. My job went away, so I was no longer a lot of the things I had been previously. I spent a few months driving a shuttle bus at an army base. This job gave me a lot of time to read, think, and pray. I did get a job in another school as an instructional assistant. Both parents passed away. After a time we left the church we had been in for fourteen years to help start a new church. So now I was a “church planter,” so to speak. That lasted a couple of years and we formed a small fellowship with some folks out of that first group. In some ways, I was sort of a pastor, without the title. I was also a member of a community of faith. Those things became what I based my identity on. Within just a few months, that “church” crashed and burned, and with it went the idols I had set up. It was not a fun time.

Fast foward just over a year. We are now part of a community of faith where there is love and service that comes from hearts that have been changed by the Gospel. I am doing some teaching, and am coaching. I am still a husband and a father. But now, I realize that my identity, my self worth is not grounded in those things. The Father has taught me that my identity, the very core of who I am, is grounded in his love for me, and in what Christ has done for me. There are things I do. I teach a couple of Bible studies. I disciple others. I coach sports. I serve my wife as a husband, and I do what a father of grown up adults needs to do. However, that is not who I am.

I am a beloved child of the Ruler of all things. He is pleased with me. I am a co-heir with Christ of all the riches of eternity. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Galatians, I have died with Christ, but I live. It’s not me that lives though. It is Jesus Christ living in me. I don’t totally understand all the particulars of what that means theologically, but I do know that it means that my identity is in the King of Kings. No matter what happens, no matter what I do, that does not change. I can do all sorts of good things, or not. The fact remains that I am a child of God. Period. End of discussion.  

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Yet Another Political Post (Sort Of)

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile (is there anyone really?), you know that I rarely post anything political. Sometimes things get to a point where I just have to break with tradition and say something. This is one of those times.

The air is hot with political goings on. A congressional district in South Carolina has elected a former congressman/former governor who has been the fodder for late night television comedians. At least four storms have hit the current administration, and any number of controversies continue to pop up from time to time.Conspiracy theories abound on both sides of the political aisle, and the gap between “left” and “right” continues to widen. Facebook posts range from support of “our side” to almost wishing the other side would die horribly. To be honest, some of the things that are said and put on-line are sad.

In all of this I am reminded of one thing. Jesus is the King, the one we who call ourselves Christians owe our allegiance to. I am reminded that the United States, while it may be the best nation on earth (and you’re free to think otherwise), is still a kingdom of this world. As such, it will never be God’s kingdom on this earth. The President, no matter who they may be will never be perfect. And everything they do will not be “God’s work.”

Christians in America have fallen into the trap of thinking that we can bring the Kingdom to earth using human means. Of course, this is nothing new. It started with Constantine, and has continued through the centuries. As Dr. Phil asks, “How’s that working for you?” (I can’t believe I just quoted Dr. Phil!) We have somehow bought into the notion that political power is the way to save society. We have embraced the sword while claiming to follow the Prince of Peace who gave his life. We have believed that we can change people through legislation, forgetting that true change can only come from within.

Many Christians live in fear, not really believing that our God is sovereign. God is the one who sets up and takes down kingdoms. All of the kingdoms of this world, including the United States, belong to Christ and are under his rule. He uses them as he sees fit, and moves on when he is finished with them. We have nothing to fear. Even if this country becomes just like the European nations, or just like an old time banana republic, our God is in control and is working to bring about the renewal of all things. Our hope is in God, not in kings or princes, congressmen or presidents.

I don’t believe we have to totally stay away from the political scene. We are told to seek the good of the city where we are. We are told to be good citizens and obey those whom God has placed in power. We live in a nation where we have the right to participate in the political process. I’m not saying we should all sit on our hands. All I am asking is that we remember where our allegiance lies. We are citizens of a kingdom that does not operate by the ways of this world. The Kingdom of God does not come with a sword, but with a basin and a towel.

God help us to focus on what Christ has called us to do. Make disciples by showing the love and grace of the Father to others. Anything else is not our task.