Stuff

The masses stiffened.  A tremor moved through the group.  Hundreds standing side by side.  Complete strangers to one another, yet all united by a common goal: to buy stuff.  A crowd of people two isles away began yelling, pushing and grabbing.  Immediately those around me began to moan and groan to the manager and employees standing nearby.  A few tried to slip past the caution tape and were chastised by the manager and the other shoppers in the vicinity.  Tension was growing, as patience receded.  it was a quarter till midnight on Thanksgiving day.  I had seen an advertisement for the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the paper.  I thought the price was reasonable and just arrived at my local Wal-Mart.  What was I thinking.  Hundreds of people filled the isles for sales that would begin in five hours.  I did my best to politely squeeze through the mobs to the location dvds would be sold in a few minutes.  So many people, and they were all there to buy stuff in order to save a few bucks... but this wasn't an ordinary trip to the store for groceries, there was hate, greed, and distrust in the air.  The masses stiffened, and suddenly the group lurched forward.  Hundreds of people rushing into an even smaller area pushing, yelling, and scrambling for the deals some had waited hours obtain.


I was disgusted.  Disgusted with the people around me and with myself.  I found myself getting drawn into the same mindset others had.  I'm supposed to be different.  Supposed to be focused on higher things.  Hebrews 13:5 reminds me to "keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  The Bible is a very anti-materialistic book...  Do I live my life in a way that reflects that.  I sometimes forget that Christ is the greatest treasure I will ever receive, and I did not even have to go to the store and wait in line for fifteen minutes fearing for my life.   I sometimes need to be reminded of my priorities.  

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. -Matthew 6:19-21

I can't help but wonder what would the church look like here in America, if we Christians were as serious about the infinite reward we have in faith as all those people who waited in lines for hours... outside... in the cold, just to get some temporal thing.

Blessings,

Post by Anonymous

Do you have a problem with self-righteous people?  Most people do, including Jesus.  Now perhaps you are a self righteous person, many of us are in some way.  Either we make a big deal about being a generous and good person or we just stand around being the righteous police, telling people when they make mistakes.  Either way, we're wrong and Jesus wants us to change.

If we find ourselves in the first group (those who like to proclaim their goodness to everyone) Matthew 6 hits hard.

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. -Matthew 6:1-4

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” -Luke 18

Think about the people in your life who have done so much for you and never held it above your head.  Your mom might come to your mind, or perhaps another relative, a pastor, or just a good friend.  How much do you appreciate them?  How much ought you appreciate them?  Mother Teresa is a fantastic example.  She gave everything, yet did not feel as though it was necessary to tell everyone back home how much greater she was than they.  Jesus wants us to be the same way, and I'll be the first to admit that is not an easy task.

Let's take a look at the second group.  The "judgers".  You know them, they are always telling people that they are going to Hell for this or for that.  Christ was made all kinds of judgements, but He was different.  Why?  First of all, He is God.  We are just humans, and as such, do not have authority to judge those outside the church.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." -Matthew 7:1-2

Judgmental Self-righteousness is a waste of time, effort and breath.  Most importantly, it often damages relationships.  Don't think I am saying sin is okay, it's not, but there are correct and incorrect ways of responding to sin.  The world needs to be saved, not judged (that job belongs to God).  I am reminded of Randy Alcorn's "Grace and Truth Paradox" book in which he reminds us, "that Jesus, who had a reputation for investing time with sinners, would preach five sermons against self-righteous churches for every one against taverns."

The point is simple.  Even as Christians we're not perfect, so don't pretend you are, and don't try to do God's job by judging the world around you.  Do good things because it's right.  Don't make a big deal out of it (be anonymous).  Don't attack those who sin with hate, but lovingly advise them of the truth (God's judgement) tempered with grace (salvation).

There is a ton of bad stuff out there, and a reaction of love will accomplish a great deal more than hate.

Sin? What Sin?

Another news story was published the other day regarding homosexuals and Christians.  Except this one was slightly different.  It focused on a pastor in Colorado who had not only invited Homosexuals into the church, but allowed them to hold leadership positions.  He considered this a step beyond "love the sinner hate the sin," because he believes homosexuality is not a sin.  In a CNN interview (found here) he is quoted as saying

"There's times when we change how we approach scripture because we observe how God is making God's self known in creation.... We don't consider it a sin to be gay" -Rev. Mark Tidd

Now, that's a interesting statement.  It is a very bold statement.  I was curious as to what the Bible had to say regarding homosexuals in church.  The following is what I found, and it is by no means comprehensive.

In 1 Corinthians 6, we are told to not just avoid sexual immorality, but to flee from it, invoking the picture of Joseph and Potiphar's wife.  Included in that list is homosexual behaviour.  This is not to say that homosexuals can't find forgiveness and love in Christ, but it does say that without repentance they will not inherit God's kingdom.  But that goes for all sinners.  If I label myself a Christian and yet live a life of murder, or theft, etc. then I have continued to feed my sinful nature.

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men^[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  -1 Corinthians 6

Later, in Colossians, Paul tells Christians to reform their lives, to take on the nature of Christ.  He doesn't say we won't slip, but he does say we should be denying our "earthly nature" and putting on a "new self":

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^[b] 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.  -Colossians 3

Pastor Tidd may be right by saying Christians should love all, including gays; but, perhaps his theology is missing something: the truth of scripture.  Where he goes wrong is not in loving sinners, but in changing the Bible so as to be more welcoming to a modern world.  Homosexuality is a sin, but not one for which forgiveness cannot be found.  However, a requirement for that forgiveness is a repentant heart.  Once found with grace, all sinners should live a new life clothed with "a new self."

Sinners, welcome to the church, now with the grace of Jesus, "leave your life of sin." -John 8:11

Blessings

The Grace / Truth Paradox

I have recently begun to type in "Jesus" and seeing what comes up in Google News.  You'd be surprised at what shows up sometimes.  From a Comic book reinterpretation of Christ's life and death, to the construction of a 33m statue of Him in Poland, Jesus is a controversial and popular figure in today's culture.  However, one story caught my eye today.  It was an editorial on a politically left-leaning website.  The author insisted that military chaplains were not "emulating Jesus" when they "distance themselves" from homosexuals.  But, what interested me was not the author's complaint with the chaplains or the government policy, but his (or her) idea of who Jesus Christ was.  (you can find the original article here)

The author begins his piece by observing, that "Jesus dined with prostitutes and far, far, far worse sinners."  An interesting place to begin for a political commentary.  Further in the article, the author asserts, "most denominations of Christianity teach that same-sex sexual activity is sinful."  The article continues to get interesting when the author wraps up by concluding: 

"Christian ministers are supposed to worship and emulate Jesus. Can anyone imagine Jesus telling taxpayers and prostitutes, let alone a gay soldier serving his or her country, to shut up and pretend?" 

There was much more in this article referring to behavior of chaplains and Christian denominations, but like I said, I'd really like to examine the authors understanding of who Jesus was, and why He behaved the way He did.


The author is right in saying Jesus dined with sinners.  He did do that multiple times.  But, what the author fails to remember about those instances is that, though Jesus showed His love and forgiveness to the sinners he was with, He also requested they change their lives, stop sinning, and follow Him.  When he defended the adulteress from stoning He told her "neither do I condemn you... Go now and leave your life of sin."(John 8)  Furthermore, Jesus Himself declared, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."(Luke 5)  Jesus also proclaimed Zacchaeus' salvation after he has given everything to the poor and paid back 4x as much of which he had defrauded people.(Luke 19)  


Jesus doesn't hang out with sinners because He doesn't mind tolerating their sin, He does it because He loves them and wishes them to receive His gift of salvation.  In Act 16 the prison guard asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved.  Paul tells him to believe in Christ... but that believe isn't a passive thing.  Belief in Jesus requires action, it requires repentance, it requires love, it requires humility.  We all know the John 3:16 verse, That God loved man so much He died for him.  That's fantastic.  But, if we don't read further, we miss half the point.  

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (John 3)

The author of the article I read had the idea of Christ's love and grace down really well.  But, please, please, please don't forget about the Truth: we stand to be punished for our sin if we don't accept Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Sinners loved being around Jesus because they felt loved.  But, Jesus did not make sinners comfortable by never talking about sin.  Yes, JESUS DIED TO BRING GRACE... but He had to because of our sin.  It's like a paradox.  A Grace and Truth Paradox.  To wrap up, I'd like to recommend a book by Randy Alcorn by the title of "The Grace and Truth Paradox."  It talks about this very thing.  If you're a non-christian, 1. I'm glad you made it this far through my post, 2. If you'd like to know more about grace and truth, or would like to read Mr. Alcorn's book, contact me, I'll send you my own copy.

Blessings

Surf's Up

Our lives are full of distractions.  Every minute of every day of every month of every year there are dozens of events, people, things, etc. that can distract us from that which is most important in our life... our relationship with our Saviour, Jesus the Messiah.  The disciples, those who were closest to Christ, who saw Him on a daily basis, struggled with the very same thing.

One day Christ needed to Speak with His Heavenly Father, and he told his disciples to meet him on the other side of the sea.  The story goes something like this:

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

 ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Stopping there for a moment.  Our lives are full of big waves that buffet (to strike/thrash) us.  The disciples experienced this in a very literal way, but we all know we struggle with things that frustrate, confound, and disappoint us.  This story shows the very human side of the disciples.  First we see them in a very scary situation, they are likely not calm at this point... but when Jesus shows up, they don't rejoice.  These are the men closest to Him.  They've seen him perform miracle after miracle, and suddenly, when they need Him most they get scared because they seem him working a miracle in the midst of their turmoil.

 ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

 ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

   ²⁹ “Come,” he said.

   Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Again, pausing for a moment.  Peter made a great choice here, to give up the false safety of the boat and run to his God.  But, he's distracted isn't he.   He sees the storm all around him.  The wind and the waves are thrashing about, and he takes his eyes off Jesus.  We do this daily.  We try to do the right thing by running to God when bad things happen, yet we are quickly distracted once again.  It's incredibly challenging to keep focused on God, even in the midst of miracles.  But, God is full of Forgiveness and Love and Patience.  Jesus portrays this when Peter messed up.

 ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”he said, “why did you doubt?”

 ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.    -Matthew 14

It's not easy to live a life of faithfulness, especially during tough times.  However, there will be tough times, Jesus promised us times of difficulty... but he also promises hope:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.   -John 16:33 

What a beautiful promise.  So, even when things get unbelievably hard.  When the waves are crashing down on you.  Don't look away from your Saviour, don't be distracted by the world's troubles.  Keep your eyes on Him.