Jesus

Resolution: Be a Better…

Frank

After taking a break for the holidays I’m back with a series of posts on resolutions to start the new year. Please feel free to comment and share your own resolutions for 2012. Next week, I’ll get back on the saddle for my study of the book Not a Fan. For Monday’s resolution, career, click here, Tuesday’s resolution, eating right, click here, Wednesday’s, losing weight, click here. Thursday’s, debt free, click here. Please feel free to share your resolutions in the comments. There will be a post tomorrow compiling them all.

Isn’t the goal of most New Year’s resolutions to be a better: friend, spouse, parent, employee? Maybe even to be a better Christian? But doesn’t the notion of being better require some definition of what it means to be good? Jesus challenges our definition:

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.” (Mark 10:18)

If no one is good (and yes, this is hyperbole) then aren’t we maybe chasing the wrong goal? In fact, aren’t most resolutions “I” centered? I want to be… I resolve to… This year I will…

Like the saying, “there’s no I in TEAM”, let me rephrase as, “there’s no I in JESUS”. As I hope you saw this week in my posts, most I-centered resolutions can be turned on their ear to be Jesus-centered. And isn’t that really how we become a better fill-in-the-blank, by being more like Christ?

So if anything, resolve this year to be more like Christ. (and you’ll notice there is a little I in there somewhere)

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, emphasis added)

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11, emphasis)

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

Resolution: Lose Weight

Frank

After taking a break for the holidays I’m back with a series of posts on resolutions to start the new year. Please feel free to comment and share your own resolutions for 2012. Next week, I’ll get back on the saddle for my study of the book Not a Fan. For Monday’s resolution, career, click here, Tuesday’s resolution, eating right, click here. Please feel free to share your resolutions in the comments. There will be a post at the end of the week compiling them all.

Like most families we send out the cute family Christmas card every year. We try to look our best and somewhat festive for the holidays. Sometimes we share a collage of pictures reflecting the year. Last year I received this note in reply: “I see your family is growing up! Looks like you’re growing a little around the middle too.” This dear friend has known me since before I could walk. I had to laugh. But he was right. That “little” growth has continued to grow over the last year. I look at myself in the mirror now and I don’t recognize that thing that is hanging over my belt just enough to bother me.

I look back and I try and figure out what’s to blame. Snacking too much? Eating too much junk food and fast food? Not exercising anymore? Check, check, and check. But why are all the above true? Worry, anxiety, stress. Yes, I need to get back to healthy habits, but I can only do that if I lose the weight first.

Huh? Aren’t I supposed to do all that in order to lose the weight? No, I need to lose the weight first by casting all my cares on Jesus. I need to get rid of the weight of the world I carry around on my shoulders.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

Misfits

Frank

Remember the claymation classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? You should, it’s been broadcast continuously since 1964. Rudolph and rebel elf Hermy leave the North Pole in search for greener grass (or would that be whiter snow?). What they find instead during their adventure is an island filled with discarded and defective toys, The Island of Misfit Toys. There is some very interesting group psychology going on here, but I’ll leave that for your observation. What is fundamental however, is that these toys never got a chance.

Jesus, himself was rejected. A rabbi with no formal training. A prophet from Galilee. A “sinner” who didn’t wash his hands when he ate and healed on the Sabbath.

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” (Luke 9:22)

And Jesus made a habit of hanging around sinners and tax collectors, going outside of the city and healing lepers, and even striking up conversations with Samaritan women.

We have this image of a perfect Christian either by what they say, what they wear, or what they do. Our church’s doors are open wide for Christians like these! But who wants to sit next to the broken and the rejected, the defective and discarded?

When we gather together to celebrate Christmas we welcome family, but only reluctantly the black sheep child or the stereotype drunk uncle. We gush about our latest accomplishments and look down our noses at the single parent or the grown child without a job. Funny how we act the same at church and at home.

We forget that Jesus, even on the night he was born, was rejected. There was no room at the inn. Instead a baby was brought into this world in a stable, surrounded by livestock, feces, and feed. Unclean. Unwelcome. Rejected.

Praise be to God for that misfit! Who so humbly was willing to love a misfit like me.

Jesus and I, “We’re a couple of misfits…” (sing along!)

Do you feel rejected? Do you feel unwelcome? Most importantly, at this holiday season, do you feel alone? You don’t need to. Jesus was rejected first and he loves you. If you are not welcomed by family or by church this Christmas, you are welcome to feast with Jesus.

“‘Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (Matthew 22:9-10)

There’s a seat saved for misfits like us. Come, let’s celebrate.

The Gifts We Bring

Frank

So yesterday my son had is Broadway debut as one of the Magi, or Three Kings. Ok, so the stage was smaller, but he performed flawlessly to a packed house and in front of a ton of paparazzi (moms with video cameras) none the less. It has been pure joy the last couple of weeks as we have rehearsed for this. My son’s big part was to follow the other two wise men around. Pretty easy. He didn’t have a single line to speak. But he had one of the hardest parts. He had to be the first one on the stage to give his gift of gold to the newborn King.

My son, being a fan of pirates and treasure, quickly latched on to the idea of giving a box of gold. And it is easily identifiable in every nativity and creche. We couldn’t walk past one without him stopping, looking for a wise man carrying a box, and proudly proclaiming “look, that one’s me!”

As excited as he was, it gave me the perfect opportunity to explain what the gifts of the Magi meant. Gold for a King, frankincense for a Priest, and myrrh to anoint One who would die. And with each gift I was able to explain the birth of Jesus, his ministry/mission, and his ultimate sacrifice. My son was fascinated.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:


“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”


Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”


After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. (Matthew 2:1-12)

It was refreshing to look at this story from a child’s eyes. The magnitude of the birth of Jesus and the significance of the gifts took on a whole new meaning.

The Magi gave their gifts to Jesus because of who he was, not because of what he had done or was about to do. They came to honor and to worship for the same reason. Today we live in a culture where the first question is often “what’s in it for me?”. And sadly, many approach Jesus the same way. We need to give our lives to him not because of what he has done, but because of who he is: King, Priest, atoning Sacrifice.

(For other posts on gifts, check out these posts from last year)

Point Of View

Frank

This picture was a hit on the interwebs last week. Follow the link to the original and instructions on how the picture was made.

Step away from your computer, what do you see? But come closer and the image changes. Yet again, what do you see?

Even though the image in your mind is different, in both cases you see the same thing- a face. It is only as your point of view changes that the image changes.

When I saw Peter pick the topic of “secular” for his blog carnival I was stumped. But then my wife found a picture on Pintrest that uses one of the Urban Dictionary’s definitions of Christianity:

The belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree…

Yeah, Christianity makes perfect sense.

And I remembered the picture above. (Yes, my brain works in odd ways. I’m having that checked) But the point that stood out to me was that the “definition” above is only one point of view. Secular it may be, but is it really that far off?

Before you scream “blasphemy!” consider- your perspective and my perspective are different. If we were to each give a description of Jesus, chances are we would say different things. You say loving, I say faithful. You say merciful, I say bold. We could go on and on. Francis Chan makes that point in Crazy Love with respect to God- that if every person in the world used a different word to describe God, we would run out of people before we ran out of words. Your experience with Jesus is different from mine. Different still from the secularist. Yet like in the picture above aren’t we all seeing the same thing, Jesus?

So the Urban Dictionary description makes Christianity sound crazy. But isn’t it, really? Has Christianity in our day and age become so “normal” that we forget just how crazy it is to give up everything and follow a Jewish zombie that told us to eat his flesh and drink his blood to atone for some internal demon that we all have just because some naked chick in a garden ate the fruit of a magical tree because a snake told her to? I’m not offended by this. My faith in Christ is crazy, I am ready to admit. But that’s just my perspective.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. This week’s topic is “secular“. Be sure to click the link to check out other posts and other perspectives.

Happiness Happens

Frank

This is a common thought of mine, frequently wrestled with in prayer: why does fill-in-the-blank rob me of my joy? I fill that blank with my kids, my job, the minutia of adult life (bills, burned out light bulbs, weeds, etc), my computer crashing, and so on. I struggle over this because I am convinced that as a Christian these things should not shake me.

But then I heard a great observation in a sermon: “happiness is based on what happens, but joy is rooted in the eternal.” Easy to remember. Happiness happens. I don’t think I’m alone in the feelings I describe above and I think our problem is that we confuse happiness with joy.

It’s ok not to be happy when you’re running late and stuck at a red light. It’s ok not to be happy when you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. It’s ok not to be happy when all those little things get under your skin, on your last nerve.

But the Bible commands us to “be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, emphasis added)

Honestly, I read that scripture, shake my head and wonder, how on earth?

But that’s my problem. There is no “how on earth”. Jesus endured the cross “for the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). The joy before him wasn’t here on earth, it was in eternity with God his father. We have that same hope and therefore we should share that same joy.

Jesus told his disciples prior to his betrayal and crucifixion, “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:21-22) While we did not get to see the resurrected Jesus, we have confidence that we will someday. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.” (v 33)

Thankfully, until that time, Jesus did not leave us all alone.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is joy, second only to love. We need to turn to, trust in, and rely upon the Holy Spirit to give us joy as we have hope in Jesus.

Instead of saying @#%! happens, remember instead that happiness happens, joy is eternal. Thanks be to God for his gift of the Holy Spirit and the hope we have in Jesus for eternity.

Coattails

Frank

Are you that guy? You know, that guy? The hanger-on. The coattail-rider. The member of the posse or entourage that just doesn’t look like you belong there?

I’m that guy. I look back twenty years to high school (sheesh! already?) and see myself not really fitting in with any one particular group, but finding myself showing up in just about all of them. That continued in college. I was a member of a fraternity, but not the face of the fraternity. Yet I always seemed to be around.

It’s funny to see this play out in my job as well. I just pop up here or there and the people who have gotten used to seeing me at miscellaneous meetings always have that look, “you, again?”. Even here on the blogosphere, I wouldn’t have many of the readers I have or even the friendships I’ve made if not for another blogger that I already (kinda) knew. (One funny example: one brother at church just got a book signed by Jon Acuff at a Dave Ramsey event. I’m like, hey I know Jon Acuff! But do I, really?)

In each of these, I display some level of popularity or importance, which may or may not be the view others have of me in reality. So what’s more important- my view of myself, or what others may or may not think about me?

While this sounds like an insecure rant, let me offer up an idea that might challenge you. You’re a nobody just like me. You are where you are, not because of anything you have done or ever will do, but rather because of what someone else did. You see, we are all riding on someone’s coattails.

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19-20, emphasis added)

We can enter into the presence of the Creator of the universe, the Lord of Lords, God Almighty only because Jesus went ahead of us first. Without Jesus, we are simply “by nature, objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). Without Jesus, we are nothing more than sinners separated from God. But with Him…

Every blessing, every single source of joy, we owe to Him. We haven’t earned it. We have done nothing to give us credibility or popularity in God’s eyes. But because of Jesus’ love, we can ride on His coattails. We can be part of Jesus’ entourage.

What is the Perfect Church

Frank

To continue my rants and raves from last week on the big-c Church, I want to follow up on Friday’s post asking us to identify our strengths and weaknesses. What makes a perfect church? Do we need every attribute Ed Setzer describes in the Transformational Church? How about every characteristic in Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church? What if we modeled every feature in every book on how to do-it-yourself, fix-er-up church? It would be overwhelming. In fact, I bet if you went into your local Christian bookstore, or even to the faith & spirituality section of Barnes & Noble, you could close your eyes, throw a dart at the books, and likely hit a book either complaining about the state of the church or offering ways to make it better, bigger, more seeker-friendly, more missional, more somethingorother…

No, let’s simplify. What does every church need? This is off the top of my head and isn’t all-inclusive, but I think it’s a good starting point for discussion:

  • Reverence of God the Father
  • Reliance on the Holy Spirit
  • Discipleship of Jesus the Son (sorry, I tried really hard to find another “R” but the only synonym I could find was “rooter” but I didn’t like the ring of that)

That looks obvious, so let’s get more specific:

  • Takes sin seriously (really, I’m serious)
  • Holy, set apart from the world (not the same as removing ourselves from the world in something like a commune, but separate from the world’s values)
  • Evangelistic
  • Serving, both inside the church and out
  • So Missional and Benevolent
  • Worshipful (This could mean a lot of things to a lot of people, so I’ll leave this open-ended)
  • Teaches (“For the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” Paraphrasing 1 Timothy 3:16-17)
  • Relational (your relationships in your church fellowship actually mean something)
  • Prayerful (any prayer warriors in your fellowship?)
  • Faithful (no duh, but how many of us actually are?)
  • Loving
  • United
  • Global (not just world missions, but with the attitude in your heart that we are to go make disciples of “all nations”)

Again, this may be simplistic. But what I’ve found is that churches that excel in one or two of these neglect the others. There is an ongoing debate right now amongst missional churches remaining Christ-centered and not just “doing mission” because that’s the latest fad. Churches that are strong in fellowship may be weak in calling one another to account for sin. I’ve seen churches that emphasize evangelism on the standard of the Great Commission, but neglect the rest of the command to “teach them to obey everything I [Jesus] have commanded you”. I’ve seen churches emphasize one another accountability, but lack love. I guess the bottom line is that I have yet to see a single church excell in every one of these.

Maybe it’s not realistic to expect. We are all sinners saved by grace after all. And churches are man-made institutions that will always be imperfect by their very nature. Then again, isn’t the Church Christ’s bride? And doesn’t Paul instruct husbands to imitate Christ “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her [the Church] to himself [Christ] as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless”? (Ephesians 5:26-27) Aren’t we to present Christ’s bride perfect?

So we fall short. We identify a weakness and have a “campaign” to correct it, meanwhile neglecting what made our church strong to begin with. No one single church program can cover all of these bases. But only a church culture, where “every part does its work” (Ephesians 4:16) and every person strives to be Christlike in every area of their lives (prayer, worship, service…) can truly capture the fullness of Christ. Christ’s bride is not a church defined by walls, staff, or programs. But rather by people, each striving to apply their unique spiritual gifts passionately for the Glory of God in the Name of Jesus. Then, when they come together in unity, can we finally see a “church” as described above.

Do you need a fence?

Frank

Good fences make good neighbors -Robert Frost

When Peter first mentioned this week’s Blog Carnival topic, fences, several thoughts ran through my mind.

I thought of the fence where I grew up. How it was effective keeping the dogs in the yard, but as time went on due to lack of care or concern, the fence began to fall down. I though of how I tried to mend the fence when it really needed to be rebuilt.

I thought then of my current home where we don’t have a fence so much as a block wall. I thought of how just the other day I was in the yard and noticed a spot where the wall was right by a sprinkler head and the masonry had begun to erode.

I thought of the fence my wife and I want to build in our front yard so we will be without with less worry our kids will run into the street while playing.

Then for some reason I thought of the book Who Moved My Church and the different approaches people took once their church was again “found”. One locked all the doors to close out the world. Another opened the doors wide and embraced the world. Neither had its desired effect.

The last thought brought up the question what are fences for? Are they to keep the dogs and kids in the yard? Or, like Frost alludes to above, are they to keep others out? Don’t they do both? So fences are really about safety and security. Keeping what you want in, while keeping what you don’t out.

So I think again of the church. In some ways the church could be criticized for building fences, even walls, to keep out the poor, the wretched, the sinners outside. So some churches over-correct and tear down the fences and accept any and all. But then where is the safety and security provided by the fence?

It would be easy to say our churches need to tear down the fences and walls that divide. It would be an obvious temptation to allow anyone and everyone in for the sake of Christ. But is that the right attitude?

“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:1-10)

But we need to see that it’s not us who are to break down the fences or open wide the gates, but Jesus himself. Anyone who comes in any other way, as Jesus describes, is a thief or a robber.

That still sounds like opening wide the gate, letting everyone in, and let Jesus sort them out. But it’s not. Because the gate is not wide.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

We want our churches to be “seeker friendly”. We want them to be large and reach many. We want as many as possible to enter through the gate of Christ. But Jesus himself said that few will even find the gate. If few actually find and enter through the gate, then aren’t most of the rest that come in in the name of acceptance or tolerance thieves and robbers based on the first parable?

Fences are built for safety and security. The Kingdom of God is surrounded by a fence with only one way in. Don’t tear down your fences so that more can come in. Because if you tear down the fence, you don’t need the Gate.

Today’s post is part of a Blog Carnival hosted over at Peter Pollock’s site. This week’s word is “fences”. Please check out the many other well-written, thought-provoking posts.

Mosaic

Frank

The second chapter of Unleashed, titled Kaleidoscope by Daryl Reed, discusses the need for racial diversity in our churches. That’s something I’ve always admired in our family of churches. The most common reaction from visitors is surprise at the diversity of our congregation. I don’t say that to boast, only to point out that our racial diversity gives us diversity in cultural perspective. For example my wife just learned some cultural norms regarding Latin families that helped explain an issue that came up in a Bible study. What is interesting is how some of our cultural habits affect not only our relationships but also our relationship with God. For some of us, it’s a pressure that we have to be perfect. For others, it is patriarchal roles we feel we need to fulfill. Yet the diversity in our churches, when put together in unity in Christ, overcomes these traditions to create a beautiful mosaic.

The same is also true in denominational diversity. “Non-denominational” is a popular evangelical marketing term that only means you’re not a part of a larger governing body over your church, but it says nothing about your doctrine or your historical tradition. True non-denominationalism is when the only thing that unifies is not doctrinal agreement, but the single standard of the Word of God. This diversity was evident in another Bible study my wife and I were having. Looking around the room, and talking about our religious backgrounds, it became clear that every one of us came from a different brand of “Christianity”. But we were able to put aside our personal traditions when faced with the truths found in Scripture. The study was filled with, “I used to believe ____ but then I studied it out for myself and found that ___.” Just as the multicolored mosaic creates a beautiful picture of unity in Christ, so does the mosaic formed by our unique religious traditions.

Daryl Reed notes that racial diversity is necessary in our churches for the sake of reflecting those to whom we are called to spread the Gospel (“every nation” or ethne in the Great Commission) and to reflect the unity Christ compels us to that overcomes any racial barrier. The same holds true for our doctrine. Carl Medearis makes this point in a recent CNN belief blog article. His point is that our evangelism should not be focused on converting to a specific doctrine, but rather to lead others to Jesus. It is in Him alone that we are saved into a single, unified body. This is not ecumenism or inter-denominationalism, for those do not create unity within walls but rather sweeps issues under the rug as “non-essentials”. Instead, this is taking our experiences as a whole and examining them through the lens of the Bible and the example of Christ’s own life.

If our churches can overcome racial divisions in the name of Jesus then we can unite under the banner of Christ alone.

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:3-6)