Contemplating...

A friend of mine recently typed the following prayer. I share it with you and hope that you embrace its honesty.

Heavenly Father,

Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Amen, and happy new year!

It's not everyday...

It's not everyday that I experience somebody, in a moment of brilliance, say something so profound that a few simple words cause my world to lose its pulse for a few seconds. But today surprised me with one of those rare occurrences.

A good friend of mine, Doug Young, sheds light on something so true and real that I can't do anything more than recommend his article.

I beg you to click this link and read for yourself:

http://howbeitforthiscause.blogspot.com/2005/12/how-to-make-yourself-feel-small.html

Candy, Earplugs and Hermeneutics

Earlier tonight, my delighted daughter and youngest son ran up to me declaring that I open up a small plastic package. Their excitement indicated one thing—they had scored some candy! I grabbed the package, wondering how they smuggled contraband into my house, only to discover a small package of orange, foam earplugs. That’s right, earplugs.

My children see everything through their craving for candy. The battle against their addiction begins every year about October 31st. So until September, my wife and I struggle to put our children through candy rehabilitation. They have it so bad that pencils look like pixi-sticks and every plastic wrapping contains a sweet surprise.

So, as I sat in my chair laughing about the moment I thought, wow, we adults do the same thing. No, not with candy, but we envision events and circumstances through our biases and preconceived notions. Also, I thought, some read their preexisting ideas and convictions into the Bible. Every passage and context funnels through their prior judgments and conclusions.

Hermeneutics is a fancy word for the science of interpretation. I admit, it’s a bit much for a title, but the word is shorter than its definition. Anyway…back on track…when we apply our interpretive skills to the Bible one of the most difficult challenges presented is to stay objective and focused without the influence of personal bias.

Jesus spoke highly of those who embraced the word with “honest and good hearts” (Luke 8:15). Honest seekers of truth refuse to project their culture into the world of the first century. They demand to see the real Jesus and not the one they’ve created or others have concocted. When it comes to what God wants, it stays with what God wants and not what they perceive him to desire through their religious or personal persuasions.

Dishonest Bible interpreters will find things in the Bible that don’t exist, sealing the deal on a spiritual catastrophe. They only see what they want to see. I think you can understand the disaster this hallucination can incur.

My children saw one thing in that small plastic bag—candy! However, had I let them act on that persistent desire causing them to see the earplugs as candy corn, the Heimlich maneuver would have certainly ensued. As their father, I’m glad that reality prevailed.

Simple Obedience

I used to tell people if they simply serve God of necessity then they shouldn’t bother. In other words, “Don’t practice the religion of Christianity because you have to; do it because you want to.” Rethinking this position, I’ve adjusted my advice a little, though I recognize that this advice upholds a superlative motivation. Nonetheless, listen to what Jesus says:

“If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “You are my friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14).

These two statements exhibit the following realities. Jesus commands. And, following those commandments expresses a love for him. Doing what Jesus commands can never be wrong. Certainly people will answer for their motivations, but I’m not venturing into that arena. However, I’ve felt the pressure from reading and listening to some Christian educators that Christian obedience should be a result of gushing gratitude for God’s grace, and not performed out of a shallow obligation to God’s sovereignty. Again, I agree we should serve God out of thanksgiving and appreciation. However, I wonder if times ever arise where obedience is purely a matter of obligation?

What about those days when you don’t feel like it? Can we all be honest and admit that sometimes we don’t feel like obeying or following a particular commandment—days when worldly pressures and stress have overshadowed our gratitude? Is there ever a time when you’re not overwhelmed with joy and excitement about attending worship hours, evangelizing, reading the Bible, extending kindness or visiting someone who needs comfort? Are there ever moments when singing praises doesn’t light your fire? Yes, these feelings creep into all of our lives.

Should we enjoy and want to follow the Lord’s commands? Yes, but reality maintains that we don’t always posses that type of gusto. Now, before I lose you, let me explain that some people who experience these moments of religious hesitancy simply go ahead and obey God anyway. That’s right. Despite the tiredness or lack of enthusiasm they trek on in simple obedience to God. Why?—because that’s what God wants them to do.

Someone says, “These people are nothing but robots, lost in their habitual and rote spiritual exercises. They don’t possess genuine love for God.” Not too long ago I would have probably agreed, but now…well, things have changed. Allow me to explain why. Look at the statements of Jesus again found in John 14 and 15. Love serves as the basis for obedience. A desire to obtain friendship with Jesus functions as a motivation to do what he says. I argue that love for Christ trumps fleeting emotionalism or surging enthusiasm when it comes to obedience. That’s why some seem to serve God without an ounce of emotion or excitement. You’d think that their religion is empty. But if you were to peer inside of them, you’d find at their core a resolve permeating with love for Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, obedience can be offered without any substance. But, what’s wrong with serving Christ because that’s what he wants? What’s wrong with doing the right thing even when maybe you don’t feel like it? Look, what I’m trying to say is there’s something to be said about simple obedience. Doing what Jesus says just because he said it serves as a good enough reason to obey.

King Saul seemed to crave extravagance in his service to God. The king really wanted to let God know just how much he loved him. So he spared the best of the sheep and oxen from the spoil of his victory over the Amalekites in order to offer them to the Lord. God would want the best! Or, so he thought. God had told Saul to destroy everything and keep nothing. Saul reacted to an emotional moment to go beyond his duty. He thought that God wouldn’t mind his heartfelt and willing sacrifice. He had never been more wrong. God only desired his obedience.

God, through Samuel rebuked Saul with these words: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he also has rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).

Here’s my question: How could I ever tell a person “Don’t serve God because you have to….” when in fact, it’s the simple case that he has to? I think, in a sense, we’ve sold out the importance of simple obedience and have undermined the rule of Jesus. Obedience is more than a reaction to saving grace; it’s the proper response to a sovereign God!

Should we want to do the things Jesus has asked us to do? Absolutely! However, I’m afraid that many things would continue unfinished if people postponed their obedience until they felt like it. Keep it simple—if you love Jesus, do what he says no matter what.

I didn't want to, but...thanks Sam.

With my last post, I received a few comments. I appreciated so much the first comment from Brian. I thought to myself, "Wow, Josh, you're really something!" And, to my pleasant surprise, I checked and "Yes! Another comment." As I clicked on the link to enjoy reading my praises, the feeling expanded inside of me that a child experiences when daddy pulls out the big present on Christmas. I couldn't wait to see what new ego inflating flattery awaited my eyes.

Click. It opened and...gulp. Like a jack-in-the-box humility popped up and laid the smack down on me. The cloud I had been walking on dissipated and I fell to the floor...thud. Wounded, I finished reading Sam Dilbeck's suggestion that I go and check the context of Isaiah 55 because I may have inappropriately applied verse 8.

I didn't want to. I wanted to retaliate with a reactionary response like "the passage says what it says--duh!" But, I didn't. Like a whipped puppy I went and did what I should have done initially. I read the context. And guess what? I had taken a passage of scripture out of its surroundings and affected its meaning. Something that irks me when others do it!

The point of my article continues to illustrate God's incomprehensible nature and acts of grace, but the verse in Isaiah doesn't support that idea in the way I portrayed it. God's thoughts and ways do reside above man's (as far as heaven is above the earth, Isaiah 55:9), but the point of verse 8 should prompt man to pursue the lofty nature of God's thoughts and ways. The plight of those in Isaiah's day settled on the fact that they had developed lives in distinct opposition to God's purposes. And so, to accept the gracious invitation offered at the beginning of chapter 55, the people of Israel were encouraged to forsake their ways and thoughts (55:7) because they weren't in line with God's.

I didn't want to put forth the effort to go and discover I had used God's word out of place. I didn't want to face my failure and admit my mistake. At first I had wished Sam would have left it at "Great Illustration." But Sam is a Christian and a friend. I've claimed to want it real when it comes to Christianity, and this experience didn't let me down. Sharing this recent eye-opener has hopefully painted for you a picture of realistic Christianity.

So, thanks Sam. You gave me a dose of realistic Christianity that was long overdue.