Category / Life With God

by Greg

Coverings

I came across a blog post today that was pretty interesting, and I thought I’d pass it along. Jen and I talked about it a bit tonight on our way home from the evening’s activities… it’s just interesting how we put stuff between us and God. It could be a person (pastor, accountability partner), or a group of people (elders, leaders), or … well, lots of stuff.

As the blog post says, the cross removed shame, and removed the need for a “covering”. You may not be familiar with that terminology, but basically it’s the idea that you need help living your life out with God. You need to be “accountable” to other believers. While there may be truth there, it’s the wrong approach. It puts something between you and God. This blog post/email has an interesting take on that.

by Greg

Love

The other night we got to spend the evening with our good friends. We don’t usually get to hang out with all of them together, so we decided to make a late night of it – and were welcomed to do so – and had a fantastic time. The kids played great together, and that allowed us adults to grab some drinks, and a little dessert and just talk about life together at the dining room table.

Earlier in the night, since my birthday was coming up, there was also a bit of a surprise birthday party! Another family was invited to join us (our friends’ neighbor) and then after dinner together, I was told to go in the other room and stay there. I knew something was up… 🙂 After a few minutes, a plate of chocolate chocolate chip cookies was brought in … with candles in it! 🙂 I found out later that was the plan all the time, disguised as a regular evening together as friends. It was fun. Really nice surprise. Even got presents! 🙂

Well, as the adults hung out after all of the other festivities, we got to talking about the people that God has put around us. We’d been sharing stories of what was in front of us at the moment, and a couple stories reminded me of something God seems to keep weaving through many different areas of my life.

We all have heard the verse of Scripture, “Now these three remain: Faith, Hope & Love. But the greatest of these is love.” It’s used many times at weddings, and of course, it’s true. But, at least for me, the fullness (and yet, simplicity) of that has escaped me.

Our friend was telling us how one of the people he works with told him that she feels comfortable talking with him. Different than other people. What God has been teaching me lately is just how life-changing love can be, and it sounded like this was an example of it. I don’t know for sure in this example, but I am pretty sure that this is the core of the gospel – the “Good News”.

“For God so loved the world…” is another famous quote, that just gets glossed over many times. But really, I think it’s the core of the gospel. It’s not the theological discussions, the Mosaic law, transubstantiation, or propitiation. It’s not the way that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice as well as our High Priest. There are certainly things that can be learned from all of these things, but really, life change only happens when we realize we are loved.

After all, God is love. It’s the core of who he is. And when we really get who we are to him, how he feels about us… we begin to be able to love as we have been loved. There is freedom that comes from knowing how much we are loved by our Father, and in that freedom – as opposed to obligation – we can truly love other people (out of the overflow of how we are loved by God) without agenda or any other “strings attached”.

We try so hard as Christians to plan and create opportunities to share the “good news” with people, but really, the intellectual arguments while they may be true, will not change lives. At least, not as much as real love will. It’s so simple, but so infrequently employed – mostly because most of us have still not really experienced the reality of God’s love. We may know it intellectually… academically. But until we really know it, the best we can do is to share our academic understanding of God and his love with people. Which usually just doesn’t cut it.

My point? I don’t really have one. Just sharing what God has been showing me. It’s not something you can just “fix” or “put into action”. You can’t just “feel more loved”. But when we do, freedom abounds. And in that freedom, we can love other people – which can begin to produce a changed life in them.

Pretty cool stuff.

It really is all about love.

(Just a fun link to a great album.) 🙂

by Greg

Willow Creek Repents?

I saw a quick post by a friend today linking to an article about Willow Creek perhaps “repenting” of it’s church/business model?

I don’t think it’s that groundbreaking, as it seems WCCC is just going in a different “business” direction, but it’s still pretty interesting to see them find that the super elaborate programs aren’t all that helpful in people walking daily with Jesus. (Admittedly, I scanned the article quickly … will read again later, but I think that was a major part of it.)

“The Show” as I like to call it (not necessarily derisively) has been the main focus of the American church for so long… would be interesting to see such a key player in that take a different direction. (Again, I think they’ll just figure out another way to make a business model of life with Jesus, but… that’s just me)

Here are a couple of articles I have posted here in the past that may be relevant:
The Important
Quantifiable

by Greg

Jesus Is Staying at MY House!

The boys and I are reading through the book of John now, and this morning we read the story of when Andrew met Jesus, and introduced his brother (Simon Peter) to the Messiah! He was very eager to let his brother know that he had found the Messiah. Not sure if he could have understood how Jesus thought of such a term, but he was certainly excited about it!

The part I thought was a bit different today was the strange question asked of Jesus. The new followers asked Jesus, “Teacher, where do you live?” So, he showed them. They came over to his house.

Ian thought that was as odd as I did, and reasoned that perhaps Jesus was staying with some friends. (Jesus said somewhere else that he had no “place to rest his head”, and we know that he’s on the road at this point, too.

The interesting thing was not that he was staying with friends, the interesting thing to me is how there’s no star power to Jesus. We have no account of him staying with the most important people of the day. We don’t know much about it. But to me, that’s what stands out.

When we talked about that, I thought in my head, “How cool would it be if Jesus stayed in our house??” But then I realized I was succumbing to “star power”.

Jesus is not concerned with popularity. He never sought the limelight, nor did he have “too little time” for people not on his agenda for the day. That’s so backwards from what we do today. Often elevating people to levels they should not have to maintain on their own.

It seems like having Jesus stay with you was an instant free ticket to heaven. Seems like someone housing him would have mentioned Jesus’ temporary place of residence. But, they don’t. And Jesus continues to be a transient.

It’s amazing how differently we all can see Jesus, and who he was, what he was doing here. That’s something I hope to get from reading through John again. I want to see Jesus for who he is, and learn more about him that I don’t already know. I want to see stuff that I have never seen before.

And I am confident that I will. I’ll try and share some of those nuggets with you here.

by Greg

Take Back Your Shopping Cart!

Shopping CartsThe other night we had finished shopping at Wal*Mart and after unloading all of our groceries into the van, I looked for the place to return my cart. It was pretty far away, but I wanted to make sure I put it back in the right place. There was another one right next to our van, so I put my cart in that one and pushed both to the cart return corral.

As I was doing all that, I was just perplexed as to why it’s almost my first inclination to think about other people, and how my actions (or inactions?) will affect them, and how it seems that I am in the minority. There were carts all over the parking lot, in parking spaces, up on curbs, and just generally in chaos. Yes, I know they pay people to put them back, but isn’t it fairly easy to return it to the collecting place? That way it’s out of the way of where people drive and walk. Seemed so simple to me…

And don’t forget that we had just spent almost two hours at Wal*Mart with our four tiny kids, late in the evening (was nearly 10pm when we were done) and had to still do bedtime (and put all those groceries away) when we got home! We had plenty of “excuses” to not put the cart(s) back.

I was reminded of a parenting class we have taken and led many times over the years. One of the core things they teach is a “rational preoccupation with others around you”. The goal being to teach your kids to think about others, not just themselves. But in order to do that, it starts with you. And, a simple example they give is the shopping cart one. By simply taking less than a minute of your life to return your cart, you are thinking about the people who come behind or after you. You aren’t doing it just because it is “right”, but because you are thinking about the “preciousness of others” (a common phrase from the course) and loving other people like you do yourself. (Or, treating other people the way you want to be treated.)

(Yes, I thought all of this in the 30 seconds that it took me to take the cart back and return to the van.) 🙂

I think what struck me the most is just how easy the task is, and how natural it is for me… and how uncommon it seemed to be that night. Why is it so difficult for us to think about each other? I see it in my kids. I feel like it’s all I say, and yet, they are still quite selfish. I am constantly reminding them to think about how they would want to be treated. For the moment, they get it, but a moment later, they are back to looking out for their own interests rather than those of their closest sibling.

Why is this so hard for us to get?

I don’t have the answer, but I do know for a fact that the world would be a better place if we would somehow get it, and start thinking about the people around us—treating them like we want to be treated.

And take our carts back. 🙂

(NOTE: If you read the previous post, you might think, isn’t this a bit of double-talk? Wasn’t one of the examples of misunderstood Christian-ness taking back a shopping cart?? Yes. But I think if you read both, you’ll see the constant in the equation: love for other people.)

by Greg

Be a Christian!!

My brother-in-law is in town, and so the days are filled with funny little sayings. He’s the master of calling people (mostly) benign little names. Slightly poking fun at all those around him. It’s hilarious!

My favorite from this trip has been calling out the religious affiliation of those around him. 🙂 He will proclaim someone a Christian (or not) based on whatever they choose to do—or not do—in a given situation. For instance, my sister chose to not eat the squid that their neighbors brought over as a gift, and as he retold the story to our kids he said something like, “Aunt Tara wouldn’t eat it, but I was a Christian and ate the squid.”

As far as I know, eating squid does not come into play when determining one’s religious affiliation. But it does get a good laugh!

Now, the weird part is, we know what he’s talking about. We know that to be a Christian means sacrificing yourself for other people. It means doing the right thing, even if you don’t want to. Being a Christian means that you consider others better than yourselves. Being a Christian means you act like Jesus. Right?

Well, here’s where I read too much into my brother-in-law’s jovial remarks. 😉

I know he does not intend any deep meaning to be conveyed by the remarks, and I am certain (as we had a conversation regarding this) that he does not think that doing the right stuff—and not the wrong stuff—makes you a Christian. But the fact that he said, and that we knew it… reveals a deep underlying misunderstanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Most people do think that Christianity is a set of moral principles to live by. Jesus said a bunch of stuff that we should do or not do, and he even gave us an example of what to do by the life he lived here, recorded in the Gospels. But if we stopped there, at just the things Jesus did, or the things he “commanded” us to do… then we miss the whole point.

I love the way a friend interprets the story of the man who came to Jesus, asking “what must I do to be saved?” The man is described as rich and powerful. Jesus first tells him, keep the law. (Which we know from other parts of Scripture is not what we “must do to be saved”.) The man says arrogantly, “I have! I’ve done all that!” He obviously has been trying hard to do all the right stuff, but was still not convinced he was “good enough”, which is a major failing of religion: you can never be “good enough”.

So Jesus says, “OK, well, then sell everything you have and give the money to the poor and come follow me. That’ll do it!” But as you’ll recall, there is not one other place in Scripture where Jesus (or anyone else) says we must sell everything we own and give the proceeds to the poor to be saved. I’ve always thought that what Jesus saw in this man was his love for material wealth, and was calling him to sacrifice that for the Kingdom. That’s the “Christian” thing to do, right? Well, how many of you “Christians” reading this have done that? Everything? Yeah. Right.

What my friend sees in the story is not Jesus adding more rules for us all (or even just this man) to follow in order to “be a Christian”, he sees a man who thinks he can earn his way to heaven, and so Jesus sets the bar even higher, with the hope that he will someday see the futility of his efforts and let God be the one to make him whole. “OK, you (think you) have done all that… well, now you have to do this.” It is the futility of religion. It will never be enough.

But some people define Christianity—including their own—as how you act. Do you choose to sacrifice your own desires or wants for those of the other people around you? Do you stop and help a stranded motorist on the highway? Do you give some change (or a meal) to a beggar on the streets? Do you make a donation at your local grocery store at the checkout line? Do you help your friends move when they have no one to help them? Do you make a concerted effort to visit people who are alone? Do you not throw away food, because of the starving kids in India?? Do you take your shopping cart back??? 🙂

The list could go on and on, and unfortunately for many Christians, it never ends. They are not as much compelled by love—as Paul said, “Christ’s love compels us”—but by a drive to do the right thing. To maintain their status as a “Christian” by doing what is expected of them as a Christian. That’s so sad.

See, it is true that all of those things are good things. Those are all things that Jesus might do. And, if you think of being a Christian as being “Christ like”, well, then that seems like a good thing. But I think the heart of the matter is the heart. If a person is doing all of those things, but only to retain the sense of spiritual status as a “Christian” (or even just feeling that they “have to” because it’s the “right thing to do”) I think they are missing out on the core of what the Kingdom of God is all about.

When Jesus was asked, point blank, what is the most important commandment, he replied, “Love God, and love people. Everything in the law and prophets is summed up by that.” (My paraphrase.) Jesus didn’t say, “You know that ‘No other Gods before me’ one… yeah, that’s the most important.” And he didn’t say, “They’re ALL important, mister! Why do you think I said them????” He said, “Everything you’ve heard me say to do or not do can be accomplished by simply loving God, and loving the people around you as much as you love yourself. Drop the selfish ambition, and really care about other people the same way you would watch out for yourself. Then you’ll be keeping the law”. (Again, my paraphrase.)

If we do the right thing, but do not have love… we’re missing the whole point. (Today is paraphrase day!)

Christianity is about rules. Being a follower of Jesus—a child of God, a member of his Kingdom—is not. It’s about loving God, and loving people. When you do that, you are by default keeping the “rules”, but with a focus on people, on the relational aspect. When you keep the rules to keep the rules (because it’s the “right thing to do”) it’s almost more about you than about the people who benefit from you keeping the rule. You are doing it to maintain your “righteousness” rather than for the benefit of the person you are “doing the right thing” for. You know?

The heart of the matter is the heart. You can’t always tell a Christian by what they do. That can be faked. But the Bible says you can tell us by how we love each other. And that can’t be faked. At least, not for very long.

So, while my bro-in-law, Josh, will continue to proclaim people’s religious convictions based on how they handle various situations, rest assured… it’s just all in good fun. 🙂

by Greg

In The Light

A couple things recently have reminded me of the letter in the Bible called first John. I was reminded of a verse I have written about here before. John tells us in that letter that we are taught by the Holy Spirit directly. We don’t need others to teach us. (NOTE: I wouldn’t say that he means they can’t, as I think he was mainly countering some people who were apparently saying something that made him write that. They must have been claiming that the people John was writing to needed to be taught about God through their teaching, and that they couldn’t know him on their own. Hmmm… sounds familiar…) Essentially though, he still does say that God is directly involved in teaching us. (Which some today would deny.)

The other thing that reminded me of the book of First John was thinking about “living in the light”, and what I used to call “holiness”. Holiness to me used to be defined mostly as doing (mostly) the right things. Of course I don’t always, and so I am not holy – only God is, eh? – but at times I could feel pretty good about myself because I was mostly “getting it right”. I was sorta-kinda “holy”. Living in the light.

But not too long ago I picked up the Bible we keep in the bathroom, and started reading First John, since it was on my mind. What I read was actually shocking to me. (So much so that I plan to read it again, and do a commentary here much like I began – and still hope to finish… 🙂 – on the book of Galatians.) I have always thought of 1st John as a rule-keepers book. “If you do [insert good deed here], then you are a child of God. If you do [insert bad deed here], then you are of the world, [and thus worthy only of hell]. But this time was different.

This time, I saw it not as a causal thing, but more as a statement of reality. And not just the black and white, right and wrong reality… something a bit different than I have ever seen. It seems that John is talking about those who understand the Kingdom and the things of God as those who are “in the Light” (he says early on that “God is Light”, and so, “in the Light” could be easily interpreted as “in God”). I have always assumed that phrase to mean, “in the right.” I mean mostly outwardly. Doing all the right things. But I think it might be something more. Something different.

When I read it this time, the contrast between light and darkness seemed more one of being able to see. In the dark, you can’t see. You don’t know what’s going on. You bump into stuff, and get hurt. If you turn on a light, you can see. Everything becomes much clearer in the light. You are more free to move around and stuff. In the dark, you mostly stumble around and feel your way around very slowly.

Could this be the picture John is trying to paint for us? Does being in the light just mean being in God, and seeing the world the way he does?

Maybe.

Anyway, the freedom I saw in reading through the whole book was incredible. It’s not about getting it right in order to be loved be God… we just are. If we live in the light – in him – we’ll see that, and know that more. We’ll just see, and be more free to move. I love that imagery.

Once I get through this barrage of new business, I really do want to do a line for line commentary on the book. So, stay tuned, and if you read along, I’d love your comments as well.

by Greg

Didn’t He Just Say … ?

Jesus asked his disciples, “When I sent you out without a moneybag or a traveling bag or sandals, did you need anything?”

“No!” they answered.

Jesus told them, “But now, if you have a moneybag, take it with you. Also take a traveling bag, and if you don’t have a sword, sell some of your clothes and buy one. Do this because the Scriptures say, ‘He was considered a criminal.’ This was written about me, and it will soon come true.” The disciples said, “Lord, here are two swords!”

“Enough of that!” Jesus replied.

Luke 22:35-38

Didn’t he just say they should get a sword, even if they have to sell stuff to get one? And then, when they say, “Look! We have two!” he basically tells them they’re totally off track?

This one definitely perplexed me and the boys today. 🙂

by Greg

Bread & Wine

Bread and Wine
Today we were reading Luke 22 where Jesus is having the Passover meal with his closest friends, just before he will be killed. He knows it, and he’s told them… but I’m pretty sure they still don’t get it.

It’s cool enough how they got into this room (Jesus sent two guys ahead, told them exactly what they would find without having been there, and they did) but there are also a couple cool lines that stood out to me today.

When the time came for Jesus and the apostles to eat, he said to them, “I have very much wanted to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer.”

I thought it was so cool to read the excitement in Jesus’ words. Even though he knew what was coming, he was still excited about what the suffering would bring. The end result. Very cool. Ephesians says it was his plan from before he created anything, and that it “gave him great pleasure”. Very cool.

As the evening went along, we read the following accounts of the events that took place:

Jesus took a cup of wine in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he told the apostles, “Take this wine and share it with each other. I tell you that I will not drink any more wine until God’s kingdom comes.”

Jesus took some bread in his hands and gave thanks for it. He broke the bread and handed it to his apostles. Then he said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this as a way of remembering me!

After the meal he took another cup of wine in his hands. Then he said, “This is my blood. It is poured out for you, and with it God makes his new agreement.

First of all, don’t you think they thought it was weird that he said “remembering me”? We know now what happened next, but they didn’t. It is obvious from everything they do. So he’s already talking about being gone, and they’re probably very confused.

Did you also notice there were two cups of wine? Jesus took one cup and told them to share it. Then he shared the bread with them. Then he took another cup of wine after they had finished eating and said this is my blood. The new agreement God makes with you. Again, they were probably a bit weirded out, but I just thought it was interesting that it wasn’t that much like what we observe today, supposedly “instituted” by Jesus himself on that very night.

I don’t pretend to have a clue what “the Lord’s Supper” really is, or any significance of it at all. I really have no idea what Jesus intended for it, if anything. He didn’t seem to be a big ritual guy. And really, when I read this… he wasn’t here either. They were observing the Passover feast – something Isreal had done for a VERY long time – and those were parts of that. He didn’t say, “And make sure you do this exact same thing from now until forever!” I actually don’t hear him saying to ever repeat it again. Just… for that moment. Interesting.

NOTE: I don’t really want a big theological debate. Just some observations from reading the Bible today. Your comments are welcome, but please know that I won’t be engaged in any endless hermeneutical discussions of Scripture and the historical and cultural significance. I’ll certainly read/entertain shorter versions… but doctrinal discussions are definitely not my cup of tea… 🙂

by Greg

Jesus Said

… we should be like children.
I think about that phrase quite often, since there are many children around me at any given moment. What part of being a child does Jesus want for us? Does he want us to be disrespectful, selfish, whiny, impatient, messy, crazies with little to no self-control? Uh… I guess… maybe? Probably not. But the innocent, trusting, fun-loving, joyful qualities of a child are easy to understand as qualities of the Kingdom. These are things that, though they might seem a bit unorthodox for the Kingdom ruled by the Creator himself, would seem appropriate.

The other day, my three-year-old daughter was shouting from the top of the stairs, “I neeeed hellllllp… Will somebody pleeeeeeease helllllllp meeee????” She had obediently gone up to the bathroom, done what she needed to do, and now she needed some assistance from an adult – again, obeying her Mom who had previously told her to wait for Mom’s assistance after she goes “number two”. My first thought was, “Man! That is so annoying!” But quickly, I was reminded of Jesus saying that we needed to be like little children. Could this be one of the ways?

I still maintain that Jesus was NOT talking about whining when he said that.

What I saw was a little girl who needed help, and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. Most adults I know are not good at asking for help, maybe they are just plain awful at it. We’re taught to be “adults” and take care of stuff on our own. But maybe a way we can be like a child – a way we can see the Kingdom of God – is to realize we need help, and to ask for it. Not necessarily from other people, but definitely from God. Our Father can, and wants to help us. One way we can know the greatness of the Kingdom is to let him help us, allow him to work in us, instead of trying to be an “adult” and get it done ourselves.

A cool lesson from my whiny three-year-old… who may know a bit more about the Kingdom that I have forgotten over my passage into adulthood.

… you will be persecuted because of me …
Tonight we watched a debate on the existence of God. A friend had sent me the link earlier in the day, and tonight I was intrigued enough to watch it through with Jen. The debate was mostly silly… neither side was really listening to the other. They were to a degree, but neither was going to convince the other of their points, or sway their beliefs in any way. Some of it was sarcastic and mean-spirited… a little annoying actually. 🙂 I don’t think I’m a big fan of debates.

But the thing that I noticed was actually part of the lead-up to the debate. The footage they chose to show to introduce the Christian guys (Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron of The Way of the Master) was of them sharing “the gospel” in the streets, and the hostile reactions of some unbelievers. While that may be common footage, and perhaps an expected response (at least by Christians) … I was immediately reminded of where Jesus said that his followers would be persecuted because of him.

“Exactly!” misters Comfort and Cameron might say. However, as I recall from Scripture, the people who hated Jesus – who wanted to hurt and/or kill him – were the religious leaders of the day. The leaders of the religious establishment. They were the upstanding, moral, “religious right”. We think the people who will persecute Christians, who will hate us because of our message, are the hardened sinners who reject God with passionate fervor. But every example I can think of in the Bible of “sinners” is almost completely the opposite. Those “hardened sinners” flocked to Jesus. It was the self-righteous, cleaned-up, religious folk who persecuted Jesus and his followers.

Just a couple things to think about from what Jesus said.