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10 Scriptures That Ought to Bring About Fear & Trembling

Posted in Commentaries, Lists on November 1, 2010| 2 Comments »

Here are ten pieces of New Testament scripture that ought to make us take a hard look at where we’re at in our relationship with the Lord and His people.  These scriptures would seem to challenge many of today’s most popular doctrines, which seem to be aimed at making us feel comfortable about our eternity.

  1. The man who says, “I know Him (i.e. Jesus)”, but does not do what he commands is a liar and the truth is not in him (1John 2:4).  Later in this epistle John says, “This is love for God, to obey His commands” (1John 5:3).  While a large majority of Americans describe themselves as “Christians”, how many could claim a working knowledge of what God commands and/or that they are endeavoring to live by those tenets?  James epistle tells us, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says” (James 1:22).  How many of us who are familiar with what God commands would classify ourselves as “Doers” of His word?
  2. If anyone says, “I love God”, yet hates his brother, he is a liar (1John 4:20).  In today’s culture we seem to have bought into the notion that families are supposed to be dysfunctional and we’ve largely carried that mindset into the family of God (i.e. the Church).  Based on the scripture, it doesn’t appear as though God accepts that premise.
  3. Men will have to give an account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken (Matthew 12:36).  No explanation needed.
  4. 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).  To fully appreciate the impact of this scripture, we must consider how we’ve responded to people who’ve let us down or even hurt us.  While we may feel justified in our feelings, do we want that measure to be applied to us for our trespasses?
  5. If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:15).  If our sins are not forgiven, where are we?
  6. Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God (James 4:4).  This scripture puts the church in America in serious jeopardy.  Many of our efforts to be relevant to, and to reach, “the world” have resulted in the church becoming worldly.   While we may rationalize that the end justifies the means, from Gods perspective I believe that it is simply looks like compromise.  Statistics for things like divorce and addiction to pornography seem to indicate that the church is becoming largely indistinguishable from the world.  Based on what the scripture says about what our relationship with the world should be, this ought to make us tremble.
  7. Faith without works is useless (James 2:20).  I don’t believe that James meant “good works” but instead works of faith.  We can do many “good” things that don’t require any faith at all.  From what this scripture says, it doesn’t appear as though those works will be accounted as righteousness.  The Hebrew writer tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and Paul goes a step further when he says that, “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).  These scriptures challenge me to question how often I really act in faith and the value of the things that I’m doing that don’t require it.
  8. He (i.e. the Father) cuts off every branch in me (i.e. Jesus) that bears no fruit (John 15:2)… such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned (John 15:6).  While many of us claim to be Christian, how many of us would be anxious to present our fruitfulness as the evidence of that?
  9. Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?  Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you.  Away from me you evildoers!”  (Matthew 7:21-23).  This scripture is speaking directly to “Believers”, because someone who doesn’t believe wouldn’t be doing things in His name.  This indicates that “many” who believe that their eternity is secure are mistaken.
  10. 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 is the road that leads to life and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14).  In today’s atmosphere of tolerance and inclusion, it may be perceived as offensive to point this scripture out, but based on what it says; maybe making everyone feel good about their eternity was never meant to be the mission.

 

While gathering these scriptures in one place could be viewed as a negative thing, I think that it brings some much needed balance.  Though we are saved by His grace, the scripture reminds us that our access to that grace is “through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).  God was fully aware of the provision of His grace when He inspired the above scriptures.  I believe that we have often tried to use His grace like a stolen credit card, but His grace does not nullify His word.  While God does not require perfection, He does expect sincerity.  We know that He rewards those who “diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6); these scriptures can help us to remain diligent.   God bless.

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Open Minded

Posted in Commentaries, Word Pictures, tagged , , , on October 27, 2010| 3 Comments »

I find myself walking along a darkened street in what appears to be a very old, residential area, within a large city.  The houses look as though they were built around the time of the First World War and they are big by today’s standards.  I imagine that in its day this was a very inviting place to raise a family, but the neighborhood has long since fallen into ruin.  Most of the windows and doors have been boarded up and the few houses that appear to be occupied seem to be dimly lit and tightly shut.  Weeds have overtaken the cracks in the sidewalk and the concrete is uneven and crumbling in places.  Only one street light on the block remains lit and an ominous sense envelops me as I make my way down the street.  I ask the Lord what I’m doing here, but He is silent.  As I walk on, I come to a house that appears to be abandoned, but which isn’t boarded up.  In that moment I hear the Lord say, “Go take a look”.  I can feel my stomach rumbling an objection and I swallow hard to avoid asking the Lord, “why?”  Reluctantly, I turn and begin to shuffle up the short pathway to the porch.

As my eyes strain to detect any signs of movement, I see that the windows on the second floor seem to be open, while all of the windows on the ground floor appear to be broken out.  I notice the remnants of a curtain in one of the windows, as it gently rolls with the breeze.  As I step onto the porch I’m struck by the fact that despite what may have been decades of neglect, the structure itself still seems sound, which is undoubtedly a tribute to those who built it.  There is trash and broken glass strewn all over the porch and the sound of my feet treading on the debris seems unusually loud.  I feel new waves of apprehension as I come to the doorway and I can see that the door has been ripped from its hinges.  Everything beyond that point appears to be pitch black and I pause to once again query the Lord; but before I’m able to form the words I feel Him nudge me forward, as though He has anticipated my question.

Stepping through the doorway I once again stop allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness; as the smell of urine overwhelms my nostrils.  Like the porch, the floor is littered with debris and the walls are covered with graffiti.  In places chunks of the plaster are missing and the lighting fixtures appear to have been ripped from their mountings.  As I step through the foyer I can see the shattered remains of the stairway banister; in the corner of the dining room there is a large burnt area on the floor; and in the kitchen I find that someone has defecated in the sink and apparently smeared it on the cabinets.  Nauseated, I stumble back toward the front door, hoping to leave this depressing scene behind; but as I come to the stairway, the Lord once again nudges me and I know that I must also go upstairs.  The creaking of the stairs seems amplified in the quietness of the house, and I am soon making my way through the upstairs hallway.  In one bedroom I find a crib that has been smashed into splinters; in another a mattress covered with a sheet, which is stained with blood and other bodily fluids; and in the bathroom I see the cockroaches scurrying to the open hole where the toilet once was.  I feel as though I can take no more and I quickly move back down the stairs and out the front door.  Relieved to be out in the open air, I stumble back to the sidewalk and begin to distance myself from the house.  As I look back over my shoulder, I ask the Lord, “What was that?”  To which He responds, “That is a picture of an open mind”.  (The vision ends)

I found myself somewhat surprised by those words.  I guess on some unconscious level I had accepted the idea that being “open minded” was a good thing; but obviously this picture indicated otherwise.  As if to remove any doubt about misinterpreting the message, I felt like the Lord definitively stated, “I have not called you to have an open mind!”  Instinctively I wondered whether this meant that I was supposed to have a “closed mind”; but the Lord quickly impressed upon me that many have been deceived to believe that those are the only two options.  Indeed, the scripture exhorts us to test everything by the Spirit (1 John 4:1); taking every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ; and demolishing every argument & every pretense that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5).  This is not a picture of an open door, but of a guarded gate.

As the post-modern society (including many within the church) embraces the concept of an open mind we see the scriptures fulfilled, as the collective thinking becomes increasingly futile and depraved; with elements like anxiety, depression, bullying, suicide, shootings, pornography, child molestation… becoming commonplace in our culture.  Just as the fathers of these philosophies before them, those who embrace this way of thinking are destined to become hollow shells, whose minds have been vandalized, scarred and desecrated by nameless intruders, who have wandered in and out, unimpeded.  Lord God, in your mercy – transform us by the renewing of our minds.  Amen.

 

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Post Modern Christianity

Posted in Commentaries, Free Verse / Poetry, Satire on October 19, 2010| 2 Comments »

I can profess that You are the way

Yet believe that there are many ways

 

I can profess that You are the truth

Yet believe that every man defines truth for himself

 

I can say that I am created in Your image

Yet also believe that I evolved from an ape

 

I can think of the Bible as Your word

Yet disregard the parts that no longer seem applicable

 

I can consider myself Your friend

Yet maintain my close friendship with the world

 

I can claim that You died for me

Yet never die to myself

 

I can think of you as my Savior

Yet never bow to You as my Lord

 

I can wear Your cross on a chain around my neck

Yet remain unwilling to take up a cross of my own

 

After all

God is love

This is a new millennium

and

I am a Post Modern Christian

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10 Thoughts for the “Kingdom Minded”

Posted in Commentaries, Lists on October 15, 2010| 1 Comment »

In recent years I’ve heard a lot of talk about the “Kingdom of God” and of the need to be “Kingdom Minded”.  As I’ve prayed and meditated on these things, I’ve sensed the Lord speaking.  I’ve included some of those thoughts below:

1.      If we are truly becoming more “Kingdom Minded”, our hearts will be increasingly focused on “The King”.

2.      If our priority is truly the “Eternal Kingdom”, our focus will be shifting from what is seen to what is unseen.

3.      The Lord will continue to grant the peoples wish for an earthly king, but “His Kingdom” will come through those who yearn for “His Lordship”.

4.      Revival is birthed in the hearts of God’s people.  It is the rekindling of the “Brides” passion for the “Bridegroom”.  The outward manifestations that we’ve come to associate with revival only follow this inner stirring.  The church’s inability to sustain these outward manifestations is rooted in the absence of this internal work.

5.      The work that God has called us to is to believe in the One who He sent (John 6:29).  While this belief will ultimately compel us to further action, all of our “work” for the Kingdom must be rooted in this.

6.      We are not Kingdom Builders.  There is a big difference between building a house and moving a house.  When we build a house, we choose a site, make our plans and build to suit our desires; but when the house already exists, we must go to where it is and study its design, if it is to arrive intact at it’s new location.  The Kingdom of God already exists and God Himself was the Architect and Builder (Heb. 11:10).  God is not interested in some earthly replica of His Kingdom, He means for His Kingdom to come to earth as it already exists in the heavenly realm.

7.      We must discern the difference between imagination, inspiration and revelation.  Though there is a place for all of these things, the distinction between them is critical.

8.      It’s all about relationship.  We must understand the difference between associates and friends, business partners and brothers, networks and families, collaboration and covenant, and ultimately between ambition (i.e. personal) and passion (i.e. for the Lord).  If we have not love, we have “nothing”.

9.      Don’t be impressed by anyone’s resume, because God isn’t.  Few could boast an earthly resume as impressive as King Solomon’s; his reign is viewed by many as a pinnacle in Jewish History and yet he was ultimately deemed a failure by God’s standard.  His life stands as an example of the dramatic contrast between what the world considers success and what is valuable to God.

10.   Beware of those who call themselves Shepherds and yet view sheep as the obstacle to their destiny.  Beware of those who claim to be a covering and yet accept no responsibility in the day of trouble.  Beware of those who invoke the name of Jesus, but bear no resemblance to Him.  The Bible contains numerous warnings pertaining to false teachers (e.g. 2 Peter 2:1), false prophets (e.g. Matt. 24:11), false apostles (Rev. 2:2); and it speaks of our need to discern between those who are serving the Lord and those who are not (Mal. 3:18).

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The Senseless Death of Tyler Clementi

Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Social / Political on September 30, 2010| 1 Comment »

As is often the case when I tune into the news, I was sickened by the report of the senseless death of Tyler Clementi; a freshman at New Jersey’s Rutgers University.  According to sources, Tyler jumped to his death, after a video of his intimate encounter with another man, which had been secretly recorded by his room-mate, was posted on the internet.

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While the despicable act of the room-mate has been universally condemned, much of the reaction to this tragedy seems to be focused on the homosexual aspect of the story.  And while I do understand why homosexual activists would want to use this as an example, I believe that the implications of this act extend beyond the issue of sexuality.  From my perspective, it points to a fundamental lack of respect for the privacy and dignity of all human beings.

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Though nothing excuses this heinous invasion, it seems to be in keeping with the increasingly voyeuristic nature our society.  Advances in technology and the popularity of outlets like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and You-Tube, have given us unprecedented access into even the most private aspects of each others lives; and by all indications, we as a society can’t get enough of it.  The entertainment industry continues to feed this frenzy with increasingly raw reality shows and artful explorations of the most twisted components of the human psyche.  At some level, the general public seems to feel as though it is entitled to this unfettered access.  For example, it’s not good enough that Tiger Woods would admit to cheating on his wife, we want to know the details and if someone has video, we want that too.  But if we as a society demand that kind of access, aren’t we implicitly commissioning acts like that of the room-mate in this case.  At 18 years of age, this young man has grown up in a time when little, if anything, has been off limits; and so what should we as a society have expected to stop him in this case?  Someone of my generation may answer, “Common decency”, but is there a commonly held standard for decency anymore.  Not surprisingly, lawyers for this young man simply describe him as “confused”.

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While many will point to this story as an example of why we need to be more “tolerant” of homosexuals; I think we’d be better to use it as an example of why we need to “respect” the dignity and privacy of all of our fellow human beings, regardless of their sexuality.  As near as I can tell, Tyler was a fine young man and my heart breaks at the thought that he is gone.

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God Said

Posted in Commentaries on September 1, 2010| 3 Comments »

            As I have endeavored to share the things I’ve discovered along my spiritual journey, perhaps nothing has stirred up more resistance than the use of phrases like, “I feel like God told me” or “I feel like God said”.  It seems as though the concept of direct communication from God tends to make people uncomfortable; even Christian people.  To some extent, I understand their concern.  When I first became serious about a life of faith, I began to hear people using this kind of terminology and I remember thinking, “You hear God speak?”  Though I’d grown up with the idea of praying, I’d not run into many people who claimed to have heard something back.  My initial reaction to such people included a healthy dose of cynicism; but as I began to read the scripture, I was confronted about my unbelief.  Despite the fact that I’d heard some doctrinal teaching that seemed to want to make a case that God doesn’t communicate directly anymore, I found the written evidence in the Bible compelling in its case that He does.  This was a difficult conclusion to draw, since as far as I knew, I’d never experienced it myself.  Once I resolved that God does in fact “speak” directly to His children, I began to pray that I would hear from Him.  Though it took some time, I slowly became aware that God was in fact communicating with me and came to the realization that He had been for quite some time.  I guess I expected a booming voice from heaven, not a still small voice from within.  It was confusing because His voice filtered through my spirit sounded an awful lot like a thought in my head.  I guess it shouldn’t have been all that surprising since that’s how the voice of the enemy works.  Its taken years, but I’ve learned (and am still learning) to differentiate between His voice, my voice and the voice of the enemy.  Since they’re all filtered through my soul, they all sound like me, but I’ve come to understand that His voice is very distinct in how things are expressed; there is a perfection and a resonance that my own thoughts and expressions lack.  His voice always substantiates the things He’s said in His word and they always move me closer to Him.

            There are those who would rightfully point out the danger in this.  I remember some years ago, hearing an internationally known Pastor say that he wasn’t comfortable with “God said this” or “God told me that”.  He shared stories of the outrageous things that people had claimed to have heard from God.  His conclusion was that the whole idea that we’d act based on something we thought God told us was too dangerous and that we just needed to make our decisions based on scripture.  While I certainly wouldn’t argue the application of scripture, I found myself somewhat appalled by the idea that we’d ignore the voice of God.  One need only watch the nightly news to hear stories of people who claim that God told them to shoot an abortion doctor or to drown their children; but are we to live our lives in fear of this, or by what the word of God says.  Jesus said that His sheep know “His voice”, that they listen to that voice and that they follow it.  He says that “He who belongs to God, hears what God says”.  He goes on to say that, “The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God”.  These are pretty strong statements, but they’re right there in the Gospel.  Sure there is a danger that we may wrongly discern what God is saying, but it is no greater than the danger that we will wrongly interpret His written word.  There are whole main-line denominations making a mockery of His written word and yet we’re not tempted to discount personal Bible reading in response to that problem.  While I have no trouble in acknowledging the danger of misinterpretation or manipulation of Gods words, I would submit that there is even greater peril if we don’t hear His voice.  In the book of Revelation, we see God confront the end time churches, as He repeatedly says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”.  In one of his letters to Timothy, Paul warns that in the end times people will have a form of godliness, but that they will deny the true power of God.  It would seem in these perilous times, we need to hear His tangible voice more than ever.

            It is amazing to ponder what happens when God does speak.  In Genesis we see Him speak the world and mankind into existence.  When the Father sent His Son, He said that He was the embodiment of the “Word” of God.  While on earth we see Jesus speak healing to the sick, peace to the raging storm and life into His dead friend.  When Jesus left this earth, He promised that the Holy Spirit would be our Comforter, our Counselor and teach us all things.  When we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us through the scripture, it once again becomes the “Living Word” of God.  It seems that across time God has continually endeavored to communicate with His people and He never changes.  He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in…”.  John the Baptist used a parable of a bride and a bridegroom; he said that the friend of the bridegroom listens for Him and is filled with joy at the sound of His voice.  If we are the Bride, then how much more joy should there be for us at the sound of His voice.  Let us remember that, “Today if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts”.

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Charismania

Posted in Commentaries on August 11, 2010| 4 Comments »

I have been involved with the Charismatic movement for over a dozen years now and to be sure, those years have been the most fruitful of my Christian walk. It was in the midst of a Charismatic service that I first became tangibly aware of the Holy Spirit and that experience revolutionized my relationship with God. It transformed what had been a distant relationship (i.e. with the God of heaven) into a personal one; it changed my conception of the Bible from that of an ancient text to the “Living Word” of God; and it brought what had been an historical God (i.e. Jesus, who lived 2000 years ago) into the present tense. In the years since then, I have come to rely on the daily interaction of the Holy Spirit for even the most basic of things and that change has made all of the difference. In light of this transformation, I can testify to the many worthwhile aspects of the Charismatic movement and even endorse it to those seeking a more personal walk with the Lord. Unfortunately, within those same years, I have also witnessed first-hand several troubling trends, many of which seem to threaten its ongoing viability. For the purposes of this piece, I’ve dubbed these disturbing patterns “Charismania”, which is not a term that I coined, but one that seems to fit.

What tends to distinguish the Charismatic movement from other faith paradigms is its focus on the power of the Holy Spirit. While many traditionalists see that power as potentially dangerous, Charismatic’s view it as life-giving. I would submit that they are both right to some extent. Of course the problem isn’t with the Holy Spirit; it is with our motivations for and our responses to, His power. It has been said that “power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely”. We may rationalize that the pursuit of Gods power is somehow different, but the Bible contains numerous stories of people who experienced manifestations of Gods power and still went on to fall to their own corrupt nature (e.g. King Saul, King Solomon, Caiaphas, Judas Iscariot…). Sadly, many within the Charismatic movement have met the same fate, as they have mistaken God’s willingness to act powerfully in and through their lives for His approval of their (often bad) choices. Like the Prophet Nathan did with King David, they assume that because God is with them, they have Carte Blanche to do whatever seems right to them. Ultimately many confuse the pursuit of God’s power with the pursuit of God Himself.

Throughout my years of involvement with this movement, the Lord has consistently spoken to me about the pitfalls that we so easily step into. He’s shown me that the frivolous nature of many of our gatherings essentially turns the upper room into little more that a night club (i.e. a place to go get a good buzz with our friends); that we are prone to treat the Holy Spirit like an amusement park attraction (i.e. just a vehicle for an exhilarating ride); and that we frequently use His grace like a stolen credit card (i.e. obtaining things we were never meant to have, with resources that don’t belong to us). Often, as the power of God begins to consistently manifest in a ministry, its leaders achieve celebrity status, easily becoming idols for throngs of followers who covet their giftings and/or experience. Such ministries frequently erode into little more than monuments to their founders and lucrative social networks. Instead of being transformed into the image of Christ, people are transformed into the image of the leadership, regardless of whether those leaders bear any resemblance to Jesus. Often these ministries are shamelessly marketed in the name of evangelism and services are tailored to engage an earthly audience as opposed to a heavenly one. In these atmospheres, Jesus becomes little more than a corporate sponsor, who donates His name appeal to a program that’s really aimed at attracting a crowd and cultivating return business.

The scripture teaches that what is pleasing to the flesh is not pleasing to the spirit; and that what is pleasing to the spirit is not pleasing to the flesh. Despite that scriptural distinction, western Christianity (as a whole) seems to want to use the spiritual power of God as a tool to satisfy our most natural (i.e. carnal) desires. We want to feel good and empowered and loved and secure. We want our enemies to be kept at bay and to have a sense of our own righteousness. And most of all, we don’t want it to cost anything or to have to wait for it. This makes stories of revival titillating, as we love the idea of a place we can go where God comes suddenly and miraculously deliverers us from all our troubles. But my experience is that seasons of “suddenly” are generally preceded by longer seasons requiring faithfulness and perseverance. It is my belief that many of us haven’t experienced that sudden move of God, because we haven’t been willing to endure the seasons that come before it. Sadly, there are many in the Charismatic movement who go from ministry to ministry (and/or minister to minister), looking for that one who can deliver all the experiences they’ve heard so much about. Often, these folks seem more interested in finding the place where God might be doing something spectacular than in finding the place He’s called them to be. This insatiable hunger for some sort of extraordinary event drives ministers and ministries to gravitate toward creating a spectacle, instead of simply being who they were made to be. It also creates the temptation to hype every little thing as “life changing” and “earth shaking”, which only serves to perpetuate the stereotype that this movement is little more than an elaborate form of emotionalism.

The prophet Isaiah said that to prepare the way of the Lord, we need to make straight pathways; bringing the valleys up and the mountains low. This is a picture of the steadiness that comes from having a singular reference point as we take the journey of faith. While I too have enjoyed my “mountain top” experiences with the Lord, I’ve come to realize that we don’t live on the mountain top and neither do the lost. Our constant pursuit of those kinds of experiences creates the anti-thesis of what Isaiah was talking about. What happens on the mountain needs to transform our time in the valley, which is where the light of God’s love needs to be shown. Even if we could somehow live on the mountain top, it would be the equivalent of the disciples deciding not to leave the upper room on Pentecost. The power of God has been made manifest on the earth to do the work of God and to bring Him glory. It is not simply meant for the edification of those who already believe.

While I don’t believe the things that I’ve described necessary represent the whole of the Charismatic movement, I do believe that they have become increasingly prevalent as the movement has gone on. I am blessed to attend a “Charismatic” church, where the Pastor preaches Christ and Him crucified; where character is valued above giftings; and where people are generally more concerned about how God is using them (outside the walls of church) during the week than about how He will interact with them (within the walls of the church) on a Sunday morning. Our church is by no means the exception, as we have many friends who are a part of ministries with this same kind of heart. I’m not advocating throwing the baby out with the bath water, but I do believe those of us within this movement need to take a hard look at ourselves. Are we really seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord or do we just want what we’ve been told is our inheritance? Do we really want to see God glorified or are we simply after our own blessing and prosperity? Are we really seeking to be transformed or do we just want our situations to change? In the end, there is nothing holy about the pursuit of God’s power apart from a genuine desire to fulfill His purposes.

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The Path of Least Resistance

Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, tagged , , , , , , , on July 30, 2010| Leave a Comment »

When I first made the decision to try to live my life for the Lord, I didn’t immediately commit myself to reading the Bible.  But I soon realized that if I was going to have a “personal relationship”, I was going to have to find out for myself what the scripture said.  Like most novices, I started at the beginning, which isn’t wrong, but which ultimately makes for a difficult maiden voyage.

I was doing fine as I worked my way through the book of Genesis, until I came to the story of Jacob and Esau.  As I read about these twin brothers, I got confused.  From the beginning Esau seemed like a decent guy, but Jacob (which literally means heel grabber) seemed like a lying, manipulating, con-man.

I understood that Esau definitely made a bad decision in trading his birthright for a bowl of stew, but I was shocked when I read that God loved Jacob and he “hated” Esau.  How could God approve of a liar like Jacob, and hate a regular guy like Esau?

I was afraid to ask much about this scripture for fear that it was something really obvious that I’d missed, or that maybe sometime later in the scripture I’d find out what terrible thing Esau did.  I decided to pray that God would help me to understand this, and not long after that I realized that He did.

The first thing I had to realize was that the Bible didn’t tell me all about Esau, just what God wanted me to know.  The incident where he decides that he is so hungry that he trades in his birthright is a “defining moment” in Esau’s life, and Gods way of telling me about his character.  If this were an isolated incident then God’s grace would undoubtedly have been sufficient; but it is very likely that there were many other incidents God could have shared, and that this story exemplifies what He hated in Esau’s character.

As I pondered what this incident told me about Esau, I sensed that he was a man of appetites, and that those appetites were most often what ruled him.  That he was one who most often traveled the path of least resistance, who would take what was expedient over what was sacred, and who would trade that which is unseen & ordained by God for what is seen & satisfying to the flesh.  Since God hates anything that hurts His children, He hates these attitudes, which keep us bound to our situation, and away from His divine provision.

It is certainly the nature of man to be attracted to the path of least resistance, and we live in a culture which has little tolerance for anything that isn’t immediately satisfying.  These are two significant strikes against us as we endeavor to live a life for the Lord.  Jesus told His disciples that no servant is greater than their Master, that they hated Him first, and that they would undoubtedly hate them as well.  He also said that if anyone was going to follow Him, that they must take up their cross daily.

The word also clearly calls us to a life of holiness, which means being separated unto God, and His purposes.  All of these things (and many more) tell us that the Christian life is one that is filled with resistance; from our flesh, from the world, and from the enemy of our souls.  While it is our natural reflex to want to keep our flesh satisfied, the word tells us that what is satisfying to our flesh is contrary to the Spirit.  Similarly, it is a very natural tendency to get focused on what is happening around us, while God says that we need to focus on the unseen, eternal things.  In our natural state we tend to be very reactive and impatient, while the Lord exhorts us to live a life by His Spirit, which includes manifestations of self-control, and patience.

Without making a conscious commitment to move in a different direction, we will all tend to default to Esau’s lifestyle; just trying to get our perceived needs met, living by our instincts and trading our eternal inheritance for a bowl of dead flesh.

In the end, the path of least resistance proves to be the way of death.  The scripture says that broad is the road that leads to destruction, and that narrow is the road that leads to life.  It goes on to say that “few find” that narrow path.

We live in a culture which strives to live a pain free existence, in which all our desires are instantly gratified.  Heaven help us if we find success in that endeavor, because one day our well fed flesh is going to perish, and we may find that there is nothing to sustain our immortal soul.

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Freedom and Sacrifice

Posted in Commentaries, Opinions, Social / Political, tagged , , on July 9, 2010| 1 Comment »

Last Sunday (i.e. July 4th), as I prayed for this country (i.e. the USA), I began to see the undeniable bond between freedom and sacrifice.  I thought of our forefathers, most of whom sacrificed their fortunes, reputations and comfort to forge a new republic.  I thought of those who sacrificed their lives in the revolutionary war, in the hope that their brethren could attain some new level of freedom.  I thought of how democracy hinges on a people’s willingness to sacrifice a certain amount of their personal autonomy for the greater good of the group.  And I thought of all those who’ve sacrificed their lives in order to preserve this wonderful freedom that we’ve inherited.

But as I pondered this connection between freedom and sacrifice, in light of where our society is today, I had to wonder what will be left of it for our children.  We seem to live in a time when people are increasingly unwilling to sacrifice anything.  The collective cultural psyche seems to be that we can somehow “have it all”, which is essentially the anti-thesis of sacrifice.  When we reach the place that we are unwilling to yield our personal position for the greater good of the whole, we create a situation where it’s every man for himself and ultimately, survival of the fittest.  One of the great dangers in becoming the most powerful nation in the world is that it can cause a people to believe that the days of sacrifice have ended; but without sacrifice, the freedom will not stand.

For those of us who count ourselves as Christians, this connection between freedom and sacrifice ought to be abundantly clear; as it was Jesus’ sacrifice that attained eternal freedom for us.  But despite the perfection of His sacrifice, we too must be willing to partake of the crucifixion of our flesh in order to walk in the genuine freedom He attained for us.  Unfortunately, just as in the culture, the American version of Christianity seems to be increasingly predicated on the idea that we can (and even should) “have it all”.  But as the concept of sacrifice diminishes in our churches, it is hard to deny that it seems to be taking the freedom with it.

If Jesus (i.e. the Son of God, a man of perfect faith) learned obedience from the things He suffered, how can we expect any less?

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10 Things We Mistakenly Invest Our Identity In

Posted in Commentaries, Lists on June 23, 2010| 3 Comments »

I believe that despite the common patterns that can be observed throughout mankind, each person is to some extent a unique creation; and as such, that each has been endowed with their own specific identity. The longer I live, the more convinced I become that the only way to really find that identity is through interaction with the One who created us. But I’ve noticed that even amongst those who would claim such interaction, there seems to be a real crisis of identity. To some degree, I believe that is because we invest our sense of identity in the wrong things. Here’s a list of some of those things:

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1. Appearance:  With the trillions of dollars that westerners spend every year on cosmetic surgery, weight loss programs, tanning beds, acrylic nails, piercing, tattoos, hair, makeup… it seems undeniable that we are heavily invested in the idea that if we look a certain way, we will feel better about ourselves and that people will ultimately find us more desirable. But I’d submit that if I placed a beautifully wrapped box of Styrofoam peanuts next to a “Wii” game system, wrapped in newspaper, it would only take my kids a few minutes to discover which one they wanted to keep. While the attractive exterior may cause them to open the Styrofoam first, the illusion would literally be paper thin. I believe that the same holds true for people; and that both our feelings about ourselves and other people’s feelings about us, are truly driven by what is in our hearts. If you’ve got a favorite old grandma, ask yourself if you are repulsed by her wrinkled exterior or warmed by her loving heart. On our deathbeds, will the value of any person we care about be based on how they looked in a bathing suit?

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2. Talents/Abilities:  While I believe that each person comes equipped with their own special combination of gifts and that those gifts ultimately compliment who they were created to be, I don’t believe that the gifts themselves actually define the person. What is in a person’s heart will drive how they choose to use their gifts and that will be the thing that defines their relationships. Those who simply use their talents/abilities to glorify themselves and to manipulate others are generally remembered less for their talent and more for their lack of character.

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3. Reputation:  Reputation is generally rooted in how we are perceived outside our most intimate circle and while there is certainly some value in having a “good reputation”, I would submit that value is very limited. What is at the core of our being will be reflected in our closest relationships (e.g. spouse, children…) and if those relationships are poisoned, a “good reputation” becomes little more than an illusion. Our identity is not as much defined by what others think about us, as it is by what we think about ourselves.

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4. Affiliations/Hobbies:  In America we tend to take our hobbies and affiliations very seriously. We spend an incredible amount of our time and resources pursuing things like hunting, fishing, NASCAR, crafting, politics, our favorite sports teams, our favorite music groups, collecting things… and we love to affiliate with groups like the Republicans, the Democrats, the NRA, the Sierra Club, the fantasy ball leagues, our favorite Christian denomination, the local biker club, the VFW, the Elks Club… The problem is that we often lose our own identity somewhere in that process. We think of ourselves as Veterans or Buckeye fans or bikers or liberals or Christians, and we begin to mimic what other people in those groups do, instead of discovering the unique aspects of who we were made to be. Having hobbies and/or affiliations isn’t necessarily a problem, as long as who we are informs them more than they inform who we are.

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5. Possessions/Social Status:  The United States is undoubtedly the land of the great middle class; and while bygone empires may have reached higher levels of affluence, never has the average person in a society lived so well. Yet for most of us, that material wealth and comfortable lifestyle hasn’t really translated into what we’d call happiness. You’d think by now that we’d understand that more possessions aren’t the key to unlock a brighter future and yet, what a person has and/or their social status, is still the measuring stick we generally use to gauge the success of their life. It is not what we have, but what we choose to do with it, that ultimately points to our true identity.

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6. Career/Vocation:  Having a sense of purpose and feeling as though our efforts make a difference, are undoubtedly vital parts of living a meaningful life; and our job/vocation/career can play an important part in that fulfillment. But frequently we begin to mistake what we do for who we are. To be sure, what we do and how we do it, are a reflection of who we are, but they cannot become a substitute for it. Years ago, I read an interesting statistic that said most men die within five years of retiring, regardless of their age; and though I’m sure that there are many factors that drive that statistic, I’d submit that the investment of our identity in what we do is one of them.

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7. Pain/Tragedy:  It is an unsavory fact of life that pain and even tragedy are an inherent part of the journey. While that reality is largely unavoidable, we can resist the urge to allow those things to define us. When we choose to identify ourselves as a victim, we unwittingly cause the pain of the past to infect our future.

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8. Achievements:  While who we are is undoubtedly an ingredient of the fuel for achievement, those achievements are wholly inadequate to fully encompass who we are. Though we might cover our walls with awards, they only represent moments in time; mere glimpses of a much bigger picture. At the end of our life, it is doubtful that any of those accolades will be of much consolation. Inevitably it will be our relationships with those who knew us best that will matter the most in that moment.

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9. Parenthood:  In my own experience, there has been nothing that has touched the deepest recesses of my heart like becoming a parent. While it caused me to discover unseen depths of love and strength, it has also revealed unexpected levels of impatience, frustration and fear. For me, taking parenting seriously has never been an issue; my problem has been maintaining a healthy perspective on my role in our children’s lives. God was too wise to hinge their destiny on my perfection and He is unwilling to take away their free will (even though at times I’ve tried to). I know that I’ve lost my perspective when I fall into despair and condemnation because of their struggles. Though I need to invest myself in the parenting, I cannot allow being a parent to engulf who I am. If that were to happen, I would begin to live for and through my children, which would ultimately be oppressive and destructive, both to them and to me.

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10. Marriage:  Like parenthood, marriage is something we definitely need to invest ourselves in; but I would submit that giving our all in a relationship is not the same thing as forfeiting our individual identity. A healthy marriage will ultimately build up both individuals and allow each partner to more fully realize their God given potential. If one spouse completely defers to the other, the power of the union is greatly diminished and neither partner truly benefits.

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In the end, I believe that our identities need to be wholly invested in being a child of the living God. If that were the case, we could draw all of the love, inspiration, affirmation, encouragement, security and hope that we need from Him and simply be a conduit for Him in our relationships with our spouses, kids, family, friends, neighbors and the ultimately the world.

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