No Pain, No Holy

In about 17 days, some friends of mine and I are going to do Warrior Dash. For the unaware, we're going to run about 3.5 miles, crawl through mud, over round hay bales, under barbed wire and jump fire. Then we get a cool hat:

So, I've been preparing. Sort of. Mostly on the strength training end of things, not so much on the running. Running simply isn't terribly enjoyable to me, and I don't get the immediate results I get from the strength training. Do a few hundred reps of pushups, curls, etc in 30-40 minutes and you see results right away. Run for 20 minutes and you get sweaty, and for me, painful knees. So, because it is not fun and because it hurts me, I don't run. I may regret this come April 16.

Discomfort- dare I say suffering- is a part of working out. The whole, "No Pain, No Gain," mantra is based on this idea. I enjoy the strength training, so the pain is able to be dealt with. Not so with the running, so it is deemed not worth it.

But, what of our pursuit of holiness? Are we willing to suffer to achieve it?

I've recently read a couple really, well, painful, passages about dealing with temptation. 1 Peter 5:8-10 says,

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

The idea of Satan looking for us is bad, but that he also wants to devour us? He will do this by tempting us, and we will be devoured by our own sins. Unless we resist. And Peter tells us right there that our resistance will bring suffering. It will hurt to tell our urges "NO!" It will be more attractive to give in to them than to hold out against them. I believe it is why we fall.

In the moment of temptation- be that for lust, or selfishness, or passing by a person who needs help, or whatever- we choose the path of least resistance. We think it would be better to ask forgiveness than to fight it off and do the right thing. We don't do the right thing because, in that moment, the right thing is the least attractive, most painful thing. To us, there is no way out.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says there is.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

What we fail to realize is that the pain of doing the right thing will not kill us. Unless, of course, that right thing is to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of another or for God. God does not want us to fall to temptation because He wants what is best for us, so He makes a way out. But how does God- perfect, Holy, sinless God- know how to overcome?

Hebrews 2:17-18
For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Catch that: Jesus suffered when He was tempted. I have this tendency to think that it was easy for Jesus to say "NO!" when tempted. That He didn't have to muster any strength at all to deny that which was offered. But He did suffer when tempted. It had to be hard for Him to resist temptation, or He would never understand and relate to how we suffer. Jesus didn't just sacrifice Himself on the cross, He did it daily. I think of those times when sin is staring me down, temptation is rising. There is a sometimes physical pull, a dropping sensation in the stomach as my heart goes to war with my flesh. "Look at this," or "Go ahead, say that hurtful thing, " or "Just walk on by that guy, he doesn't matter." These thoughts, these urges, these temptations make me suffer. Giving into them makes me feel better. For a second. Then conviction. Knowing I selfishly chose the easy way out. Knowing Jesus had the same temptations, but chose to fight them down because He loves us makes Him so much more appealing.

So much more worth it.

If we want to be holy, if we want to be like Christ, we must be willing to suffer the pain of overcoming our desire to appease our flesh. We must be willing to suffer that knot in the stomach as we struggle over doing the right thing.

No pain, no holy.

That is what that big, fancy church word "sanctification" is all about. The process of being grown and pruned by the work of the Holy Spirit into a holy creation. It is letting the voice of the Spirit win out over the voice of the temptations.

It is about trusting in Christ- who suffered as we do- to win out in our hearts over lesser things.

ReLive

I've said it before, but I am not a morning person.

I exist in a semi-conscious state until 10 a.m. or so, and as such, spend a good portion of the morning sleepwalking through life. Multitasking is out of the question, and answering questions that require thought beyond multiple choice is a long, drawn out event. Essentially, I'm useless until late morning.

Now imagine living life that way. In a constant fog, we walk through- limp is a better word- bumping into people and things and never quite grasping what is going on. It's bad enough when this occurs in our physical life, but all too often, this is the constant state of our spiritual life.

Maybe it was a loss of faith, or a routine that became a rut, or assault after assault by negative events. Whatever caused it, your spirituality has fallen asleep- it has become dead. It gets really scary when this complacency becomes apathy- and you don't care if it gets better. That comes when you either really lose faith, or when you grow satisfied with where you are.

Both of those lead to spiritual death.

Jesus brought a dead man to life. Lazarus was physically dead- very dead. Four days dead. As the Munchkin Coroner said in the Wizard of Oz, "She's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead." Lazarus had a family who loved him, yet they had given up hope that he could be healed. Wouldn't you? Mary and Martha have become spiritually dead- they give all the right answers, but when reading their words, they seem...hollow. The story of Lazarus is as much about his resurrection as it is theirs.

Jesus enters the scene and speaks of being the Resurrection and the Life. Then He gives it. Lazarus comes out of the tomb, and Mary and Martha are given a spark to resuscitate their faith in Jesus. The moral of the story is that you are never too dead for Jesus to give you life- especially in the spiritual sense.

Jesus came to give us life, and give it to us abundantly. He wants us to not spend our lives half asleep, stumbling along on memorized prayers and speed-read Bible passages. He wants us to find our spark of life from Him, to live in Him, not just the knowledge of Him.

I know of people that know a lot about Jesus, but they are not alive in their faith. They have the right answers, they know the facts, they even pray regularly and read their Bibles. Yet they are not alive. For Jesus, life is not about knowing what to do and what to say, it is about knowing Him. If we do things just because they are expected of us, we are not living. But if our motivation is our love for and desire to know Christ, life fills our hearts and pours out of our actions and thoughts and words.

Lazarus' story is about the opportunity to ReLive. To be restored. To be resurrected.

Like Lazarus, I think we could all use a little jump start from time to time.

Seeding

I don't know about you, but growing up in a farming community, the guy in the parable of the sower (Matthew13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, Luke 8:1-15) always struck me as a poor example of a farmer. It's like the guy wasn't even looking what he was doing. Seeds on the walkway where birds pick them up, or the next guy to walk along crushes them or kicks them away. Seeds on rocks (I have seen stuff grow on rocks, but those things are called weeds) where there is no way to get a real root going. Then, he throws the seed in the thorn patch, where the good soil is already eaten up by the junky plants. Finally, some seed lands on good, healthy and clear soil. And the guy doesn't even plant the seeds there, he just lets them lay there. I mean, really, who just randomly throws seeds all over the place?

The answer, in regards to this parable, is we do. Everyday, we throw seeds all over the place. When we talk, when we post something online, the places we frequent, the music we listen to, the shows we watch, the things we read, what we wear, how we conduct ourselves at work or in class, the way we drive. All of these actions and so many more are throwing seeds out there. Seeds that tell people who we are, what matters to us, and what kind of character we possess. You seed the lives of people with your preferences, and sometimes those seeds take root. Have you ever read a book or watched a new TV show because of a casual conversation with a classmate or co-worker? They mention their love of something, and curiosity is peaked, so you check it out.

You were just seeded, and the person who did it probably didn't even know that's what they were doing. It's like their not even paying attention to where they cast their seed.

Now apply that to your faith in Christ. If people know you are a believer by your words- you've told them- then everything you do is a seed for what they think about Christ. The way you treat the opposite sex or the way you do your work or the way you drive (especially if you have a Jesus fish on your car) is a seed in the life of people who walk and live around you. For a long time, I thought those parables meant we just told everybody the whole gospel and did nothing but share the plan of how to get people to know Jesus. Then I realized that I am sharing who Jesus is to me not so much with my carefully worded answers to theological questions, but with the subtle ways I go about my mundane, ordinary tasks of life.

Do I complain? Do I argue? Do I look a little too long at something risque? Do I practice backstabbing my friends? Do make fun of people who aren't able or around to defend themselves? Or do I practice humility- put others first? Do I suck it up and do my work even when I don't really want to? Do I show compassion?

All these plant seeds. Some seeds we cast are weeds, some are beautiful flowers. Some land in good soil, some land on bad. The truth is, we rarely realize just how much (or how badly) we are seeding peoples' lives with Jesus.

So, what can we do to be better about seeding people with the good stuff- and seeding in the right places?

I believe it starts and ends with prayer. We need to pray in the places we live and work. I'm not talking about praying so that others see us being all holy, I'm saying we pray so we can see with the eyes of God the place we have always just seen with our regular old eyes. Praying in the space you spend time in means you are preparing the soil around you- so that the seeds you randomly cast out to those around you will land in good soil.

I remember my grandparents having a garden when I was a little kid. I remember when it came time to plant, we prepared the garden by removing weeds and rocks, then breaking up the soil and moving it around so the seeds would have the room to grow. We took bads soil, and made it better to receive the seed. I believe prayer does that for us in the spiritual sense. It's not about US making the person clean so they can receive Christ, it's about asking the Spirit to move and work in subtle ways in the person's life to help them be receptive to the seed we cast. We can't make the seed grow or take root- that is between the soil and the sun (aka the person and God). But we can ask for the soil to be prepared.

And we can cast good seed. Prayer is key not just for the soil- but for the sower. We need to be praying that we choose the right sort of seeds to cast. What are we putting out there that people may want to cling to about Christ? If the only Jesus most people see is the Jesus we live out- what would they think of Him?

So, I challenge you- and if you have others that will join you- go to the places you spend time. The library you study at, the bar you frequent, the office you work in, your apartment, even your car. Go there and pray. Pray for the people who cross your path in those places, most of them you may never even meet- but they catch the seed you and others throw. Pray that they be prepared by God to receive the seeds of faith in Christ- whether that seed comes from you or someone else. Pray also for yourself. Pray for you to be more aware of the Christ you are seeding people with. Pray that you be more aware of the spiritual needs around you as well as the physical needs.

It doesn't need to be long- God knows what you are asking. But it does need to happen. The funny thing about Seeding, is that the more you pray about preparing the 'soil' around you, the more your own 'soil' is prepared to experience God.

In Defense of Hell

(Author's Note: I'm writing this today to address a theological idea that has recently been brought to light due to the release of Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins. I have not read the book, I have only read reviews and seen interviews with Bell about it. That being said, this is not a review of the book, or an address on the character and ideas of Mr. Bell. This is a look at the idea that all souls end up in Heaven eventually, regardless of choices made in this life. I will mention Mr. Bell nor his book no more in this post, but I wanted to show where the thoughts here came from.)





I gotta say, the idea of Hell makes me feel awkward. I don't like it. And I really don't like the idea that it is permanent. If it is tough for me as a follower of Christ, I can imagine the difficulties others who do not follow Him have with it.

But I think that may be kind of the point of Hell. We should be discomforted by it, we should not relish and revel in its existence for all those other 'sinners' to get there eternal time out. Really, Hell is the spiritual version of our earthly prison/time out/detention/capital punishment. And all types of punishment make me nervous. What if an innocent man is punished? What if the punishment does not fit the crime? What if a person is truly rehabilitated, yet still remains incarcerated? The truth is, punishment in and of itself is an idea that is DESIGNED to make us uncomfortable about it. No one wants to be punished.

Enter a thought process that has always been around, but seems to have gained a lot of traction in the last decade or so (Thanks, my generation!). It's the idea that Sin is really OK. I mean, it is bad and we shouldn't do it, but it really is no big deal. Usually called moral relativism, it started with us looking at each other's sins and saying, "Eh, whatever. Do what makes you feel good now." It was a part of our isolationist attitude, our rugged individualism. And its great until there is resistance. See, eventually, your doing whatever you want clashes with someone else's doing whatever they want. Someone gets hurt- physically, emotionally, or spiritually. And in some form or another, punishment comes. And since we are made uncomfortable with punishment (ie being told you are wrong) we had a problem.

I suppose it is a natural progression of sorts for Christians who are punishment averse yet morally freer to want to address this dilemma. This idea of universalism is one of those ways. It can vary in its form from "All roads lead to God," to some more exclusive views of the Spiritual realm. It is a vast multi-headed creature, with a variety of specific beliefs expressed in a variety different ways. The one I want to look at today is the one that states God's love is so overwhelming that all people- regardless of beliefs held or not held in life- will get to go to Heaven and be in God's presence. Eventually. It allows for Hell, but Hell is temporary.

This flies in the face of traditional views on Hell and the Scriptures. Normally, I'm not a traditionalist, but when that tradition is based on teachings in the Bible, I kinda have to stick with it. I also often point out that there are lots of differing views on somewhat vague concepts in Scripture, and that these viewpoints do not challenge our salvation if we differ in opinions, because what matters is that we believe Christ died for our sins and we accepted His gift of eternal life.

This view, however, is not one of those.

It Changes the Nature of Jesus Sacrifice
Quite simply put, if God's love will save us all eventually, and we are punished in Hell for a time for our sins- then the death of Christ on the Cross was unnecessary at best, and sadistic on the part of the Father at worst. Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty we incurred for sin- aka any time we rejected the will of God. The punishment for that sin was death and separation from God, and the way to escape that punishment was sacrifice. If we all died and went directly to Hell, paid our penalty, then God opened the cell door and said, "All paid up!" then why did God send His Son to DIE? Jesus could have come and just told us to live better lives, love more, and take care of each other while doing our best to love God. This view makes Jesus simply a short cut to Heaven, with a bypass of Hell for those who accept His sacrifice for their sins. Kinda takes the wind out of the whole "It is finished" thing, doesn't it?

Yes, God Loves Everyone and Wants No One To Perish, But He Allows You to Choose
I've heard the argument so often it is a cliche. "Why would a loving God create a Hell, let alone send people there?" Well, here is another cliche- If you love someone, you have to set them free. If I hated God, and He forced Himself upon me, He would not be loving. At least in my mind. I would see Him as a tyrant, and any attention I gave Him would not be out of love, but out of obligation and fear. Yet, the reality is, God does demand our love for good reason. (For more on this, see the previous blog post, Miracle Drug.) Proponents of "Everybody Goes To Heaven" say that because God loves us and wants us with Him, He, Omnipotent like He is, will get what He wants. 2 Peter 3:9 is a verse often used in their defense: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." God also wants us to love one another, to lie, to not commit adultery, to be healthy and to spend time with Him. Yet He does not make those things happen now. In fact, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 says, "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved." If we refuse to love the truth (Christ is the way, the only way, to Heaven) then we perish. And since we all die on this earth, perish is much more of a spiritual sort of death.

Do We Cease to Exist?
Most of traditional theology says we stay in Hell for ever. But one passage of Revelation is kinda vague on that (imagine that, being vague in Revelation). In Chapter 20:14-15, it says, "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire." This does serve to point that people not found in the Book of Life get sent to the lake of fire- referred to as the second death. It could mean that Hell is temporary and God puts the tormented out of their misery, or they could burn forever there. Either way, this is a rather final situation. One does not get out of this. There is no reprieve.

Where Does it Say Hell is Escapable?
And what does Jesus Himself say about Hell? Quite a lot, actually. But one story, one parable He tells is about the Rich Man and Lazarus. Lazarus is carried to Abraham's side, the rich man to Hades, where he was in torment. Richy asks for some water from Lazarus, but Abraham informs him that, "And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."--Luke 16:26

Yeah, its a parable, but Jesus spoke truth in them. The truth is, the choice we make in this life about Christ determines where we spend eternity. If we choose Christ in this life, we enter into His presence for eternity. If we reject Him, we choose to leave the presence of God for eternity, and there is no mind changing.

I wish with all my heart that those who go to Hell COULD escape it's torment. I want to believe this "Everybody Goes to Heaven" theology, but that is not what God teaches in the Bible. And to those who would say I worship the Bible more than God, I say that the Bible gives us the best picture of eternity we are likely to get. At least until we get there. Anything any of say or think that is not found in the Book explicitly it our best- and faulty- guess.

Is it right that God condemns someone to an eternity of Hell for 80 years of rebellion? If I think I am justified in answering for God on why He deals with sinners who never repent, then I am thinking a great deal of myself. I know He judges us for our sins and our obedience. I know He gives out reward and punishment. And I know that He is God, and His ways are vastly beyond mine- His mind greater than mine.

And I believe His heart breaks more than I could possibly fathom when someone chooses Hell over Him.

Miracle Drug

A few weeks ago, I got the flu. I believe it was the first time since I was a kid that I contracted this really annoying little bug, despite never getting a flu vaccine. Now, once I had the flu, I wanted the drugs. I needed the drugs. And nothing would keep them from me.

Tamiflu is expensive, for the record. Sure, compared to some heart meds and other triple digit dollar amount drugs, it's nothing. So, I had a brief moment of hesitation when forking over the $60 for the pills, but the chills started to kick back in. I got over it. Then the next day, both my kids were diagnosed with the influenza, and my wife was put on Tamiflu as a preventative measure. It was expensive, but this time I had no hesitation. We all needed to do what was explicitly necessary to kill this germ that wreaking havoc on our family before it got worse. We wanted the miracle drug to work.

I've been reading Crazy Love, by Francis Chan, with my friend Eric. In it, Chan relates the story of a college student asking a very potent and piercing question: "Why would a loving God force me to love Him?"

The truth is, I've heard this before. The truth is also that it is easy to see where this mentality comes from. I mean, if you don't love God, you die the big Death with a capital D. If you don't follow Jesus, you are separated from the Father. It's kind of totalitarian, if you'll allow me that strong term. Yeah, I see that there is a bit of forcing us to choose God coming from God Himself. The Bible is full of people that were "strongly encouraged" to choose God.

I admit: It seems rather harsh that God essentially says choose me or you can go to Hell. Literally.

But, what if it's necessary?

I didn't really want to take my flu meds. They made me kinda nauseous at first. They cost more money than I wanted to spend. But if I wanted to get over the flu quickly, there was NO OTHER WAY to go.

If we created a miracle drug that cured all ailments- from cancer to AIDS to headaches to the common cold- and you had to take it just once- would you take it? It would cost you a lot of money, but you'd not have to worry about health care ever again. You'd never need to take another pill of any kind for the rest of your life. The catch is, there is no other company or industry that will ever be able to manufacture this drug, so you have to take it from this company. You are being, in essence, forced to support this company.

For a lifetime of good health by taking one pill- it's worth it, isn't it?

Matthew 9:12 says: On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

When we realize we are sick, we will do whatever it takes to get well. Be told you have cancer, and your first thoughts upon soaking that in will be "What can we do?" Have a heart attack, and you want to know what you have to do to prevent that from happening again.

You want the drugs/treatment/surgery that makes it better.

Now, you're sick. All of us are. We WILL die from it. The question is can we be cured from eternal death and get eternal life? If there was a way to get that, and only one way to get that, would it be worth it?

Would you not, if you knew of a way to cure a loved one from cancer or AIDS or heart disease, do every thing within your power to make them pursue that course of treatment? Would you not force them?

Of course you would. Because you love them. You'd move mountains if you could to help the ones you love.

If God is 'forcing' us to love Him- and I don't see it that way- it is because He loves us. Now, the way I see it, if God has the Miracle Drug to cure us from this Death that awaits us- it's not Him forcing us to love Him. It is Him offering us the pill- the only one of its kind- that will save us. Accepting and returning the Love of God is the Miracle Drug.

And He is the only one making it.

We can still choose to reject Him, He does allow for that. I could have chosen to refuse my Tamiflu and struggled through it on my own. I probably would have made it. Thousands of patients every day choose not to take the pill or the chemo or the surgery because they have the same choice as we do. They can say 'No' to the well meaning doctor and family members pleading, pushing and yes, forcing them to take the cure.

But the truth is, you cannot reject God and live for eternity. It's not Him forcing you.

It is Him doing everything to save you.

I Am Not My Sin

So, last night Kristin and I sat down to watch "Pray the Gay Away" on OWN ( Yep, I am surrendering my guy card for that one.) Basically, the show was looking at ministries like Exodus Ministries that works with Christians who are gay, but want to overcome those urges, and also the flipside to that: Christians who are gay and feel that is just who they are and don't need to change it. The first half hour was mostly about Exodus and a woman with her own ministry/a guy she has worked with for four years. The second half hour was about a camp for gay students where they can be "gay and Christian." In the midst of this pretty compelling show, I noticed something seemed to be recurring in the words of the people: Identity. Those wanting to be free of the homosexual urges and those wanting to embrace them both talked a lot about their identity and the confusion of what to do when their very personal urges conflicted with their very personal- and on both sides, vibrant- faith.

Let me just say, for clarity, where I stand. I believe that the Bible teaches homosexuality is wrong. It is a sin. But it is no more vile a sin than murder, lying, looking at pornography, getting drunk or cheating on your taxes. Being gay does not merit a total rejection from God and a denial of entrance to heaven. Homosexuals are people that God loves dearly, and as His children, we are to love them as well. But I am concerned about the way in which we are trying to make this sin 'okay' and I am concerned with the growing trend to say that "gay is how I was made and, therefore, who I am."

As I was watching the show, God seemed to be teaching me something not just about this particular sin, but all sin: We identify ourselves by it. Think about it, you call yourself an alcoholic if you can't stop drinking. You call yourself a liar if you can't ever seem to tell the truth. You label yourself a porn addict if you can't stop searching the internet for porn. And if you have committed some crime like murder or sexual assault you bear that label for the rest of you life- regardless of what comes after. It seems that no matter who we are deep down, our sins still define us to those around us- and even to ourselves.

Batman Begins has this theme running through it. It is the line "It's not who you are on the inside, but what you do that defines you." In context, it means if you are a good person deep down, but do nothing good, can you really be good? It rings very near to "faith without works is dead." In our world, it seems that it doesn't matter if you believe in Jesus in your heart, we are defined more by our sin and our actions (and maybe our inactions) than what we believe. Clearly, the truth is that what we do does define us to those around us. They can't know our heart, but they can see our actions. The problem comes when we define ourselves by our action, by our sin, rather than by the owner of our heart.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 about this issue:

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (Emphasis mine)

As believers in Christ, we are to no longer identify ourselves as these sins. WE were these things, but we are washed, sanctified (made holy, set apart by God, for God), and justified ( made right with God's law) by Jesus. By His NAME. Our identity is to be in Christ, not in our addictions, our urges, our sins or our lifestyles. It is wrong for me to identify myself by my sin instead of by my Savior. To do so demeans the work of Christ.

But what about those who say they are, as Lady Gaga sings today, "Born This Way?"

OK, I'll give you that. While I believe God makes us without sin, we are born into a world that is fallen. Something happens to us when our souls put on this flesh- the Bible often refers to the flesh as sinful, by the way- that warps us. I believe that in the same way some of us are born with natural abilities, we are all born with natural bents to sin. This is not a result of the failure of God, rather it is a result of the Fall of Man. Some of us are born into a lifelong struggle with the bottle or with same-sex attraction. Some of us are born with a tendency toward violence or with a sociopathic lack of care for others. The fallen nature of this world messes us up. But there are millions of people born with these and other urges who daily fight them down- they deny the identity that were born as, repress it as the show last night often said- because they value something more than getting to be themselves.

That is the issue I have with sins that we claim we do just because it is how we are made. If we are believers in Christ, we were unmade in that image, and remade in the image of Christ. We may have been born with sinful desire, but we have been born again to desire Christ. To desire Him more than we desire ourselves. Yes, to even deny our most powerful, and most identity defining urges and longings, if they conflict with the One whose Name we now bear.

Adn when we fall again to those urges- because we will as long as we wear this flesh- we need offer forgiveness to ourselves and to others. I think the current president of Exodus Ministries (himself a man who was actively homosexual but is now married), who got the last word last night, said it best. As the show closed, he was asked if he thought that Christians who were gay would still get to go to heaven. He responded by sayin that yes, he believed that. That though they sinned, God was big enough to forgive them, because what mattered was that Jesus was in their heart, regardless of the struggles they still fall to.

I Will Not Give To God That Which Cost Me Nothing

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.
- 2 Samuel 24:24

David has screwed up. Big time. He took a census, mainly to be able to boast in how awesome his army was. This ticked God off, because David (and because the people follow the king- Israel as well) was trusting in himself, and not God. So,God gives David a choice- 3 years of famine, 3 months of pursuit by enemies, or 3 days of plague. David goes with plague. So for three days, 70,000 people die, but God relents at the threshing floor of Araunah. David goes to build an altar of remembrance there, and Araunah wants to give it to him: no charge. This elicits David's response above. And it points us to true worship, thousands of years later.

Jesus was tough to follow. Not just because He spoke in thinly veiled parables and seemed to prefer going on foot everywhere. He was (and is) hard to follow because He expects so much from us.

Wait. Jesus expects things from us? How does that jive with the modern idea that Jesus is all about grace and forgiveness and taking care of us?

The truth is, it doesn't. And it does. Jesus does offer grace, forgiveness and provision. And He requires nothing of us to receive His salvation- His rescue from our failures and mistakes and sins. But if you take His name, if you claim to KNOW Him, there better be some evidence.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
-Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus says doing things in His name doesn't mean you know Him. Just because one attends church, wears a cross or ichthus, obeys the 'rules,' prays and reads the Bible doesn't mean they know Him. For a lot of people, we become fearful and concerned that we don't really know Him, that we are just faking it- with the best of intentions. I've been there.

I've had those times of doubting my relationship with God. Not that He was holding up His end, but that I was being genuine in mine. I've had times in my life when my consistency with prayer and time in the Bible was like clockwork. But looking back, my relationship with Jesus was at best distant. I was doing things that seemed right because that's what everyone said I was supposed to do to have a 'strong relationship with God.' The problem is, prayer and Bible study- just like "prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles" can be done without a relationship with God. The Bible tells us that the name of Jesus is powerful, and we see that people without God in their lives can do miraculous things. And they can do things that seem holy, but are in fact...well, selfish.

The Lord says:

“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

- Isaiah 29:13

All the way back to the Old Testament, people were faking it. Maybe that's not entirely accurate, maybe it was more that they were fooling themselves. They were doing what man said we had to do, not what The LORD said to do. The Pharisees came about because of this type of thinking, and they were the biggest opposition to Jesus. Why? Because He spoke of knowing and listening to the Words of the Father- they wanted to just keep reading and re-interpreting to maintain their control, their way of living.

They didn't want to give anything to God that cost them something.

So, what does it mean for us? Can we be secure in our relationship with Jesus? Or will we be the people Jesus says He never knew?

I believe we can answer that. Starting with the Matthew passage above- what Jesus tells us is that those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The only way for us know the will of the Father is to listen for it- and the best way to listen and respond to someone is to be in a relationship with them. The will of the Father, when we look at the whole of Scripture, is that we desire and pursue knowing Him. Not knowing about Him, but knowing Him like you know friends and family. The Isaiah passage is God summing that idea up into bringing your heart near to Him. And you don't do that by giving Him lip service and going through the motions. So, how do our hearts draw near to Him?

The answer is: How do you draw your heart near to a loved one? You want to be with them. You make time for them- real, genuine time, not just to check it off. You give them your attention, your affection, and you desire- deeply- them returning theirs. If you love them enough, you will sacrifice your own will and desires and schedules to be with them.

And so we come back to David. He wouldn't give to God anything that cost him nothing. David, we hear, is a man after God's heart. If we want God, it is going to cost us. It'll cost us our precious sins and selfishness. It may cost our comfort and security. It may cost us earthly relationships and success. It will most definitely cost us our lives. We may not die physically, but we must relinquish all that we hold dear to Him. We must be willing to walk away from attitudes, actions, hobbies, interests, and ideologies. See, He demands it all. And He has the right to demand our all.

After all, He gave us His all on the Cross.

So I challenge you, whatever it is that holds you back from Him today- give it to Him. Though the cost may seem more than you can bear, the cost of hearing Jesus say He never knew you is far more than you can imagine.

The Temptation of Entitlement

Entitlement is sort of a word of the day for me. Really, word of the week.

I see it thrown about in political discussions, and read articles about the mindset it creates in our culture. It's a fancy word, to be sure. It is also powerful. But in reality, as it plays out in our lives, it is nothing less than deadly.

In my last post, I mentioned Satan's final desert temptation of Jesus was one of entitlement- asking Jesus to essentially believe that the Father owed Him. Jesus cut this temptation down quickly, and efficiently by stating that you don't test God. Oh, how I wish we could be like that.

Entitlement runs rampant not just in society at large- a culture, a generation, a leader who feels someone else OWES them something they have yet to earn- it is overpowering in our churches. And it is in us as individuals.

Entitlement to Control

We all want things to go our way. We want things to favor us and bear good outcomes for us. The problem comes when we are tempted to demand that we be given control. It starts simply, we think our idea is a better idea than the current idea. But the entitlement the other idea holder possesses saying that their idea runs things clashes with your feeling of entitlement to enact your idea. Then it stops being about the merit of either idea and becomes about who is in control.

In the past, the one with the entitlement to control feeling has been the one with the leadership position. But now, everyone feels they have the right to control whatever they want. In churches, I've personally seen situations where a disagreement with a church leader has led members to seek to take control of the situation because, after all, "It is my church." There it is- MY. People who have grown up in a church feel entitled to run it the way they want. On the flip-side, the newcomer feels entitled to run things their way because they have fresher ideas.

And again, its never about the ideas when it gets to this point- it is about ME. What I want, regardless of what is best for others. The answer to this temptation of entitlement to control is to consider others. Be selfless. Be what we see in Philippians 2:3-4

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Entitlement to control is about pushing yourself higher and higher- elevating yourself to a power you feel you deserve just because. The answer is humility and concern for others.

Entitlement to Privacy

We're an independent culture. We like our privacy as much we like our rugged individualism. I myself prefer solitude whenever I can get it. This often leads us to feel entitled to be able to keep things to ourselves and not share our struggles or failures, or even our faith as a whole. We say, "My faith is between me and God." This is true...sort of. See, your relationship with God is EXCEPTIONALLY personal. What transpires between you and Him can be very private and sometimes is almost secretive. But He wants us to share with others our needs, our sins, and doubts.

We don't really talk about what's going on with us. We don't often share the things God is teaching us, or working with us on. We share our socially safe sins, the ones that we know people won't judge us on, but we never talk about the stuff that actually is tearing us apart. And share our doubts and fears with each other? Forget about it!

I think leaders have this problem more than most. Pastors, teachers, elders, deacons- pick your favorite- all of us feel that to let others know of our weakness is to invite a loss of favor, a loss of trust, and maybe a loss of position. We are terrified to share those darker thoughts and actions that aren't socially safe- and we hide behind that idea that some things are better kept between our families and maybe a close friend. But what we create in the minds of the people we lead is that it is OK to keep our life sucking weaknesses to ourselves. That it is better to keep a painful secret than be set free. That it is better to close ourselves off from those who love us rather than admit we can be wrong.

I share my failures with people. My church is aware of my struggles, and I admit my failures when I realize they are there- either by my own discovery or someone pointing it out to me. I do still struggle from time to time with being defensive about it, but that is something God is working on me about. What I have come to realize is that putting up that poser wall of privacy to hide my weakness doesn't just hurt me- it hurts those I am called to lead. And it especially hurts those who are struggling in secret with the same junk I am.

Entitlement to Grace

A dangerous trend I've noticed is this idea that we are entitled to Grace. Grace is freely and abundantly given by our God, but we exploit it by justifying our sins or twisting the meaning of the Word to get what we want, while casually saying, "If I'm wrong, I've got grace."

We did not, nor will we ever, earn grace. And it is not given so we can do what we want and then collect a "Get Out of Hell Free" card on the way to the grave. Grace is given so we can know God, and pursue knowing Him more. Grace is not about making life easier, or our sins more palatable. Our acceptance of the Grace of God is, however, an entitlement. It is an entitlement to share in the life of Christ. I see grace as it is meant to be in Philippians 3: 10-11

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

I think the idea that God (or anyone, for that matter) owes us anything is a height of selfishness. Entitlement kills us, even as we labor under the impression that what we think we are owed brings life. In fact, if the account in Isaiah 14: 13-15:

You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.

...is about Satan, then entitlement was kind of the sin that caused his fall. He thought himself better, deserving, even entitled to power. When we claim our entitlements, we fall as Satan fell.

To me, this makes his temptation of Jesus with entitlement in the desert in Luke 4 all the more telling. And why it seems to be a favorite temptation for you and me today.