This is as close as I'll get to "Tebowing"

To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of Tim Tebow.

First of all, I think he is 100% genuine and real in his faith, and I hope he succeeds greatly. But he's a little too happy, "sunshine and rainbows" to me. This is a minor quibble, and I've found myself rooting for him after all.

The difficult thing for me is that his escapades have made me call into question a belief I've long held about sports- should we pray for victory for 'our' sports team?

I'll come back to that in a minute. In the meantime, Tim Tebow as a person is worth looking at.

Last week, I was talking about "Viral" Christianity, and mentioned there was a person who was about as Viral as a Christian can get these days. That person, is Tim Tebow. He's got over a million followers on Twitter; when he tweets, they spread like wildfire; was recently named by ESPN as America's most popular athlete; he started the phenomenon of 'tebowing' (unintentionally); thanks to him, John 3:16 was a top search result a few weeks back; and everywhere you turn someone is writing an article about the boy.

Or, they are trying to tear him down.

Wanda Sykes ripped into him on Jay Leno. Saturday Night Live had Jesus telling him to "tone it down" a bit. SNL was kinda funny- Sykes came off as bitter. His fellow athletes either respect him, hate him, or just don't know what to do with- but they can't stop talking about him.

If this were Terrell Owens, or Deion Sanders back in his heyday (yep, dating myself- he is fact the football fairy on those DirecTV ads. Not so much a star these days)- then I'd chalk it up to shameless self promotion. But Tebow seems honestly humble, and somewhat surprised by all the hubbub. Even if his handlers are master marketers, he's coming off as a nice guy, who is sincere in his faith. He stands for what he believes, he respects others of differing opinions, and he seems to have a heart to serve others.

So it was that I found myself slowly starting to watch the Broncos and hoping for a win. Apparently, a lot of speculators began wondering if God was in fact fighting for Tebow and his team. I've always thought it ridiculous (and a little bit offensive) that some people thought God cared at all about sports. They are nothing when compared to the suffering and plights of so many. If God chose to pick favorites with a sports team and let people continue to go hungry, then I'd have a problem with God.

Then, as the showdown with the Patriots last week loomed, something dawned on me. A seminary professor once imparted this wisdom on me- "God meets people where they are." He said that the Old Testament is full of God being warlike- sending Israel to fight and kill and destroy their enemies, seemingly under not just God's blessing, but His power. The reason: the people of that time assumed that the most powerful army had the most powerful god. You win a battle, your god is better than the other guys. And people would see this and seek the winning god. God killing and destroying seems the antithesis of a loving God we want to talk about today, but really, His warlike nature was an extension of His love. He was trying to win people by speaking their language. Fluently.

We know longer think that the biggest army has the biggest god. Wars don't change the religion of people. OK, well in some places yes, but its because the new government forces a change, not because people choose it. But in America, Sunday afternoons are the modern day equivalent of Jericho, Megiddo and all the Old Testament battlefields.

Suddenly, I wondered: What if God is using Tim Tebow to win the hearts of a nation by granting (or allowing) miraculous victories? Would it be wrong for us to pray for the victory of a man and his team if that victory results in more people hearing of Christ, seeking out a Bible verse, or maybe, just maybe, starting to think Tebow is blessed and used by God and that God is real?

I know what you're thinking, that lots of people say that "God likes Tebow" and it's sarcasm. Yep, that's right. But when Yahoo and Google and all sorts of search engines show that John 3:16 is trending because Tim Tebow threw for 316 yards, averaging 31.6 yards a pass- oh and John 3:16 is his favorite verse- well, it's hard to deny God is using Tebow to get His Word out.

I'll admit, the yardage and passing average thing is kinda cheesy- but then, who am I to question how God does things?

In the end, I don't think I'll make it a habit of praying for my team to have victory every time. But, if I know that the message of Christ will not only be spoken of, but in some small way even validated, by the victories of a team, then, yeah, I'm gonna pray for that.

I think Tebow is a good guy- I wish him well, and that he stands firm in his faith. But I caution, and I think he would as well, don't idolize him. Don't deify him. He is not God, nor is he the Second Coming. He's a football player. He is a Christian. He will fail, he will mess up, he will sin. When that happens, let us pray for him, and not drop him as a "fine, young Christian role model."

But please, please, don't let him do another Denver Mattress commercial.

How Do You Define Purity?

You ever had someone tell you not to think about a pink elephant? 

Or tell you that whatever you do, do not scratch your nose?

The funny thing is, as soon as you are told to avoid those things, its all you can think about.  It's basic psychology really, the more we are told what not to do, the more we want to do it.  Maybe 'basic psychology' is the wrong terminology- 'basic human nature' is better.  It seems since the beginning of recorded history, we go out of our to do what we are told not to do.  It's more than John Locke from Lost screaming, "Don't tell me what I can't do!" out of hurt pride, it's about curiosity, about testing ourselves, about feeding something inside us.

For a long time, and to an extent even now, Christianity has been known for telling people what not to do.  "Don't drink,dance, smoke or chew, or hang around with those who do," was a kind of unofficial motto of lots of churches.  Not that there is anything wrong with knowing what behaviors are wrong, mind you.  God has lots of things He wants us to have no part of, and we need to know those things and adhere to His commands completely.  The problem is that the our focus falls more on the "No's" of Christianity than the "Yes's."

No where has this been more evident, I believe, than the Purity movements.  True Love Waits was the most known in my circles, and it was a good program.  Well, it's heart was in the right place.  The problem with many of these things is they spend a good portion of their time telling students of the evils of sex outside of marriage. (Sexual purity is really just a small part of the larger Purity picture, but it gets the lion's share of attention.)

Numerous studies have appeared indicating that True Love Waits and other abstinence programs aren't working so well.  What has happened with that data is that lots of folks are jumping to the conclusion that it is impossible for people to abstain from sex until they are married.  The taboo or "No" action is just too tempting, they would say. 

And they are not wrong.

Well, not totally.  The truth is, in the current way we deal with all areas of purity- not just sexual- the focus is on what NOT to do, instead what TO do.  We have advertised and promoted how bad an action is, and we have made it magnetically attractive to that basic human nature that wants to do what someone has told it it can't do.  Our system is doomed to fail.

Now, a system that is working right now is gold.  I know, you're wondering what the heck gold has to do with purity, other than some of those rings are made of it.  Here's the thing about gold- people want it pure.  Pure gold is a - forgive the pun- goldmine right now.  An ounce is worth more than $1800 an ounce.  Everyone is talking gold.  No one is talking about the stuff that was melted out of the gold. 

"There are just over 30 grams in a Troy ounce, and at 5 grams/ton, you're looking at 30 divided by 5 or 6 tons of ore to recover that (Troy) ounce of gold from ore with a grade of 5 grams/ton."

(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_tons_of_ore_contain_one_ounce_of_gold#ixzz1VrMRJtP4)

There is 5 or 6 TONS of other junk (depending on the grade of the ore) that must be smelted away to get the good stuff- the pure stuff.  My point is this- the focus with gold is on the pure stuff, not the stuff that gets in the way of the pure stuff.  The reason is that the gold is what we value vastly more than the rest of the ore.

The problem with the call to purity in the church is not that we are calling for it, it is that we are calling for it in the negative, by telling you all about the 5 or 6 tons of junk you need to get rid of, instead of elaborating on the ounce of purity that is so valuable. We spend more time praying against the sins in our lives than we do praying for the purity. 

We have place our emphasis on the lesser thing.

 It is not the things taken away from a nugget of gold that make it pure, the gold's purity is an intrinsic thing.  You just have to get the other stuff out of the way to see it. 

True purity is not defined by what we need to lack, but by what we need to possess that is of true value. 

Matthew 5:8 tells us: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."  Here is the call to purity I want to embrace.  That if I seek purity, that gold amidst the mess, then I will see God.  The promise is not that I will be master over my desires, that will be able to check off a list of things I don't do.  The promise is a positive- that I will see God.  That I will be in His presence, that I will know Him more purely.

I believe that when we are living to seek God, the sins we worry about, the things that keep us impure, they will be burned away more and more by His presence.  We do need to be aware of our sins, and acknowledge them.

But we need to focus more on God, than on them.

The Weight of Influence

Davy Crockett was my first hero.

I first learned of him thanks to John Wayne, and later Fess Parker.  As I grew older, I learned the true history of the man, and that only served to heighten my respect for him.  For years, I'd wanted to see the 2004 film that the clip above is from, and this past weekend, I finally did.

The Davy Crockett is portrayed was still a man of bravery and bravado- but he was something else.  Mortal.  Parker and Wayne had lived up to the legendary "killed him a bear, when he was only three" kind of hero.  Thornton introduced a Crockett that was a living legend a little uncomfortable with the weight of being a living legend.  The line in the above clip about what David the individual would do versus what Davy the Legend would do speaks volumes.  "But that Davy Crockett feller, they're all watching him."

I'm no Davy Crockett.  And while I am a pastor and a sort-of blogger, my influence is pretty small.  But I understand what Crockett was saying there- people are watching what I do, and they make their choices, important ones, based on what I do.  The thing is, every one of carries that weight, public figure or not.

Your kids watch you.  Your co-workers watch you. Your spouse/significant other watches you.  And you represent something.  Not some mythical legend like Davy Crockett's reputation, but something of eternal significance.  If you call yourself a believer in Christ, you are His representative.  People- believers and non-believers alike- look to you.  Put hope in you, look for answers from you, learn from you.

Buried in the Psalms, there is a verse that speaks so clearly to this.  It has stuck with me since I first found it, largely because it serves to remind me that no matter how insignificant I may feel myself from time to time, I have influence.  And it is weighty.

Psalm 69:6 says, "Lord, the LORD Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me."


To me, there are two key parts to this verse.  The first is that those who hope in God should not be disgraced because of me.  My actions, my choice of words, my attitude- they all reflect on other followers of Christ.  My mistakes can disgrace large numbers of people.  Don't believe me- think about every time a celebrity who professes Christ does something really stupid.  Or when a killer claims to be a Christian and did what they did for Him.  Or when a pastor or priest sexually abuses anyone. One person's problem can create problems for all of us.  So, our desire should be to live in such a way that we avoid the potential for disgrace at all costs.  Know your weaknesses, and fortify your life against them.  This doesn't mean YOU fortify EVERYONE'S life against it- that would be legalism.  It means owning up to your failures, public and private, and working through them.  All will falter, but acknowledging the failure and seeking restoration minimizes the disgrace your actions bring.


The second part is that those who are looking for God may not find Him if my life isn't what it should be.  How many people have said something to the affect that, "I'd be a Christian, if it weren't for Christians?"  Many people find the teachings of Christ, but when they don't find them lived out in the lives of those who go by His name, the reject Him.  More than just when we claim Christianity and do nothing, it's also a problem when we claim Christ and do anti-Christian things.  When we are racist, or judgmental, when we are unforgiving, when we are unloving.  When we trust politics more than Jesus.  When we spew venom instead of praise.  People are put to shame because they reject Christ or accept a false version of Him that we are living out.  


The Weight of Influence is a heavy one.


It requires us to be selfless, to think more of the one we represent than ourselves.  Davy Crockett understood that in the clip above.  For himself, he wanted to live.  But for those around, those he influenced, he had to sacrifice.  He had to stand his ground, knowing what it would probably cost.  It pained him.  But for Davy Crockett in his final days at the Alamo, he wanted to give no disgrace to those who hoped, and he wanted to allow no shame to fall on those who were seeking victory.


Life is our Alamo- you are our Crockett.

An Open Apology to Those I Evangelised- reposted from earlier

If you attended Texas A&M University from 1998 until 2002, and you were ever approached by a skinny guy with dark hair saying he was taking a 'mock survey' and wanted to ask you some questions, I have something to say to you.

I'm sorry.

There was no survey. I had no idea how to share my faith with you, and I was really just trying to get you to change your mind about your beliefs. My heart was in the right place, but my motivations were more about me and less about really caring for you. To be fair, I didn't know you, and so it would have been darn near miraculous for me to muster any personal concern for you other than for your eternal soul. That's a really important thing, mind you, but there is more to you than which God (or lack thereof) you allied yourself with.

I really didn't know that the key to sharing the story of what God was doing with this world was that I first learn your story. I really should been more concerned with understanding your struggles, your needs, the things that you enjoy than I was about getting to talk to 3 people in an hour about Jesus.

See, I just didn't really have time for you in my life. At least not for anything that would have required more than twenty minutes or so. I mean, I had meetings with the ministry I was with to attend, I had Bibles to study, I had songs to sing. Real friends to be with. You were a project, maybe really just an experiment. Had you really wanted to know Jesus, I'm not sure what I would have done with you. I probably would have acted all excited, and genuinely been somewhat excited because when anyone meets Jesus it's awesome, but that excitement would have faded when you and I both realized that being rescued by Jesus means more than just praying a prayer or answering some questions in a theology quiz (or mock survey- really, really sorry about that).

See, you deserved someone that would genuinely want to befriend you for who you are- all your good, bad, and ugly. ( Or pretty, whichever you may have been. But if you were a pretty girl, I might have asked you out- but that's another Open Apology Letter in and of itself.) You deserved someone who would give of themselves to you. Someone who would truly pray for you for more than a day after meeting you. Someone who wouldn't dodge you if they saw you coming because they might have to engage you, and they didn't have a script ready. You deserved someone who wouldn't try to make you fit into their view of what a Christ Follower was. You deserve someone who was less of an elitist.

I've come to see the error of my ways. In part because I've learned to try to see you as God sees you, not as a project, but as a living, feeling person with faults and potential and desires and fears and hopes and dreams all rolled into one. I've also come to see how we Christians can be. We are very self-centered, egotistic and, yeah, elitist. We think that just because Jesus says He is the way to God and no one comes to the Father except through Him that we ourselves are better than others. Jesus is all He says He is, but we are also all He says we are. We are sick, broken, arrogant, filled with lies and false motives. We are weak and cowardly, and we cater to the Big Man On Campus of the churches and organizations around us. We seek more to please them more than Jesus. We play by man-made rules rather than God's.

If I had to do it over again, I would not invite you to join our little club, for that is often how we have viewed church. No, that is a far lesser thing to belong to. I would instead invite you to be my friend, and seek to understand you better. As we grew closer, I would hope that you see something different in me, that maybe I'm a little kinder, a little more hopeful, a little more confident- but not in myself. And I would try to see something different in you- maybe that you are artistic, or very intelligent, maybe even very compassionate- because God sees something different in you. When you asked, or when I had earned your trust, then I might share with you about God and all the amazing things He is and does. I wouldn't be sharing because I had to, I would be sharing because I cared about YOU.

So, let's start over shall we?

My name is Chad, and I want to get to know you.

Elijah Part Two- Stand Up

Elijah trusted God.

Elijah got a widow and her son to trust God.

Meanwhile, a dude named Obadiah is trying to survive.  He's not starving or dehydrated (I don't think) but he is playing a very dangerous game.  See, while Elijah is 'training' for his heavyweight fight, Obadiah is still covertly trying to protect those loyal to God.  The problem is, Obadiah is Ahab's palace administrator.  Like, Chief of Staff to the wicked king.  He'd hidden one hundred prophets in caves from Jezebel- who we are kinda getting the idea that she wears the pants in the family- and supplied them with food and water.  In 1 Kings 18, Obadiah is doing for others what was done for Elijah in chapter 17.

The drought is bad by now.  Bad enough the king himself is going out looking for any grass they can find for their horses and mules.  He goes one way, Obadiah goes another.  And who does Obadiah run into (actually, it's more like who was Obadiah found by)?

Elijah.

God told him to present himself to Ahab, so Elijah finds Obie.  And Obie is not happy to see the prophet.

See, Ahab was looking for Elijah.  Like send out the CIA, FBI, NSA, Mossad, and Interpol looking for.  Looking under rocks and in caves of every nation, Elijah could not be found.  Now here is Elijah, telling this devout spy for God to go tell Ahab he was there.  Obie is understandably worried.  See, even back then, you could find people.  Sure, they didn't have satellites, or GPS, or Google Street View, but it was hard to hide from the king, especially when the king knew what you looked like.

But not Elijah.  Its as if Elijah was hidden supernaturally.  So Obie brings this up, asking what is keeping the Spirit of God from whisking Elijah away as soon as he tells Ahab where to find him.  Because if that happens, the jokes not on Ahab, its on Obadiah.  And the joke is a noose.

I don't doubt that Obie trusted God- he wouldn't have hidden those prophets at risk to his own life if he didn't.  And its clear Obie knew Elijah, but the question was:  Can I count on this Man of God?

It's  a good question for us today.  Can we trust each other?  Can we trust our spiritual leaders- our pastors, teachers, deacons, writers, etc.?  All of us, regardless of our importance to the world, say things, bold things. But do we back them up?  I  mean, do we honor our commitments?

Most of the time, in the small stuff, sure.  But what about commitments that may cost us- do we honor them and the people they are with- or do we leave them holding the bag?

A prime example is volunteerism in the church.  Churches beg and plead for people to help them.  People that joined the church saying they wanted to further the kingdom of Christ.  If they do help, it is often grudgingly so.  More often than not, the buck gets passed, and our own personal Obadiah is left holding the goods.

Obadiah is afraid Elijah will bolt, because Ahab intends to kill Elijah when he finds him.  And human nature would support Elijah for the self-preserving act.

But Elijah instead does something awesome.  Something not at all supernatural.  Something we all could stand to do from time to time.

He stands up.

He assures Obie that he will, that very day, present himself to Ahab.  He will face the music.  And his actions will keep Obadiah from trouble.  Elijah, in effect, is stepping up to protect Obadiah.  Not just by meeting Ahab, but by putting an end to the whole thing.  See, Obie couldn't hide those prophets forever, Jezebel and Ahab would find them, and Obadiah would die for treason.  But Elijah takes the spotlight, takes the target, and calls out the king.  What comes next is far more famous, far more storied.  But this interlude shows the character of Elijah.

He is a man of his word.  And he respects his brothers and sisters in the Lord, just as he respects the Lord Himself.

He stands up.  Makes a choice.  And follows it through- no waffling.

I know I'd love to be more like that.