Spirit Free Daiquiris

"They talk a good game, but..."

"He's all hat and no cattle."

"She talks the talk, but fails to walk they walk."

"What a wannabe."

Aren't cliches wonderful? Despite being overused (hence the name) these platitudes are also accurate. We all know someone like this. Full of themselves, or advice for you, but they don't do anything. They are brilliant in their own estimation, and they know you better than you. Maybe they aren't jerks about it, maybe they just make promises they never keep, or claim to be something they never actually act like.

There. That's the one. People who claim to be Christians, yet never actually act like one. I know you know this kind of person, because between 75 and 90 % of Americans claim to be Chrisitian. So many surveys and studies have been done to get to this figure over the years, and they all point to the idea that America is a Christian nation. And other cultures have that same view of America as a Christian nation. So, what's the problem?

My friend Rebecca just returned from a trip to Southeast Asia.  She was relating some of the things they encountered in this culture, and this one really stuck out to me.

-- Many students there explain that they equate America as a "Christian nation" where they think every person is a Christian. They combine this with the fact that they have never heard the story of Jesus, and think that perhaps following Jesus is just a cultural thing. (Add to this that many students think that our lives in "Christian" America resemble what they see in "Friends" or "Sex in the City" or some other Hollywood portrayal. That makes things confusing for sure!) Pray that they will latch onto the truth that God, their Creator, so loved the whole world, and wants them to be in relationship with Him. Pray for the bold and important witness of believers from this area to share the Truth with their own people.  (emphasis mine)

Now, I love the show Friends, but if people think that's what a Christian should act like, we have royally screwed up.  Let's put aside the question of the sins they commit- lying, sleeping around, etc.  Just look at attitudes.  Selfishness, pride, arrogance- are these the attitudes of Christ?  The point I'm trying to make is that America seems to want it both ways- to be a Christian nation but not act like it. 

And the blame lies not with Hollywood, but with you and me.

For too long, you and I have said, "Yes, I'm a Christian."  But we have looked the other way when someone 'less than desirable' asks our help.  We have chosen what we want over what another needs- physically, financially, and emotionally.  We have failed to put forth our best effort in our relationship with God and with others.  We have tried to fit God into our life rather than our life into God.

We claim to have faith, but show no deeds.  Or, maybe, we show poorly attempted deeds.

The book of James, chapter 2 spends about twelve verses telling us why its bad to claim faith, but do nothing.  He begins by talking about seeing a person poorly clothed and malnourished.  It's clear that James is saying we see this, and feel bad for the person, but we instead tell them to keep warm and well fed.  I'm not sure if this is just some formulaic salutation given, or the person is 'giving advice.'  Either way, it speaks to the fact that we know (by faith) what needs to be done, but we don't do it.  Verse 17 says, "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
Then, James says that there are those who believe there is one God.  I'd argue that is why so many Americans say they are Christian- they believe in the Judeo-Christian God.  But it IS mostly cultural, I'd argue.  And that even speaks to large numbers of regular church-goers.  James' response is that even the demons (the most evil and despised creatures in all existence, next to Satan) believe that.  And they shudder.  Demons believe in God, and they react.  Do you?

James then goes on to explain, via Abraham and Rahab, that faith is made clear by the actions taken out of that faith.  They believed God, then did what He asked.  It seems so simple.  He concludes the chapter in verse 26 with "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

Kristin and I were recently at Cheddars, a favorite restaurant of ours.  Looking through the dessert/alcohol menu, I noticed a name change for one of the drinks.  Suddenly, Virgin Daiquiris were Spirit Free Daiquiris.  A fruity drink with all the 'good stuff' taken out. 

Isn't that what we Christians are when we talk a good game, but never actually do anything?

We say nice things, things that sound pleasing to people, or challenging to people, but we never actually apply what we say, or what we claim to believe.  Our 'faith' is "Spirit Free."  Like a dead body.  Or a Spirit Free Daiquiri (which, let's face it, is a smoothie).

I don't want you to think this means if we never do anything, we're not really Christians. I believe the Bible is very clear that "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Galatians 2:8-9)  If this is the case for you, then your eternity is locked down.  Why then is it so important that our deeds match our faith?

Because not everyone's eternity IS locked down.  And we may be the only Jesus they see. If we are Spirit Free Daiquiri People, all they will get is the watered down, sweet but empty words of a cultural religion, and none of the good stuff.

And unlike the rum in the Daiquiri, the 'good stuff ' of a true relationship with Christ is lasting.

Never Too Far

We've all been in that conversation or situation where someone just oversteps the bounds of acceptable conversation. The joke gets a little too personal or too off-color, the observation made goes a little too deep and at best, there is awkwardness. At worst, a relationship is damaged or ended.

I like to think I've gotten better about catching on when the direction discourse is taking is making someone uncomfortable. And I definitely never cross the boundary with my actions- mostly because I have personal space issues myself. But there have been times when I have taken something a bit too far, and the remorse, for me, is almost immediate. To know I've hurt or at the very least cause some awkwardness for someone bothers me- especially if its unintended. Now, there have been times when taking it too far becomes necessary to wake a person up to the mistake they are making, but it is a slippery slope of when and how that is appropriate.

When the question of, "Did he go to far?" is applied to God, I believe the answer is always no. There are many times we could look at with human eyes and say, "I can't believe he went there." Uzza being killed for touching the Ark of the Covenant, the entire book of Job, any time He wiped out entire populations, and many of the things Jesus and his disciples said come to mind. But none of these crossed 'that line.'

Honestly, it's not the actions themselves that aren't across the line- they, in and of themselves, are- it is the character of the one committing the action. When we 'take it too far,' both our actions and our fallible nature as people contribute to the line crossing. It's that whole, " remove the plank from your own eye before taking the speck out of your brother's" (Matthew 7:5, paraphrased). We are not, as we currently exist, just. Oh, sure, we try to be, and we are called to seek justice, but we will forever fall short, for we are imperfect. We, in our attempt to correct someone or help someone, will fail as often as we succeed. That doesn't mean we stop trying to help others, and occasionally confront them.

But none of this applies to God. He is perfect in His justice AND His mercy. That's why God never takes it too far. His justice, His harshness is taken to the extreme so that when (and it is a when, not an if) His mercy is offered, it too is offered to the extreme. I say 'offered,' because God's mercy is never bestowed until it is accepted. And it must be accepted.

Job could have rejected the blessing of God to restore Him on the basis that the Lord 'took it too far.' But he didn't.

The annihilation of entire populations may seem harsh, but it is done as mercy for the Israelites- that they not be lead into a life of slavery to false gods. (Also, and this is just me, but looking at the story of The Fall of Jericho in Joshua, they killing of all living things in the city may have been a mercy killing for all those crushed but not killed by the massive failure of the city's massive walls.)

And the biggest 'too far' moment of all time: He killed Jesus, so that His mercy would be infinitely offered...and bestowed to those who accept it.

Our God does not take it too far. He may wound us with His actions, but it is with a surgical precision meant to heal us. He may commit or allow actions that make no sense, but He is so much beyond our understanding that it is hard to question why He does what He does.

In the midst of the harshness and incomprehensible acts of God, I challenge you to remember that while "The LORD is a warrior..." (Exodus 15:3), the truth is that "God is love" (1 John 4:16) as well. He wounds us that He may heal us. And He make no mistake- the cliche that he doesn't give us more than we can handle is bull. He always takes us beyond what we can bear, but He never takes it too far for what He can bear.

We just need to trust Him.

Can Bars and Churches Be Friends?

I've mentioned before that my church, the Gate, meets at a local bar/dancehall called Hurricane Harry's. We have developed a pretty good relationship with Lance and Craig, two of the managers who open for us on Sunday nights, so a couple weeks back, Lance approached me with a proposition. On the 12th of December, the bar was hosting a Toys for Tots drive- a 30 band concert- which meant we couldn't meet there that night, but he wondered if we would be interested in helping out.

We agreed to do that, since we were looking for more ways to serve the community, and loved the idea of serving others instead of having just a worship service. We later got asked if we would grill burgers and links for the workers, and charge a little money, some of which could go to the toy drive. We agreed, but decided to make all the money we made go to the drive. Wally, my co-pastor, and I headed it up, with a few of the folks from the church dropping in to help out a bit: Kristin and the kids, Yako, Evan, Nate, Jess, Jon, and Daniel. The attendance was lighter than we'd hoped, and what we didn't realize was that it was going to be cold.

The two of us were literally huddled as close to the grill as possible without burning ourselves. Thankfully, we had some half walls to block at least some of the 10-15 mph winds that were pushing forty-ish degree temps around our heads. Eventually, someone would come out and we'd have to spring into grilling action on a hamburger or a sausage link, we'd chat with the person and collect their money, thanking them for helping out. In the end, we raised just over $168 for Toys for Tots. Not bad for our first attempt.

But there was something else more important going on for us. See, I've seen throughout my life a certain, I guess I'd say animosity, between churches and bars. At best they tolerate each other, but more often than not a church can be heard decrying the evils of the bar. That's not to say that bad thing don't happen at bars, sin is definitely present. Not unlike how sin can be present at a church, you know, when we lie, or connive, or shun the different. I've heard local pastors literally seethe with anger at the bar patrons who leave trash on their lawn- and at times I've been one of those pastors- and lament the very existence of the bars.

Sunday for the Gate was about helping out kids, but it was also about stating to the bars and bar patrons in town that we still care enough about them as people to actually hang out with them. We had really good conversations with the people who came to our grill (supplied by local radio station KORA), and some of them even expressed amazement that we were a church helping a bar. To me, it shouldn't be shocking that a church is trying to help people, regardless of the venue. Christ came to care for people, whether they were poor or rich, virtuous or sleazy, sober or drunk. We let these people who may have had little or no contact with churches see that we Christians are normal people, too. And we got to see that these artists and their fans are normal people, too. There is no need for us to fear them, nor them to fear us. It was a beginning of what we hope to be a continuing dialogue with this section of the culture of Bryan/College Station and A&M. The fact is, I really genuinely liked the people we met, and would like to spend more time with them. And not just if they come to our church.

Because the people of Northgate and the bars that populate it are one big reason why we came here. To love them. To show them Jesus in our compassion, our love, and yes, in our attention to them. And not just if they come to church.

And we are very thankful to have had this opportunity.

How is Jesus?

Occasionally, I run into an old college friend that I haven't seen in awhile. We talk about where we've been with our lives, our families, our careers. Usually we get around to old mutual friends, and the question will come up, "How have they been?"

Part of what I love about the age we live in is that with all the social media out there, we can keep up with old friends, and even reconnect with people we haven't seen in ages. But even with all that, there is still one thing missing. Real personal contact. That question asking how someone has been goes far beyond a tweet or a status update, its deeper than the pictures they post, but it is also a doorway to a less 'safe' relationship. To get to how people are really doing, really feeling, it means opening up our lives to theirs, and vice versa.

I began to notice something recently amongst our fellow Gate members. We talked a lot about Aggie football, a lot about new movies coming out, or new games we'd played, even some about comic books or TV shows. We spent a good deal of time talking about the things that stress us out like tests and work, and even a little time discussing how to make the church stronger and more active in service to the community. We talked about God and religion.

But someone was going the way of the old college friend we hadn't seen in a while. Sure, he was on our minds, but he was far from our conversations. I can't say if this was because we were afraid to speak his name, or if we didn't feel comfortable talking about him so personally, or if he had disappeared from our personal lives so much that we just didn't care to speak of him.

We had grown silent on Jesus.

Sure, he was mentioned in our songs and our teachings, but our day to day conversation? Not so much. Honestly, I've always found it easier to talk about God than to talk about Jesus. Yeah, they are the same guy, but God is like a title, and can be ambiguous enough to not offend. Jesus is a guy's name. It's personal. It makes him more real.

Really, I was seeing our lack of speaking of Jesus as a metaphor for how we had become spiritually. See, speaking of God is way more 'clinical,' way more religion than relationship. We can discuss theology and talk God like he is a textbook case study. We can get at the facts and the details and the historical stories. But Jesus is deeper. Jesus is about relationship. Jesus is a dude you can really get to know, and scarier yet, he can really get to know you. We as a group- all of us, including us in leadership- had chosen to discuss things of a spiritual nature in a clinical, less relational way. And we were giving in to following a religion more than a relationship.

Then one day it hit me. If Jesus is like that old college friend that we haven't spoken of or to in a while, why not ask how he's doing? So I have come up with an approach that will hopefully serve to remind us of the RELATIONSHIP we are supposed to have with Jesus. When we see each other- and I am limiting this to people in our church and other close friends I know are followers (I'm not advocating doing this to random people on the street)- I'll ask, "How is Jesus?"

It is a question meant to cover two bases. One, have you thought about Jesus at all that day. And two, because he is active in our lives, whether we know it or not, it asks what he has been doing with or teaching to us. "How is Jesus?" reminds us to think of him not as a thing to be studied, but as a person to connect with.

I hope it will mean a deeper-than-Facebook type relationship with Jesus for not only our church, but for me personally. I realize that I daily need to connect with him, not just to mark off an item on the to-do list or to learn a new fact, but to know him. Really know him. And in knowing him, to share in his life, victories and sufferings. To know him like this:

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. --Philippians 3:10-11.

Engaging

How often has this happened to you? You're in mid conversation with someone, maybe over coffee, or in front of the TV, or just in the hall, when you reach a threshold. Do I want to continue the small talk, or do I go deeper? Is this person worth my time, or, more importantly, am I worth theirs?

We spend so much of our time skimming the surface of our relationships, and so little time getting out the scuba gear and going deep. Truth be told, not every relationship can be ocean floor deep, nor should they be. But what of the relationships that matter? Would you really want to marry someone that you only knew a few general things about, none of which were anything close to personal? Would you enter into a business deal with only the barest of details and hint of what is to come?

Some relationships must go deeper- they must be engaged. I strongly believe that the group of people you call your church needs to be a people you engage. Again, depending on the size of you church, depth can't be achieved with everyone, but there needs to be people, fellow beleivers, that know your secrets. They need to know your strengths and your weakness, your struggles and your victories. Not just so they can pray for you, but so they can celebrate with you. I can get excited when 'my team' wins the game, but when I know a person on that team, know their story, I am all the more excited.

Now, there are different levels of engagement, some folks you can tell them when you're having a tough day, some folks you can tell them the specifics, and some folks you call the second things go south.

The "It's Been a Tough Day" Group
These people are in your life, not on the periphery, but actually people you talk with and care about. You are honest with them, and you need to be. If they ask how things are, you know better than to give them a half-hearted "Fine" if they are in fact, crappy. They don't want deep details, but they care enough to pray. This is ideally where the bulk of your fellow Christ Followers will fall.

The "Specifics"
You can be brutally honest with them. You tell them exactly why your day has tanked, and the conversation is deep enough and long enough that you might want to sit down for it. These folks tend to crop up in your smaller circles, like a small group or a class. They expect and will probably ask for what is really going on with you. There is an expectation of, for lack of a better word, confrontation. You are in their life and they are in yours.

The "Callers"
Very rarely, these people come along. If they aren't there physically with you, you contact them ASAP. They are in your top five speed dial positions. They may be family, a lifelong friend, or they may just be that deep, deep connection in your life. Sadly, we most often don't have these. The level of engagement it takes to get to this depth takes a long time and it is not easy or safe to get there. You have let them so far into your life, that they know things few, if any, others know. You've risked a lot in trusting anyone this deep, and they have returned the favor.

The key to engaging others is to be willing to be open, and to be willing to wait and listen until they feel open. We desperately need deeper community within our churches, the kind of 'fellowship' that the latter verses of Acts 2 talk about. Where we, despite our differences, truly engage each other in life. We need that connection to others, and they need us.

In order to grow in faith and maturity, we need to engage each other, and we need to engage God in a similar way- but thats another post for another day.