Nothing Left to Give

It's been on my mind lately just how amazing God's plan is for redeeming humanity.

The creator of the universe saw our helpless condition and crossed the divide between us. He took on human flesh, walked the earth as a man, and suffered the death that each of us have earned.

Think about it from a human perspective. If a stranger were drowning in a pond - would most people jump right in immediately? Wouldn't they look for something to throw the drowning man? Maybe reach out with a stick. Perhaps throw a rope. Only as a last resort would some people dive in (often at great peril to themselves).

We humans will exhaust all other options before resorting to desperate measures. But God is not like that. God went all-in. He didn't hold anything back. He gave the full measure in his plan to rescue us. He came in person and paid the price we owed. The Cross wasn't the last act of a desperate person - it was God's plan from the beginning. There was never a plan "B".

Romans 8:32 declares that "...he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all..."

Perhaps you're holding out for God to show you a sign that he loves you. Good news - he already has. Brighter than any neon sign is the radiance of the Cross demonstrating his love for you and for me.

God has done everything possible to save us. There is nothing more that he could give beyond what he has already given. He has held back nothing.

~Truly Free

Hypocrisy is the Rule, not the Exception

Whether believer or unbeliever, hypocrisy seems to rule in the heart of everyone.

I was reflecting this morning on how so many of us professed Christians live their lives as if God doesn’t actually exist. What I mean is that although we mentally or verbally acknowledge that God exists and that he is the King over all creation – that fact doesn’t make much of a difference in our lives. In other words – if you compared our lives to those who do not profess to know God – you would be hard-pressed to distinguish the difference. The professed Christian living next door to the avowed atheist lives a life barely distinguishable from his neighbor (not counting the obvious things like Church attendance). That is what I mean by hypocrisy. We say we believe in Emmanuel (God with us) and yet others have difficulty seeing him. Surely if God is “with us” then someone would notice?

But that doesn’t leave atheists off the hook as being hypocrites. They are the equal of most professing Christians in the hypocrisy Olympics. While claiming to live in a world with no ultimate meaning or purpose, they live their lives in ways that are logically inconsistent with a purposeless existence. Usually polite and law-obeying, they generally act as if morality is real. Most unbelievers that I know are quite concerned with ethical matters. They care deeply about societal responsibility, environmental stewardship, and compassion for those in need. But this too is hypocritical. To deny God – but then act as if he is real is just as hypocritical as affirming him but living like he’s not real.

Which is a more significant indicator of what we really believe – what we say, or how we live? Are we as a matter of practice living consistent with our stated beliefs? If not, then couldn’t someone truly question the authenticity of our statements?

Only grace can overcome our self-deceiving hypocrisy.

Recognizing our source

The inspiration for this post is the message our Senior pastor delivered yesterday out of John Chapter 6.

The Gospel of John in chapter 6 records the story of Jesus feeding the five-thousand. It's an impressive miracle. Thousands of hungry people fed - starting with only a few loaves and fish. They even gather up several baskets of left-overs.

In the miracle narratives, we often focus so much on the miraculous event itself, that we fail to notice the dialogue that goes on between Jesus and his disciples. There is usually some good stuff in that dialogue.

Looking at the enormous crowd, Jesus asks Philip "where can we buy bread to feed all these people?"

Philip replies, "even if we worked for months we wouldn't have enough money to feed them."

Here's what strikes me in this short dialogue - Jesus asks "where?" Philip doesn't answer the question. Instead he discusses the "how" - specifically "how" it's not possible, even with eight months wages.

Did you catch that? The question Jesus asks assumes it's possible - while Philips answer assumes it's not.

Jesus is the "where" that Philip needed - to get the bread. Jesus was pointing to himself as the solution to life's problems.

The point of the message - never measure the challenge you are facing by your own ability to solve it.

Philip saw no solution because he saw the problem framed from the perspective of what he himself could do.

But God loves impossible circumstances - He is our source.

~ Truly Free

America - God's favorite nation?

Today was a special day in my church. It was our annual celebration of America which happens every year around the fourth of July. I am usually out-of-town visiting relatives so I don't usually make it to that particular service. I had forgotten how much patriotism is on display in that service.

I pulled up in the parking lot and saw red, white, and blue helium balloons and flags adorning the entrance. Walking into the auditorium there was a giant sized "Declaration of Independence" projected on the back wall behind the musicians. Red, white, and blue decorations were everywhere.

I had a seat as the music team finished the opening song. Then the music pastor (a man I'm actually quite fond of) said something that made me flinch (paraphrasing) - "Aren't we blessed by God to be living in the greatest country on earth?" He continued, "We should all thank God for blessings of being born here, when we could have been born somewhere else..." The congregation reverberated with shouts of "amen" and "yes," and "thank you lord."

Without disparaging thankfulness (which is a good thing) - I was hit by the thought that these comments raised some serious theological questions. Are there unspoken assumptions behind these sentiments?

Do American born evangelical Christians really believe that the prosperity and freedom we enjoy in America is the result of God's favor upon us? If so, does that not imply that to be born elsewhere is to not have been blessed?

I sincerely doubt that our music pastor would have put it that way if asked. But these questions seemed implicit in his comments. By-the-way, I'm not singling out my music pastor. The reality is that I have heard many well-meaning Christians say very similar things.

But these comments left me thinking:

1. Is it a blessing to live in a land of freedom and plenty?
2. Is it therefore a curse to live in a land of poverty and/or oppression?
3. Does where we reside have anything in particular to do with God's blessing or curse?

Let's tackle number one - is it a blessing to live in a land of freedom and plenty?

In Matthew 19 verse 23 Jesus makes the following statement - "it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven." (NIV) This is following the discussion with the rich man who loved his possessions more than the call of Christ.

Logically, if wealth makes it more difficult to follow Christ, and you live in a wealthy nation (such as America), then it would seem that those in such situations were not especially blessed after all. Congratulations - you won the jackpot - born in America but your prosperity kept you from ever following Jesus. Doesn't sound like a blessing to me.

The second question - is it therefore a curse to live in a land of poverty and/or oppression? is closely related to the answer to the first question. If being rich can keep you from seeing your need for Jesus - then being poor and persecuted may actually make you more acutely aware of your need. It sounds like the opposite of what we typically think. Sounds like a blessing to me. Poverty is a blessing? I think the Beatitudes actually speak to this.

The funny thing is that the scriptures are full of paradoxes like this - when we're weak we're strong, the poor are rich, the blind will see and seeing are blind.

Which brings me to the last question - does where we reside have anything in particular to do with God's blessing or curse?

This question reminds me of the question Jesus was asked by his disciples in John 9:2 "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" Jesus answered in verse 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned,...but his happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."

The disciples demonstrated a clear theological error that continues to this day - associating the condition one finds oneself in - with approval or disapproval by God. Bad circumstances equals disapproval and curse. Good circumstances equals blessing and approval.

Jesus disabuses them of this notion.

In the disciples question you could easily substitute the words "born blind," with was "born in Haiti," or "born black," or "born into poverty."

So what about the millions of followers of Jesus who live in poverty and oppression? Are they therefore cursed by God? I imagined a Christian visiting our congregation from another nation thinking - "so I am not blessed by God because I was born somewhere else?"

The answer should be obvious. We SHOULD be thankful to God for all that he provides for us. Whether food, clothing, shelter, or freedom. But we should NOT consider these things to be superior to their opposites, hunger, nakedness, deprivation, or persecution. Thankfulness is to extend in all situations. More to the point - where you find yourself is neither an endorsement of your spirituality, nor a condemnation of it.

For the record. I am grateful to live in a free and prosperous country. As a former Marine I am proud of my time in service to the U.S. However, I recognize the danger inherent in believing that prosperity means that God approves of whatever we do as a nation.

Rome was a very prosperous nation as well - and we know how that ended.

~Truly Free

Fixing ourselves, fixing others

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT)

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

Colossians 1:29 (NLT)

That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

Paul like each of us was broken. He had weaknesses and handicaps like all of us. I suspect (though scripture is unclear on the subject) that he even struggled with earthly temptations. And like most of us who long to be free from these weaknesses, he had prayed for God to release him.Yet God decided to leave those weaknesses in place and work through Paul in spite of them.

Paul recognized that he personally didn't have the power to fix himself. Yet God didn't seem to be in a hurry to fix him. God seemingly was content to let the situation continue for a while, telling Paul "my grace is all you need."

Paul had to be content with not only that it was God who does the "fixing" - but that he does it only on his schedule. So as we travel this journey with God, we learn to accept these truths in our lives:

1. We are all broken in some way and in need of transformation (fixing).
2. That the kind of lasting transformation that we need can only be accomplished by God.
3. That God has his reasons and his schedule for accomplishing our transformation.

We come to accept these truths for ourselves with respect to our own brokenness. But here is the challenge for today. Do we accept these truths on behalf of others? Do we allow them to be "works-in-progress"? Do we believe that it is also God's job (and not ours) to do the fixing of the other broken people in our lives?

I know that far too many times in my life I have tried to "fix" what I believed was wrong with others. Often my efforts did more harm than help.

So.... if I can trust my life and transformation to God, can I trust the other people I love to him as well?

~ Truly Free