Keeping up Appearances

1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 14:13-18

As mentioned in this space a few days back, Jesus charged His disciples to not judge others, especially if those being judged don't embrace the same faith. Unfortunately, other people are still going to judge us every day. 

People judge us by how we dress, what we say and how we say it, what we drive, where we live,  whether we have tattoos or earrings, and the list goes on. God sees what is inside, but everyone else sees only the outer shell.

The apostle Paul wrote about a practice that was distressing to those in the early church. Many were concerned that eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol was a sin. Paul applied the idea of loving one's neighbor, he didn't use that term, but the principle is there. If we really love others, we will watch out for them.

How we self-identify can affect others. While we may not find something offensive,  another person might. There's also the reality that others,  especially younger men and women who look up to us, may see waht we do, or how we dress and try to one-up us.

My son, for instance,  was with me when I popped my car up to 100 on the highway briefly,  just to test it out. When one has recently purchased a Jaguar (older model as it may be), it is quite the temptation. Later that week, my son posted on Facebook that he wanted his license so he could "cruise at 100" on the highway,  taking what I had done and figuring if that was ok, then constantly maintaining a higher-than-posted speed must be ok too. We had a little talk about that.

We're being watched.  What we say, how we behave, the people we routinely associate,  all of it has a direct connection to the effectiveness of our representation of Jesus Christ.

Think thanks.

The Bible's pretty clear about giving God thanks and glory. There's no room for argument on that.  In fact, there were several feasts of thanksgiving set aside in the laws of Moses. 

Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. is a similar idea, and was set aside by President Lincoln as a day to thank God. Just the same, we use the day less as a day of thanksgiving and more as a day of gluttony and indolence.

I've fallen prey to that myself. I made myself so sick one Thanksgiving several years ago that I decided I'd rather not relive the experience. Since then I've been careful with my portion sizes and haven't been as likely to take seconds.

In the celebratory spirit of the day, may we thank God with our words, as well as our actions.

All or nothing

Read Malachi 1:2,3; Genesis 2:1-16

How much are we willing to give? How much do we treasure our faith? What are the things we most cherish?

The first murder recorded in the Bible is that of Abel by Cain. It all started when the brothers each brought an offering to God, but God only accepted the offering of Abel. Was it Cain's offering itself God rejected? It doesn't seem so. God talks to Cain and asks why he's angry. God tells Cain that he will only be accepted if he does what is right. It is apparent that Cain didn't bring his offering for the right reason, or there was some sin in his life that he was trying to hide. 

The story of Jacob and Esau carries a similar theme. Esau sold his birthright for a meal. He didn't value what God had given him. The promise given to his grandfather Abraham didn't mean as much to him as his immediate need, so God rejected him. God gave Esau's birthright to his younger brother.

If we study the history of Israel, we see the same story of rejection played out. It went so far that when the long awaited Messiah,  the promised Savior arrived, the descendants of Jacob rejected Him. Jesus was killed, rose from the dead, and a new fellowship of believers began. The scriptures are clear; however, that because of God's promise to Abraham, He has not forgotten the chosen house of Jacob.

But the pattern of rejection doesn't stop there. In the early days of the Church, a couple named Ananias and Saphira sold some property, then pretended to give the whole amount to the Apostles. God saw their sin and rejected them both.

The pattern continues today. We persist in valuing other things than what God values. We get distracted by things that don't really matter. Here in the United States, we have a relatively easy life. That's part of the problem. We don't give God all that He asks for, our hearts aren't really in it, our sacrifices aren't given from a heart of praise, and we gladly trade our birthright for passing pleasure.

The apostle John recorded God's charge to the church in Laodicea. This church had become apathetic. they started to value things that don't matter at all. They became obsessed with earthly wealth and didn't really feel they needed God, but they still went to Church on Sundays, just in case. Sound familiar?

What we own doesn't matter, it's what owns us that matters. If we give everything we have in the service of Christ, we gain everything that there is of value. If we chase after what this world has to offer, we end up with nothing.

Troubled hearts

^{Galatians 5:13-26
13} You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 15} If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

---

It's early morning before Church on a Sunday. I'm sitting in my recliner, just thinking and praying. The dog's been for a walk, a short one since she wasn't all that fond of the cold. I can hear a cat crunching kibble in the kitchen. It's peaceful.

Yet my heart is troubled. Life is complicated. While I try to live by the standards of integrity my father taught me, it's not a value that seems to be shared by a lot of people. I'm troubled because I see my son growing up in a world that values nothing but self gratification.

I know God has me in His hands and His grace is more than sufficient, but still those worries sneak in. Values that seemed so common when I was young are increasingly pushed aside by entertainers, politicians, and other influential people in society. All of the acts of the flesh can be seen in a single half hour television program.

Living by the fruits of the spirit gains one mockery and contempt. But, isn't that what Jesus said would happen? "As they hate me, so they will hate you." Looking at other countries, there are others who have it much worse. We are headed in that direction as western society continues to implode.

Let's not confuse this with the false martyrdom some are prone to. Those who act in a deliberately offensive manner, publicly condemning those they feel do not measure up. There's a difference between being hated because we are living Christ, and being hated because we're acting like jerks.

Let us be filled with joy. Let us act embrace peace. Let us be patient. Let us show kindness. Let us do good for our neighbor. Let us never forsake those we have committed ourselves to. Let us be gentle. Let us show that we don't have to satisfy every passing desire, just because we can. Let's love so strongly that people will be amazed and see, not us, but Christ living and loving through us.

Broken vessels.

Read Ephesians 2:1-10

Nobody's perfect.

We often seek to strive for an ideal. Fame, money, beauty,  world peace. It's like a Miss America pageant. 

The scriptures tell us something different.  We're all broken.

We try to fill ourselves up with those ideals we think will give our lives meaning, but because we are broken, it all leaks out and leaves a big mess all over the place.

But God's grace, when we choose to believe in Him, changes the contents. No longer must we be filled with selfish pride or other vanities.  Now we can be filled with His grace and His love.

We're still broken, so we will still leak, but the beauty of it is, now we're filled with something wonderful.  Now we are filled with the ability to do good things. Like the container of perfume the woman broke on Jesus' feet those few days before his death, what God fills us with is wonderful and glorious. Even more miraculous is, if we let Him, he will keep filling us up so we never run out.

So, let's be broken. Let's allow the love of God and His goodness to leak out of us and make a beautiful mess all over the place.

Stop hatin'

This is one phrase I can't begin to understand.  

Over the years words seem to be given different meanings. It seems western society has allowed the terminology of the uneducated,  or as the Romans would have said; "the vulgar masses," to direct the use of the English language into a downward spiral.

Sounding uneducated is currently fashionable.  Perhaps uneducated is the wrong word. Some of the most eloquent speakers I have heard barely have a high school diploma.  Perhaps a better word is just plain stupid.

Getting back to the original premise here, what is hate, really? A pure dictionary definition places it as "an intense dislike or distaste for someone or something." Currently, one can't even disagree with someone else without being accused of hatred, or prejudice.  Disagreement isn't hatred.

Hatred is groups of youths gathering on city streets to play a game with the object of knocking out another person of a perceived "racial" heritage.  

Hatred is churches burned because they don't fit in with the predominant faith in a given country. 

Hatred is singling out an ethnic, religious,  or socioeconomic group and targeting them for violence and oppression.

The key teaching of Jesus Christ is love (see prior blog post). Love rejoices in the truth (1 Cor 13:6). Love speaks truth in ways that will be profitable to another (Eph 4:15,29).  Love doesn't fear (1 John 4:18).

We aren't perfect. Just the same, we need to wake up and see that people are confused on what hate is, but maybe they've forgotten Who Love is. Maybe the people who say we love God have forgotten the other half of that command.

So, don't be hatin'.

Judge me, judge me not

Actions speak louder than words.

Growing up in a rural area in the late 70s and early 80s as the son of a Baptist pastor was a great way to observe people. Between the church we went to on Sundays and the church that ran the small Christian school we attended until 1985, it was possible to see two opposite sides of how Christian behavior could be.

The folks from the church in Otis (Dad's church) were laid back and accepted people, pretty much without judgment. If memory serves, one of the deacons even smoked a pipe. The church in Northampton, well, they measured sideburns.  That is to say, if you didn't fit in with what they believed a Christian should be, you weren't welcome. 

The latter flies in the face of what the apostle James had to say and even in the face of the teachings of Paul. Even more so, it goes against the great commission, but still, on any given Sunday people are made to feel unwelcome and unworthy in churches all across the United States based on how they are perceived by those already there. 

In the book of The Acts, the second chapter, the final several verses, we see an example of how we should be as people of faith. No judgment, no condescension, just love and support. 

Does this mean we just give sin a pass? Of course not. It means that we love and accept people. We pray for them and help them with their struggles. 

Things have changed a lot since the 70s and 80s. For one thing, gas for $1 a gallon would be fantastic. The culture has changed too. We live in a world of permissivism. In the eyes of secular society, everything is alright so long as no one gets hurt.  

Strangely, in all this acceptance, so many people feel like they don't belong. The very place where they, as people should feel love, has earned the reputation of an exclusive club. 

People love to throw around Matthew 7:1, but they lose the context of it. read through to verse 6 and it suddenly becomes clear. Jesus says we aren't to throw pearls to pigs. Judging someone based on scripture, when they are completely ignorant of what it says, isn't going to work. They won't get any value out of it. 

So, our approach needs to change.  We need to love all people, as flawed as they may be, just as Jesus Christ accepts us, as flawed as we may be. In time, when they find Him, He will deal with the flaws. 

Live as Jesus lived and He'll take care of the rest.

The pain of loss

Several years ago, I was between jobs. The unemployment checks had run out and I didn't know what I was going to do. I was mowing my lawn one sunny June day, after having lost two part time jobs in the space of a week. My son came out to tell me a friend had stopped by.

Jason, a buddy from college, had stopped in to see how I was faring. After we chatted for a while, he suggested I should apply for work at Friendship Community. Friendship is an organization that operates services for people with developmental disabilities. I told him I wasn't sure, but I'd apply anyway since at the time, I was desperate for any work I could get.

I didn't know what to expect. Working with people with disabilities scared me. I thought, "what if they do weird things, like wipe snot on me or something." Despite my misgivings, I was soon hired, and started work on July 21, 2006.

The day I met Bob.

Bob can't have been more than four and a half feet tall. He had a little bald head and a mischievous sparkle in his eye. The first time Bob saw me, he took one look at me, twirled his finger around his ear, pointed at me, then walked away down the hall. We were going to get along just fine.

Bob and I developed a very close bond. At one point, I couldn't get any work done if I was at his house when he got home from his daytime workshop. If he knew I was there, He'd come hunt me down. It got to the point where if I was doing the days shopping and not helping out with the direct care for the evening, I would sometimes park my car up the street so he would not know I was there. 

I loved to hear him laugh. I loved to see him smile. He and I would play games, paint, or just sit and enjoy each others' company, just like normal people.

Bob was my friend.

Bob passed away on Sunday, November 17, 2013. I was there with his family when he died. Standing by his bedside with my guitar, I played "Sunshine on my Shoulders" as he quietly stopped breathing. It was so peaceful. I'm not one for idle fancy, but after he passed, I am certain I saw the shadowy, indistinct figure of a man standing at the head of Bob's bed with open arms.

Bob, I loved you as a brother and I will miss you, but I know that the Father in Heaven has you in His arms now.

The state of the faith

I'm a simple man. 

I love my wife and my son. I have a few friends and only one or two whom I would call close. I'm not terribly complicated.  I suppose that helps when life becomes complicated.

It helps to have a simple faith.

Through the years, puzzles have held me in thrall. I don't mean the cardboard puzzles or the strange blacksmith's puzzles. I mean the puzzles of life and faith. Perhaps it's a spiritual gift, or it may just be a talent I possess,  but I can see connections that other people seem to miss. It took several years, but the whole of the scriptures has finally become clear: love God, love others. (See Mark's gospel, chapter 12, vv30,31). It's not complicated.

Yes, sin exists.  We all struggle with something.  Some people refuse to acknowledge sin for what it is. Some people overthink and see sin where it isn't. 

Let's start at the simplest point, then move on from there.