Wealthiness

I’m on vacation.  Nothing as interesting as Chevy Chase’s excursions mind you, (Russ!) but we did drive for a while with a dead relative strapped to the roof (just kidding).  I love going to the beach.  We go with our extended family and we stay in a house that we rent, eat subs and pizza and things, and spend as much time as possible soaking up the sun’s rays (with plenty of sunscreen of course) sitting alongside the big beautiful Atlantic Ocean.  

Side note: When you apply SPF 15 sunscreen and then apply SPF 30 on top of that, do you wind up with SPF 45 or does it split the difference?  Or does it always default to the highest SPF?  This sounds like a middle school science fair project waiting to happen.  Or I could call the Mythbusters.

Anyway, I was walking from our place to the beach (we are three houses from the beach, woohoo!) yesterday when I was struck by this overwhelming sense of how rich I am.  Now, as I mentioned, our house is three houses from the beach, not right on the beach (I mean we’re not the Hiltons), and the only reason we can go is because my in-laws graciously pay for it.  Still, though, I am super rich.

Think about it, I live in a country where I have a job, I can make money, and I have a fair enough employment gig that I get vacation time throughout the year.  I walk from an air-conditioned beach house down a freshly paved street to a sandy beach that is remarkably free of trash (especially for New Jersey!), sit in a chair and read from a book, in between eating three meals a day, drinking clean water and bathing.  Think of all of the places in the world where this is not even a remote reality (or even dream) for anyone but the ultra-rich.

And then, last night, I was sitting up in the middle of the night listening to this crazy thunderstorm roll through town.  Wind, rain, thunder, lightning.  But I never once worried about whether or not the rain was going to come through the roof.  It would be silly to stress over the idea that the rain could cause the ground to become so muddy that sewage would seep up and run through our house.  In fact, the only thing I did wonder was whether or not my beach chair (designed for outdoor use, mind you) would get soaked on the front balcony.  Tis a rough life, I know.

While I was listening to the rain, I opened the fridge and grabbed a cold bottle of water to drink out of.  Then I went and used the toilet (sorry, TMI); which flushed when I pushed a silver handle on the side...and did not empty directly into the street.

Before coming home last night, we walked the boardwalk where I debated between 4 different options for pizza, 3 different options for french fries, or 4 different options for ice cream.  However, I was still so stuffed from dinner that I didn't even get anything.

Sometimes I sit on the beach, or on the couch, and I read.  I read a book.  In English. 

Now, some people think about these things and it makes them feel guilty.  I have long since lost any usefulness for guilt other than the guilt that springs forward to repentance.  As I thought about my current surroundings I felt an intense sense of responsibility.  I have been blessed beyond measure.  "My cup overflows," as David writes in Psalm 23.  The question becomes what will I do with all of it.

Jesus once told a parable which made a profound point: to whom much is given, much will be required.  (Luke 12)  The idea, throughout scripture, is that God's people take the blessings they have received and turn them into blessings for others.

We live in a society where if you have much, you shouldn't be expected to do as much.  I know of a family that has a lot of money.  They used some of that money to buy enough Roombas to cover every room in their house.  So, if you happen to be at their house at a certain time during the day, all of a sudden (like a deleted scene from iRobot) all of the Roombas come out and start bouncing off of the furniture in their quest to clean all of the floors.  Some would say that this is a convenience that they are entitled to.  They have worked hard to get to this point.  Because they have much, they can't be expected to do something as menial as vacuum their own floors.

But where does it stop?  Since I have much, I shouldn't be expected to clean up after myself, help a person in need, pay my taxes on time (or ever), be held to the same level of accountability as everyone else, etc. etc. etc.  Quickly, our wealth becomes a hall pass to do whatever we want.  Because, after all, we earned it.

The Bible makes it clear, though, that everything we have comes from God.  James writes, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadows."  Even if we "earned it," we did so with a body and brain we received from God.  We have been given much.  In fact, we have been given everything.

So what do we do?  We have been given much, so do we ever stop and think what might be asked of us?  Are we willing to leverage our wealth for the good of others.  Are we willing to "sacrifice" so others can experience a better life?  Maybe we spend less on vacations or robotic vacuum cleaners and spend more on those who don't even have sustainable income or suitable shelter.  Maybe we give more of our time.  Maybe we open up our home to foster children.  Maybe we spend less on things we don't need, so we're freed up to see and meet the needs of those around us.

Remember, it's not about guilt, it is about responsibility.  And it starts by opening our eyes to see just how rich we are.

How will we leverage our wealthiness for the good of others...today?

Tactics

I have never been to the Grand Canyon.  However, I used to envision it a lot when I would think about how far my sin had separated me from God.  I remember being 12 and praying a prayer at a conference and "accepting Jesus" and then being shown this diagram of a canyon.  God was on one side, and "I" was on the other (represented by a rather plain stick figure).  In the middle was "SIN."  As I flipped through the book, a cross appeared as the bridge over the canyon.  Now I had a way to get to God.

The problem was, I wasn't even sure I wanted to get to God.

Don't get me wrong, I liked God.  I didn't have anything against him at all.  I believed He was real, had created the world, and I think I even believed he loved me (as much as a twelve year old brain can understand "love").  But, the little booklet seemed primarily concerned with being with God after I died, so I didn't think I needed to be in any hurry.

Now, I believe that our sin jacks up our relationship with God, no doubt.  It also screws up the whole created order.  However, my issue with the canyon diagram is that it makes it seem like Jesus saves us from God.  God made the mess and Jesus comes to clean it up.  It also makes it seem like God is distant. It's tough to make a strong case for the canyon imagery using scripture (where it repeatedly talks about just how near God is to every one of us).  The greatest irony, though, is how urgently people will use booklets or tactics like this one to get people "saved" into a life that consists of a surprisingly low level of urgency for living out the life God desires for us.  They have to get us saved now!  But once that happens...then what?

This is the problem (one of the many) with "witnessing" using tactics.  First off, most of the stuff Christians come up with is outdated ("The Four Spiritual Laws"), corny (too many Christian T-shirts to list here), deceptive (free food...if you listen to me talk), or even obnoxious (bullhorns and sandwich board signs).  In a world where we just saw a very misguided man spend millions of dollars convincing people that the Rapture was going to take place this past weekend (it didn't, just fyi), it is time for Christians to take a long hard look in the stained glass mirror and evaluate our "tactics" for "spreading the Good News."

So, let's move on to a little exercise called, "Would that have worked on you?"

Fire Insurance:
Insurance.  Most people have it and would agree it is a good idea.  You can get insurance for everything from your house to your life to your pet's RV.  For many people, getting on board with Jesus is glorified eternal fire insurance.  "Don't want to burn in Hell for all eternity? (cue James Earl Jones with an evil laugh: "mwah hah hah") Then pray this prayer, join our club, etc."  And if people don't take you seriously enough, then you have to make the fire even more terrifying.  I went to a summer camp once where I am convinced the goal was to scare the hell out of everyone...literally.  I think one of the speakers may have even said that.  Each night, different scare tactics were used to transform a basketball arena full of teenagers into sniveling, weeping, terrified new followers of Jesus.  I remember the first night the speaker said, "I'd rather be saved twice than lost once."  (I have no idea where in the Bible he got that from).  Then the second night, a pastor man would talk about Hell for 45 minutes and it was as though he thought Jesus never used a metaphor.  I have never heard so many references to maggots in a sermon.  If you hadn't run down for the altar-call the night before, you definitely did this night.  And if you had the night before, you did it again.  Because I'd rather be saved twice...just saying.

The thing is, most people don't think about insurance on a daily basis.  So, if you scare people into accepting Jesus so they won't burn and then tell them they have to live that out daily, you're going to wind up with a very strange breed of religious person.  Jesus never scared anyone into following him.  God is not in the intimidation business.  And seriously, are you involved in a loving, awesome, life-giving relationship with God right now because someone "scared the heaven into you"?!?  Would that have worked on you?

Sandwich-board man
This kind of goes along the same vein as the scare tactics, but due to personal experience this one holds a special place in my heart.  The same place a recurring nightmare holds.  Basically, when I was in college a man would come wearing a sandwich board sign (he had clothes on underneath) that would say something about sin or hell or repentance on it, set up shop in the center of campus and begin calling down judgment on everyone else.  One tactic was to belittle anyone who asked him questions (just like Jesus, no?).  Another tactic--my personal favorite--was to yell out various sins while pointing at random passersby.  Once I was pegged as a "fornicator"--which couldn't have been further from the truth...trust me, you could check with every man and woman on campus (or the planet for that matter) to verify my innocence.  I wonder if that had worked on him; if he was a Christian because a man with a sandwich board once unfairly accused him of fornication.  Would that have worked on you?

Fake Money Tracts
Have you ever seen these?  Folded in half, they look like someone has misplaced some serious cash and you are lucky enough to find it!  I mean, who doesn't love finding money?  Then there's the ensuing ethical debate: Do you keep it?  Do you give it away?  Do you take it to the front and see if anyone has reported losing money? (who hasn't?!?)  How much of that do you tithe?  Then, as you pick it up, you realize it isn't a 1 million dollar bill after all (I know, should have been my first clue).  It's a piece of paper which on the inside goes on to tell you, "You know what's better than a million dollars?!?"  The answer is, of course, Jesus.  And I know, I mean I really know that Jesus is better than a million dollars, but this tactic drives me crazy.  It's trickery.  It's passive aggressive evangelism.  What if the person picks up the fake money and--instead of punching the closest person in the face when they realize it's fake--decide they want to know Jesus.  Who are they gonna talk to?  The fake money evangelist is probably long gone.  Did this work on you?  Is this what Jesus was referring to when he said he would make Peter a  "fisher of men?"  Did Peter and the other disciples use giant fake fish?  You'd find it on the beach, take it home to cook it, and as soon as you cut it open, it would say, "[Something in Aramaic that roughly translates, "You know what's better than a great big fish?"]"  Would this have worked on you?

YouTube/Amazon comments
If I want to weep over the state of the American church all I have to do is read the comments posted on youTube videos or on Amazon.com reviews.  Anything that even remotely pertains to church or Christianity will have a slew of comments from people bashing Christians, bashing nonChristians, expressing racism, debating theology.  People who probably have a genuine heart to follow the Lord just come across looking like total, holier-than-thou, morons.  I really doubt anyone has ever come to Christ because someone replied to their youtube comment with a loving, "Well, you think it's hot here?  Get ready for Hell!"  Let's make a pact as Jesus-followers, ok?  No posting comments on youtube, period.  And if you don't have anything nice to say, don't type!  Would this have worked on you?

I could go on, I am sure we have all seen some bad tactics in our time.  I have even used some--much to my everlasting shame.  But they didn't work on me, and I know that they won't work on anyone else.

So what did work?

Watching people witness to the resurrection of Christ with their lives.  Watching my parents live out their faith.  Watching one of my youth leaders guide me through the book of 1 Timothy and pour into me.  Or a guy named Johnny who never gave up on me in college when I was not living full-out for Christ.  Because of him, I am doing what I do.  Because of his witness, and others, I wanted to know Jesus.  The real Jesus.  And then, when I met Him, when I encountered Him, it changed everything.  I realized the way I was living broke His heart and I didn't want to do that anymore.  I repented, I was baptized, and I started living for the first time.  I didn't give myself to God because I didn't want to go to Hell, I did it because I couldn't live without Him...right now.

Maybe that's what worked for you too.

If you want to save people and introduce them to some lesser jesus, some god in your own image, then get out the sandwich boards, run off more fake money, and tell everyone about it with a youtube comment.  But if you want to introduce people to the Truth, to the Jesus who gave his life for humanity, then just do what He asked:  Be a witness.  [See Jesus and the Book of Acts for more on what this looks like.]

Witness

I know, you are all thinking this post is going to be about that movie with Harrison Ford from the 80's with the scene of risque Amish bathing.  (I have only watched 43% of it due to always catching it on TV at the same point in the movie.)  To be honest, I've heard the movie is quite good and the bathing is, well, awkward.  And while I'm sure we could get into a lively discussion regarding the portrayal of the Amish in American cinema (or even in Mexican cinema)*, that is (sadly) not the focus of this post.  I had jury duty recently and it sparked a thought in my head regarding the word "witness" and why Jesus uses it in the first chapter of the book of Acts.

Now, when I say I had jury duty, I didn't actually get picked.  I did, however, have to sit through two different selection panels (we were later informed that the court hasn't used the same group for two selection processes in 11 years...we felt very honored to break the drought).  Both cases were civil cases.  In the one, an elderly woman was suing a circus clown who had allegedly eaten her dog's raincoat...I'm just kidding!  You know I can't talk about the case with you!  Had you going, though, didn't I?

Anyway, being in a courtroom got me thinking about the word "witness," as in: "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8b).  Jesus sends his disciples off with the charge to be witnesses.  Witnesses for Him.  Witnesses in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth.  As a follower of Jesus, this idea of witnessing should be central to what we're all about.

I can remember growing up in youth group, even in college, and being at an event or outreach where we were given a crash course in how to witness to someone.  Or perhaps it was how to witness at someone.  Basically, we got tools on how to convince them to join our "team" and follow Jesus.  You could use your testimony, but only if you had sold drugs and harbored terrorists before coming to Christ (and then stopped doing those things as a result).  If you had a "boring" testimony you had to spin it in a way that you had a "hook."  The "hook"--I think someone thought this is what Jesus meant when he said he would make them "fishers of men"--was designed to reel people in (were we trying to trick them?) and get them to the point where you sealed the deal, they prayed the prayer, and you could put another notch in your WWJD Bible cover.  I never found this overwhelmingly effective.  {Side note: a telltale sign that this was not the best approach was when someone actually said, "Ok, yeah I want to do that," the person "witnessing" would respond with, "Wait, are you serious?!?"}  For me, it was a challenge because it seemed forced.  I mean, the story in the little pamphlet wasn't my story; I'm not sure it was anyone's story.  I felt like I was selling something that I didn't buy into; what made it more frustrating was the fact that I really did buy into it, I just couldn't sound convincing as a "witness."  When I would read through Acts, it didn't seem like the disciples needed all of this extra "help" to be witnesses, they just did it.

A witness, simply put, is someone who reports or testifies to what they have seen.  Now, there are people who use the courtroom example--as I used to--and state that a witness only gives testimony when they are asked to report in court.  I used this as an excuse to not have to talk about what I believed for a while, unless of course, someone asked me ("You there, talk about what you believe").  However, the disciples seemed to be witnessing all over the place, and they were frequently asked to give testimony in places that were not court.  I think the courtroom witness picture isn't always the most helpful (remember those movies where the witnesses get killed?!?).

What about someone who witnesses a baby being born?  Or someone who sees a dolphin jump out of the ocean firsthand (not on TV)?  What about someone who witnesses the beauty of the Northern Lights, or the sheer devastating power of a tornado?  You can't shut any of these people up.  They talk about what they have seen.  It changes them.  They are never the same after witnessing these moments.  Much like the disciples--who gathered on that mountain top, having witnessed the resurrection of their crucified, dead, and buried teacher--when we witness something powerful or amazing, it affects us in a deep way, far beyond what we say.

And witnesses don't need to convince anyone of anything.  I don't need you to verify for me that seeing Mt. St. Helens is an amazing sight--I know it is!  The disciples did not need anyone to convert anyone to vindicate their faith in Christ, they were testifying to what they had seen.  Sometimes, it even cost them their lives.  In fact, martys, the Greek word for witness, shows up all over the book of Acts and it is almost always translated as "witness" or "witnesses" except for Acts 22:20, where it is translated "martyr."  Stephen, who is referenced in the verse, witnessed to the life of Christ even in his own death.  The book of Acts is an account of how the followers of Jesus did what he asked them to do: they witnessed to the ends of the earth.  Sometimes they witness by preaching, other times by responding to questioning, sometimes in philosophical discussion groups, and other times by singing songs in jail.  When people saw them, how they lived and how they spoke, they believed because of their witness.

When we witness, then, there must be something greater at work than human strategy and clever packaging.  Witnessing is not a passive, selective activity.  Witnessing takes up our whole lives.  We are witnessing all the time; our behavior is always an indication of whether or not we have encountered the resurrected Jesus.  Are we always ready to give an answer for the hope that we have? (1 Peter 3:15)  Do we show enough hope that it begs the question?  Are our lives helping others gain a truer understanding of Christ, or are we simply muddying up the waters?

In my next post, I want to take a look at some of our methodology for "witnessing" or "sharing our faith."  Until then, I leave you with this story.  While at jury duty, thinking about being a witness (again, not about the movie, Witness), one of the potential jurors stood up and said that he needed to be excused from jury duty because of religious reasons.  This really piqued my curiosity, and I was tempted to ask the man what religion he ascribed to, before the judge beat me to it.  When the judge asked which religion the man followed that prevented him from serving on the jury, the man replied, "Christian."  I couldn't believe it.  I had just gotten excused from duty by playing my "It's too close to the birth of the baby my wife and I are adopting" card (which was true).  But had I known I could have played the Jesus card and gotten off, well I could have saved the baby card for another time!  I had no idea you could throw Jesus under the bus to get out of jury duty.

Please don't misunderstand me, everyone is entitled to their opinions, and this man clearly did not believe he could sit in judgment over someone else.  That opinion is fine, it may even be valid, but I don't think it's Christian.  I am pretty sure that we are the type of people Jesus would want on a jury.  People who value justice and mercy should be on a jury.  The New Testament writers urged their brethren to submit to the governing authorities, and jury duty is a part of our duty as Americans.  Wouldn't it be a far greater witness to serve on a jury than to use Jesus to get out of it?  Sadly, I think we are too quick to shirk our witness for the sake of getting out of anything difficult or inconvenient.  I, honestly, would have been honored to represent Jesus in that courtroom (as a jury-member mind you, I have committed no crime), I think it would have been yet another opportunity and venue to live out a faithful witness.   However, I would have never come to this conclusion if I hadn't sat in that courtroom that day and thought about what God expected of me as a witness.   So now, I look forward to any opportunity to faithfully witness to what I have seen, heard, and experienced from God...even if it means jury duty again in a year or so.

But I'd be lying if I said I'm not thankful that I don't have to miss the birth of my son because of some raincoat-eating clown.



*Actually, as of this posting, I have found no record of the Amish in Mexican Cinema.  Google, however, directed me to a movie about a Mennonite who lives in Mexico.  Seriously, Google?!?  Not even close!

Walking Contradiction

Every now and again, I consider offering God the opportunity to let me handle His public relations.  For a reasonable salary, I would gladly tackle the daunting task of giving God a fresh image for 2011.  I mean, let's face it, there have been a lot of people in recent history who have done some pretty terrible things to God's image.  Maniacal dictators?  Check.  Crazy cult leaders?  Check.  Priests, pastors, worship leaders caught in compromising situations? Check.  Inordinately perspiring, well-dressed men on well-lit stages on the TV box?  In spades.  The list could go on, but you get the point.  In fact, I am sure I have done some things over the years to damage God's image as well.  Which, probably disqualifies me for the job.  Darn!

Truth be told, I am not sure God needs help with His PR after all.  As I get further and further into the Bible, studying the literary styles, understanding the nuances of Hebrew and Greek, and acquainting myself with the culture and context of the original writings, I find God comes off looking amazing, beyond-description.  (Actually I get that just from reading the whole Bible, the previous sentence makes me sound way smarter than I really am.)  And that doesn't even scratch the surface--yet another reason I'm not in charge of His PR.  I am more and more convinced that even as Christians we try to make God into our own image; we want him to clean up and be neat and presentable for our family functions and awards ceremonies.  We want Him to operate according to "our" rules of nature and things like that.  The idea of a God who is in control and loves me and has desires for how I can best live my life--that can actually be terrifying.  Therefore, we take the easy road, and spin the image of God into something we can manage, something we can tame, and something we can hide when it is inconvenient to be associated with a character like God.

Every now and then we forget to keep our identity a secret, though, and someone finds out and instantly, they take issue.  We think that in this moment we are being "persecuted" for our faith, but it's really just people asking questions we don't know the answers to, or unleashing years of stored up anger/hurt/bitterness from years gone by (that was somehow attached to God/a church/a "Christian") in our direction.  There are several ways to respond in this situation:

1) Cry.  Curl into a ball on the floor and cry.  The storm will pass.
2) Put your hands over your ears and shout things in a loud voice at the other person like: "Circular reasoning!"  "You are taking that out of context."  "You don't know what you're talking about!"  "You are dumb."  "Dear God, make me a bird so I can fly far, far away."
3) Stare at them blankly and give yourself a wedgie.  They will usually stop talking instantly.  (That'll show 'em!)
4) Listen.  Stand there, take it, and listen.

I could tell you how the first three options will turn out, but it will not improve your life (isn't that why you read blogs?  To improve your life?).  If you take number 4, one of the more popular rebuttals against God you might hear would be this one: "The Bible is full of contradictions."

Now, most people who make such a claim, when pressed, will not be able to produce five contradictions, yet the Bible, in their estimation, is "full" of them.  Now, if you do a Google search on "Bible Contradictions," you will find that some people have tallied the number as high as 508.  So, there are a wide range of people who consider the Bible to be rather contradictory.  They might say, "Well the Bible says, 'God loves everyone," but then Jesus says, 'God helps those who help themselves.'  Oh wait...maybe that was Ben Franklin, my bad.  What was I saying...are you giving yourself a wedgie?"

In reality though there are plenty of verses in the Bible that can be pointed up as supposed "contradictions" by people way smarter than me, with the ability to use all sorts of argument rhetoric that would make my brain shut down--words like, "a priori."  In the interest of time, we'll just look at two:

Genesis 6:6 states that God regretted making human beings and his heart was deeply troubled.  How could an omniscient God regret?  An omniscient God would have seen this coming.  
Apparently, omniscient also means heartless-ness.  Just because God gives his people a choice in how they live their lives, doesn't mean He is unaware of their choices.  And just because God is aware of their choices, doesn't mean He won't be hurt/upset/disappointed when they make poor choices.  Who would want to follow a God who didn't care?

Who bears guilt?  Galatians 6:2 says "bear ye one another's burdens," but Galatians 6:5 states, "every man shall bear his own burden."
This is a place where a good translation helps.  In a more updated version of the Bible, Galatians 6:5 says every man "shall bear his own load" and it is clearly in the context of testing one's actions and not comparing ourselves to anyone else.  So, we carry each other's burdens, but it is our own responsibility to search our hearts and test our actions to see us how God sees us, not in comparison to another.

There are some common elements to a supposed Biblical contradiction."  First, the King James Version is often used, arguably one of the least trustworthy translations available today (happy 400th anniversary though!).  Second, one verse--or fragment of a verse--is used, where looking at the verses in between would clear the matter up quite nicely.  Third, people often do not take into account what style the passage is in--poetry is different than historical narrative, which is different than an epistle--and ignore the larger point the writer may be trying to communicate.  Finally, people often use this argument second or third hand; they heard it from someone else and have not investigated the matter thoroughly themselves.

We, as believers, though, do the same thing!!!  We use God's word out of context to justify our own actions.  We use verses or fragments of verses to make us feel good, and ignore the parts that would call into question how we live.  We come across difficult passages in the Bible and we assume that we are right and God is wrong.  We do not give God the benefit of the doubt.  We do not dig, we do not test, we just make God into our own image, rather than allowing Him to transform us into His.

Which leads me to my closing point.  There is one contradiction that we will never be able to refute: the walking kind.  When someone reads the Bible, claims to believe it, claims to love God, and then does everything counter to that...well that is a serious contradiction.  These contradictions are not so easy to refute.  Because of contradictions like these, many people give up on God in the process of giving up on His so-called followers.  And why not?  If God sanctions followers like that, who needs God?  Those of us who claim to love and follow and need God, then, should all take seriously the charge from Paul in Ephesians 5:15-20 that begins, "Be very careful, then, how you live...."  If we don't want to be the contradiction that causes someone to stumble, then we all should strive to be an accurate representation of God for the world to see.

After all, God has already designed His PR campaign: we are to be His image-bearers.  May we bear it well.

God

Imagine my...surprise when I encountered God in the pages of the Old Testament.

What's that?  The Old Testament?!?  But it's so...so...old.  And bloody.  And people are so hairy.  And what's with Song of Songs?  Or is it Song of Solomon?

All valid points.

The thought had never occurred to me until recently that I might not be the main character in the Bible.  I was shocked.  I thought God wrote this book just for me, and guided it along so that I would have it so that I would know what to do with my life.  And in some ways, that isn't totally false.  However, that line of thinking assumes "me" at the center.  The Bible has a lot to say to me today, but only because God does.  The Bible offers a lot of really practical guidance for life and relationships and choices, etc., because God sets a great example for us to follow.  The best part about the Bible, it turns out, is what it teaches us about Him.  You know, the Author.

For example, a simple commandment like "Don't Murder," reveals to us a whole host of information about God: namely, that He doesn't want us to murder other people.  But seriously, though, it shows how much God values human life, and that goes way beyond the issue of whether or not we actually murder someone--it has implications for how we treat others.

For something a little more obscure: Exodus 26:35: "Place the table outside the curtain on the north side of the tabernacle and put the lampstand opposite it on the south side."  Now, I am sure this verse is all over your home, memorized, emblazoned on plaques, knit into pillows, and even on your vanity license plate.  No?  Just me then?  A couple things of note here: at the time the Tabernacle was built, there were lots of temples for idols in the nations surrounding the Israelites at the time.  God does several surprising things here: 1) The Tabernacle is seriously small compared to the average temple (like 15ft. as opposed to 1/2 a mile!) and looked much like the typical Israelite tent; 2) Most temples had the lampstand in the inner room so the idol wouldn't be afraid of the dark--God, though, keeps it on the other side of the curtain so the priests can see; and 3) The table referenced in the verse would ordinarily be to hold the food for the idol in your average temple, but God uses it outside the curtain to provide food for the priests.

The contrast reveals a lot about who God is.  God is humble.  God is not here to be served, but to serve.  God doesn't need food from us and isn't afraid of the dark--He isn't dependent on us to survive.  God demonstrates that He wants to be close to His people, to identify with them, as evidenced by the type of "dwelling" He chooses...even though He doesn't actually need a dwelling.

More on this to come, but for now, start reading the Bible to learn about God.  Then, model yourself after Him.  Then, repeat.

No Offense...

No offense, but you are terrible at reading blogs.  All these other people agree with me and they share my concerns regarding your web-based literacy--or lack thereof.  We have been discussing this in our homes and in the parking lot for months now.  We tried to drop subtle hints and glare at you and whisper loud enough to each other at home that you might here it at your own home.  (I bet you didn't even notice that I just used the wrong "here.")  They think you should take a class or read more blogs to help you improve your skills; I'm just telling you what they said, it's not necessarily my opinion.  I agree with them, though; I have never seen anyone as inept in blog-reading as you.  No offense.  I gotta go now, though, but you keep up the great work.  You are doing such a good job!

Have you ever been on the receiving end of one of these?  It's like a nice, refreshing kick in the shins.  Followed by a tiny envelope opener being inserted into your back.  Finished off by a baby spitting-up on you.  It's never fun.  What do you do when this happens?  What do you do when this happens and you work in a church?

One thing I've garnered from one of my professors over the past few years is this: some people want what God wants and some people do not.  Some people want to promote goodness, truth, right, honesty, and healthy interaction, while others seem to want negativity, cynicism, and passive aggression to abound.  If someone wants to come to me with an honest concern and present it in a way that is constructive, I'm all ears.  If, however, someone wants to come and bookend a statement with "No offense" as if it were some sort of magical spell ("Wait, you physically cannot get mad, it's impossible!  How dare you!  I said no offense!"), then I am not going to lose any sleep over it.  And neither should you.

If and when this does happen (actually, what am I saying, this sort of thing is so infrequent in our society, this blog post is probably totally irrelevant now), you and I are faced with Choices..  Remember that we are not accountable for other people's crimes against us, we are merely accountable for what we do in response.  If you need to confront them, do it in the right way.  If you need to distance yourself from them, do it quickly.  If you need to establish boundaries, go for it.  Resist the urge to lash back and find the strength and peace that come when we let things roll off of our backs that don't really matter.

And make sure you have people in your life who can be honest barometers for you of how you're living/working so you can seek their feedback in times like this.  Don't let your view of yourself be shaped by the "No-Offensers;" let your view of yourself--and of them--be shaped by God.  In life, and ministry, we need to lose less sleep over what "No-Offensers" say to us and wake up more to the things God wants us to do, the opinions He has about us, and the way He wants us to relate to others.

Just saying.  No offense or anything...