What It's About, and What It's Not About

Have you ever played that game that a lot of groups play when they are together to get to know each other better: "What three things would you take with you if you were alone on an island?" I always have a hard time with that one. As a Christian, people often say the good old fallback: a Bible. Yeah, that would be good! As a worldly person with worldly needs, you might say "Toilet paper!" That's good for a few laughs. Survivalists would want something to catch fish with, or an unlimited supply of MREs, or a huge box of flares.

I ran across an interesting question today. What would you take if you could take two things with you to heaven?

The lifelong Christian in me says, "Well... nothing really." A Bible? Well, if that's the Word of God, and I'm going to heaven to actually be with God, that's not exactly a necessity is it? Before I go off on people (my family, of course), they are not things. Ultimately, there's nothing really worth taking, nothing that would be of any real use in heaven anyway that I have now.

So... nothing! There are not two things I have that are even worth having there.

The point of that question to me is to put into stark reality how out-of-whack my priorities are here. Why do I need things? If I don't care to take any thing with me, why do I spend a whit of my time worrying about any thing I own or don't own?

Seriously, as the sermon went that I heard once, "It all goes back in the box!" On earth, even I will go there eventually, provided Jesus doesn't come first.

There's another thought. What are His priorities?

As I read through Matthew 24 and Mark 13, everything boils down to that priority: people. Satan cannot deceive stuff. He can deceive people. And the whole gist of that story is how people will treat each other, how people will be deceived, but most importantly how people will be saved from deception.

Jesus' priority comes into clear focus in Matthew 24:14 -- "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." You don't preach to stuff. You preach to people. Why hasn't He come yet? Because there are people who haven't yet heard the gospel of the kingdom.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

I've always struggled a bit with the thought that some have, that we can speed up the Lord's coming. There's a couple ways to look at this. If He hasn't come yet, it's because the house is not ready yet. You get this idea from the Jewish concept of weddings, where after a groom's proposal has been accepted, he goes to his home and builds a room onto the family house for he and his bride to live in. When it's finished, he goes and gets his bride.

But there's a switch that happens in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. The bride isn't fully ready either! Somehow the bride of Christ hasn't reached her full potential yet, and there are more people to add to her before she's ready! The whole world has to have the opportunity to be a part of her. Could it be that the groom (Christ) will not finish the new place in heaven for his bride until the bride is ready to be brought home? Until the groom knows just how to build the new home for his bride, inclusive of all who will accept His proposal?

Apparently, there are still people who haven't heard! Apparently, even as we say "Come, Lord Jesus," He's saying, "But what about the people in __________. Don't they deserve the same chance you received to say 'yes' to Me?"

What a compassionate God we serve! Now, if I believe in that compassion, do I believe just as much in continuing to beautify the bride as He does and add to her?

It isn't about if I know what to say. It's about going to that person who needs to hear and trusting the God who gives the right words in due season. It isn't about whether I have a "gift of evangelism" that is verified by a questionnaire. It's about whether I'm willing to allow Holy Spirit to pour that gift into me in the same due season.

It's never about stuff, my fear, or giftedness. It's about people and God's power.

Denial

I panic when big things hit. However, what I think is a big thing differs from what someone else thinks is big. My background, personality, profession, character, relationships... all feed into what I see as a big thing. What is big to me isn’t what is big to a CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

In John12:20-36, there were Greeks present that came to worship at the Passover. If they were doing so, so they were believers, converts to Judaism. There was a courtyard at the temple for the Gentiles. I’m thinking that Jesus and the disciples must have been there that day. These Greeks approached Phillip about seeing Jesus, so there was clearly a desire to meet Him.

There was a crowd there (verse 29), so some may think that they could not have physically gotten to Him.  But Philip was a disciple, so he would have been close to Jesus, and they spoke with Philip. I think the Greeks must have been fairly close as well. But they felt that they had to ask permission to see Him.

Jesus was a Jew whose work was done almost entirely in Judea with the Jews. If He was considered a rabbi, the Greeks may not have felt that they were supposed to approach Him. Maybe they had been kept from meeting other rabbis. Regardless, they themselves felt the need to request it through a disciple. Maybe this was common practice among other rabbis and their disciples.

Clearly Philip wasn’t comfortable enough to answer the request himself. I can imagine the conversation with Andrew: “These Greek Gentiles want to see Jesus. Is this OK?” Then they went to Jesus together. Were they afraid of being rebuffed by Jesus? Or was it just that Jesus had entered the city triumphantly? He entered as a king. In their minds, He was now to be the conquering King of the Jews. If this was His position, the disciples may have thought of themselves as His “lieutenants.” The Greeks would have witnessed the entry of Jesus, so they probably thought of Jesus as being pretty important. Jesus had ministered to non-Jews and Pagans before, so I wonder if in Jesus they saw someone different than they saw in other Jewish kings, like this one could actually be for all nations. He was to be a blessing to all nations, if He was the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham millennia earlier.

Bottom line: Jesus was lifted up already. He was already drawing all people to Himself.

It was Passover, when the atoning lamb was to be sacrificed. Jesus had already been identified by John as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The time of the sacrifice prophesied in Daniel had come as well (Daniel 9:20-27). He was to be a “light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6), and here were Gentiles coming to Him. It all added up. The time had come for the most important event in human history.

Jesus compares Himself to a kernel of wheat. He was to be the one to die, the light to be cut off in the middle of the week. A live kernel plants no wheat, while a dead one falls to the ground and sprouts. It is the way of seeds.

When Jesus was cut down, then sprouted up (at the resurrection), the Message of salvation in Him was complete. But it took His death to accomplish it. And the Message that resided with the Jews exploded to all parts of the Gentile world, fulfilling the covenant with Abraham to be a blessing to all nations.

Jesus was to die. The Gentiles wanted to see Him. It was a living, teachable moment for everyone there of what would be the result of His ministry.

In verses 25-26 Jesus teaches that His followers are not to be to attached to life on earth. What the world teaches us to desire is at odds with Kingdom values. It is at odds with what Jesus teaches disciples to value. His value is servant-hood. His value is self-sacrifice, even unto death. If we embrace His value, there He is with us, and the Father—God of the Universe—will personally honor us!

Jesus was about to suffer and die for all humanity. This troubled Him. I don’t fully subscribe to the concept of suffering and death not being what troubled Him. I was always taught that it was the bearing of sin and the potential abandonment of the Father that troubled Him. I believe this bothered Him the most, but to come from such a position of heavenly authority to earth to take on fallen human flesh and suffer and die like the lowest dregs of humanity would not seem to be natural to Him. I think the whole idea troubled Him.

The crowd would have a hard time accepting it as well. They just heard a voice saying that He would be glorified. Their understanding of the Christ was that He would be a forever Messiah. Their readings of the prophets would lead them to believe this to be true, and it didn’t mesh with the idea of a dying Messiah. Such a truth would appear to them as failure.

I think that Jesus’ mindset vs. the crowd’s is very relevant in my world today. Jesus way to being exalted was to die. Our way is to step up and gain power. His way was of ultimate humiliation: throne of heaven to death on a Roman crucifix of shame and pain. Our way is to gain competitive edge, to go the opposite way of Jesus.

It is counterintuitive for me to embrace Jesus’ value here. I am in denial. I deny the power sin has. I deny that I cannot escape its grip over me. I deny the need for help and to have conversation with other caring people about my struggles. I deny the feelings of distance and depression I have at times with others—sometimes even with the church (even with God’s people, not simply the organization). I deny that I desperately need an infusion of passion in my life, that I need to pray today because I’ve forgotten to do it or I’ve put it off.

I deny a lot because I’m like any other human being. I want to save face. I don’t want people to see what’s really going on.

Jesus calls me to die to all of that. Die to my feelings and fears. Die to myself and face reality: Jesus embraced humiliation and death... He calls me to do the same, and in doing so find that life springs up in me like the wheat springing up from a dead seed.

Do you feel like you’re walking in the dark? In the shadow-lands? Or in the light? Why? How can you walk toward light today?

Pushing Buttons

Ignoring me when I speak. Interrupting. Talking over me when I have something to say that needs to be said. Saying, "OK, daddy," and then doing what they want to do.

My kids know how to push my buttons. I'm glad that Jesus' buttons were much more important, or else He'd spend a lot of time in frustration over the likes of me!

I spent a little time in Matthew 24 today, and reading The Desire of Ages, "Woes on the Pharisees." It seems to me that Jesus had some buttons that people could push as well. They often come out as "woes." Here's a list of them, as I can see them.

1. Pretense (v. 5-12). Everything done so people can see you're doing it. Being honored by people because of a title. Makes me wonder about people taking on titles in the church today... pastor, elder, deacon... How about brother and sister? Is it possible that this should be enough and that we shouldn't even accept being called those other things?
2. Exclusiveness (v. 13-14). Some get in, some do not. I wonder who they were trying to exclude, and for what reason? Gentiles? Jews who had fallen in ways they found unacceptable? People who fell too many times in their eyes? And they were hypocrites because they wouldn't enter the Kingdom through Christ, the only gate there is!
3. Expectations (v. 15). I'm not sure exactly what Jesus had in mind here, but a modern picture might show people who are worse off in the church than they were outside. Maybe it's the "[with an eager face] I was living a great life in the world! (Change face to somber and morose] Then I met Jesus" kind of testimony. Unrealistic behavioral expectations, joy-sucking religion... that sounds more like hell than heaven to me.
4. Hair Splitting (v. 16-22). Ever been around the guy that parses everything you say? The person who never forgets something you said months or years ago that you've long left behind? Pharisees were doing this with oaths for sure. I think it applies to more than just oaths, for when it's too our social advantage or standing (sometimes in the church even), we'll nitpick at words. Or when we want to color a conversation in a light that makes us look better, we'll alter the conversation a bit.
5. Violating God's Reputation (v. 23-24). There was blatant injustice, lack of mercy and faithfulness going on in this environment. Of all the things listed in this chapter, I'm not sure this wasn't the big one that would have sent Jesus over the edge. These people were supposed to represent to the world who God is. How did God describe Himself in Exodus 34:6-7? “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation." In other words, just about the opposite of what Jesus says the Pharisees were doing. Nit-picking over people and rules, rather than being open to the obvious issues of justice and mercy and faithfulness. Interesting that God describes Himself as such in the midst of giving Moses brand new tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments on them. It's like He was associating who He was... merciful, gracious, longsuffering, good, true, merciful, forgiving, just, righteous... with what the Law was supposed to be!
6. Pretense again (v. 25-26). Clean on the outside. Maggoty on the inside. The "I show up at church looking great!" but at home you're a beating-your-wife type of person. Kind of goes back to #1--pretense.
7. Pretense, yet again (v. 27-28).
8. Hypocrisy (v. 20-32). Well, I'm running out of words to summarize this stuff, obviously! But clearly these people didn't have a clue that they were doing the very things they said they would be innocent of. "Oh, I'd never do something like that!" I wonder if we should just stop saying that kind of stuff entirely!

Usually, there are 7 woes counted in this chapter. I included the 8th as I felt verse 5-12 spoke to one pretty strongly. Not the point. Jesus clearly has buttons that can be pushed! They have to do with character and how God's character is represented. Pretense and hypocrisy clearly upset Him. Misrepresenting God's character clearly earned His ire.

And here I sit, guilty of both. I can be as bad as anyone about nitpicking and trying to follow the rules, even while I'm not anywhere near where I should be on the inside. I am guilty of beating myself up mercilessly over a sin, of looking at the behavior itself without looking at the character behind the behavior. What I need is a character overhaul!

This chapter shows me what transformation is all about and why I need it every day! I am, on my own, a "teacher of the law and a Pharisee and a hypocrite." I may do the right thing as you see it. I might come to church and paste on the "look" I'm supposed to have. But on the inside, it's not always right.

I find myself praying more frequently a daily prayer for transformation, and I have to say that it's pretty liberating! The thing I feel sorry for the most with those that have the "woes" of Matthew 24? They're the ones in prison! They're the most miserable! They're to be pitied! But when I surrender that "Teacher/Pharisee/Hypocrite" person over to Jesus, the pressure is gone!

Pressure is something I control. It's something I can do something about. Stress? Not the same. Think William Tell and his son. William Tell, bow and arrow in hand, felt pressure. His son? Total stress-ball!

When I give myself over to Jesus? They both disappear! He is now in control! And when He is in control, no weapon formed against me shall remain (Isaiah 54:17), so the stress can go away too!

So, if it helps, here's the prayer I pray frequently (really, not often enough!). I don't encourage you to just do it verbatim, unless you really want to. Often, the words change to reflect how I'm doing in the moment, but here's the gist of it...

Lord, take every part of who I am, inside and out, and put it on your shoulders. Take it to the cross. It has to die! By your wounds I am healed. By Your blood I am clean! You love me. You gave Yourself for me. To live today has to be You and You alone. I choose to live transformed.

Thoughts from a Complacent Christian

I think the thing that bugs me about modern Christianity is complacency, and I am more guilty than you of this, so please don’t think of this as into a personal rant against you/the hateful Christian right/the hippie Christian left/anything in between.

First, there are people all around us, every day, who are eternally dying but have no knowledge of it. The vast majority of American Christians (at least) seem to assume, by their own behavior and actions, that either these people are already saved or are not worth the risk of personal humiliation to make an effort for.

Second, there are people who are temporally suffering around us, every day, and they do know it. However, it seems like as though modern-day Christians don’t want to be troubled with the “less-desirables” that we (a) don’t connect with very well, (b) dwell in places that aren’t appropriate for a Christian to be seen in, (c) don’t want to enable to continue living like that, or (d) just make us feel to darned uncomfortable.

Third, there are people around us who are profoundly full of themselves and act as though they are already saved forever and are beyond the danger of ever being lost. Why? Because they check the boxes every day! I did not swear today (check). I did not look at porn on the internet (check). I smiled at someone at church, and I am a third-generation First-Seventh-day Romacostal-Captistyrian (check, check—and I did my Sabbath School Lesson every day this week, by the way!).

I look at the story of Jesus clearing the temple courts, and it’s a wonder that He isn’t doing that still today. These people were in the courts of the Gentiles selling sacrifices at exorbitant prices, obviously under the approval of the priests. All around them were supposed to be people from all nations seeking God, and right in front of such people were merchants ripping them off for the sake of the temple—the house of God. It was supposed to be “a house of prayer for all nations,” according to Isaiah. I can’t imagine all nations going there and leaving with a very good impression of the God they were trying to seek.

And along comes God-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ, and He sees this. I wonder what He was up to that day? Often he had taught there, and He would do so again after kicking out the appointed temple jerks. The very God the nations were supposed to be there seeking actually showed up there with skin on! And the people who were supposed to be the most excited about it wound up killing Him.

It points out some inconvenient truths for me and my fellow complacent Christians. First, our heritage and credentials in the faith are nothing. They may only serve, actually, to cloud a true vision of Jesus. Second, the suffering of those around us who are seeking after God (even if they don’t know it’s what they are doing) cannot be ignored. There are places and organizations everywhere that any of us could get involved with (Metropolitan Ministries or Florida Hospital are a couple of examples in my area) that do great things to help people every day. Time to roll up our sleeves and get involved in helping the hurting. And, third, quit being afraid to share Jesus. Pray for boldness and a clear “nudge” to share Him with someone today. We don’t have to define who it is or what we will say. God will do that for us through His Spirit.

Our job is daily to live, not just exist, in Jesus. Our persons—collectively called the Church—are, since the first Pentecost after Jesus’ left earth, the Presence of God. Our bodies are His temple. I fear to have Jesus have to act in me the way He had to act in the earthly Temple.

(Thoughts based on Mark 11:15-18)