I recently had the opportunity to have a conversation with a woman who had recently received an unwanted diagnosis. It’s something that, to say the least, is taking some getting used to.
During the course of the conversation, there were two encouraging ideas that came up, which can be applied to other peoples’ lives, too:
This diagnosis didn’t catch God off guard.
This new set of circumstances in no way changes God’s will for your life.
We’ve all had something come along and take the wind out of our sails. As we get ready to kick off holiday season, please be mindful of the people around you who may be going through a particularly challenging time. The holidays, especially, can be a trying time, and you may have been placed in their life for such a time as this.
I enjoyed showing various video clips to my kids when they were little. When she was a toddler, I showed my youngest daughter a computer-generated animation accompanied by “Twinkle, twinkle little star.” It was slow-paced, so it easily held the attention of young little eyes. This particular version, about two and a half minutes long, featured an owl who looked up at the night sky and decided to fly up high to get a better look at a star hovering above.
As he flew to a great height, the star came to greet him. The two new friends frolicked along the tops of clouds for a bit, to the owl’s great enjoyment. It was utter happiness for the two, sharing these magical moments. Alas, all things come to an end, and eventually the owl began to fall back to earth as the star watched, waving goodbye, ending this brief friendship.
My daughter watched, captivated, until this part. As she saw the look in the owl’s eyes, along with the star’s farewell wave, a profound sadness came over her and she began to cry. This was a completely unexpected reaction. Of course children want to be in the presence of their own mother from a very young age, but it turns out even a child too young to write her name understands the importance of togetherness and the pain of separation in others. Communion and fellowship are hardwired into us; we need others.
After we slip from this life into the next, there are only two possibilities for how we’ll spend eternity. The first is joyful bliss in the everlasting presence of the Lord. The second is the shock and pain of isolation from Him. When we picture Hell, we often think of fire. While eternal smoke from unbelievers is described in the Bible (Revelation 14:11), I think we usually miss the fact that folks in this category have no chance of ever getting right with, and spending time with the Almighty, other than standing before Him in judgment. While Christians can rest in the idea of Christ’s love, those who reject Him will themselves be rejected and cast into an existence of separation from Him (and likely everyone else).
Just a little reminder of what’s at stake here. You might very well be the only person to speak Christ to someone else. Don’t worry about messing it up. They’re already facing the worst-case scenario: eternity separated from the Lord. You can’t make it any worse, but you can help them gain the only thing that matters. Start a conversation today.
Though our world continues to darken, there is always hope in Christ, and it’s our job to reflect that hope.
This past week some controversial news came out of the Vatican. I’m not Catholic and I’m not familiar with many Catholic practices, but it seems the Pope has made some changes that now allow blessings for homosexual couples under certain conditions.
To be clear, he’s not changing the Catholic Church’s view that marriage is between a man and a woman, but he’s enabled blessings to take place which formerly could not occur. I’m not real familiar with what exactly a blessing means in this case. If a blessing is something you give to everyone that comes inside, like a handshake or a fist bump, it’s probably not such a big deal. If, on the other hand, it represents the Church saying “we sanction your behavior,” then we’ve got serious problems. I suspect it’s not at either of those extremes. The guidance is that such blessings must not have the appearance of endorsing gay marriage. It is, I think, a relatively minor change to those familiar with Catholic practices and protocols, but again, he has changed policy to enable blessings for people who could not have blessings granted previously. Overall, Pope Francis is trying to make the Church appear more welcoming to homosexuals.
He’s in a tough spot. The number of people that claim to be Catholic (or Protestant, for that matter) is in decline, and he’s trying to do something about it. Unfortunately, when church leaders around the world ask “how can we make the people of the world be more open to attending church?,” the only real answer is “make the church look more like the people of the world.” That’s a mistake.
Christ knew He came with an offensive message, and we, the Church, are to purposely stand in stark contrast to the darkness around us, echoing that offensive message. “You’re all sinners, and therefore unworthy of Heaven.” While that will certainly make you feel defensive the first time you hear it, it’s not the whole story. The rest of the story is that Christ made a way for all sinners (regardless of skin color, wealth, gender, age, political persuasion, social status, etc.) to get to Heaven and spend eternity with God. There are two ways to Heaven: 1. Live a perfect, sinless life, or 2. Ride the coattails of someone who already has. Since option 1 isn’t possible for anyone reading this, we’re all depending on option 2. The only person who’s lived a sinless life is Jesus Christ, and He wants you to accept His offer, which He gladly extends to all without prejudice. The audacity of standing in contrast to what the world says is acceptable is exactly what makes Christ stand out.
I see what Pope Francis is trying to do, but I think if sinners don’t feel welcome in church, that’s as much our fault as it is the fault of upper levels of church leadership. Different churches absolutely have different feels to them, but their primary goal should always be twofold: 1. knowing Christ and 2. spreading Christ. If you’re part of a church that isn’t doing either one of those, it’s probably time to start asking some questions.
We should be going out of our way to make sinners feel welcome at church. After all, we’re sinners, and we’re there, aren’t we? Life is messy. People are broken. No church can fix them, but Christ can. If people are seeking truth, do what you can to make them feel welcome at church, which in turn can help them find the truth of Christ, especially this Christmas season.
Merry Christmas to all, and may you know Christ deeper in the coming year!
Nobody knows when Christ will come back, but if you look around at the state of the world today, it’s hard to imagine we’ll still be “business as usual” 20 years from now. (You never know, there could be massive revival and turning to God between now and then, but at least right now, it’s tough to imagine that happening.)
If you’re a student of Christian eschatology – the study of the End Times – you probably fall into one of two major camps. The first, and probably more natural, train of thought is to shake your head in disgust at what the world is turning into, and take “prepper-style” actions to safeguard yourself and your loved ones. With prophecies of the world’s end sprinkled throughout the Bible, it’s tough not to think about making preparations of some kind. I’d guess that at some time or another, just about every believer has looked at the news and considered withdrawing from society and spending their time almost exclusively with other believers. I get it, but I’d caution against it.
(See a past post on the difference between the Rapture and Christ’s Second Coming here)
The second camp acknowledges that even though difficult times are coming for Christians, Christ will snatch the Church out of this world before His plans upend normal life on earth. Current events testify to a rise in chaos, natural disasters, moral decay, and international conflicts. We don’t need to fear the wrath of the Lord acting corporately on us. This is a bittersweet situation; despite the apparent nearing of being yanked out of a fallen world to escape its most terrible conditions, it also means we have less time to do things that will have an eternal impact. We have to be intentional with the time we have remaining. Being “salt and light” means we’re helping point others to Christ, and it’s tough to do that by staying secluded in literal or figurative shelters that we’ve built for ourselves.
Of course, there’s no way for me to guarantee your safety or well-being if you follow Christ’s calling for your life, so please don’t think I’m promising something I can’t deliver. Living for Christ comes at a cost. Just know that since God has plans for your life, it wouldn’t make much sense for Him to allow you to get derailed when you’re walking the path He’s laid out for you. Without a doubt, you need to expect opposition; if you’re running with the ball, people are going to try to tackle you. If you’re living out your calling, though, opposition isn’t something you need to fear.
Time is short. The fields are ready, but the workers are few. Get out there and use the things God’s entrusted to you, because being called home while you still have something in the tank isn’t going to help anybody.
(Are you a literal prepper that’s resolved to separate yourself from society because of the turmoil and moral decay you see? Maybe an ideal ministry opportunity for you is to host Christians that are hamstrung by the anxiety they face from current events. Provide a place for them to seek respite while they steel themselves biblically for a return to their own ministry.)
Lord, people have been anticipating Your return for thousands of years. All of them have been wrong so far about when that day is. Whatever Your timeline, it’s obvious that the world needs You, and we know that You’ve put us here to help spread the good news of the sacrifice you’ve made to save us. Help us not get wrapped up in predicting dates, but instead to focus with urgency on employing the gifts and opportunities You’ve charged us with. Help us bring You glory. I ask these things in Your name, amen.
(This has been kind of a stressful week where regular routines got tossed aside and our family had to call some audibles. Part of that change meant not having much time or mental energy to devote to a blog post. My teenaged daughter was sweet, saw that I was stressed about not having the time to write something, and offered to let me use something she wrote. So without further ado, here’s the worldwide debut of my daughter’s writing skills. Thanks kiddo!)
Witnessing to people is hard. You know that’s what God tells you to do, and you can’t imagine people you know and love going to Hell, but sharing the gospel can be very difficult.
Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 that “for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” Thieves come unexpected and unannounced. As Christ said in Mark 13:32, “But concerning the day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
But what if you did know? What if you knew God was coming back, say, tomorrow at 3 pm? What are some things you would do before His arrival? I know one of my top priorities would be to tell my non-Christian friends. I would not care what they thought of me because I would know, Christ’s coming back! I would just want to save them from God’s wrath before it’s too late.
Well, we don’t know when Christ is coming back. But what we do know is that sometime, anytime, Jesus IS coming back. It could be tonight, five years from now, or maybe even tomorrow at 3 pm. The possibilities are endless!
My point is, God’s coming back. Those things you would do if Christ was coming tomorrow? Do them as soon as possible, for all we know, the Lord may be coming back tonight. Don’t be caught off guard.
What are some things you want to have done before Christ returns? How can you make them happen as soon as possible?
Lord, help me to live my life as if you were coming back anytime, because no one knows the day or the hour. Amen.
Before all the modern tools used in making today’s maps, cartographers had to do things the old-fashioned way, with surveying tools. As you might imagine, using the crude instruments of yesteryear could be tedious, and if surveying teams had the opportunity to take steps that would save them some work on subsequent projects, they’d be eager to hear about it.
Enter the idea of the benchmark. On a topographic map, a benchmark is a spot whose exact elevation is known. A benchmark is a small disc that’s permanently installed at such a site, and it’s inscribed with numbers that display the elevation of the spot where the disc lays. Surveying teams can show up and get right to work using the benchmark as a hard and fast fact; it’s something they know is true and can be relied upon to build accurate information off of.
Today’s society could use some reminders about one of the Lord’s benchmarks.
In many places the Bible condemns sexual immorality. Sexual immorality is an umbrella term under which several types of specific categories fall. Often times it seems like Christians are quick to condemn homosexuality as sin (which it is, according to several verses in the Bible, like Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-28, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10), but in focusing on just one type of sexual immorality, other types are ignored or somehow seen as “less bad.” In all cases we’re to love the sinner but hate the sin, but we also need to remember that all sin is detestable to the Lord and is something that should not be accepted, especially among Christians. Christians engaging in sin should be confronted (in love), and not be “given a pass” for something that eats away at their witness.
God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman. That’s the only acceptable combination in His eyes. (Don’t get mad at me, take it up with the Man upstairs.) Sexual activity you engage in with someone that is not your spouse is sin. The natural question is “How do you define ‘sexual activity?’” I’d say that if you have a behavior in mind that you’re already trying to rationalize, it’s probably something you shouldn’t be doing. Jesus described it this way in Matthew 5:28 – “but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Just be honest with yourself. Call sin what it is. One-night stands, quick flings, cohabitation, etc. If you’re doing something you know is wrong, come clean to God with it. (Trust me, He already knows; the coming clean part is mostly for your benefit.)
On the flip side, it’s important to recognize that we are all sinners, and all of us struggle with sin in some way. The attraction of a sexual sin like pornography that has a stranglehold on one Christian may have no power at all over another. At the same time, those that have overcome such addictions are in a prime position to come alongside a brother or sister that’s currently losing in their struggle with the sin. I urge you: if you’re one of those two types, seek to connect with someone of the other type. The fear is often “nobody would even want to associate with me if they knew what I’m keeping secret.” I understand why you may think that, but Christianity is not a spectator sport; it is to be lived in the trenches and we’re supposed to help one another in our struggles.
Sexual sin is one of, if not the only, sin where the advice we get is to outright run from it. First Corinthians 6:18 says Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. That means actively taking steps to prevent certain situations and outright extracting yourself from others. If you use a computer to access sites you know you shouldn’t, don’t use the computer unless someone else is around. Put your phone down, turn off data, or shut it off unless you’re purposefully using it for appropriate things. If you have a coworker or someone else in your life that you enjoy being around a little more than you should, actively avoid spending any more time than you need to with them. It’s on you to recognize the problem and start trying to do something about it.
You may think the things I’m saying here conflict with the messages you get from our culture. I hope so. The Christian’s message is supposed to do exactly that. We’re supposed to stand out. The messages you’re hearing from the world are the moral equivalent of installing numerous false benchmarks all around real ones. Keep track of what’s true and trustworthy, and it will cut down on a lot of the confusion you’ll otherwise face. Remember…sin is something to be avoided, not tolerated.
It can be tough trying to find a church you like. I fully recognize that, but sometimes people take things to the extreme.
Churches can be a little too this, or not enough of that. The natural inclination is to look for a church home that meets your preferences. That absolutely makes sense. It’s important not to set the bar impossibly high, though. “The Perfect Church” simply does not exist. Even if it did, it would be ruined once you, an imperfect person, started attending there.
“I don’t like the worship.”
“I don’t like the preaching.”
“It’s not welcoming enough.”
“The people there are too friendly.”
These can all be criticisms of a church, but let me point out that when you walk into a church for the first time, you’re likely to find what you’re looking for. That is to say, if you’re looking for a reason not to like a given church, you’ll probably find one. If you’re looking for hypocritical behavior, it’s probably only a matter of time before you encounter it. If you’re looking for someone to do or say something that doesn’t jive with your preferred code of conduct, yes, it’s going to happen.
Instead, I’d like to propose that you walk into a church looking for solid Bible teaching and a congregation of people that’s imperfect but loves Jesus, loves each other, and wants to spread the Gospel. Once you find that, be on the lookout for a way to volunteer your spiritual gifts in humility. (By humility, I mean exactly that…even if you believe you’re blessed with more talent than whoever is already serving in that capacity, you should not expect to impress everyone and be given the leeway to transform an existing ministry into the version you’d like) A healthy church welcomes new attendees and looks to employ those new attendees’ spiritual gifts and willingness to serve.
Rather than looking for reasons not to attend a particular church, look for the things you know God would applaud about the church and the ways you can fill the role of the missing puzzle piece that makes the church a more complete entity. Christianity isn’t a spectator religion; you’ve got to get involved. Maybe you haven’t found the church you like because the one you’re attending is still missing the thing you can offer.
Who knows? Your contribution to the congregation may be the thing that makes a future newcomer say “yes, this feels like my new church home.”
Years ago there was a sitcom on TV called “Parks and Rec.” It was a comedy that focused on the staff of the Parks and Recreation Department of a small Midwestern town in Indiana.
The main character in this show is a woman named Leslie Knope, a very energetic civil servant overflowing with enthusiasm. Leslie’s best friend is Ann Perkins, a bubbly and fun (but not nearly as over-the-top as Leslie) nurse. My personal favorite is Leslie’s boss, Ron Swanson. He’s a deadpan middle-aged guy that enjoys solitude, fine alcohol, well-prepared meats of any kind, and making government bureaucracy less efficient.
In one particular episode Ron learns Leslie is planning a surprise birthday event for him, which, in Ron’s mind, is a mortifying idea. Leslie’s panache for flamboyant celebrations is something he fears will be turned on him. Out of morbid curiosity, he asks Ann about a past surprise birthday party Leslie threw for her. You can almost sense his nausea as she fondly recalls being “kidnapped” from work, brought to a restaurant where a mariachi band sang happy birthday to her and made her wear a sombrero, then afterward heading home where virtually all of Ann’s friends were waiting to surprise her.
Ron went into defensive mode. He starts sleeping at the office to reduce the opportunities for him to be kidnapped. He starts learning of little hints that another kidnapping is in the offing. When Leslie finally comes to him with a lame attempt to get him to a specific location elsewhere in the building, he resigns himself to the fate he’d been trying to avoid. He follows Leslie to a conference room and she opens the door, where he expects someone to lunge at him.
Instead, he finds a comfortable chair at a simply set table for one. The table has a large steak, a heaping side of bacon, a baked potato with plenty of toppings, a bottle of booze to complement the steak, and two war movies for him to enjoy by himself.
As he stumbles to find the right words to say, Ron mentions the party Ann had described to him earlier. Leslie replies “I did that for Ann. Why would I throw Ron Swanson an Ann Perkins party?”
This oddly touching scene is the perfect analogy for the way the Lord commissions us to do His work. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, when I was younger I always feared I’d have to grow up and become some kind of missionary in a far-off land. I know that’s important, but I don’t want to do that! To any missionaries out there, a thousand thank yous for the work you do. I can’t rule out the possibility that being a missionary is still somewhere in my future, but I feel blessed that God’s said something similar: “I already have people for that. I need you to do this thing nobody else is equipped to do.” Hopefully you’re hearing the same message.
As it turns out, there are plenty of roles God can use you for, and there are some we may not enjoy. Sometimes though, you may just find that God hands you an assignment and you mull it over for awhile, only to come away saying “yeah, you know, I think I could do that!”
They won’t always be fun, but you’ll be blessed each time you say “yes” to God.
Lord, thank you for knowing us better than we know ourselves, and for training, equipping, and preparing us for the things You’ll ask of us. Help us be brave when we’re asked to do something we don’t want to do, be appreciative when we’re asked to do something we like, and be confident in You at all times. In Your name I ask, Amen.
To see this “Parks and Rec” exchange, have a look here. There’s some crude language sprinkled throughout, but it’s still a fun clip.
If you live a righteous life, you’re going to encounter opposition.
It’s a tricky thing, this balance Christians need to maintain. On the one hand, we need to have other Christians we can depend on, go to with our problems, and lean on for support. On the other hand, we can’t immerse ourselves so much in this support system that we never have contact with the people we’re meant to witness to. Our job, after all, is to go forth and make disciples of all nations. It’s tough to do that if we only spend time with other believers.
I’ve got a story to share that’s going to make me sound like I’m touting how perfect I was at a certain time in my life. That’s not my intent, so please hang in there for the point I’m trying to make. I worked construction for a couple of summers in college and then for about a year and a half after graduating. You meet a lot of interesting (translated: rough) characters in that line of work. The crude speech alone was enough to raise some eyebrows.
I stuck out quite a bit in this field. I didn’t swear, I didn’t drink, and I didn’t chase women. That’s pretty unusual for a young man in that line of work. I didn’t act in a morally superior or “holier than thou” way. It wasn’t necessary. People took notice over time. Different guys would leave or join the crew, but it seemed like everyone except me indulged in at least one of those three behaviors. One of the guys even told me “I’ve met dudes that avoid one of those things. I’ve even met a couple of guys that avoid two of those things. But you’re the only guy I’ve met that doesn’t do any of those things.”
A lot of times a few of the guys would try to prod me to let slip a dirty word or two. Occasionally a few of them would conspire to make me have a rough day, just to try to get me to lose my temper. Now why would they do that? They saw somebody more disciplined than them and they tried to get him to stumble so he’d “descend to their level.” I’m not going to sit here and tell you that people who drink or cuss or make mistakes can’t get into Heaven. I will tell you though, that blamelessness bothers sinners. I’m not perfect, but guys on that crew figured I was, and it was an image they wanted to mar for their own satisfaction. If they could make a “perfect” person stumble, it made them feel better about the way they lived their own lives.
That’s one side of the coin. There’s a very important flip side to it. When you stiffen your spine in response to consistent opposition day after day, week after week, month after month, there’s a certain amount of respect that others develop toward you. I wasn’t preachy about my faith to the other guys. In fact, I don’t know that I ever even threw “I’m a Christian” out there. One guy, who had given me a lot of grief, but who was also a very philosophical type of fellow, one day told me he had a lot of respect for my convictions. He seemed to take at least a little bit of joy in finding hypocrisy in people that called themselves religious. After months of working together and trying to get under my skin, he told me “you are who you say you are.” (I never had to say who I was.)
Not only was it a very high compliment coming from him, it was an acknowledgement to me that it had been worth the heat. Soon after that we spent some time talking about the Bible and some of the things it contained. We eventually went our separate ways, but a few years later my wife and I looked him up and visited him and his family. They had us over for dinner, breaking out some big steaks, sharing their table and their home with us. I can’t say I led the guy to Christ, and I haven’t had any contact with him in probably 15 years, but I hope to be one member of the team that takes part in his years-long journey to the Lord.
God will ask you to do things that are hard. He asks you to do it because He knows you’re uniquely suited to get it done. If He asks you to be above reproach in a difficult environment, it might just be because He knows blamelessness bothers sinners, and He’s using you to get somebody’s attention. Hang in there. God uses teams of believers to accomplish His will in any given person’s life, but you may be the one He’s chosen to get the ball rolling.
Did you know that? A lot of people seem to think that Christians are supposed to be pushovers or doormats. That’s categorically false. We’re supposed to stand apart from the culture, and that’s something that often takes great courage and fortitude.
You probably don’t often feel like a mighty warrior, though. Of course there are giants of the faith, and you might wonder how you can even be mentioned in the same breath as some of them.
Listen to me. If you’re not yet at the end of your Christian walk, God can still do plenty in and through you. He wants you for who you are, not who you ought to be. Yet He looks at you and sees not who you are now, but what you can become.
The world is dark and getting darker. Let the light of Christ shine in your life, whatever that looks like in your circumstances. We need you. Other Christians need you. Unbelievers need you. You may have some thoughts right now about how you can do that in your own life. God equipped you with certain talents or interests, and He did that for a reason. Follow through, and let God use you.
There’s a song that was very popular a few years back. It was about a guy that saw some of the hurt and injustice of the world, and he cried out “God, why don’t you do something?”
God said “I did. I created you.”
It might be true that you’re not a giant of the faith…yet. But it doesn’t take a giant to start with doing some of the little things that need to get done.
