A Christian Islamic State

Dear Church,

If you don't want to live under Sharia law, don't try to impose your understanding of "Biblical" law on anyone else.

The governmental version of marriage and ours are NOT inextricably intertwined.

Jesus came to establish a kingdom transcending human government. Why are you trying to make them the same thing? Jesus explicitly rejected every attempt to force him into that role. What makes you think he changed his mind?

Give up that yoke. It's killing you and causing more collateral damage than you can imagine.

Love And Hate- the Gay Marriage Ruling

I took today off to work on my book but it's been hard to concentrate given the hullabaloo around the SCOTUS ruling today on gay marriage. My gay friends are naturally thrilled. The rest of my friends, scattered across various spectrums of beliefs, vary from thrilled to wary to livid to terrified. My liberal friends mostly celebrate and my conservative friends mostly wail. This is to be expected.

What should NOT be expected is that some (and it's far from all, thank God) of my Christian friends- my self-professed family- are acting furious, angry, and downright nasty toward gays, toward the court, toward elected leaders, and toward Christians who disagree with them on both sides of the issue!

I may well hurt or anger people on all sides of the issue with this blog- especially if you don't read all the way through with an open mind. If you're not willing to do that, you should probably just move along until you are. But hurt and anger are the farthest things from my intent.

First off, if we're going to demand that the government stay out of religion we need to be careful not to impose religion via government. If marriage is a sacrament, something the Church should be involved in, then the Church needs to differentiate that from what the government considers marriage. The government deals in legal technicalities, taxes, and control. This applies to marriage as much as anything. Personally, I wish another word were used; I see all marriages as civil unions from a governmental standpoint. Or we can change the term the Church uses. I really don't care. My point is that they are two completely separate things and the Church should not be up in arms over the government changing the legal definition of marriage. My gay friends have every legal right to expect equal protection and equal rights under the law.

Religious groups, on the other hand, have every right to interpret the religious meaning of marriage based on their interpretation of spiritual revelation, whatever form that takes- be it the Torah, the Christian Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Koran, or wisdom handed down orally by generations of elders. No pastor, priest, imam, or other religious leader should be told s/he must violate her/his conscience to perform a marriage.

I speak of the Church and marriage, but even that wording is fraught with peril today as various Christians argue over what the Bible says, or whether it is even relevant in this case. Ten different people may mean ten different things when they say, "the Church"- or when they say "I believe the Bible".

I believe the Bible is God's word. I'm not sure it's 100% inerrant in its wording, especially in its interpretation today. I have no doubt the gist of it is correct. I have met God. I have a deep, intimate relationship with the God of the Bible. I have been kissed by God.^[1] I know God pretty well. And I know that God transcends that book.

The Bible itself says that Jesus was (is) the Word of God. How can the letter matter more than the person? Jesus said far more things than are in the Bible (according to the Bible!) And yet he never said a word about homosexuality.

There are only a tiny handful of passages about homosexuality in the Bible. They are not as clear as most of us would like. At the same time, the attempts to explain them away are no more definitive. It looks to me like these passages support the notion that homosexuality is a sin. I don't like that. I have gay friends, friends so close they are family. At least one of my dopta-daughters is gay, and several more have had happy same-sex experiences even though they don't consider themselves gay. I know these people. I love them. Many of them know God, exhibit fruits and even gifts of the Spirit. Every one struggled with their identity and believes God told them they are OK as they are.

I don't know what to do with all of that; I still don't understand. As much as I would like to believe that being gay is perfectly fine, those few verses nag at me. But that's OK. There are lots of things I don't understand in the Bible. I don't sweat that; if studying gets me nowhere I put them aside and trust God to show me what I need to know when I need to know it.

And yet... Jesus died for all sins. ALL sins. Yours, mine, President Bush's, President Obama's, my wonderful straight wife's, my precious, gay daughter Corey, my dear friend and brother Neal. That same Jesus, when asked which of the commandments was the greatest, didn't name any of the Big Ten. He didn't reach into the bowel of the OT and pull out "a man shall not lay with a man". He said to love God with everything in you, and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Note the restrictions there. Look carefully; write them down. Enumerate them. If you want to get all Old testament, write them on your pillars and doorways, and put them in boxes on your wrists and foreheads. Go ahead. I counted them so you can be sure you got them all.

Zero. None. Nada. The empty set. A non-intersecting Venn Diagram. A blank spreadsheet.

"Love your neighbor." Not just the person who believes as you do. Not just Christians. Not just your family. Not just straight or gay people. Not just people of a certain skin tone. In another parable Jesus made it clear that most of us wouldn't recognize our neighbor even if she were saving our life. Because everyone is our neighbor.

Every. Last. One.

We can discuss the issues. That's a good thing. Arguing? Not so much. Vituperous proclamations, degradations, damnation, and general nastiness? That's the kind of thing that earned the hypocrites among the religious leaders a scathing retort from Jesus.

I've seen a lot of people saying "LOVE WINS!" on Facebook today. But from some (again, nowhere near all!) of my FB friends who proclaim their Christianity the loudest, I see only condemnation and judgment. Don't expect too many people to listen. In fact, I pray they don't.

I encourage all of you to seek someone out who believes differently. Get to know them. Show some love. If you're a believer (or even if you aren't sure), pray together. You won't get cooties. You won't get a demon. But you might well encounter God- the Jesus who redeemed us, the Father/Mother who lovingly made and sustains us, the Holy Spirit who brings us in unity with God and each other.

It's not my job to "save" anyone or fix anyone. That's up to God. I'm here to love, and I love you. As does God. Straight, gay, however you see yourself. But when you look in the mirror know that you were created in the image of God. Every last one of you.

 

[1] If you care, it was extremely intimate. It was romantic. It was pure love. It was powerful. It was many things. But it was not homosexual or heterosexual.

When Structures Kill

I can't find the word "organic" anywhere in the Bible. My Hebrew is non-existent and my Greek nearly so but I haven't ever run across it in a concordance, an inter-linear, or any translation or interpretation (I doubt the word existed during the time of King James).

But the original Church of Jesus was totally organic- it was Jesus and people and food and miracles and joy and stuff like that. It was constantly in motion, constantly growing, constantly new. The main non-organic part was Holy Spirit, who just takes organic into new realms.

In too many cases, the modern version of the Church (or rather, many churches) thinks in terms of structures- land, physical plant, hierarchy, covering, accountability, and so on. In and of themselves, there's nothing wrong with any of these. But taken to extremes they are extremely destructive. Couple these with lots of rules and regulations (as inevitably happens when structures take over) and you ten toward becoming a cult. Blech.

If the structures don't facilitate the organic Church- the community, the family- then I have no use for them. If the bricks, rules, or any other structure tries to define / solely contain / otherwise run the organic relationships, I'm out.

When structures start trumping the organic Church, they are probably driven by one or more of these culprits:

1. Control - someone feels the need
2. Fear - "If we don't..." "If we let..." "What if?" "Do you know what happened?" "Do you know what could happen?"
3. Misunderstanding the Bible
4. Taking verses out of context

There may well be others but I have seen these time and again. I've seen a lot of good people hurt badly by all of these. The antidotes?

1. Love.
2. Grace.
3. Honor.
4. Freedom.
5. Joy
6. Peace

All that stuff. Every. Last. Time. And we know the real source of the antidote- a relationship with God: with Daddy, with Jesus, with Holy Spirit.

I honestly don't care if you have joined a "local church" although there's a lot to be said for that if you can find a healthy one (or are healthy enough to help grow one). Community and family look different to different people. If your community and family are strictly online, that's better than nothing! (There was a time that other than my wife, my main community of faith was online.) But some days you need a hug, Or coffee or tea. Or whatever. Or they do. So look around you. There's someone. Embrace your brother and sister regardless of where they worship or what label (if any) they wear. Remember the second commandment- just like the first- "love your neighbor as yourself". Laugh with those who rejoice and weep with those who mourn. Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Take care of the outcast. Eat and drink together. Sing, dance, play games, talk, pray, sit quietly, go for walks, heal the sick, set the captive free.

That's what Jesus did. That's what the disciples did. Why do we think we have a better plan? Do you really think Jesus would have been more effective with modern business methods? Do you really think he didn't see these coming? He did. He might have wept.

The Other Ten Commandments

When asked which was the greatest commandment- presumably of the ten God gave Moses- Jesus blew some minds.

Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Mt 22/37-40, NIV)

Inevitably when I bring this up, someone adamantly reminds me that Jesus did not come to abolish the law, and that we must not forget about the other commandments. Since very, very few of these people observe the Jewish dietary laws I'll assume they mainly mean the Ten Commandments. So how do they apply?

In general, I would say that Jesus' two commandments do not abolish the ten; they fulfill them. It's not that we should ignore the ten, it's more that if we truly follow (or fall into) the two, the ten are no longer a big deal. Let's break that down.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
   If I love God with all that is in me, what other gods would I love, much less more than God?
2. You shall not make idols.
   An idol is something to worship. If I love completely, idols fall by the wayside, or get obliterated.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
   Why would I speak lies about my beloved, or curse him?
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
   I will certainly set aside time for the one I love most!
5. Honor your father and your mother.
   If we truly love someone we will honor them.
6. You shall not murder.
   How can I murder someone I love? And we are to love all.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
   Why would I cheat on someone I love? If I'm seriously tempted to cheat (temptation itself comes to all, even as it did to Jesus; I'm talking about seriously considering it) then I'm not really loving my wife enough and it's time to get my love on.
8. You shall not steal.
   As with the others, how can I steal from someone I love? That would show a serious problem.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
   I can't lie about the character or actions of someone I care deeply about.
10. You shall not covet.
    If I love my neighbor (Jesus made it clear in another parable that's everyone) I'm not going to want to take their stuff. I'm going to be happy for them.

Is it sounding like a broken record by the end? It probably should. It's the same principle.

Jesus made it clear while talking to a crowd on the side of a mountain that we don't really even understand the point of the commandments. For instance, "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Mt 5/28, NIV) It's about the heart as much as the actions. This doesn't mean the actions don't matter; it means the heart matters as well. But if I love that woman as God does, if I see her as God does, then I'm going to hate the very idea of lusting after her, and kick lust to the curb. That frees me up to express love; I can look her in the eyes, hug her, laugh with her, weep with her, let her talk about anything she needs to, and generally be in a safe relationship. My wife, knowing my heart, doesn't have to worry. And she, having that same love, is free in her relationships with others as well, and I have nothing to fear. Jealousy has no foothold.

(Someone will inevitably bring up safety here. If we're close to God, he'll let us know when to be careful with someone. If we're in community, we all have each others' backs. But too often when we talk about safety, it's fear driven. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..." (I Jn 4/18) That whole love thing again...)

If you need guidelines for what love looks like (or more generally doesn't look like), spend some time pondering the ten commandments. But since Love is a person, spend more time pondering, getting to know, being loved by, and loving God. Everything else grows out of that.

What About the Most of These?

We should all be familiar with Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats (Mt 25/30-46). It is there we find two passages about how we treat the powerless and downtrodden.

1. "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (v, 40)
2. "Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." (v. 45)

Jesus of course was referring to a common tendency to treat the rich, the powerful, the admired, the famous, the respected people well and to look down upon the less fortunate.

But what about the people on the other end of the spectrum? How are we to treat them? Some people flip it around, showing compassion- even admiration- for those with little while heaping disdain (if not hatred) on those judged to be well off.

The reality is that God made us all in his image. Rich and poor, male and female, every ethnicity, every walk of life, whatever the difference, we are made in his image. We should show no more, and no less, honor and love for the rich than the poor, the poor than the rich. Until we truly see all men and women as equal, we are not living up to who we are- to who we were created to be, to who Christ died for us to be.

Love God with every fiber of your being.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Every last one of them.

How I met God and, Later, Bethel

I met God and later Bethel in similar ways, almost against my will. If that sounds strange, please bear with me.

Suppose you hear about this amazing family, the Joneses. You keep your eyes and ears open, hoping to meet them. Eventually you realize you have friends in common. Over time you notice the things they tell you about the Joneses are not so good. Joe Jones feels up young women, Mary Jones is a cougar on the prowl, the kids vary from just weird to downright mean. You lose interest in the Jones family; you've already had way too many people like that in your life (one is way too many, right?)

A year or so later you realize your friends Smiths are the Jones' cousins, and Jim and Bertie Weems are Joe's God-parents, and they paint a different picture. You realize the neighbors had their own issues, which caused them to project things onto the Joneses. Maybe they aren't so bad, even if they aren't what you originally hoped (you are, after all, still feeling cautious. Once burned twice shy!) After a while, though, you realize the Joneses still sound a bit sketchy. Joe might be stealing office supplies. Mary is always hanging out with the teenagers next door, even though there's no rumors of anything really bad. The kids seem awfully doped, like maybe they're on dope.

Somehow you end up at a party with the Jones. And they're just really nice people. When they hug you it feels good-- and totally safe. Right off the bat, Joe seems to get who you are. Mary talks about the things that matter to you. Their kids and yours teach each other new games you want to join in. A week later when they hear you all have the flu, they come to your house with chicken soup and crackers. They do your laundry. Mary cleans the toilet while Jim does the huge pile of dishes. A month later one of your kids mentions your sister and her kids having to move to a womens' shelter and the Joneses send clothes, books, toys, and a check. You realize the Smiths and Weems, though closer than those first neighbors, also didn't quite get who the Joneses really are. Their own problems distorted their view.

Who are the Joneses? Good people. The best. Instant family. They love you, they care for you, they're there for you.

And that's pretty much how I met God. And later Bethel.

Don't judge a book by the books around it. Don't judge God (or other people) by the people who claim to know them. Get to know them yourself. You won't be sorry.

Modesty and Breast-Feeding

Danger, Will Robinson! This blog discusses female anatomy, dancing, lust, and babies. All at once. It's mildly provocative. If this offends you then you should probably leave now.

Apparently breastfeeding in public-- until the middle of last century pretty much how the entire human race survived-- is now one of the biggest crimes against humanity there is. And one of the reasons most often cited by Christians (mainly women Christians, at that) is that it involves a lack of modesty, causing every male within a thirty yard radius (except possibly, just possibly, any male infant under the age of, say, 72 hours, being breastfed) to lust. I mean full goose bozo, raging hormones, out of control lust.

I have to be honest. I think women need to be modest in breastfeeding. What does that mean? Well, speaking from the perspective of someone who tries to take the Bible as a whole instead of prooftexting, I'd say it means:

1. Don't whip it out[1] and stick your nipple in my face. Oddly enough, no breast feeding mom has ever done that to me, to anyone I know, or to anyone I have even heard about. Their nipples usually go straight into their babies' mouths.
2. Don't pop `em both out and then dance around while breastfeeding, gyrating the free boobie like some (deranged) exotic dancer.[2]
3. Keep the rest of your clothes on; don't strip down and do a bump and grind show while you breastfeed.[3]

If you can pass these three basic tests, I'd say you are well within Biblical grounds for modesty, and frankly I don't see why anyone would get offended. I realize they do, but... SLAPPTM.[4]

And if a guy does lust because a woman is breastfeeding? Definitely SLAPPTM.[4]

FULL DISCLOSURE:
My Mom was once asked to leave a theater for nursing me. On the back row. Under cover. I was an infant. I'm pretty sure the theater was not very crowded.

When I was around 20 I was admiring a friend's newborn up close for a good 15 seconds or more before I realized she was nursing him. I backed off so as not to seem creepy but she didn't care at all; she knew I was looking at her son, not her. According to some anti-breastfeeders, that's not even possible. But it happened!

CREDITS:
There have been several excellent blogs lately about how silly the anti-breastfeeding arguments are (huge props to the lady who did the one on the evils of spoonfeeding in public!) but the one that prompted me to bare all (so to speak) was this one from The Leaky Boob.

NOTES
[1] I have never in my life seen a woman whip a breast out. It seems they'd have to be pretty big to do that, that means it would likely be painful. That's probably why it's less prevalent than some people seem to think.
[2] Again, that has never happened to me or anyone I know, etc.
[3] See previous notes.
[4] Sounds Like A Personal Problem To Me

Jesus Fails Various Tests

In John 4, we find Jesus talking, apparently alone, with a Samaritan woman at a well. Plenty of preachers and teachers have discussed the way Jesus failed some of the common "tests of faith" of his time:

• He spoke with a woman,
• alone,
• a yucky old Samaritan at that,
• and he asked her to get him a drink.

This all adds up to a pretty serious ritual impurity. And yet he remained pure.

But...

The thing that struck me today was how he failed a major, modern, evangelical test (and abysmally flunked the equivalent fundamentalist test). What did he do about the fact she had gone through five husbands, and was living with yet another man?

1. Admonish her to get busy with sacrifices?
2. Reject her?
3. Give her a tract?
4. Wave a sign in her face and scream that she was going to Hell?
5. Ask what church she was a member of so he could berate her pastor for letting her stay?
6. Stone her?
7. Offer her living water, grace, forgiveness, eternal life?

Ha ha ha! Of course, I am just kidding with number seven.

Oh, wait, I'm not. And by the end of the story, because her testimony brought them to Jesus, "many more became believers." This suggests that she had become a believer as well.

As far as we know, he never demanded she "reconcile with" (remarry) her first husband. [1]

He didn't take her through the Roman Road (Paul had yet to write that letter, but do you really think that would stop Jesus?).

No tracts.

Especially no John T. Chick tracts. Thank God.

He didn't make her say a prayer. He didn't even talk directly about repentance, just offered her grace.

We have no record of why she had five husbands. We have no record of who did what. Was she abused? An abuser? Was she cheating on them? Was she frigid? Was she barren? Was she mean? Was she boring? Did someone more enticing come along? Someone richer? Than who, her or her husband?

We have no idea. Jesus didn't go there.

So why do we?

Yes, I know God hates divorce. Yes, we should take marriage seriously. But it's not up to us to judge people or to demand (for instance) that a woman "reconcile" with an abuser and stay with him. You can proof text this one easily, but I guarantee you I can find a proof text to put you in the same boat with a divorcee, no matter how you live. If you consider context, consider Scripture as a whole, consider how Jesus dealt with people...

It turns out Jesus didn't fail the tests. The test givers failed.

Think about that long and hard before you try to beat someone into submission with a Scripture.

And think about another Scripture while you do. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Mt 7/1-2, NIV)

Grace. It's a good way to live.

 

NOTES
[1] some people will argue that the words husband here means "gods" because there is a Hebrew variant of Baal that can be translated either "god' or "husband". While I am not technically a Bible scholar I have studied quite a bit and been taught by some of the best. The word that can be translated either way is limited to a very few passages in the Old Testament. It does not appear in the New testament at all. Only one word for Baal appears in the new Testament, in Romans, and it clearly refers to the false god Baal. The word used here for "husband" is a word used for a human husband (it is translated "man", not "god") throughout the NT. I have no idea where the idea came from that Jesus meant gods here; it seems at best poor scholarship.

I Want to Hug the Westboro Baptist Church

I hope Westboro Baptist Church pickets my funeral.

No, really, I do.

I hope Jesus lets someone call me back, like Lazarus. I'd run over to hug the Westboro people first. They'd either get saved or run away and never picket another funeral.

But if not, I'm sure the revivalists, the community of people around me who are madly in love with the God of Love (and I don't mean Cupid), will show so much love that the Westboro folk will either get saved or flee in panic and confusion. I can hear the cops talking to them now. "No, sir, they were trying to hug you, not assault you. I know, because they hugged us all when we showed up."

Not long before going to the cross Jesus said, "Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples-when they see the love you have for each other." (Jn 13/33-35, The Message)

Or how about this? When asked earlier on which of the commandments was the greatest, Jesus said, Jesus said, "`Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: `Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them." (Mt 22/37-40, The Message) Many versions say "your neighbor" instead of "others". Jesus made it clear in his parable of the good Samaritan that everyone is our neighbor, including those we might tend to look down on, left to ourselves.

I'm sure that twisted logic would tell the WBCites that they are acting in love, but it's pretty obvious to the rest of the world that they aren't. I hope and pray that the people at Westboro Baptist Church come to know real Love, and are set free from their fears and hatred, as I pray that for all-- from world leaders to terrorists to people in third world hell hole slums to those caught up in sex trafficking. I want to hug you all. because God does.

There's an excellent booklet I recommend on the base topic here, The Mark of the Christian by Francis Schaefer. It's a quick read, less than 10,000 words. I wish every Christian would read this. It's available online (with permission from the publisher!) at http://www.ccel.us/schaeffer.html .

 

Passages from The Message copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

The Tsarnaev Legacy: We Get to Decide What it is

My friend Mitch Barnett posted today on Facebook:

"While everyone celebrates the fact that the two Boston Bomb suspects have been caught, I hope that everyone would remember the fact that another life has been lost to this incident (Tamerlan Tsarnaev) and now yet another life hangs in the balance. While these people were mistaken, and performed a terrible act of aggression on innocent people, they are human beings; they have families that loved and cared for them; they had friends. Keep your perspective in check before you begin to cast a message of hate at the two brothers. Violence and death solve nothing."

It's one thing to call for justice[1] but hatred is something else altogether. Hatred only leads to more hatred, misery and destruction-- if only in the hater. Seldom is it that limited.

Jesus spoke of justice but he also spoke of love. Everything he did was in the context of love. He went to the cross so that we need not face ultimate justice for our sins. The two greatest commandments do not mention justice:

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Mt 22:35-40, NIV)

Justice goes hand in glove with the Law. So even justice must be defined by Love.

The best possible outcome at this point is healing for all involved. I pray for emotional healing in all who lost a loved one or whose loved ones were hurt in any way. I pray for emotional and physical healing of everyone hurt (though about two hundred were physically hurt, thousands-- perhaps millions-- were emotionally scarred). I pray for the monetary damage to be overcome, that nobody would ultimately lose from this. I pray for the peace and joy of Boston, for the runners and their families and friends, for the people whose jobs or businesses were impacted.

When I say "all" I mean "all". I pray for the Tsarnaev family-- including these two brothers-- and friends. I pray that Boston, and Massachusetts, and the USA, and the world, will realize the futility and foolishness of hate, and turn to love.

Love has the best chance of bringing out love in people (others and ourselves). Hate tends to bring only more hate. Which do you want coming your way? Then think about what you're living out.

I believe that love requires us to stop heinous acts. Often this comes at a high price. But we cannot let that price be hatred or we become part of the problem.

In the words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us every one"-- with love and mercy, peace and joy. We've already seen much too much hatred, death, fear and misery.

While we're at it, pray for those in West, Texas. More people died and were physically injured in this than in Boston. While far less people are involved overall, it's a much smaller community, so the devastation within the community is huge.

 

Notes
[1] I find restitution to be the best form of justice, but it is not always possible, especially in violent crimes. Obviously, the perpetrators here cannot bring people back to life, replace limbs, restore the lost days of peoples' lives or the many millions of dollars wasted, rewind the Boston Marathon to the explosion point and let it finish, or remove the fear, pain and anguish inflicted this week.

A Shred of Testimony: Back to Basics

Throughout the new testament, we hear of the importance of testimony. In Revelation, we are told that the Saints overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Your testimony is your story, that which you can personally "bear witness", swear is true on the witness stand. That encompasses a lot more than "I was bad. I had a one time conversion experience. Then I was saved."

This short piece is a part of my testimony. It was inspired by a blog by El Chupacabra.

For years I sweated to be like Jesus. Needless to say, I became somewhat of a nervous wreck. always falling waaaay short.

Finally I started over from scratch and went back to reread the Gospels like the first time I read them when God drug me out of hippiedom into a mad love affair[1] with Jesus. And lo and behold, everything I had tried to know was wrong, and a great deal of what I'd left behind in my quest to be A Good Christian was right.

So I gave up on the idea of What Would Jesus Do, and went back to What Did Jesus Do? He looked to Daddy God. He loved people-- tangibly, with everything from time to touch to revelation to conversation to miracles to meals. Life got a whooole lot better, and a whooole lot easier. Especially when I realized it wasn't my job to save people. I mean, I'd said that for years, but it was freaking TRUE.

Grace, love, and rest trump works, fear, and more works. Every time.

Notes

[1] A marriage should be the ultimate love affair.

Whatever You Do to the Most of These...

We all know what Jesus said about how we are to treat "the least of these". But what about the people on the other end of the spectrum, "the most of these"? (I'm open to a better phrase!) He didn't directly address that question, but he gave us many clues. I find the best way to see how Jesus wants us to interact with people is to look at how he interacted with people. So... what did he do with these folk?

Mainly, he loved them, the rich and powerful as well as the poor and downtrodden. He treated them all the same. While he reserved most of his harshest words (as recorded in Scripture) for hypocritical religious leaders, he nevertheless hung out with some of these leaders as well. Nicodemus is an obvious example, but there were tax collectors, army officers, and (gasp) Pharisees and Sadducees.

He didn't pursue them to be seen with them or out of any lack on his part. The King of the Universe hardly needed their influence, blessing, or support. He just loved them, ate with them, spoke truth into their lives, and forgave them. Just as he did with the least.

We tend to have one of several reactions to the well off, powerful, and famous.

• We envy them.
• We judge them.
• We hate them.
• We idolize them.

But we are called to do just what Jesus did-- love, befriend, and serve them. Not for what we can get out of it but because they-- as we, as the poor, as the homeless, the destitute, the prostitute, the addict-- are made in God's image. God created them and saw that they were awesome. Jesus took on human form, lived and died and lived for them. The Holy Spirit longs to live in them.

So when the big deal minister shows up, don't just go to get a blessing. When the rich person shows up, don't scheme how to get in on the money game. When the political, business, military, media, or rock star shows up, don't just look for the photo op or the celebrity proximity effect or the inside scoop. Jesus for them.

You may be the only Jesus they ever see.

I'm a Soul Man! (Will you Be My Soul Sista?)

(Thanks to Alise Wright (http://alise-write.com/) for sparking this.)

A term I've heard far too often over the past decade is "soul tie". For those who don't know, it's Modern Christianese for two people being very close. The term "soul tie" does not appear in any translation of the Bible I'm aware of.

The Bible sometimes refers to people as "knit together" or otherwise as one: man and wife (Gen 2/24); Jonathan and David (I Sam 20/17); the men of Israel (Jud 20/11); a local body of believers (Col 2/2). These would be examples of good soul ties.

While most people who "teach" (and I use this term loosely) on soul ties recognize that there are good ties (marriage, close same sex friendships) there are several problems with the whole concept.

1. They focus almost exclusively on bad soul ties to the point most people don't even realize there are good ones.
2. They tend to paint almost all friendships between opposite sexes as examples of negative soul ties.
3. They tend to see close relationships between the sexes as inherently and inevitably dangerous... at best.

On top of these problems, there's a lot of doctrinal silliness contending that anything you do wrong creates a soul tie with someone and that any such ties are destructive, debilitating, demonic, and difficult to break.[1] This flies in the face of grace and the power of the finished work of the cross.

 

At its core, a soul tie is simply a relationship. Relationships are determined by intimacy; close relationships have more intimacy, more risk, more exposure, more openness, and ultimately more security. We are made for relationship-- not just with God, not just with a spouse, but with all those around us. We are made to be mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, grandparents and grandkids, and so on. Even best friends are intimate; how much more so family?

Therein lies a big part of the problem. We have become so sex-conscious that we tend to see everything in terms of sex. For most of us, the term "intimacy" primarily means "physical intimacy", which primarily means "sexual intimacy".

Except... those are not the primary meanings. Intimacy is a broad category. Physical intimacy is merely one subcategory of intimacy. Sexual intimacy is merely one subcategory of physical intimacy.

I am intimate (to varying degrees) with a fairly large number of people. I tend to be somewhat physically intimate with everyone around me, unless they simply can't cope with that. For me, handshakes are for business. I would far rather hug (I do respect others' boundaries). I have kissed quite a few people of both sexes-- family, extended family, and friends-- on the cheek or the head. There are any number of people I will put my arm around if we are in seats next to one another. There are at least a dozen young ladies who see me as a father or uncle with whom I sometimes hold hands while we walk, as well as women I see as sisters. I would have no problem holding hands with men. I am only sexually intimate with my wife.

Some of you need to read the preceding paragraph again. Maybe more than once. Every word is true. You read it right-- I have a lot of "soul ties". But these are good soul ties. These are the people I love, and who love me. There is nothing the least bit unhealthy about it. When we get to Heaven, I fully expect these soul ties to be stronger than ever. Or maybe we'll just see them more clearly.

Intimate relationships are what really make the world work-- whether between God and us, or between us humans. In the words of my oldest brother, "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Mt 22/37-40 NIV).

Since Jesus commanded soul ties, we'd best get busy with them. Does that scare you? Perfect love chases away fear. (I Jn 4/18) Once the fear is gone, you start enjoying love (and life!) a whole lot more. If you're not careful, you might even find yourself greeting people with a holy kiss.

And liking it.

And God will yet again say, "It is good."

And so will you.

 

NOTES
[1] No sermon is complete without three or four points that start with the same letter.

When Dreams Invade Your Waking Hours

One of the many verses Christians can't quite seem to agree on is Psalm37/4:

"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Does this mean he will give us what we already desire, or will he give us better desires?

As with many other things, the question is posed as an exclusive-or, and either-or. I think it's a both-and. We always want to box God in, come up with a finite answer we can easily comprehend, point to, apply and forget. But an infinite and infinitely complex God doesn't fit in a box, and neither does anything he says.

God made us in his/her/their image. It says so right at the beginning of the Bible, in Gen 1/26-27:

"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

We are created in God's image. yes, there was a fall, and yes, we were born in sin, but we are redeemed, set free, made pure and holy, in the image of Jesus, the sinless, perfect one. God has desires (s/he desired companionship with us, for instance). We have desires. Unless those desires are in direct conflict with God, they are good, because a good God made good things-- including us.

God wants to give you better desires in some cases, but God also wants to fulfill many of the desires you have. I really don't care whether they were directly planted in you by God, or are just a product of who you are and the life you've lived. If it matters to you, believe away! But in the meantime...

It's a time of fulfilled dreams, desires becoming reality. I have seen this in so many lives lately. I believe it's true all over, but I *know* it's true in central Texas, from San Marcos up through Waco. I see it daily. And I'm seeing it unfold in Round Rock.

These desires and dreams span the gamut. I've seen people I love set free. I fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting Carlsbad Caverns. I got to take my wife to see El Paso and so many of the things I loved about the west as a kid, and see the wonder and joy in her eyes as she experienced White Sands, the Painted Desert, El Paso, saguaro, and more for the very first time. I'm seeing marriages grow. I'm seeing men and women fulfill their destiny as pastors, prophets, teachers, and more. I'm seeing healings, giftings, you name it.

I'm living my dreams. Dreams that even a few years ago I had nearly given up on, until someone spoke life into them, and called me out of the dungeon I'd let myself live in.

I'm calling you out. There's light, and life, and power, and joy, and love, and peace, and much more out here. Unexpected treasure. Come dig with me, and let's see what we find. I promise you, Captain Jack Sparrow found nothing compared to what awaits us.

The Logical Place To Look

Given the two greatest commandments:

1. Love the Lord your God with every particle and wave of your being, natural or otherwise;
2. In the same way, love your neighbor as yourself

The three most obvious sins are obviously failing to love God, yourself and others.

Since identity is key to relationship it also follows that three blatant sins would be our refusal and/or failure to let

1. God be God,
2. you be yourself, or
3. others be themselves.

If you're having a hard time living a life of love, here's a good place to look. Where do you need to let these happen?

As Yoda Might Say, Worship You Will.

We were made to worship.

If we don't worship God, we will always find something to worship-- ourselves, money, sports, sex, anime, celebrities, politics, cars or motorcycles, religion, knowledge, life, death...

Until people really meet and know God, they will find something else to worship. This should not surprise us.

When we let ourselves become estranged from God, we will find something else to worship. This should not surprise anyone.

We were made to worship. Worship we will.

Dear Austin Revivalist Diaspora...

The last year or so has seen many Austinites on fire with God's love spread across the globe. Some of you went with community or into community. That's awesome, and makes the transition pretty easy.

But some of you went alone to new territory. You're looking for community, for family, for the depth and height and breadth of love, peace, joy, encouragement and passion you knew in Austin. You aren't finding it. That's not quite so easy.

But it could be easier.

If you aren't finding it, quit seeking it, At least the way you have been. Just as people here saw who you were and called that out, saw the gold and dug for it, helped you bring it into that joyous, refining, fiery love, now it's your turn to do that for others!

Everywhere you go, take those chances. Smile. Look. Speak. Say what you see and hear to total strangers, to neighbors, to co-workers, to kids, to old people, to everyone. Hug. Buy coffee or meals. Just love on people, intentionally, fully.

That's what Jesus did, and look at that 33AD community. That's what happened here in Austin, and look what we ended up with.

Yours won't look the same, any more than what we have in Austin looks identical to Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. And yet, it's the same, and so will what you find there be. You'll just have to find it differently than you did here.

You're the only Jesus some people will see. Be your awesome Jesus self. Go for it!

And know that we love and miss you!!!!! Hugs! Mwah! From all of us.

Devastation in the Name of Truth

Pam had died, but nobody seemed to know. Obviously someone knew, and word was getting passed around. Here's how Desiree heard it.

"Hey, did you know Pam died?"
"Pam who?"
"Pam Lafleur."
"That's my Mom's name!"
"Yeah, it was your Mom."
"That's no way to tell someone her Mom died!"

That was my dream just before I woke up today. People found out when the fact was tossed out casually, even to her daughter. What a horrible way to find something like that out.

And yet, we treat people almost this badly. We have a problem with their church, their spouse, their kid or parent, their boss, their attitude, their clothes, whatever. And we casually toss that around with total disregard of how it might feel to them.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

We "love" to quote this passage, or parts of it, in ooey-gooey, romantic ways, or when defending something precious to us. But love also rejoices with the truth and the truth is that this is not a passage about romance (although it can apply), and that it is universal.

So before we open our mouths, not just to complain, but even to speak truth, let's make sure the truth we speak is truly in love-- that it's kind, honoring, strengthening others rather than tearing them down, protecting, spoken in a way to bring hope, to encourage.

Otherwise, no matter what you say, no matter how "true" it is, it's just trash can lids banging together, tapping out dismal news in Morse code. Nobody wants to hear that.

Bible verses from the NIV.

In the Name of What?

I grew up in a mainline denomination. There was a lot of good stuff there, but they were missing out on things. They'd given up on, or turned away from, miracles (they aren't for today) and the gifts of the Spirit (ditto, though the fruits of the Spirit are mostly fine today, thank you).

But just as the mainline denominations were missing some things, so were the charismatics and the non-denominations. Many have missed wisdom in one area in particular.

Some of us have wasted a lot of time looking for the secret formula, the right phrases, the right attitudes, some hidden message we've all somehow missed, the secret to getting God to do what we want done. "The Answer" has allegedly been revealed many times under many guises: Name it and Claim It, Word of Faith, Positive and Negative Confessions, etc. While all of these had a grain of truth to them, they ultimately became either an attempted means of controlling God (the very worst form of sorcery) or The Thing We Needed To Do To Please God (a kind of works-based grace).

The phrase "Christian Sorcery" is, I trust, an obvious oxymoron. But what are sorcery and witchcraft except finding the key words or works to force someone or something supernatural to cause a desired effect in the natural? God makes no distinctions I can find between "black" and "white" or "good" and "bad" witchcraft. He simply says, "No. Don't be trying to manipulate." He doesn't distinguish between killing curses and love potions, between lightning strikes and rain dances. He just says, "No."

There are even prayers that get into this territory. It's irrelevant how they are phrased; if what we're after is getting God to force someone to do something they don't want to, we're in a dangerous place. It's one thing to cry out to God that we need rain; it's another thing altogether to demand it, much less to try to to do something to force him to rain where and when we want.

Some Christians get irate at this concept. "Sorcery involves the Devil!" If you want to be picky, we can be picky. That's Satanism, which is a subset of sorcery or witchcraft. But it makes no difference. God is about relationship, not rules. God cares about the means, not just the ends. The means involve our relationship with him, and if that relationship isn't about getting to know him and trusting him, if it's about getting our way, it's an attempt to manipulate God. Do you really think that goes well?

Quit looking for the secret, the magic words, the right gestures and attitudes, the correct phrasing, to produce miracles, healings, or provision. If you pay any attention at all as you read the Gospels, you will notice that of the recorded things Jesus did, he seldom did them the same way twice. How many different ways did he heal the blind? How many different ways did he approach the lame? In some cases (the woman in the crowd) he did nothing, the woman reached out in a desperate faith and was rewarded.

If, indeed, there is An Answer, it's simply to have a desperate faith, a faith that recognizes there is no other answer, that one has nothing to lose. But that's not something you can work up. It has to be real, from the heart, giving up hope in anything else. If nothing seems to happen right away, just keep asking, reaching, touching. I can't tell you why we sometimes need to keep on this way, but Jesus recommended it. And when something does happen, recognize it is simply grace, a gift from God, a work of love. Don't check the last thing you did and think it's The Answer, a way to reproduce the miracle, a way to force God to do it again and again and again. He knows what we want and what we need, and he's capable of doing all those things. And he loves us. Trust in that, and see what happens. You won't always get the miracles you wanted, but you will always get expressions of his love. It's simply a question of whether we're willing to recognize and accept them.

A Suit, a Car, and a Spotlight?

I was 21. I was at work, talking with God about something (I don't recall what, but it was hardly Earth-shaking). As conversations often do, it suddenly changed tracks. "One day I will call you into full time ministry."

While I hadn't yet been fully co-opted by the day's Modern Church Culture, I was far enough down that path that what I envisioned looked fairly traditional. Startlingly so, enough to make me nervous. I wasn't any more traditional then than I am today. And only a year earlier, I wouldn't have had any preconceptions; I would have simply asked what that looked like. (I once asked how many hairs I had on my head. He told me.)

At some point in my 30s while happily wearing the skin of an unofficial assistant youth pastor, a young lady named Elizabeth came up to me and said God had showed her something. "Right now you're in the background but one day you'll be in the spotlight, too. I know that's not something you're looking for, but it's true." I have to admit, I took it literally, thinking of being on a stage with hundreds, perhaps thousands of teens hanging on my every word. In the spotlight. It was scary. It was intriguing. It was exciting, It was tempting.

...

For years now in many cultures, most peoples' definition of a "successful" ministry has included certain things:

• a stage
• a huge audience (congregation or otherwise)
• a good salary
• nice clothes
• a nice car (*too* nice can look bad) or two
• a nice home (ditto) or three
• TV cameras and radio microphones
• fame and popularity
• rubbing elbows with celebrities, maybe even world leaders
• book deals
• a spotlight or twelve

There have always been exceptions such as Mother Teresa, Margaret Gaines, Crystal Walker, Rick and Jan Waldrop, Paul and Rhonda Stockard, Gentjan and Pranvera Dervishaj. Mother Teresa could have had all the trappings of a "successful" ministry but she was too busy ministering. You've heard of her. Most of you haven't even heard of the others. And that's fine with them. They aren't in it for the money, for the cars, for the fame. The were and are in it for two reasons-- they love God, and they love people.

...

After a long and bizarre (the norm for me) road, I became an official youth pastor. That youth group, once well over 100, was down to six when I was asked to pastor it. I didn't care. I loved them and poured myself into them. No stage. No spotlight. No salary.

I was given influence with a much larger youth group. Still none of the trappings; it came about through just loving people and showing them God.

As things got bigger and better (in the traditional sense), I had a vision that called me to walk away from the title and formal youth ministry. I just kept loving and offering God. I ended up with "ministry" all over the place, including (gasp!) adults, from 90 miles north to 90 miles south, to 200 miles east... and around the globe via travel, friends and the net.

Occasionally there's a stage, even a spotlight. Occasionally I end up hugging a celebrity or a local or state leader. A couple of times there has been a fairly large audience. But the thing is, I had to rack my brain across the list to come up with those. They're cool because God is doing something in those moments, not because they are big deals.

And I am a full time minister. It's not what I'm paid to do. It's a part of who I am as a child of God. It doesn't look much like Mother Teresa or (insert your favorite full time minister here), because God made me to be me. Unique. Weird, even. And I'm totally down with that. Why would I want to be anyone else? We already have one of each of those.

Ministry looks different for each of us. It might mean simply being a good husband or wife, mom or dad, brother or sister, child, etc. It might mean stopping to hug and feed the people on the side of the road begging for money. It might be as obvious and simple as loving, honoring and supporting everyone at work... or in your congregation or neighborhood. It might mean praying for the sick. It might mean preaching. It might mean teaching. It might mean performing marriages and baptisms (perhaps without a license or official approval in a hostile environment). It might mean waiting with the dying, laughing and crying with the bereaved, burying the dead. It might mean smuggling Bibles. It might mean loving a tormentor. It might mean nice clothes, a car, and a book deal. If it all flows directly out of loving God, and loving others as yourself, doing what we see the Father doing, speaking what we hear Daddy saying, it's ministry. And it's good.

How about you? What's your ministry look like?

---

This was inspired by Sally Hanan, who asked, "When you think about being in full-time ministry, does your vision instantly go to a stage where hundreds sit and listen to you, or does it go to you washing old bed-ridden women and letting people move into your space and eat your food ...? Just a thought, because if love is not the motivation for your ministry ..."