Never Settle for Less

Heads up - this may step on a few toes. Read at your own risk.

Continuing on from yesterday's thoughts - it seems to me that the whole concept of never offending anybody else by having the guts to stand up and tell them that their ideas are wrong (with GRACE AND LOVE) - has led us to a cultural phenomena of relativism and subjectivism - whereby we say that there is no such thing as absolute truth - and therefore, I alone, as the seeker of truth have the ability to dictate what, for me, is right and wrong.

To me, this whole concept is flawed because if indeed it were true, the very statement that there is no absolute truth, would have to be an absolute truth, and as a result, with that very statement, the whole concept of relative truth begins to break down.

It is this relativistic and subjectivistic approach to life that causes us to twist Scripture and settle for half-truths that sound good. We settle for beliefs like - "a loving God would never send a good person to hell". Or "a loving God would never disapprove of a monogamous, loving relationship regardless of orientation or marriage commitment."

Well, I'm sorry - but scripture teaches us that no matter how GOOD we are, we can never earn our own way to heaven. I can go to church, give to the poor, shelter the homeless, and feed the hungry, but unless I have Jesus Christ in my life - unless I am relying on Him and Him alone for my salvation - I am going to spend eternity in hell.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, ESV)

The bible also teaches that immorality - whether between a man and a woman, two men, or two women is wrong. God's plan for intimacy is within the boundary of marriage. PERIOD.

Likewise - gossip, slander, impatience, selfishness, arrogance, pride, and many more sins are all wrong.

It may not seem fair or right to us - but look at what the Lord says:

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. "Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 18:23-31, ESV)

The bottom line - God will judge us according to our actions - in light of what is right and wrong according to His perfect standard - whether we like it or not.

Big Bold Humble Truth

Ok - so the month of May wasn't very good for blogging - we had soccer 4 (sometimes 5) nights a week. I kept meaning to sit and write something, but it just didn't happen - so here we are - already into June and I am forcing myself to sit and write again.

I am preparing for family camp in a few weeks. Evidently, seeing as how I have 6 kids, they decided that I knew about being a family and have asked me to lead the chapel services. I am excited for the opportunity, but also a little overwhelmed at the prospect of 4 chapel services in 3 days while at the same time keeping up with church, work, and the occasional flooded basement.

The theme for camp this year is BOLD HUMILITY - based on Philippians chapter 2. As I have been thinking about this - I have realized a few things. If you simply read the first 11 verses of Philippians chapter 2 - it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that humility is simply love love, joy joy, do whatever you can to make other people happy, put their needs and desires ahead of your own, etc. While that all sounds good, we can't skip the next section of chapter 2 in which we are encouraged to stand as "blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world."

Sometimes we are so worried about not offending someone that we are willing to overlook their faults and grey areas. We think this is being humble peacemakers - but in reality it is being a spineless wimp.

Yes we need to offer grace to people, but we also need a full measure of truth. Grace without truth leads to disasterous results - truth without grace leads to harsh judgementalism.

When we are standing in the dark and all of a sudden a bright light is turned on. It isn't very pleasant - especially when it shines right in our eyes - but when the bright light illuminates the ground before us, our eyes adjust and we are thankful for what the light reveals. That is a picture of how grace and truth work toghether. The light is the truth, the grace shines it on the path that we need to take rather than abrasively in our face.

That's enough for today - more to follow soon.

Knowing the Knower

As I continue thinking through the whole idea of knowing God and being known by God. I'm not 100% sure which is more remarkable - the concept that I can know God or that He knows me.

I guess I think of it like this - as a pastor, I can have a lot of people that feel a special connection with me. And if I am open and transparent as a pastor - a lot of people may say that they know me. Being the pastor of a relatively small church, for the most part I would also say that I know these people. But when I think of pastors of much larger churches, there comes a point when the pastor may be familiar with the faces that attend on Sunday morning or may recognize a person's name - but does this pastor really know the people that would say they know him or her?

God has made himself readily available to each and every one of us. We can know Him, we can worship Him, but the very thought that He KNOWS each and everyone of us sometimes blows me away. In God's eyes - I AM SOMEBODY. In God's eyes - each and everyone of us is a person of significance and importance. How cool is that?

Depending or knowing?

In the Bible, God paints several pictures of His relationship with us. He describes himself as the good shepherd, as our Father, as our King, and He also describes the church as his bride. Thinking through each of these relationships - one thing that stands out to me is that in each case whether it be as sheep, child, subject, or bride - knowing the shepherd, father, king, or husband is not only an emotional or intellectual knowledge - it is also a knowledge of dependence. Each of these relationships is built on love and trust - knowing that the one in whom we place our trust will protect us - and provide for us. It is a matter of knowing deep down in our heart that God has our best interests at heart - that He will always do whats best for us.

Sometimes we don't feel as if that is true. Emotionally it can seem as if we have a better plan - as if we know better becasue we are down in the trenches living it out day to day. The trouble with living in the trenches is that it is hard to see what is beyond the next trench. As we come to KNOW God - to know his character - to know his voice - we learn to depend upon him for wisdom and guidance even when we don't know what to do - or when it doesn't seem to make sense.

Personally I would love to say that I always understand exactly where God is taking me and what He is teaching me, but often times I find myself following and depending because I know that He will never lead me astray.

Why do we even care?

I've been talking about "Knowing God". I talked about the four evidences of knowing God, but I think that leads us to the simple questions - Why do I even care? Many people feel as if God is some abstract power or galactic being that is out there doing His own thing and they don't give it a second thought.

For me, as I look at life, I can't help but know in my heart that there is more to life than the short 80 or so years that we spend on this rock called earth. For as long as we have records of mankind, there has always been an underlying belief of some sort of life after death. Whether that is Valhalla, the happy hunting ground, paradise, heaven, or reincarnation. Mankind has almost alway believed that there is life after death.

In John 17:3 Jesus says "This is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent." Knowing God is the key to eternal life. Not merely knowing about Him. Satan and his followers know about God - but they do not know Him as Lord.

Looking back to the time when Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden, there was a time when God walked and talked with mankind - face to face. Adam and Eve knew God. In fact I would go so far as to say that that is why they were created to know God.

Hosea 6:6 says that God does not want our sacrfices - He wants our steadfast love. It also says that He does not want burnt offerings from us - what He truly desires is for us to KNOW GOD.

We were created to Know God and to be known by God. If we are not living out the very purpose for which we were created - then what's the point of life?

Peace - or is that Pieces?

The fourth evidence of knowing God is this - "those that know God have a great contentment in God." Sometimes it seems as if our lives are falling to pieces around us. We feel as if nothing is going our way. The same is true for other people in our lives. Some people face the same situations - or worse - and seem to maintain a great sense of peace and contenment, while others seem to crumble under the slightest pressure.

If we truly know God - if we trust Him - if He is really who we believe Him to be - it makes absolutely no sense for us to live in a state of worry or anxiety in life. Stress can't change the past and it can't control the future - it only makes us miserable in the moment.

The bible never promises that just becasue we are Christians life will be without problems and or troubles. In fact it says just the opposite. The bible says in James 1:2 "...when trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy." Not IF, but WHEN. Trouble is going to come - that's part of life. But what do we do with it when it comes?

If we KNOW God, then we should know that He is in control. That He loves us and is watching out for us. If we KNOW God as our personal Shepherd and Lord we should be able to trust Him with everything that is important to us and know that His plan is for our betterment.

Perhaps my favorite example of this is found in the bible in the Old Testament story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (That's Rack, Shack, and Benny for you Veggie Tales Fans.)

When King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden statue and demanded that everyone bow down and worship this image. Rack, Shack, and Benny refused.

Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up." (Daniel 3:13-18, NLT)

Only through truly KNOWING GOD, not just knowing about God could these men have such peace and contentment in the face of mortal danger. They KNEW GOD, they knew that they could trust Him - regardless of the outcome, they could trust Him.

How about you - when life gets tough do you have the PEACE that comes from truly knowing God, or do you fall to PIECES wondering how you will ever make it through the tough situation you find yourself in?

Big, Bold and Beautiful

The third evidence of Knowing God - is that those people that know God show great boldness for God. Jesus said:

If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." Mark 8:38 (NLT)

We need to wrecklessly pursue Christ with our lives - not the things of this world. The bible teaches us that no matter what we do - we should do it for the Lord - not for man.

I am in no way saying that we should completely disregard the opinions of man in our pursuit of Christ - the bible teaches us also to speak the truth in love and to do everything within our power to live at peace with our fellow man. But I am saying that we should never be ashamed to do what Christ is calling us to do.

God has a purpose for each of us. It is His purpose, not ours. Our lives are not our own and we should not hold back or be afraid to pursue Him withour lives because of what others may think of us.

In the same way we should never back down from what Christ has called us to just because we are afraid taht we may fail. If we only do the things that we are capable of doing on our own - always living our lives in fear and trepidation - then whose purpose are we fulfilling? Ours or God's?

People who know God and have given their lives to Him - and who trust Him with their lives will not be afraid to take risks for Him. If I live my life for Him and choose to give my life for His purposes and He chooses to pour it out as a sacrifice of offering to His glory - then so be it. God is God - I am not. I will serve Him with all that I am - choosing to pursue His purpose rather than my own.

Surley goodness and mercy will follow me all of the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen