Begittin' the Begotten

Psalm 40 "Blessed is he who has regard for the weak . . . .

If there's one thing I hear over and over from people who are Christians it's this: I want to experience God. They believe and live out His Word, but they want a deeper, fuller walk with Him, a walk that feels real.

You want to experience God? Get in where He’s at. Go to where He is working. If you wanted to follow Jesus around, you would have found yourself in the homes of sinners, in the places of the poor, in the corners where the lepers were. You would have lived on the fringe of acceptable society with the outcasts. You would be in the desert with a rock for a pillow.

We want to be drawn into Him, into His heart. But the more you read the entire Scripture, the more you see that this is where is heart is at: where the poor, the confused, the hurting and the lost are dwelling. Those who have been pushed down their entire lives.

I believe in quiet time – but if my quiet time doesn’t drive me out into the streets then it’s just a selfish seeking of a personal experience with God. If my mountain-top doesn't bring me into the valley, then I'm the worst kind of useless.

We are masters of helping the helped, seeking the found, giving to the given, engaging the engaged, teaching the taught. We spend a lot of our energy begittin’ the begotten. We would never leave the ninety-nine for that one lost, dirty sheep who's caught in the thickets. But that contradicts what we claim when we say, "I want to experience God!"

He's in the thickets with them.

You Must Adjust to Me

This morning I came out my front door and a car went zooming by. I held up my hands in anger: "Slow down!" I got into my car and began pulling out of the driveway. There was a car coming up the street so I waited. And waited. "Will you speed up, for crying out loud!" If I weren't so serious about my selfishness, I would have laughed. I guess everyone has to run at my speed.

That's the way we live our lives, and that's why we're so judgmental. We have a standard that varies for different situations, yet we still manage to judge others on these shifting gears. "You're too fast!" "You're too slow!" "Adjust to me!!!!"

I love how in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus removes the burden of judgment from us. It can be very tiring making these demands upon other people, especially if we have to base it on our own feelings of the moment. If we were totally honest with ourselves, we would admit that our current state of personal development is very nebulous. We're "wimps" - "works in major progress." How can we, understanding our own growth, try to mark others based on where we happen to stand at this moment? I've grown tremendously over the past twenty years, and I'm embarrassed to think that I judged others based on who I was back then. They weren't going at my speed of that time. But like my experience this morning, I somehow managed to be very serious about my selfishness.

Be careful when you place your judgment upon someone. If it's based on the absolute truth of the Word of God, then it can be helpful in bringing them back to a better place. This is a humble type of judgment that is constructive. However, if it is based on the shifting sands of your own feelings or the point you happen to be at in life, then it is one of the most destructive forces on earth.

What About Bathsheba?

Most people, even those who don't read the Bible, are familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba. One restless night, David gets up and sees Bathsheba bathing and sends for her. Without any apparent regard for her, proceeds to sleep with her. Upon finding out she's pregnant, he goes into self-preservation mode and calls her husband Uriah in from battle to sleep with her. When Uriah shows that he has more integrity than the king, David sends him back to be killed.

After he is confronted, David is ultimately repents and is restored, writing two beautiful redemption psalms (32, 51) in the process. He is now considered the unofficial patron saint of adulterers. Governors, pastors, senators . . . . they all use him as their model of how you can be restored from such a heinous sin. God's grace is very, very good.

But my question is this: What about Bathsheba? One moment, she's minding her own business, and before she knows it her life has been turned upside down. Her husband is dead and she's pregnant with another man's baby. Good for David, he gets restored and can even write a best-selling piece of literature about it. Bathsheba, however, is somewhat left in the wake of this marvelous restoration that has enabled wayward men for years to find their peace with God. (And yes, I say this somewhat mockingly. Not at God's inexhaustible grace, but at man's inexhaustible ability to use this grace to cover their repeated moral failures. These men have made it a lifestyle!)

The problem I have with this is that we tend to mark our spiritual growth on the back of those we've hurt. Where is the spiritual growth that simply pours out of our love for God? Why does it always have to come at the expense of others?

My brother has come up with an ingenious plan for feeling good about his weight. He's going to put on 10 pounds, then lose 5 and rejoice in the victory. He's being funny, but isn't that what we do spiritually? We fall, we hurt people, then we take a few steps forward and proclaim a great victory! The problem with this isn't God's grace, which thankfully is new every morning (Lam. 3:23), but with the Bathshebas we leave strewn by the wayside.

I would love it if some men would seek spiritual gains that are not simply a continual stepping out of the muck and mud of poor decisions, but out of an honest quest for holiness. A quest that involves healing those along the way, not building your victories upon their backs.

Where are those who are seeking God for who He is, not just for eliminating their trash?

Punching Holes in the Darkness!

Okay - I get it. Everything is a mess and we've become a beehive of arguments and inactivity. We argue Creation Theology, End-time Theology, Resurrection Theology, Open Theology, Reformed Theology . . . . . So What?!!!

I'm going to defer to the Scriptures when I answer the "So What?" question. In my readings, I've noticed that at almost the end of every major discussion we get basically the same message: So get your life in order, stand firm, and advance the Kingdom.

(Look - I recognize the importance of 'getting it right.' I'm not dismissing correct theology. WE need to ultimately base our "so what" on a right foundation or it's meaningless - I do know that.)

In Mark 13 Christ gives a tremendous discourse on the end times. But when all is said and done, He basically sums it up in verses 32-37 with the words: "Be on guard . . . . be alert . . . . keep watch . . . do not let Him find you sleeping . . . . watch!" We can work through the theology of this all we want, but what it comes down to is RIGHT NOW. Live your life today in a way that is Spirit-filled, loving, holy and right. Be ready now.

At the end of Paul's great passage on the Resurrection, he closes with "Therefore, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (I Corinthians 15:58).

Again, when all is said and done regarding the resurrection of Christ, we are encouraged to use this information to live differently RIGHT NOW.

This is a constant drumbeat throughout the entire Bible. Every major theological discussion should end with this: Therefore I will live today in a more powerful, loving, expectant and holy way. Otherwise, why bother? If my life is angry and combative then I've missed this point. If my life is spent only defending my position instead of advancing His Position, then it's a waste of time. I'm trying to be relieved of my agenda, not further entrenched in it. If I theologically "gain the world yet lose my soul" - what's the point?

My previous blog wore me out. I was upset with all the screaming, so I screamed. When given time to reflect, to settle down, I realized that TODAY is what it's all about. Yielding to this moment.

I heard a great illustration the other day:
Robert Louis Stevenson, as a young child, was looking out the front window of his house one night. He was fascinated by the lamplighter coming down the street, lighting the old fashioned gas street lamps. He called to his nana, "Nana! Come quickly! There's a man coming down the street punching holes in the darkness!"

I'm done with punching holes in my brother's arguments and in the process punching holes in my brother. I want to be punching holes in the darkness.

The Great White Wail

"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me at church, I thought I would sail about a little and see the material part of the world. It is a way I have of cleaning off the spleen, and regulating the circulation of my soul. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses called churches, and bringing up the rear of every worship service I meet; and especially whenever my cynicism gets such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking steeples off - then, I account it high time to get to my knees as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish the Pastor throws himself upon his Church; I quietly take to the woods. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the Lord with me."

(Adapted from the opening paragraph of "Moby Dick" - the search for the Great White Whale - my changes are in bold print.)

Let's face it - we have it fairly easy in our white American churches, yet we complain about everything. Music. Bible versions. Building programs. Personal agendas. It's pretty revealing to me that in such a cold, dark world, these are our biggest issues. There is a Great White Wail rising from America and to be honest, it's kind of pathetic. I say this to my shame, because I'm part of the chorus.

It's not a wail for the Lord, for the lost, for the hungry, for the poor. It's not even a cry for our own souls. It's a wail for our way of life. Jesus never intended this to be about a way of life. That's why He attacked the Pharisaical attitude of self-preservation. Christianity is not about preservation, it's about being spent out completely - a drink offering poured out upon the true Sacrifice, where God increases and we decrease.

As Ishmael went to the sea when he felt this coldness come upon him, I often drop my 'church' and head for the woods. I know that this isn't to be a dwelling place. I know that we are built for community, and that through community the church advances most effectively into the darkness. But if the community is crying out for their way of life, not for the way of the Lord, then we are dead in the water. So I head to the woods and shut my eyes and my mouth and I listen for God. I allow His Voice to drown out this self-centered wail from the American church. And for a moment, I am content.

Emerson wrote:

When I am stretched beneath the pines,

Where the evening star so holy shines,

I laugh at the lore and the pride of man,

At the sophist schools and the learned clan;

For what are they all, in their high conceit,

When man in the bush with God may meet?

Don't get me wrong. I love structure. I love rituals that allow me to enter into the presence of God without always trying to figure out what's coming next. The rhythm of liturgy can be a beautiful thing. I also truly love the people of church and a true corporate worship experience is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. I am just fearful that we build structures and impose methods, then we hope for a filling of the Spirit to eventually empower them. It doesn't work that way.

The first Ishmael was banished to the desert because he was a result of Abraham's attempt to manufacture the promise of God. Only when Isaac was miraculously born through Sarah did Abraham understand. Wait on God, then build. We build, then wait, and in the meantime we wail.

Call the church Ishmael . . . because we too are trying to manufacture the presence of God.

Entertaining Lust – The Guest That Never Leaves

Entertaining Lust

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. I’ve only invited him for awhile. He’s not staying, I’m only going to entertain him.

Of course, by entertaining him, I will have to feed him – it’s only polite. He doesn’t require much, just a little TV, a few magazines, a movie here and there. As a matter of fact, I can feed him with only my thoughts – so it won’t cost me hardly anything!

What do You mean, the more I feed him the bigger he’ll get? I’m only entertaining him, I don’t intend on keeping him around. I don’t want him to get too comfortable, too big – and I certainly don’t want him to feel at home.

You think that I have a problem on my hands? That he’ll start to take over the house? Trust me, that is not what I set out to do. I just wanted to have a little company, a little fun. I don’t want a permanent house guest – he’s just visiting, I promise. What harm can he do?”

Verses:

Proverbs 6:27 “Can a man scoop a fire into his lap without his clothes being burned?”

Proverbs 27:19 “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”

Galatians 5:17 “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit.”

Harboring Bitterness - The Cellar Dweller

Harboring Bitterness

“I’m just going to hide him here for awhile. People are always chasing him around and he needs a place to stay. I’ll push him deep, deep down so no one will see him. He gets the basement – I promise.

You say he’s a lousy guest? He seems okay, a little self-centered and moody – but as long as he keeps quiet I should be okay.

You say he’s a lousy hider? That he’ll keep popping his head up into business that doesn’t involve him? I can’t have that. I can’t have him messing around in areas that he doesn’t belong. I’m just harboring him - that means he has to stay hidden and not bother me or anyone else. He can do that, can’t he?

You say he’ll eventually take over the house and no one will want to visit? That he’ll end up being my only friend, my only comfort? I’m not sure I like that thought – he’s really not very friendly. He’s hard to get along with and doesn’t seem to like anything or anyone. He’s also pretty self-absorbed, cynical, and critical of the rest of my friends. I’m not even sure that he likes me!

But don’t worry – I’m only hiding him here in the basement. My house will remain untouched.”

Verses:

Proverbs 14:10 “Each heart knows its own bitterness.”

Hebrews 12:15 “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

Job 5:2 “Resentment kills a fool.”