Radical Teachings for the 21st Century

The Wile E. Principle of Leadership

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The disciples had an argument, there at the Last Supper. They were debating which of them would be themost important ruler beside Jesus when His kingdom comes. Jesus calmly said to them, “It is presidentsand kings of the world that are concerned about authority and power. These wield great authority over all men andeveryone must call them ‘gracious’, as in ‘gracious lord,’ or “Wow, you are thegreatest thing since Oprah”. But if youwant rule in my kingdom, you can’t act like that. The ones who will have the greatest authorityin my kingdom must prepare themselves for it by acting like the leastimportant. If you want to be important,then be like a waiter. In a restaurant,who is in charge, the waiter or the customer? Isn’t the customer who orders the waiter around, telling him what to getand how much and sending something back because it isn’t quite right? And doesn’t the waiter have to run around,doing the bidding of the customer? Nowlook at me—I am the waiter. I am here toserve others, not to tell others how to serve me.

“Look, guys, you are great already. You have stayed with me during my most difficult days, though all thestruggles and trials. Because of this,you will rule with me because the Father has given me His kingdom to rule. So you will be feasting at my side—even as weare feasting here!—in my kingdom. Andthen I will give you authority to rule all of God’s people. Each of you will sit on a throne, and youwill rule the twelve nations of Israel.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World…Sometimes

Well, this is kindaembarrassing. After all, Jesus is theone who is always talking about lowliness, about humility. Yet, here He is, encouraging arrogance. You see, even though he is correcting thedisciples about some things, he is in agreement with them about the thing mostof us are uncomfortable with: It is agood thing to want to be in charge of the world.

Most of us feel that this is inappropriate. After all, its just too lofty of a goal, andit is straight hubris—blatant pride to think that we should rule theworld. That’s God’s job, isn’t it?

Well, in fact, its not. God gave the job over of ruling the world to human beings way back inGenesis 1. It is our job and we shouldwant to do the job that God has given us. So when Jesus answers their question, He doesn’t deny that we shouldwant to rule the world. Frankly, weshould.

And even if ruling the world seems distasteful to you, weall have a hint of it in ourselves. Weall want to be respected by the people who know us. And we all want a certain measure of controlto make things “right” over our lives. And we get angry when we see that something isn’t right, either in ourlives or in the lives of those around us. These are God-given characteristics to everyone in humanity so that wecan do the job that God gave us, namely, to rule the world.

The Wile E. Principle of Leadership

The problem is that we takethe characteristics that God has given us and go too far with it. Waaaaay too far. God gave us anger at injustice and we haveturned it into anger against anyone who irritates us for any little reason,without regard to what is really right. God gave us the desire to make things right and we have turned this intocontrol-freakishness or harshly punishing those who are different than us. God gave us the desire to be respected and weturn this into a hunger for fame or a fear of negative responses. This is not the kind of world-leadershipJesus is looking for.

So when Jesus responded to his disciples, he didn’tcorrect their desire for world leadership. In fact, He affirmed it. He saidthat they would be world leaders in the kingdom. And desiring it is a good thing. What he needed to correct was their methodsin achieving it.

Mostof us think of obtaining leadership like Wile E. Coyote. Wile E. is on one cliff and he is running asfast as he can to the other side, but he doesn’t realize that there is a canyonbetween him and the other cliff-top. Sohe runs out.. and there he is, standing on thin air. And then he falls…. Bam!... at the bottom ofthe canyon and we next see him wrapped in hospital gauze.

Evenso, we often think that leadership—as well as wealth and popularity— is astraight line. If we want it, we just goget it. And although we must work hardto achieve success, we will get it if we just take it by the throat. But what we don’t realize is that there is ahuge canyon between us and our goal. Andif we just try to achieve success in a straight line, then we will be the onein hospital gauze.

The Power Broker

Jesus helps us realize thatthe only one who can give us success, or power or popularity or wealth— in anypositive, permanent way—is God. He isthe one ultimately in charge of all things and He gives these things to whom Hewills. And while the power-hungry may bein charge now, it will not be that way forever. God will come down to kick out the power hungry and instead welcome adifferent kind of person.

But to obtain that kind of position, we have to be thatdifferent kind of person. God is lookingfor the lowly, the Anawim, to be in charge of the world. God can’t have the control freaks, thejudgmental, the quick to anger or the anxious be in charge of the world. So for world leadership, God is looking for athe lowly and righteous. For theAnawim. God is looking for the peoplewho will act as Jesus said they should—People who are repentant of their sins;people who will sacrifice their life, family and possessions to love Jesus;people who will endure in Jesus through persecution. People who will set aside their comfort inorder to serve others. God is lookingfor faithful disciples.

Jesus Leadership

But not just disciples. Different disciples will obtain differentlevels of leadership in the final kingdom. And those in charge won’t just be the good disciple—the whole world willbe filled with those. But the worldleaders will be those who have certain characteristics of leadership

To be an anawimic leader, we have to follow certainprinciples of leadership now:

· Hang outwith the down and out—To be a leaderin Jesus’ methodology, we cannot be shy of having the outcast be our friendsand companions.

· Live likethe down and out—To be in charge, wehave to remain lowly, not seeking wealth or power, but constantly giving tothose in need. A godly leader doesn’tthink how he can benefit from a resource, but how the whole community canbenefit from it.

· Get used totaking orders—To be in charge, wehave to listen to other’s needs and act on them, rather than our ownambitions. When we see someone’s need,we take that as an order from them to act. If we act in accordance with the other’s need, then we are living outJesus’ leadership.

· Lead byexample—It isn’t enough to tellothers to do good, to repent, to live purely—we have to do it ourselves. We must show the life of Jesus and not justteach it to others.

· Encourage,don’t demand—To be Jesus leader is tobe gentle and to recognize other’s freedom to do as they please. If we give others freedom and opportunity tolive for God, then they can have a relationship with God. But if we end up controlling others, theyhave no relationship with God, only us, which defeats the purpose of trying toget people to live for Jesus.

So to be a leader in Christis to be the Anawim. It is to live as awaiter, a servant of others, only living to act for others and not for our ownambition. If we attempt to get our ownambition, then we end up like Wile E.— Falling to our doom.

The Second Chance

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Jesus responded to this news by saying, “It is time. It is time for the Messiah to behonored. Listen carefully: A kernel ofcorn has to be torn from it’s life, thrown to the ground and allowed to die, orit will always be by itself. But if itdies, then it will be transformed into many more. Even so, whoever grasps onto his own lifewill lose it. But whoever hates his lifein this age will find that it is preserved by God for the next age, which iseternal. The one who wants to be to bein my government, must follow me through death and beyond. Wherever I am my follower will be aswell. The faithful servant will behonored by God. So now I am in anguish,because of the difficulty I must face. But should I ask God to save me from this fate? But because it is my fate, it is mypurpose. Father, in my death, glorifyYour name.” John 12:23-27

He sat them down andbegan to lecture them about the doctrinal necessity of the suffering of the Sonof Man of Daniel. That the Son of Manwould be declared guilty by the judges and bishops and the seminary professorsand he would be sentenced to death, killed and after a three day appeal wouldbe resurrected. He spoke to them withoutmetaphor, but straightforwardly. Afterhe was done, Peter gently took him aside and told him that such things couldnot happen to him, the Messiah. Jesusturned toward all his disciples and raised his voice for all to hear, “Get awayfrom me! You are not Peter, but Satan! Stop tempting me to take the easy route! You are speaking of God’s plan, but of human achievement!”

Then Jesus called thecrowd to gather around him, beside his disciples, then he addressed them all:“Do you think that I have the way to life, the way to enter into God’skingdom? Then listen here: If you want tobe a part of my school, you must give up on all the things that make up yourlife, accept that you will be killed as a revolutionary and go where I go.Since I am going to die, you must accept that for yourself as well. If you want to preserve your life, then youwill lose it. If you lose your life forMe and my school, then you will retain your life. If you surrender your life, you will obtainresurrection. Sure, you could gain everything in the world you want—happiness,security, wealth, fame—but what good is any of that if you lose your life inthe long run? Suppose someone had a gunto your head and wanted all you had for your life? Isn’t it better to give all of that up, soyou could live and obtain your stuff and happiness another day? If anyone is fearful of speaking about Mebefore this sinning and faithless people, then the Messiah will dare not speakhis name on the final day when he comes to rule the Father’s kingdom with allof God’s power behind him. Mark 8:31-38

Eternal Life

Jesus’ goal was not to die,although it may seem like it in the above passages. Rather, Jesus’ goal was what is called“eternal life”. This eternal life is notlife in heaven, as spirits floating around singing. It is a second chance on life.

In our current life, we are compromised from doingall we could for God. We live in acorrupted world which strives to encourage us to do evil, to disobey God. We have corrupted bodies which have corrupteddesires and illnesses and weaknesses that the body encourages us to sidestep bydoing more evil. We live in a context oftemptation and injustice and weakness.

God is offering resurrection. This means that we will come back after deathinto bodies that are uncorrupted and incorruptible. We will be living in a context withoutinjustice, and temptation is kept to a minimum. We will be given an opportunity to live for God without weakness, infull strength and spiritual authority.

Andsome will be chosen to rule over this utopia. The Messiah will be chosen among people to rule over God’s kingdom andHe will chose many to rule with Him. Theones whom He will chose will create justice for all, provide the context oflife for everyone. This is the dream ofthe New Testament. It is the goal ofJesus.

God’s Justice

But God doesn’t give thiskind of resurrection, this opportunity to everyone. Not everyone deserves to rule, not everyonecan handle the power that will be given to people to rule. Not everyone is prepared to deal with peopleas they are. God is careful to choosethe people who will create His utopia, and these will be given a second chanceon life.

Who are these people that God chooses? God’s selection process begins first of allwith those who didn’t really have a life to begin with. This doesn’t mean that they didn’t have achance of a good life. Perhaps theysurrendered the chance of a good life. But God is looking for those who suffered injustice in their lives. They did good for themselves, for theirneighbors, for God’s kingdom, but they received shame and punishment for thegood they did. God will not look for therich and powerful, the famous and lauded. They have already had their life. God will be looking for those who gave up their life and give themanother chance.

Jesus’ Example

Jesus is the one whosurrendered his chance at life for others. He could have lived a quiet, but happy existence as a carpenter in Nazareth. But he chose to give up on the good life sothat a better life could be granted to everyone. Jesus gave up on life, on happiness, on agood retirement, on hope of a peaceful death. Jesus surrendered all the great possibilities to live in shalom. He did this, not because he couldn’t havelived in peace, but because he saw so many who didn’t have the chance. So he gave up on life to give others achance.

And this is exactly what Jesus is calling us to. If we want to have a better life, we have togive up on the one the world offers us. Yes, for some of us, perhaps we could have a solid job, a quietexistence, a good family, the American dream. But for many, this life is out of reach. Jesus is asking us to give up the good life, so we could give anopportunity for a better life for others.

· Just like Jesus,we are called to give up the pursuit of the “good life”, the American Dream.

· Just like Jesus,we are called to live in rebellion against the world political system whichdenies peace and justice for so many.

· Just like Jesus,we are to allow ourselves to be persecuted, to be punished for doing good.

· Just like Jesus, weare called to even die in our innocence, to die because of our life in God’scompassion.

These who give up their shots at the good life tolive and die for others, they will be given the second chance. They will be God’s rulers in the comingrevolution.

As It Was Prophecied

This is also nothingnew. There are only a few places in theOld Testament that talks about the resurrection of God’s people, and every passagespeaks of God giving a second chance to those who didn’t have a life to beginwith:

Psalm 22—The author of this Psalm is surrounded by enemies and killed, but he relies on God for deliverance. God then gives him a second chance at life, which is happy and good.
Psalm 37—The people of God suffer under oppression because the wealthy wicked are causing them to live in poverty. The point of the psalm is that God will give the poor who wait for God a second chance at life without such oppression.
Daniel 12—The people of God are under a terrible trial and oppression. They are surrounded and destroyed and killed by their enemies. God destroys their enemies and resurrects the killed, giving them a second chance to live under God’s rule.

Jesus sees the fulfillment ofthese prophecies, but he adds one more factor. There are some who will choose to suffer, who will chose to die for thesake of God’s kingdom and righteousness. These will also gain resurrection with those who had no choice tosuffer. And some of them will rule inGod’s kingdom.

Who get resurrected? Therejected by the world.

The Ana-lution

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“I’d like your opinion about this: There’s this guy I know who had two kids. He asked one kid to clean up his room and thekid stubbornly answered ‘No way!’ Butafter some thought, the kid changed his mind and cleaned up his room. The father went to his second kid and askedher to do the same thing. She answered,‘Of course, Dad. Whatever youwant.’ But she never did go to clean upher room. So which of these two did whattheir father wanted them to do?” Theyresponded, “The first kid.”

Jesus thensaid, “It is for this reason that the drug addicts and the sex workers willexperience God’s utopia and you won’t. John showed you the way of God and you didn’t believe him so as torepent and be baptized. But the drugaddicts and sex workers flocked to him to get a new start. You all saw this, but you still didn’t changeyour mind to repent and be baptized.

Nowlisten to this story. A man owned a fewblocks in an urban area, so he built a set of apartment buildings there, rentedthem out and then set managers over each building to keep them up and tocollect the rent. Month after month, hesent employees to the managers to collect the proceeds, but the managers shutone out, beat up another, and another disappeared and was never heard fromagain. Then the owner sent groups ofemployees to collect his proceeds, and this started a gang war, but it didn’tget him a single dime. So then the ownersent his son figuring that the sight of him would cause the managers toreconsider their actions. But seeing theowner’s son at the door, the managers decided quickly that if the son was outof the way, the owner, being old and feeble, there being no one to care for theproperty after him, would just wither and fade away. So they grabbed the son, took him out of thecity and killed him, leaving his body exposed to the elements. So let me ask you, what do you think theowner will do to those managers?” Oneanswered, “He will call the police?” Everyone listening to this laughed. Then another said, “In his fury, he will do to those evil managersexactly what they did to him. He willkill them all and give the management to someone who will give to him what hedeserves.” Jesus replied, “You arecorrect. So what is your problem? Haven’t you read in the Word, ‘The one whomthe leaders rejected as a criminal has been chosen as the king of them all—andthis is an amazing thing to see’? God’snation will be taken away from you and given to a people who will give Him theproceeds he requires.”

Guesswork

Recently there has been a lotof discussion in theological circles about the reason for Jesus’ death. The idea of God demanding innocent humansacrifice for the justification of the masses just doesn’t seem ethical or justto many theologians. So people have beenlooking for other ideas, both ancient and modern, about what the death of Jesuswas really about. Some say that Jesuswas paying off Satan for the nations. Some say that God was demonstrating that nonviolent resistance is a morepowerful weapon than violence. Some saythat Jesus was showing how humans could demonstrate the sacrificial love ofGod. But all of these ideas have onething missing: none of them look toJesus for the reason he was dying.

Theparable above is the only detailed explanation Jesus gave to his death and whyit is significant. The parable of themanagers is found in all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew 21, Mark 12,Luke 20), and it stands at the crux of Jesus discussion with the elders andpriests, who ended up sentencing Jesus to death. Because of this parable, in all threegospels, the elders and priests attempt to arrest Jesus to put him on trial,but only stop because of the crowd, which establishes their reasoning forobtaining Judas’ services. Thus, thisparable not only explains Jesus’ thoughts for why he should die, but also whyhis killers thought it necessary to kill him.

Location, Location, Location

As a background to this parable, we need tounderstand what Jesus had recently done. First, he entered into Jerusalem on acolt, with his disciples (from Galilee) declaring him to be the king of Jerusalem. This was done to fulfill biblical prophecythat the Messiah, the proper king of Jerusalem,would come on a colt. The next day,Jesus went into the temple and ordered the moneychangers and sellers out of thetemple, which the high priest specifically allowed them to do. Thus, Jesus was acting as an authority in Jerusalem. When the ruling priests and elders of all theJewish people confronted him on his actions, he responded with the parableabove.

Super Powers

The Sanhedrin and the HighPriest were the rulers of the Jewish people throughout the world. This had been the case from the time of theMaccabees, when a priestly family took over the rule of Judea. Even the Romans, who had control of the land,recognized the power of the Sanhedrin and priests and so tried to direct theJewish people by determining which of the family of Aaron would be highpriest. So while the Romans and theHerods had political control of the physical resources of Israel, thepriests and Sanhedrin had rule over the law and religious life of the Jewishpeople—thus, over their hearts. Theywere the real rulers of God’s chosen people.

Jesus understood this, and so he didn’t openly confrontthe Romans, but leveled his political concerns on the priests, the Sanhedrinand on the religious and political parties of the Jewish peoples—the Pharisees(powerful in Galilee and the diaspora) and the Sadducees (powerful in Jerusalem and in the Sanhedrin).

The other thing that was understood is that if aDavidic king ruled over the Jewish people, this would be king not only overGod’s chosen people, but he would be God’s chosen emperor over the world,according the prophecies of Daniel. Soto claim to be the rightful king of Jerusalemis to claim to be the replacement for Caesar. One of the common names for emperor, whether Roman or Jewish, is Son ofGod.

So, What’s The Point?

Now to the parable. Jesus uses the idea of the vineyard fromIsaiah 5, where the vineyard is used as a metaphor for God’s nation. Jesus uses this idea and then adds the ideathat the rule of God’s nation was “leased” to a group of managers. These managers are clearly meant to be thepriests and elders who were currently ruling the Jewish people. These managers received a number ofmessengers from the true ruler of God’s people—the prophets who spoke forGod. The prophets insisted that themanagers give God the true proceeds of his people—obedience, the doing of God’swill.

Matthew especially emphasizes this aspect ofobedience by placing the parable of the two children just before the parable ofthe managers. The two children heard thewill of the father—for the people of

Israel

it is Jesus message, to dojustice to the poor, to love your neighbors no matter who they are, tosacrifice oneself for love. But themanagers rejected this message and so abused and killed the prophets.

So, in the parable, the owner decides to send hisson. This is the Son of God, the king ofGod’s people, the emperor of the world. Thecurrent rulers, however, desire the rule of God’s people for themselves. So they kill the Son. In the parable, the purpose of the death ofthe Son is not to see the Son resurrected and rule again. Rather, it is to show the unworthiness of therulers of God’s people.

Jesus is accusing the rulers of being the murderersof God’s messengers, the murderers of God’s emperor and the rejecters of God’swill. Because of all this, Jesus says,they will be rejected as God’s rulers. Not just rejected, Jesus says, but destroyed. Because they have killed God’s chosen ruler,he will come and destroy these upstarts—the priests and Sanhedrin, and all ofthe symbols of their rule, which is Jerusalemand the temple.

In a sense, with this extreme accusation, Jesus wassetting himself up to be murdered. Heknew that the priests and elders would receive this as a statement of enmityand rejection on Jesus’ part. And sothey would work behind the scenes to kill Jesus.

Reversals

There is one other aspectthat we have to recognize here. ThatJesus is saying that his death not only is the level which causes God’srejection of the unrighteous rulers of His people, but it is also the cause ofa new set of rulers to be set over God’s people. Rulers who will give to God what hewants—obedience to God. These are rulerswho have proven themselves by being persecuted as Jesus was. Rulers who display their faith throughenduring devotion in the midst of humiliation, sacrifice and suffering.

Whatdid Jesus really begin with his death? He began a process of religious power and leadership. The leaders who claim to speak for God willcome from the anawim, and they must be respectful of the anawim. If the leaders reject or persecute theanawim, then God will reject those leaders and set them aside, replacing themwith leaders who will allow the anawim to have a place of leadership. Jesus himself IS emperor, the ruler besideGod to rule the whole world. But Jesus’representatives are not the popes, bishops or synods made up of the wealthy andpowerful. Rather, they are among theprophetic who live out God’s will among the poor, choosing to be poorthemselves. And if the leadership ofGod’s people refuse to listen to these anawim, then Jesus will kick them out ofleadership and establish a new people. He has done it before, and He can—and will—do it again if necessary.

Oppressors will get what they deserve

Trump and the Lazy Apprentice

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There was a CEO preparing to go on a journey, so he summoned his vicepresidents and appointed to them the tasks they were to care for. “Here,” he said to one Veep who displayedsome business talents, “Take this five thousand dollars. Do what you can to make it profit.” He gave another one two thousand and anotherone thousand.

The Veep with fivethousand walked straight out of the boardroom to the stocks and made wisetrades until he doubled the amount given. The Veep with two thousand succeeded in the same way, doubling his givenamount. But the Veep with a thousandwent home immediately and dug a hole in the ground and put the CEO’s moneythere. “There,” he thought, “That oughtto keep it safe.” Then he played golf inhis office, awaiting the CEO’s return.

It took a long while, but eventually the CEO returned to his mainoffice. Then he called them in to lookat their accounting books. The Veep withfive thousand strode straight up to the CEO and said, “Boss, you gave me fivethousand, and I doubled your money! Nowyou have ten thousand!” The CEO smiledat him and said, “Excellent. You haverewarded my faith in you, you faithful manager. This was but a small test, but I will put you in charge of largecompanies now, because whoever manages insignificant things well can be entrusted with theimportant. You will manage with me, inmy offices, now.” The one with twothousand, emboldened, approached the CEO as well and said, “Here, sir, you cansee that you gave me two thousand dollars, and I doubled that amount, and amable to give you four thousand.” The CEOresponded, “Excellent. You have alsorewarded my faith in you, for you, too, are a faithful manager. I will put you in charge of companies aswell, because whoever manages insignificant things well can be entrusted withthe important. You will also manage withme, in my offices.”

Then the third Veep approached the CEO. “Now,” he said, “I approached your money in adifferent way. You see, I know you are astrict man, and I hated to think of what would happen if I lost the money yougave me. So I figured that a man of yourresources could get something out of nothing, so I just put the money in theground for safe keeping. Now I’ve dug itup, and here it is.” The Veep handed theCEO the thousand dollars, filthy and mold growing on it. The CEO turned around and told the Veep, “So,you figured that I could get something out of nothing, eh? Well, then you could have put it in the bank,and at least I would have gotten a bit of interest! You are an idiot! And lazy! All this time, and all I get is some rotting cash, not a cent more thanI gave you? You,” and he pointed to oneof his personal servants, “take this… cash… and give it to the Veep that hasten thousand. My principle is this—thosewho have something to offer obtain more, but those with nothing to offer, evenwhat he has will disappear. And throwthis man out of here, he’s fired! He canspend his days with those mourning their own corpses in the unemployment line.”

A Harsh Lord

Jesus would often useexamples of harsh, even evil, overlords to illustrate how hard-nosed God is insome ways. He uses the example of aruthless master in Luke 16 and the picture of a corrupt judge in Luke 18. Here, in Matthew 25 (as well as the parallelin Luke 19) he uses the example of a wealthy landowner, who only sees thebottom line. He is so harsh, that if aslave makes no profit on the small amount of money he gives him, then he willthrow him out of the household, where he will, at best, be penniless andhomeless and, at best, he will be treated as a runaway and killed. He insists that the slave should have atleast gotten interest from the money, by which he means that the slave shouldhave gone to the black market, for obtaining interest on a loan was illegal atthe time.

What did Jesus give us?

Most interpreters understandthis parable to only illustrate God’s view of the resources he has givenus. We have received all of our moneyand possessions from God, they say, and God wants us to increase theseresources for the kingdom of God. Thus, if we have money, we should increase itfor kingdom use.

Theproblem with the usual interpretation is that Jesus isn’t describing the Fatherin this parable, but himself. It isJesus who is the Lord who is going away for a time and then will judge hisservants as to their work while he was away. So we need to think a bit more specifically, without being confused bysimplistic Trinitarian thinking. What isit that Jesus gave to us that He wants us to replicate? It is not our finances or our physicalresources. Jesus specifically tells usto give these away freely, or to just walk away from them (Mark 10). Rather, he wants us to build up that which Hehas given us, which is, the gospel.

In other parables, Jesus says that the gospel willmultiply itself, like the parable of the sower and the parable of the mustardseed (Mark 4, Matthew 13). And Jesusalso said that it is the gospel, the teaching, the will of God, that He givesto his disciples. It is the gospel thatwe are judged by on the final day. (Matthew 7:21-27; 10: 7-8; 12:48-50) Jesus is not interested in us working withmaterial resources to increase them. Rather, he is interested in us increasing the gospel.

Multiplication Problem

But how do we increase thegospel? Some think that increasing thegospel means winning converts. Certainlyspeaking the gospel is significant, but the results of that speaking is not inour hands. We cannot force others to listen to the gospel, and other’s responsein partly in their own hands, and partly in God’s. Most people, Jesus said, will not payattention to the gospel (Mark 4, John 6:44). So the “fruit” is not converts. What is Jesus talking about then?

Fearing v. Being Bold

Firstly, the slaves who werepraised took chances with what was given them. But the lazy slave was characterized as being afraid to lose what wasgiven. So he took the gospel, put it inpretty books safely guarded on his bookshelf so that he would never loseit. The gospel cannot be accompanied bya spirit of fear, or else we lose the actions the gospel requires of us. We must instead be bold with the gospel,ready to, as the famous philosopher insisted, to “take chances, make mistakesand get messy!” Keeping the gospel safeis not our work. Rather, working withthe gospel and pushing it to extremes is our true work.

Listening v. Obedience

The main reaction Jesus wantsus to have to the gospel is that of obedience. He distinguishes between those that hear the gospel and those that do it(Matthew 7:24-27). The slave in theparable above heard what his Lord had to say, but he ignored it, preferring hisown skewed interpretation of his Lord’s saying rather than what it clearly meant. Jesus, in speaking of the gospel, speaks ofbelieving in Him, it is true. But thatis not the end of the requirements of the gospel. Rather, obedience to the gospel requires oneto repent of our sins, to surrender one’s possessions, to do good to those whopersecute us, and to humbly serve other disciples. Believing is like listening, and the disciplewho only believes but never repents, never surrenders, never loves his enemies,never serves is going to be punished by the Lord who spoke the gospel to him orher.

Privatization v. Doing Work

Finally, the slaves whoreceived praise from their Lord took the resources they received and workedwith it in the world. By contrast, thelazy slave hid his proceeds. He kept itprivate, so that his religion was a “personal” one, that was never discussed orproclaimed to others. It was enough forhim to know what was true, he didn’t need to tell anyone else. However, Jesus insists that his gospel mustbe declared publicly and defended publicly (Matthew 10:32-33). But those who hide their faith and even denyit, will be publicly humiliated on the judgment day.

Worse Than A Heretic

So faithfulness to the gospelis characterized by being bold, obeying the gospel and working it in the world,even with those who hate it. But to“believe” in the gospel and yet not respond to it in this way is “laziness” and“faithlessness”. Jesus insists that thedisciple who knows the gospel but does not act on it is no true disciple andwill be treated accordingly.

Accordingto Jesus, the one who never claimed to obey the gospel, but ended up doing thethings the gospel requires will be rewarded. But those who hold dearly to Jesus’ Lordship but never do the worksrequired of it will be judged harshly. This is the difficulty of the Christian faith. It only does us any good if we go all the waywith it. If we are but halfway then weare worse than a Hindu or agnostic or even a heretic. At least these live out the convictions oftheir faith. But Jesus has nothing to dowith those who claim Him, but do not walk with Him.

The Recycled and the Trash

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When the Emperor of God descendsfrom heaven displaying his power, having all the angels of heaven surroundinghim, then he will rule from his throne and every person on earth will becollected and will stand before His throne. He will judge them all and will divide them up as a rag picker willseparate the useful from the trash. Andthe recyclable he will stand at his right, and the trash he will stand at hisleft.

The King will proclaim to theright, “I welcome you, those whom my Father speaks well of. You may now possess the Kingdom—myKingdom—which has been made ready for you, the righteous of humanity, from thecreation of the world. You are worthy ofthis, because of your assistance to me. I was hungry in your neighborhood, and you gave me food. I was parched, passing by your dwelling, andyou offered me some water. I was animmigrant and outcast and you let me in your house for the night. I was walking around freezing, and you giveme your coat. I was sick and you nursedme to health. I was in prison and youcame and met my needs. You listened to me when I was lonely. You kept me safe when I was fearful. You gave me work when I was in need and paidme at the end of the day.” Theserighteous will answer the Emperor thus, “Our Lord, we thank you. But are you sure you are speaking of us? Did we really see you hungry and feedyou? Did we see you needing a drink andgave you something? When did we seeyou—you of all people-- an outcast and bring you into our house? When were you freezing and we gave youclothes or a blanket? And when, my Lord,when were you in prison and we had opportunity to visit you?” And the Emperor will answer them, “Listencarefully—whatever you did it to these disciples of mine—even these lowly ones—you did the same to me.”

Then the Emperor will turn to his other side. “You will leave me, you whom the Fathercurses with his every breath. You willbe cast into the punishment which was created for Satan and hismessengers. Because I came to your town,hungry, and you told me to get a job. Icame to your street, parched with thirst, and you wouldn’t talk to me. I was an immigrant, a homeless person, amentally ill person on the street, a traveler and you refused me entrance atyour doorstep. I was shivering in thecold and you passed by me, although you had closets full of coats, shelves fullof extra blankets you weren’t using. Ibecame bed-ridden and disabled and you were too busy with your own life toassist me, or even check in on me. I wasin prison, through no fault of my own, and in a locked mental health facilityand in the state hospital and you didn’t even write to me, let alone visitme. You cannot live with me in mykingdom, since you did not share your life with me when I was with you.” They will respond, “But Great Lord, I’m sureyou weren’t hungry or thirsty! And youcouldn’t have been an outcast or freezing. You were never in our neighborhood—I would remember! And you, being sick—I don’t think so. And you would never have been in prison or a mentalhealth hospital. And if you were, wewould have been there for you, serving you, Lord!” The Emperor answers, “Listen carefully,inasmuch as you did not serve these lowly ones, you did not serve me. I was there, through my disciples, as crazyas they seemed, as insignificant as they seemed, and you didn’t let them inyour life. Even so, I don’t want you inmine.” And they will leave the Lord andgo to eternal punishment. But those whoacted with justice lived with the Lord eternally.

A Parable or the RealThing?

Somethink of this passage as a parable. Butother parables don’t take place all in future tense, nor give such a clear,plain description of judgment day. Yes,it uses the simile of the sheep and the goats for a single verse, but the textquickly forgets it and gets back to the stark, though spiritual, reality. The reality is this: Jesus is coming back toearth to establish a world-wide takeover. When he is emperor of the world, then he will put every person in frontof him, and they will all be judged. There are many references to Jesus’ judging the world (John 5, IICorinthians 5, I Corinthians 3, to name a few), but this is the most detaileddescription.

Service and Salvation

Likeall passages about judgment, it has a clear message of what one must do to besaved on this day. And if we don’t getit the first time, then we can hear it again. And again. Four times inall. What do we do to be saved on thefinal day? We must serve the poor. Anyone in need, we work for them. It is interesting that it doesn’t talk aboutgiving them money. Rather it talks aboutusing what small resources we have and directly providing their needs. So the saved one, when he sees someonehungry, he feeds them. She will seesomeone homeless and house them. Theyknow of someone sick and they nurse them to health. It is interesting about the section aboutthose in prison. Those in prison in theancient world are not granted food or other care. It is expected that their family and friendswould do that. So the one who reallyassists the other is the one who feeds them, cares for them when no one elsewould.

Even as Jesus before focused ongiving to the poor or repenting or being persecuted, now he shows that the oneitem that is significant on the judgment day is service. And this isn’t service in general. Rather it is free provision to those in need,directly to their area of need, without expecting anything in return.

Faithfulness to theabsent king

Buthaven’t we always learned that salvation is based on faith, not works? Doesn’t this passage teach just theopposite. Actually, this passage teacheswhat the whole New Testament affirms—that we obtain our salvation by acting onour faith in Jesus. If, this passageteaches, you believe in Jesus, then you will help out those who are disciplesof Jesus when they are in need. Becauseif we help out the disciples of Jesus in need, then we are, by proxy, helpingJesus himself.

The message of the Sheep and theGoats is that the King is absent for right now, and how we treat his servantsis how we will be treated. If we don’tinvite the people of Jesus in our lives by feeding, clothing, housing andcaring for them, then Jesus will not want us in His life, in the kingdom of God. But if we welcome the people of Jesus in need, then we will be welcomedby Jesus into his kingdom.

Some might say, “Is this passageonly talking about the church? Isn’tJesus talking about all the poor?” Thepassage says specifically of the people Jesus calls his “brothers”. In Matthew, Jesus’ “brothers” arespecifically those who are his disciples who do God’s will (Matthew12:48-50). So it is especially for thechurch. And it is in agreement withMatthew 10:40-42 which says that those who offer hospitality, “even a cup ofcold water” to Jesus’ prophets, righteous people and disciples “because he is a disciple” then they willobtain their reward from God—that is, entrance in the kingdom. This does not mean that helping the homelessand needy in general isn’t a benefit. But it may or may not be an act of faith. Helping Jesus’ disciples specifically is anact of faith.

The Big Test

Thispassage certainly tells us to help the poor, which many in the church want todo anyway. But it has a specialchallenge to the church today. Often thechurch sees itself as being specifically middle class. Yes, they say, there are certainly Christianswho are persecuted all throughout the world. But the church often assumes that the “crazy man” pretending to pray onthe corner isn’t a “real” Christian. Thehomeless man who used to be a drug addict and can’t get off of the street can’tbe a Christian. Those who have to begfor their food aren’t real believers. Sowhen we help the homeless or the mentally ill, we assume that these are peoplewho need to be saved. As a contrast,Jesus himself says that these believers on the street, rather than only being amarginal Christian are the center of the faith. We will be judged on our every response to these folks, more than anyother act. Every act we do is important,but how we respond to the cold, the poor, the helpless, the mentally ill, ishow we will be treated by Jesus on the final day.

UniversalDetermination

Thereis one last shock in this passage. Everyone goes through this judgment. Not just believers, not just non-believers. Everyone. Without exception. And Jesus isn’thaving everyone show their faith statements they signed before they enter thejudgment hall. Or their churchaffiliation. Rather, he is ONLY looking atpeople’s response to the helpless disciple. Thus, we will all be surprised as to who will be on the one side or theother on Judgment Day. There will besome pretty immoral folks on the side the Father speaks well of. And there will be some people we thought ofas “living saints” on the rejected side with the demons. All of it based on whether one is helping thehelpless disciple. Our whole eternallife could be based on one time of us either saying “no” or “yes” to aChristian in need, depending on how many opportunities we receive.

Peace

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To be at peace with others, we must seek peace withinourselves. To be at peace within ourselves, we must seek peace withothers. This is a mutual effort. In seeking peace with others, they will(eventually) seek peace with us. Towelcome peace from others is to grant peace to both them and ourselves. Caring peace is the reduction of negativestress in our relationships. If we beginto listen to others, to resolve conflicts with all parties in mind, then thegoal of peace can possibly be achieved.

Opposite: Harsh conflict, resolving conflict with onlypersonal goals in mind.

Conflicts and relational stresses are inevitable. Do we try to ignore conflicts, allowing themto fester, or do we approach them gently? Do we manipulate people to try to get them to do what we want, ordirectly speak to issues? Do we blow upat others and then hope they don’t bring it up again? Or do we firmly but gently speak to theissues in our relationships, listening to others’ needs and then seeking toresolve them with both parties’ needs met?

Joy In Others

2011-12-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

In ancient Scriptures, “joy” is an important value. Some speak of the joy of creation, or the joyof gratitude. But one aspect of joy thatis often neglected is joy in others. To rejoicein another is to have one’s heart leap when they appear, to take pleasure inconversing with them, to join with them in their personal joys. Joy is not only a personal feeling, it is acommunal sharing. Joy is essential tolove, for who wants a relationship to lack joy?

Opposite: Envy of other’s good fortune, negative response toanother

Think of a person we dislike. When we converse with that person, do we findour eyes avoiding them, our voice containing irritation, an attempt to get awayfrom them? How can we express a morepositive interaction? Now pick anotherperson whom we neither especially love nor dislike. When we think of them, do we focus on thethings we especially enjoy about them? What good things about others can we think about, without consideringthe negative? If we meditate on thepositive, then we can more easily express joy when we next see them.

Self Control

2011-12-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

Our natural instinct is rarely the right actions to followfor other’s sake. Our natural instinctis to love those who love us, but it is also to hurt those that we perceive ashurting us. And maybe to hurt them a littlemore. We may think with our desires anddrives. Self-control is taking time toconsider the best course of action. Andloving self-control is considering what would be beneficial for another in acertain circumstance. To love is to taketime to think what is good for all, not just to react.

Opposite: To be impulsive and to defend that impulse nomatter who we hurt.

Do we ever take time to really meditate about what othersneed or how we can help them? Is loveonly something we do on impulse? Are ourimpulses mostly self-serving or other-serving? How can we create habits that would assist others on a regularbasis?

Appreciating Difference

2011-12-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

At first this may seem like the opposite of “love yourneighbor as yourself.” While we maybegin love by seeing others as ourselves, we mature in love by recognizing thatothers want similar things in different ways. We all need food, but we can’t all eat the same food. We all wantrespect, but we may understand respect in different ways. We all want to be loved, but we mayunderstand love in different ways. Thisis why God made most of us desire to be attached to the opposite sex—to learnthat love is expressed through difference, as well as through similarity.

Opposite: Insisting that others’ needs will be met onlyin our way; rejecting others because of how they meet their needs.

Do we look at others as just extension of ourselves, oras unique people in their own right? Dowe see the solutions we found to our problems the only solution to that problemor one of a set of solutions that other’s might find helpful? Do we manipulate people to take a certainpath “for their own good” or give them the freedom to figure out what is goodfor themselves? Do we command or advise?

Benevolence

2011-11-24T11:07:00.001-08:00

In any relationship, it is seeing how we can benefit theother. It is easy to see benevolence tofeed the hungry or to house the homeless. Benevolence, however, should taint every one of our relationships, everyone of our conversations. We can do goodby listening to another, by making sure communication is safe for others, by encouraging others in hope, by finding outwhat they actually need. It is seekingto meet the needs of others, and we all have need. Ultimately, benevolence is the core oflove. It is the seed from which truelove grows. By seeking the other’s needand trying to meet it, we can find ourselves.

Opposite: Seeking only to meet our own needs; beingapathetic to other’s needs

In our relationships, are we focused on what we can get outof them, or what we can give in them? Dowe consider the needs of those we know? Do we recognize signs of weakness in them, in order to assist them, orat least to empathize? Do we seek helpfor those around us when they are in need, or do we just give pat answers andhope they will stop complaining? Do weavoid weak people or seek ways to make them strong? Ultimately, are our lives about meeting ourown needs, or helping others to meet theirs?

Empathy

2011-11-24T10:44:00.001-08:00

Empathy is to feel what another feels. It is to step into another’s skin, to absorbtheir experiences and to have sympathy for both the joys and tragedies ofanother’s life. Empathy is a natural,biological process for most people, allowing us to learn through other’sexperience, to be like others, and to learn how to help others be like us.

Opposite: To see other’s actions analytically, withoutfeeling; to see other’s experiences as insignificant.

When I see someone in trouble, do I recognize that I couldbe in the same place, if circumstances were different? Can I put myself in another’s place,recognizing that their feelings and sorrows and joys are the same as mine? Do Isee myself in others around me and see them in me? Do I see others for my own amusement or astools to use for my own benefit? Or do Irecognize that we are all a part of each other, inseparable, no matter how wedisagree or become angry with each other?

Compassion

2011-11-24T10:30:00.001-08:00

Compassion is to see a lack in others and to feel sorrow dueto their lack. Compassion sees needs, itgives room for weakness, it excuses actions done from pain. Compassion can have its weakness, for itoften will treat an adult like a child, or will sometimes shield from positivehurt. But in its best form, compassiondoes not lessen the other person, but moves one to wise action.

Opposite: To judge others for their weakness, to beapathetic to another’s plight.

What is my first reaction to someone in weakness? Do I tend to blame or to understand? Do I reason in my mind ways to separate fromthem, to treat them as immoral or to be frustrated at their weakness? Or do I take pity on their weakness? Can I weep with those who weep? Do I search for ways to comfort or toavoid the weak?

Relationship

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In order to love we must be in connection with others. To have any other deep values, we must firstbe in relationship. We cannot live “justme and God” for God only grants grace to those in loving relationship toothers. A hermit is a spiritual cripple,for it is in the dirty rough-and-tumble of associating and being open to hurtthat we learn the discipline of love. Itis good, at times, to retreat and escape the demands of relationship and tofocus on who we are in God. But this isnot an end in itself, but a respite to prepare ourselves to associate, connectand care.

Do I have the tendency to isolate? When I have a problem with others, do I runto a safe place, away from any other person? Do I use my words to isolate, to separate myself from others, or to drawthem into deeper relationship? Am Iafraid of others, of how they might hurt me and so use my non-verbalcommunication to warn people away from me? Do I need to spend time with God to overcome fear and anger so I canrelate to others as God would have me to?

Other-Consideration

2011-11-24T09:52:00.001-08:00

Every being from the beginning of our individual life has noperspective but one’s own. The only needis personal need, the only feelings are personal feelings, the only thoughtsare personal thoughts. Love begins byseeing another as the equal of oneself, having similar needs, similar feelingsand similar thoughts. If we recognizeothers as equal beings as ourselves, then we will grant them the same freedomsand respect that we expect ourselves.”

Opposite: To view another as less than human, to deny themequality with oneself.

Have we ever done something that we told ourselves, “Surethat would hurt us, but not that person Do we ever consider others as less than ourselves? Do we ignore the pain others feel because it“doesn’t matter”? Do we think that what we do to others is less than what theydo to us? Do we ever want to give backto another more pain than we received from them? Do we see others as beingstronger than we and so able to handle greater burdens than we? In what way do we see others as so differentthan ourselves that we don’t have to relate to them or care for them?

Apothecary of Love

2011-11-24T09:29:00.001-08:00

To love others is to fulfill God’s highest law. To love is to fulfill all thecommandments. To love is to be ourhighest selves. To love is to be morethan human, while not to love is to be less than human. To love is to heal. The world is sick. It is in pain. It groans under the weight of the burdens ofsuffering. It is in anguish fromcarelessness, misunderstanding and prejudiced belief. The medicine the world needs is love.

But what is love? Islove based in desire, or in giving? Islove romantic, friendly or spiritual? Can it be all of these? Love is the answer, but we often don’t wantto know more about love than the fact that it is good. For one person, love is sexual experience,for another it is giving illegal drugs for free. Love is as misunderstood as it is lauded.

The one who first upheld love as a standard wasn’t JohnLennon but Jesus. Jesus said that alllaws, all actions should be experienced through the filter of love. He said that love was the ideal of God. That love must be shared with all. Surely Jesus knew what he meant by love.

In this series we will see what the Bible says about love. Love is healing, but it is not singular. Rather, love is a medicine cabinet full ofmedications that will heal what ails you, what ails those around you. But you do not apply one love to allwounds. Each pain needs a differentmedicine.

We will explore different dimensions of love, different waysof loving. Each piece will be brief, butrequire much meditation to accomplish it. Each will give an aspect of love, part of a whole. We will attempt to give a definition, aScripture, an antonym (for a definition isn’t complete until we know whatsomething isn’t), and some questions for meditation. If we spend a few minutes on love daily, wemight know what it is, learning to live it out.

To be updated with the full teaching on love, select the label below: Apothecary of Love

The Philosopher

2011-10-08T19:13:00.000-07:00

There was a prophet in the court. His name was Qoheleth the Philosopher and peoplelistened to what he taught, but no one liked it.

ThePhilosopher said: “Everything ispointless! All of life is meaningless,empty. It is like trying to cath the wind with your hands—you work hard at it, but get nothing out of it. Everything under the sun is pointless.

“I waswealthy, and I was able to do whatever I wanted. So I pursued pleasure. I partied, I drank, I allowed myself to beentertained by comedies and musicians. I gained everything that money couldbuy—possessions and women and everything that anyone could want. I participated in everything on the earth—butin the end, it was all boring. And I hadachieved nothing. Everything remainedthe same as when I started.

“Then Ithought that I could gain great wisdom and be educated more than anyone onearth. I would learn philosophy and betaught by the greatest teachers of the earth. I learned everything there is to know—and then I realized that it, toowas pointless. No matter how educated,the wise man, after he dies, becomes as dead and as forgotten as theidiot. In the end, they are both thesame.

“Thereis true wisdom, but it cannot be found. God may reveal something to people—but it is beyond understanding. No one will understand what is trulydeep. Every time we think we have it, welose it. And then, every time weunderstand what is right, we act in accordance with what is wrong.

“Then Ithought—I will work hard and do great things. I will work from early in themorning to late at night and I will accomplish great things and make a hugeamount of money. I made great projects—gardens and huge farms and I collectedan enormous amount of livestock. Andthen I realized that if I work hard for all these things, I will not be able toenjoy it at all. I will toil and workand then die—and some other lazy fool will receive all I got.

“Soperhaps, I thought, we should strike a balance. Perhaps it is good to work some and then to have pleasure. After all, God gave us work, and he gave usfood and drink to enjoy. Then Irealized—there are evil people all throughout the world who would steal what Ihave. For every worker who enjoys whathe has, there are three who are trying to steal from the one—and soon the onehas nothing. Theft and oppression areeverywhere—both on the street and in the government.

“Allthe wealth I had achieved, I understood, was pointless. The more I have, the more I want. The more I have, the more people there are toeat up my excess. A poor worker sleepswell, but the wealthy man has so many worries, he cannot sleep.

“So Ilooked into religion, and saw many people devoting themselves to God. They make great vows to God, and seem likeheroes. But so very few of them keeptheir vows, and then they are punished. And so many dream, looking for messages from heaven—but in the end, theymean nothing.

“Then Idecided to get into politics. I wouldlook after the king, and be important in his eyes. Whoever obeys the king will come to noharm. And the king is the supreme poweron earth. But I realized all thelimitations of the king as well. Theking cannot punish every wicked man, and at times, the innocent suffer—nomatter how just the king. The righteousreceive the punishment of the wicked and the wicked receive the reward of therighteous. And no one—not even aking—really has power over what is important. Who can control the wind? Who candetermine the day of his own death? Indeath, everyone is the same—whether important or a scoundrel or righteous orwhatever else. So what is the point?

When weare old, all is darkness. The brilliantare stupid, and the strong men hobble. We lose our teeth to eat anything good. We are afraid of everything. Andwe can enjoy nothing. Everyoneexperiences it—unless they die first. And so the end of life is as pointless as its living.

ThePhilosopher stood up and gave his conclusion: “My end is this: Under the sun,everything is pointless, without meaning. Do what you want—it is just luck andfutility here. But I charge you thisway—do not live your life under the sun—only for this pointless age, this emptyexistence. Rather, live for God. Live for him while you are young—don’t waituntil you are old.

“God alone is the judge of allmen. In the end, he will judge all the wicked and reward all the righteous—andthat is the only true justice that will ever exist. Our lives only have meaningif He gives it meaning. Fear God and keephis commandments—for this is the one duty of humans. And in his world, in his time, he will makeeverything beautiful and significant.”

Above is a summary of the book of Ecclesiastes, an ancient Hebrew book.

A New Economy-- John 13

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Itwas the time of the Feast of the Exodus and Jesus knew that his time on earthwas short, and he was soon to go to the Father. Yet, he loved his disciples on the earth, and he never stopped lovingthem, even to the end. At the time ofthe Feast, the Great Liar already convinced Judas Iscariot to hand Jesus overto the authorities. Jesus knew that theFather had granted him authority over all things, and that his purpose was tocome from God and to return to Him.

Givenall this, Jesus got up from the meal, set aside his dress coat and put on anapron. Jesus asked all of the disciplesif they wanted anything as a refreshment, filling their wine cups. Then Jesus took a basin, filled it with waterand washed all the disciple’s feet, wiping them dry with his apron.

Ashe came to Simon the Rock, Simon asked, “Do you think you’re going to wash myfeet?” Jesus responded, “You don’t getit now, but you will understand later.” Simon the Rock said, “No. Youwill NOT wash my feet. It’s too humiliating. I won’t let you.” Jesus calmlysaid, “If you do not allow me to wash your feet then walk out and don’t comeback. If you want to be of my nation,then you must allow this.” Simon said,“Well, then wash all of me—my hands are pretty filthy and I haven’t washed myhair for a while…” Jesus interruptedhim, “You are already completely clean, because your commitment to me cleansesyou. If you’ve taken a bath, you justneed your feet washed, not your whole body. Yet your whole is not clean.” When Jesus said this last bit, he was referring to the Betrayer, who wasstill there in the room with them.

After all their feet had beenwashed, Jesus took off the apron, put on his dress coat, and stood in front ofthem. “Do you understand what I havedone? You call me ‘Teacher’ and‘Master’, which is good, because that’s who I am. So if you see your Master being hospitable toyou, then you must do so to each other. I gave you this example, so that you would act in this way. You are not greater than I—I am the one whosent you. It is good if you know what Iteach you, but it is better if you do it—if you do what I do. Mind you, I am not talking to all of you. I have chosen you, but one of you was chosento fulfill the Scripture, ‘He who receives my hospitality has slapped me in theface.’ I tell you this ahead of time so you will understand when ithappens. Listen carefully—whoeverwelcomes into his home one of my workers actually receives me. And whoever receives me welcomes God who sentme to earth.

Foot Washing

Inmany Mennonite traditions, it is common to take Jesus’ command to wash eachother’s feet as a sacrament. Thus, inmany churches in the celebration of the week of Passion, they have a ceremonyin which the church member’s feet are washed by each other. What happens is really quite surprising. We are often shocked at our reserve, at ourmeasure of politeness.

Manyof all—perhaps all of us, at first—take on the reaction of Peter—“You won’twash MY feet.” We like to think that itis because our feet are dirty, filthy, undeserving to be touched. But I think, if we explore our feelings morecarefully, we find that there are one of two real reasons for ourhesitance. First of all, we find the touchof our bare feet to be intimate—too intimate. We are allowing someone who is fundamentally a stranger touch us in asensitive and personal place. The secondreason is because we are exposing a hidden part of ourselves to people. We are allowing people to see that whichshould not be seen. Opening ourselves upto the air what had been safely hidden. What we are really feeling is the shame of nakedness.

Nowthe fact of the matter is that when Jesus got up, wrapped a cloth aroundhimself and washed the disciples feet, he was not proclaiming a new sacrament. We no longer do the daily practice of footwashing and so we do not understand the context in which it was placed, as thedisciples did. Foot washing was done forthe guest, as they came to stay at one’s house. Even as today, when we have a guest, we might offer them something todrink, even so the host of the ancient world offered to have the guest’s feetwashed. It was the first part of a wholeritual of hospitality that included drink and food and possibly spending thenight.

But although there was much ritualsurrounding it, hospitality fulfilled a real need. To offer a drink in the ancient world was noempty ritual like we have, for usually we offer a drink to those who are notthirsty. Rather, the ritual ofhospitality is given to one who has traveled, by foot, a long distance. Perhaps only as short as a mile, but often itis a long journey of a day or two, during which water is scarce and food moreso. To travel was to endanger oneself,for bandits roamed the countryside and there was little security, and thereforelittle sleep. To offer hospitality, then, is to offer drink to the thirsty,food to the hungry and a safe place to sleep to those who are exhausted. Foot washing is the first part of this, forit cleans the dirt off the road, and makes one more comfortable, not justpersonally, but also taking away the anxiety of the traveler that he might bedirtying one’s home.

Hospitality

Thus,when Jesus was commanding his disciples to wash each other’s feet, he wastelling them to practice the whole of the hospitality ritual to each other, notjust a part of it. It was Jesus’ planthat many of his disciples would be travelers—itinerant evangelists—who wouldneed to have many stations throughout the world, in need of hospitality. Thus, he is commanding his disciples, not towash feet, but to meet the needs of the disciples. It is the introduction of the command hegives a number of times in a number of ways in the following chapters: “Loveone another”, “Greater love has no man than this than to lay down his life forhis friends.” A part of this love, Johninsists (especially in his letter—I John 3:17) is to offer hospitality. Food, drink, a place to stay and possiblyclothing to those in need. It is acommand to be a social network for disciples of all shapes, colors andcreeds.

This is a command that Jesusgave many other times. “If anyone is togive even a cup of cold water to even the least of these because he is mydisciple he shall not lose his reward.” “If anyone offers hospitality to you, they offer it to me.” “In as much as you have done so to the leastof my brothers, you have done it to me.” To be hospitable to believers isn’t a nice idea, it is a foundationalmoral command of the church.

Beneath Notice

Anotherthing to notice is that Jesus washed the feet himself. This is a unique feature, and the one thatPeter most noticed. When a host offeredto wash a guest’s feet, he did not do this act himself. Rather, he had a servant do the washing. Thus, there is no discomfort as to havingone’s feet washed by a peer, or (God forbid) one greater than one. Rather, it is done by a negligible one—aperson beneath one’s notice.

However, Jesus, in thisscenario, placed himself in the servant’s role. Yet the disciples could not pretend that Jesus was beneath notice, to beignored. Peter finally couldn’t acceptthe contradiction between how Jesus was acting and who he was, and so he spokeup. But it was imperative for Jesus tobe the servant. In this way, thedisciples could also take on that role. It is not enough to say that a Christian could take on any role, nomatter how lowly, no matter how marginal it made one.

Rather, Jesus command is for all of us to dothe menial tasks, the servant place. Itis a part of our participation in the Christian community. This is why Jesus said that leaders must actlike servants—they must do the menial tasks, the tasks that made themlowly. (Luke 22; Mark 8). They must lower themselves to be theservants, even as Jesus did. Not asingle Christian leader, or Christian member or Christian teen or Christianpew-warmer can escape from Jesus command of service. We must be the lowly to the lowly. We must offer help to those in need, wherethey are, where we find them. And wemust make ourselves as less important than they.

Mutual Dependance

Onelast thing that Jesus emphasized. WhenPeter complained to Jesus that he would not receive the foot washing—that hewould not participate in the demeaning of Jesus—Jesus responded with a sternrebuke. He said that if Peter wanted tobe a part of Him, a part of His community, then not only did he have to serve,but he had to be served.

Often we think of ourselves asundeserving of help. But, more oftenthan not, we think of ourselves as too independent to help. We have been raised in a society in whichindependence is most significant. If weare in need, we ought not to ask, we ought not to receive, for it is a wrongfor us to put other’s out, to make them help us.

Jesus thinks of service in adifferent way. When we are in need, weare providing an opportunity for others in the church to be like Jesus. We are providing an opportunity for service,for community to build, for us to be dependent on each other. And frankly, it is this last that our societyloathes, that we all secretly hate. Wecringe at the thought of being dependent on others, to rely on others forhelp. But the fact is, that is exactlywhat Jesus is creating with this example, with this physical parable. Jesus is creating a community of mutualdependence. We are to lean on eachother, and give to each other. We shouldbe dependable in our dependence on each other. We help each other’s needs and we give to each other’s needs. We love and are loved. We give and receive. And so we are the people Jesus commanded usto be.

The Anti Christians

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Honestly,you guys are as helpless as a mouse in middle of a cat convention in the workI’m setting you to do. So, in dealingwith people, be shrewd and yet pure in God’s eyes. You’ve got to be on guard from thesechurchies I send you to. They will throwyou out of their buildings and call the cops on you. You will go before judges and mayors to tellthem what I have told you. And when youare given to the authorities, don’t fret about your defense. God will send His Spirit to tell you what tosay at the time. It says in Scripturethat a brother will have his brother arrested, a father will arrest his childand children will have their parents arrested. Honestly, because of me and my word, everyone will hate you. But if you stick with this work to the end,then you will be delivered. So, if theyattack you in one church, just go to another. You see, you won’t have finished the work I’ve given you, and I’ll becoming back. No one treats a student better than the teacher. Nor do they treat a servant better than hisemployer. Frankly, if the student orservant gets treated with the same respect as their betters, that is more thanenough. So if they call your master,“Satan”, what do you think they’ll call you? So be prepared and don’t be afraid of it. Honestly, these guys aren’t so scary. Anything done covertly, God will displaybefore all the world. Whatever secrets Iwhisper to you, announce from a megaphone. If someone threatens to throw you injail or kill you—don’t worry about it. All they can do is touch your body, but they can’t touch your soul. Rather, you should be afraid of the One whocan put your whole being into hell! Youcan buy a chicken for a couple bucks, and the Father knows every one that wasbutchered and put on your dinner plate. You are much, much more important to God than a chicken. God knows you intimately and cares for everysingle hair on your head. So stop beingafraid to tell people what they don’t want to hear! Here’s a deal, if you give my message toanyone and everyone, then I will talk about you to my Father on the finalday! But if you refuse to talk about meto people, I will tell the Father that I never knew you. Do you think I came tobring “peace on earth”? Far fromit! My visit here will cause more violencethan it stops. Because of me, familymembers will turn on each other and people will be looking over their shoulder,fearing what others in their house might do to them! Let me tell you now, if you love your parentsmore than me, then just quit now. If youlove your child more than me, then forget about following me. And unless you are ready to be executed as aseditionist, quit my school. If you wantto save your soul, you have to tear your heart out. And the one who does allow his heart to betorn out will find that they are a whole person.

Apostle’s Work

Atthe beginning of this passage, Jesus makes it clear that he is sending hisdisciples (now apostles) out to do some work. The specific work Jesus gave them was to speak his message of repentanceand God’s kingdom to “the lost sheep of Israel.” Israel, in Jesus’ day, were thosewho believed as He believed, those who were the orthodox people of God. Should Jesus be around today, he would sendhis apostles out to the churches, orthodox, evangelical, Catholic, Protestant,any and all that have quite a bit of his gospel and are accepted bysociety.

When they went to a church, anapostle would do two things—find an opportunity to heal, and proclaim theeschatological message of repentance. Inother words, “Repent, the end of the world is nigh”. It may be a cliché, but that doesn’t make itany less true, does it? The miracleshows that they are truly from God. Themessage is what the church needs to hear. This is exactly what Jesus sent his disciples out to do—to hand outtracts to churches, and heal those who are mentally ill or dying of AIDS.

Orthodox Heresy

Themain point of the passage is that while some might receive the apostle’smessage, the main response will be persecution—rejection, hatred, arrest. Jesus spends a lot of time on this. Then, as now, Christ is seen as a unifyingfigure for God’s people. That once theMessiah has revealed Himself for who He is, then all of God’s people will standbehind him, ready to battle the infidels. Jesus reveals that this simply isn’t true.

One of the biggest shocks ofreading the New Testament carefully is that it isn’t the infidels or theunfaithful that are the persecutors. Rather it is the orthodox believers. The main opponents of Jesus were and are the traditional orthodoxbelievers—whether Jew or Christian. Assoon as a religion becomes comfortable or set in its ways, Jesus is the numberone opponent of it. And those who speakfor Jesus will speak most loudly against the orthodox. Thus, the orthodox will stand against theapostles of Jesus. They will kick themout of their churches. They will declarethem to be heretics. They will call thepolice on them. All for doing Jesus’work.

Evangelizing theChurch

Butwhy is this? Shouldn’t the church payattention to Jesus’ message? After all,they claim to love Jesus. Just like theJews of the first century claimed to love the Messiah (just so long as He agreedwith their theology). But even so,healing people, that’s a good thing, right? Why shouldn’t the churches accept the apostles?

Well, what the churches dislikeright off the bat is the fact that the apostles feel the need to preach to thechurches. You see the churches feel likethey’ve got it right. After all, aren’tthey going to church? Don’t they worshipGod at the top of their voices? Don’tthey demonstrate their love of God through their offerings? And they are in firm agreement with proper,orthodox theology. So THEY aren’t theones needing tracts. That should besaved for the unbelievers.

Then the apostles right off thebat tell the churches that they need to repent. Repentance is okay coming from one’s pastor or priest. After all, we know they aren’t really talkingto ME, personally. But when an apostle ofJesus comes to our church telling us that we need to repent, they are implyingthat there’s something wrong with the church AS A WHOLE. Almost as if we were wrong to go to ourproper, approved, orthodox church. Well,there’s nothing wrong with us, the problem must be with the apostle.

Then, the apostle insists ontelling us that God is coming back to judge the church. Well, we know that. I mean, Pastor just preached on Jesus’ cominglast… year. But to go out of one’s wayto preach God’s judgment to this church implies that WE are the ones going tobe judged. And we don’t like that. It’s just not comfortable. And it’s not right.

So when an apostle comes to ourchurch, we don’t like them. Just bytheir presence, they are implying things that the orthodox just can’tstand. And Jesus knew this clearly. From personal experience. This is why he knew the apostles would faceserious opposition. Because He faced ittoo. Anytime someone evangelizes, theyare saying that there’s something wrong with the status quo. And status quo people hate that message.

Jesus’ Radical Message

Butit goes deeper than that. You see, ifJesus did speak to our congregations today—if he did stand outside the churchand hand out tracts—Christians today would really hate his message. Because his message is that you don’t reallybelieve if you don’t do radical acts of purity and compassion.

· Hismessage to the men downloading porno is that they need to repent or go to hell(Matt. 5:28)

· Hismessage to loud mouths is that if they don’t repent from their insults andgossips, then they are going to hell (Matt 5:22).

· Hismessage to the middle and upper classes is that they need to sell theirpossessions and give to the poor. (Luke 12:33)

· Hismessage to those who use their wealth to live comfortably is that they’re goingto hell, because they are ignoring the poor. (Luke 6:24; Luke 16:16-25)

· Hismessage to those with extra income is to not put it into a retirement, asavings account or insurance, but to give to the poor and to trust in God forone’s needs (Luke 12:13-34)

· Hismessage would be to help everyone you come across in need, in whatever way youcan, all the time (Luke 10:25-37)

· Hismessage would be to stop supporting the effort to kill your enemies, but topray God’s blessing on terrorists (Luke 6:27-28)

· Hismessage to those with houses is to make sure not a single Christian was livingon the streets. (Matthew 10:40-42; 25:31-46)

· Hismessage to those with food to make sure that no one went hungry (Matthew25:31-46)

· Hismessage to the church is that the addicts and agnostics and sex workers willget into heaven before the churches because at least they know they NEED torepent (Matthew 21:27-32)

Andon and on. Jesus would not be popular inthe church. Nor would his apostles. Because their number one task is to be rid ofhypocrisy in God’s people. And the verything that Christians are well known for is hypocrisy.

Jesus Marines

Listeningto Jesus’ message of the disciple being persecuted (see the immediately previous post),perhaps we might have wondered, “How could I be persecuted? It just doesn’t seem likely.” Actually, persecution is VERY likely, if onlywe do as Jesus said and take his message to those who need to hear itmost. If we take Jesus’ message ofrepentance, not just to the street folks and addicts and sex workers (as muchas they need it!), but also to the churches, then we are guaranteed to bepersecuted. We will be rejected andasked to leave.

What Jesus asks of us—no,demands of us—is boldness. We need tohave the guts to live on the front lines of sin. To say what Jesus said to those who need tohear it. Again, we don’t need to be ajerk about it. We should give ourmessage to whomever will listen. And tomany who don’t want to listen. We needto do it lovingly. We need to give themessage carefully—even shrewdly, with an eye to people’s salvation, notcondemnation.

But we need to speak out. We need to talk for Jesus. Some of us will do so quietly, some of uswill do so loudly. Some of us will speakthe word to everyone, and some of us will only say it when the opportunitypresents itself. Some of us will be firmand hard, and some of us will beat around the bush. But if we speak Jesus’ word, Jesus willrecognize it. He, of all people,understands the rejection we will receive. But if, in spite of the rejection, we will speak the words of Jesus,then we will not lose our reward.

The Lucky Dogs-- Luke 6:20-24

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Ah, the poor—you lucky dogs! Because you are the owners of God’s kingdom.

How lucky are those who are presently hungry—becauseGod will make sure you have your fill.

How lucky are those who weep in this life—because Godwill make you laugh.

How lucky are you, my disciples, when people hateyou. You are fortunate when they won’thave anything to do with you, when they call you names and tear down yourreputation. When that happens—have aparty! Jump for joy! Because you are lined up with great things fromGod. Because, you see, this is the waytheir type have always treated God’s prophets.

But you well off—I’m so sorry. You are getting all the good life you willever get.

It’s so sad about you who eat well now, because Godwill make sure you will be hungry.

It’s so sad about you who are well entertained now,because God will make sure that you weep and grieve.

And you who have excellent reputations witheveryone? Grieve, for that is how theirtype treated the false prophets.

To Get Lucky Like A Dog…

When Jesus spoke these wordsin Luke 6, it says that he was speaking to his disciples. These are his students who memorized hissayings and spoke his message to the populace around. Some of these folks were sincere in followingJesus, while some were in the business for the prestige of being close toJesus, of using his name to push their own agenda. Here, we see that Jesus fully recognizes thatsome of his disciples he fully approved of, while others he felt were compromisers. And the compromisers would receive none ofthe blessings.

…You’ve Got to Get Treated Like One

The true disciples, say Jesus, are the anawim—thepoor, the humble, the humiliated, the outcast. They are the ones who, as a result of preaching the gospel that Jesusgave them, end up in poverty, in hunger, in sorrow and completelydisregarded. These are the truefollowers of Jesus, the true recipients of the kingdom of God.

It’s just not fair!

But why? Why should the true followers of Jesus sufferin this way? Well, let’s face it, Jesus’reputation is mixed. In his day he wasknown as a great healer and as a heretic teacher. Today he is connected to both mercy andfundamentalism. He is seen as both awonderful teacher and a religious fanatic. In this way, a person can use the name of Jesus to get ahead, or theycan be attached to Jesus and obtain infamy.

What Jesus is saying is to recognize that He is bothloved and universally hated. Those whoreally know Jesus are, at the least, uncomfortable around Him. Some truly despise him—especially those whowant to uphold the standards of this age, who see the world as fundmentallygood, but needing a few minor changes. We must remember that Jesus is speaking about a complete overhaul of theworld—the mechanical equivalent of replacing the engine. Jesus says, “It can’t be fixed! Just scrap the whole world system and startover!”

So those who truly are saying that which Jesus sayswill be hated as well. Jesus says, “Ifthey hated me, they will hate you as well.” But not everyone who speaks Jesus’ name or words is hated. Why? Because they change Jesus’ fundamentalmessage into a lighter, more palatable affair. Perhaps they do this because they want a hearing, or because they wantto get ahead in the world as it exists. But Jesus states clearly that those who speak His gospel withoutcompromise will be rejected.

Persecution promise

Jesus’ promise for hisdisciples is persecution. It isn’t apossibility, it isn’t a suggestion, it isn’t even a command. It is a promise. If we truly follow Jesus, live his life andspeak his message, we will be persecuted. Now some say, “But I’ve followed Jesus in all the ways I can, but I’venever been persecuted! Am I going tohell?” Okay, now slow down. Often we have a bigger idea of persecutionthan Jesus has in mind. We don’t need tobe beaten or martyred to be persecuted, although that is a good indication ofit.

Jesus has two parts to his concept ofpersecution. First of all, we need to berejected in some way. We might be rejectedby beatings, or we could be rejected by people refusing to talk to us. People could see us and walk the otherway. People might scoff whenever ourname is brought up. They might call usnames behind our back. All of theseactions are types of persecution, types of rejection, as well as beingarrested, beaten and killed.

Jerks for Jesus

The second aspect ofpersecution, according to Jesus is that we must be persecuted for living out ortalking about the gospel of Jesus. Thetrue persecution is rejection we receive due directly to our commitment toJesus.

A lot of people think that they are truly followingJesus because they have been persecuted for Him, when in reality they have beenpersecuted because they acted like an idiot in public. If you act hatefully, if you yell at people,if you are a stalker for Jesus, if you do other things for Jesus that makes youa jerk (that He didn’t specifically command), then you aren’t being persecutedfor Jesus. You are being hated becauseyou are acting inappropriately. Paul’sstatement, “Speak the truth in love” is too often ignored by Christians seekingto please Jesus by being persecuted. Weare to be rejected because of the message of Jesus, not because of how wedeliver that message. If we speak the messageof Jesus in a way that could be received, and then we are rejected, then we arebeing persecuted. But if we are a jerkfor Jesus, then we are not receiving the persecution Jesus promised us.

Suffering for Fun and Profit

Another thing Jesus mentionsin this passage about persecution is that it should be one of the best thingsthat ever happen to us. Once we arerejected and openly hated for speaking Jesus’ word, we should be happy! We should celebrate and have a party—assumingthat anyone shows up, of course. Thisseems like an odd reaction—and actually it is one of the more difficultcommands of Jesus to follow. “Okay, I’vejust been rejected by my parents and my best friend… and so I’m supposed to callpeople up and say—‘oh, isn’t it cool?’”

It is difficult, but it has a logic to it. Persecution is like a baptism (in fact, theearly Anabaptist reformers called it the “baptism of fire”)—it is an initiationrite. When we get persecuted for Jesus’sake, it is an assurance of our salvation. Yes, Jesus recognizes that rejection isn’t fun, but we can truly rejoiceif we know that this persecution is our guarantee of God’s approval! So there are three kinds of initiation thatwe should celebrate—our baptism, our first communion and our first persecution. Actually, we SHOULD have persecution parties!

Tom Hanks Need Not Apply

Finally, there are those whodo not get persecuted. We need toremember that Jesus is speaking to those who were following Him. They have repented from their sins, some of themhave sacrificed their possessions for Jesus. But Jesus is saying that sacrificing as a business investment justdoesn’t work. We need to recognize thatour lot in life in doing the ministry of Jesus isn’t a nice salary, a good carand a comfortable lifestyle. Rather,living for Jesus is a promise of poverty, hunger and rejection. Perhaps not everyone lives this way all thetime, but some do and the other followers of Jesus recognize that this is thepath that Jesus laid out for all of us. If we use Jesus as a means to become a “professional” or to live the“good life” or to obtain the American dream, then we are not following Jesus atall. We are being a hypocrite.

Excuses, Excuses

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Jesus was at a party and he gave a speech. Hearing him, one of those listening announced, “How wonderful it will be for those who are at the party of God!” Jesus replied with a story: “There was a man planning a party and he sent invitations out. As a reminder, he sent one of his employees out at the time of the party to all those invited. But they—every one—offered excuses instead. One said, ‘Oh, I just bought some real estate and I need to go look at it. So sorry, but I’m just too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just bought five work trucks and I need to test them out. I’m really sorry, but I’m too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and, well, we’re just too busy. Sorry, can’t come.’ So the employees returned to their CEO and explained all this to him. He fumed and he told his employees, ‘OK, fine. Then go downtown and invite every beggar—the bums, cripples, winos and indigent.’ After a bit, the employees reported back to him, ‘We did as you requested, sir, but the hall still looks pretty empty.’ So the CEO said, ‘Then go out of the city and collect the passers through, all the immigrants looking for work and other foreigners. Convince them to come in until the banquet hall is completely full. But I swear to you, not a single one who was invited will have even a bite of my feast.’

Jude: I just had the most frustrating conversation with Jesus today…

Matt: Oh, really? As if THAT was something new.

Jude: Yeah, I know. He should really take a class in making friends.

Matt: Well, look around at the crowds, boy. He won’t lack in followers. Anyway, what was your conversation about?

Jude: You know that I’ve been following Jesus for a while and so I decided to formally become his student. From my mindset, it only makes sense. He clearly has God’s approval—look at the miracles! And he says that he’s the only teacher that can bring us into God’s kingdom. I know that God’s kingdom is coming soon, and the priests and Sanhedrin are so corrupt they can’t last long. So I told him that I was ready to follow him formally.

Matt: That’s great! So what did he say?

Jude: That’s the thing. At first he seemed to accept my proposal, but then he just turned on me and said I wasn’t worthy.

Matt: Odd. Doesn’t sound like him. What exactly did he say?

Jude: Well, I told him I wanted to be one of his disciples. He nodded. So I told him that I would just say goodbye to my family and then come back to him right away. And he said something like, “Whoever plows…” or....

Matt: “He who sets his hand to the plow and turns back is not worthy of the kingdom of God.”

Jude: That’s it, exactly! How did you know?

Matt: When you are around a while, you’ll find that Jesus tends to repeat many of the same stories and aphorisms. Makes it easier to memorize them.

Jude: That’s good to know. If I ever get to be a disciple. But what does he mean by that phrase? It sounds like he’s just saying that I can’t follow him.

Matt: That’s not it at all. What he means is that to follow him is such a serious business that we have to be ready to sacrifice some pretty significant things in our lives.

Jude: Like what?

Matt: Well, did he mention possessions?

Jude: Not to me. But I did hear him make a pretty serious demand of another potential disciple.

Matt: That’s pretty common. He wants us all to surrender our possessions.

Jude: Ohhh. Hmm, maybe I don’t want to follow him after all. I don’t want some teacher using God’s law as a means of getting rich.

Matt: No, you don’t understand. He doesn’t get a cent of the money you give. He insists that we all give our possessions to the poor, not to him.

Jude: The poor? You mean, like beggars or people too lazy to work for themselves? Why should I give to them?

Matt: According to what Jesus says, simply because they are in need. They are followers of God as well. To call them lazy is a judgment that isn’t necessarily true. But our possessions are separating us from God, they tear us away from serving Him to serving them. They become another god in our lives so we need to be rid of them and give them to the poor.

Jude: Oh, come on. We have to take care of ourselves and care for our own. We can’t just leave everything and be dependent.

Matt: That is exactly what Jesus wants of us. He wants us to be dependent on God. The Lord has been trying to get us to be dependent on him ever since He formed his people. He gave them manna to depend on Him for food. He established rules for kings that they would not depend on an army, but on Him for security. Jesus himself taught us to pray for our daily bread, so we would depend on God daily. This is why he told us not to worry. “Seek the kingdom and its righteousness and all food and clothing will be provided by God.” So we surrender that which is not necessary so we can be dependent on Him.

Jude: Yeah, sure. But why the poor? Shouldn’t we give them to someone more deserving?

Matt: Doesn’t everyone deserve to eat? If we withhold our goods, we are keeping them from that. Doesn’t everyone deserve to have shelter from the cold—no matter who they are? Doesn’t everyone deserve to live? God gives everyone, no matter how evil, the basic to live. And He has handed the fate of the poor into our hands. Thus, we must help to be a part of God’s work.

Jude: Honesty, giving up my few possessions are no problem for me. Now my cousin Barnabas, he’s pretty well off and I don’t see him just selling off everything.

Matt: That’s why Jesus said it is so hard for a wealthy man to get into God’s kingdom. Because they have so much to give up.

Jude: Okay, I guess I understand that. But it doesn’t really have anything to do with what Jesus said to me. Jesus was talking about not even seeing my family to say goodbye. That goes beyond sacrifice, it’s irresponsible.

Matt: Really? So when you go to your family and say goodbye, what do you think will happen?

Jude: Well, they may disagree with me, but they will understand that I am an adult and that I make my own decisions…

Matt: Oh, really? Is that really what your mom will say?

Jude: Um, well, I guess not. I suppose she will break down and weep and beg me to stay.

Matt: Does she really appreciate Jesus?

Jude: She thinks he’s a cult leader. A conjurer who is in it for the money.

Matt: And what will you do if you get attacked by this weeping?

Jude: I don’t know. I suppose that I’ll just get back to Jesus?

Matt: Come on, be honest.

Jude: I suppose I would stay for a few days and then leave.

Matt: And at the end of the three days and your mom gives you another excuse to stay?

Jude: Oh. I see what you mean.

Matt: Jesus rightly sees your family as a rival for your devotion. He wants your all, not just part of you. If part of you is still emotionally tied to your family, you will never give your all to Him.

Jude: But, really, I have responsibilities. I am the first born. I have certain things to do.

Matt: Let others take care of your responsibilities. Don’t you have brothers who aren’t following Jesus?

Jude: Yes, but it isn’t their job…

Matt: And it isn’t yours either if you follow Jesus. Jesus has another job for you—one that will lead to eternal life. Yes, we should care for our families, but when Jesus calls us, then we can’t turn back. We can’t go back to our old lives, our old responsibilities. It’s dependence again. God will care for our responsibilities and we will work for Him.

Jude: But, Matt, no other teacher demands this! It’s insane. No other Jews require this.

Matt: Are you so insulated? There are whole communities that separate themselves from their families and their possessions and live for God and the poor. And even if no one else was doing it, Jesus is making the request of you. Is He your Lord or not?

Jude: I don’t know. It’s just so much.

Matt: Actually, what you are really saying with all these questions and objections is that you just don’t want to. You just don’t want to sacrifice your life, even for Jesus. But it isn’t just about Jesus or being a Christian. This is about a whole future. Are you willing to invest your life—your family, all you have—for a life of justice and love and hope? Are you willing to give up the paltry amount you have for the sake of eternity? If you don’t follow Jesus, where else will you gain eternal life? Will you get it by doing your family’s bidding? Will you get it by holding onto your possessions?

Jude: Well, no. I know that.

Matt: Then, really, isn’t it just a small thing Jesus is asking you to surrender? And that little bit for eternal life with God?

Jude: Yeah. You’re right. Let me think about that.

Matt: Yeah, you do that.

The Divine IRA

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A young man called out to Jesus from the crowd and said, “Teacher, command the trustee of my father’s will to give me my share of the inheritance!” Jesus replied, “I am not a lawyer or a judge—why should I get involved?” Then Jesus told everyone, “Guard yourself from every form of trying to get more in the world. When you finally get everything you want and more, then you finally realize too late that stuff is not what life is about.”

“There was an entrepreneur who ran his own business. One year, he did exceptionally well, and found that his business had outgrown his little store. So he was contemplating what he would do with his surplus profit, so, talking to himself, he said, ‘I know! I will rent a larger store, hire a couple of employees and the business will practically run itself! Then, over a few years I will have a tidy nest egg stored up and I’ll say to myself, “You have found the good life. Now it’s time to relax, and enjoy your retirement.”’ In that instant, however, God’s voice spoke to the man, ‘You are such an idiot. This very night your life is to be taken from you. So who will enjoy what you are planning?’ This is what happens to a person who works for himself and his family, but who never gives to God by giving to the poor.”…

“Don’t be afraid to surrender your possessions, my dear students. You Father has happily determined that you are to have the whole kingdom of God—what do you need of useless trinkets? Go ahead and sell your stuff and give freely to those in need. Then you will have a savings that you can never use up, and is much safer than a bank, a mattress or your penny-pinching aunt. God will preserve it for you. But take this proposal seriously, and don’t blow it off—because what you use your money on is what you are devoting yourself to.

“There was a rich man who dressed in bright colors and fine cotton, living with his excellent entertainments daily. There was also a disabled poor man named Lazarus who begged outside his property daily, who was obviously sick. Lazarus dreamed about lying under the wealthy man’s table just to eat what fell on the floor, but all he got were kids coming by, yelling at him and throwing things at him. The poor man finally died, and angels carried him to Abraham in heaven. And the wealthy man also died and was given a proper burial, but ended up in hell where he was in agony. The wealthy man looked up and saw Abraham and Lazarus in heaven from a long distance off and he called out, “Father Abraham! Father Abraham! I am a religious man, so please do me a favor and ask Lazarus to come over to give me just the smallest amount of pain reliever because I am in terrible agony.” Abraham replied, “My son, do you remember in the time of your life? You had all the good, and Lazarus had all the evil in the world. Now in this life there is finally justice so Lazarus is comforted and you are in agony. Besides, the distance between us is so great that no one can go from one side to the other.” The rich man yelled out again, “Then could you please send Lazarus to my family? I have five brothers and I don’t want them to suffer here with me.” Abraham replied curtly, “Let them listen to the Bible.” The man said, “But they don’t, Father Abraham! But if someone comes to them from the dead to sternly warn them about giving to the poor, they will listen.” Abraham replied, “If those Scrooges won’t listen to the Scriptures, then they won’t listen to a ghost.”

The Homeboys
It is said that God doesn’t play favorites. And that’s kind of true—God gives everyone the same opportunity for His salvation through Jesus. But in a sense God does play favorites. You see God is the judge of the universe, and He is the one responsible to make sure justice is done throughout the world. And so God pays attention to those who can’t receive justice—more attention to them than to the ones who can get justice in the courthouse or through their money. So God pays attention to the poor and needy—they are His favorites. They get God’s ear. (Exodus 22:22-23; Psalm 37)

The Poor DONT Have to Be With Us
Some say that Jesus said that we don’t always need to help the poor because they are always going to be with us. (Matthew 26:11) But that’s not exactly what Jesus was saying. Jesus was quoting a passage in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 15:1-8), which was talking about how poverty can be eliminated among God’s people. This is through giving to those brothers and sisters who are in need. If, the law proclaims, the needy are provided for, there doesn’t ever have to be poor. But, continues Moses, the poor WILL constantly be there, so there will always be people to give to. This last bit is what Jesus quoted. But this seems to be a contradiction—how can there be an idealistic society without poverty and yet poverty will always be with us?

Greed Kills
Simple. For poverty to be eliminated, we must first eliminate greed. Greed is not just wanting what someone else has, although that is included. Nor is it wanting more for yourself than you need. Rather greed is refusing to help another person in need when you have the means to do so (I John 3:17-18). This greed is not just selfishness, it is hatred of others who have need. Jesus warns us with very strong language to avoid greed at all cost, because greed kills. Greed kills the poor, because those in need don’t get what the justly deserve. And greed kills the greedy because God will track down the greedy and destroy them. For this reason, Paul says to the Christian community, “Do let greed even be mentioned about you.” (Ephesians 5:3).

Community of Privilege
Many of us are like the wealthy men in Jesus’ parables. We think to ourselves, “I earned the money or received it justly, so I should be able to do with it whatever I want.” This kind of thinking has created a culture of privilege, which assumes that we deserve a higher standard of living than others. Certainly some people in some of God’s work need to have greater resources than others. But no one “deserves” a higher lifestyle at the cost of other’s needs. God will punish anyone who sees the needs of others, has the means, but refuses to give because they need to maintain a “lifestyle”. In America, our lifestyle is killing us, impoverishing us because of our understanding that the “good life” is the life surrounded by stuff and entertainments. The “good life” is the life in God, which is a life focused on the Spirit, not on stuff.

Community of inclusion
Instead of a community of greed and stinginess, we are to have a community of inclusion, in which we treat the poor with as much generosity as we do our employees or our friends. Often the poor are excluded because they have different values than our culture or they dress or smell differently. We can’t trust them, so we don’t give to them, at least not like our friends, whom we understand and appreciate and give generously to. Jesus’ community, however, has always been a community of inclusion, and the poor are treated at least as well as people on any other socio-economic status. Perhaps the poor can budget or be “responsible” with money, but they are still treated fairly. In the early church, this community of inclusion and economic sharing is so thorough that the wealthy freely give of their most prized possessions, and there are no poor among them. No poor at all. Everyone has their needs met, in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 15.

Big House
The main question everyone asks when we speak about sacrificing is, “But how will I get this need met if I give everything away? How can I provide for myself and those with me?” Jesus answers that directly. He says that God will provide everything (Luke 12). If we prove faithful to God, then we can trust in God to provide. We need not fear or be anxious. God will grant us food, clothing, and healing from sickness and protection from our enemies (Psalm 42:1-5). Not only will God provide us with everything we need in this life, but He is overjoyed then to provide for us the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was really made for those who sacrifice all they have for God’s work and for the poor. These are the ones that God wants in charge of His people, for all eternity. God grant us what we need now, and He also provides us a home, a utopia for us to live in for all eternity.

Go Bust or Bust
So what about those who don’t sacrifice for the poor? What about all the millions of believing Christians that don’t trust the poor enough to give, but just provide for themselves and their families? Well, let’s just look at the words of Jesus to his disciples who don’t give:

“Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.”
“It is very difficult for those with many possessions to enter into God’s kingdom. It is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into God’s kingdom.”

Or the words of John to greedy believers:
“Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer has eternal life.”

Or James:
“For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.” “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!”

These are all written about Christians, not unbelievers. So we need to take our possessions seriously. These hard words are not given to the wealthy who are generous. Because generosity is the salvation of those with a lot of stuff.

Stuff (Mark 10)

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As Jesus returned to his travel, a man ran up to him and bowed in front of him. The man asked, “O Holy Teacher! What must I do to obtain eternal life!” Jesus, assuming this was some brown-noser who was looking for a positive answer, said, “Why do you call me ‘holy’? Only God is holy. I’m sure you’ve heard about the commands that make you right with God—‘Don’t murder,’ ‘Don’t cheat on your spouse’” ‘Don’t steal,’ ‘Don’t commit perjury,’ ‘Don’t defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and all the others. But the man, desperately, said to Jesus, “Teacher, I have already obeyed these from my youth. Isn’t there anything more?” Then Jesus truly noticed him and felt love for him and said, “There is just one thing you need: Go home right now, sell everything you have and give the money to the needy. Then you will have the treasure in heaven you desire. And when you are done with all that, follow me on my journey.” The man stood silently, his face downcast, then he walked away slowly, dejected, for he had many possessions.Then Jesus turned around and said to those following him, “People with a bunch of stuff have a hard time getting into heaven.” Jesus’ students’ were shocked, but Jesus repeated himself, “Kids, it’s very hard to enter into God’s nation. It’s easier to fit a Starbucks in one of their cups than for one of the well-off to get through the gates of heaven. It’s easier for Donald Trump to deflate his ego. It’s easier for Twiggy to swallow a space shuttle. That’s how hard it is for them to give up their stuff.” The students were wide-eyed and mumbled, “Who could possibly be saved, then?” Jesus heard this and stared at them, “It is impossible for any human—but for God, nothing is impossible. He can do anything He wishes.”
Then Peter spoke up, “Look, we left everything to wander places with you.” Jesus replied, “That’s true. And there isn’t anyone who gave up their siblings, parents, and jobs for me and for God’s truth that won’t get a hundred times as much. Even now, before God’s nation fully comes, those who gave up everything will get a hundred times as many siblings, parents and food. Of course, this all comes with being rejected by the world, but you do obtain eternal life in the next age. Just remember this: the first will be last and the last will be first.”

All To Jesus, I Surrender
Jesus is a really demanding boss. Heck, he won’t even let you work for him unless you’re willing to give up just about everything. But Jesus has got some pretty good wages—and the retirement is the best ever.
Jesus has established a school, and it turns out that this school is the only avenue to enter God’s kingdom. So Jesus doesn’t give his school really easy requirements to enter—people have to give up their families, their possessions and even their very lives for Jesus. This is a part of Jesus’ program to have his disciples humbled so that they would obtain greater things from God when the kingdom comes.

Different Strokes
Jesus had a lot of people who wanted to be a part of his school. It was very popular, because people wanted to learn how he accomplished the miracles he did, and also because they wanted the favor that God gave Him. Jesus didn’t make it easy on anyone. He seemed to find the very thing that the potential disciple had a hard time surrendering, and that is what He chose. But He wasn’t making these demands just because it was hard. Rather, he recognized that everyone had different things that would block their passage to God’s kingdom, and He would tell them to get rid of it.
But not everyone’s requirements were the same as others. For some, they need to give up family obligations. For others, they need to surrender the social obligation of saying goodbye properly. For others, they need to sell everything they have. For still others, just leaving everything they have behind is enough. But everyone has to surrender their families, in some way. Everyone has to surrender their possessions. Because these are the things that distract us from God’s work.

Selling everything—The wealthy man had to sell all of his possessions. Although at first Jesus thought the man was looking for a standard answer, when He realized that he was sincerely looking for the truth, Jesus told him the harsh reality—that his possessions was getting in the way of him entering God’s kingdom. The problem with the man was not that he had a lot of money, nor that he didn’t do what was expected of him, nor that he loved his wealth more than God. His problem was, frankly, he just had too much stuff. Stuff will always get in the way of our relationship with God. So if we have a whole lot of stuff, God will tell us to sell it and to give it away. This is because too much stuff is poison to our spiritual lives.

Leaving things behind—Peter noticed Jesus’ response to the man with lotsa stuff, and he was nervous for himself, so he said, “Hey, Lord, we didn’t sell everything, but we did leave it at home.” Jesus’ response is that to leave one’s stuff behind is sufficient. Jesus recognized the sacrifice that the disciples made as being equivalent to selling it. But, unlike the wealthy man, the disciples didn’t have so much stuff that they couldn’t leave it behind. Some have so much that they need to get rid of it permanently. Others can think that they are leaving it behind temporarily (like the disciples who tried to go back to their fishing occupation), but find that Jesus’ call on them is permanent, and that they can never go back.

Community property—As the church developed, there needed to be support people for all the itinerate evangelists. People with large households, such as Philemon (after whom the book of the Bible was named) kept their houses and a lot of their stuff, but shared it with the whole church. They would have the church meet in their homes, have evangelists stay with them and provide generously to the poor. For many people, they live as the early church did, “They held no property as person, but held all things in common… and there was not a needy person among them.” Acts 4:32,34 These folks don’t leave the possessions behind or sell them, but give them freely to whoever, especially in the church, has need of them.

Takin’ Care of Business
Why should we give away our stuff? I mean, it’s our stuff isn’t it? We didn’t steal it or extort anyone! Why can’t we do with it what we want? Of course, we can. But God has greater demands of us than just taking care of our families and our stuff.

Doing kingdom work—Jesus wants all of his disciples to be involved in the work of the kingdom. This means evangelism, establishing communities of believers and discipling new believers. This is hard work, and requires mobility and time—and the more stuff we have, the less work we can give to God.

Treasure in heaven—Treasure in heaven is, first and foremost, entrance into God’s perfect utopia. Secondly, it is the wealth and reward we will receive from God when we get there. There is only ONE way to get treasure in heaven, according to Jesus—giving to the poor.

Getting rid of distractions—The more stuff we have, the more work we have to do to maintain it, protect it, and to keep more coming in. Stuff is the world’s primary way to get us distracted from God, and to feel that we really don’t need Him. To focus on who we really are, and our real need for God and to focus our love of Him, we’ve got to get stuff out of our lives.

Helping the needy—Our stuff is a resource—a treasure—that could be use to help others who aren’t as well off as we are. People are starving in the world, are being destroyed by war, are being persecuted for Jesus. Perhaps we can’t help their emotional pain—that’s God’s job—but we can sell off some of our stuff so they can have their basic needs met. The poor are God’s people, and so to give to them is to give to God.

Bennies and Perks
To give things away is to have God put those things in an IRA with a really high interest rate. It will be returned to you a hundred fold at retirement—when the kingdom comes. We surrender our lives and hopes and dreams in this world, in this age so that God will give us a better time for us to thrive. The more we surrender now, the more we will thrive in the age to come.

“We are slaves of what we want”—Switchfoot

The High Cost of Education-- Luke 14

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Jesus was at a party and he gave aspeech. Hearing him, one of thoselistening announced, “How wonderful it will be for those who are at the partyof God!” Jesus replied with a story:“There was a man planning a party and he sent invitations out. As a reminder, he sent one of his employeesout at the time of the party to all those invited. But they—every one—offered excusesinstead. One said, ‘Oh, I just boughtsome real estate and I need to go look at it. So sorry, but I’m just too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just bought five worktrucks and I need to test them out. I’mreally sorry, but I’m too busy to come.’ Another said, ‘I just got married, and, well, we’re just too busy. Sorry, can’t come.’ So the employees returned to their CEO andexplained all this to him. He fumed andhe told his employees, ‘OK, fine. Thengo downtown and invite every beggar—the bums, cripples, winos and indigent.’ After a bit, the employees reported back tohim, ‘We did as you requested, sir, but the hall still looks prettyempty.’ So the CEO said, ‘Then go out ofthe city and collect the passers through, all the immigrants looking for workand other foreigners. Convince them tocome in until the banquet hall is completely full. But I swear to you, not a single one who wasinvited will have even a bite of my feast.’”

Jesus noticed that a crowd hadgathered, outside the party, listening, so he said to them, “Many of you wantto follow me, and be a part of my school. You can learn to do miracles, to be holy, to obtain God’s kingdom. But listen carefully—you can’t be a studentin my school until you hate your father, hate your mother, hate your wife, hateyour children and brothers and sisters. You can’t be part of my school until you hate your very life. To be a part of my school, you’ve got to beready to be branded a rebel and killed as a traitor. Look,if you are going to paint your house, you want to know how much it will costahead of time, don’t you? Becauseotherwise, you get halfway done and run out of money to buy more paint andanyone passing by laughs at you and says, ‘Look, this guy started something buthe couldn’t finish it.’

Suppose two countries were at war. The presidents of the countries would certainly sit down and make surethat their army was large enough to defeat the other. But suppose that one found that his army wasonly half the size of the other. Wouldn't he begin working out a negotiation of peace, surrenderingeverything he had to prevent this war? Even so, God is coming, and you aren't ready for him. If you want to be in my school, and so beready, you must surrender all of your possessions, just like that king."

You may think that you are different, the salt of the earth, the stuff ofwhich the church will really make a difference. But if salt has no flavor—if it’s just the same as everything else—thenhow can you make it useful again? It ispointless—not of any use for food or anything else. So we just throw it out. What do you think God will do with “salt”that is the same as dirt? If you’ve gota half a brain, then understand this.

What is the cost of Jesus’ school?

When people approached Jesusto be his follower, they didn’t think that he was the only way to salvation,the only means to obtain God’s kingdom. Rather, he was one of many teachers who had a particular way of thinkingwithin ancient Judaism, he was a rabbi, amidst many other rabbis. The difference is that this rabbi could healthe blind, exorcise demons and raise the dead. That definitely gave him an edge above other teachers. He was very popular and always had a crowdaround him. And people maybe listened abit closer to him than to other teachers, because, well, he had POWER.

But he was still just a teacher, who had an idea ofwhat God wanted of us, just like any other. And the people weren’t sure that they wanted to make the full commitmentto be a disciple, or one of his students. After all, being a disciple is a lot of work. You have to do whatever the rabbi toldyou—full obedience was a minimum. Andoften a rabbi asked you to give things to him, or to the school, as payment forthe education he was requiring. And adisciple had to spend their time memorizing the rabbi’s teachings—word for wordif possible.

Maybe He Needed an MBA

But when Jesus talked about the costs of his school,He used the most extreme language. Hisrequirements were tougher than anyone else’s. This is unusual, because while no rabbi made it easy for their disciplesto enter their school, they did want to attract disciples and they knew that ifthey used extreme language, then they wouldn’t have many students. But Jesus’ language isn’t good advertising atall.

What did Jesus say would bethe requirements to join his school—the things he is requiring up front?

Social expectations—Although not directly here, but in Luke 9, Jesus talks about not beingable to say goodbye to one’s family, or to return to bury one’s father when hedied. Jesus is saying that the work thatHe sends his disciples to is more important than any family obligations orsocial niceties. Jesus basically says,“Either be my disciple, or be socially acceptable—but you can’t be both.”

Family—Jesussays that to be his student is to hate one’s family. Jesus doesn’t mean that one sends the familyblack roses and tells them that you can’t see them anymore. But Jesus does say that if you follow Him,then you are rejecting your family’s social values, their morals, their way ofworshipping God—everything that makes them think of themselves as “good people”. This means that you will be blacklisted byTHEM. You will be setting yourself up tobe hated by your whole family.

Livelihood—Aperson’s field is their basic sustenance, and their family inheritance. Toreject this is rejecting one’s food and livelihood not only for oneself, butfor any generations after. This is oneway in which one would hate one’s wife and children, because you are puttingyourself in a position to not be able to provide for their needs.

Possessions—Jesustells his disciples very clearly that his disciples are to surrender all oftheir possessions. But, interestinglyenough, he isn’t looking for a pile of stuff in his living room. Rather, Jesus tells the disciples that theywould have to give the possessions directly to God. The symbol he is using is that of a kinginvolved in a war he knows he’s going to lose. In the ancient days, if a king surrenders to another, they pay them allthe wealth they had in order to spare their kingdom. Jesus is saying that God is the stronger king,coming to conquer our world with His Kingdom. So, in order to spare our puny souls, we are to give up our possessions,and God will have mercy on us.

Life—But,ultimately, even our possessions aren’t enough to spare our lives in thisage. Jesus says that we need to beprepared to make the ultimate sacrifice—to be rejected and killed by this worldas traitors and rebels. That’s whatdying on the cross really is—an execution for traitors to the state. Jesus said that this is a sacrifice we needto make if we are going to be students of his.

What gives him the right?

The real question anyone witha half a brain really needs to be asking is, “What education is worth such asacrifice?” If it were just aneducation, well, frankly, it probably wouldn’t be worth it. But Jesus isn’t just offering aneducation. What Jesus is clearly sayingin this passage that enrollment in his school is the ONLY WAY to get into God’skingdom. That is one of the points ofthe initial parable. Many were invited,but only those who chose to attend the feast—meaning following Jesus travelingparty—would obtain God’s Ultimate Feast—the kingdom of God. Only those who sacrificed all those thingsand became Jesus’ disciple would be safe from God’s judgment. Only those who were Jesus’ disciples couldcall themselves salt in the earth. SoJesus isn’t just asking sacrifice for an education—he’s saying that it is aworthy cost for eternal life.

Worldly excuses

And what, does Jesus say, isthe biggest obstacle to being Jesus’ disciple? It is thinking that the things of this world is more important thanbeing a disciple of Jesus. Jesus givesthe example of work, marriage and purchasing as being more important thanattending a feast. But Jesus says thatthese people are then exchanging eternal life for the pleasures and duties ofan afternoon. This is the same as givinga thousand dollar bill for three pennies because three coins are more than asingle piece of paper. It is a foolishexchange. But to surrender the cares,worries and prejudices of this world for the work and love of God is toexchange death for life.

Jesus says that to be a disciple but to live like theworld is like being flavorless salt. Sure, it looks like salt, feels like salt, but it is useless—useless forGod and useless for the church. Anduseless for salvation. To be a Christianbut to refuse Jesus’ sacrifices is good for only one thing, Jesus says—to bethrown on the garbage heap. And whathappens to garbage? It burns. And burns.

Delusions about Sinners

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Jesus said, “At a church service, the preacher called people up front, andtwo of them came up. One of them was anemployee at Focus on the Family and the other was a heroin addict. The good Christian prayed aloud to himself,‘Father in heaven, I praise your name because I have been chosen by You to beholy. I am not a thief, a sinner, anadulterer or a junkie like this man. Ipray and read the word daily and I tithe all my net income.’ The addict stood away from the altar, bowedhis head and whimpered, ‘God, I’m a screw up—help me, just help me.’ Listen here—the addict left the church with arelationship with God. The churciedidn’t. Because God raises up everyonewho lowers himself, and he pushes down everyone who pulls himself up.”

Someone around Jesus reported to him the news about some criminals whom thepolice beat up. And he responded tothis, “Do you think that these criminals were worse than anyone else becausethey were beat up? On the contrary, ifyou don’t repent, you will have as bad happen to you and worse. Or what about the drug house that collapsedon those who occupied it—do you think that they were worse people than thosewho lived around them? Listen to this:unless you repent, you will all be destroyed in the same way.

“Someone had an apple tree in his backyard, and one day, during appleseason, she came out back and there were no apples! So she spoke to her landscaper, ‘For threeyears I’ve been hoping for apples from this tree and I’ve got nothing! It’s useless. Why don’t you dig it out?’ The landscaper replied, ‘Ma’am, if you wouldjust be patient and forgive it this fault this year so I can care for it. By this time next year, if you find no fruit,fine, we will dig it out. But if it givesyou apples, then it will be worth it.’ “

“I’m Not A Sinner, I Never Sin”

One dayI was doing my usual Sunday practice, handing out tracts in front ofchurches. I wasn’t doing it out ofspite, but just to participate in the process of giving God’s word to those whowere open to receive it. At this churchI had a lady in a fine dress approach me and ask me what I was doing. I told her I was handing out tracts aboutobeying Jesus. “Oh, you don’t need to dothat here,” she responded cheerily, “There are no sinners in OUR church.”

If you are a part of a church,sinners are always the other group. Theyare the people not a part of our church, not an upstanding citizen, not abeliever in Jesus. No, we may not beperfect, we say, but we are forgiven by God. We are great and God loves us, no matter what.

Most people consider holiness tobe less about one’s ethical responsibility than the social and cultural groupone belongs to. Some theologians saythat if a person has received Jesus, then there is nothing they can do whichwould condemn them by God. They arecompletely forgiven. But the way thechurch acts, most of the time, they consider you to be an upstanding personbefore God if you are an upstanding person in the church, living by the basicstandards of the church. Thus, the holyperson is the person who goes to church, prays, spends time with their family,pays their taxes and votes Republican.

But the basic requirement forreceiving blessing from God, according to Jesus, isn’t a matter of being a partof the “in” group. Social conformity wasnever something that Jesus held to as a high standard. Neither did he tell people to pray a prayerto receive the Lord, or pay tithes, or attend church. Jesus’ basic—but not only—requirement forentrance into God’s kingdom is repentance.

Hamart-zophrenia

To be adisciple of Jesus, and so gain God’s blessing, we must admit that we have, andcontinue to do things wrong. To denythat we sin is to deny our weakness, our humanity. Now, honestly, we don’t many of us think thatwe don’t sin at all. We all agree thatwe fail in our anger sometimes, or that we covet that which we don’t want todo. But what we do is divide “white”sins from “black” sins. As if some sinswere better or worse than others. Certainly, some sins have greater effect than others—to hate a personisn’t as bad as killing them. But whatwe often do is say that some sins aren’t as bad as others, and inevitably, the“bad” sins are the ones other people do, while the “not so bad” sins are theones that we do.

Jesus, however, makes it clearthat ALL sin is bad, and ALL sin is worthy of separation from God, eventerrible punishment. But the worst sinis the sin that we are in denial about. Humanity as a whole, but the church especially is mentally ill when itcomes to sin. We are all experts ondiverting blame and not seeing that which is right in front of us. Even when we think we are awful people, weare often obsessing on actions that aren’t so bad, while ignoring the worst ofour behavior.

Sin Sanity

Jesustells us how we need to think to stop being mentally ill about sin:

Sin isn’t just something we see in others

We havea tendency to look at other’s sin, as if everyone else is the problem in theworld. “If only there were nohomosexuals, drug addicts, and liberals,” say the conservatives. “If only there were no cops, thieves, orjudgmental people,” say the street folk. But in pointing the finger of blame on everyone else, we mistake our ownissues as minor points. Jesus told theparable of the log and the splinter to let us know that sin is something wemust deal with ourselves, before we can even look at others.

Sin is a personal problem

Anewspaper once had a contest inviting people to send in brief essays under thetopic “What’s Wrong With The World”. Afamous Christian author, G.K. Chesterton wrote in the most succinctresponse: “I am.” This is exactly the kind of attitude Jesuswants us to have. When we see problemsand issues, we must first recognize our own responsibility and theresponsibility of our own people. Jesuswants us to constantly deal with our sin and to admit what God admits—that wehave screwed up and in the areas God has said we screwed up, rather than thatof our own imagining.

Sin is a problem with God

A lot ofpeople agree that sin is a problem, but it is one better dealt withourselves. But this is not true. Should we sin, then it is an issue between usand God, no one else. Those who do notbelieve in God rightly believe that they don’t sin. People who don’t have a relationship with Godcan’t screw it up. Only those who careabout God and want to do right before Him sin. If we “got a friend named Jesus” then we don’t ignore our sin, or denyit, but we go to Jesus to deal with it.

If we don’t repent, we die

Jesus isvery clear about this. Yes, others getpunished and treated roughly because of their sin. But we, who claim to be of God, if we sin anddeny it, we will be punished even more severely. To claim to be a good Christian and to notdeal with our sin is to be a hypocrite. And Jesus was not kind to hypocrites. Jesus never said that your run of the mill sinner would burn for alleternity. Nor pagans, nor atheists. But he said again and again that it would behypocrites—those who claimed to be upstanding people of God, all the whiledenying God with their actions—who would be thrown out and living in flames andtorment for all eternity, crying and gnashing their teeth. (Check it out-- Matthew 5:22; 8:12; 13:41-42;23:15; 24:48-51; 25:30, 41-46; Luke 13:24-28)

Break down and cry

Repentance isn’t just a dryaction, but an emotional response. Torepent, we need to regret our sin, no, even to weep over our sin. We need to feel it. James says, “Be miserable and mourn andweep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humbleyourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:9-10) We must allow ourselves to feel the pain wehave caused God and others, and not just be stoic about it. To weep before the Lord is to receiveforgiveness as long as we are sincere.

Be Transformed

Andrepentance isn’t just a show we put on every time we sin. It is something that we allow God to do tous. God gives us His spirit, and weslowly become different people. Paulsaid that we are to be “transformed by the renewing of your minds.” (Romans12:1) This transformation is somethingwe enact, but it is ultimately something that is done by God on us. God gives us his Spirit, and the more werespond correctly to His Spirit, the more transformed we are. Soon, we find, we are not who we once were,but a completely new person, transformed by God’s power and our own humility.

No Child Left Behind- Matthew 18

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At that time, Jesus’ students approached him and asked, “Who gets to be the boss in God’s coming kingdom?” He called over a small child and put him right in the middle of them. He said, “Pay attention now. Unless you become completely transformed and become like a child, you won’t even get through the front door of God’s kingdom. The one who will be boss is the one who will be socially on the level of this toddler. And if you welcome and show hospitality to a child like this, then you are welcoming me. But whoever traps one of the insignificant ones who believe in me, it would be better for him to strap himself to the bottom of the Queen Mary and sink it than what he would suffer as punishment. The world is a terrible place because of traps that make you sin! Yes, it is true, traps are inevitable—but how awful to be the agent of the trap! So if something deeply important to you—as important as one of your limbs!—causes you to stray away from God, get rid of it! It is better for you to be without one of your limbs, but alive, than to be whole but in hell. And if whatever you see causes you to stray away from God, get rid of it! It is better to be half blind but alive than to see everything but end up in hell. And be very careful that you do not disrespect one of my insignificant disciples—for they have a line directly to the throne of God!

Being Childish
We’ve been taught from children not to be childish. Of course, when you’re a kid, it’s hard NOT to be childish. Being childish just comes naturally. But we have all grown out of that. Just as Paul said, “When I was a kid, I acted childish, but now that I’m grown up, I’ve matured out of childish things.” Now Jesus gives us a role-reversal. He is saying that if we are REALLY going to grow up (in Him) then we need to be childish.

This doesn’t make much sense, really. I mean, being childish is a bad thing, sometimes. Does Jesus want us to throw tantrums? Does he want us to be socially inept? Does he want us to have our meat cut for us? And there are some things about being childish that we CAN’T be: It is too late for us to be innocent. Heck, we know when we’re doing wrong (most of the time) and we have all sinned on purpose. Can’t turn back the clock on that one. We can’t really be any shorter than we are—unless we cut off our legs (maybe that’s what Jesus was talking about!)

So what does it mean to be childish? We have to see children as they were seen in Jesus day. When you are a kid, what is probably the number one complaint? That you aren’t listened to, and that you have to do what the grown ups tell you to do. Frankly, it’s a distinctly unfair system. It is no surprise that one of the main words for a slave in ancient Greek is “child”. Because slaves and children are treated basically alike! They are told what to do and their opinion doesn’t really count for much. In the ancient world, children were pretty much ignored and if they did impinge themselves on the consciousness of an adult, then they were usually beaten. That’s what it was like for children until the last hundred years or so!

Being the Anawim
So what does this mean for the Christian? We need to remember the question that Jesus’ disciples raised—“Who gets to be boss? Who’s the most important?” Jesus’ answer is this—the one who is most important in God’s future utopia is the one who was least important on earth. But even more than this, Jesus says, you can’t even get into God’s kingdom unless you set aside the things that make you important, the things that make you significant, and basically become a child, a nobody, a person who only exists to be ignored.

To put it in more basic language, Jesus wants—no, demands—that everyone who is a disciple be someone who makes himself insignificant, unimportant, an outcast, a person whom everyone else shakes their head at. I won’t get into detail here, but there are only a few ways that Jesus specifically mentions that would make a disciple an outcast. First of all, a disciple has to be repentant, setting aside all the sins that the world considers important. Secondly, Jesus says that a disciple has to sacrifice—their family, their friends, their inheritance, their possessions and their economic status. Lastly, Jesus says that the disciple must be an evangelist, which makes them persecuted. (But we’ll talk about all that later)

Traps
In the midst of this discussion, Jesus talks about “traps”. Most translations use the word “offense” or the phrase “cause to sin”, but the Greek word, skandalon (from which we get the word “scandal”) literally means a trap that one might set for an animal or a person. It is something used to trip someone up. What kind of traps is Jesus talking about? It means anything one might do to draw one away from God. It could be causing to sin, but not only that. If we discourage someone from trusting in God, then we are setting a trap (John 6:61). If we are doing something that isn’t a sin to us, but it is a sin to someone we are doing it in front of, then we are setting a trap for them (I Corinthians 8:13). If we act in a way that is hypocritical to our life before God, we are setting a trap for anyone who sees us doing it. (II Samuel 12:14)

And traps are important to avoid, as well as important to avoid setting. If we fall into a trap, distance ourselves from God in our trust, our belief or our actions, then we are endangering our very lives for all eternity. If we are vulnerable to a trap, we need to do everything we can do to avoid it. If that trap is a person who is begin to convince us to stray from God, we need to avoid him or her. If that trap is an entertainment that is destroying our soul we need to cut it out of our lives. Even if that trap is something that is so dear to us that we cannot imagine doing without it, we must do so for God’s sake, for our sake.

But most importantly, we must avoid setting traps. If our lives are at stake if we fall into a trap, it is nothing compared to those who set traps. Those who set traps, who cause others to fall away from God by their speech or action, have the very worst punishments in store for them. The reason for this is because setting traps is the work of Satan, the accuser, the deceiver of the brethren. And so anyone who does the work of Satan—tempting, causing others to fall away from God—will be given the punishment of Satan, the worst punishment possible for all eternity.

The Brothers Minor
But there is one other trap we haven’t mentioned, a difficulty we put in front of people seeking God, that Jesus is specifically pointing out in this passage. Like bookends around the verses about traps, Jesus speaks about his “little ones” or “insignificant ones”.

In the book of Mark, this passage is connected to an event that happened to Jesus. Jesus’ disciples noticed that there was someone who wasn’t part of the group of “official” disciples doing a miracle in Jesus’ name. They stopped him, and Jesus said, “No, don’t!” He explained that even though that person didn’t have the Jesus’ Disciples Membership Card, that he was just as important for the kingdom.

This is the kind of person Jesus calls the “little ones”. The little ones are those who are in the church, but they are unimportant even in the eyes of the church. Perhaps they dress differently, act differently, are uneducated, are socially awkward, perhaps even offensive in some way. They aren’t on any church board and they never will be.

Jesus’ point about mentioning these “brothers minor” (which is the name Francis gave to his insignificant troupe of beggars for Christ) is to let everyone else know that we need to go out of our way to accept these folks. Jesus says that to welcome them and give them hospitality (food, drink, a place to stay the night) is to welcome Him. To love them is to love Him.
But more than that, to not welcome them is to set a trap for them. If we reject these outcast Christians, then we are causing them to drift away from God. If we encourage them to find another place to worship, we encourage them to think that all Christians reject them. To push people away from the church is to set a trap for them. Perhaps, at times, we need to train people, to help them fit it, or to just accept them as they are. But if we push them away from God’s people, in any way, then we are doing Satan’s work, and we will be judged for it.

Be insignificant. Welcome the insignificant.

What Alcohol and Drugs Can Do For YOU

2011-05-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Alcohol and Drugs make you feel happy
At first, after using alcohol or drugs, you are joyful and ready to party and have a good time. However, alcohol and most drugs are actually categorized as a “depressant”—meaning that after a brief high, the chemical is actually meant to cause you to be depressed. Many people—especially alcoholics and opium-users (such as heroin addicts)—like the substance because they have put their negative feelings aside for a time. Unfortunately, that feeling is very temporary, and then they feel depressed for a much longer time—then they want to go back to get more of the substance so they can feel good again. This is a perpetual cycle of depression, and the only way of escape is to get out of the substance that is bringing you down.

They give you energy
After using alcohol or drugs you feel that you could do anything, lift anything, you are ready for anything—especially meth or coke. Certainly those drugs do grant a person more energy for a period of time. However, all of these substances actually are tearing your body apart. They increase your chance of getting Hepatitis C or liver damage. They leave your body feeling more tired, and long term use causes you to die young, possibly from overdosing or a greater chance of an accident, but the use itself will eventually kill you. Long term alcohol or drug use is a slow suicide.

They make you feel smarter
A person using alcohol or drugs, when they are in their “high” stage, they feel that they are having great insight that they wouldn’t have otherwise. This is especially true of those who use marijuana, meth, coke or psycadelics. However, the opposite is actually true. Most drugs (and certainly alcohol) slow down reaction time, and slow down the brain processes. The “insights” some people get are simply rambling, which leaves them feeling that while they were high they understood everything, but once they came down they forgot what they had understood, and their notes or drawings don’t make sense anymore. The reason for this is that there was no great understanding, just feeling. Drugs and alcohol actually make you stupider, but you only feel smarter. This is a dangerous combination.

They help you deal with your emotional issues
There are people who have real social and emotional issues and they can take certain drugs or drink alcohol and they feel “normal”. A person with ADHD might take meth and feel better for a while, while another person can take heroin and their pains are gone for a time. However, all of these solutions are only temporary, and when it is over, you are stuck with an addiction that does not solve any of your problems but actually gives you more.

They cover up your shame
Many people who use alcohol or drugs have deep issues of shame, in which they feel rejected or a failure, and they use their substance to cover up this shame so that they don’t have to experience it. But when they come out of their high, their feeling of shame is deeper than before, because they realize that they have failed even worse due to using the alcohol or drugs. The substances are simply shame machines, which do not pull you out of the shame, but they continually grind you back into it, deeper and deeper.

They make it easier to deal with people
While a person is in their “high”, everyone seems so easy to deal with. The shy person can suddenly speak easily with others and the socially inept can be confident. However, everyone who has to deal with someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol does not find them easier to deal with, but think of them as jerks. The reason for this is that the person who has used is actually apathetic about what responses they will get to what they do. They are confident because they no longer care about other people and what they really need. And the others around them are stuck dealing with this person who is a stupid and doesn’t care about other’s feelings—in other words, a jerk.

They help you forget your problems
Alcohol and drugs are the great “cover up” so that all of our problems and pains and difficulties are forgotten for a time. Unfortunately, this forgetfulness isn’t just a “black out” but a form of chosen schizophrenia. Alcohol and drugs actually make you into a different person, one that is deceived and foolish, one that doesn’t care about anyone or anything and makes life for everyone around them worse.

They make you feel all is right between you and God
For those who are concerned about their relationship with God, when one is high, they feel that their relationship with God is the best it has ever been. They do not feel condemned before God, they feel positive and everything is good. However, God himself says that a person who is “filled” with a substance, such as alcohol or drugs and so cannot control themselves, they cannot be filled with God’s Spirit. God’s Spirit is essential for living the Christian life, and the one who drinks or uses are actually exchanging the substance for a Christian life. Although they feel right with God, they are actually at a low point, and God will not listen to their prayers at that point.

They make you feel all is right between you and the spirit world
It is true that alcohol and drugs open a person up to the spirit world and makes them more influenced by that alternative world. Unfortunately, the Bible says, that most of that world around us are filled with demons and evil spirits that want to destroy us and to tear apart our relationship with God. Every time we use, we are opening ourselves up to demonic influence, which will destroy our lives one bit at a time, until our whole lives are a misery, a life of destruction both for ourselves and those around us.

They make you feel good about the future
For many people, alcohol and drugs gives them hope for the future. The Bible says, however, that the best hope for our future is the kingdom of God—God in us right now and us in God’s people and life. This is the true hope and blessing of God. But those who are characterized by alcohol or drug use do not have a part of this future, they cannot participate in this hope. The life they are now living is the best they will ever receive— and it is a life heading toward misery and death. And after their death they will gain nothing from God but punishment for the misery and apathy they have given to others and to God’s will.

Alcohol and Drugs feel like more life—but they are ultimately misery and death.

AIDS and Grace

2011-05-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

After some days, Jesus returned back to Capernaum and the people of the town heard he was back home, which was Peter’s house. He taught the gospel to those who were there, but the house became so packed that people stood outside the door. Four men came, carrying a man so sick with AIDS he was bedridden, but they weren’t able to bring him to Jesus because of the crowd. So they climbed up on the roof, tore it apart and lowered the sick man through the hole on a cot, right in front of Jesus. Jesus was impressed with their faith as shown by their tenacity, so he said to the man with AIDS, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Some intellectuals were there, analyzing Jesus’ teaching, and their mouths frowned and questioned, “How could he talk like this? He is doing God’s job. For who can forgive sins except God?” And Jesus knew immediately what they were frowning about and he said, “What do you doubt? Do you think it’s easy doing my job? Would you try saying ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up, you’re healed?’ But I’ll tell you what, if you really want to know if the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins, then…” So he turned to the man on the ground and said, “Pay attention—get up, pick up you cot and go home. You’re healed.” And the sick man immediately got up, picked up his cot and walked out of the house. Every eye in the house widened, and they honored God for it: “We haven’t seen anything like this.”

The Implications of Sickness
In the ancient world no one looked at an illness or a disability and see an accident of nature, an attack of a virus or a weakened immune system. Sickness or disability in the ancient world was a spiritual condition. Disaster happened for a reason, and the only ones who were powerful enough to cause sickness were spirits: God or demons. Some people felt that they could manipulate these spirits and so cause sicknesses or perhaps cause them to go away through ritual or trickery. These were the ancient witch doctors, placing curses on people or trying to get rid of curses through the manipulation of spirits.

In the highly ethical society of the Jews, all spiritual action was a result of moral action—sickness came due to sin. Leprosy meant one had to be separated from the community, not because of infection so much as because of the spiritual indication of moral decay. The paralyzed, blind and deformed were not allowed to enter into the Temple to worship because they were seen as incomplete before God. Even in general, if one had a chronic sickness, it was suspected that they had done something to deserve it. The woman who had a hemorrhage was not allowed to touch anyone, ever, separated from her community because her sickness made her impure.

Of course, today, many of us have much the same attitude toward certain illnesses. If a person is drug sick, or has seizures due to alcohol abuse, most people think to themselves, “That’s just what they deserve,” including the addict. It wasn’t too many years ago that anyone who had AIDS was assumed to be a homosexual or a drug user. If a smoker has lung cancer, if a prostitute gets VD, if a mentally ill person gets sick from not taking their meds then most people would say, “Well, what do you expect?” There are many diseases and disabilities that people still blame the afflicted for.

Jesus’ Assumptions
It is so easy to say that if Jesus were here today that he would just blow all of those assumptions away. We trust in Jesus’ mercy and compassion to avoid such terrible implications. We expect him to say, “Illness is just a natural process, and people just need to be healed.” We see Jesus as the most compassionate of doctors, not even wanting to sting us with a vaccination. But Jesus was much more a man of his times than we like to assume.

There are only a few places where Jesus directly talks about the causes of sickness. In John 9, Jesus is asked directly about a specific blind man, and whose sin caused his blindness. In this place, Jesus gives an answer that we can better appreciate—he says that it was for God’s glory that he was made blind, so that God could heal him. But we need to recognize that Jesus only gave us half the answer we would like. He denied that sin caused the disability, but at the same time he affirmed the spiritual cause of the infirmity. Yes, Jesus implied, God caused the blindness, but it wasn’t due to anyone’s sin. Modern readers are still a bit uncomfortable with that answer.

But in two other places, Jesus affirms that people’s infirmities were due to their sin. One is in John 5, where he tells a man he had just healed, “Don’t sin anymore or you will become ill again.” And another is the passage above, where Jesus sees the infirmity and immediately he forgives the man’s sin.

What exactly is Jesus saying? He is saying that sickness isn’t always caused by viruses or bacteria—that often they do have a spiritual cause. Also, he is saying that sometimes—not always, but sometimes—sickness is due to one’s sin. He agrees with David in the Psalms who cries out to God for healing from his illness due to his sin (e.g. Psalm 32 and Psalm 41). People do get sick from sin. People can get sick from their addiction. AIDS can be caused from a sinful lifestyle. Sometimes terrorists do attack because of a nation’s disobedience to God. Not always, but sometimes. And Jesus clearly know which times are which.

Jesus’ Uniqueness
“So,” many would think, “this means that Jesus is just as hard-nosed as the right-wing judmentalists. He also looks at a person’s sin instead of their need.” Not at all. It just means that Jesus is a realist. He sees the sickness for what it is and what really caused it. But he doesn’t need to lie to himself in order to offer help. Remember what Jesus said? “I have come to seek and to save the lost.” Jesus healed the sick BECAUSE they were sinners. Because he wanted to offer them God’s grace.

If a person is sick because of their sin, how do they feel? Judged, that’s how. They feel undeserving, separated from God and everyone who loves him. But if that person is healed miraculously, clearly by God’s power, then how do they feel? They feel that they were important enough for God to pay attention to them. They feel that they have been accepted by God. They feel forgiven, as if their sin was set aside, written off, that they have paid enough for their sin. And this is why Jesus healed.

Sure, Jesus on occasion did a healing just for compassion or for God’s glory (such as the widow’s son or raising Lazarus). But the run of the mill healing Jesus did was a healing of forgiveness. He was giving a second chance, an opportunity for the sinner to be forgiven, cleansed by God.

“Tough” Love
In the church today, there is a lot of talk about responsibility. We want people to be responsible for their actions, so they can learn not to do it again. So we think that making sinners pay some kind of penance is a good idea. Criminals should go to jail. Addicts should feel their sickness. The mentally ill should live with the consequences of their actions. This is called “tough love”, because the training is worth the suffering involved.

And it is true that God is involved in “tough love” sometimes. He judges the sinner and there are consequences for evil actions. But the interesting thing is that Jesus never engages in “tough love.” And perhaps this is because Jesus doesn’t see tough love as any kind of love at all. If Jesus approaches a sinner, he wants them to know that they have sinned, yes, but he also wants them to know they are forgiven. And if a person is dealing with the horrible consequences of their sin, then Jesus wants to deliver them, so they know that they are forgiven. Some suffering is okay, but their sense of separation is not good when they’ve confessed and are trying to get back with God.

So what should be the mission of the church? Giving the grace of God. We should be seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness and deliverance for all sinners.

Tenacity
Of course, God’s grace isn’t given to everyone. Many people do die in anguish, unforgiveness and suffering caused by their sin. God’s grace isn’t just floating around, attaching itself to all, unbidden. God’s grace only comes to those who seek it.

In the story above, the four men carrying the sick man were desperate. They couldn’t reach Jesus, so they took a radical approach. They climbed up to the roof, tore the roof apart and lowered the man to Jesus. I suspect that if anyone did that in a church today, they’d get nothing but a bill from the church! But Jesus saw their desperation and called it faith. They were willing to do anything to get their friend forgiven, and so they received what they sought.

Even so, Jesus is seeking those who are so desperate for forgiveness, for healing that they would do radical things to get it. Those who receive God’s grace aren’t those who pray a half-hearted prayer and then throw up their hands at the effort. Jesus WILL heal, he WILL forgive, but only those who endure. Jesus stated it plainly, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” Only the tenacious need apply.

It's Not My Party and I'll Hate If I Want To- Luke 15

2011-03-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

“All the house was celebrating the return of the lost son. But the oldest son was at work, and as he was driving up to the house, he heard the blasting music and asked one of his father’s workers, standing outside, ‘What’s going on here?’ And the worker said, ‘Your brother has arrived today and so your father is feeding everyone steak because he is safe and sound.’ The older brother fumed at this and drove away. After a while his father called him and invited him to come and join the party. He yelled back at his father, “What kind of hypocrisy is this? I’ve worked for you for years and have always been a faithful son, always doing as you asked. But did you ever allow me to have a party with my friends? No, never! But this so-called “son” of yours shows up after just disappearing and using up all of your money on sex and drugs and everyone gets steak!’ His father spoke gently to him, ‘My son, I know how faithful you have been. You’ve always been there, and if you had asked I would have given you anything. But it is time for us all to have a party, because your brother who was dead has been resurrected. He was long lost, but he has returned.’ “

The oldest son, the brother of the prodigal, has a serious discussion with his father, who has accepted his sinful son without even a punishment.
Older Son: Dad, you know that I’ve always been with you. You know I love you, I tell you so every day. You and I established this house together and all the rules are that which we agreed on together. I thought that, over time, you would take the excellent rules we have in place here and establish them throughout all your other lands. But look at this boy! He has completely defied you! How could you just bring him in like this? Shouldn’t he receive some kind of punishment? Perhaps he should spend some time away from the house in order to understand the depth of his failure.
Dad: But I can’t bear to have him away from me even for another moment. He was lost and now he is found—don’t you understand my joy?
OS: Well, sure, dad, I suppose you’ve got some emotional attachment to him. After all, he is your son. But what if he fails again? He’s only human and he’s got a habit of disobeying you now. Heck, who knows what kind of lifestyle he lived when he was out there? What if he continued in it, even in the house? He should know that he needs to be kicked out—never to return—if he messes up again.
Dad: When he is ready to hear the standard, then I will give it to him. But don’t you start giving him your rules. You’ve established too many of them already. It’s fine that you put some rules on the house, while everyone agreed with them. But there’s a few too many for my other son. So give him a break, okay?
OS: But he smokes! He drinks! He uses foul language! That is certainly not allowed in MY house! And he’s got all kinds of other unsavory habits! I can’t believe that you even want him here! Maybe he should go through some kind of therapy or rehab before you accept him in.
Dad: Son, you don’t understand. I can’t bear to be apart from my son, whether that be he or you. But I’ve lost him for so long I will take him—foibles and all—and we will work with him over time. But don’t insist upon anything that will drive him away from my house.
OS: I don’t want to drive him away. I just think that he needs to live according to basic principles before he moves in!
Dad: No. I have accepted him. That’s enough. My love and my acceptance is enough for him now. In a little bit, I will give him the ability to grow more like me. But for now, it is enough that he is in my house. It seems odd, my son. For you are talking about the house as if it were yours, but it is not—it is mine.
OS: Of course it’s yours, Father. It’s ours, together. We built up the house together, and we established it.
Dad: (Smiling) I hate to tell you this son, but it’s not yours at all. Yes, I gave your brother his inheritance early, but you know that was unrighteous of him even to ask. For you, all that you have is what I give you and it is all mine, not yours at all.
OS: That brings me to another thing, dad. You need to not be so generous to him. After all, he already wasted your blessings, he certainly doesn’t deserve more! If you have to keep him in the house, fine. But don’t give him any responsibilities. He just doesn’t deserve them, and who knows what disasters he will cause.
Dad: You don’t understand. He is my son, and I will treat him like that. He deserves to have my blessings, not because of anything he has done but because he is my son. So I will continue to give to him, in the hopes that he will learn to use my gifts properly.
OS: Dad! That is MY inheritance you are wasting on that good-for-nothing rebellious son! Those are MY blessings! That is MY wealth! You can’t be throwing it away on him!
Dad: No, son. The wealth is not yours. It is mine and I can give it to whom I wish. And I chose to give it to both of you. You are both my sons, both my family. And I love you both.
OS: I don’t think you do. Not really. So you are going to give him MORE, when you already gave him his share? That’s just not fair.
Dad: It may not be fair, but it’s loving.
OS: Dad, look, you’re going to have to make a choice. I can’t live with him. He is revolting and I feel that he is stealing all of your love away from me. You have ignored me all these years, and now you are putting all this lavish splendor on the one who deserves a kick out the door? No, dad, it’s either me or him. Make your choice.
Dad: (Tears forming in his eyes) Don’t you see? All I am doing is being accepting of the son I love. I am doing nothing wrong. I love you, too, my son. So much I can’t bear your words. But he is the son that has turned to me, and I have received him. If you reject him, you also reject me. If you go now, you will be choosing to put yourself out of the house. You are choosing to separate yourself from me, because I will not separate myself from my son that has returned to me. He was dead, but now he is alive! I can’t hold in my joy at this! But if you leave, then you are the one who is dead—you are the prodigal. I do not want this, my beloved son. But if you reject him—even though he is, from your perspective, “revolting”. Please, please, don’t go away. Stay with me and join in the celebration.
OS: I don’t know. I just don’t know. I’ll think about it.
Dad: (Sighs) Yes my son. You know where you will find me, if you choose to come. (He turns and goes to the house.)

God-Haters' Anonymous- Luke 15

2011-03-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Jesus told them this story: “There was a father with two sons. The younger son said to his father, ‘Dad, I can’t wait for you to die to get my inheritance, so give it to me now.’ So the father divided all of his wealth and gave the two sons their own share. A few days later, the younger son collected his belongings and traveled to a godless nation and wasted the money, living by his impulses.
After all his money was gone, an economic depression came upon the nation and he was in desperate need. After begging for a job, someone hired him to clean up rooms in a brothel, picking up needles and cleaning soiled sheets. No one actually ever paid him, so he began to starve, finding the crumbs left in the rooms to be appetizing. Finally, he came to his senses and said to himself, ‘Even the laziest of my fathers farmhands eat to their fill, and here I am starving to death? I know what I’ll do, I’ll go back to my father and tell him how evil I have been and then ask him to hire me. After all, I’m not worthy to be his son.’
“So he left that place, traveled back home and came to his father. His father saw him from a distance and felt his heart leap within him and he ran to his son, grabbing him and hugging him desperately. Once he could catch his breath, he said to his father, ‘Father, I have done evil before God and yourself. Don’t take me as a son—I don’t deserve it.’ His father, though, called his workers and said, ‘You—go into my room and get out my best clothes and shoes and give them to my son. You—get the necklace with the family crest on it and bring it here, and put it on him. You—get into the kitchen and prepare a feast with steak for everyone. Because this is my son the one who died. Now his come back to us from the dead—he was lost, but now he is returned.’

A Story About God-Haters
Jesus didn’t tell the story of the prodigal son to represent everyone. Some people have always been a part of church, and have always been faithful to God. But Jesus told this story about people who rejected God, rejected the church, and began to live a life that was totally opposed to God, and would even be considered insulting to God by His people. In Hebrew, there are three kinds of sin. One is unintentional sin, that which you did against God, but didn’t really know it. Another is sin that is done on purpose, but the person is so weak-willed that he couldn’t help but do it. But the third category is sin done on purpose, to spite God and his people. This is the kind of sin that Jesus is talking about. People who have totally rebelled against God and against his people, but then they realized their loss and want to come back.

Jesus' main message here is the acceptance of these sinners. The father is God. This is a father who was constantly watching for his son to return, even though he gave him up for dead. And even though the son recognized—rightly—that he didn’t deserve to be his son, the father was ready to accept him back fully, without any hesitation. The father didn’t just take him back grudgingly or with conditions—he fully accepted him right then and there. And then he had a great party to celebrate his return (and this wasn’t a man who usually had parties). God is this man, who has a party every time one of his rebellious, lost children return to him.

Who are sinners?
Of course, we know what sin is, but who are sinners? A sinner is not just a person who sins, but a person who has rejected God’s ways and has decided to live for him or herself or for the world. They have purposely chosen a life that is in opposition to God’s life, and they know that they can’t be right with God as long as they pursue this life. These are people who can’t go to church because they “know” the church won’t receive them. They are the people excluded from God, by their own actions, their own choice.

How are sinners brought back?
These people who, by their own choice, have separated themselves from God, is it even possible for them to come back to God? Many people believe that they can’t. They would say that they were too hardened, too far gone. But Jesus rejects this, saying that every sinner has the possibility of return. We can see the pattern of return here in this story. First, the sinner realizes how much he or she has lost by separating themselves from God. They realize that their way of life has given them nothing but sorrow and so they determine to seek help. So they come to God for help—perhaps through a prayer, perhaps through seeking assistance at a church or through pastoral counseling. Then, once they seek something—anything—from God, then God shows them his full grace and full acceptance. The smallest amount of repentance, and God springs forgiveness on them like a lion.

How should the repentant sinners be received?
So how should the sinner be received by the church? Even as God does, with a lot of grace and understanding, with forgiveness and acceptance. However, this isn’t how the sinner is usually received. Usually there is some measure of distrust, or some hoops they need to go through before they can be fully accepted. And, on occasion, there is basic rejection of the sinner, out of a church’s sense of propriety and fear. But, as much as this is often the church’s way, this is not God’s way.

How did Jesus receive sinners?
First of all, Jesus sought sinners out, letting them know that he sought their company, not just grudgingly accepted them. He taught them God’s truth, but not in a churchy way—rather he made the word alive to the outsider, the one who hasn’t been in the church or a part of it for a long time. And, most importantly, Jesus had parties of acceptance. When Matthew and Zaccheus were saved, Jesus organized parties in their own houses, arranging to have their friends—sinners and tax collectors all—welcome to the party. Jesus had the heart of an evangelist, and make sure that it was the outsiders who were welcome into the ultimate party—God’s kingdom. (Mark 2:14-17; Luke 19:1-10; Luke 15:1-10)

As Jesus did, so should the church.
The church seems to not be a open community for sinners. Rather, each church is a cultural box, and each doorway is itself a box and if one does not fit into the box, then that one is just never welcome. Does this mean that the church should be a cultural amoeba, without cultural form or shape, able to accept anyone? No, because that is not possible, nor does it make anyone else comfortable. But the church needs to be ready to accept some kind of outsider, the ones that most churches don’t accept. Perhaps one church focuses on ministry to homosexuals, another to the homeless, another to addicts and another to sex offenders. But EVERY church needs to be accepting sinners, prodigals and ex-God-haters. This is a basic part of Jesus’ mission, thus it should be the church’s as well.

Riff Raff in the Church- Luke 15:1-10

2011-03-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

All the homosexuals and the homeless and the drug dealers and sex workers and meth addicts and convicted child pornographers came to Jesus to listen to him. And the conservative evangelicals and the Bible scholars denounced him, “He is opening the door of the church to the wicked.”

But Jesus told them this story, “Look, if you had a hundred cars and one of them was stolen, wouldn’t you forget about all the other ninety nine and just focus on the one until it was found? You’d call the police, call your neighbors and be generally freaked out—not about the ninety nine, but for the one that was lost. Then, when it is found, you would drive it home proudly and happily. And you’d call your neighbors and the police and say, ‘Praise God! My stolen car was found!” It is this very joy that God has when a single sinner repents and comes back to God, away from his sins. He loves that more than ninety nine church-goers who only ever say the right things.

“Suppose there was a woman with ten coins, worth a thousand dollars each and one of them came up missing. Wouldn’t she take out her flashlight and turn all the furniture upside down until it was found? Then, once it’s found then she calls up her neighbors and say, ‘Yeah, I had lost this expensive coin, but praise God, now I’ve found it.’ Even so does God rejoice over one sinner who turns back to God away from his sin.”

Child pornographers?
Okay, so we know that Jesus hung out with tax collectors, but do we have to go so far as to say he hung out with drugies and child pornographers? Oh, yes, these are exactly the kind of folks Jesus hung out with. He welcomed those whom the Standard Religious Society (SRS, or, if you please, the church) didn’t want to have anything to do with. These were the ones that the SRS called “sinners”, but many of them really weren’t, or at least no more than anyone else. The tax collectors were folks who worked for the Romans to collect tolls for their roads. While some tax collectors DID cheat the Romans and others (like Zaccheus in Luke 19), but these toll collectors did no such thing. They didn’t make much, but they didn’t collect enough to cheat the Romans. So they had a job, just a job. But because they worked for the Romans they were automatically rejected by the SRS (i.e. the church).

So Jesus, were he here today, he would hang out with those who were “unacceptable” in the church’s eyes today. He would hang out with the homeless who are often excluded from the church simply because they don’t have good enough hygiene. He would hang out with those who belonged to cult groups like Samaritans (or like Mormons today) and explain to them the heart of God’s truth. He would hang out with the homosexuals and drunks who are unsure of their reception, even if they repent. He would hang out with the druggies and tell them about the gospel, welcoming them, eating with them, hoping to bring them—or to keep them—in God.

Who are the Riff-Raff?
Jesus targeted three groups that were set outside of the church. He welcomed the ones who were just not good enough to be in a “proper” church—Samaritans, the lame, the blind, women, the Gentiles. All of these groups were people who could be in right standing with God, but they were set out of the Temple for one reason or another. The church, like the Temple of old, has a pretty strict idea of who belongs to it. No, they don’t set up rules for it, but they set boundaries through their subtle but negative reactions to those who are poor, of different beliefs, or of a different culture. The church today is as cultural as it is spiritual—sometimes it is more culture than Spirit. And those who do not belong to the culture is outcaste.

Another group that Jesus targeted is the sinner. Some of these are professional sinners, such as prostitutes and tax collectors—those whose very profession excluded them from good graces in God’s community. Some are sinners by what they did—adultery, theft, rebellion—and they are painted as such for the rest of their life for one sin. These are like those who are in jail or prison for crimes done. While some churches might accept them, they certainly don’t allow them near their children. Again, the welcome is only partial.

The other group Jesus specifically targeted is the judged. These are people who were judged by God or by people and they have the mark of judgment against them. In Jesus’ day they are the demon possessed or the lepers. Today, they may be sufferers of AIDS or those going through withdrawal from drugs or alcohol or some other addiction. They may be people who have chronic mental illnesses. At first they might be welcome into today’s church, but then they would be rejected because they are “too difficult” or “cause too many disruptions.”

Should the Church Welcome the Riff Raff?
Absolutely. If it was good enough for Jesus, then it is good enough for the church. If God sees sinners repenting as more important than a bunch of people who go to church regularly, then maybe we need to stop growing our churches and getting out on the street. Jesus didn’t just sit in the temple, looking for the riff raff to come to him. He didn’t just have a seeker’s service. Rather, he went out and established a party in every village he went to, and shared the gospel at the party. He attracted the riff raff with the kind of gathering they liked, in their area, and then spoke a message that wasn’t easy for them to hear, but it was the truth. Not everyone believed, but it was important. So the church doesn’t just need to welcome the riff raff, they need to go out where they live and give them a party.

Why should we do this? Because these riff raff—even if they’ve been following Jesus for years, they feel that they are second class Christians, or that they have no chance of being right with God at all. They think that their lives are apart from God and there is no acceptance for them. How is this? Because the church has separated themselves from the riff raff. As long as the church will have nothing to do with the riff raff, the riff raff figure that they don’t need God, either.

Yet Jesus focused his ministry on the riff raff. Jesus loves the riff raff. And Jesus’ first church was full of the riff raff—more than the “normal” folks.

How are the Riff Raff saved?
This is the easiest question to ask, but the hardest one to live out. We know that everyone is saved by faith in Jesus, by their devotion to God, their repentance from sin and their reliance on the Holy Spirit. That’s how everyone is saved, without exception, forever and ever, amen.

But the church doesn’t act that way. Rather they act like the homeless are saved by pushing through paperwork to gain homes. They act like the addict is saved by going to some anonymous group and never relapsing. They act like the homosexual is saved by getting married to someone of the opposite sex. They act like the mentally ill person is saved by taking medication. Now, there’s nothing wrong with these things. But they aren’t THE answers for people with these problems.

The only way anyone is saved is through Jesus and reliance on the Holy Spirit. And Jesus and the Spirit will lead the outcast person to the things they need for their lives. Sometimes the answer will be homes, marriage, medication and dishwashers and everything that makes up a middle class life. But for many people, it won’t.

Jesus, in calling the riff raff, chose to be homeless. He chose to be rejected. He chose to be without a family. And many of his followers went the same way. Jesus became homeless to welcome the homeless. He became familyless to welcome the familyless. He became penniless to welcome the penniless. He became rejected to welcome the rejected. And so we cannot insist that the outcast—or even the middle class—to be a part of the church must have homes, families, money and acceptance.

If the Riff Raff aren’t in the church, the church isn’t of Jesus

Hooray for our band of happy ragged folk!
Tellin' old stories and fire side jokes
Livin' for the music, the love and the laughs
Hooray for the riff raff!
-Casey Neill

The Pushed and the Grabbers-- Luke 14:17-14

2011-03-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Jesus went to the Blues Festival, and he saw that many were trying to get the attention of their friends on or behind the stage to let them in. Jesus turned to those with him and said, “When you go to a concert, don’t try to get up on stage, or else a security person might come and throw you out because you are being disruptive. Instead, stand back, waiting, until your friend behind the stage sees you and says, ‘Hey, you want to come back here?’ and you will be escorted into the stage area. Even so, where God rules, everyone who grabs for what they want will be pushed back, and everyone who humiliates themselves will be welcomed up.”
Then Jesus said to the one who invited him, “If you go to a concert or have a party, don’t invite your friends or relatives or coworkers. Because they will just invite you to the next event, and so pay you back. Instead, invite the homeless and the handicapped, the impoverished, and people with social and mental disorders. Because they will never be able to pay you back and instead you will gain your repayment from God on the last day.”

Did Jesus go to concerts?
Nope. But he went to a lot of parties. Wherever he went there was a party, and all the best of the town were gathered to hear this famous bright star of Galilee. And Jesus gave these teachings at a party that he was invited to. In all probability, he insulted his hosts, as well as everyone who was invited. He saw people trying to get the best seats, and he unmasked their hidden agendas and told them that they were going about being the best in the room all the wrong way. Then he targeted his hosts and told them that they invited the wrong people. Yet, somehow, Jesus was still popular at these gatherings. You’d think that he would have preached in the wilderness more often.

What’s wrong with wanting to be noticed?
Absolutely nothing. Jesus wanted to be noticed himself. He wasn’t saying that getting the best seats is a bad thing. He was saying that pushing to be noticed is the wrong way to go about it. If you want to get someone’s attention, Jesus says, just whisper. In other words, the way to be important is to put yourself in a ridiculously humiliating position. Most people go straight for the jugular and if they want to be noticed, they do something to get noticed. They hang out with the “right” people, they grease palms, they do favors for those who will do them back. These are the people who figure the way to get up the ladder of success, you need to do something significant so those above you would pull you up.

Again, Jesus didn’t say that achieving success isn’t a good goal. But he is articulating his principle about how to achieve success—If you want to be successful, be a failure first. If you want to be famous, look to be anonymous. If you want to be wealthy, give away everything you have. Is this some sort of mystic principle, or is it actually practical? Jesus actually understands everyone’s sense of justice. If someone is unjustly lowered by society, many within society wishes to bring them up to where they “should” be, or even higher to make up for the low position. But if someone strives for the heights, everyone says, “Who does this guy think he is?” and they push him down.

Getting God’s attention
And this isn’t just a human principle. It is the same with God. God has established a system of justice on the earth, and he wants everyone to get what they deserve. The hard working and righteous should get the best, while the immoral and cheaters should get the worst in life. But what happens when the innocent get the worst out of life?

This happens all too often, of course. The best, the brightest of humanity are never heard from. The most talented and most self-sacrificial aren’t ever paid attention to because they didn’t do what the world says and “push themselves.” And many who are innocent and righteous receive the worst treatment from people. But God doesn’t accept this. In fact, He says that He pays more attention to those who don’t get what they deserve. The rest of the world settles itself, but God settles injustice (Exodus 22:21-27; I Samuel 2:8-10; Psalm 37).

So what does God see as His most important work on earth? To pull up the deserving lowly, and to push down the undeserving significant. To welcome the righteous poor and to trip up the self-righteous rich. God doesn’t do miracles for those who don’t need it—he reserves them for people who are desperate and dependant on Him. God doesn’t judge the mediocre bad—he reserves judgment for those who claim to be His but destroy His lowly and His reputation.

Raised, Humbled
Jesus stated the basic principle like this: The lowly get raised and the raised gets lowered. The first shall be last and the last first. When he made these statements, he applied it in very many different contexts:

• The repentant receive God’s welcome, while the self-righteous receive God’s rejection. (Luke 18:9-12)

• The sinners get an opportunity for afresh start with God, while the already righteous don’t need Jesus. (Mark 2)

• The down and out get welcomed into the kingdom, while the invited are out in the cold. (Luke 14: )

• Those who seem unrighteous now may get God’s reward (just under the wire) and get the same reward as those who have served God for a long time (Matthew 20)

• The one who surrenders all he has to the poor will get God’s kingdom, while God reserves the worst punishments for those who take away from the needy for their own gain. (Luke 12:33; Luke 16)

• The one who wants political importance must suffer and possibly die at the hands of the powerful and God will replace the government with the ones who were oppressed (Mark 12)

I’m on the Top—What do I do?
Jesus gives three suggestions to those who are on the top of the heap, the head of the party, the famous, rich and healthy. He says, first of all, welcome the lowly to the club. Make sure that you have the needy people you know welcomed as people who are your equals—invite them to your parties, give them the best seats, let them be your friends. Secondly, Jesus says that those who have greater resources must give their resources to the needy. If you’ve got extra, don’t give it to people who can give you more now, but give it to people who can’t repay you—that way God will do the repayment. Thirdly, Jesus said that to receive God’s full blessing, you must be the lowly. You must accept persecution, suffering, and even poverty, crying out only to God for release. He may or may not release you immediately, but if you stick with God, he will give you the greater reward.

I’m On the Bottom, and it Sucks!
But the good thing about being the insignificant, the poor, the outcast, the persecuted is that you are already (at least) halfway to where God wants you to be! If now you can just dependably cry out to Him, seeking his help and never turning your back on Him—even if it means that you have to suffer more for sticking up for God—then God will give you more than you could ever ask for. He will give you a family to replace the one that rejected you. He will give you a home to replace the one you lost. He will give you an income that will replace your lost employment. He will give you peace where yours is all gone.

Allow yourself to be humiliated and depend on God and He will give you more than you ever asked!

The Fortunate Few-- Matthew 5:3-15

2011-03-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

How fortunate are the anguished due to poverty because they will rule God’s kingdom!
How fortunate are the sorrowful, because God will cheer them up.
How fortunate are the lowly, because God will give them the earth.
How fortunate are those who desperately desire justice, because they will get just what they want.
How fortunate are those who act in compassion, for God will be compassionate to them.
How fortunate are those single-minded on God, for they will see Him.
How fortunate are the creators of peaceful communities, for God will make them rulers.
How fortunate are the sufferers for righteousness, because they will rule God’s kingdom!

How fortunate you are when your enemies verbally abuse you and do and speak evil against you because you follow me. When that happens, you are like the prophets of the past who suffered for their message they received from God. Even as they are now rewarded by God, so will you be. So when you are persecuted for me, be happy about what you will receive—jump up and down in joy and praise God!

You are essential for the world. But if you lose the basic qualities that make you important, you cannot regain them. You will be useless, cast out of God’s kingdom and trampled.

You are God’s glory and truth in the world. You are the kingdom of God to come, and you cannot be hidden. Nor should you be hidden—God’s glory should be displayed, not hidden. So display the true righteousness of God before everyone, so that people will see your acts of God and so glorify the Father.

Could You Hum the Tune?
It seems familiar, but the words just aren’t quite right… That’s right. You know it, but it is certainly stated in a different way—the above is the first part of the Sermon on the Mount: The Beatitudes, the salt of the earth and the city on the hill. Many people complain, “But what about the words we’re familiar with? The poor in spirit? Hunger and thirsting for righteousness? The pure in heart? The salt of the earth? Why change it?” I am not interested in taking anything away from the words that you are familiar with. Rather, I want to lay out just what they mean in context. After all, what does “poor in spirit” really mean? Or the “pure in heart”? Frankly, what does “blessed” mean? Let’s examine the context and see if we can find it out.

Lucky Bloke!
First of all, the term “blessed.” In the Greek, it literally means “happy” and its root in Hebrew literally means “to walk straight”. However, in most contexts this phrase means, “You lucky dog!” It means that the person is fortunate, is lucky in some way. This doesn’t mean that they are blessed by “luck”. All of the promises Jesus offers are actually blessings that God would grant. So the object of Jesus acclaim is the lucky receiver of God’s grace, God’s blessing, the good fortune that comes directly from God.

What kind of rewards are these folks promised? The coming kingdom of God. Of having all of their needs met. Of being in a close relationship with God. Of being content with their lot. This is really good stuff, these promises. Especially if you don’t have your needs met—and who does?

But these folks aren’t just lucky because they are getting good stuff in the future. Also, they are essential to the present. Jesus says that these folks are essential for the world as it is. Without these folks, the world is lacking something necessary for survival. These people of God are like your daily nutrition intake—without them, the world would starve spiritually. The world would be empty, lifeless, hopeless, merciless.

The Uncommon Christian
So just who are these important folks? Essential for life today, and the recipients of tomorrow’s hope? Jesus describes them in detail. First, let’s find out what Jesus thinks are the basics of discipleship. If we are going to follow Jesus, what should we look like?

Pure in heart—We should be ready not just to look good on Sundays, to claim to believe the right things and to avoid the really bad sins that makes us bad people. Actually, Jesus wants us to be inwardly right with God—confessing our sin and devoted to God in all of our ways. Our prayer and religious deeds are just outward show, but we sincerely are seeking a relationship with God.

Merciful—Jesus expects us to be compassionate as He was compassionate on earth. His disciples need to be loving to everyone, even those who bug us! He wants us ready to help anyone and everyone in need, even when inconvenient.

Peacemakers—Jesus expects us to be active in reconciling people to God, to each other and to life. He expect us to be a part of creating a society that is just and right with God, even if that society has to be apart from the world.

We don’t see many Christians like this today. But the church keeps producing folks like this, and these are the heart of the church—heck, they are the heart of the entire world! And they will receive God’s promises for the future.

The Big Surprise
But in the Beatitudes, we are still skipping one part—the most amazing, fantastic, mind-blowing concept of Jesus. He saved it for the very beginning of his teaching, to emphasize its importance. Nevertheless, it is something we have a hard time getting a grasp of. These lucky folks, these fortunate few, these salt-of-the-earth, these essential daily vitamins are also the rejects of society.

Poor in spirit—These are the ones who are anguished due to their poverty, and suffer greatly because of their lack of normal life.

Mourning— These are those who have suffered great loss and so mourn due to it.

Meek— These are the ones who have nothing in this life to depend on and don’t have a leg to stand on to get justice in their lives.

Hungering and Thirsting for Justice— These are the ones who are desperately seeking justice because all they have received is injustice and rejection.

Persecuted— These are the ones who have been rejected and hated and beaten and despised and treated as outcasts.

Why are these great folks treated so poorly? Why do they suffer so? Some of them suffer because they just aren’t accepted. But most of them aren’t accepted because they stand with Jesus. Because they insist on being right with God in their heart more than their social standing. Because they insist on being merciful, even when it hurts themselves. Because to reconcile people when they want to continue in hatred is dangerous and a hated profession. Because the one who talks about Jesus is readily accepted—but the one who acts like Jesus is easily rejected.

No Big Surprise
Although we have great shock at first that the very folks God accepts are those the world rejects, we shouldn’t be surprised. After all, look at who God chooses:

He chose Noah who was rejected by his neighbors because he did what God told him to.

He chose Abraham, but only after Abraham set aside the inheritance of his father’s house.

He chose Joseph, but the man had to suffer hatred, slavery, jail time and people forgetting him before he received God’s promise.

He chose the children of Israel, but they had to endure years of slavery and genocide and desert-wandering before they were ready for God’s promise.

He chose David, but the future king had to be threatened and chased all over the wilderness before he received God’s promise.

He chose Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but they had to be ignored and rejected their whole lives, only to not receive the promise.

He chose Jesus, who had to be condemned, judged and crucified before he was vindicated.

Honesty, if we look at the Bible as a whole, we can finally understand that God’s people always have to face the worst difficulties before receiving what God has in store for them. In Hebrew there is a special name for these folks—people who suffer rejection and poverty, but still expect God to deliver them—they are called Anawim. God has always—without exception—given his promise of blessing to the Anawim. And it is the Anawim who are God’s chosen.

Psalm 22:24—God has not abhorred the oppression of the Anawim, nor has he hidden his face from them; But when they cried to Him for help, he listened to them.

I Samuel 2:8—He raises the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobels.

Psalm 37: 11—The Anawim will receive the land and live in abundant prosperity

God has always focused on the needy who live for him, and He always will.

So how should we treat God’s special chosen? How should we treat the homeless who are standing with God? How should we act toward the working poor, crying out to God for justice? We should treat them as God does—with honor, with respect, with assistance. We should listen not only to their needs, but their counsel. After all, how we treat these folks is how we will be treated on the final day!

The Good Muslim: Basic Theology 101

2011-03-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

A Bible professor approached Jesus, wishing to test his teaching. He asked, “Teacher, what should I do to obtain God’s life that never ends?” Jesus said, “What does it say in the Bible? How do you understand it?” The professor answered, “You will love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength and all your mind. And you will love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus, impressed, replied, “This is correct. Live this out, and eternal life is yours.” But knowing he had not lived this out—and had no intention to—but wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “But, really, who is my neighbor?” Jesus sighed and responded, “There was a man traveling from Washington D.C. to New York and some terrorists kidnapped him, stripped his clothes off and beat him half to death, leaving by the side of the road, helpless. Now it so happened that a Mennonite pastor passed by, and he saw him. But, thinking he was a homeless bum, he ignored him and went on his way. Then a Baptist worship leader drove by the same spot, but since he was in a hurry to make it on time to his worship service, he also ignored him and made it to the service on time. Then a Muslim drove by and saw the man laying on the side of the road. Compassion welled up in his heart and he stopped, got out his first aid kit, covered his wounds, put him in his car (getting blood all over the new seats) and drove him to the hospital. There he told the doctor, “If he doesn’t have any insurance, here’s my credit card number—just take it from my account.’ Now,” Jesus concluded, “Which of these was the neighbor to man attacked by terrorists?” The professor said, “The M- the one who had compassion on him.” Jesus smiled and looked him in the eye, “Now you do the same.”

Do terrorists and Muslims really belong in this story?
Actually, they do! The Greek word “lestes” is often translated “robber.” But it actually means one who uses violence to achieve economic or political change, so one might translate it either as “revolutionary” or, possibly, “terrorist.” The Samaritans, on the other hand, are those who were similar to Jews—they worshipped the same God and had many of the same stories. But they had different centers of worship and they considered each other heretics. So if the original Jewish victim became an American Christian, who would the Samaritan be but a faithful Muslim? As far as D.C. and New York for Jerusalem and Jericho… well, that might be stretching it a bit.

The Th- Word
At some point or another, everyone has to deal with theology. It sounds scary (especially if you’ve heard of such words as dispensationalism and superlapsarian), but really its pretty simple—theology is just what we can say about God. Of course, Jesus then had a lot to say about theology. But whenever he wanted to get to the basics, to talk about what is most important to God and most important about our relationship with God, he gets back to these two commands: Love God and love your neighbor. That’s as basic as it gets.

Just Do It
But whenever any professor of theology or dogmatician tries to talk about theology, they do it on very different terms from Jesus. They always speak of “a doctrine statement” or a “confession of faith”. They emphasize what it is we believe about God. And that’s fine, as far as it goes. But whenever Jesus spoke about theology, he spoke about action and relationship. Either he is speaking about what God does for us or what we do for God. Even his most basic statement “God is spirit” is followed by a command, “And those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24). According to Jesus, God isn’t just someone who sits in heaven—he’s a person who interacts with his people, “God with us.” And we aren’t to be people who observe God like we would a tv screen—we are to be active participants with our theology. If we just believe about God in our head, that isn’t enough—we’ve got to have faith in our hands and feet. And so Jesus talked about a faith that is enacted in obedience and an obedience that is informed by faith. Just like sex and conception, you can’t have one without the other.

Two Relationships of Theology
So when Jesus tells us about theology, he says that in every aspect of it, there are two relationships. Theology, he says, isn’t something that happens in our head, it is a connection between (at least) two beings. First, there is the relationship between the human and God. And this relationship is defined by “love”, so whatever else you can say about this relationship, it is supposed to be positive, and not simply duty-based. Yes, we already know that there is obedience involved—after all, Jesus gave us commands—but the relationship behind these commands aren’t just that of slave to master. Rather, we are to have a positive relationship with God, one in which we both benefit from the process.

The second relationship is that between human and human. This is what is really odd. I mean, Jesus is speaking about theology—what we can say about God—and the very thing that Jesus puts in there is our relationship with other people. What do other people have to do with God? Well, two things. First of all, God is very concerned about people. I mean, He made them, and he gave them the earth to rule (Psalm 8). And he claims to love them all (John 3:16). Also, in this command, God is trying to help us PUT God into every relationship. Jesus is saying, “in your relationship with your neighbor, God is commanding it to be benefitial.” Thus, the relationship between human and human becomes theological, because God is forcing himself into that relationship (Ah, I know people like that…)

But what we need to realize in this basic of theology, is that Jesus is putting God and other human beings in everything we do religiously, theologically and spiritually. We cannot have a spirituality without God, according to Jesus. And we cannot have a faith without other people. If we claim to be doing something for God and it does not benefit others, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Even so, if we attempt to do something for others and do not include God, then we do not have Jesus’ faith. Jesus’ theology is completely balanced between these two relationships—all has to do with both God and other people. To exclude one is to exclude true spirituality.

What is love of neighbor?
Well, we’d like to say more about loving God, but our teaching here by Jesus doesn’t give us any more than that it is love and it is God and well, that’s all that’s said. But the rest of the passage does talk quite a bit more about the love of neighbor. What exactly does it say?

a. Love of Neighbor isn’t exclusive
The professor wanted to exclude from the command everyone he didn’t like. Maybe he wanted to exclude heretics, or those who didn’t live in his country, or sinners or folks who did him wrong. But when Jesus asked his question, he made the professor answer that it was the Muslim—the heretic, the sinner, the foreigner, the persecutor—who was the neighbor. This means that if he was a neighbor, then EVERYONE is a neighbor, without exception. So the command involves every single human relationship we are in, without exception.

b. Love of Neighbor is demanded
Secondly, in Jesus’ story, he gave examples of two “good Christians” who didn’t follow the love of one’s neighbor. Thus, in Jesus’ story, although these people had a certain kind of faith, it wasn’t the kind that God was looking for. Their faith was practical and very pious, but it was wrong-headed. Because they thought that the love of God excluded them from the love of neighbor, then they were okay was NOT okay for God. God demands that the people who love Him also love those around them.

c. Love of Neighbor is compassion
The word that most defines the love of one’s neighbor is “compassion”. The Greek word for this is “splachna” which literally means “the feeling in your guts.” In other words, love is the gut-wrenching feeling you get when you see someone who is in need. To love someone is to recognize their need and to have compassion for it. No matter how evil they are, no matter how wrong-headed, compassion prevails in our attitude towards another.

d. Love of Neighbor is practical benefit
Lastly, when Jesus spoke about loving one’s neighbor, he was saying that the love was practical. The Muslim didn’t just pray a positive prayer for the man lying on the road. He didn’t just think good thoughts. Rather, he went out of his way to help him out in whatever way he could. He sacrificed his plans, his money and his vehicle to assist the stranger in need. Love doesn’t just stay in the heart (or the guts), but it gets out the pocketbook and gets dirty. Without being of practical benefit, it isn’t really love.

To have right faith is to present a benefit to everyone you meet

What is the Gospel of Jesus?

2011-02-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

One of the tracts I used to hand out in front of churches in 1993-94. Before I was Mennonite.

As Christians, it is our privilege, commitment and responsibility to follow Jesus as our Lord and Christ. Thus, we want to commit our ways to the teachings of Christ. Because of this, these words have special significance for us: “Repent for the kingdom is heaven is near.” (Matt. 4:17) Why should this statement have special significance? Because this phrase is Matthew’s way of summarizing the gospel that Jesus taught. As followers of Christ, the gospel of Christ is of the highest importance.

But what is the kingdom of heaven? Is it some far off place where everyone sits playing harps all day with wings on their backs? I don’t think so. For Jesus said it is near. And the rest of Jesus’ teachings don’t say much about one’s musical talent, either.

At times, Jesus calls this realm something different than “the kingdom of heaven” or the “Kingdom of God” (Mark 10: 17-23. Notice the different names for the same idea!) There are many titles that he uses for the kingdom: eternal life, salvation, and the “age to come.” But perhaps the best way to understand the kingdom is by looking at its opposite, the world, or “this age.”

We all know about the world. It is society, civilization as we know it. This world is how we make our living and remain comfortable. This world consists of our friends, our family, and our co-workers. And this world gives us a structure to live our lives by. Frankly, although there are many things we dislike about this world, it is what we are comfortable surrounding ourselves with--the TV, music, movies and newspapers.

Jesus’ aim is to destroy the structure of this world and replace it with a new world, namely, the kingdom of God. In fact, when he returns, he will destroy the governments and other structures completely and establish his own rule on the ruins of the present civilization (Daniel 2:44). When he came 2000 years ago, his goal was the same (Luke 12: 49-53) But at that time he was working secretly and quietly with one man at a time to bring them into alignment with his kingdom (Luke 19:10)

What did he say his New Kingdom would be like? Very different from this world.
For example,
-In this world, you are convicted and thrown into prison for murdering someone. In the nest, even if you call someone “stupid” you’re thrown into hell (Matt. 5: 21-22).

-In this world, we give when it is convenient. In the next, we must give whenever someone asks us (Matt. 5:42).

-In this world, we prepare for our retirement and for potential calamities with insurance. In the next, we never worry about tomorrow but entrust God with our security (Matt. 6: 25-34).

-In this world, we fill our homes with treasures like TVs, VCRs, stereo systems, computers, nice furniture, mini-blinds, and piles and piles of sentimental trinkets. In the next, we build up treasures in heaven by selling what we have and giving to the poor (Luke 12: 33-34).

-In this world, we help someone out if it is not going out of our way--e.g. picking up a hitchhiker if he is going our direction. In the next, we help whoever is in need no matter what our schedule or direction (Luke 10: 25-37).

What a wonderful world to look forward to! There will be few needs because everyone will be selling, giving, helping, and trusting in God.

But Jesus wasn’t just giving a polite look t what is to come. To go into this wonderful kingdom, we need to do something. “Repent,” Jesus says (Luke 13: 1-5)

What is repenting? Biblically it is not feeling sorry or apologetic about what wrong we have done. Nor is it confessing your sins, although it might include that. Simply put, it is stopping whatever sin you are doing and then doing what is right before God. In the Old Testament, it is often called, “turning to the Lord.” It isn’t the change of attitude so much as the change of action.

So what is Jesus calling us to do? He wants us to change, to repent from our evil deeds. Which evil deeds are those? The deeds of this world! God wants us not to be concerned about tomorrow, concerned about what is “wise” in the eyes of those that look at one life alone (Matt. 11:25). Instead, we are to turn to the ways of the coming kingdom. We are to give to whoever asks, sell our possessions and give to the poor, seek the lower position to become slave to all (Luke 22: 26-27), we are to entrust everything to God and depend on him for our future. In essence, We are to live in this age as if we are in the age to come.

“Whoa,” you say. “This isn’t just a change in action. It is a whole new way of thinking!” That’s right! When Jesus was talking about being “born again,” he wasn’t just speaking of a mystical experience, or praying some prayer (John 3: 5-8). No, he was saying that to enter the kingdom you must turn your fundamental thoughts up side down.

Instead of thinking about yourself first, we think of others first. Instead of being concerned with what is wise, you focus on what is God’s will.

How To Sell Your Possessions And Give To The Poor

2011-02-09T15:08:00.000-08:00

Lord, have mercy on the suffering:
Give food to those who are hungry;
Give clothing to those who lack it;
Give shelter to those who shiver in cold;
Give love to children without parents;
Give comfort to abused women;
Give redemption to the oppressed;
Give assistance to those ravaged by war.
May you teach them to grow toward you in light of the hardships they suffer.
And to all of these may you give your gospel that they might attain your kingdom where their sufferings will be exchanged for the joy of your loving presence.

What Resources Do We Have?
For those of us who are wealthy, if we wish to live the life of Christ before God, we must sell our possessions and give to the poor. There is no getting around it-- Christ's command is clear. But that command brings up our fears of losing security and our anxieties of having nothing left for ourselves and our family. To overcome that anxiety, let's discuss what the Lord wants us to do, translating that command into simple, practical steps.

The first step we take to selling our possessions is determining what we have. What resources does the Lord require us to give? In this command, Jesus mentions our possessions. In I John, we are told to give our worldly goods. In the gospels, our family is mentioned, our occupations, our livelihood, and even our very lives. What is it we are to surrender? Not just a tithe, not just a portion, not just a good part-- but all of us, all of who we are and every aspect of our being is to be laid down before God to be used at his disposal. Our primary responsibility is not to provide, but to surrender. Our first priority should not be to control but to sacrifice. Everything, all we have and are, is to be placed under our love for God. The primary command is: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength." In Semitic languages you repeat something you want to emphasize. Sometimes you might repeat things twice, but if you want to speak of ultimate emphasis, you repeat it three times, like "Holy, holy, holy." Yet our Lord had the "all" repeated 4 times-- the greatest emphasis placed on anything in Scripture in one sentence. Thus if we live before God, absolutely everything is at God's disposal-- and at God's command, it is at the disposal of the poor as well.

That's the sticking point, isn't it. You see, if we surrender everything to God, then we still have a certain amount of real control and we can still feel good about being submitted to God. But God didn't tell us to lay our possessions and lives and resources upon some imaginary altar. Instead, he told us to give it to the poor. That is real, tangible and easy to check on. Did we do it? Or didn't we? Are we giving? Or aren't we? All we need to do is to check on our account books.

Now, what is this "all" that we have that we surrender to God and to the poor? We have what we own in our home or garage or property. We have our relationships which can be used for good or evil. We have our time with which we do all things. We have our energy which is used to provide action. We have our bodies which we use to communicate, transport and work. And, of course, we have money. All these we must give up to God, surrendering every aspect of our lives. The fundamental act of every Christian is this: We acknowledge that all these things are not to be used for our own interest-- not anymore-- rather we are to give our lives for God's interest and for the needy. God help us to live this way!

Evaluating Our Resources
Okay, to follow the command to sell our possessions and give to the needy, we first acknowledge that all we have and are, every aspect of our lives is at God's disposal and because of God's command they are to be used for the needy.

Yet in this surrendering of all, we must admit that now we too are impoverished and have nothing-- as do our family. And so God assists us in how we determine hat to do with God's possessions-- his life which you surrendered. God says, first of all, provide for the needs of your family.

Whoops! We've run into our first big snag-- what are our needs? How do we determine our needs from our wants? Are social obligations needs?

First of all, we recognize that Paul said that there are a couple needs that are basic: food and clothing. To this we want to add shelter-- especially during the winter months. Food, clothing and shelter-- these three items themselves uses up many people's income in the world. But we must remember that we are speaking of needs-- not the most extravagant versions of these three basics. We need food, but simple, nutritious food is sufficient, not junk food or expensively made dinners. We need clothing, but not closets full of the latest fashions bought at the "right" stores. Simply made clothes, even second hand is sufficient. We need shelter, but not large home twice the size of our need with plenty of storage and rooms that we feel obligated to fill and remodel. Let us conserve our resources, so that others might share in God's gift besides our own family.

There is so much else we must evaluate-- transportation, insurance, education for our children and many other issues. For these we must seek out the Spirit and the world-wide community of Christ to see what we need and what is unnecessary.

After determining our familiy's needs, we must then remember all the others we are responsible to provide for. The Lord commands us to care for our church leaders, for our brothers and sisters in need and for everyone we meet who happens to be in need-- we are responsible to share our resources with all of these. While our family is our first priority, they are not our only responsibility. Thus we must take utmost care-- how can we share our time, possessions, money and lives with all of these needy, not just our family. Oh Lord, give us wisdom!

Transferring Resources
Now that we have determined what resources we have, and we have whittled down what we give to our family to simply what we need. Yet we have not finished living our Christ's command: All these were simply preliminary steps: now we get to the heart of the matter-- selling our possessions and giving to the poor.

We have so much in our homes that are unnecessary. We have trinkets and books, videos and music, entertainments and worldly pursuits. We use so much of our time and our energy pursuing things that have nothing to do with God's love. What Christ calls us to do is to take all of these "extras"-- all the areas in our lives that do not assist the needy, and re-create them in a way that directly meets the needs of people.

The obvious thing to do is to transfer objects or time into money. Money is a medium that can be transferred to assist many needs. With money, one can buy food or clothes or shelter to meet people's needs. Some items you have may not need to be transferred at all-- if you have extra food, it can be given directly to the poor. Clothes can be given to community services who distribute clothes. Perhaps you have an extra room that can be used for a needy person on the street.

Sometimes, though, the Lord causes us to enact a creative transfer of resources that allows us to help the needy. Perhaps we can reduce our work hours in order to volunteer for the needy. Perhaps we can take some free time we have and spend it listening to those who have no companions-- such as the elderly or the homeless. We can send newspaper articles to missionaries or invite our pastor's family to dinner one night.

Primarily, however, we must be open to meet the needs we see. These needs can pop up anywhere, anytime. When they come, we must be ready. We must be ready to listen to the Spirit as we ask for wisdom. We must be ready to respond with compassion and not condemnation. And we must be ready to be open and generous with the resources that are not ours, but are God's to command, to use and to dispose of. In this life of mercy and justice, we will see God at work in us and through us.

Jesus' Class on Financial Accountability for Ministries

2011-02-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

This is a fully accepted statement: Those of us who are involved in the ministry of Jesus need to be careful with money. Some misuse of funds over the last years by ministers, pastors and church groups -- and their punishments by various church boards and governments -- has only served to increase our realization that this is so.

In response, many churches and ministries have been setting up financial accountability programs, based on accounting and governmental principles of the world. While using such guidelines is good and will help us avoid being punished by our current government, what about abiding by the principles that Jesus set up for His disciples to follow? Shouldn't we, as believers, church workers, pastors, and ministry leaders be just as concerned – in fact, more so— with Jesus' instructions on the subject, to say nothing of the punishments that await those who fail to obey His Word?

Below are five Biblical principles of financial responsibility for disciples. All of these are given to disciples in general, two of them specifically to disciples involved in ministry. Yet, if we as individuals are commanded by Jesus to follow these principles, how much more so should groups of believers, be they congregations or ministries, apply these principles as well!

A. "Beware of all forms of greed!" (Luke 12:15)
Jesus warns that no disciple should focus on greed. The word "greed" in the original Greek has a number of different forms that it takes, and Jesus mentions this in his statement. A disciple, He tells us, is not to take part in any of these forms. They include:

• Keeping excess for oneself (Matthew 6:19)
• Keeping for yourself when another has greater need (Luke 3: 11; I John 3:17)
• Seeking to gain what another has (Luke 12:13-15)
• Increasing wealth for one's future enjoyment (Luke 12:16-21)
• Focusing on the wealth of this world, as opposed to the wealth of God's kingdom (Luke 12:15, 21, 33-34)

For a ministry or church, this means that the gathering of wealth or possessions for the sake of the wealth itself is unacceptable. That means a ministry needs to avoid seeking to make a profit geared only to be spent on itself or its leaders. Paul and Peter both agree that any teacher who is seeking wealth for his own gain is a false teacher (I Timothy 6:5; II Peter 2:3). Only receiving money for the sake of assisting others -- as the apostles did in Acts 4:34-35 -- is permissible. Instead of constantly seeking wealth, we should be content with what God has given us (I Timothy 6:6).

B. "Seek God's kingdom and all this will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)
A disciple of Jesus should seek God, rather than the strength of their own arm, for provision of their daily needs and that of their family. If we try to meet our needs any other way than through God, Jesus says, we are acting like an unbeliever (Matthew 6:32).

The focus of every disciple should be to build God's authority and will into his life and the lives of those around him, and trust the provision of their basic needs to Him. To do so will likely mean great sacrifice --economically and otherwise. Sometimes we might lose our jobs, our friends. Even our family may turn against us. Yet there are times when God asks us to give up what wealth and security we have for the sake of others. Should any of this happen, we must look to God to gain what we need to live, rather than struggle and strain in our flesh to obtain financial and material wealth. We must ask God and trust that he will give us what we need.
Moreover, the sole focus of every church and ministry should be to establish God's kingdom, and leave the meeting of needs to Him. If we are low on funds, our first response should not be to send out a letter pleading for financial support, but to set our needs and the needs of those among us before God.

We need to trust that God will provide our every need (Philippians 4:19). Our first response to need should not be to put our hand out, but our hands up.

C. "Sell your possessions and give to the poor." (Luke 12:33)
A disciple of Jesus should give those in need. Any excess we have, beyond our own personal needs, should be given to the poor. If we have possessions we do not need -- excess clothes, food, books, CD's, whatever -- we should make them available to those who truly need them.
Moreover, at least one part of every church or ministry s work should include meeting the needs of the needy among them. This could be done in various ways: through a generous benevolence ministry, working hands on with the poor, or assisting organizations or churches who work in impoverished areas.

Finally, if a church or ministry has finances which exceed their basic needs, they should think of ways they can use those funds to meet the needs of the poor (Acts 4:32-37), not on building bigger churches or office complexes (Luke 12:16-21). The poor will always be with us, so we will always have an opportunity to help them.

D. "Freely you have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8)
A declarer of God's message should give God's word without charge. Jesus' message was, and is, free. He gave it away to anyone who followed him. Moreover, we can still obtain the word of God without cost, if necessary. The Spirit of God is free -- healings and exorcisms cost us no money. For the same reason, the one who declares God's word, heals, casts out demons or does any kind of ministry using the power and authority of God should not charge for it.

If you wish to grant the gospel to people, do not sell it, but offer it freely. If you wish people to have a book, tape or video of what you learned from the Lord, offer it without charge, do not sell it. Christian publishers, bookstores and ministries act in opposition to Jesus' word anytime they take money for giving out His Word or life. Jesus said that those who take money from the poor for the sake of ministry will receive greater condemnation than other sinners (Mark 12:40). And again, if any minister is out for their own profit, the Scripture calls them false teachers (I Timothy 6:5; II Peter 2:3). A true profit in ministry is a false prophet!

E. "The laborer is worthy of his wages." (Luke 10:7)
This is a principle given to those who minister, but really it applies for those who receive the message of God. A declarer of God's message should be given their basic needs by those who receive the message. Although the minister does not ask for money, they can expect that their basic needs would be met by those who hear his message. Jesus established that a messenger of His Word would declare His message and do healings and, while he was doing the work, he would be housed and fed by a local believer. Even so, the basic needs of ministers and their families should be met by those who are growing through their message. In fact, Jesus said, whoever provides for a minister of Jesus in even the smallest way will gain their reward in heaven (Matthew 10:42)! Paul also applies this principle in different church contexts (Galatians 6:6; I Timothy 5: 17-18).

These principles are not given us to condemn each other with, but to allow our ministries to grow in faith and love and holiness, without which no one will see God (Galatians 5:6; Hebrews 12:14). I pray that the Lord will grant us wisdom to apply these principles to our homes, our churches and to everything we do in the Lord's name.

The "E" Word

2011-02-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

In the deep, dark shadows of Christian practice it is rarely spoken of. Private prayer is praised and quiet service is rejoiced in, but who dares speak in this 21st century of… evangelism. Evangelism is sometimes hated, often feared, and certainly not spoken of in polite society. And yet it is as necessary as peacemaking and offering mercy to those in need. Why is evangelism such a nasty word?

Lack of tolerance and humility
Evangelism is often regarded as offensive. This is sometimes because evangelism has an implied arrogance—“I am completely right and you are completely wrong and you need me to teach you the truth.” Tolerance and humility seems to be absent from evangelism. This kind of evangelism is similar to placing a gospel of John in the centerfold of a porno mag. Sure, the gospel is there, but the context is so offensive, that the truth cannot be seen

Yes, we want to be welcoming. No, of course we do not want to punish someone for believing something different than we do. Nevertheless, it is important that we all believe in something. And if we believe, then we are saying that others’ are wrong about their beliefs that are different. If I believe I am in the bathroom, then those who hold to the opinion that I am in the garage are wrong (at least I hope they are!). If God is in heaven, those who hold the opinion that God is not in heaven are wrong. If Jesus is Lord, those who hold the opinion that Jesus is not Lord is wrong. Tolerance has its place, but once we place tolerance above our conviction about Jesus, then we are no longer Christians, but pluralists.

But evangelism does not have to be done arrogantly. Many people evangelize by speaking of their personal views or personal experience—there is nothing arrogant in just sharing what we experienced ourselves. Evangelism can certainly be done in the midst of teaching—a sermon for instance—but it is more often effective in a context of humility. The formerly blind man in John 9 had this kind of humble evangelism—“Of Jesus’ origins I know nothing, all I know is that I was blind, but now I see.” Later he asks the Pharisees, “Do you want to follow him too?” Although one might question this man’s wisdom, certainly his humility could not be questioned. And yet he was clearly evangelizing.

Nor does evangelism have to be done without gentleness. Evangelism has gotten some bad press by some who do street preaching and knock on doors to evangelize. Many of these people are offensive, rude and obnoxious. However, evangelism does not need to be offensive. It can quietly be done by expressing one’s personal beliefs with a friend. Evangelism can be simply inviting someone to an event at church. Evangelism can be telling your Muslim friend why you do not agree with Christians who want to kill Muslims.

What is evangelism?
Part of the problem with evangelism is its association with crusades or long monologues. But we must not confuse a manner of doing evangelism with the act itself. Evangelism is no more or less than speaking about Jesus or Jesus’ teaching to those who do not believe. It does not require an altar call or an organ. It is simply calling Jesus our Lord, and his ways are our ways. This means that if we believe in peace because Jesus did, and we are telling others’ about Jesus’ view of peace, then we are evangelizing. It means that if we believe in Jesus’ life, in his teaching, in his lordship over the earth, in the benefits we gain from him—then we cannot fail to tell others about what we know about and have received from Jesus.

Why should we evangelize?
So what reason should we evangelize. Let’s get a word from our Sponsor—Jesus:
• Because Jesus told us to—“Preach the gospel to all creation” Mark 16:15

• Because we must talk about Jesus to enter God’s kingdom, and to receive of his blessings—“If anyone confesses me before men, I will confess them before my Father in heaven. Whoever denies me before men, I will deny him before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32-33

• Because we love people too much to let them live without a chance at Jesus— “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.” Luke 18:16

• Because everyone needs Jesus— “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19

Jesus told us to tell people about him, about his kingdom, about his teaching and about his abundant life. Our speech may be simple or subtle. Our approach does need to take into account the culture and understanding of the person we are speaking to. We need to be as clear as possible. But most of all, we need to speak the word and life of Jesus. No one can receive from God unless they first know about Jesus from someone who knows him.

Let’s get out there and tell ‘em!

How Can The Church Transform Society?

2011-02-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

In his book, Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr wrote about how the church influences the world. He was right, that Jesus asks us—even demands—that we transform the world. However, he set up a false dichotomy between passivism and activism. As if those who do not act in the political manner in which he was used to, then they were not acting at all. Jesus, on the other hand, presented a kind of transformationalism that is not necessarily politically active, but is powerfully active, nevertheless.

He established the following principles:
a. Creating alternative communities
b. Being welcoming to all who desire transformation
c. Gently, patiently influencing without force
d. Attacking the forces behind the evil

1. The church as salt
You are salt—essential for the world. But if you lose the basic qualities that make you important, you cannot regain them. You will be useless, cast out of God’s kingdom and trampled.
You are light—God’s glory and truth in the world. You are the kingdom of God to come, and you cannot be hidden. Nor should you be hidden—God’s glory should be displayed, not hidden. So display the true righteousness of God before everyone, so that people will see your acts of God and so glorify the Father. Matthew 5:13-15

The church is not a building, an organization or a political force. Rather, the church is, according to Jesus, an alternative society, a unique people, a separate nation which lives by God’s law of love. The church, in the form Jesus established it, is a group of people who are living according to Jesus’ principles of love. The church is made up of the outcast of society, engaged in community not to just improve ourselves, but to love all of those in need. And we strive to live out the principles of love found in Jesus’ law—we do not insult, we do good to those who persecute us, we do not look with lust, we keep our promises, we do our religious deeds before God, not for people’s being impressed, we do not judge others, but we are constantly repenting of our sin and forgiving those who repent. And we will strive not to be put in a situation—like the military or addiction to drugs—that will cause us to act in opposition to this way of life.

We will look and act different for all this. The world will see us as strange, as ignorant, as naïve or even as hateful because we will stand with Jesus, no matter what anyone else says or does to try to promote us or to try to oppose us. At times, we will act different from that which the world calls “the church” or “Christianity.” “And this is because a majority of the church is caught up in the ways of the world, and has become a part of the world—focusing on education, on politics, on judging, on intellectualism, on power and the manipulation of it. And so they, the façade church, looks at the church of Jesus, and thinks that they’ve missed the point.

The church of Jesus is a community, not a political party. It doesn’t seek to compromise its ideals so it can fit better into the world. It doesn’t seek to give a message less than the love of Jesus, ever. If it changes it’s ideal of love and mercy and hope in God’s future, then it is no longer the community of Jesus, but a part of the very empire it seeks so hopelessly to transform. The compromised church is in a place to be transformed, not to create transformation.

2. The church as welcoming
Jesus told the disciples another story: "God's utopia is like a mustard seed, a tiny seed compared to most other seeds. But a man took that insignificant thing and planted it in his land and he let it grow. And when it grew up fully, it became a sturdy tree so strong that the birds rested in the branches. Even so, you, my disciples, are insignificant and the least. But when the Father and the Spirit are done with you, you shall be strong enough that the nations of heaven will rest comfortably within you." Matthew 13:31-32

This alternative society of Jesus is not to be a separatist society, but an evangelistic one. In other words, the church doesn’t protect its purity, but opens up its purity to all the world. All are to be welcome to be a part of the church, no matter how corrupt, no matter what they have done in the past, no matter how far from the ideal they are. The great task of the church is welcoming all who desire to be transformed into God’s people, and then to help them to become part of that.

We accept people as they are, but we are not content with who they are. All of us, should we be a part of Jesus, must be transformed into the image of Jesus. This is not something that happens overnight, nor does it happen before conversion. Rather, this is the process we go through that conversion begins. We assist each other, allowing the Spirit to create diamonds out of coal.

Thus, the church does not remain completely separate from the church. Jesus places parts of the church within the world, commanding them to welcome the world into the church. Within the world, the church holds onto its unique purity, a purity based on love of God and neighbor, and opens itself up to be understood by the world. More and more people become a part of this community, embracing Jesus’ ideals.

In this way, the world becomes the church. Individual by individual, family by family, soon tribes and even nations become a part of the community of Jesus’ love. People flock to be a part of the alternative community because it works better than other communities, and it is led by Jesus, our example of patience, faithfulness and endurance.

3. The church will slowly transform society
God's utopia is like a small pinch of yeast which a woman carefully places into four gallons of dough. Then she mixes it all together so that the yeast cannot be seen anymore, yet it has permeated the whole of the flour, so that it has all been transformed. Matthew 13: 33

The church is within the broader society, yet being distinct from it. In that way, the church changes society as a whole. Just in being steadfast to Jesus’ way, to Jesus’ life, we will, step by step, person by person, change the world. We will never—until Jesus’ return—control the world politically. It may look as if the church ran the world in the Middle Ages, but that was not the true church, the church of humility, the church of love, the church of mercy, the church without judgment. That was the façade church. The real church will transform society, not by force, but by lifestyle.

The church speaks to the world in two ways—by gently communicating the truth of Jesus and by living out the life of Jesus. This is the prophetic model of transformation. We are the light, we are to show them the love of Jesus, not just send out tracts. The true church never forces the world to accept the ethics of Jesus. They never manipulate them politically to accept the morality of the Bible. Rather, the church gently tries to change people’s hearts, and sees the world transformed that way.

This is how the Amish influenced society to forgive those who murdered their children. This is how William Wilberforce convinced the British Parliament to abolish slavery. Not by political force or by armies—rather by persistent influence. Yes, this is the long path, but this is the only way we can remain gentle and humble but still influential.

In this way, we can influence despite persecution. If those with clear eyes see that we are not manipulators, not the political strongman, not the philosophy behind the armies, then when we are attacked, we will be seen as those of a pure, loving heart, welcome to all, even our enemies. In this manner did the Anabaptists change the world for freedom of religion—by allowing themselves to be attacked and killed without attacking back.

4. The church is a spiritual army
When a powerful warrior, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder
Luke 11:21-22

And as you go, preach, saying, 'God’s utopia is close at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Matthew 10:7-8

Transformation does not have to be instant. Or even within our lifetime. The change of human hearts happens through centuries, not years or even decades. This is why, ultimately, prayer is the greatest tool the church has. Prayer hands over the world to God and His will and to His timing. Prayer is trust in God. And while humanity has control over the world, Satan, more often than not, holds the strings of humanity. And God can restrict and limit Satan’s power.
The more we give over to God’s control, the less power Satan has. The more prayer we offer to those who are enthralled by Satan’s ways of judgment and prejudice, the less control Satan has. Our real enemies are not governments or human at all. Our real enemy is in the spiritual realm and our real tools are prayer and the rejection of Satan’s work.

The question is: can we limit ourselves to these methods? Can we surrender completely to God’s ways and not our own, or the world’s? This requires more faith than the church has had for 1700 years. Can our church do what the church historically could not?

Why Doesn't God Answer My Prayer?

2011-02-09T14:19:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had a time when you were praying, but it seemed as if God was distant? Perhaps this was your own feeling, or perhaps you had something to really base that feeling on. If we pray at all, there will be times that we know that God isn’t answering our prayer. Doesn’t he promise to deliver us from our troubles, doesn’t he look at our sorrows and wipe them away? Then why are we still living in them?

When we are going through difficulties, and we cry out to God, but God doesn’t seem to be answering, then we could be looking for blame. And either we will blame God or blame ourselves. If we blame God, we may think that He doesn’t really care about us. Or perhaps he doesn’t understand what we are going through. Or perhaps He isn’t as strong as we were led to believe. Maybe God doesn’t actually exist at all, but we are just praying to thin air.

At other times, we might look at ourselves and think that we are not good enough for God. Maybe we don’t belong to the right church, or something in the past is displeasing to God. Perhaps God doesn’t like our family or the community in which we live. Maybe we didn’t pray the right words or in the right manner.

Be confident
According to God’s word, all of these tracks are the wrong way to look at it. God doesn’t care about whether we pray correctly, our past or our community. And God DOES care about us and our troubles. He will listen to us, no matter what we’ve done or how separated from Him we were. God is also powerful enough to do whatever He wants.

And yet, still, God often will not answer our prayers. He listens, but does not act. He pays attention, but we do not receive what we want. Why is this? Why doesn’t prayer just work when we want it to? According to the Bible, there are a number of different reasons why our prayers may not be answered—why God may ignore our requests. Not all of them are easy to hear, but we should look at them carefully, to see if any of them apply to us:

Prayer requires a relationship with God
Maybe, for some reason, our prayers really are blocked. Maybe God knows our requests, but He isn’t going to answer us now. This would be because something is blocking our relationship with God. God is attentive to everyone, but some people have issues that God cannot see, for He is a pure God and cannot abide impurity. There are certain things that people do that will stop any communication between them and God. Some of the things that are mentioned is: Not meeting the needs of those under one’s authority (such as children, wives or employees); living a sexually immoral lifestyle; to cheat in business; those who cause strife between people; and those who tell lies in God’s name. As well, God will reject those who refuse to listen to his Son, Jesus, who is Lord over the earth. God does not listen to these people, nor will listen to their prayers.

If we are caught up in any of these lifestyles or if we refuse to listen to Jesus, then the answer is simple—we need to repent and change our ways. God will listen to our prayer, but only if our prayer is: “Father, I was wrong, please forgive me.” We need to admit that we were in a bad place, and we want to be different people, people to whom God will listen. We need to ask God for help to change our lives and to focus on His ways. If we do, then God will listen to our prayers and answer them. This is devotion, this is faith in God and trust in his ways.
(I Peter 3:7; I Corinthians 6:9-10; Proverbs 6:16-19; Deuteronomy 25:13-16; John 15:7; John 5:38; Acts 2:38)

Prayer requires the right motive
Another thing we look at when we pray is the reason we pray. James says: “You ask and you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives—You ask in order that you may obtain your own pleasures.” (James 4:3). Many of us pray because of our own needs, our own wants. We don’t pray because of what is really right, but because we feel a certain way and think that only one thing will help us, and so we see God as a wishing well, who will give us whatever we desire.

However, Scripture is clear that when we pray it is not our own desires or motivation that we need to be looking at, but God’s. The Lord’s prayer is unique in that the first three requests are prayers for God, not for humans. Psalm 37:4 says that if we put God’s desires first in our heart, then God will give us whatever we want—not because we want it, but because we are reflecting God’s will. Prayer is not about getting what we want, but about God establishing his justice and mercy on the world for everyone.

Prayer is about Giving God Sovereignty
At the creation of the world, God gave each human rule over the earth and over themselves. However, He made it clear that we are to remain under His authority and listen to His choices. The truth is, however, that usually we make our own choices, apart from God’s recommendations and so we establish our own control over our lives. God loves us and wants to help us, but He also respects our choices and will not stand against them. Sometimes we are praying for God to deliver us from ourselves, from our own choices that we are still making. But God will not do this, for to do this is to make Him unfaithful to His promise that we are in charge of our lives.

If we wish to have God’s help, despite ourselves, we need to turn ourselves over to Him. We can pray, but it is a prayer of surrender to God’s control and a desire to reject our past choices. If we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, and make him Lord over our lives, then God will begin to change our own wills, our own choices to make us a better ruler over ourselves, with His help. (Romans 12:1-2; Psalm 8; Judges 10:10-16)

Prayer Sometimes Takes Time
But perhaps we are in a good relationship with God. Perhaps, as far as the Bible says, God really is listening and we are praying prayers that He agrees with—maybe even prayers that He commanded us to pray! Why, then, are there many prayers that aren’t answered. If God wants them prayed for, shouldn’t he answer them quickly?

Of course he should. But some prayers just take time to answer. God often is not rejecting our request, but is waiting for the right time to answer it with action. Prayers are not microwave popcorn—put it in the oven and four minutes later, boom, there it is. Prayer is about God’s timing and what is best for everyone. Sometimes our timing is not God’s timing, but it doesn’t mean that He’s forgotten.

So what can we do? Many just stop praying because “God knows what I need and I don’t want to bug him about it.” Yes, God knows what we need, but he wants us to keep bugging him about it. If we don’t stop praying about something—once an hour, once a day, or once a week, depending on the request—but keep on praying, it shows that we haven’t forgotten about the issue and we still trust that God will resolve it. (Luke 11:5-10; II Peter 3:8-9)

Prayer Sometimes Isn’t Answered How We Like
God always sees our need. God always wants to answer prayer. But sometimes God doesn’t answer us in the way we expect. Perhaps we expect God to just take away our suffering and pain. Perhaps we expect God to give us the certain thing we need to meet our needs. And then it doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t.

Does this mean that he didn’t answer our prayer? Suppose my child comes up to me and says, “Daddy, I’m really hungry—could you go out and get me some candy to eat?” Of course, I know that a rock isn’t what my child needs, so I get him good food instead. Maybe she will cry because I didn’t give her what she wanted, but I know a little better about what kind of food is best for her. This is how God acts with us. He knows better what we need. Sometimes we think that God is ridiculous, and God just needs to listen to what we want—but He refuses to give us what is bad for us.

If we are in difficulties and it seems that God isn’t answering our prayer, then we need to just trust in God. God is the one who knows what is best for us, and will give us what is best. Sometimes what is best for us comes in the form of difficulties or problems or temptations that we just want to go away. But God is the one who loves us more than we love ourselves, and so will help us in accord with what we need, not according to our childish requests. (Luke 11:11-13: Hebrews 12:5-11; James 1:13-17; II Corinthians 12:7-9)

Trust in God and He will give us what is good—always.

Is Reality All It's Cracked Up To Be?

2011-01-16T09:37:00.000-08:00

What is “reality”?
Fundamentally, reality is our experience. What we know and understand, what we have seen or felt. It is what our inner self tells us to be true, what we have heard to be the fact of the case and what we have confirmed with observation to be practical.

Reality is what we see, hear and feel. It is what science deals with, what we supposedly know for “certain”. It is the here-and-now, the practical, the everyday, the stuff of life.
Reality is also the basic “self-evident truths” that we think “everyone” understands to be true, such as the law of gravity.

But there is more than one reality. That which is “self-evident” to us is no such thing. To one person, the United States is the greatest country in the world, and to another it is the great Satan, causing disaster. Such value judgments are a part of reality, and both “self-evident” truths, while opposite, are equally a part of each persons reality. Both value judgments are practical for each person, and, if they each live in the U.S., the reality each lives in colors their whole world, all the time.

Why do we depend on reality?
Reality is what we depend on because it is all that we know that has worked. Reality is based on our experience and that experience tells us what can work and what can’t. If we just chose another reality, we are convinced that the other reality just wouldn’t be practical. If, for instance, we believed that we were the president of the United States, we might find it
difficult, nevertheless, to enter the White House. That reality simply wouldn’t be practical.

However, for the most part, alternate realities can work for us. Even if we think that one item is real, others can believe something different and they can live a happy, productive life in that alternative reality—perhaps even happier than the reality we choose.

But not only is reality practical for us, but we are also emotionally dependent on reality. To discover that our concept of reality isn’t true, or practical, will stress us to such a degree, that we often cannot deal with any other option. If someone looks at the blue sky and says, “What a lovely shade of red,” we would laughingly object at first. But if they insisted—no matter how calm they seemed—we would become angry at their refusal to accept the plain truth. And when we discover that we cannot actually prove to them that the sky is blue will only upset us more. Something so obvious should be understood without having to explain it, and it should be proven easily. But it isn’t. It turns out that we are emotionally attached to the fact that the sky is blue. And if anyone tells us otherwise is to not just jar our sense of reality, but it emotionally upsets us.

For this reason, reality isn’t actually something we choose. Reality is something we live with, and it takes a serious event in our lives to chose a different reality to live with. Reality, for the most part, is something handed to us by our parents, our peers, our friends, our television watching, our book reading, our

What is wrong with reality?
Reality is what we live with. It is all we know. How can it be wrong? Frankly, it is wrong because it is insufficient for most of us. The experience of most people is that our lives, our reality that we live with, isn’t enough. We are discontent—and the discontentment we feel isn’t just because we want more than what we really deserve. Rather, the life we have is just missing something. Some of us think we know what is missing. Others just feel discontent without really knowing why.

Sure, there may be a few who are completely content with their lives. They have everything they need and while they might fine tune their lives, they are pretty happy. These self contented folks are looking at all the rest of us—the majority of humanity— and telling us that we just need an attitude adjustment. They figure that the problem we have with reality is that we aren’t looking at it the right way. We just need a positive outlook, or some faith, or whatever. I guess they would look at a starving child and tell her to get a positive outlook, or a homeless drunk on the street and tell them that he just needs to get a life.

What do we really want/need?
Our discontent isn’t just mental. We have basic needs that every human must obtain or they will languish, go insane, do desperate acts and die. The real reason we are discontent with our lives—most of the time—is because our needs are not met. Perhaps we aren’t starving and we have a place to live, but that doesn’t mean that our lives are completely full of everything we need. Even the wealthiest person in the world could be the loneliness; even the most popular person in the world can be wracked with guilt. Every human, no matter who they are, no matter where they live, have six basic needs that must be satisfied:

1. Survival needs
This is the category we usually think of when we consider the “needs of the poor” or just “the needy”. This is the area of physical, bodily needs, without which we would die in short order. We all have need of nutrition, water, warmth, and sleep. We can’t live without it. Some things, however, aren’t considered in our list of needs that must be considered in an urban landscape, for instance, going to the bathroom. Have you ever been in an area of town where there the only restrooms are private ones in businesses, but you had to go… NOW? Also, health is a need. Not necessarily medicine. What we need to recognize is that there is a difference between the need we have and the particular means we use to meet that need. Medicine is one way of obtaining health. There are other ones that have greater or lesser effectiveness. Food is one way of obtaining nutrition, and depending on the kind of food you eat, it may be more or less effective for your nutritional needs. Warmth is necessary, but clothes—although the most socially acceptable method—is not the only method of obtaining warmth. Thus, the basic list is necessary, but there are a variety of methods of obtaining these needs. This is what we will find for the rest of the categories of needs as well. And no one will dispute that these are needs, either. Without nutrition, or water we suffer starvation and dehydration. Without warmth, there are various ailments we get from the cold. Without sleep, we go insane. Without health, we become ineffective and eventually die before our time. Without a place to go to the bathroom… well it gets messy. And the ultimate survival need is life itself. If our bodies do not have life, then we lack the very basic need to our existence.

2. Security
We all need to feel safe. If we do not feel that we can safely leave our houses, then we spend much of our energy just attempting to do what we need to do on a daily basis. If we do not feel safe within our homes, then we find reasons to avoid being there. Security is, for the most part, in our heads. This is why the tough man will say to the fearful boy, “Get a grip! It’s all in your head!” But fear is based on the survival need of living, and the compulsion to avoid things that cause us to lose our survival needs. We will do what we need to do to keep our job because of fear of losing our housing or food. We will be nervous the first time we drive because there are two-ton fast-moving vehicles out there that could kill us and we are suddenly in charge of one. Yes, we can call it anxiety, and it is mostly in our head, but the fears are based on a real, survival-threatening situation.

So we create situation in which we can be safe. We avoid people and situations which have caused us anxiety in the past. We create securities, sometimes having little to do with real security, in which care we can feel safe. And sometimes we attack those who make us feel fear. The foundation of war is fear, not drive for power or glory. Without some sense of security, a feeling that we can do something about the scary world that surrounds us, then we live in tremendous anxiety, always vulnerable, unable to live. If we see someone walking by and see them as a threat, we might attack them, even if they did nothing wrong. So a sense of security is necessary, not only for ourselves, but for those around us.

3. Society
Aristotle has been misquoted, “Man is a social animal.” John Donne said, “No man is an island.” Apart from their anthropomorphisms, they are absolutely right. Sometimes people drive us crazy, but we are all driven to be with people. There are hermits—exceedingly rare—but even they connect with humanity on occasion, because they find that they cannot live without other humans. A single individual cannot perpetually live without other humans. Each individual is like a puzzle piece that makes no sense, has no meaning, without other humans. Unless humans get together there is no conversation, no truth, no children, no significance, no meaning to life. Human individuals were never meant to be alone. To be isolated is the road to bitterness, to depression, to insanity.

4. Honor
The term “honor” is often associated with machismo, the strange concept that receiving respect is more important than life. But as much as we might put down the actions of the Latin male, they have put their finger on a basic need of humanity. Even if we do not all demand respect, we all need it. If a wife gets no respect from her husband, she will seethe in bitterness or languish in depression. If a business deal is not lubricated with respect, it will never happen. If polite conversation is not had with strangers, then resentment and angry words may surface. On the surface, it may seem strange to call honor a basic human need. After all, we know people who seem to live without it. But the ones who truly gain no honor, have nothing in their lives that they can tell themselves that others respect or find praiseworthy, these are the self-haters, the shamed, the useless, the fearful and the desperate. If a person has everything in their lives going well, but they lack honor, they will set aside their well-being and their very lives to obtain it. More people have committed suicide because of the need of having others honor them than depression. Yes, these honorable deaths are heroic and praised, so we don’t call them suicide, but what they really mean is that the hero didn’t take enough precautions to protect themselves. For a hero, death is not as strong as the honor that lingers far longer than one’s life.

5. Inner peace
We all deal with stress. Stress is a huge part of life, and we have systems in our bodies whose major function is to deal with the stresses we deal with. There is a good stress that uses those systems to help us accomplish things. And there is bad stress that overwhelms these systems, and makes us unbearable to be around. To deal appropriately with stress is to have inner peace, to deal with all we have around us in the best way possible. We can deal with life because we have had time to consider the best course of action in a given situation and we have the energy to take that action. To not have this inner peace is to live in turmoil, confusion, self-doubt and rejection by others. To lack inner peace, ultimately, is insanity. It is to be driven to do things that harms oneself or others in order to obtain that peace.

6. Pleasure
If you look at the various lists of needs that psychiatrists have created over a half-century of study (for instance, google Abraham Maslow), pleasure or joy is the one area that is never listed. Yes, most of us agree, we all seek pleasure. We giggle at the fundamentalists who try to separate areas of pleasure out of their lives, only to be caught up in it as hypocrites. And looking for pleasure may take up a lot of our time. But it isn’t really a “need.” Most of us sound like an alcoholic saying we don’t really need the drink. We all are in need of some pleasure, some joy. The most basic form of pleasure in interest or curiosity. We gain this pleasure simply by walking down the street and seeing the people walk by. We obtain pleasure by looking at beauty in nature, in listening to a fine piece of music. Now imagine never having any pleasure at all. Never gaining any joy. Never having interest in anything. Being completely apathetic about everything. In psychiatry they call this chronic depression. Without pleasure or joy in anything, we become listless, merciless, and suicidal.

Secondary needs
These six are the basic needs that all humans have without exception. At this point, many of us would jump up and say, “But what about housing? That wasn’t mentioned. And what about employment? What about sex? What about power? And money?” It is true, for most people these things are necessary. So why didn’t they make the list? First, because these items aren’t necessary for every human, like the top six are. In our society, these items—like money and sex—loom so large that they seem absolutely necessary to everyone. However, there are many who live without these items. There are still entire cultures that do not need money and many individuals have made the choice to live without sex. So we know that these aren’t absolutely necessary as a basic human need.

Also, these items are actually systems of meeting the needs already mentioned. Sex is significant in our lives because it is a means to many ends. Sex provides pleasure, it helps us connect with and be intimate with another human and it perpetuates the survival of humanity at large, and so it is a popular means of obtaining at least three of the six basic needs. Money is not a need in and of itself, but it is a popular method of obtaining all of the basic needs. Employment isn’t absolutely necessary, but it has proven to be a successful means to obtaining money—but employment also is in itself a system of giving honor, self-satisfaction, social interaction and sometimes pleasure to those who work in that system. But there are other means of meeting needs than that.

So I call these systems of meeting needs “secondary needs”—not absolutely necessary, but they are the systems our society and culture created in order to meet the six basic needs we all have.

Contrary needs
So back to our discussion of reality. If these are the basic needs of humanity, and our societies have developed strategies that are typically successful to meet these needs, why are most of us so miserable? Why haven't we reached utopia, where everyone’s needs are met? Because, ultimately, for the majority of people, our lives and societies have been unsuccessful in reaching a proper balance of needs for all people.

Within each of us, a battle rages between one set of needs and another. At times, our needs work harmoniously together so that we find overall satisfaction. But often our needs are in conflict against one another. For some people, a drive for something that interests them—to avoid boredom—puts them in perilous situations. These are the adventurers, those who put themselves in danger—like halfway up a steep mountainside—to keep themselves enjoying life. Sure, their security may be compromised, and they are acting against their drive for inner peace, but at least they aren’t bored. Others are so desperate for honor that allow their own lives to be threatened—the heroes as mentioned above.

And we often put our inner peace in jeopardy in order to obtain other needs. Sometimes we can’t stand to be with people, we need to be alone to regroup, but guests come over and it isn’t polite (it is dishonorable) to ask them to leave, so you stay and talk (which meets a social need, but not your peace need). Or we may stay at a job in which we are daily dishonored because we need the money to pay for our housing and food (survival needs). We make choices like this almost every day—allowing one need to be crushed in order to meet another.

Our lives are also miserable because of conflict with others. It happens so often, in our minds, that to meet our need is to not allow another person’s need to be met. For many people, to obtain honor is to dishonor another person—if you give one person lower esteem, it raises your own. For others, it is easier to obtain nutrition or rest by taking it away from other people. For others, security is maintained by making sure that other people’s security is threatened. The easiest way to meet needs, for many, is to see what fulfills other people’s needs and take it away from them to obtain it for oneself.

Thus, our society remains in conflict, and the things that meets people’s needs are passed around, the ones with the greatest resources having while others with fewer resources lacking.

One other thing takes people away from meeting their needs—the insistence of others who think they know what other’s needs are and how to meet them. This is a weird twist on “do unto others as you would have them do to them.” Have you ever had a well-meaning relative force you into an uncomfortable situation—a blind date, an unpleasant job, going to some quack—all to meet some “need” they think you must have? Well, whole groups of society are doing the same thing to the poor, the mentally ill, the elderly, the disabled, the outcasts, the lonely, the hated, the criminals. And rather than meeting the needs of the needy, they end up perpetuating the problems because they never understood what makes these specialized groups of people tick.

Needs and the Basic Human Desire
But humanity has never given up on tweeking their particular society to see if it will become the utopia they imagine is just around the corner. Idealistically, each individual human wants to see all of their own needs met and be satisfied with their lives. Some make it, but most don’t. And large groups of humanity want to see the whole of humanity have their needs met. To have one’s needs met, completely is what is called in religions, “salvation.” And it is also the needs of a large group met, if not all humanity. This “salvation” is the goal of new nations, the goal of politics, the goal of philosophy, the goal of education, the goal of most non-profits, the goal of psychiatry, the goal of economics. The basic human desire is the meeting of human needs—our own first, then our society’s and, in some cases, the worlds’.

But this basic human desire has never been met. And it is not being met for most people. Just knowing what the needs are don’t meet them. And telling people to be content doesn’t make them so. Life has always been unsatisfactory. And there is little evidence to see that it ever will be, for most people. The basic human desire, “salvation”, is perpetually beyond our grasp, although we continually imagine it to be at our fingertips.

Ultimately, our reality—all of our experience, knowledge, all that we love and are comfortable with, what we believe and what we have—is inadequate. If you consider your life to be miserable or difficult, it doesn’t meet your needs. If the people you know and agree with and share everything with are miserable and no matter how much they tried and changed in order to improve their lives, they are still miserable and without any real hope, then your reality—the reality you both share—has failed them.

What other options do we have?
If our reality is inadequate—if it doesn’t meet our needs nor the needs of the people closest to us—what can we do? I mean, reality is all there is, right? How can we get beyond the miserable existence that is part of who we are, the foundation of our very being? Well, to a certain degree, we can’t. We’re stuck with what we’ve got. But humans throughout history in every society has tried to solve this problem, to figure out what to do with reality to fix it or to at least deal with what is here. There have been four basic solutions that humans have come up with to deal with the miserable reality we live in and with:

1. Accept reality
Many have said, “Reality is what it is. There’s nothing to be done about it. As miserable as it is, we need to be content with what we’ve got.” Some have said that we can find our needs being met and our lives having meaning within the meaningless reality. In a sense, this is a trick of the mind, an illusion of the consciousness to take on a single event or person or thing and pour all meaning and languishing needs into the one aspect of life. This aspect could be a relationship, or one’s work or an event of the past which fulfills one’s life and all the missed needs or desires are pushed aside to obtain a limited contentment, at least for oneself, The basic plan of this person is to accept reality, whatever it is, however you can. If you can’t find satisfaction for anyone else, at least you can find it for oneself.

2. Search for Utopia
Others have said, “There must be someplace where one’s needs can be met.” And they go to search it out. These will look for inner peace in yoga or other kinds of meditation. They may look into counseling or psychiatry. They might go to other lands and cultures to see if they have been more successful than the culture they grew up in. And not all of these searches are fruitless. Some people have found personal meaning and satisfaction through an inner search. And some have found another culture that they were more satisfied with and that met their needs better than the reality. However, this kind of search doesn’t help everyone, nor does it ever help humanity. For every person who changes worldviews or realities and finds satisfaction in doing so, there are a million who cannot, or who find their needs unmet in the very reality that someone else finds to be paradise.

3. Attempt to change reality
Some say, “We may not have our needs met now, but in the future it will be different.” While this was popularized by Star Trek, the idea is an ancient one, promoted by such famous names as Plato, Karl Marx and Martin Luther King, Jr. They all felt that somehow, somewhere, there would be an agent of change, which would transform their respective societies as an ideal. They were all highly critical of the reality they lived in, and yet they did not despair. They saw a seed of possibility that could create a completely just society that would meet everyone’s need. And soon after their time, they each saw a partial fulfillment of their ideal, but those fulfillments did not accomplish their dreams of justice. And this is the usual end of the hope for future justice. All idealistic politics, all transformational philosophies or religions—they all begin with a dream that is partly fulfilled, but ultimately leaving the future as just a little better than it was, but falling far short of meeting human needs.

4. Connect with an alternative reality
Finally, there are some who say, “Yes, this reality is miserable and nothing can fix it. We can try all we like, but in the end we need help from outside.” There are many—frankly, most people in the world—who have some evidence of an alternative reality outside of our current knowledge. Those who adhere to this—like almost every religion in the world— believe that we can’t fix our reality ourselves. There is someone, they say, outside out reality who has a more objective perspective on our issues and problems and can actually meet our needs better than we can ourselves.

Is this so? Can we really find another reality? Is there any real proof of it? And if there is, can they really help us, is there any real way to connect to them? The greatest authority of all time on an alternative universe, Jesus, says that there is. And, he says, he knows it, because he’s been there. And we can have our needs met, if we would just accompany Him to ask the alternative reality for help. To find if this is true or not, all we have to do is ask.

High Volume Meekness

2011-01-05T11:55:00.000-08:00

Meekness isn’t exactly in demand today. Nobody wants it. Sure, people will buy books on love, on peace, on joy, on self-discipline—but how many people want Meekness for Dummies? Microsoft Humility? (Whoa, talk about a contradiction in terms!) McLowly? Meekness just doesn’t sell.

And why should it? Meekness doesn’t comfort us, it doesn’t make us more successful, it doesn’t help us make friends or influence people. Let’s face it—the meek in our society are rejects. They are the outcasts, the people who don’t really fit in. Let’s see, who are the professional meek in the U.S.?

• Homeless
• Elderly in nursing homes
• Those living in low income housing
• Poor immigrants
• Mentally ill
• Those who work for minimum wage
• Panhandlers
• Those on Disability or Food Stamps
• Non-English speakers

Not exactly whom you want to be like? Perhaps not the friends and neighbors? Nor your usual upstanding church members? Of course not. These are not the building blocks of society, the ones who can make things change for the better, the righteous, the acceptable. Again, the meek are the rejects. Not just the unimportant, but the unwanted, the unacceptable.

And how do the middle-class church members—the Uptight Upright—treat these folks, the meek and lowly? Sometimes they treat them with pity, feeling sorry for their plight, perhaps seeing how they can help them. That’s typically the best response. If only the best response were the only response. Often the meek are treated as a “problem” that needs to be solved, the solution of which has avoided the minds of all the mighty. The meek usually are ignored by most—best not seen, not dealt with. The apathetic aren’t interested in judging the lowly, but they aren’t interested in doing anything else with them either. But there are many that do wish to judge the lowly.

These judges use the logic of Job’s friends—These meek are in the positions they are in for a reason. Perhaps in these post-modern times we do not want to use the argument of God only offering material blessings to the righteous, but we would use other arguments. “They made terrible errors in their lives, and so they ended up where they are.” “They will have to work hard like we did and then they can get out of that situation.” “This is the land of opportunity—anyone who works hard enough can get ahead.” “They just need to apply themselves.” “Lazy.” “Addicts.” “Trying to take advantage of good people.” These labels are used on the meek, even if they are not known. And if you think you are immune to this, how many times have you ignored a panhandler whom you have never seen before because, you assume, they would use the money you might give them for their addiction? This is judging by stereotype. Would we assume such things of our neighbor who lives on the same suburban street as us?

If we looked at these meek with God’s eyes, we would see that these meek are not the insignificant and hopeless as we might first have imagined. Just the opposite. We need to remember that God does not choose the powerful, the rich, the ones who already have everything in place. God chooses the needy, the insignificant, those for whom everything is falling apart. This means, biblically, when we look at our world around us, we need to see it with new eyes. Next time you see a panhandler, instead of seeing him or her with pity or disgust, think, “This is one of the ones whom God chooses.” Next time you see an elderly woman, living alone, respond, “I wonder if God will give her a son.” Next time you meet a mentally ill person, consider, “I wonder what God is going to do in this person’s life—it must be magnificent!” Next time you hear about the starving in Africa or Asia, instead of being overwhelmed with a mix of compassion and guilt, pray that God would do a work of power there.

Poverty and illness are not dead-end streets—they are opportunities for God to act.

God's Standard for Leadership

2011-01-02T12:40:00.000-08:00

Every single leader will be judged according to this standard.
• “Did you use your wealth for frivolous living or for the needy?”

• “Did you give more leniency to the wealthy and popular than you did for the poor?”

• “In your warfare, did you harm the innocent poor because they were expendable?”

• “In your church, did you treat the homeless and mentally ill and poor as second-class citizens? Were they excluded because you considered money to be the means of entrance to fellowship? Were people unable to fellowship in restaurants and movies with you because they couldn’t afford it? Were the poor not welcome because they weren’t the same as the rest of you?”

• “In your schools, did you give fewer opportunities to have knowledge to the poor than to the wealthy of society?”

• “In your employment, do you give the poor equal opportunities for employment, even if they haven’t showered, don’t have experience or can’t work a full time job? Are they given short term employment by the wealthy who need clean up or help in their homes?”

• “In your charity distribution, did you give the poor good, nutritious food, good clothing to help them in the weather, or did you give them the items that weren’t good enough for those who could afford it?”

• “In your stores, was the cheapest food the garbage that no one could live off of, or the staples that everyone needs to live?”

• “In cheap housing, is that offered to the poorest of the poor, or only to those who could afford the medium-range prices?”

• “In the value system of your society, are the poor assumed to be immoral, simply because they were poor? Are the poor questioned and doubted when no one else would be? Is there theology that teaches that the poor are less spiritual? Is the poor of one’s family shunted aside and rejected? Does no one want to see them, simply because everyone feels so guilty just looking at them?”

'In your family, did you treat those under you with as much respect as you demanded for yourself? Did you meet their needs, as well as you could, both emotional and physical?'

If the poor are treated badly, then it is God himself that will judge. He alone defends them and will support them. And God will question each one of us according to how we treated those poorer than us. Let us pray we have a good answer. (Exodus 23:23; Matt 25:31-46; Proverbs 19:17)

Now I Know...

2010-12-30T23:59:00.001-08:00

A Victim of Oppression

2010-12-30T23:56:00.001-08:00