What are we giving the world to believe?

Just a short note, but I had to share from my Bible reading today…

John 10
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” 42 And many believed in Him there.

Jesus said that the proof of Him being the Messiah, and God Himself, was the works that He did. Twice in the passage He points them to the works that He is doing. When He goes to the place that John is baptizing the people say that it is the works that He is doing that made them believe.

Interesting to note that the Jews were not concerned about his works, but that He claimed to be equal with God. There would be no proving that He is the Messiah. Jesus had healed, raised the dead and yet they would not believe. Yet the people who were genuinely turning to God pointed to those very works as the reason for believing in Jesus as the Messiah.

It can seem confusing at first, but Jesus did not change His approach to convince those who were questioning Him– it is my works, not my theological arguments that will win the day.  They asked Him straightforwardly, tell us if you are the Messiah, all Jesus did was point to His works and told them to believe.

What works are we showing to the world around us so that they will believe?  It seems as if we have spent a lot of time trying to argue the world into heaven. Yet when confronted with the straightforward question- are you the Messiah, Jesus pointed to His works.

If the world came to the church today and asked, “Is your religion real?  Is Jesus the Savior?”  Would we seek to argue them into believing…  or could we take a step back and point to our works- individually, the powerful difference Jesus Christ has made in our lives and corporately as the body of Christ working in our world- to show them the truth?

The world says, “I’ll believe it when I see it” and we often we tell them, “that is not faith”.  Jesus however looked at the people and said, “you have seen it, now believe”.  The Jews did not believe, the followers of John did believe, but at least the proof was on the table, evident to all to accept or reject.  Could we be more effective in reaching this world if we put more proof on the table?

 

Is recession any match for the Kingdom of God?

I was reading my Bible a few days ago when this verse arrested my attention….

Matthew 12:28
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

In this passage Jesus was having a lively discussion with the Pharisees about whether or not He was from God or the Devil. Interesting because Jesus would call the Pharisees sons of the Devil. But what hit me about this verse is the last phrase, “the Kingdom of God has come upon you”.

Think for a moment about the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples… “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”.  That phrase has been a mystery for many. How do we pray for God’s Kingdom to come on earth?  How do we get the Kingdom to show up on earth?  In these days of financial crisis, foreclosure, unemployment, H1N1 flu…how do we fulfill this prayer?  In modern terms we would say, “OK, what do I need to do to get this done?”

What did Jesus do right before He said that the Kingdom had come?  He was casting demons and healing someone…

Matthew 12
²² Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

He drove out demons. He caused a blind man to see. He caused a mute man to speak. He was exercising His authority to destroy evil, to conquer pain and to overcome the world which lies under sway of the evil one. Jesus brought the Kingdom of God to bear upon the earth, not in the nice places or in the comfortable confines of air-conditioning and a padded pew. He brought it to bear where the world hurts. Then He announced to everyone, what you have seen here is the Kingdom of God at work. Does the world hurt today?  Obviously yes. Then where is the Kingdom at work and how do we make it work?

The bringing of the Kingdom was what He sent out His disciples to do with the power that He gave them…

Luke 10
¹ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. ² Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ³ Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves…. ⁸ Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. ⁹ And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ ¹² But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.

When He sent out the disciples (and note it is not the 12 but “others” who were part of the crowd that followed Him), He told them

1) There are a lot of people that can be won to the Kingdom and they are ready, but only a few people to do the work

2) The world is not necessarily a friendly place to do this work, there will be wolves out there, much like we face today

3) But go to the people, heal them, minister to them, and tell them the Kingdom is here.

4) Again..there are going to be people that reject you, your work, and your message.

5) Take heart though, God will know what you have done and hold them accountable for rejecting the Kingdom

Twice He tells them that ministry will be tough. But twice He tells them to remind the people they encounter that the Kingdom of God has come to them.  But what are they going to do so that people will know the Kingdom has come near?  What evidence will they provide?  They will heal the sick. They will minister to people who are in need. Jesus sort of said it this way, “the well have no need of a physician… I have come to heal, to help, to share, to give hope, to establish a relationship with the Father… to those who are in need.”

You don’t have to look hard to find those in need. The world is “full” of the emptiness that needs create. With recession in full swing, do you sense the emptiness of our world who is suffering from panic, worry, stress, pain, frustration, hopelessness?  Suicide rates are up. Domestic violence incidents are up. Homeless rates are up. The class of working poor is growing. When Jesus walked the earth, He met those people head on. He walked among the hurting. He ate with the outcast. And He brought the Kingdom of God to them…and He expects us to do the same today.

Let’s ask a question of ourselves… can we, as the church, say to the world today, “The Kingdom has come near to you”?

Think about the power of that statement. The Kingdom of God has come to bear on the life of people who are separated from God, hurting in this world, pained physically and emotionally—that is incredibly powerful. Think about what Romans 14 says, that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Could the world you live in use a little more righteousness?  I think yes. Could the people that you know use more peace in their life?  Most definitely.  Does the world have enough joy?  Not yet.

Imagine today that the church, God’s people who bear the banner of His Kingdom, would be known as people who bring righteousness, peace and joy to the world. Do you think we might reach a few more people?  Would Christians be more energized if we thought of ourselves as people bringing something to the world that is positive, a blessing?

Much of the message that we have followed in the church has been, as my seminary professor was fond of saying, “do” commands. While we seem to be fond of telling people what to do, many in the church are uncomfortable being in the position of the proverbial Catholic school nun (I apologize if any of you reading this are Catholic school nuns).  When the world does something wrong it is our job to whack them on the knuckles with our spiritual ruler.  A lot of us don’t like the thought of hitting people with a ruler… well there are some people….

The difference is that instead of playing moral police with the world, we bring the blessings of the Kingdom to the world. I like that approach much better. It seems more the way Jesus approached the lost and the hurting. Yes He preached righteousness, but that righteousness was not supposed to make us mean, miserable and overbearing.

As I read the gospels, Jesus uses the righteousness of the Kingdom to beat back evil rather than beating people. Jesus was aggressive when it came to battling evil and replacing it with the fullness of the Kingdom. I John 3:8 says…

⁸ For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus, as He brought the Kingdom to the world, overcame evil. The verse says that He came to destroy the works of the devil. Don’t tell me your picture of Jesus is of this mild, effeminate 98-lb weakling.  Far from it. He conquered evil. He cured disease. He cast out demons. He rose from the grave. Listen, He kicked the Devil in the teeth, looked at Him and said, “want some more, come get it”.

If we are to bring the Kingdom to earth, to our day, we have to be about the business of beating back the evils of our world. The Bible tells us not to be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21). In many ways the church seems to be hiding from evil. We insulate ourselves from “others” and we isolate our work within the walls of the church. How can you bring the Kingdom to earth if we never touch those who are outside of our family and outside our walls?

I am excited about something the church I attend, Burnt Hickory Baptist Church, is doing called Inside Out. It is simply planning and giving people opportunities to go out into the community and serve- at schools, on the street, to the homeless, to the hurting.  The testimonies of those who have been served and among the people who have served really has been inspirational.  You don’t have to have a seminary degree to figure out that God has placed the Kingdom within us (Luke 17:20-21) so that we can pour it out into our world. That is bringing the Kingdom to earth.

But there are many evils in this world that Christians can play a larger role in…

* There are hundreds of thousands of kids that are in need of foster homes and to be adopted. Many of these kids have suffered from all kinds of evils, and need the love of God to overcome them. God is particularly interested in “being a father to the fatherless” and “placing the lonely in families” (Read Exodus 22:22-24, Psalm 68:5-6 or search “fatherless” in your favorite Bible software).
* Serve at your local domestic violence shelter. One of the most impactful times of ministry I have ever had was sharing a meal at a domestic violence shelter, sitting with a woman who’s face was swollen black and blue while she fed her little girl. I could not help but think, if Jesus were in this city, He would be here.

The list could go on and on. The point is, the church is not meant to soak in the blessings of God, but to pour them out on those in need. You don’t have to look long or hard to find needs… just don’t leave them the way you found them. Bring the Kingdom to them. Yes there will be opposition and rejection, but that is why we have to overcome evil.   Overcome evil with good.  You can, because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Revelation 12
⁹ So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Complicating Christianity to Death

There has been a run lately on simplification. Companies are simplifying their business and streamlining their organizations to get a grip on costs. People are simplifying their time and finances to get a handle on the pace of their lives. Even churches are simplifying. One of the recent popular books in the Christian world is called Simple Church by Thom Rainer. A good friend has recently published a book called Simple Discipleship (a recommended read).

There is good reason for this…our world has gotten more complicated. Even while our world has desperately tried to make our lives more comfortable, more appealing, more satisfying, it has made it harder to live a happier life. The world has afforded us many more choices, in everything, to supposedly be able to get what we want, yet we seem to be more unhappy.

We have cell phones with gobs of minutes, yet who of us is happy with having to listen to voice mail six times a day and then get buzzed in the middle of a movie because someone is texting us about the latest video they posted. Not to mention the stress that occurs if we lose our phone or if the phone doesn’t work.  That does not make my life simpler, easier or more enjoyable.

We have cable with hundreds of channels, many of which are targeted for all our tastes.  We have movie channels, food channels, home channels, game channels, sports channels, sci-fi channels, fashion channels, even Christian channels… Yet it seems two things inevitably happen- either there in nothing on to watch between the 259 channels we have or all of the shows we want to watch are scheduled for the same time.  That does not make my life simpler, easier or more enjoyable.

Think of your local grocery store. At our house, we buy food to feed 6 people for two weeks. We cannot just walk into the grocery store and buy food. We need a battle plan. We have to plan meals, search out coupons, look at sales, as well as read labels and compare prices. Have you ever looked at how many different cereals there are?  You could spend a day just shopping for cereal. While I don’t mind saving the money, this does not make my life simpler, easier or more enjoyable.

Unfortunately, this same idea has crept over into our Christianity.  Our Christian walk has become very complicated and cumbersome.

But listen to what Jesus said…

Mark 12 (NKJV)
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Now, don’t over think this. Jesus said there are two commandments which are the greatest of all. So yes there are commandments that are more important than others. The two greatest things that we are to do are:

1) Love God with everything that is within us

2) Love people

If you have been around church much you would believe that the greatest commandments might be….

* Attend church

* Help in the nursery

* Participate in church activities

* Give to the offering

* Don’t drink, dance, chew, smoke, listen to certain music, watch certain movies, or associate with those who do

* Dress right for church

* Don’t run in church

* Be dignified

* Don’t change anything

You can mix and match these to fit your situation. Maybe in your church the greatest commandments are: Thou shalt know how to act in church and the second is like it, don’t change anything. (you can even make up your own if you like!)

It is interesting to hear what the scribe says in verse 33, that these two commandments are more than the sum of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices, all the ceremony and stuff that at that time comprised worship. The same is true today, love for God is more than the sum of all the do’s and don’t of a Christian lifestyle.  Yet you would not think so in today’s churches.

Now some of this may sound a little harsh, particularly for those who grew up in church, having heard these things from the time you could hear. I want you to think of those who have no relationship with Christ. Do they see a Christian faith alive with love and joy and power? When they come into the church, what do they see or hear are the most important things. Now hold on tight… is the greatest commandment to read our Bibles?  Is it to have a quiet time?  Is it to go to church? Is it to pray? Is it to evangelize? For those just coming into the church, these are the things we are told to do repeatedly- have a quiet time, pray, don’t miss church, participate, give….but you know, I believe we have missed a level, and in doing so have drained the life out of modern Christianity.

We have complicated our Christian walk with too many do’s and don’ts and have left out why we are to do them. Why do we spend time reading the Bible?  For information about God? No. So we can, as we read about God, fall deeper in love with Him.  The way we often present it, we are to read the Bible as a command, for the sake of reading the Bible and gaining Bible knowledge. I have met plenty of people who know the Bible, but have no real deep love of God. In fact there are a lot of lost people who can quote the Scriptures, but they have no relationship with God at all. So they have done something Christian, but have they obeyed the very first thing that Christ told us?

What I am getting at is that in our modern version of Christianity, we have said that loving God is doing and not doing a bunch of things, and all of these things make our Christian life complicated… but love is not things. Love is a choice I make to give myself to another for their greater good.  I love God, therefore I want to read the Bible, so that I know God better and serve Him better and can better share Him with the world around me. I love God, so I pray, to talk with Him and hear from Him and to lay myself out before Him so He can mold and shape me. I love God, so I worship, to express to Him how great, awesome and wonderful I know He is.

This is what Jesus said, “if you love me, you will obey my commands” (John 14:15). Love first, obey second. We have gotten it mixed up. In many cases our whole focus is on obedience. The greatest command is not to obey, but to love. Loving God will lead to obedience. Yet we have made obeying commands, whether they are God’s commands or our own man made commands, the first order of business in Christianity. And that is complicated and puts burdens upon us.

Listen to it this way. I love my wife. Because I love my wife I have no problem doing things for her. If she needs help getting something out of her car, or needing me to run an errand for her, or after a long day rubbing her shoulders- no problem. Why? Because I love her. Now if I did not have love for her, yet I did those things, it would be work, it would be a burden, chores to do for her. I may complete them, but I would not draw much joy or happiness from them. But because I love her, I derive joy out of making her happy. Listen to the words from I John 5:3…

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Our love for God is never meant to be a burden, but a joy. Ask yourself this, “Is my Christian walk feeling more like a joy or a burden?”

When we get it backwards we create a walk with God that is full of the burden of guilt and stress. We focus so much on the activity of Christianity that we leave out why we do these things. The do’s and don’t become the goal of being a Christian, which heaps burdens on us that we cannot carry. When carry out this train of thought so far, you get… “If you don’t read the Bible, I don’t know how you can love God”, I heard a pastor on the radio say.  It made me want to, well, let’s just say disagree. Could you say that to a group of persecuted believers in China? No. Many of them have no access to Bibles, so would we say that they can’t love God?  They love God, Bible or no Bible. Many of them have refused to recant their faith in Jesus Christ and have been sent to prison or killed. Why? Because they loved Jesus Christ even unto their death.

What we have done is taken our local expression of Christianity and made universal truth out of it.   It is no wonder then that many people walk through their entire Christian walk and feel nothing. We agree with the Christian lifestyle, we do the Christian things, but we don’t feel any love for God. We sense no passion for God, just duty, just chores we do so we can feel better about being a Christian. We may have obeyed the letter, but we have killed the spirit. We have complicated the uncomplicated message of Christ- greatest commandment= Love God with all you got.

Imagine for a moment a group of people that were simply in love with God– not their church, not their denomination, not their version of what people should or should not do, just deeply in love with the Lord. Wipe away all the church stuff you have experienced, and let your mind wonder about that group of people, purely in love with God and who He is and what He has done for us….

Now think about that group of people…

How would they worship?   If you began your answer with a type of music… you have missed the point. They would love God, sing aloud and give God glory. Worship would be about God, because we love God.

How would they pray? If you thought of words, especially praying in a way that you do not normally speak, then you have missed the point. They would pray as if they were talking to a God they loved. They would tell God they loved Him, they would say they were sorry for their sin, just like you would with someone you love.

How would they minister? If you started with certain programs, then you missed the point. They would minister, whether to one another or to the community, with deep love for the people that they are around. It is easy to hate people, dismiss people, talk trash about people, but the greater walk with God would love people. Why? Because we would see people through our love for God, and love them as well.

I long for this. With this new perspective God has given me over these months, certain things about the church these days just does not make sense. We are so tied up in stuff, things, attitudes, preferences, wants, power… trying to do  things “right”…that we have missed the very first thing Jesus Christ said we should do- love God with all your heart… and I see a church that is not alive with love for God, but dying because of a lack of passion.

Strip away all the stuff and challenge yourself with this question- Am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?….

If I am not obeying the first and greatest of all the commandments, is all the stuff  I am doing really pleasing to God?

Is God famous?

Celebrity fills our American culture. We love our movie stars, singers, American Idols and others. Each industry has its’ celebrities. Business has its’ entrepreneurs, CEO’s and super investors. Sports has quarterbacks, home run hitters and slam dunk champions. Politics has its’ president, chairmen of committees and the up and comers. These are people that are known not only in their field, but known by the general pubic as well.

Famous people are looked up to, loved, hated and detested. Being a celebrity does not equal well liked. In fact the worst thing that can happen to a celebrity is that no one cares about them not that people hate them. In Brad Paisley’s hit song Celebrity the lyrics ring true…

“I’ll make the supermarket tabloids,

They’ll write some awful stuff,

But the more they run my name down,

the more my price goes up”

For a celebrity, almost any publicity is good. It is an indication that people are still paying attention to you. People are interested by the things that you do, enough to read them in a magazine or search you on the internet.

What is fame though?  It is simply being generally known by people. In our culture fame is not an indication that you are good or talented or funny or smart. It simply means that you are known. The Rolling Stones are famous for their music. Marilyn Manson is famous for being theatrical and causing a stir. Mother Teresa was famous for being compassionate. Billy Graham is famous for preaching the Bible. Jeffrey Dahmer was famous for murder.  All famous, without regards to morality or talent, just famous, well known people in our culture.

But how does one become famous?  You do something notable that  people talk about.

The Beatles sang a song that people liked. They told other people, called the radio stations to play the music, bought the (in those days) records… and before you know it, everyone knows the Beatles.

Tom Cruise got a role in a movie, people liked him, they liked the movie, he makes another movie, people go see it… and before you know it, he is a famous movie actor and lots of people know Tom Cruise.

There is a difference however in what you are known for. Julia Roberts is famous for making movies, for acting.  Her fame is tied to portraying someone she is not. Nothing wrong with that, it is her talent. She is not famous for being a great person.  I don’t know, maybe she is a great person, but it is not what she is known for.  Kenny Chesney is famous for singing songs, great songs. I like his music. But he is not famous for being a great person. That is not what gets his music played on the radio and sells out concerts everywhere, it is his talent for making music. Now he may be a great person, I don’t know, but it is not the reason he is known.

We love celebrity. Look at how many TV shows, and networks for that matter, that are dedicated to celebrity. Celebrities make the news– for having babies, for getting divorced, for saying strange things, for… well for stuff that if you and I did it, no one would really notice, except maybe your mom. We think we know celebrities. From the tabloids, books, TV interviews, articles or gossip columns, characters they play or the public persona they have,  we have put together a mental picture of who these people are, and we love or hate them for it.  But how well do we really know them?  Hardly at all.

Think of the people that really know you. Who are they? The people that live with you, share in your life, support you through the tough times, listen to your hurts, celebrate your joys, know both the mundane and the dramatic in your life… people that share the everyday of who your are. Very few people know celebrities that way. And frankly, if we did know them that way, we might feel a lot different about them.

Now let’s ask a question… is God famous?

I mean is he a well known throughout the world. And not just known in name, but known, famous, for being full of love, grace, help, hope and mercy.

Now don’t get all turned around and theological, I know that God has made Himself known to all the earth and that the whole earth is full of His glory… but is He famous with the people we encounter every day?  I am not trying to be irreverent, well maybe just a little, but I want us to think about the culture that we live in and the God who is great enough to be known for who He is.

Listen to the prayer of the prophet Habakkuk, and think about the world we live in today….

Habakkuk 3
¹ This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk: ² I have heard all about you, Lord, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy. (NLT)

Habakkuk, in essence, says that “God you are famous for your awesome miracles that you have done in the past..”.  If you were to ask the average person on the street, “what has God done lately that has caught your attention?”  What do you think the answer would be?

I would imagine most of you are thinking the same thing I am– the man would shrug his shoulders and say, “I don’t know” or “nothing” or “I am not sure”.  So why, to this man, would God not be famous?

Because we, His people, have not made Him famous….

Habakkuk says that He stood in awe of God’s works, of His awesome deeds. How did He know them?  Someone, a “fan” of God, told Him, in such a way that caught Habakkuk’s attention. Let’s pause for a second and ask a question, “when was the last time that you were awed by God, that you were amazed at His power or love or forgiveness or patience…?”  Just like all the people that are famous, they had fans who talked about them to others, encouraged others to listen or watch, defended them when someone didn’t like them, they were more than casual onlookers… those fans became “evangelists” for their favorite movies stars or singing groups. Don’t believe me?  Try going onto www.wordpress.com and type in the name of a celebrity- see if there is not at least one blog that is dedicated to showering praise upon them.

The church is on earth to, in a sense, make God famous. To share His great love, power, and mercy with the rest of the world. If we don’t talk of His great works, who will make His power famous?  TV?  Radio?  If we don’t speak of Him in a positive way, talking about His sacrificial love, who will make His love famous? Twitter? Blogs?

You might be saying, “yea, but who would believe us?”  Does it matter that everyone  believes you or that  just one would believe you?  If we are waiting for the day that everyone will receive the work of God and believe our witness to His love and power… then we are waiting for a day that will never come. It didn’t happen for Noah, Elijah, John the Baptist or Jesus, but it never stopped them from sharing God’s greatness, to make Him famous among the people… and neither should we. Our culture will never 100% buy in to God’s greatness, but neither do they all agree that Peyton Manning is a great quarterback or that U2 is a great band or that Titanic was a great movie. So let’s not wait until all the reviews are in before we sing God’s praises out in the world.

Habakkuk says, “I have heard of your awesome deeds…now we need you to do some of those things you are famous for today, in our day come down in power.”  What an amazing prayer. He knew who God was well enough to believe that God was relevant and needed for today. God’s fame, from times past, drove Habakkuk to God in need of His power and His mercy today. Why?  So God can be famous in our day.  I would love that!

Would it not be an awesome thing if God’s latest work was on the lips of everyone in town- “did you hear what God did…”.  I join Habakkuk in praying that prayer for us, that God would work in such a way, and we would share His awesome deeds, that people everywhere would be aware of more than His name, but that He would be famous in the world over for His love, compassion and power.

I have no ax to grind with celebrities, but truly they don’t add deep meaning to our lives, except to entertain us for a while. Yet we talk of them all day. God has everything to add to our lives, including love, joy, peace and eternity. Yet we barely speak above a whisper in a world that desperately needs what God offers.

Lord,

In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy.  And we Lord will increase your fame as we talk of your awesome deeds and share your great love.

Have we confused preferences with righteousness?

My rights. My choices. My vote. My voice. My opinion.

Do these things sound familiar in our culture?  We have groups in our cutlure who are screaming for their voice and views to be heard. We have gay rights, womens rights and labor unions promoting worker rights. We have disenfranchised voters, minority groups, and political parties. We have a media that is run on polls, a web full of blogs promoting personal views and preferences. Expressnig our opionion, no matter how ridiculous or off beat it may be,  has become a personal cross for many people.

Do we also see these same concepts at work in the church?  You don’t have to be around the church long  before you see the same things taking place. Preference seems to be the order of the day within the workings of the church, just like you see in our society.  Ask any worship leader, do people have musical preferences? He will laugh…or cry, but he will affirm that church people have preferences.  Ask any church treasurer, do people have preferences on how the church money is spent?  He might have a panic attack, but he will affirm that church people have preferences.  Ask any pastor who is trying to do something new in a church, do church people have preferences?  He might ball up in the fetal position, but he will affirm that church people have preferences.

So, what’s the big deal? Everyone has preferences, right?

The big deal is that in the church we often confuse our preferences with righteousness. Our preferences have become our standard. The only one who’s preferences are perfect and right is God… and none of us are Him. Let’s take a look at these two concepts.

Preference-

The selecting of someone or something over another or others.

The right or chance to so choose or make personal choices

Righteousness-

holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard. The word “righteousness” comes from a root word that means “straightness.” It refers to a state that conforms to an authoritative standard. Righteousness is a moral concept. God’s character is the definition and source of all righteousness (Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; Rom. 9:14). Therefore, the righteousness of human beings is defined in terms of God’s standards. Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary. Rev. ed. of: Nelson’s illustrated Bible dictionary.; Includes index. Nashville: T. Nelson.

Now, let’s ask again, what is the big deal about preferences? The problem comes when we confuse our personal choices with the morality of God’s perfect character. In other words, “I like” equals “God likes”.  We might say it another way, if I don’t like a certain style, a certain song, a certain way of doing things… then obviously God does not like it either. Worse yet, sometimes people don’t even take into account whether or not God likes it, the only things we care about is that I like or don’t like it.

Some may still be asking, what’s wrong with that?

Let’s take some time to look forward, to the day that we will all face our Lord. Now imagine yourself bowing before Jesus and breaking out into song (with all respect to Frank Sinatra)….

And now, the end is here
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and ev’ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
“Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way”

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

Now imagine Jesus’ reaction to you… does He applaud?…does He laugh?….does He have a quizzical look on His face? or is He saddened by your thought that doing it your way was so important to you?

When Jesus walked the earth, He made it clear that what He did, what He spoke and the plan that He was fulfilling was not a matter of choice, but a matter of following the Father’s direction. Listen to these words…

John 8   ²⁸ Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. ²⁹ And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” ³⁰ As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

Simply put, you cannot always do the things that please God, as Jesus did,  and choose all of your preferences at the same time.  Something has to give. Someone has to back off of their “side”. Unfortunately the same thing that is said of God is often said of us- “with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)  God does not change, in character, in love, in righteousness. Some of us are the same, we never adjust to follow God, we just have our ways and our opinions and that is just the way it is.

When we refuse to bend to God’s rightousness and yet still want to feel right with God, we are left with only one choice– To create God in our own image.  We don’t want to change to be like God, so we change God to be like us. As we mentioned before, God likes what I like, thinks like I think, hates what I hate, tolerates what I tolerate, excuses what I excuse and is happy about what I am happy about…. all the time.

Let’s bring this down to a practical level…

1) In worship…. if we emphasize our preferences:  fight to have the kind of music we like, refuse to sing a song because we don’t like the tune, only give an offering when we feel like it in the amount we want to give, criticize those who don’t dress like we think they should, complain when the service “runs over”…. when we fight to get it our way, who is the worship service really about?  That would be us. When we exercise and enforce our preferences, it stops being about God and starts being about us. Last time I checked God still had the idea that He, and He alone, was worthy of worship and that worship, imagine this, is supposed to be to Him, for Him and about Him.

I was reminded of something this week, which caused me to rewrite this part of the blog. Check out Hebrews 10:19-25. It spells out the priorities that God has set for worship…

* Enter into God’s presence… on His terms, through the person of Jesus Christ

* Draw near to God… not through your presence in church, but through faith. I don’t draw near to God by following man made rules or preferences, but by humbly approaching God in reverence and awe.

* Have your heart clean…you can’t worship on your terms with your sin filling you, be forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ

* Believe… worship is loving God, trusting that He really is as awesome, wonderful, powerful and merciful as He says He is. Faith is not having my wishes fulfilled, it is humbling believing that God has the right to have His way.

* Stir up one another for good works… Here is the killer- if we are enforcing our personal preferences on everyone else, are we really considering anyone besides ourselves?  Are we stirring anyone up to love God more and serve Him more willingly?  No. In fact, whether we realize it or not, our constant complaint and unhappiness because we are not getting our way often makes those around us spiritually miserable and emotionally drained.

* Keep at it…don’t forsake gathering together, even if there is something there you don’t like. Can you imagine what would happen if God took that attitude?  What if God decided not to show up because we were doing something He did not like…let’s ask a simple question, if you are not invited to the party, do you show up?  If worship is about you, God is not invited and He does not share top billing with anyone…

2) Serving God

We are called to serve God “acceptably” (Heb 12:28). If there is an acceptable way to serve God, who gets to set the standards for service? Does the servant tell the Master how he is going to serve?  Does the employee tell the boss what he will and will not do?  Can you imagine walking into your bosses office and telling them, “I know you want me to do this project this way, but I have decided that I am going to do it this way”.  You might be employed at the end of the day, but just barely.

God can call us to do anything He wishes. Anything. Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God says, that when you call Jesus Lord, you give Him the right to your life anytime He wishes.  Somewhere along the way, we have come to believe that serving God is for our pleasure and at our pleasure, God should be happy to accept whatever I decide to give Him… and I will be righteous for it. Friends, we can’t do what we want and then demand that God bless us and give us good standing with Him.

So what is the proper place for our preferences?

First of all, they are subject to God’s commands and character. I can’t say, “well I am just that way”, and expect God to be happy. He calls us all to change and adjust ourselves to His ways and His heart. A preference does not override a command. The problem is we are very aware of our preferences, but often unaware of God’s commands.

Secondly, realize that preferences work within the framework of God’s commands and character. God created each of us as individuals, as such no two of us are completely alike.  God makes it that way and likes it that way. But He expects you to use your individuality to serve Him, not use our individuality to enforce our individuality.

Thirdly, preferences are meant to work with God and with others. We have taken preferences to new heights in importance, seeking to place them above others and God. God has designed the body to work with each other and compliment each other. If your perference is hindering the work of the body, then it is not a matter of everyone changing to adjust to you, but you suppressing your preference for the greater good.

Lord, you have made us all individuals, and we are greater that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. But we confess we have taken our individuality too far, and forsake many of your commands and sacrificed your body, your church, in our pursuit of our own preferences. Forgive us where we have lacked obedience to your ways, where we have confused our preferences with your righteousness. Bless your work within us Lord and help us to be more and more aware of how you wish us to live.