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?

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.

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-

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.

Without the Big Picture of Christianity, we don’t have Christianity, we have a small business operation with independent owner/operators borrowing a brand name.

We have all heard the saying, “you can’t see the forest for all the trees”.  In other words, you can’t see the big picture because you are focused on all the little details.  The church seems to be stuck in this mode today, focused on all the little details and missing the big picture of Christianity.

Listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 23, read it slowly and see if you recognize the “forest” and “the trees”.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! ²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. ²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

These are some of Jesus’ strongest words recorded. Can you tell that He is not really happy?  Can you sense that He is aggrevated that they are missing something important, something that they should see?

The trees:

* you pay a tithe of mint and anise and cummin

The forest (the big picture):

* but you neglect the weighter matters of the law like mercy, justice and faith

The trees:

* cleaning the outside of the cup

The forest (the big picture):

* you don’t clean the inside of the dish, the heart and soul

The trees:

* outwardly appearing righteous to men

The forest (the big picture):

* inside you are full of corruption

Jesus said that missing the big picture because we are focusing too much on the details was like straining out a gnat, but swallowing a camel. I have always liked this verse because of its’ vivid picture.

The law (Lev 11:41-43) prohibited the Jews from eating anything that swarms, such as gnats. The Pharisees would be very diligent to strain out their drinks with a cloth to make sure they didn’t swallow even the smallest gnat. Yet Jesus says that despite all their effort, they were swallowing an equally unclean animal- a huge camel (Lev 11:4).  If you can recognize a gnat, how do you miss a camel?  Because you can’t see the forest for the trees!

Let’s bring this down to the practical level. What have we been fussing and fighting about in the church world lately? What gnats have we been straining at and what camels have we been swallowing?

* Straining at the gnat of church music and swallowing the camel of a lack of worship. Having been involved in church leadership for over 17 years, I have heard enough about church music to last me a lifetime. What is interesting is that most, if not all, of what is said has to do with personal preference. “I like”, “We should”, “I don’t like”…. and you can fill in the blank. The huge camel that we are swallowing is that worship is not meant, and never has meant, to entertain our preferences.

“Worship the Lord your God” is the Biblical phrase. We have translated it, “worship about God that I like”. In other words, we like that idea of singing about God, praying and a good Bible message… but the key phrase is “we like”. The gnat has become the big issue. “We should sing hymns”, “I like contemporary music”, “I don’t like drums”, etc, etc.. We have even proudly catagorized ourselves this way- “we are a contemporary church”, “we are a traditional church”… and we often look down our noses at those who do church differently.

Let me ask a question that I have posed to many people… if this Sunday you went to church and the temperature of the room was just right, your seat had not been taken by someone else, the service started on time (and ended on your time), the music had all your favorite songs, the pastor had a (short) encouraging message that you liked and all your favorite people from the church were there…wouldn’t that be lovely?  What’s the problem?

Where was the worship? Where was the focus on loving God and giving Him glory? That service would appeal to all your preferences and bless your little heart, but would God be happy? Does God really care if you sing a hymn or a contemporary song? Is He concerned about the beat or the melody or is He listening for your heart to love Him? We have swallowed the camel of worship, of truly giving God His due on His day. Shove your preferences aside and take your time of worship and spend it loving God.

The lost are not impressed by our music, they can go many different places and hear good music. They are however impacted when the people they are around sincerely are loving God and glorifying God in their presence. When God’s love, God’s power and God’s forgiveness are lifted up, people can be moved and can be influenced to consider inviting Christ to be a part of thier life.

* Straining at the gnat of church and swallowing the camel of people. “I love my church”… that’s nice, but what do you love? Have we fallen in love with the church as a group of people? Do we love the programs? Do we like the “feel” of being a person of faith?  The gnat is that our love is misdirected. The church is in love with itself, rather than with God. How can we tell?

The church, in its’ essence is a continuation of Jesus’ ministry on the earth. What Jesus did, the attitudes He had, the priorities that He maintained are to be the focus and function of the church.  Yet look at the priorities of the average church– take care of our people, maintain our buildings, keep all of us happy. Now, where do you see these things in Jesus’ ministry? Jesus was out among the people, He loved the least and the lost. He didn’t command his disciples to “make church buildings and keep everyone happy”.  Do you realize that Jesus never made it a priority to keep everyone happy?

Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites, because they were. It offended them, but he didn’t apologize. Jesus told Peter he was being used by Satan.  He didn’t have a difference of opinion with him, He told it like it was. Jesus told the disciples that they lacked faith. Jesus spoke and many of his disciples stopped following Him, and He never apologized for it nor did He try to go back and “get those folks back in church”(John 6:60-71).  In fact He asked if the 12 wanted to leave as well.

Why? Because Jesus had established His priorities- to seek and to save the lost, to teach God’s word, to work God’s work and to share God’s love with everyone. How is it then that so much time in church is spent on budgets, buildings, the use of buildings, complaining about who is visited and not visited… all while our community, people, goes unloved, uncared for, and spiritually lost, unconnected with God?  Because we are straining at the gnat of church, doing everything to keep ourselves happy and satisfied, and swallowing the camel of love for our community.

Let me give you a real life example. I was pastor at a small church who had been struggling for years. We were having a Wednesday night business meeting to talk about a remodel to our fellowship hall for more youth space. Two weeks prior we had a night set aside to visit our visitors, had 3 attend. The Wednesday night before the business meeting we were having prayer, had 11 attend. Night of the business meeting to discuss facilities, had 27 attend… what were the priorities of that church?  When I pointed this fact out to the church leadership, they all shrugged it off as if this was standard operating procedure. The sad thing was that they were right. The “important matters” were the facilities, not people, not God’s priorities and passions.

Take Jesus’ own words- you tithe mint, but neglect justice, mercy and faith. The church encourages people to give. We print it each week in the bulletin- how much we gave, how much we should be giving each week to meet budget and how much under or over budget we are. But look at your average church budget and what is the vast majority of money spent on?  In nearly every church budget ananlysis that I have done, a small percentage is spent on the community, while massive amounts are spent on maintaining property for church members, programs for church members and yes, even staff members who the church expects to serve them.  Do we spend to keep ourselves happy?

Let me just ask one question- if Jesus were in charge of your church budget, where would He be spending the money? Have we empahsized giving and neglected justice for our community, mercy for the least of our community and spreading faith in our community?

There are numerous other issues we could look at, and will in future blogs, but I want to make one last point.

Jesus spoke the words in Matthew 23 to the Pharisees. This group was one big thorn in Jesus’ side, a constant opposition to His message and ministry. He said they were straining at the gnats of small issues but missing the big picture of God’s priorities. Could it be that our generation of Christianity is a generation of Pharisees? A generation of the church that is focused on the trees of preferences and minor issues while missing the forest of loving God and loving the community Jesus died for….and before you get self-righteous about this being true about other people, think about yourself and how you hold to your preferences and your way of doing things.

I have taken stock recently and I encourage you to do the same. What really are just the trees, the gnats you are straining at? Instead, embrace the forest, the big picture of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. All of us have preferences, but have they become huge camels that we swallow while we fail to love God and others?

If tomorrow you faced your God, would you tell Him about all the songs you liked, the buildings you maintained…  how about the people visiting the church you never spoke to or never connected with because you really didn’t care… or the gossip you spead about a church leader who was doing something that was not your preference… are you going to tell Him that you did it your way…or are you going to tell God how you left that church because it changed too much when they started reaching “those people”…are you going to present God with all the gnats and camels?

Instead I have determined that I want to present him with love, mercy and faith…big parts of God’s big picture.

There was a TV commercial several years ago for a carpet cleaning company, can’t remember their name, but their tag line was screamed by the owner at the end of every commercial… don’t settle for less. The ad proclaimed the benefits of their cleaning system, the great price and service of the company, and if you hired anyone else, well, you just weren’t getting the best carpet cleaning.  I didn’t realize carpet cleaning was so serious. I guess to carpet cleaners it is, and when you are in a competitive business environment, you have to try to separate yourself from the rest.

Nobody really wants mediocre.  When you go out to eat, do you want to pay for a bland, average hamburger or for a just alright steak. With the prices that you pay for eating out, something special, something tasty, that is what we want. What about life, are you shooting for mediocre?  Are you gunning for just getting by?  Unfortunately, that seems to be where a lot of people are at, just wanting to get by, pay the bills, don’t make waves, don’t look for trouble. We talk a lot about success, but success costs. Winning is not easy. Triumph does not come to the lazy and unprepared.

With that said, I want to ask a question. Jesus called to His disciples, “Follow Me”. Meaning, follow my faith, my ways, my habits, my lifestyle, my loves… and with Jesus it was not just “do as I say”, but “do as I do”.  Was Jesus mediocre? 

Mediocre would have been a life in which He, did a little work, taught a few things, but never really made a splash. Growing up in the 1970’s & 80’s, I like to watch the show on VH1 “One Hit Wonders”. The show often features bands from that era who had one good hit, something that topped the charts, and then they were gone. They didn’t even stick around long enough to become a fad. One song, One hit, and done. What if Jesus had just turned water into wine (http://www.biblestudytools.com/OnlineStudyBible/bible.cgi?word=John+2&section=0&version=kjv&new=1&oq=&NavBook=joh&NavGo=2&NavCurrentChapter=2) , and then been finished. Interesting yes, notable maybe, forgettable definitely.  I love the way the King James translates John 2:11 when talking about this first miracle of Jesus.

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Beginning of miracles, this was the start of something great. Something that would change the world. Something that would, well, not be mediocre. Wow, He just turned water into wine… and then He… and then He… and then He.  John carries this theme to the end of his book, where he makes an awesome statement about Jesus.

John 21: 25   Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Wow. After recording Jesus turning water into wine, healing the blind, raising the lame, forgiving the sinner, and oh by way, being crucified and raised from the dead… He did many other things as well, a lot of them.

Spiritually,  I have struggled with this recently.  What if I get to heaven and instead of “well done, good and faithful servant”, I hear, “Well, I guess that was alright”.  What if I look Jesus in the face and He says, “You know… it could have been a whole lot better…”. I have never really thought about that, and there is nothing really in the Bible about average. We have the triumphant, approved by Jesus, smiling upon them… and then the condemned.  We all know about the bell curve.. the smaller percentages on each side and the massive number arching high in the middle.  The middle, among the masses, not differentiated from the others, just lumped together with the rest.  Come to think of it, the Bible does speak of the lukewarm, the ones who are neither hot nor cold. Jesus says something very strong about them, “they make me want to throw up”. (Rev 3:14-16).

The average get to hide in the masses. We are not out front to be seen. We are not placing ourselves out on the edge for people to see. No, that would bring scrutiny to our lives, and we don’t want people to look too closely. Then again, we are not part of “those people”, the obviously bad, the ones who stick out because of their gross sin. We like it in the middle, we feel comfortable being the great unnoticed. Problem… Jesus never went unnoticed… His disciples did not go unnoticed.

The church today seems to be in the middle. Not really noticed or cared much about by the world. Could it be that we are not doing anything or being anything in order to be noticed?  I hear people in the church complain that “people don’t come to church”.  Well, if you are an average part of the world, what is there to motivate people to make a special trip on a Sunday to church or better yet, why make a decision to follow Jesus, if you are just as average as they are?

It’s time we got tired of average. Tired of plain Jane church and began to seek to be noticed, to stick out of the crowd. Jesus did, and yes it painted a target on His back. But we have to remember, large crowds loved Jesus, followed Him, enjoyed His ministry, and they did the same with the disciples. Thousands followed Christ on Pentecost and the years following. It was only one crowd that crucified Him. Is there danger in being mediocre?  I believe so. Danger that we won’t be a part of God’s mission here on earth. Danger that we will live so securely that we will not live by faith. Danger that we will live a purposeless, bland existence and miss out on God’s plan for us. Danger that we will never see God’s hand move, because we didn’t want it to… that would draw attention.

The church has even taken to taking shots at each other when someone sticks out. Try being a church that is growing and baptizing people… other churches will resent you, say  that you are not doing things “right”. Worse yet, people within the church will complain about things “changing”. In other words they have been pushed out of the middle, and don’t like it. All the while they have not seen the hand of God touch their community or their fellowship for a couple of generations. I have heard it for seventeen years… and I am not ready to settle for less. God has placed me in an unusual position, or rather without a position, but sometimes clarity comes with  a change of perspective– and from here, average is not something desirable.

Lord, make us less happy with the middle. Give us faith to step out, step forward and be a people and a person that is willing to be different from the rest. Help us to be like Jesus, who looked for opportunities to show your glory and your power and most of all your love. Help us not to fear the masses, but to love them enough to risk.

I am not exactly your greatest source for the latest news. I  keep up with the major stories and keep up with what is going on in the world, but I don’t watch CNN for hours a day and I don’t listen to talk radio everywhere I drive.  But I have really been fascinated by what has been happening in Iran.

The whole situation has seemed to take people by surprise. I mean wasn’t everyone in Iran a crazy, radical, nut-job wanting to bomb the rest of the world into extinction?  Wasn’t every Iranian a revolutionary, dedicated to the principles of a West-hating, Islamic state?… Apparently not.

By nature, I really don’t like assumptions. I don’t like people assuming things about me that are not true. I don’t like assuming the worst about others… until they prove me wrong. I don’t like assuming the worst about the world, which many Christians seem to make their living doing. Assumptions are for those of a weak mind who merely want to take the lazy way out rather than doing the work, the reading, the conversations to discover what reality is. The world, by way of our media, assumed that all Iranians were the same. “The Iranians” is like saying, “The Americans”. We would take offense if someone said, “All Americans are greedy capitalists who…”.

We assume things about our Christianity as well. We take things for granted. We sometimes don’t do the hard work to find the truth or discover what God is up to. Rather than pursuing the reality of our Christian walk with passion, we merely plod through our life, assuming (usually the worst) things about God and ourselves. This is something that I have been working through a lot over these last few months.

When you feel the call from God to pastor, to preach, to serve as a teacher, children’s leader, usher, greeter, cook, nursery worker, treasurer, outreach leader, or whatever else God calls you to do… does it really become your passion or…do we just plod through, doing the work assigned to us until we get bored or hurt or tired or frustrated.  As a pastor for 16 plus years, I always assumed that pastoring is what I would be doing for the rest of my life. Why should I think otherwise?  I wasn’t cheating on my wife, didn’t have a Swiss bank account filled with church money, what could possibly go wrong?  Well, something did go wrong.

Our move to Gainesville, Florida  was a great one. We loved the church. The ministry was progressing. We had a great staff. The people of the church were awesome. I was getting to be involved in community work, which I love. And then, and then we found ourselves in a difficult financial spot, caught in the trappings of a recession… and there was no more pastoring. Confession time– I was mad. I was angry, frustrated, sick to my stomach and completely not understanding what God was doing.  But through all the haze and the fog came a very clarifying question.  Is serving God your passion or are you just plodding through?

Ministry has little to do with position and everything to do with love. Jesus said the greatest commandment of all is to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength– no disclaimers, no clarification, no maybes, no ifs, no nothing. The command is not different for pastors or missionaries. It isn’t different for parents than it is for children. It doesn’t discriminate nor does it show preference. Love God with all you’ve got- whoever you are, where ever you are. I like (well most times) this passage from Job 2:

7 So Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with a terrible case of boils from head to foot. 8 Then Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. 9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But Job replied, “You talk like a godless woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

Listen to Job’s word- accept. If we are just plodding along, we don’t want to be disturbed by difficulty, by hard things, by discomfort.  Plodders give up easy when things go wrong, they whine a lot, they complain about others, the world, themselves, the circumstances. Charles Stanley calls this kind of casual Christianity a “line of least resistance” faith (see Job’s wife). You can’t love God with all your heart… as long as things are going well… as long as it doesn’t require too much of me… as long as I don’t have to give up what I love– those are qualifiers, asterisks on the command. Jesus said to have passion, love God with all you’ve got, no matter what. Even if you are sitting in the ashes, scraping your sores with bits of broken pottery.  Now I have never doubted that I loved God, and have never doubted that God loves me. I have however wondered why certain things happen and have happened.

I was not your most compliant child. I was the youngest of four boys, and it showed. I was a loose canon. A live wire who wanted to live loose and free. My parents, however, saw things differently. Now I never doubted that my mom and dad loved me, but I did wonder why they were so upset at some of the things I did. I questioned their judgment. I questioned their ability to understand me. I was not happy with how things turned out. But, I never stopped loving them and they never stopped loving me.

Right now… yes, I have questioned God’s judgment at times. I have complained about what is happening. But I will never allow any circumstance to extinguish my love for God and I know, I know that my God has never stopped loving me. I may not be where I was a while ago, but what kind of job you have or what kind of title you wear, is merely a place, a setting if you will, for your love for God to shine through. First things first- Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.. the rest is details. If we get the details first- the what we do, how we do it, where we do it, the title we wear, the position we hold, the traditions we adhere to– then we become plodders. People get attached to a position or a place or a thought of who we should be or where we should be, and we plod, trying to hold onto those details.

I think back on so many conversations that I have had with Christian leaders over the years, and I realize that many are plodders. We mean well, we want to “do good” and “do right” and “grow the church”, but somewhere along the way we became plodders rather than passionate. Denominations are talking about Great Commission Resugences, strategies to reach the world, programs to make the church vibrant and growing again. All of these wonderful things will be plodding, if we do not, at our base, in the depths of our heart burn with a love for God.

Christianity, at its’ core, is a simple faith. Love God, receive His love through Jesus’ life and sacrifice on the cross. Remember the verse, we love Him because He first loved us. So simple. I guess when you are going through trying times you either highly complicate things by trying to figure out all the why’s and what if’s… or you simplify, stick to what you know and what you can count on. In other words, you try to make assumptions about your situation, make up scenerios about why God is punishing you or what He is setting up for your future or… you set your feet on the unshakeable love of God. You may not be able to explain what is happening in your life today, but do you know that, when you scrape away the layers of problems, trials, pains, hurts, confusion… that your heart really and deeply loves God?….then really, your OK. I am.

We live in a world consumed by our rights. We have groups that have fought for their rights because they needed to. We have groups that think they are entitled to special rights, but are not. We have movements, seminars, discussions, arguments, legislation, protests and all manner of things, all about rights. Why?

Because we are a people that love self-determination. We want what we believe should be ours.

That concept also bleeds into our character. We believe that we have the right to be and do whatever we want to do. And to an extent we are correct. God gives us the right of self-determination. We choose our character, He does not force it on us. The rub comes when we arrive at the point that we believe whatever character we choose should be approved and celebrated by God. Much like the rights we fight for, where we believe that everyone should agree that we are correct in pursuing these rights.

There are really two issues that we have to deal with when it comes to our character.

1) Who determines the standards for our character?

2) Who do we answer to for our character?

Our character is our choice, and we are accountable for how we act. As children, we were accountable to our parents, to teachers or coaches. As we got older, we became less accountable to parental authority and moved into the work world where we were accountable to managers and company executives. As children we are more intimidated by authority figures, there is more of a powerless feeling. As adults we bristle against authority figure, complain about our bosses, yell at our bosses and quit our jobs… wait, that does sound like a child doesn’t it?

If we get right down to it, we never really have liked people telling us what to do. We, either in rebellion or in maturity, want to have the right of self-determination.  Further, we want what we believe to be our standard, accepted and approved by others. If we want to have an affair, who’s to say we are wrong. If we want to show prejudice and hate, nobody has the right to tell me I am wrong. If I believe that everyone should like a particular presidential candidate, then everyone who disagrees is stupid or isn’t thinking.  So… we love self-determination.

Unfortunately, we take this a little too far when we project this onto God. If you have watched the news, you have seen the group from Kansas who carries signs that say “God hates fags”, and other groups who say that God “does not send anyone to hell”, and yet other groups who say that God is love and there is no such thing as sin. I always find it interesting when people try to speak for God, as if they have the authority to set God’s character.

God has spent ages revealing Himself, consistently and openly. His people have written it down, recorded His works, scribed His words. God is perfectly capable of revealing Himself… just like you and I do with people that we love and want to know us. God has the right of self-determination. If He has said that only people that believe in and receive Christ into their life can go to heaven, then that is what He has determined to be the standard to get into His heaven. If I were to walk up to you and demand the keys to your house, what would you say? (be nice…) Why would you refuse?  Because it is your house and I have no inherent right to live there. Heaven is God’s, He has every right  to determine who gets in and who doesn’t. We love to exert our right of self-determination, we just don’t like to give it to others… especially God.

Allowing God to express His character and His ways, is a matter of humility. I have to recognize God’s position, His power and His place… above me.  I cannot “tell” God who He will accept or approve of… what sin He doesn’t care about or what isn’t sin at all…what I can act like. In fact, taking the position that I can “tell” God that having sex outside of marriage isn’t wrong because everyone is doing it… well think about it, “God, I’m going to have sex with this girl, and not apologize for it”.  Wow.  I’m sure that God has been put in His place. This is the height of…Arrogance?  Selfishness?

The church and the Christian community has in large measure lost the value of humility. We don’t see it as a virtue, as a character trait that is desirable. We believe that real strength is in self-determination, well, only our own self-determination. We have fights in church because we value our right to determine our preferences of music or Bible version or temperature of the building… and everyone better agree with us. That is not strength, that is being in the flesh. If we want strength, spiritual strength, then we must be humble. We have to be willing to allow God, to be God. To recognize His right to determine His character.

“Lord, forgive us where we have overstepped our bounds, and not been humble. Help our hearts to want to know you for who you are, not who we say you are or want you to be. Help us to respect you for being Holy. You are wonderful in all your ways, although we do not fully understand all you are and everything you do… we love you.  We don’t need to know it all to know that you are a great God, indeed Lord, increase our faith to trust you.”

As I was writing my last post on Character or Reputation, a thought came to mind that I tucked away for a part two. There is a lot of discussion about this topic today, with “character” education in our schools, sensitivity training in our workplaces and the homogenization of faith systems and their codes of conduct in society, we wonder what counts as character, Godly- Christlike character, and what is really just fluff.

Having a reputation is something talked about in many ways today. Reputation could be the “gossip” about a celebrity. Reputation could be the act you put on for other people so they will think well of you. Reputation could be your online persona, filled with lies and grand ideas of who you would like to be, but are not. Brad Paisley wrote an awesome song called “Online” that captures the idea of  loving someone you would like to be, a reputation you would like to have, but aren’t…

I work down at The Pizza Pit
And I drive an old Hyundai
I still live with my mom and dad
I’m five foot three and overweight
I’m a sci: fi fanatic, mild asthmatic
Never been to second base
But there’s a whole ‘nother me
That you need to see
Go check out Myspace.

‘Cause online I’m out in Hollywood
I’m six foot five and I look damn good
I drive a Maserati, I’m a black belt in karate
And I love a good glass of wine
It turns girls on that I’m mysterious
I tell ‘em I don’t want nothing serious
‘Cause even on a slow day I can have a three-way chat
With two women at one time.

I’m so much cooler online
I’m so much cooler online.

It is one thing to have a healthy desire to be better than you are and to want to be smarter, thinner, taller, wealthier… but there is a line we cross when what we want to become overtakes who we really are.

Here is something to think about…

Reputation is what we love about ourselves

Character is what God loves about us

To some that may seem a little overdone. God loves us faults and all, that is true. But God does not always like what we do nor does He put His stamp of approval on just any act or thought we have. Reputation is loving us for what we believe will gain us advantage or favor with others- i.e. If I was thinner, more people would look my way, if I was only funny more people would like me- and then we try hard to be that person. Not necessarily because it is who we truly are or who God wants us to be, but because we would love ourselves more if we were like that…

Another thought…

The first commandment was to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. The second was to love our neighbor as ourselves… not impress our neighbor, catch our neighbors eye, not fool our neighbor about who we are… love them as we love ourselves. Unfortunately, many of us loathe ourselves, not because we lack Godly character, but because we feel that our reputation does not match up to what the world expects or at least the little group of people that we want to like us. I can’t love my neighbor if I loathe myself and I can’t really love God the way I should either.

What this boils down to is a question- “who are you really trying to make happy?” Be honest. The answer can be telling. For most of us, we have to admit, much of what we do, and say, has to do with how other people will receive us. For me, I am an extrovert, talkative, love a good laugh… and have been in public speaking for nearly 20 years. So yes, I am very aware of how people respond to me. And yes, I have been guilty of letting people’s response to me to drive what I say or how I say it. And each time it happens, I don’t like it. I want to be more aware of what God is wanting from me each day. It’s not the “What would Jesus do” thinking. It is simply realizing that I want to make God happy, and that comes when the fruit of the Spirit, the true character of Jesus flows through my life.

This isn’t deep theology or pop psychology, it is a love relationship, the kind where I want my wife to be happy with me because I love her and show her that I love her everyday, not because I can impress her by flexing my muscles. The kind of love relationship where I love my kids by doing what is best for them, and consistently disciplining them to help them grow up, not buying them everything they want and letting them do whatever they want so they will like me. This kind of character is deep, rooted in our relationship with God, not shallow and hallow reputation that can go away in the blink of an eye.

More character, less reputation. More love, less lust. More compassion, less judgment. More help, less well wishes. More giving, less talking. More encouragement, less criticism. More sharing, less taking. More God, less us.

I was combing through some old files the other day and ran across this, I don’t remember where I got it or who wrote it, but it struck me as something that in this day and age we need to be reminded of…

Do You Have Character or a Reputation?

Reputation is seeming; character is being.

Reputation is manufactured; character is grown.

Reputation is your photograph; Character is your face.

Reputation is what men say you are;

character is what God knows you are.

Reputation is what you need to get a job;

character is what you need to keep it.

Reputation is what comes over you from without;

character is what rises up within.

Reputation is what you have when you come to town;

character is what you have when you go away.

Reputation is what is chiseled on your tombstone;

character is what the angels say about you

before the throne of God.

When I think about the situation that I am going through now, as we make our transition to a “new” place. I will meet new people and encounter new opportunities to live out my Christian life. As I do this, will I encounter people hoping that they will be impressed by the reputation I have or will I allow the character of God to show through?

What is the difference? If I can take some literary license from the quote above..

*  Reputation is what I want people to think of me, character is who God wants me to be…

This is the issue that so many of our politicians and leaders find themselves in today, they are more interested in the latest poll than what is right or good or holy. But before we feel all smug, we need to take a good look in the mirror- is that us as well. Do we laugh at jokes that God would not find funny, just to fit in? Do we want to be liked so much that we will work the gossip mill, so that others won’t think we are a prude?

* Reputation is word around town, character is The Word working in your life…

So if everyone likes you, that is really good?  Well if you are running for office it may be, but not if you want to live a Christian life.  Why you might ask? Doesn’t Jesus call us to be nice to everybody and make a good impression? Yes, but also remember Jesus’ words- “if they hated me, they will hate you”. The only group of people that the Bible describes as wanting the approval of everyone was the Pharisees. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be classified with that group. If I live a Godly life, I can expect some push back from the world. The evil in this world will not like it, and it will show through in the disapproval of some people. If there is one thing that I have learned in almost 17 years of ministry- there is no such thing as pleasing all the people, so quit now and live to please God.

* Reputations change with our circumstances, character is consistent

As I have gone through this last 7 months or so with my family being in financial difficulty, God has shown me that stress is a symptom not a cause of my circumstances. Often we blame “what I am going through” for a lack of Christ-like character. Yet God is not looking for a convenient excuse, in fact He is not impressed with excuses. I believe it was Benjamin Franklin that said, “I have never met a man who was good at making excuses, that was much good at anything else”. If your reputation is good when things are going good (I give when I have extra money, I attend church when I have time, I serve when it is convenient…), then your doing is not based on Christ-like character, it is merely the work of the flesh, doing what you want to do. Character does what it is supposed to do, and more, because it is motivated by a love of God first and foremost (Jesus said that loving God is the first and greatest of all commandments)

* Reputations take work to maintain, character flows from who you are

Do you know people that have to lie or comment or go somewhere or see a movie or like a group or don;t like a person or (fill in the blank) because it makes them look better in the eyes of those they are around at the moment?  Reputations have to be maintained because they are based in the moment and are motivated by the people that are around or the situation that is happening. That takes work. That takes manipulating the moment and keeping up with what you said earlier. Your life, your life of living with Jesus coming through, should flow. You can’t manipulate Holy Spirit living, you have to let it flow. The reason many Christians struggle is that they try to take the same approach to Christian living as they do to the office- “have to say the right thing, have to be in the right place, etc”. You can’t manipulate your way through the Christian life- you will be miserable.

No endearing words as we close, just think to yourself, or better yet ask God, “Lord, do I have a reputation or do I truly have Christ-like character?”

Are We Missing the People of our Mission?

When was the last time you were in a store somewhere or at the mall or on a highway or at your office building… and just noticed all the people.

One of the interesting things that I see in the gospels about Jesus is that He noticed the people. He didn’t miss anybody. From the woman at the well by herself to the blind man on the side of the road to the mass of people following Him, He noticed them all. That is really contradictory to the way that we live today. We drive, by ourselves to our workplaces where most of us sit at a desk, by ourselves, then go home and shut the door so that we can have some privacy. No one better knock on our door or call us on the phone and disturb our solitude.

If Jesus were walking in your life, how would He engage your world? Would he carpool to be with others? Would He be the one to bring snacks to the office so that He could converse with His co-workers? Would He walk his dog in the neighborhood and attend block parities to meet His neighbors? Would He be involved in aerobics at the gym? Would He become a regular at a restaurant to get to know the people there by name? Would He attend the office Christmas party (read John 2)?

These are the questions that we need to ask ourselves. But the one question I constantly hear from people is “Where would I find the time to do church and be on mission?”. That is the real beauty of the incarnation of Jesus. He stepped into the world and walked in it. Look at His life and think about His lifestyle. Did Jesus attend the synagogue? Yes, by all indications He regularly attended synagogue as an observant Jew. He worshipped and yet through the activities of His life, He encountered the lost and the hurting.

We can live the same kind of life, if we would do it with purpose and with mission. I have heard and read some emerging church critics talk about how they no longer worship in an “institutional” church and how church activities are a drain on our time to live the mission. I couldn’t disagree more. Our worship and discipleship growth are a key to empowering us for the mission that we will live. Reading one blog, the writer said that he skipped church one day and went to the park, only to discover that a lot of people weren’t at church. Well, what a revelation (note extreme sarcasm). Those same people who are at the park on Sunday are also at your workplace on Tuesday, in your favorite store on Friday, in their front yard on Monday, at the baseball field on Saturday and at the PTA meeting on Thursday. You don’t need to skip worship and discipleship and fellowship to encounter lost people, you just need to live life.

The mission is the people. The missionary is you. The missionary needs to be equipped, empowered, energized and experience the fellowship of the church so that they can engage in the mission of reaching the people that they encounter on a daily basis. To be like Jesus, an authentic follower of Christ, means that we will worship, we will learn and we will fellowship with the church and we will engage the world in mission wherever we go. This is not an “either or” but a “both and”. We need to worship with other believers. We need to study together and pray together. And we need to engage the world in mission and be out among those who need Christ.