As the rain poured down for what must have been the eighth day in a row, my co-worker confidently proclaimed, “I blame Christians for this!”
Laughing, I responded, “Why? What did we do?”
“Well, your God punishes, so obviously you all are the reason for all of this rain.”
Before the conversation could go any further, our boss walked through with a work-related question, and I returned to my desk with the printout that I’d been there to retrieve.
That moment struck me because of the perceived truth of the sentiment underlying the joking. For this man, and for many of us, we’re more apt to think of a God who punishes than of a loving God who is not willing that any should perish.
How often in the midst of really trying circumstances (with much bigger implications than a rainy afternoon) do we feel that God is punishing us, when the reality is that what we’re going through is a direct consequence of an action we’ve taken (or refused to take) or a decision we’ve made.
Please do not misunderstand me. Not everything bad that happens to us is our fault. Those who’ve been victimized by others suffer because of the free-will bad choices that their victimizers made. Period. What I’m saying is that often, the rough patch we’re going through is of our own making.
Case in point: I should not drink alcohol on a regular basis. While the bible tells us not to be drunk with wine, I don’t believe there’s any general prohibition against alcohol. If there were, Jesus would not have made his first miracle turning water into the best wine served at the wedding of Cana. That said there are some people who do not do well drinking alcohol. In my family line—both sides—is a history of chemical depression. This means that I have to be even more careful about eating nutritious foods, getting enough sleep, avoiding too much caffeine, exercising regularly, and not drinking more than a glass or two of alcohol on any given occasion. Why? Because when I get those things out of whack, I start to feel depressed. Is God punishing me with depression? No, in fact he’s the one there to restore me to wholeness when I realize that I’ve done it again.
For anyone out there who’s still convinced that God is just waiting for them to trip up, take a look at Luke 15:11–31, the story of the prodigal (lost) son. It’s the third of three parables that Jesus told in response to the religious folks (Pharisees and teachers of the law) complaining about Jesus: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:2, NIV).
For anyone unfamiliar with the story, it goes like this. A man has two sons. One day the younger son comes to him and demands his “share of the estate.” (In other words, he doesn’t even wait until his father dies to make a grab for his money.) The father complies and divides his property between his two sons.
The younger son takes off for another country and parties the money away “in wild living” “with prostitutes.” Nothing like working your whole life to leave an inheritance for your child, only to have it blown in a Middle-Eastern Vegas.
A little time goes by, and the economy goes sour. Famine hits the land. The younger son finds himself out of money and working in a dead-end job starving. He finally “comes to his senses” and decides to go home and ask to become a servant back in his old house. He doesn’t expect his dad to take him back as a son, but he knows that the man treats his servants well, and at least he won’t go hungry there. His plan is to go back, admit he’s sinned against his father, and ask him to take him back as a hired man.
“But while he (the son) was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20, NIV, emphasis mine).
According to plan, the son said, “Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (v. 21).
Did the father stop and berate him? Did he punish him? Make him feel guilty by asking where all his hard-earned money had gone? Nope. He declared a feast—a celebration because “this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (v. 24).
In fact, the only one who was really ticked off at the younger son was the older brother. He’d stayed and worked on his father’s behalf. He’d done what he was supposed to do. Where were his accolades? Where was his celebration?
This story has so many angles to examine, such richness that a whole series could be spent just looking at the significance of each of the characters in the story. But here’s the relevance as it concerns what we’re talking about today, and the situations that we as Christians find ourselves in when we’ve made bad decisions, acted wrongly—sinned.
Jesus told this story in response to religious folks criticizing his relationships with “sinners.” When we are believers, we have become adopted sons and daughters of God (Ephesians 1:5, 2 Cor. 6:18). In this story, it wasn’t a servant who had wronged the father (God); it was a son (a believer).
I’ve been there. I’m sure you have too. And what’s our first impulse? Like Adam and Eve, maybe we want to hide from God. Or maybe, like this son, we know our only hope is to go back to God and admit our sin, and maybe if we do, we can at least be his servants again: work harder, do more in church, be better about following "the rules."
That’s our wrong thinking, not his. Notice this father: watching and waiting for this son to come home. Running out to meet him. Declaring a celebration. The only one who wants to punish in this story is the other son (the fellow believer who hasn’t committed the same sin—made the same mistakes as this one who was off living large, squandering all that the father had given him).
Please hear this. God loves you. If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, then you are his child. Do not let the world tell you that you can’t return to him. Don’t let them convince you that you have to hide from a God who’s looking to punish you if given half the chance. And don’t let other Christians who haven’t struggled with the same sin that you fell into make you feel that you have no right to be a full member of the family again. That’s not an opinion shared by your heavenly Father.
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, NLT). The next time someone tries to condemn you, or your enemy whispers in your ear that you’ve squandered everything God has done for you, say out loud, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12, NIV).
Don’t waste your energy playing someone else’s blame game, even if the someone else is the little voice in your head that wants to criticize you for your mistakes. Keep moving forward. Keep your eyes on the Lord. Know that his plans are to “prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV).
“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’” (Lamentations 3:22–24, NLT, emphasis mine).
It’s not punishment—but God’s mercies—that never cease. Count on his love to be waiting for your return no matter how far you’ve strayed or how long you’ve been gone.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Yes, Even That
There are times in life—things that happen to us or because of us—that just seem to get us stuck. I met a man in Russia who was in that place. He looked to be around 30, and he’d been drinking. The Russian pastors and interpreter I was with stopped to talk with him in a city park. I’ll call him Ivan, though I honestly don’t remember his name. What I do remember was his face. It was a handsome young face that still looked tense behind the smile, tired beyond his years. He exuded bravado, but as we spoke with him, you could sense his underlying sadness.
We stopped to talk to Ivan to see whether he knew for sure that if something happened to him that day that he would wake up in heaven. What would he say if he stood before God and God said, “Why should I let you into my kingdom?” Many of us aren’t sure how to answer those questions. I’ve been there. At this point in my life, I can honestly tell you that yes, I do know I would wake up in heaven. And if God asked me why he should let me in, I’d say: “Because Jesus died for me and I’ve asked him to forgive me for the times I’ve blown it and save me.” It’s a wonderful thing to have those questions answered.
But back to Ivan. Ivan couldn’t answer those questions because he was stuck. Ivan was one of the thousands of Russian soldiers who had been called to battle insurgents in the region of Chechnya. What Ivan wanted to know was whether we thought it was a sin that he had killed people there. My point to him was that it didn’t matter what we thought or whether it was or wasn’t, because what really mattered was that no matter what he had done, God loved him and there was nothing he wouldn’t forgive or couldn’t heal.
I think that’s the rub for a lot of us. We know way too much about the things that we’ve done in this life, and we get hung up on whether we’ve finally crossed a line at which point God just doesn’t want to have anything to do with us. On the flip side, maybe things have been done to us that have left us angry and bitter with God. Those of us who are the biggest on the idea of free will and doing what we want often struggle the most with wanting to blame God for the wrongs done to us when others have acted out of their own free will. It’s a bit of a paradox.
I’ve never been called on to fight for my country. I’ve never had to kill anyone in battle. I don’t know what it is to bear the burden of war memories. But I’ve done plenty of things that make me shutter to think of them. Things that I should have known better than to do. Things have been done to me that have left a mark even now. But this I know. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. How do I know that? Because he says so: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:28, NIV)
He also tells me “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (Romans 8:1, 31–34 NIV).
The bad news—and the good news—is that there is not a thing that any of us can do to change our past, whether 10 minutes or 10 years ago. It’s the past. But we can stop letting our past determine our future. “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)
Both of those passages (in Philippians and Romans) were penned by the apostle Paul, who before his conversion to Christianity led the persecution and execution of Christians. Think there was any baggage from his past that would have weighed him down if he had let it?
We must leave the past behind. But we can’t really do that on our own. We do that when we get honest with God. Maybe we need to tell him about some of the wrongs we’ve done and ask for his help to live life differently. Maybe we need to admit that we’re angry with him or someone else but that we want to forgive. Make a conscious decision to forgive and say it out loud. Then ask him to change our emotions that go with those memories; help us to see those circumstances or those people through his eyes.
How can it be that simple? I don’t know, but it is. Take King David for example. David is probably the most famous king in the Old Testament. David reigned at the height of Israel’s power as a nation. God referred to him as a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). That’s a pretty high compliment.
Before David was king, he was a shepherd. One of the first stories recorded about him is of his killing the giant Goliath with only a slingshot and his faith that God would help him defeat Israel’s enemy. He went on to be known for his valor in battle to the point that Saul, Israel’s king at the time, was jealous because the Israelites only credited Saul with killing thousands, but David his tens of thousands (I Samuel 18:7).
David was a talented writer and musician who wrote many of the Psalms. But David also was human. He blew it on many occasions. This was the same guy who slept with his neighbor’s wife, got her pregnant, then figured out a way to kill off her husband to cover his tracks. Did this get David voted off God’s island? Not at all. Yes, there were consequences to his actions, and yes they were devastating. (His and Bathsheba’s son died shortly after birth, and he grieved bitterly.) But here’s the important part of the story. When confronted with the truth about what he had done, David admitted he was wrong (2 Samuel 12), and God forgave him.
Despite his failures in life, David continued to be God’s appointed ruler. His line was blessed to be the ancestor of Jesus Christ himself, and God promised that the messiah would reign on David’s throne. To this day, Jews and Christians look at David’s life as both an example of how to worship God and a cautionary tale about the problems we can create for ourselves when we get off of God’s path.
I don’t know where you got stuck. Maybe it was a divorce. An affair. Something you never thought you could do but did. Something that you never thought would happen to you but did. Here’s what I know from experience, either my own or that of people I love dearly: There is not enough alcohol, drugs (legal or illegal), money, sex, or anything else in this world to fix “it.” Inevitably, any of those things used wrongly just increase our problems. But there is a solution: Give it to God.
The Christian rock group Third Day has a song called “Take It All” that speaks to this: “All the promises I’ve broken, all the times I’ve let you down. You’ve forgot them but still I hold on to the pain that makes me drown. But now I’m ready to let it go, to give it away. Take it all, ‘cause I can’t take it any longer. With all I have, I can’t make it on my own. Take the first, take the last, take the good and take the rest. Here I am, all I have, take it all.”
Maybe you’re thinking, ok I can give him these three memories, and those two bad habits, but there’s no way I can give him this one thing. It’s too awful. Or I need it too badly. Here’s what he would say: Yes, even that. Especially that one thing. No matter what that thing, memory, person, or habit is, give it to him. He will gladly take it and bear it for you. He said that he came “to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:2–3, NIV)
Stop for a moment and consider what you’ve been holding back from God. No matter how big or small, ugly or seemingly harmless, that is the thing you need to give to him. Yes, even that.
We stopped to talk to Ivan to see whether he knew for sure that if something happened to him that day that he would wake up in heaven. What would he say if he stood before God and God said, “Why should I let you into my kingdom?” Many of us aren’t sure how to answer those questions. I’ve been there. At this point in my life, I can honestly tell you that yes, I do know I would wake up in heaven. And if God asked me why he should let me in, I’d say: “Because Jesus died for me and I’ve asked him to forgive me for the times I’ve blown it and save me.” It’s a wonderful thing to have those questions answered.
But back to Ivan. Ivan couldn’t answer those questions because he was stuck. Ivan was one of the thousands of Russian soldiers who had been called to battle insurgents in the region of Chechnya. What Ivan wanted to know was whether we thought it was a sin that he had killed people there. My point to him was that it didn’t matter what we thought or whether it was or wasn’t, because what really mattered was that no matter what he had done, God loved him and there was nothing he wouldn’t forgive or couldn’t heal.
I think that’s the rub for a lot of us. We know way too much about the things that we’ve done in this life, and we get hung up on whether we’ve finally crossed a line at which point God just doesn’t want to have anything to do with us. On the flip side, maybe things have been done to us that have left us angry and bitter with God. Those of us who are the biggest on the idea of free will and doing what we want often struggle the most with wanting to blame God for the wrongs done to us when others have acted out of their own free will. It’s a bit of a paradox.
I’ve never been called on to fight for my country. I’ve never had to kill anyone in battle. I don’t know what it is to bear the burden of war memories. But I’ve done plenty of things that make me shutter to think of them. Things that I should have known better than to do. Things have been done to me that have left a mark even now. But this I know. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. How do I know that? Because he says so: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:28, NIV)
He also tells me “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” (Romans 8:1, 31–34 NIV).
The bad news—and the good news—is that there is not a thing that any of us can do to change our past, whether 10 minutes or 10 years ago. It’s the past. But we can stop letting our past determine our future. “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV)
Both of those passages (in Philippians and Romans) were penned by the apostle Paul, who before his conversion to Christianity led the persecution and execution of Christians. Think there was any baggage from his past that would have weighed him down if he had let it?
We must leave the past behind. But we can’t really do that on our own. We do that when we get honest with God. Maybe we need to tell him about some of the wrongs we’ve done and ask for his help to live life differently. Maybe we need to admit that we’re angry with him or someone else but that we want to forgive. Make a conscious decision to forgive and say it out loud. Then ask him to change our emotions that go with those memories; help us to see those circumstances or those people through his eyes.
How can it be that simple? I don’t know, but it is. Take King David for example. David is probably the most famous king in the Old Testament. David reigned at the height of Israel’s power as a nation. God referred to him as a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). That’s a pretty high compliment.
Before David was king, he was a shepherd. One of the first stories recorded about him is of his killing the giant Goliath with only a slingshot and his faith that God would help him defeat Israel’s enemy. He went on to be known for his valor in battle to the point that Saul, Israel’s king at the time, was jealous because the Israelites only credited Saul with killing thousands, but David his tens of thousands (I Samuel 18:7).
David was a talented writer and musician who wrote many of the Psalms. But David also was human. He blew it on many occasions. This was the same guy who slept with his neighbor’s wife, got her pregnant, then figured out a way to kill off her husband to cover his tracks. Did this get David voted off God’s island? Not at all. Yes, there were consequences to his actions, and yes they were devastating. (His and Bathsheba’s son died shortly after birth, and he grieved bitterly.) But here’s the important part of the story. When confronted with the truth about what he had done, David admitted he was wrong (2 Samuel 12), and God forgave him.
Despite his failures in life, David continued to be God’s appointed ruler. His line was blessed to be the ancestor of Jesus Christ himself, and God promised that the messiah would reign on David’s throne. To this day, Jews and Christians look at David’s life as both an example of how to worship God and a cautionary tale about the problems we can create for ourselves when we get off of God’s path.
I don’t know where you got stuck. Maybe it was a divorce. An affair. Something you never thought you could do but did. Something that you never thought would happen to you but did. Here’s what I know from experience, either my own or that of people I love dearly: There is not enough alcohol, drugs (legal or illegal), money, sex, or anything else in this world to fix “it.” Inevitably, any of those things used wrongly just increase our problems. But there is a solution: Give it to God.
The Christian rock group Third Day has a song called “Take It All” that speaks to this: “All the promises I’ve broken, all the times I’ve let you down. You’ve forgot them but still I hold on to the pain that makes me drown. But now I’m ready to let it go, to give it away. Take it all, ‘cause I can’t take it any longer. With all I have, I can’t make it on my own. Take the first, take the last, take the good and take the rest. Here I am, all I have, take it all.”
Maybe you’re thinking, ok I can give him these three memories, and those two bad habits, but there’s no way I can give him this one thing. It’s too awful. Or I need it too badly. Here’s what he would say: Yes, even that. Especially that one thing. No matter what that thing, memory, person, or habit is, give it to him. He will gladly take it and bear it for you. He said that he came “to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:2–3, NIV)
Stop for a moment and consider what you’ve been holding back from God. No matter how big or small, ugly or seemingly harmless, that is the thing you need to give to him. Yes, even that.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Focus, People!
Have you ever noticed how effortless it is to focus on the negative? From the news to the classroom to conversations at work and home, it just seems way too easy to go down that path. Seems instinctual really.
That said, ultimately, it’s not very productive. Why? Because the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). When we’re focused on the negative, we’re definitely not feeling joyful, and we're operating from a place of weakness.
It took the first 35 years of my life to figure out that the quickest way for me to stop negative feelings, fears, anger, or depression, was to start thanking God for the good in my life. Out loud. Preferably with a prayer partner.
Try this the next time you are feeling down. Call someone who will pray with you. Don’t spend your time talking about the negative situation that you are experiencing. Instead, start praying together, thanking the Lord for anything and everything that comes to mind.
For example: “Thank you, Lord, for waking me up again this morning. Thank you for providing the air that I breathe and for giving me use of my arms and legs.”
As you pray this way, more things will come to your mind. Things we just tend to take for granted. Within minutes, you will feel amazingly better. Joyful even!
Here’s another trick. Don’t feel like cleaning the house? Thank the Lord that you have a house to clean. Angry with your child? Thank the Lord for blessing you to be able to have children. No matter what the aggravation, the Lord has blessed you. Focusing on the blessing will give you the joy—and the peace—that’s lacking in the midst of the challenge.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4: 4–9, NIV)
If you’ve been struggling lately—and it seems that everyone I know has been—then take a few minutes every day for purposeful thanksgiving. You will be amazed at the results. Focusing on the positive takes practice, but like any other habit, the more you do it, the more natural it will become to you.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV).
Now that’s focus!
That said, ultimately, it’s not very productive. Why? Because the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). When we’re focused on the negative, we’re definitely not feeling joyful, and we're operating from a place of weakness.
It took the first 35 years of my life to figure out that the quickest way for me to stop negative feelings, fears, anger, or depression, was to start thanking God for the good in my life. Out loud. Preferably with a prayer partner.
Try this the next time you are feeling down. Call someone who will pray with you. Don’t spend your time talking about the negative situation that you are experiencing. Instead, start praying together, thanking the Lord for anything and everything that comes to mind.
For example: “Thank you, Lord, for waking me up again this morning. Thank you for providing the air that I breathe and for giving me use of my arms and legs.”
As you pray this way, more things will come to your mind. Things we just tend to take for granted. Within minutes, you will feel amazingly better. Joyful even!
Here’s another trick. Don’t feel like cleaning the house? Thank the Lord that you have a house to clean. Angry with your child? Thank the Lord for blessing you to be able to have children. No matter what the aggravation, the Lord has blessed you. Focusing on the blessing will give you the joy—and the peace—that’s lacking in the midst of the challenge.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4: 4–9, NIV)
If you’ve been struggling lately—and it seems that everyone I know has been—then take a few minutes every day for purposeful thanksgiving. You will be amazed at the results. Focusing on the positive takes practice, but like any other habit, the more you do it, the more natural it will become to you.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV).
Now that’s focus!
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