Evangelism...Jesus' way

One of the points of criticism for the Christian faith in our day and time is the tension between our confessed tolerance for all people and their backgrounds and beliefs, and our commitment to evangelism. While we know and cannot turn our back on the fact that Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel, does our approach and methodology match with the way Jesus Himself went about it?

Jesus had a pretty simple model to His life. He lived to represent the Father's will (approach) , and He did this by obeying God completely (method). As a consequence of this model, we can know how God wants us to influence others in our lives, because the record of Jesus' life and ministry serves as an example of what God would do if He was here. God could just do these things Himself, but He has chosen to give humanity free will and commissioned Christians to present humanity with a message that represents His heart. In order to properly represent God, we need to obey him completely. OK, tangent aside, let's get back to the point:)

It looks like Jesus made our approach to evangelism clear...go into all the world and preach the gospel, right? But what does that mean? Is that someone on a megaphone at a ballpark or a convention center or a policy building telling people they are going to hell? Is that a shrewd strategy devised to manufacture a "repeat after me" type of prayer moment? Is it proper memorization of scripture to make a good point for the lostness of man and the need for a Savior? While some of these may be effective in producing decisions from time to time, they are not the model Jesus used. Jesus told people about the kingdom of God, He demonstrated the kingdom of God, and people were drawn to His message. Most were drawn to Him, not because they wanted fire insurance for someday down the road, but because His life was such a clear example of who God is. They wanted to shine the way that He did. And through His obedience, what did His life say about God? Jesus went about doing good, healing all who were oppressed of the devil. Wow. So Jesus, as a person, confirmed to us that if God was walking around on earth, He would be relieving people of their oppression, healing their disease, and teaching them how to live a better life today...a life that aligns us with the favor of God through surrender and obedience.

So, maybe evangelism isn't all about 'going out and getting people saved'. Maybe it's about living a life that, like a city on a hill, shines bright, inviting others to come to that light and experience all the good that God has wanted to give them all along. Maybe Christ in us is the real attraction, not a good marketing campaign. If this is true, than we have the capacity as believers to be both tolerant and evangelistic. We are not out to rob people of their culture and tradition. What we are out to do is shine the light of God all around, so that everyone who sees is drawn to God. Let us be a people who arise and shine, so that those around us can know who God really is, rather than just knowing a good message. Talk to you soon!

Pro-cra-sti-na-tion

One thing that has come up as a theme between my wife and I lately is our common desire to enjoy life and each other more. To laugh more, joke more, play more games, flirt more...the stuff that is the fruit of a happy life. We've realized that God describes the Christian life as a joyful one (the kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit), so it seems that in our daily grind we're somehow missing the fullness of a life quality that makes everything better...joy.

I was thinking about this yesterday and came to a realization. It's not that we have no free time to enjoy each other. It's not that we don't have a heart to enjoy life and each other more. It's not even that we have some lack of communication or major deficit in our marriage we can point to (we would have known because, like everyone else, we've had those before). So....what is it? I've realized, at least on my end, that my life is not fully joyful at least in part because I'm not getting things done. I like that saying "begun is half done", because often that's as far as I get. At least I can say I got it half done, right?:) It struck me that I don't have sufficient systems in place in my life to handle the personal, professional, and spiritual aspects of my life, so stuff tends to slip through the cracks. And, when it slips through the cracks, it's really hard to get back.

So, time and energy management rear their ugly head once again. No one likes to continually re-organize their lives to remove old stuff and fit in new stuff, but if we are not willing to do so, we cannot move forward productively into what God has for us in the next season or, for that matter, in this season of life. So, what does that have to do with joy? Well, I've found that I spend more of my time writing lists about, talking about, and strategizing ways to tackle simple projects in my life than I spend doing them. I'm so wiped out with the lists that by the end of the day I want to sit around and be unproductive. So, instead of enjoying that time, I'm constantly mulling over things that I didn't do today, rather than reveling in what I did accomplish. So, my joy is robbed by a bunch of writing on paper. Yuck.

I'm sure some people reading know exactly what I'm talking about. Let's be a people who realize the hidden treasure of joy in life is worth pursuing. Let's set up systems, organize our time and energy, and plan life so that we can be joyful in what we are doing, rather than being clobbered by the never-ending list. Let's not waste our lives on regret. I'd rather be viewed as a little crazy and have my joy be full than have the capacity to commiserate with others in our disgust of life. I hope you are challenged by my conviction to bring what's important into focus and stop majoring on minors. Once I work it out here for awhile, I'll try to remember to update my own progress:) Talk to you soon!

Salvation: the end, or the beginning?

I love being a follower of God under the new covenant. A few years ago I think I never really had a clue about what it meant to be in the 'new covenant', or why it was all that much better than the old. I always placed the significance of the new covenant solely on salvation...the miracle of Jesus' blood sacrifice for our sins. After all, the new covenant didn't exist before Jesus. However, while this miraculous act is certainly worthy of our adoration for all of eternity, it is not the end of the Christian experience by any stretch. As Pastor Josh Finley put it in his sermon last week, salvation is not the end, but the beginning.

If salvation is the sole power of the work of Jesus' life, why are there old testament believers in heaven? Think about the transfiguration experience Jesus had. Think about Elijah and Enoch being taken to heaven. Think about all the time David talks about the reality of eternal life. Clearly, the Bible illustrates that God's followers went to heaven, even those living under the old covenant. So, if salvation is not simply fire insurance for us, where is the additional potency in the saving act?

The truth is that you and I, once we put our faith and trust in Jesus as the Savior of our souls and Lord of our lives, begin the experience of eternity from that point on. Because of what Jesus did, we have unhindered access to God through our faith in Jesus. In addition, since Jesus has all authority and all power, and chose to give that authority and power to us, we have the capacity to destroy the works of the devil while we are here on earth. In fact, we are mandated by Jesus to do so. Let's face it: we won't be spending a whole lot of time in heaven destroying the works of the devil in other people's lives. It's a privilege we can only access in this time, in this season.

So, basically, since we live under the new covenant, heaven's expectation of our lives is to first, be in intimate communion with God as sons and daughters, and second, to accomplish the impossible by bringing the kingdom of God to earth.

I know we often have a hard enough time maintaining a relationship with God that the second part can seem out of reach. However, we cannot limit the power of the new covenant to meet our deficient Christian experience. Rather, we must be compelled to pursue that which is clearly ours according to what the Bible says, so that our Christian experience can be raised to the high water mark of Biblical standard. There is no other option for the believer who truly wants to be like Jesus.

When we become believers, there is a heavenly expectation that we will conquer something with our lives. If we get ahold of that revelation, Christianity becomes the most exciting adventure possible. Instead of solemn duty or obligation, our mission to minister the reality of heaven to people becomes something I like to call Christian recreation:) I'll chat some more about that next time. Until then, talk to you soon!

The point of discipleship...for the disciple

Just a quick thought on discipleship...

The purpose of being a disciple of Jesus is not simply to know what He knows. The purpose of being a disciple is to be what He is. If we are to become like Him, how much commitment does that take on our end?

Have a great weekend...talk to you soon!

Schindler re-visited Pt. 2

Here's another thought from the time I spent last week listening to a holocaust survivor tell his story (see last post).

It was amazing to me the process the Nazis used to systematically break down culture and, eventually, humanity from the Jews. I had a notion of the holocaust as a slaughter of Jews from the start, but it was actually much more sinister and gradual than that. As the survivor unraveled the story from his perspective, these are the steps he outlined as to the progression of their captivity in Poland from 1939 (when Germany invaded Poland) on:

1) You can't stay here. The Nazis moved the Jews out of Krakow, where they lived, because they were using this city as a base. Effect: moved from homes

2) You must live there. This is when Jews were required to live in certain areas of the city, termed the 'ghettos' during the war. Effect: loss of freedom

3) You must work our way. Institution of work permits for Jews forced them to labor on war projects, and many young, old and less than competent were refused permits. Effect: control of livelihood

4) Subdivision of ghettos based on presence or absence of work permit. It got 'too hard' to round up all the workers, so the ghetto was split into worker and non-worker sections. Effect: splitting of families

5) Deportation of non-workers. Since those without a permit were not of much use, they were rounded up by the thousands and sent other places to work, or to newly built concentration camps. Effect: loss of remaining possessions, loss of identity

6) Be deported, or be shot on sight. The last round-up of Jews from the ghettos was at gunpoint. Those who hid or refused were shot on sight.

7) Execution, for any desired reason. In the camps, life or death was at the whim of the military leader. No explanations, no excuses.

8) The final solution. Wholesale killing of Jews.

As you can see, the progression of genocide during WWII was gradual, and it took several years to go from beginning to end. The holocaust survivor said 'the whole process was like a systematic starvation.'

I report this not to simply shake you with the reality of how evil evil can be, but to give us a greater understanding of the stakes of sin. When we allow secret areas of sin in our lives to to persist and stay hidden, we give evil a chance to take root in our lives. Our sin nature is ruthless, dark, and takes no prisoners. When we are in agreement with evil by consciously allowing it to continue and be fed in our lives, we give the devil power by partnering with his destructive agenda for our lives. As you can see from the example of the holocaust, the progression of sin and evil can seem less-than-impacting and even inert at first, but it never stays that way. A mentor of mine says, simply, that "what you feed will live, and what you starve will die." We need to take sin more seriously in our lives, and activate the power of God given to us as believers to address, attack, uproot, and destroy all remnant of sin, allowing God full access to our hearts.

May we be a people who understand the importance of our relationship with God and our assignment so clearly that, in its light, sin has no value for us. May we starve the 'little foxes', the secret sins that so easily ensnare us, and feed that which brings us life and life more abundantly. Talk to you soon!

Schindler re-visited

I had a rare opportunity to meet a Jewish holocaust survivor and hear him speak this week. He was a boy in Poland at the time of the German occupation in 1939, and eventually was one of the prisoners Schindler helped rescue from the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps. It was truly riveting to hear his story and get a first-hand account of how the Nazis dismantled a culture through hatred. I'll post some more thoughts on this soon, but I wanted to tell you what this man said about Schindler and what he did for the Jews.

After the talk, someone asked him about the movie Schindler's List, and how the movie portrayed Schindler first as an entrepreneur, and second as a humanitarian. Was this an accurate picture? The holocaust survivor said (paraphrased) "I don't think the specific details of the situation are all that important. Schindler was a man in a position of influence and power, and he set all that aside and risked his very life to rescue a people of lesser privilege. This is true heroism." I was struck by his description of Schindler, because it paralleled so well what Jesus did for us. He was in the ultimate position of power and influence, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Despite this, He chose to set aside His divinity and come to earth as a man. Then, He went on to risk and eventually give His very life to rescue a people of lesser privilege; a people caught in the bondage of a sinful, fallen world. As the holocaust survivor said, this is true heroism. He also went on to say that he has always felt a need to be as productive as possible with his life, because he wanted to feel like the sacrifice made for him was worth it. Let us be a people who look on the sacrifice of Jesus for us, and in response decide to live a full life of productivity for the Kingdom of God, so we may win for the Lamb the reward of His suffering. Once we truly appreciate what He has done, we can participate in what He is doing on the earth. Talk to you soon!

Jesus, the Great Equalizer

I wanted to post a thought on John 16:9. Jesus said to His disciples "The world's sin is that they do not believe in Me." He said this in follow-up to His description of the Holy Spirit, in that the Holy Spirit would come to convict the world of their sin. So, if 'their sin' is unbelief in Jesus, how does that work with the old covenant and the law?

The law described many sins, and these sins were not all equal. Much like the government we currently live in, there was more severe punishment for some sins than others. While this is still true in the natural, the impact of Jesus' death and resurrection changed this ideal completely in the eyes of heaven. He died for all sin...the big ones, the little ones, the in-between ones. He died for your evil thoughts, and He died for your evil actions. He died for the gossip, He died for the killer. Since He did not just die but was resurrected and is now seated with God in heaven, He became the great Equalizer for all sin. The new standard of righteousness is now not simply a track record of faithfulness in avoiding the most heinous sins. Belief in Jesus and what He did on the cross for you has the capability of cleansing all sin, while disbelief in His sacrifice disqualifies a person from access to grace through faith, thus opening the way to judgment. This is at the core of the purpose behind the cross. However, many of us still do not understand this great gift that has been given to us through Jesus.

Sometimes we still function with an Old Testament mindset, not only in our personal view of the face of God in our lives, but in our view of others as well. We often view the sin in another person's life and become appalled by it. Why is it surprising to us that man, in the absence of God, lives a life of sin? We are, after all, a fallen people. On the contrary, Jesus came to fulfill His mission to save us "while we were yet sinners". Clearly, in order to follow through with the mission of the cross, Jesus had to be less impressed with the severity of sin than He was with the character and love of God. Jesus reduced the severity of sin to an issue of "Lost" vs. "Found". Once you are found, His light is so much more impressive and dominant than darkness that it is difficult to see your life through the lens of sin again. In short, that is why He can summarize sin as unbelief in Him.

Let's become impressed anew with the power of Jesus in us. Let's cease striving for acceptance, because in relationship with Jesus we have already won it. Let us find true peace in the power of the cross, a peace that opens our hearts to God. From this openness, we gain the capacity to have God impart His heart for others to us. Then we can stop seeing people based on their sin, but rather based on the inestimable value stored in each and every one of us. There's more to come on this topic, but that's an introduction to encourage you:) Talk to you soon!