Here's a very insightful comparison between “religion” and “the gospel” drawn from the sermons of Tim Keller (Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan). Don't hold that Presbyterian stuff against him, though. Tim actually does a remarkable job of probing hearts and revealing how easily we slip into self-dependence mode. I have often said - real slavery according to the Bible is self-reliance. So, read the comparison list below with humility and care. It will do your soul good.
RELIGION: I obey-therefore I’m accepted.
THE GOSPEL: I’m accepted-therefore I obey.
RELIGION: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.
THE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on grateful joy.
RELIGION: I obey God in order to get things from God.
THE GOSPEL: I obey God to get to God-to delight and resemble Him.
RELIGION: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or my self, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.
THE GOSPEL: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his Fatherly love within my trial.
RELIGION: When I am criticized I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a ‘good person’. Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.
THE GOSPEL: When I am criticized I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a ‘good person.’ My identity is not built on my record or my performance but on God’s love for me in Christ. I can take criticism.
RELIGION: My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of the environment.
THE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with Him.
RELIGION: My self-view swings between two poles. If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure and inadequate. I’m not confident. I feel like a failure.
THE GOSPEL: My self-view is not based on a view of my self as a moral achiever. In Christ I am “simul iustus et peccator”— simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time. Neither swaggering nor sniveling.
RELIGION: My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work. Or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to ‘the other.’
THE GOSPEL: My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for His enemies, who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace. So I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. Only by grace I am what I am. I’ve no inner need to win arguments.
RELIGION: Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, whatever I may say I believe about God.
THE GOSPEL: I have many good things in my life—family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things are ultimate things to me. None of them are things I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency they can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.
I choose the gospel.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Getting a Right Start
One of the daily creeds which I live by is a simple one and it is this: Do a thing right the first time and you won't have to do it again. Believe it or not, it works every time. There is another simple, daily creed which I choose to live by and it goes like this: Keep your relationships right and you'll be right. Not very profound, I know, but it works every time.
That's why it is important to get started right in anything you do and then stay right. Life for every person has three primary relationships - to God, to people and to things. If our relationship to each of these is good, then life is good. If they are bad, life is bad.
Think a minute about your relationship to God. When you think of God, are you afraid of unforgiven sins? Do you know him personally and joyfully as the God who has created you, redeemed you and reconciled you? Are you a friend of God's, by His grace, and servant to the Master, Jesus Christ? This is the right place to begin. Unless the relationship to God is right, all others will just turn out not quite so right. This is life's highest relationship.
Then take some time to think about your relationship to people. It is impossible to be right with God and wrong with people. How's the forgiving spirit? How's the selflessness - in order to help others? If you have resentment or envy where someone else is concerned, your relationship to people needs an adjustment.
And then there's relationship to things. You need to own things - not the other way around - things owning you. Can you be happy and helpful with little as with much? It's hard to admit, but it is true that unless, like Job, you can suffer the loss of things and still be true to God, you are wrongly related to things.
The daily temptation is to allow our relationships to erode to something less than good. I know. It's happened to me at stops along my journey. Getting started is just one part of the whole picture. Keeping things going is not always so easy. It doesn't just happen. We have to work at these relationships.
Every day life's values must be affirmed and life's priorities must be established. Only then do we start the day right and find adequate provision of God's "poured out" grace in our lives to keep every relationship right.
After all, there's never anything with always being right.
That's why it is important to get started right in anything you do and then stay right. Life for every person has three primary relationships - to God, to people and to things. If our relationship to each of these is good, then life is good. If they are bad, life is bad.
Think a minute about your relationship to God. When you think of God, are you afraid of unforgiven sins? Do you know him personally and joyfully as the God who has created you, redeemed you and reconciled you? Are you a friend of God's, by His grace, and servant to the Master, Jesus Christ? This is the right place to begin. Unless the relationship to God is right, all others will just turn out not quite so right. This is life's highest relationship.
Then take some time to think about your relationship to people. It is impossible to be right with God and wrong with people. How's the forgiving spirit? How's the selflessness - in order to help others? If you have resentment or envy where someone else is concerned, your relationship to people needs an adjustment.
And then there's relationship to things. You need to own things - not the other way around - things owning you. Can you be happy and helpful with little as with much? It's hard to admit, but it is true that unless, like Job, you can suffer the loss of things and still be true to God, you are wrongly related to things.
The daily temptation is to allow our relationships to erode to something less than good. I know. It's happened to me at stops along my journey. Getting started is just one part of the whole picture. Keeping things going is not always so easy. It doesn't just happen. We have to work at these relationships.
Every day life's values must be affirmed and life's priorities must be established. Only then do we start the day right and find adequate provision of God's "poured out" grace in our lives to keep every relationship right.
After all, there's never anything with always being right.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
It's All About LIFE
Here's something to consider - if you have some spare time to read it.
On a drive today, I passed a church sign (I don’t know what denomination or “flavor” of church) that read “God’s Final Answer – Are You Sure You Want to Hear It?” I may be completely off base, but I was troubled by what I interpret to be a veiled threat — that somehow God’s final answer is negative. I know that for some, God’s final word is a judgment of sin, a condemnation, and a punishment, but for me God’s final word is none of those things. From year’s of reading the Bible, reflecting on our faith, deep prayer and intensive seeking after God’s Will, there is just one word that comes to my mind when I think of God’s final answer, and the word is LIFE.
There are many forces of darkness, many manifestations of sin, many weaknesses and shortcomings of the human animal, but we worship and follow a Savior — a Messiah — the Christ. God sent Jesus the Christ as redeemer of humankind — and, yes, there is a cost and a price for accepting this grand and glorious gift, but it remains a gift in the truest sense: providing something to us that we could not give ourselves, no matter how hard we try. In the face of sin, pain, disease, suffering, and even death, God’s final word is life. New life. Redemption. Forgiveness. Abundance. God’s final answer is a blessing, not a curse.
In my own simplistic and somewhat naive understanding of salvation, we have been saved for something, not merely saved from something. The sins of the past are not nearly as important as our actions in the future. The negatives we escape from are not as defining as the positives we pursue, embrace, and create as we move forward through our lives. The ways we have failed before should not prevent us from focusing on ways we can succeed in the future. The brokenness of our yesterdays is lifted from us so that we might become more the body of Christ with each new tomorrow. Yes, repentance is important, but to dwell on the sin from which we escape robs us of the blessing of immersion in the new life we have been given. We are a people called to a Promised Land; why waste time obsessing about Egypt?
The whole “works-righteousness, God is keeping score and can’t wait to smite the next poor unsuspecting sucker, be good or you’re gonna get it” way of believing is so toxic and small-minded that I can’t quite understand its staying power. I cannot believe that judgment and condemnation is what God hopes for all us children. Ours is a God of second chances and compassion, offering grace and forgiveness. God isn’t the one who is unjust, unfair, prejudiced, hateful, petty, and mean — that’s us. That’s what God wants us NOT to be. I don’t believe the worst in human nature is what it means to be created in God’s image.
Death, violence, intolerance, condemnation, spite, punishment, revenge, war, oppression, racism — these are not a part of God’s final answer. These are the questionable and broken questions that humankind have raised. God’s answer to these things contain elements of grace, peace, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, justice, sacrifice, and love. This is why we call it gospel — good news. God sent a messenger to share God’s final answer. In the face of the world’s best shot, that answer — given to us by God’s own Son — was not death or defeat. God’s final Word was, and is, LIFE.
On a drive today, I passed a church sign (I don’t know what denomination or “flavor” of church) that read “God’s Final Answer – Are You Sure You Want to Hear It?” I may be completely off base, but I was troubled by what I interpret to be a veiled threat — that somehow God’s final answer is negative. I know that for some, God’s final word is a judgment of sin, a condemnation, and a punishment, but for me God’s final word is none of those things. From year’s of reading the Bible, reflecting on our faith, deep prayer and intensive seeking after God’s Will, there is just one word that comes to my mind when I think of God’s final answer, and the word is LIFE.
There are many forces of darkness, many manifestations of sin, many weaknesses and shortcomings of the human animal, but we worship and follow a Savior — a Messiah — the Christ. God sent Jesus the Christ as redeemer of humankind — and, yes, there is a cost and a price for accepting this grand and glorious gift, but it remains a gift in the truest sense: providing something to us that we could not give ourselves, no matter how hard we try. In the face of sin, pain, disease, suffering, and even death, God’s final word is life. New life. Redemption. Forgiveness. Abundance. God’s final answer is a blessing, not a curse.
In my own simplistic and somewhat naive understanding of salvation, we have been saved for something, not merely saved from something. The sins of the past are not nearly as important as our actions in the future. The negatives we escape from are not as defining as the positives we pursue, embrace, and create as we move forward through our lives. The ways we have failed before should not prevent us from focusing on ways we can succeed in the future. The brokenness of our yesterdays is lifted from us so that we might become more the body of Christ with each new tomorrow. Yes, repentance is important, but to dwell on the sin from which we escape robs us of the blessing of immersion in the new life we have been given. We are a people called to a Promised Land; why waste time obsessing about Egypt?
The whole “works-righteousness, God is keeping score and can’t wait to smite the next poor unsuspecting sucker, be good or you’re gonna get it” way of believing is so toxic and small-minded that I can’t quite understand its staying power. I cannot believe that judgment and condemnation is what God hopes for all us children. Ours is a God of second chances and compassion, offering grace and forgiveness. God isn’t the one who is unjust, unfair, prejudiced, hateful, petty, and mean — that’s us. That’s what God wants us NOT to be. I don’t believe the worst in human nature is what it means to be created in God’s image.
Death, violence, intolerance, condemnation, spite, punishment, revenge, war, oppression, racism — these are not a part of God’s final answer. These are the questionable and broken questions that humankind have raised. God’s answer to these things contain elements of grace, peace, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, justice, sacrifice, and love. This is why we call it gospel — good news. God sent a messenger to share God’s final answer. In the face of the world’s best shot, that answer — given to us by God’s own Son — was not death or defeat. God’s final Word was, and is, LIFE.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
A Little Bit on Those Cranky Christians
Here's the words from a letter received in 1998 from a church member in a congregation. Goes like this -
"Our pastor doesn’t understand us. We are a good people, and we don’t want to change. We’ve gotten along fine for years and everyone was happy until he came and started changing things. He is making us change our worship. We sing songs that nobody knows. He makes us say prayers other than the Apostle’s Creed. He doesn’t do the offering right. And he doesn’t do communion right. He lets little kids stay in the sanctuary, ruining worship for everybody. He doesn’t care what we want. All he wants to do is make us try new things and he disrespects all the old things. There is a easy solution to our current problem. He needs to leave us be, and we need a pastor who knows how to run a church."
I wish this was an isolated opinion. But look at this letter - this time from 2003:
"This was a good church, a faithful church, where we believe in Jesus and good Christian behavior. Our church is being destroyed by loose and sinful behavior. Our pastor has welcomed into our church people who don’t know what it means to be Christian. We have a woman here who has three children out of wedlock, and another woman who works at a bar downtown. We have written our district superintendent about the problem, but she is a liberal. When you come, you need to know what is really going on here. People are ignoring the gospel and letting sin have free rein."
And lest it seem that I am just including unenlightened laity:
"This church is being destroyed by a liberal theology. I came here in June and found that the church was fine with all the trash on television, movies and rock music. I am having a hard time with people wanting to use the Andy Griffith show and the Harry Potter movies as discussion starters. The youth group listens to U2 and REM and discusses the themes in their music. When I told them this was unacceptable, they acted like I was being unreasonable. You need to know that this is a congregation of people who have been tainted by the popular culture and have no idea what it means to be Christian."
Without weighing in on one side or the other, I want to pose a question: Are these the most important things that Christians in the 21st century should be focusing on? People are starving. People are dying. People are being subjected to indefensible violence. People are being abused and hurt and robbed of a basic minimum standard of existence. Is personal comfort and a personal bias toward who is acceptable and who isn’t really the point?
Our world is broken and in deep need of healing and help. Most of the issues that divide and sometimes destroy our local congregations are truly insignificant — worship styles, leadership styles, preaching styles, and other selfish demands. Oh, certainly these are symptomatic of deeper issues, but we never get to the deeper issues. We often can’t get to the important stuff, because we are bogged down by the selfish, narrow-minded, and insignificant issues of the nominally Christian. Cranky Christians rule the roost. We can’t deal with truly important issues because we are divided over such earth shattering disagreements such as music styles, copier contracts, and the way the pastor chooses to dress.
How the worship bulletin is designed, where the baptismal font is placed, who gets to choose the hymns — these are only important issues to those who have no real understanding of the gospel. Those who reduce our faith to such insignificant issues are those who have no real desire to be the body of Christ — laity or clergy. How to make a difference in the world, how to save a person’s self respect and dignity, making sure a person has a safe place to sleep or a warm meal — these are the things our faith tells us God is interested in.
I wonder how all of our cranky Christians will answer to God when their small-minded and hurtful actions and attitudes are held up for scrutiny? There is so much good we can do, but there are also so many piddling ways we can find to avoid doing them.
The people who need us are the whole reason we exist! I can’t waste time dealing with coddled malcontents. My ministry is to the lost, the damaged, the sick, and the oppressed. I thought that was what it was all about. Not the other way around.
Cranky Christians? I’m trying to love. The world? I wish I loved it better. My goal? To make those who know Jesus care more about those who don’t.
"Our pastor doesn’t understand us. We are a good people, and we don’t want to change. We’ve gotten along fine for years and everyone was happy until he came and started changing things. He is making us change our worship. We sing songs that nobody knows. He makes us say prayers other than the Apostle’s Creed. He doesn’t do the offering right. And he doesn’t do communion right. He lets little kids stay in the sanctuary, ruining worship for everybody. He doesn’t care what we want. All he wants to do is make us try new things and he disrespects all the old things. There is a easy solution to our current problem. He needs to leave us be, and we need a pastor who knows how to run a church."
I wish this was an isolated opinion. But look at this letter - this time from 2003:
"This was a good church, a faithful church, where we believe in Jesus and good Christian behavior. Our church is being destroyed by loose and sinful behavior. Our pastor has welcomed into our church people who don’t know what it means to be Christian. We have a woman here who has three children out of wedlock, and another woman who works at a bar downtown. We have written our district superintendent about the problem, but she is a liberal. When you come, you need to know what is really going on here. People are ignoring the gospel and letting sin have free rein."
And lest it seem that I am just including unenlightened laity:
"This church is being destroyed by a liberal theology. I came here in June and found that the church was fine with all the trash on television, movies and rock music. I am having a hard time with people wanting to use the Andy Griffith show and the Harry Potter movies as discussion starters. The youth group listens to U2 and REM and discusses the themes in their music. When I told them this was unacceptable, they acted like I was being unreasonable. You need to know that this is a congregation of people who have been tainted by the popular culture and have no idea what it means to be Christian."
Without weighing in on one side or the other, I want to pose a question: Are these the most important things that Christians in the 21st century should be focusing on? People are starving. People are dying. People are being subjected to indefensible violence. People are being abused and hurt and robbed of a basic minimum standard of existence. Is personal comfort and a personal bias toward who is acceptable and who isn’t really the point?
Our world is broken and in deep need of healing and help. Most of the issues that divide and sometimes destroy our local congregations are truly insignificant — worship styles, leadership styles, preaching styles, and other selfish demands. Oh, certainly these are symptomatic of deeper issues, but we never get to the deeper issues. We often can’t get to the important stuff, because we are bogged down by the selfish, narrow-minded, and insignificant issues of the nominally Christian. Cranky Christians rule the roost. We can’t deal with truly important issues because we are divided over such earth shattering disagreements such as music styles, copier contracts, and the way the pastor chooses to dress.
How the worship bulletin is designed, where the baptismal font is placed, who gets to choose the hymns — these are only important issues to those who have no real understanding of the gospel. Those who reduce our faith to such insignificant issues are those who have no real desire to be the body of Christ — laity or clergy. How to make a difference in the world, how to save a person’s self respect and dignity, making sure a person has a safe place to sleep or a warm meal — these are the things our faith tells us God is interested in.
I wonder how all of our cranky Christians will answer to God when their small-minded and hurtful actions and attitudes are held up for scrutiny? There is so much good we can do, but there are also so many piddling ways we can find to avoid doing them.
The people who need us are the whole reason we exist! I can’t waste time dealing with coddled malcontents. My ministry is to the lost, the damaged, the sick, and the oppressed. I thought that was what it was all about. Not the other way around.
Cranky Christians? I’m trying to love. The world? I wish I loved it better. My goal? To make those who know Jesus care more about those who don’t.
Friday, July 3, 2009
A Three Minute Prayer
This prayer probably won't take you more than three minutes to pray...but it just might be the most important prayer you'll pray right now on this the eve of the 233rd Independence Day of America, the Beautiful...
"May we as a nation be guided by the Divine to rediscover the sacred flame of our national heritage, which so many have given their lives to safeguard;
Let the wounds of separation and division be healed by opening our hearts to listen to the truth on all sides, allowing us to find a higher truth that includes us all;
May we learn to honor and enjoy our diversity and differences as a people, even as we more deeply touch our fundamental unity;
May we, as a people, undergo a transformation that will draw forth individuals to lead our nation who embody courage, compassion and a higher vision;
May our leaders inspire us, and we so inspire each other with our potential as individuals and as a nation, that a new spirit of forgiveness, caring and honesty be born in our nation;
May we, as a united people, move with clear, directed purpose to take our place within the community of nations to help build a better future for all humankind;
May we as a nation rededicate ourselves to truly living as one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all;
And may God's will be done for the United States, as we, the people, align with that will."
God bless America, my home, sweet home.
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