A few years ago I added a ‘zip line’ to our jungle gym ‘fort’ which is set up in the backyard. It starts on the top level, about ten feet off the ground, and descends to a tree about 100 feet away.
Because our son recently turned 18, he now has little use for the jungle gym, zip line, trampoline, and swing set. He is too ‘big’ and too ‘cool’ for such child’s play.
However, our 11-year old daughter can spend hours a day enjoying them. While we avoid the term ‘tom boy’, our daughter is very active, enjoys more ‘physical’ activities, and really pushes the envelope of ‘thrills’ when it comes to trying to have fun.
There are good reasons that one of her primary nicknames in our household is ‘Monkey’. Yet she is fairly ‘safe’ with her escapades: she makes sure she has good grip on the zip line before riding it upside-down and backwards; she positions herself with plenty of room on the non-net-enclosed-trampoline before attempting a particular maneuver; and she checks the underside of the jungle gym for yellow jacket nests before climbing all over it.
Due to our daughter’s inclinations on using our backyard ‘toys’, little thought has been given to ‘safety measures’ or ‘warnings’ or even adult supervision most of the time. But everyone’s children are not like our little monkey.
This realization became clear on a recent Saturday evening when we had some friends over to visit. While I didn’t see exactly what happened, it appears that a friend’s daughter (a more indoor-oriented ‘girlie-girl’) attempted to ride the zip line but ended up doing a face plant from the upper level of the jungle gym.
After assuring my attorney friend of my ‘judgment proof’ status, we set about to cleaning up his daughter’s bloody face, comforting her, and forcing everyone to sign and notarize waivers of liability.
But the whole episode made me think about how we hadn’t really considered the predispositions of other children who may want to enjoy our backyard toys - We had those toys set up with only our daughter’s strengths in mind. And that lack of consideration resulted in injury.
Nevertheless, this situation didn’t cause me to go out and install safety nets and warning labels on the toys nor reconsider letting other children play on them. Instead, it gave me a new perspective on what Paul was discussing in Romans 14.
In that chapter, Paul is discussing ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ Christians and how they approach eating certain meats or observing certain ‘holy’ days. The chapter isn’t discussing ‘non-negotiables’ like stealing, adultery, murder, etc. Rather, the issue is how various believers handle their freedom in Christ when dealing with matters that are not specifically addressed in the Bible.
We normally cite Romans 14 when the subject comes up about drinking, or smoking, or what holidays to observe. But I don’t think it is in any way so limited.
In fact, I believe that the main take-away from Chapter 14 is in verse 13, which states: Forget about deciding what's right for each other. Here's what you need to be concerned about: that you don't get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. (MSG)
That tells me that I should never use my ‘freedom in Christ’ when its exercise would ‘make life more difficult’ for another believer who is not as comfortable with such ‘freedom’ as I may be. This is not to say that we are to live our lives for the approval of men. On the contrary, we live and die to honor Christ. (Romans 14:8) But, with regard to fellow believers, we must live with the realization that our actions may have an impact on them, potentially making their ‘walk’ more difficult.
It is easy to mention an example like not drinking in public to avoid causing doubts/questions in the mind of a ‘weaker’ brother, but there are many other instances where our ‘freedoms’ can act as ‘hindrances’ to those who may observe our actions or be impacted by them. But the question to answer is, “Which brings glory to God – to exercise my freedom and potentially place an obstacle or stumbling block in another’s path, or to refrain and perhaps build up another believer?”
I am not going to list a bunch of situations for us to be aware of and tell you how you should approach each one. This is not about ‘do this’ and ‘don’t do that’. Such discussions are for those ‘weak’ brothers who aren’t as comfortable with their freedom in Christ (they may ‘need’ rules and may wonder why you don’t follow them). Instead, we must just be aware that other believers are watching us and we need to exercise our ‘freedoms’ with them in mind.
Who is ‘weak’ and who is ‘strong’, which position is ‘right’ and which is ‘wrong’ – those arguments are not too relevant in this context. What is relevant is bringing glory to God.
By assuming that all of the kids who played on our backyard toys would be as agile, experienced, and strong as my daughter, I failed to see that others could be at a different level. Someone’s physical well-being could have been in jeopardy with something we didn’t consider to be particularly risky.
And someone got hurt.
That could have been avoided without ruining anyone’s fun. It just would have required a little consideration beforehand.
And spiritual matters are much more important than physical ones.
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink,
but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God,
and others will approve of you, too.
So then, let us aim for harmony in the church
and try to build each other up.
(Romans 14:17-19, NLT)
Don’t let your freedom in Christ be a hindrance to or cause difficulty for someone else today.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Lions and Tigers and Cats, Oh My!
Although I have owned a couple of them over the years, I’ve never been much of a ‘cat person’. Nonetheless, I have to admit that they are pretty amazing critters.
And I’m not talking about just those little ‘tabbies’ or ‘Persians’ or ‘Siamese’ cats; the big, wild cats have the same characteristics and capabilities as those ‘precious’ little house cats. Whether they are jumping incredible heights, stalking in total silence, or patiently waiting to pounce . . . cats are truly amazing.
When you consider all that those little house cats can do and then extrapolate it out with increasing size and strength to bobcats, cougars, jaguars, leopards, lions, and tigers – not only are cats amazing, they are very scary, too!
This was brought home to me a few years ago when I was visiting with some folks who were renting some family property out in Winnsboro. These folks were ‘rescuing’ tigers from various animal parks and they had some wire enclosures built to hold about five or six tigers.
One particular tiger was in an area about ten feet square and he was cooling himself by laying in a ‘kiddie’ swimming pool that was on the opposite side of the enclosure from where I was standing (on the outside, mind you!). I was just standing there mesmerized by him and pretty much minding my own business. And then . . .
With no warning whatsoever, that tiger leapt out of the water and all of the way across the enclosure. In the blink of an eye, he was ‘standing’ over me with his front paws resting against the enclosure about two feet over my head and his hot breath panting against my forehead while drool was dripping off his enormous fangs.
Whether I was soaking wet from all of the water that was on the tiger when he pounced or because I had wet myself in fear, it was painfully obvious that without the protection of the enclosure I would have been dead. And I would have been dead before I could have even taken my hands out of my pockets.
You are probably very familiar with the following verse: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8, NIV) When hearing that verse quoted, I’ve always had an image in my mind of those ‘Lions of Tsavo’, which have been immortalized in various books and movies (most recently the 1996 movie, The Ghosts and the Darkness).
As best that I can recall about the Tsavo lions, two male lions put the construction of an entire railroad line in East Africa on hold because they were stalking around the camps and the workers, picking off people one by one. Over a nine-month period, those two lions killed 135 people – obviously more than they would have needed just for food.
So, when I hear 1 Peter 5:8, I have envisioned those Tsavo lions stalking around the camp, . . . growling . . . sometimes roaring. I see the shadow of a prowling lion silhouetted on the canvas of a tent as workers huddle in fear inside. I see the faint outline of lion crouching behind a scraggly bush. I imagine people on constant watch of a known danger that lurks ‘out there’. I hear a distant roar and a blood-curdling scream.
But I’m not sure that my past visualization of what 1 Peter 5:8 is saying was all that accurate. I recently read The Message version of that passage and it says: Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up.
Coupling that translation with my experience with the tiger makes a lot more sense to me and I think is more appropriate in context. You see, the devil seldom announces his presence and he seldom makes his intentions known. There would be little need to warn us to “be self-controlled” or be alert” if we were well-aware of the devil’s presence around us – we would naturally be ‘on guard’.
But when we are going about our day-to-day, ordinary lives and become comfortable and lazy and are no longer alert – he pounces. We may start off ‘watching’ and being ‘alert’, but as time goes by with nothing happening and no red dude with a pointy tail jumping out, we lose focus and get careless.
But he doesn’t.
I once watched an ordinary house cat out in a field for about 45 minutes. I was convinced he was just sleeping, although in a rather odd position. Then, in a flash, he pounced. He knew that if he waited long enough, the mole that was underground would assume all was safe since the ground wasn’t vibrating and nothing had moved in a long time.
That was the mole’s last assumption.
Like a cat of any size, Satan is an amazing, patient, relentless, and efficient predator. And he uses the element of ‘surprise’ with astonishing results.
Are you waiting to hear Satan’s ‘roaring’ and see evidence of his ‘prowling around’ to take the necessary steps to protect yourself - to be ‘on guard’? I know from personal experience that if you wait for the first sign of trouble, you could be in his clutches before you know what hit you.
Or are you going to be on the alert at all times? Are you going to acknowledge that he is always out there - . . . Prowling . . . Stalking . . . Waiting.
He is going to be ready. Are you?
Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food; Do not give way to him but be strong in your faith (1 Peter 5:8-9(a), BBE)
And I’m not talking about just those little ‘tabbies’ or ‘Persians’ or ‘Siamese’ cats; the big, wild cats have the same characteristics and capabilities as those ‘precious’ little house cats. Whether they are jumping incredible heights, stalking in total silence, or patiently waiting to pounce . . . cats are truly amazing.
When you consider all that those little house cats can do and then extrapolate it out with increasing size and strength to bobcats, cougars, jaguars, leopards, lions, and tigers – not only are cats amazing, they are very scary, too!
This was brought home to me a few years ago when I was visiting with some folks who were renting some family property out in Winnsboro. These folks were ‘rescuing’ tigers from various animal parks and they had some wire enclosures built to hold about five or six tigers.
One particular tiger was in an area about ten feet square and he was cooling himself by laying in a ‘kiddie’ swimming pool that was on the opposite side of the enclosure from where I was standing (on the outside, mind you!). I was just standing there mesmerized by him and pretty much minding my own business. And then . . .
With no warning whatsoever, that tiger leapt out of the water and all of the way across the enclosure. In the blink of an eye, he was ‘standing’ over me with his front paws resting against the enclosure about two feet over my head and his hot breath panting against my forehead while drool was dripping off his enormous fangs.
Whether I was soaking wet from all of the water that was on the tiger when he pounced or because I had wet myself in fear, it was painfully obvious that without the protection of the enclosure I would have been dead. And I would have been dead before I could have even taken my hands out of my pockets.
You are probably very familiar with the following verse: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8, NIV) When hearing that verse quoted, I’ve always had an image in my mind of those ‘Lions of Tsavo’, which have been immortalized in various books and movies (most recently the 1996 movie, The Ghosts and the Darkness).
As best that I can recall about the Tsavo lions, two male lions put the construction of an entire railroad line in East Africa on hold because they were stalking around the camps and the workers, picking off people one by one. Over a nine-month period, those two lions killed 135 people – obviously more than they would have needed just for food.
So, when I hear 1 Peter 5:8, I have envisioned those Tsavo lions stalking around the camp, . . . growling . . . sometimes roaring. I see the shadow of a prowling lion silhouetted on the canvas of a tent as workers huddle in fear inside. I see the faint outline of lion crouching behind a scraggly bush. I imagine people on constant watch of a known danger that lurks ‘out there’. I hear a distant roar and a blood-curdling scream.
But I’m not sure that my past visualization of what 1 Peter 5:8 is saying was all that accurate. I recently read The Message version of that passage and it says: Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up.
Coupling that translation with my experience with the tiger makes a lot more sense to me and I think is more appropriate in context. You see, the devil seldom announces his presence and he seldom makes his intentions known. There would be little need to warn us to “be self-controlled” or be alert” if we were well-aware of the devil’s presence around us – we would naturally be ‘on guard’.
But when we are going about our day-to-day, ordinary lives and become comfortable and lazy and are no longer alert – he pounces. We may start off ‘watching’ and being ‘alert’, but as time goes by with nothing happening and no red dude with a pointy tail jumping out, we lose focus and get careless.
But he doesn’t.
I once watched an ordinary house cat out in a field for about 45 minutes. I was convinced he was just sleeping, although in a rather odd position. Then, in a flash, he pounced. He knew that if he waited long enough, the mole that was underground would assume all was safe since the ground wasn’t vibrating and nothing had moved in a long time.
That was the mole’s last assumption.
Like a cat of any size, Satan is an amazing, patient, relentless, and efficient predator. And he uses the element of ‘surprise’ with astonishing results.
Are you waiting to hear Satan’s ‘roaring’ and see evidence of his ‘prowling around’ to take the necessary steps to protect yourself - to be ‘on guard’? I know from personal experience that if you wait for the first sign of trouble, you could be in his clutches before you know what hit you.
Or are you going to be on the alert at all times? Are you going to acknowledge that he is always out there - . . . Prowling . . . Stalking . . . Waiting.
He is going to be ready. Are you?
Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food; Do not give way to him but be strong in your faith (1 Peter 5:8-9(a), BBE)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Will You Take Pascal's Wager?
Even those of us who may not do a very good job of it acknowledge that it is wise to plan ahead for our financial future. We know there will be a time when our earning capacity will be diminished or gone, we know there will be a time when large amounts of money will be needed for our children’s education, we know there are many reasons to plan ahead for all kinds of various circumstances.
Wisdom would dictate that we consider those ‘knowns’ about our future as we live our lives today. Rather than being foolish and betting our financial futures on winning the lottery, we try to ‘hedge out bets’ and invest for the future.
I recently received an email that reminded me of another argument dealing with ‘hedging our bets’ in planning for our future. This argument deals with believing in the existence of God, and it was put forth by the 17th century French mathematician and scientist Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). It is called ‘Pascal’s Wager’.
As somewhat of a philosopher, Pascal did not believe it was possible to prove the existence of God (despite what Romans 1:20 says). But he believed it was much more reasonable and logical to believe in God than to not believe in God. (And he was referring to the belief in the ‘Christian God’, not just ‘a god’ or ‘Allah’, etc.)
The argument of Pascal’s Wager went something like:
1. God either exists or he doesn’t exist (the only two options).
2. If God exists and you believe in him, your eternal rewards will be great.
3. If God exists and you don’t believe in him, your eternal damnation will be great.
4. If God does not exist yet you believe in God, you have not lost anything.
5. If God does not exist and you didn’t believe in him, you gain nothing.
Thus, from a self-preservation standpoint alone, it is only logical to believe in God. God has to either exist or not exist. If God doesn’t exist, belief in him (or not) doesn’t really have any consequences. However, if God does exist, whether or not you believe in Him is of utmost importance.
So, even if someone thinks the likelihood that God exists is small, they have much more to gain by believing in him than could possibly be lost by not. Logic would therefore dictate that one believe in God.
Philosophy was never my strong suit as I am much more of a concrete thinker. And I don’t think anyone can use Pascal’s Wager to convince a non-believer to believe in God. But, I do think that Pascal’s Wager is a great tool to use to open up dialogue with those non-believers in our lives who don’t think it reasonable to believe in the existence of our God.
For someone to bet their financial future on the lottery, their odds of winning are one in 25,827,165. But, under Pascal’s Wager, regardless of the ‘probability’ someone attributes to God’s existence, the odds of whether or not God exists are still 50:50 – He either exists or He doesn’t. If He does exist, the odds are 100% that one will go to heaven by believing and 100% that one will go to hell by not believing.
The odds would seem to require that one seriously consider God’s existence.
Maybe Pascal’s Wager can open up some interesting conversations with your non-believing friends.
And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. (1 Peter 3:15-16, NLT)
Wisdom would dictate that we consider those ‘knowns’ about our future as we live our lives today. Rather than being foolish and betting our financial futures on winning the lottery, we try to ‘hedge out bets’ and invest for the future.
I recently received an email that reminded me of another argument dealing with ‘hedging our bets’ in planning for our future. This argument deals with believing in the existence of God, and it was put forth by the 17th century French mathematician and scientist Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). It is called ‘Pascal’s Wager’.
As somewhat of a philosopher, Pascal did not believe it was possible to prove the existence of God (despite what Romans 1:20 says). But he believed it was much more reasonable and logical to believe in God than to not believe in God. (And he was referring to the belief in the ‘Christian God’, not just ‘a god’ or ‘Allah’, etc.)
The argument of Pascal’s Wager went something like:
1. God either exists or he doesn’t exist (the only two options).
2. If God exists and you believe in him, your eternal rewards will be great.
3. If God exists and you don’t believe in him, your eternal damnation will be great.
4. If God does not exist yet you believe in God, you have not lost anything.
5. If God does not exist and you didn’t believe in him, you gain nothing.
Thus, from a self-preservation standpoint alone, it is only logical to believe in God. God has to either exist or not exist. If God doesn’t exist, belief in him (or not) doesn’t really have any consequences. However, if God does exist, whether or not you believe in Him is of utmost importance.
So, even if someone thinks the likelihood that God exists is small, they have much more to gain by believing in him than could possibly be lost by not. Logic would therefore dictate that one believe in God.
Philosophy was never my strong suit as I am much more of a concrete thinker. And I don’t think anyone can use Pascal’s Wager to convince a non-believer to believe in God. But, I do think that Pascal’s Wager is a great tool to use to open up dialogue with those non-believers in our lives who don’t think it reasonable to believe in the existence of our God.
For someone to bet their financial future on the lottery, their odds of winning are one in 25,827,165. But, under Pascal’s Wager, regardless of the ‘probability’ someone attributes to God’s existence, the odds of whether or not God exists are still 50:50 – He either exists or He doesn’t. If He does exist, the odds are 100% that one will go to heaven by believing and 100% that one will go to hell by not believing.
The odds would seem to require that one seriously consider God’s existence.
Maybe Pascal’s Wager can open up some interesting conversations with your non-believing friends.
And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. (1 Peter 3:15-16, NLT)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
My River Guide
On a recent family vacation, we were given the opportunity to go ‘white water rafting’. It sounded like great fun, so we signed up and got ready to go.
At the orientation session, it became frighteningly obvious that this wasn’t the same as floating down the
When we arrived at the river, we were given life vests and helmets that had to be worn at all times! Our ‘guide’ then gave urgent instructions about how and when to paddle and how and when to shift from one side of the raft to the other to prevent it from capsizing.
We had signed up for a fun vacation activity, but it was turning into an anxiety-inducing, life-or-death adventure.
The first couple of miles of the river were not too scary and I could take in the beautiful scenery and get more comfortable with my decision to jeopardize my family’s well-being. Then I could hear the rumbling - growing louder and louder. Soon the canyon walls were closing in on us and there seemed to be more rocks than water up ahead of us.
As we made it through one set of rapids and then another and then another, my fears subsided and I began to really enjoy the trip. In fact, despite the dangers and our vulnerability, I began to feel very safe and secure. The main reason I began to relax on the trip was the obvious expertise of our guide. He was really good (even as compared to the guides on the other rafts with us).
Sometimes we would approach a set of rapids and begin drifting sideways towards the rocks. At the last second our guide would flick his oars this way or that and we’d straighten up and sail right through the rapids with ease and barely a splash. When the folks sitting in the front of the raft would get soaked in one set of rapids, he’d maneuver us around so that we’d go through the next set of rapids backwards and we’d get soaked in the back of the boat (to my daughter’s delight).
When it looked like we wouldn’t make it around a particular rock, he would call out for us to paddle “two strokes forward”, or maybe “one stroke backwards”. And whoosh, right through the gap and around the rocks.
His timing was impeccable; his strength, impressive; his skills, honed; his demeanor, calm and collected. He knew where the currents were and he knew what was around the next bend in the river. He was in control of the raft and knew where he wanted to go.
At the end of our rafting trip, it struck me how similar this experience was to navigating the waters of my daily life.
For example, I am often warned of all the dangers and risks that are out there. I take precautions and try everything possible to protect myself from what I perceive as threats to my safe and secure lifestyle. But when I decided to call Jesus my ‘Guide’, didn’t I realize that sometimes I would have to get out of the boat? Didn’t Peter show us that we can’t walk on water from the security of the boat?
Also, as with the raft, God has gifted me with a paddle (or paddles) to help get where He wants me to go and do what He wants me to do. I usually want to start paddling feverishly on my own to direct things where I think is best. But do I really even know what is best? I don’t see things from the same perspective that my Guide does – I don’t have His foresight, strength, or experience. I do much better when I wait for His commands of when and how to use my paddle.
And those ‘troubled waters’ – I want to avoid them completely. I do everything I can to navigate around them or minimize time spent there. I’ll try to position myself a certain way when I see trouble up ahead, which could be the worst possible move. But God uses those rough spots like my river guide – when He is in control of the boat, those ‘trouble waters’ are ‘tools’ to propel me on toward the goals He has in mind.
Our river guide measured success by getting everyone on board to the final destination. That is also what God has in mind. Sometimes our trip ends in one of those dark canyons, sometimes the canyon opens up into a sun-drenched meadow with snow-capped mountains in the background. But we can relax and enjoy the ride when we let Him be in control. And we can trust that we’ll get where He wants us to go. And the more we trust Him to be in control, the more our trust is confirmed.
He doesn’t promise we won’t get wet. He doesn’t promise a smooth ride. But He also doesn’t leave us in the boat all alone.
He knows the way. He is The Way. And He is good. All the time.
Our river guide sat right in front of me in our raft. On the back of his life vest, he had written his name and ‘Galatians 2:20’, which reads:
Christ's life showed me how [to be God’s man], and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (MSG)
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Holy Is As Holy Does
It sure is easy to get bogged down while reading through the book of Leviticus! There are so many rules, prohibitions, sacrifices. I have the tendency to jump right over all these ‘laws’ and move along since, after all, ‘we’re not under the Law’, right?
Still, there is so much detail in there about what to do and what not to do; about what to do if you did something you weren’t supposed to do; about how to ‘atone’ for doing something you weren’t supposed to do; about how to consecrate yourself to do other things, etc.
All those rules and details must be in there for a good reason. But why?
At one point, I determined that all of those laws and regulations were there to show people how to ‘become holy.’ After all, a phrase very similar to “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy” is repeated almost verbatim many, many times throughout Leviticus (11:44, 19:2, 20:7, 20:26, etc.) and the rest of the Bible.
But then I noticed a slight variation to that phrase when reading through chapter 20. In verse 7, the above phrase is repeated, “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy”. But then in verse 8, we are told: Keep all my laws and obey them, for I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
Then something ‘clicked’ and started to make a bit more sense to me, a New Testament believer. I realized that all of those ‘laws’ and ‘sacraments’ weren’t there to show anyone how to become ‘holy’. Rather, they were there to show God’s people - those He had set apart and He had made ‘holy’ – how they should be acting since He had already made them ‘holy’.
God chose the people and set them apart, He ‘sanctified’ them – made them ‘holy’. And since they were His ‘set apart’ or ‘holy’ people, they should be acting differently than all of the other people in the cultures around them.
God didn’t want there to be any confusion about how His people should be acting differently than those around them, so He went to great lengths to specify many, many ways to ‘separate’ themselves from the culture – to show that they were ‘holy’. Thus flowed all of the very detailed laws dealing with what and what not to eat, ‘uncleanliness’, how to sacrifice particular animals for specific purposes, sexual relations, a version of ‘tort reform’, etc.
While we want to defiantly claim that we are not ‘under the Law’, there is no denying that even New Testament believers are commanded to ‘be holy’ (1 Peter 1:15-16). And just like the Israelites following Moses were made ‘holy’ by God (Leviticus 20:8, above), not by their actions, we are made ‘holy’ by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:10), not by anything we could ever do.
So, because we are made ‘holy’, we must then live as ‘holy’ people – people set apart as God’s own. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. (I Thessalonians 4:7, NLT) You ought to live holy and godly lives (2 Peter 3:11(b)).
The Israelites were called to stand out from the cultures around them (I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from all other people (Leviticus 20:24)). So, they weren’t to sacrifice their children, marry their in-laws, harvest every single grain of wheat, mistreat their slaves, eat certain foods, etc. They were called to be ‘holy’ people who stood out like sore thumbs among the cultures around them.
And that’s what we are supposed to do and to be as well.
We live in a much different world, a much different culture. But we have still been made ‘holy’. We are still called to ‘be holy’ and to stand out from the culture.
How do we do that? What does that look like?
Well, a good starting place is to observe what is going on in the culture around us. Watch movies, read the paper, listen to the radio. It soon becomes painfully obvious what ‘the world’ values, what ‘the world’ is chasing after, how ‘the world’ acts toward one another.
So - . . .
Act differently.
Stand out.
Be ‘set apart’.
Be holy.
Just remember: Actions don’t make you holy. God already made you holy. Since you are holy, live that way.
If you aren’t standing out like a sore thumb in today’s culture, you are probably not living out God’s command to ‘be holy’. Is it more important to you to ‘fit in’ or to ‘be holy’?
Still, there is so much detail in there about what to do and what not to do; about what to do if you did something you weren’t supposed to do; about how to ‘atone’ for doing something you weren’t supposed to do; about how to consecrate yourself to do other things, etc.
All those rules and details must be in there for a good reason. But why?
At one point, I determined that all of those laws and regulations were there to show people how to ‘become holy.’ After all, a phrase very similar to “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy” is repeated almost verbatim many, many times throughout Leviticus (11:44, 19:2, 20:7, 20:26, etc.) and the rest of the Bible.
But then I noticed a slight variation to that phrase when reading through chapter 20. In verse 7, the above phrase is repeated, “Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy”. But then in verse 8, we are told: Keep all my laws and obey them, for I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
Then something ‘clicked’ and started to make a bit more sense to me, a New Testament believer. I realized that all of those ‘laws’ and ‘sacraments’ weren’t there to show anyone how to become ‘holy’. Rather, they were there to show God’s people - those He had set apart and He had made ‘holy’ – how they should be acting since He had already made them ‘holy’.
God chose the people and set them apart, He ‘sanctified’ them – made them ‘holy’. And since they were His ‘set apart’ or ‘holy’ people, they should be acting differently than all of the other people in the cultures around them.
God didn’t want there to be any confusion about how His people should be acting differently than those around them, so He went to great lengths to specify many, many ways to ‘separate’ themselves from the culture – to show that they were ‘holy’. Thus flowed all of the very detailed laws dealing with what and what not to eat, ‘uncleanliness’, how to sacrifice particular animals for specific purposes, sexual relations, a version of ‘tort reform’, etc.
While we want to defiantly claim that we are not ‘under the Law’, there is no denying that even New Testament believers are commanded to ‘be holy’ (1 Peter 1:15-16). And just like the Israelites following Moses were made ‘holy’ by God (Leviticus 20:8, above), not by their actions, we are made ‘holy’ by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:10), not by anything we could ever do.
So, because we are made ‘holy’, we must then live as ‘holy’ people – people set apart as God’s own. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. (I Thessalonians 4:7, NLT) You ought to live holy and godly lives (2 Peter 3:11(b)).
The Israelites were called to stand out from the cultures around them (I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from all other people (Leviticus 20:24)). So, they weren’t to sacrifice their children, marry their in-laws, harvest every single grain of wheat, mistreat their slaves, eat certain foods, etc. They were called to be ‘holy’ people who stood out like sore thumbs among the cultures around them.
And that’s what we are supposed to do and to be as well.
We live in a much different world, a much different culture. But we have still been made ‘holy’. We are still called to ‘be holy’ and to stand out from the culture.
How do we do that? What does that look like?
Well, a good starting place is to observe what is going on in the culture around us. Watch movies, read the paper, listen to the radio. It soon becomes painfully obvious what ‘the world’ values, what ‘the world’ is chasing after, how ‘the world’ acts toward one another.
So - . . .
Act differently.
Stand out.
Be ‘set apart’.
Be holy.
Just remember: Actions don’t make you holy. God already made you holy. Since you are holy, live that way.
If you aren’t standing out like a sore thumb in today’s culture, you are probably not living out God’s command to ‘be holy’. Is it more important to you to ‘fit in’ or to ‘be holy’?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Have You Created A Golden Calf?
I was reading a very familiar story today in Exodus 32, where the Israelites fashioned a golden calf to worship while Moses was ‘delayed’ coming down the mountain. I’ve often read that with the assumption that the Israelites were attributing their salvation from Egypt to some ‘mad-made’ god. But I believe they were, instead, just trying to make an image of THE God that saved them. So they resorted to making a golden image of that ‘god’, similar to what other cultures around them worshipped.
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."
Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." (Exodus 32:1-5)
It is amazing to me how quickly the people forgot God’s commands and how constantly they needed to be reminded that God is real and actual even when not visible. He had been leading them by a pillar of cloud or of fire; He had visibly descended upon the mountain in a cloud; He had audibly spoken to the people (The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Exodus 19:9, emphasis added)
Yet, they wanted a visible, touchable ‘god’ to lead them.
That reminds me of a statement by the philosopher Voltaire: “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
Even though the Israelites had experienced and witnessed the existence of God, they felt the need to ‘re-invent’ Him in an image that was more tangible. And we are no less guilty of that, even if we don’t fashion golden calves. Instead, we tend to reflect another of Voltaire’s philosophies: “If God made us in his image, we have certainly returned the compliment.”
Ouch!
No, we haven’t created golden calves, but we do tend to make God into a God that we can get our minds around. We turn God into a much better version of us. He is more loving than we are, more powerful than we are, holier than we are – We’ve made Him the ‘super-sized’, turbo-charged version of us.
Instead of accepting a God that can’t even be imagined, we try to imagine a God that can be accepted.
That is really no better than making a golden calf as the image of our omniscient, all powerful, eternal, perfect, indescribable God.
But it doesn’t work.
He is too big; He is too much; He is too . . . ‘other’.
There is just no way we can understand, comprehend, explain, or grasp what and Who God really is.
Yet that same incomprehensible, uncontainable, indescribable, transcendent, awesome God has reached out to us. He has reached out to us because – for some unimaginable reason – He wants to have a relationship with us.
He has done everything necessary to make that possible. We can try to figure that out; we can dilute and distort His image into something understandable; we can try to make ourselves ‘worthy’ of His affections.
Or - we can embrace the offer and step into the eternal.
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (1 John 4:13-16)
When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."
Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." (Exodus 32:1-5)
It is amazing to me how quickly the people forgot God’s commands and how constantly they needed to be reminded that God is real and actual even when not visible. He had been leading them by a pillar of cloud or of fire; He had visibly descended upon the mountain in a cloud; He had audibly spoken to the people (The LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you." Exodus 19:9, emphasis added)
Yet, they wanted a visible, touchable ‘god’ to lead them.
That reminds me of a statement by the philosopher Voltaire: “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”
Even though the Israelites had experienced and witnessed the existence of God, they felt the need to ‘re-invent’ Him in an image that was more tangible. And we are no less guilty of that, even if we don’t fashion golden calves. Instead, we tend to reflect another of Voltaire’s philosophies: “If God made us in his image, we have certainly returned the compliment.”
Ouch!
No, we haven’t created golden calves, but we do tend to make God into a God that we can get our minds around. We turn God into a much better version of us. He is more loving than we are, more powerful than we are, holier than we are – We’ve made Him the ‘super-sized’, turbo-charged version of us.
Instead of accepting a God that can’t even be imagined, we try to imagine a God that can be accepted.
That is really no better than making a golden calf as the image of our omniscient, all powerful, eternal, perfect, indescribable God.
But it doesn’t work.
He is too big; He is too much; He is too . . . ‘other’.
There is just no way we can understand, comprehend, explain, or grasp what and Who God really is.
Yet that same incomprehensible, uncontainable, indescribable, transcendent, awesome God has reached out to us. He has reached out to us because – for some unimaginable reason – He wants to have a relationship with us.
He has done everything necessary to make that possible. We can try to figure that out; we can dilute and distort His image into something understandable; we can try to make ourselves ‘worthy’ of His affections.
Or - we can embrace the offer and step into the eternal.
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (1 John 4:13-16)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Game Changer
As a young boy, I thought Jerry West was probably the best basketball player ever. He could shoot well, played great defense, was a good ball handler, made great passes, etc. Other players that came along that I thought also really played the game the way James Naismith intended included Walt Frazier, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson.
Perhaps because I find myself rather ‘height challenged’, I have never been particularly impressed with those players who were supposedly ‘great’ based solely on the fact that they were so much taller/bigger than everyone else (i.e., Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal). I have always liked ‘complete’ players that played all aspects of the game well.
Then along came a guy who changed the way basketball had always been played - Michael Jordan. Many teams never ‘sold out’ their games unless/until Michael Jordan came to play against the home team. He didn’t just take basketball to a different level, he took it in a different direction.
Nothing against players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, but the way they play was made possible by what Michael Jordan did. He changed the game.
* * * * * *
While many of us may assume that someone’s moldy bread was the impetus for the ‘accidental’ discovery of penicillin, it was actually discovered by a bacteriologist who was actively seeking a chemical that could kill bacteria in humans without harming their bodies. The manner in which Alexander Fleming determined (in 1928) that it was the Penicillium mold which would effectively kill bacteria was somewhat ‘accidental’, but not completely fortuitous. Nevertheless, his discovery eventually led to the development of the ‘wonder drug’ that definitely ‘changed the game’.
* * * * * *
There was a time when only rich people could afford books because each one was painstakingly copied by hand. Then along came movable type and the Gutenberg Press. Soon hundreds, then thousands, then millions of books could be printed. Education, communication, information, sharing ideas – such things were no longer restricted to only the financial, cultural, or powerful elite. A whole new world was opened up and an ‘information explosion’ took place. Perhaps no other invention has so changed the game.
* * * * * *
Although we should do so all year, Easter ought to prompt us to focus intently on what was truly the ultimate ‘game changer’ – the cross.
While the cross was just a simple wooden structure, it changed more than all of the other events, actions, and inventions of all time combined together.
Because of the cross, all of the rules of the game changed. There was no longer a need for ‘keeping score’. We were freed to play the game the way each of us were uniquely designed to play. We were no longer bound by our physical limitations or talents, but we were empowered and gifted.
Because of the cross, not only could people be perfectly healed of physical, emotional, or psychological ailments, but ‘death’ itself was eradicated. The cross provided the cure for the virus of sin and the sickness of self.
Because of the cross, direct and personal communication with the Creator of the Universe was made possible. The cross tore down the barriers and restrictions that prevented poor, depraved, inherently wicked people from relating one-on-one with a wholly holy God.
The cross was simple, yet capable of infinite possibilities.
The cross was rough, yet it smoothed the way.
The cross was painful, yet it took away our hurts.
The cross was heavy, yet it removed the weight we carried.
The cross bore a curse, yet it blessed and made pure.
The cross stood only a few feet tall, yet it reached to heaven.
The cross signified an end, yet it is a new beginning.
The cross was foolishness, yet it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 17:18).
The cross was defeat, yet it is victory.
The cross was humiliating, yet it brought glory.
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. (Colossians 1:19-22, NLT)
Now that’s what I call a game changer!
Perhaps because I find myself rather ‘height challenged’, I have never been particularly impressed with those players who were supposedly ‘great’ based solely on the fact that they were so much taller/bigger than everyone else (i.e., Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal). I have always liked ‘complete’ players that played all aspects of the game well.
Then along came a guy who changed the way basketball had always been played - Michael Jordan. Many teams never ‘sold out’ their games unless/until Michael Jordan came to play against the home team. He didn’t just take basketball to a different level, he took it in a different direction.
Nothing against players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, but the way they play was made possible by what Michael Jordan did. He changed the game.
* * * * * *
While many of us may assume that someone’s moldy bread was the impetus for the ‘accidental’ discovery of penicillin, it was actually discovered by a bacteriologist who was actively seeking a chemical that could kill bacteria in humans without harming their bodies. The manner in which Alexander Fleming determined (in 1928) that it was the Penicillium mold which would effectively kill bacteria was somewhat ‘accidental’, but not completely fortuitous. Nevertheless, his discovery eventually led to the development of the ‘wonder drug’ that definitely ‘changed the game’.
* * * * * *
There was a time when only rich people could afford books because each one was painstakingly copied by hand. Then along came movable type and the Gutenberg Press. Soon hundreds, then thousands, then millions of books could be printed. Education, communication, information, sharing ideas – such things were no longer restricted to only the financial, cultural, or powerful elite. A whole new world was opened up and an ‘information explosion’ took place. Perhaps no other invention has so changed the game.
* * * * * *
Although we should do so all year, Easter ought to prompt us to focus intently on what was truly the ultimate ‘game changer’ – the cross.
While the cross was just a simple wooden structure, it changed more than all of the other events, actions, and inventions of all time combined together.
Because of the cross, all of the rules of the game changed. There was no longer a need for ‘keeping score’. We were freed to play the game the way each of us were uniquely designed to play. We were no longer bound by our physical limitations or talents, but we were empowered and gifted.
Because of the cross, not only could people be perfectly healed of physical, emotional, or psychological ailments, but ‘death’ itself was eradicated. The cross provided the cure for the virus of sin and the sickness of self.
Because of the cross, direct and personal communication with the Creator of the Universe was made possible. The cross tore down the barriers and restrictions that prevented poor, depraved, inherently wicked people from relating one-on-one with a wholly holy God.
The cross was simple, yet capable of infinite possibilities.
The cross was rough, yet it smoothed the way.
The cross was painful, yet it took away our hurts.
The cross was heavy, yet it removed the weight we carried.
The cross bore a curse, yet it blessed and made pure.
The cross stood only a few feet tall, yet it reached to heaven.
The cross signified an end, yet it is a new beginning.
The cross was foolishness, yet it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 17:18).
The cross was defeat, yet it is victory.
The cross was humiliating, yet it brought glory.
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. (Colossians 1:19-22, NLT)
Now that’s what I call a game changer!
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