Category: Living

I’m having coffee on a Friday morning, at one of the local coffee shops; something I do on a semi-regular basis. One of the reasons I like this particular place is that a lot of the clientele on any given day will be fellow Christians, many having one-on-one Bible studies, or just spiritual discussions.

Now, being a Christian, that seems like it would be a good thing to hear, to be around. But, lately I’m increasingly uneasy with it. “Why?” you might ask.

Arrogance!

The tone of the words, with the “mentor” basically preaching to the “mentee”, reciting stories, Bible verses, personal experiences, but with an air of “I’m better than you — see all these things I know and have heard or experienced! So you better listen to me.”

But what I then see is that this super-spiritual person doesn’t have a kind word for the non-Christian waitress. You know, the one with multiple tattoos and piercings. Or this epitome of Christian grace who leaves no tip on the bill, except: “Here’s your tip — trust in Jesus.”

Words fail me for the depth of this hypocrisy!

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.”

Matthew 23:15

And I’ve been there! Passing out “Christian” tracts on the sidewalk, then railing and yelling at someone who dares to say something negative toward me. Basically negating the very center of the gospel: “For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…”

We had another strange experience a couple of weeks ago. We were at another church, participating in basically a round-table discussion of various basic truths of the faith, and one of the men at our table started to tell about experiences he’d had with miracles of healing, people brought back from the dead, missing limbs regrown, and on and on. Nobody really responded to him, and we went on, but I had a lot of questions. Partly because earlier he had expressed a lot of thanks for that church where he had found a home after some time being away from church, and that he had been questioning things a lot prior to this, and that he found it easy to give me authoritative advice on a very deep personal situation I had shared about.

Maybe I’m overthinking this, but … I wonder what my reaction would be if I had personally witnessed miraculous healings of this magnitude? Would I be so quick to almost flippantly reel off the list of miracles I’d seen? Would I be so “quick to speak and slow to listen”? And, then I have to ask, is this even real? Maybe he’s just making this stuff up, or embellishing or exaggerating the tale. Could I, would I, be the same way in his situation?

I don’t know, frankly. Probably I would.

Because my first encounter with the Living Son of God was in 1982, so 40 years ago as I’m writing this, and it was (I’m certain now) a small revelation of His Power, Authority, and Godhood. Along with the assurance that He was the same God I had heard about and read about as a child in my parents’ church and my Bible Story book. And then He quite gently asked me if I believed Him. With such a revelation I could hardly say anything, so I mentally nodded my head in silent assent.

And my life changed, just like that.

I am reminded of the Apostle John on the island of Patmos, when he saw the glorified Christ. He “fell at His feet as dead”. Or the Apostle Peter, when he pulled up the great catch of fish exclaiming, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Or the Apostle Paul, who was knocked off his horse, and blinded by the blazing glory of the Son of God, and who could only ask, “Who are You, Lord?” Even the prophet Isaiah, when He say a vision of God on His throne, had to say, “Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I have seen the Lord!”

It seems like the only proper reaction to a true revelation of the Living God is utter humility; of being “undone”. And yet … And yet, what I see a lot of are the super-spiritual, claiming great knowledge, boasting about wonderful experiences, and showing about 0% humility.

Now, I have to stop here and rat on myself. Because I’ve probably been the worst offender in this area… And worse yet, I’ve tried to compensate by resorting to almost nauseating “false humility”, where I put myself down, trying to deflect others’ praise by recounting how bad I really am. Or worse yet, trying to solicit praise by loudly proclaiming how bad I was, or slyly asking, “How did I do?” knowing full well that the other person is not going to say anything negative. It’s all SICK! Not true humility at all. It’s craving the approval of men, rather than God.

And, even with all the revelations I’ve had, all the Bible knowledge I have, I also quickly forget. Forget my first encounter with Jesus. Forget all the mercy He has shown me. Forget how much He loved me, even before I knew Him.

So, back to my point (and at this juncture I think you can rightfully ask these things of me as well): doesn’t it seem reasonable, and Biblical, to expect great humility from those whom God has given great revelations? I mean, Moses is described as the “most humble man on earth”, but he had to endure 40 years in the desert, herding sheep, to get there. Paul said that because of the great revelations he had given that he was given a painful “thorn in his flesh” to keep him from getting puffed up. Peter was told, “Blessed are you Simon, for you have been given this revelation [of who Jesus is] by God.” And yet two paragraphs later, Jesus has to tell him, “Get away from me, Satan”…. And he then found himself denying even knowing Jesus, three times, before Jesus restored him after asking three times, “Simon do you love Me?”

The Gentile woman who came to Jesus asking for healing for her daughter (Mark 7:24-30) had to go to the depths of humility, basically calling herself a dog, and completely unworthy, at which point Jesus commended her reply and granted her request. In Matthew 15:28 Jesus is recorded as saying, “Woman, you have great faith!”

So, do we (I) act this way? Do our (my) prayers come from the depths of humility before an Almighty and Everlasting, Infinite, Creator God? Or, like the Pharisees of old, do I pray and act out my righteousness for people to see?

Great faith is accompanied by great humility. I’m beginning to think they are symbiotic.

I had an experience a couple of years ago that shook me and changed me a lot. I can’t even remember exactly the circumstances, but I was praying by myself, just inside my head, when I had this almost overwhelming sense of HOW CLOSE God was to me — knowing the depths of my thoughts even before I think them, knowing what’s really going on in my heart before I speak the words. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” For many months after that my prayers were different. No longer could I pray “the right words” if that wasn’t what I was really thinking, because God could SEE. And I am more aware than I’ve ever been (I think) of how much God is guiding my path, even when I’m not actively asking or seeking.

And so I ask myself, “Why?” “Why, God, have you chosen me?” I’m so much a nothing, so sinful, so faithless, and yet at the same time, so proud. Somehow it pleased God to make His power known in a vessel of clay….

And now back to my original thoughts. How is it that the “super-spiritual” are also so arrogant? Well, the devil was once the guardian angel, the closest to God’s throne, the leader of worship in Heaven. Until pride was found in him, and he was thrown down.

And so, as Jesus said, our father is the devil, until we are really converted. And on this earth we are going to being fighting our devilish nature constantly until we are transformed into His likeness.

I can’t really judge the people I see, since I’ve been the same way, and maybe still am in many ways. So, I need to pray. Because if I’ve been entrusted with revelations like this, then I also have a greater responsibility before God, first of all to not be like the Pharisee, second of all to have the heart of Jesus, who always lives to make intercession for us.

So, I’ll leave you with this promise:

[B]eing confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

That’s my only hope! Thanks for reading.

P.S. For all my friends who know the coffee shop I’m talking about, because I see you there semi-regularly, please don’t be offended, because I’m actually not talking about anyone I know (well, except, of course, myself). Well, that is, unless you see yourself in these descriptions …

We just finished watching one of those Hallmark Christmas movies. You know. The ones with the predictable plot of boy meets girl, they fall in love, a misunderstanding leads to breakup, then something dramatic happens that brings them back together again, and then they live “happily ever after” as the romantic music plays and the credits roll. Or something like that. This movie was not quite that, though, partly because it had explicitly Christian motifs – the protagonist’s father was a pastor, all the characters were “Christian”, the scene is set around a church Christmas play, and like that. But both my wife and I were disturbed at the end. Something fell flat, felt unsatisfying about it, even with the explicit “Christian” content. And as we talked it became clear that the problem was that everything seemed too contrived. Something about the characters’ reactions, the dialog, even the main dramatic finale, was like, “Really, that’s all it is?” And it got me thinking …

And the question came up: “Am I being authentic?” Am I “trying too hard”?

It seems to me that one of the overarching principles, if you will, of the New Testament, of the idea / ideal of the Christian life, is that we are called to authenticity. I read once that a renowned psychologist was asked to evaluate Jesus’ life as recorded in the Gospels, and he came to the conclusion that Jesus’ reactions, His temperament, His words, were all absolutely perfect, were all absolutely indicative of an emotionally mature, perfectly appropriate behavior in all respects. In other words, He was “authentic”. In every way. So, obviously, if we are called to follow Jesus, then part of that call is to live as He did, as authentic. And the New Testament bears witness to this: Peter writes that our love must be earnest and completely sincere (I Peter 1:22). Jesus said we must be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:28). James writes about our lives being perfect (James 1:4), and Paul waxes eloquent that our love spring from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith (I Timothy 1:5). Sounds pretty authentic to me. And there are numerous warnings about not acting to please men, avoiding hypocrisy, and not just paying lip service.

Even the Old Covenant talks about an authentic life: Jeremiah, speaking for God, says: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” (Jeremiah 31:33) To God, it seems, this life with Him is anything but superficial – it must come from deep within, from the very Spirit of God imparting to our inmost being the life and mind of Christ.

And this, I think, is one of the things that has disturbed me the most lately; about my own life, and about others around me that I look up to. Here’s the deal: I can see that the wicked, people who have no time or interest in God, are pretty much sold out to their positions, their ideals, their worldview. But, as Christians, we seem to be rather shallow, unsure of ourselves, or our beliefs, or else we are so sure of our own righteousness that we completely disdain others we don’t agree with, and don’t bother to listen or empathize. And we become just as bad as those we decry from our high towers…. Just look at the Pharisees and Sadducees, whom Jesus warned us to NOT to be like…. (Matthew 16:6, 11)

Perhaps I’m trivializing things – this is, after all, only a short blog post, not an entire book. But, hear me out. What if… what if, instead of trying to ACT like Christians, we instead focus on Christ Himself – getting to KNOW Him, listening to Him speak, learning to follow His leading, trusting Him alone for our righteousness, instead of trying to invent our own little set of rules on what it means to be “Christian”. And if, as we focus on Him, we are actually allowing His Spirit to form the very (authentic) life of Christ in us?!

One of the (I think) least talked about aspects of the life of Jesus is … wait for it … humility. Oh, there’s that word again. Don’t like to hear it. Don’t want to be a doormat. And why am I bringing this up when the topic is “authenticity”? Well, I think humility and authenticity are linked … inseparably, if you will…

It seems to me to be pretty hard to love others with a completely sincere love, considering others to be better (more important, more significant) than ourselves (Philippians 2:3) when we’re stuck on our own selves, and always thinking about our own welfare, advancement, rights, privileges, and desires. Ya think?!

In fact, I think humility is so deeply tied to the nature of who Jesus is, that it was one of the very first things He says about Himself and His character: Matthew 11:29 … for I am gentle and lowly in heart … We could have a debate about the nature of God, but if we (calling ourselves followers of Christ) actually believe Jesus, that He said what He meant, and meant what He said, then this statement has to carry some weight. In this passage, He seems to be saying that the primary reason to follow Him, to take up the yoke alongside Him, is because … (wait for it) … HE IS GENTLE. HE IS HUMBLE.

So, think about it. Do you know any really humble people? I think I have known a few (not many, but a few). They take time to listen to you. Their actions speak louder than their words, and their words always line up with their actions. They aren’t trying to run their program on you. They aren’t trying to sell you anything, and they don’t have an angle on you. When they screw up, they own it, and apologize, and do everything they can to make it right.

In short, they are authentic.

See how they go together?

Now, I will be the first (well, maybe the second, because I know some people who were very quick to point out my failings) to tell you that I OFTEN fall short of this humility. That I very often have fallen into the trap of trying to run my agenda on others, to make sure I “win the argument” and prove myself right. And maybe I’m doing that right now as I write?! I don’t know.

My first encounter with the Christian church when Jesus found me and I got to know Him was at a square dance there. The pastor of the church, a lovely, white-haired, 5′ tall, 50-something-year old woman greeted me at the door and welcomed me. My first thought was something like, “I can tell she loves me and she doesn’t even know me.” And by the end of the evening I could tell that not only her, but everyone there, had something genuinely different about them – they loved God, and each other, and me, in a way I had never experienced before. With a joy and a peace about them that was way different than the world I was used to.

And to tell you the truth, even though many of those people, and me as well, failed to completely live up to that first impression, I never got over that experience. My first experience with genuine Christians was one of authentic love. And it drew me. And changed me. And led me to Jesus Christ, the very source of that love.

So, what am I saying? I miss that. I played in an orchestra at a local church on Sunday for a Christmas program. The children had costumes and sang. It was very nice. BUT, the whole experience left a little bit of a bad taste. Why? Because it was all too much CHURCH…. A little TOO polished, a little too “this is what we do for Christmas”, a little too organized, and arranged, and neat and tidy. And even hearing the pastor give the same message to the second service reinforced that idea, I think, that it was all a performance, something contrived to be just the “right message”, the right tone and atmosphere, the “right thing”, but maybe not the authentic thing….

How do I know this? Well, to start with, I’m struggling. I’m seeing a counselor because I’ve had some really dark thoughts. I’m been crying a lot, and most days I struggle just to get out of bed, to even stay awake at my desk during work hours, to get the motivation to rinse off my dishes. And I’m sure I’m not alone. I see marriages struggling; I see young people leaving the church in droves; I see homeless people and addicts left to wander the streets; I see tyranny in high places, and hatred flaring between political parties. And all the while we “play church” and have our nice chairs, and our polished programs, and the picture-perfect decorations, and I wonder…. Are we authentic? Am I authentic?

Thanks for reading!

You might recognize the title from a verse in Hebrews chapter 10:

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Hebrews 10:25 (KJV)

I have been told by several friends that this government “social distancing” mandate — meaning groups of more than 20 or so have been banned in many places to prevent the spread of the coronavirus — is a form of religious persecution, in that obeying the mandates would be tantamount to disobeying God (specifically the scripture cited above), and thus would be sin and therefore wrong. Some churches have definitely disobeyed the government mandates, and held services anyway. Other people (including friends of mine) have left their churches specifically because of the perceived compromise of the church leaders in bowing down to these “ungodly” rules.

I have touched on this subject in a previous post, but I believe it deserves more careful scrutiny both because of the seriousness of the disease/pandemic and the responses to the governmental authority that I see happening.

So, first of all, what is the scope of the governmental mandate? Based on well-known epidemiological guidelines (that is, what has worked in the past to curb widespread epidemics), it is a good thing for people not to congregate, in order to curb the spread of a contagious disease. That would seem to be common sense: why should I risk spreading disease myself, or of contracting a disease from someone else if I could avoid it? It could be argued (and I’m not going to do it) that some measures have been a draconian overreaction. And there have been cases where governments didn’t exact harsh lockdowns, but used other means to achieve “social distancing” to reduce and even eliminate the disease (cf. Australia, South Korea, and others). It is way above my pay grade to judge the various different approaches taken, or to weigh the effectiveness vs. severity. I suspect that cultural and demographic differences could play a major role in determining what kind of policy would be the most effective in a given area. But again, that is far beyond my expertise.

So, in most parts of the world, church services are “large” gatherings of 20 or more people, and so largely have been banned, frowned upon, discouraged, or otherwise curtailed during this time. Most churches have been complicit with this, but a few have not, and within churches that are complying, there are individuals and groups within those churches that feel this is not right, and have taken drastic steps to show their disagreement. These people tend to be very vocal in their disagreement. And there are groups within non-compliant churches that have stayed away nonetheless out of concern for their own or others’ health. I haven’t heard as much from these folks, for whatever reason.

Now, also banned have been sports events (think NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, FIFA, etc., etc.) As have music concerts, plays, weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, even City Council meetings, TED talks, you name it. The mandate, as far as I can tell, is agnostic, being equally applied to gatherings of all kinds, and any purpose.

So, how can we put this into perspective? How does this Hebrews 10 scripture apply? Should my church be holding services anyway? Is it obeying God to defy the governmental orders? Or is it foolishness to put people’s lives at risk unnecessarily? Are we overreacting??? (Well, I said I wasn’t going to argue that point, but maybe we can discuss it a little bit.)

In response I want to look a little bit more at the context in Hebrews chapter 10 to try to get a sense of the reason for this commandment, and what that might imply in the current atmosphere. Of course, the letter to the Hebrews was written almost 2,000 years ago. Times were certainly different. Human nature hasn’t changed (much, maybe gotten worse) since then, but a lot of other things have changed. But according to the general principles of Bible interpretation I think we have to start from the premise that the scripture still applies (somehow) no matter the time or season (remember, God doesn’t change).

Earlier in Hebrews 10 the writer challenges us to draw close to God through our Great High Priest, Jesus, who has made a different kind of sacrifice than the ones mandated by the Jewish religion, namely a one-time sacrifice of Himself, that has put an end to sin, and every other sacrifice for it, and opened the way for anyone who wants to draw near to God in faith in that atonement. Whew!

This discussion goes from verses 1 to 23. Then in verse 24 we are told to consider how to provoke one another to love and good works because of our Great High Priest, and to facilitate that by not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.

So, my understanding of what Jesus has done gives me the ability to worship God in spirit and in truth anywhere and anytime I want. There is no need of set times or places to do that. So, in a sense the idea of “assembling together” at a set time and place (Sunday morning, or Saturday morning if you’re Adventist or Messianic Jew, and the local church/synagogue/school gymnasium) is not at all mandated by the Scripture. Or am I missing something? The assembling together was to be a natural thing, the outgrowth of our love for one another, and not a law to be written in stone, and punishable by death. The custom of the early church was that they gathered together pretty much every day (see Acts 2:46) and in various places (the temple, their homes) because they were so eager to hear the preaching and teaching, and to fellowship with each other, and with God. Hey, Paul met with the women in Philippi down by the river bank (Acts 16:13) and had a prayer / praise meeting in the jail (Acts 16:25).

So, what does “assembling together” mean? And how does it apply to church services being canceled in the year 2020? For me, I think, the key is Hebrews 10:24 to “provoke unto love and to good works”. For a first-century Christian, the only good way to provoke another was to go meet with him or her. There was no telephone, television, radio, or internet with which to communicate. Mail would have been expensive, slow, and out of reach for many. So, in order to have meaningful conversations, exhorting one another, and encouraging one another, you had to come together in some kind of meeting, or assembly. And if you were not doing that, you were missing out on a vital part of the Christian life, that is, fellowship, and frankly disobeying the command to exhort or provoke one another.

So, is this necessary physical gathering together still strictly necessary in order to obey the commandment? Well, let me ask a few questions. If you are in church, on Sunday morning, but “checked out” thinking about the Super Bowl, or the World Series, or the World Cup, are you “assembling together to provoke to good works”? Or let’s say you are sick and in the hospital or at home, but dialed into a live stream of the service, are you not assembled together because you are not in the same room? Or you faithfully attend every service, but never talk to anyone, never say more than a few words of greeting at the door, and disagree with most of what the preacher says, are you assembled together with the saints? Or what about this: you attend once in a while, preach sometimes because you know your Bible, and, of course, loudly correct others who aren’t acting according to your interpretation of the Bible; are you assembling together when you do come?

Jesus Himself said that where two or three are “gathered together” in His Name, He is there (Matthew 18:20). At the end of the Old Testament, God says through the prophet that He remembers those who fear the Lord and think upon His name (Malachi 3:16). These are the ones He calls His own…. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were proud of the fact that they obeyed all the commandments, even to praying on the street corners to show their devotion, attending every service, making every sacrifice, making sure the tassels on their garments were the correct length, tithing down to 1/10 of the mint leaves…. But Jesus was not impressed.

I have been terribly saddened by several events during this pandemic, that I think are factual (but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). One of the most serious outbreaks, I am told, came in South Korea from a woman who had traveled, been infected with the virus, but without knowing it, then went to a large church service, and thereby infected hundreds of others there. I heard of a church in the U. S. A. whose pastor openly defied the orders and held a large service anyway. He died of COVID-19. Many others were sickened and many died as well.

Were these people really loving their neighbors? I suppose for ignorance, one could definitely be excused…. But, how tragic…. “Obeying the commandment” to assemble together caused much illness and death. Is this what God wants for His children?? Would you as a parent want this for your children?? What kind of god are we portraying here?

I have been in a church where if you missed one meeting, even if you were sick, it was pretty suspicious behavior, and almost worthy of public censure. Or if you were 10 minutes late to music practice, you had grievously sinned. And I have heard close friends say that not meeting together at church services on Sunday morning was tantamount to compromise and idolatry, presumably putting the government above God. And, of course, for Adventists, meeting any time other than Saturday morning was also compromise, going against God’s will….

See a trend?

I think all these things are a serious misunderstanding of both the Scripture and the heart and power of God (cf. Matthew 22:29 for another example). Which is why I have taken to writing this post: I fear for my friends; I fear for those who heed them. I fear that in their zeal to be correct they “strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). And in their passion for orthodoxy they miss the real intent (the “heart”) of the law, and fall prey to conspiracy theories, to misunderstanding and misinterpretation of other kinds, and lose love in the process; effectively nullifying the Word of God by their traditions (Matthew 15:6).

What is that serious misunderstanding? The problem to me isn’t that someone or some group has a different understanding than I have, but that we tend to take our differences and “weaponize” them against each other; making our opinions and understandings into reasons for separation and division in the name of God. And in doing so, we are trading the spirit of the law for the letter of the law; trading genuine love for religious correctness; trading authenticity for orthodoxy; trading our Abba Father for a religion.

The friend I mentioned earlier who has left our church because we are not meeting at this time (in person, we are meeting via internet streaming), is also one who was noticeably absent from church earlier this year for long stretches. Sometimes for family or sporting events; sometimes because they didn’t feel well. I tried not to judge, but was concerned, nonetheless. But now, all of a sudden, “we must not forsake assembling together”, and because YOU guys are I’m going to take my assembling somewhere else….

Does that sound like “provoking to love and good works”? Or simply promoting division and dissension, and distracting from what we really need now, which is more of Jesus, more love, more encouragement, more patience and gentleness, more perseverance…

I left off fellowship with churches that I was deeply involved with, not once, not twice, but three times, and a fourth time we were told to leave quite strongly. So, I am no stranger to such a scenario. Every time it was a blow; every time I felt both wrong and wronged, in greater or lesser measure. Every time I have questioned my salvation, my sincerity, the sincerity of others, even my sanity. I have questioned God, have questioned His Word, or my interpretation of it, or others’ interpretations. Even the apostle Paul had a sharp disagreement with his close friend Barnabas over the young John Mark (Acts 15:39), and they separated. Jesus is no stranger to dispute, to dissension, and to division. But His heart was and is for unity, for oneness of heart (John 17:21). And the reason? “that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”. So, in a larger sense, apart from the personal angst of separation and division, is the sorrow of God over a people who He desperately longs to be one, continuing to be divided, and thereby losing the opportunity to really evangelize a lost and dying world.

Can we EVER get over ourselves and get into Jesus? Can we have His heart for others? Can we see past our superficial reading of the Scriptures and find out what His real intent is? Can we ever get to the unity He desires and stop squabbling over non-essentials? Can we ever see past the distractions of this world and into the world beyond?

Thanks for reading!

So, here we are! April 2020 and we have a world-wide pandemic of another new virus, never before seen by mankind. Worries, fears, even hysteria are almost the only topic of conversation, our daily lives have become ruled by “shelter-in-place” rules, by jobs being lost, by panic over toilet paper and basic supplies, while people of all political persuasions and religious backgrounds are caught up together in the same wave of near chaos sweeping the entire world. What’s going on and who can we count on?

My title, as some of you will know, is a take on the (famous?) line from the movie, “The Wizard of Oz”, where Dorothy, the heroine, transported to a magical world by a tornado, suddenly finds herself, along with her three (strange?!) companions, the scarecrow, the tin man, and the cowardly lion, forced to trek through a dark and forbidding forest, where there are rumored to be “lions, and tigers, and bears, OH MY!”…. Sound familiar?

Personally, it feels a bit like that right now. Having said goodbye, way too early, to my wife of 20 years, now 18 months ago, I have been traversing a new existence, a new marriage, and (soon, hopefully) a new job, also having been laid off after 12 years into the midst of the biggest unemployment miasma ever in my lifetime….

Oh my!

I have been particularly depressed these last few weeks, by the lack of reliable sources of information. It seems that even the numbers, which you’d think would be reliable, are subject to interpretation, political bias, carelessness, even downright lying. I read a very interesting book a number of years ago, titled “How to Lie With Statistics” (which I have just ordered to read again [Thanks, Amazon]), which presents a very enlightening sampling of how, even with the best numbers available, statistics can be presented in a way that enforces almost any viewpoint you want…

Oh my!

I have just written another post about even the danger of relying on my own understanding, even at the best of times, much less in a time of pandemic, crisis, and fear.

Oh my!

I don’t know about you, but this has been a test of my faith, almost unprecedented in my life. I say “almost” because there were several other times that tested me severely as well. I think in preparation for this one, even bigger than the rest.

And yet, I seem to be strangely (or is it strange?) calm.

Jesus did say to His disciples, on the eve of His own crucifixion: “Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27b). He Himself is our Peace, He sent us the Comforter, He made peace through His own blood. There is nothing and no one greater than Himself.

Do I believe that? Do you? Have I / we received His comfort truly? Are we leaning on the Everlasting Arms (as the hymn says)? I truly believe that God does prepare us ahead of time. Jesus proved it with His disciples time and time again. He told them stuff that they didn’t understand, ahead of time, so that when the time came, they would remember, and trust Him more (John 14:29). Gosh, I’m getting this even more myself, as I write….

Even the Scripture is written this way, starting from the beginning. There are so many prophecies about Jesus throughout the Bible. Job, the afflicted one, said / wrote, many hundreds of years before He came: “I know that my Redeemer lives”. God spoke to Eve, the mother of all living, about her “seed” that would come and crush the serpent’s head. Not to mention ALL the prophets: Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, down to Zechariah, and Malachi. And now the Holy Spirit, God Himself, has come to lead us into all truth, and bring peace to our troubled hearts and lives; to show us what must come to pass, and to guide us through the troubled waters.

What a Wonderful God we have!

I could write about this all day, and maybe I should, instead of reading the (endless?) news reports about infection rates, unemployment figures, death statistics, end of sheltering debates, and the ENDLESS political wrangling, name-calling, blaming, and finger-pointing.

He is MY Peace.

I read a devotional maybe last week, pointing out how David in Psalm 23, made it very personal: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Is He that personal with me? With you? He is the shepherd who leaves the 99 safe, to find the ONE (little, insignificant, silly, wandering) sheep that is missing. He is the ONE who perfects all that concerns me (Psalm 138:8a). He knew my name before time began, and has it written in the palm of His own Almighty hand.

Can I believe this? Dare I? Dare I not?

One of my personal “mantras” (if you will), partly because it was one of the first Bible verses I ever memorized is this:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6) (probably paraphrasing several versions)

I’ve been thinking about this a lot over the years, particularly since I am kind of a “brainy” guy and tend to try to “figure things out” in my own head a lot. Thus, I am challenged to lean MORE on God’s infinite wisdom, than on my own puny understanding, even in things where I think I “know something” (like software engineering, where I have spent over 40 years of my life perfecting my craft). I cannot count the number of times where I was stuck up against a wall with a programming problem, and I had to (often after hours or even days of struggling [in my own understanding] to figure it out) step back, bow my head and invoke James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally… and it shall be given him.” Only to find that indeed wisdom will be given and the problem is solved within minutes (even seconds, sometimes as little as a split second later).

Which leads me to the point of this rant, in that I see a WHOLE LOT of people (not just myself), leaning on our own understanding A LOT, and especially religious people, of both/all political persuasions, who think we know everything and are quite qualified, even required, to make sure everyone else knows what we know and agrees with our point-of-view. And particularly when they disagree with my own point-of-view, I find myself bristling at the perceived superiority and lack of sympathy with my own carefully crafted viewpoint.

Not fair. How come THEY get to be right, and I am wrong, especially when I myself have become convinced that my viewpoint is the correct one, and therefore theirs must be incorrect, or at least in need of modification…. ???

So, hopefully my own hypocrisy is readily discernible, but how about your own?

And therein lies the rub: we all quite easily, myself included, spot the mote in others’ eyes, and miss the beam in our own (Matthew 7:1-5).

I’ve written about this topic a bit before (see “Speaking For God“), but I felt particularly in these last few weeks about this topic, given the increasing political divide in our country, and the increasing tension, vitriol, Trump-bashing, etc. that has come to surround the current health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, that many/most of us are getting it all wrong, most/all of the time.

I want to write more about the virus situation, and I’ve started another post about it, but let me start here with a quote from my devotional reading this morning:

So … when the heat is turned up, make sure the flavor that comes out is Jesus.

Anne Graham Lotz, “Fixing My Eyes on JESUS” (April 30)

I fear that, as the “heat” of our global health / economic crisis has been turned up, as the “heat” of the “global warming” (or “climate change”) is rising, as the “heat” of our polarizing U.S. President is accelerating, that what is coming out, even of our “Christian” community, is something other than JESUS.

I have found myself having to back out of Facebook conversations because my temper was rising; that I found myself thinking “How can they think that way?”, or of wanting more to make myself heard than trying to understand the other person, and to empathize with their obvious pain. Is my own opinion (even righteously grounded) more important than the needs, pains, hurts, desires, even opinions or wants of another? Maybe. Maybe not.

I have long thought that God is right, and we’re all just guessing (Romans 3:4). But I have also long thought that God can and will make His truth known to anyone who really wants to know (see James 1 above). How many of us REALLY want to know what He thinks, or do we more want to have Him validate our own viewpoint, at the expense of everyone else’s?

I read a very interesting Scripture this morning:

The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and princes of His people,
“It is you who have devoured the vineyard;
The plunder of the poor is in your houses.
What do you mean by crushing My people
And grinding the face of the poor?”
Declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

Isaiah 3:14-15 (NASB)

I think there are many implications of these verses for today. For instance, does God really want church leaders to lord it over their congregations, in a worldly CEO model, where you have a head pastor at the top, deacons, elders and lay leaders in the middle, and the “rest” of the congregation under their care/supervision? Or are we all supposed to be brothers and sisters, each with our place in the family of God, with one Elder Brother and one Father in heaven, taking care of each other?

Do we really need to be forcing our opinions on others, all the while looking down on them for their obviously wrong ideas, being quick to speak and slow to listen? Do we bash our leaders, or do we pray for them, and weep for the state of our land, confessing and forsaking our own sins?

Or how about this: does God intend us to have all-powerful, wise and providing federal/state/local governments, controlling our every action, doling out subsidies and supplies, while taxing our every action, and regulating every aspect of our existence? Or rather a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”, to “provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty”?

I’m just asking (myself first), because I think, biblically, God ends up giving us the kind of rulers that we REALLY want, partly so that we will come to see the difference between having God as our Father, vs. having (preferring?) men ruling over us.

So, maybe I have gone afield here. But, can you see my point? Are we REALLY living our lives, forming our viewpoints, conforming ourselves to what our private echo chambers tell us? Or are we increasingly listening to, drawing close to, and conforming ourselves to, the Word, Will, and Heart of GOD Almighty, who holds the world and everything in it in the palm of His Hand, and to whom the nations are as a drop in a bucket (Isaiah 40:15)? Am I?? Are you??

And are we coming underneath the poor and the helpless and the widows and orphans, to help them, to lift them up? Or are we lording over them, making sure they know their place, and know who their friends are?? Are our programs and promotions designed to really benefit others? Or are they designed to promote ourselves and boost our bottom lines? Do we really care if others are helped? Can we stand it if someone else becomes great at our expense? Can we humble ourselves enough to acknowledge that maybe (just maybe) we could be wrong, or that our viewpoint might need adjusting, or that we don’t know everything we should?

The New Testament book of James is really good reading, and I think I will devote this next week to a close study of it, with regard to this subject. I wanted to pull out a really pithy verse to sum things up here, but I have found, reading through this book, that the WHOLE book needs to be quoted, there are SO MANY good things he has to say.

And I have to say that our own pastor, these last few weeks, has been trying to get us to this point as well. Messages about “fixing our eyes on Jesus”, about diving into God’s Word for ourselves, about drawing close to Him in this time, about loving our neighbor as ourselves. I fall short. My time in the Word has been spotty to non-existent; my thoughts tend to be about myself and my problems (and losing my job at this time, and being a vulnerable part of the population, health-wise, can be pretty distracting), and my thoughts toward others tend to be a lot like “why are they thinking like that?”… And I can use the excuse of social-distancing to hunker down and forget about everyone else around me. Sound familiar?

Almost forgot to mention: I really started thinking about this topic more in earnest about a year ago, when I heard a wonderful speaker at our Oregon Right to Life convention named Josh Brahm (Equal Rights Institute), and then talked to him at his booth afterwards. I almost got my hackles up as he spoke, because he talked about how he consciously tries to listen more than speak, to empathize with those he meets with. And I thought, “How can he do that, when they are so obviously wrong?” … thus exposing my own biases and lack of humility, love, and empathy. The trick seems to be: wanting to love the other person more than wanting to be “right”, or “correct”; to really be like Jesus, more than being correct in my theology about Jesus. Does that make sense? It’s not that he (or I) want to compromise who God is, or what He has revealed about Himself, but that we want to really make Him known through our own thoughts and actions, MORE than we want to have the correctness of our theology known to all those who happen to hear.

So, I really need to take my own advice to heart: to lean on Jesus more, to focus on Him, trusting Him with all my heart, and leaning not unto my own understanding. Can I make sure that Jesus is living His life through me, instead of making sure that I have the correct theology about Him?

Can I get an “Amen”?!

So, I’ve spent a lot of time on Facebook lately. Pray for me! Seriously, doesn’t seem like a good habit, in many ways. But I have noticed a few things that I wanted to comment on, and, again, Facebook doesn’t seem like a safe place to do it.

Let me start off with a scary statement that came to my attention in a new way some months ago, and it is this:

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbor.

Jeremiah 23:30

The way this came up was in the context of sharing in our church, which was and is meant to be done in the sense of “prophecy” (noun) or “prophesying” (verb), meaning speaking things that God has already spoken to our own hearts and sharing with others for their edification, etc. (see a fuller discussion in 1 Corinthians 14 if you’re interested). And when this verse from Jeremiah came up it was noticed that sometimes (oftentimes?) we can hear really good teaching or preaching or “prophecy” which stirs our minds, excites our imaginations and captivates us, so that we want to share that nugget with others. BUT it can be that we have never really HEARD what God was speaking to our own hearts. And so even when sharing this great truth, God can be against us because we have essentially just stolen the words from whoever we heard it from, in that we did not let that word do its work WITHIN OURSELVES first before we share it.

And I KNOW I’ve been guilty of this. On many occasions.

Ouch!

I’ve been thinking about this in the sense of Matthew 7:1 (“Judge not lest you be judged.”) lately. I think, if I understand God’s heart in this, He wants us to weigh our words and hearts and motives before we speak, before we even think, in every situation, “Am I judging / about to judge?” this person, or this situation? And if so, am I completely blameless with respect to it or them? And even if that is true, is this going to help the person / situation by me saying it now? But, sadly, mostly I hear this verse quoted essentially as a defense against being criticized or corrected by someone (and usually when the person who says it is quite clearly guilty as charged). So, the word that Jesus spoke that is meant to promote peace and sincere love and understanding becomes a weapon to divide, to put down, to ward off the life-giving rebuke we so desperately need.

So … I’ve been conscious in all these posts of trying to (at least) THINK before publishing, “Is this really what I’ve experienced / heard from God about / know for certain / is being applied to my life already?” And seriously, I’ve had lots of ideas about stuff to write about, but checked myself, because … well … it wasn’t REAL in my life yet; wasn’t a part of me, but just good ideas and exalted thoughts. So, feel free to weigh in if I have failed (well, it’s probably hard for anyone reading this to see my life that closely, but still ….)

The further thought about this relates to Facebook that I mentioned to begin with (and probably other social media, too, for that matter). “Christian” memes. Quotes from the Bible against pretty pictures. Pithy sayings against flashy colored backgrounds. You’ve seen them. Maybe you have posted some (or many?). But, are we stealing these words? Have we happened on words that tickled our brains or even stirred our emotions but didn’t (yet) hit the mark of our deepest hearts (that place where it says the Word of God divides like a sharp two-edged sword)? And so we’re just stealing them because we haven’t paid the price to really HEAR them first.

John the Baptist asked the people (including the religious leaders) that were coming to him:

O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Luke 3:7b (KJV)

And, seriously, I believe God spoke that to my heart some years ago, and really caused me to think. Am I truly warned of God to flee the wrath to come (because of my sin)? Or am I coming because of custom, peer pressure, habit, desire for self-improvement or whatever other motive I might have? Am I really convicted that I am a sinner, and doomed to eternal destruction because of my own sins and therefore really NEED a Savior? Or is it somewhat less than that?

Because, and here’s the other reason, I believe, that God is angry with the so-called prophets in Jeremiah’s time: if we aren’t convinced of our own need for a Savior, then how can we really, truly, encourage/convince/exhort others to seek salvation either? We are found to be false witnesses, speaking of things that we haven’t really witnessed in our own lives. And all our efforts will only result in more people like ourselves, hypocritically espousing “truths” that we haven’t appropriated, bashing others with words we haven’t taken to heart, and disheartening those who have paid the price by our shallowness. Speaking to myself first of all (I hope, I pray)…

I also think that’s one reason I started this blog (as opposed to just posting on Facebook, for instance): as a reaction to these pithy quotes, these catchy sayings, and (what seem to me to be) shallow thinking and understanding. I don’t want to be guilty of that. I don’t think anyone is helped by that. I don’t think God is happy with it. It is all too easy to see a quote, to read a line, to have a thought, and immediately share it. And I see people sharing stuff 20 or 30 times a day! Seriously? You had time to digest each of those things? I want to share deep things, and hard things, and very personal things, sometimes things that take days to ponder and rewrite and reread and polish. Things that take more that 140 characters or 1″ of screen space to say.

So then there’s that personal aspect. By that I mean, it’s easy (again) to share something someone else has said, even to quote great truths from great teachers and preachers. Select, Copy, Paste, Share. Done. And I have been edified (some) by some of these things. But, part of (most of?) what Jesus meant by our being “witnesses” (I believe) is that we are involved; we have seen; we have thought about, pondered, been challenged and changed by what we saw, by what occurred. But if I read / hear / share something and all there is is the quote, the words of others, where’s the personal part? Where’s the “and this is how it affected me” part? Where’s the help I might need in applying it to my own (21st century) life because I see how you applied it? Where’s the faith you could share that maybe it could happen for me because it happened for you? Bottom line: are we sharing a frozen dinner that we warmed up in the microwave but had no actual part in preparing? Or are we / am I serving a meal made from scratch, made with love, coming from experience, tasted and stirred and prepared through my own life? And which is more satisfying?

I want this blog to be the latter; and I want my life to be that, most of all. Taking things I have seen and heard, and running them thoroughly through my life, preparing a meal that can really satisfy.

How am I doing?

Thanks for listening and praying!