Away From An Easy Gospel

You will be lied to. You will be told that you can follow Jesus without any sacrifice. You'll hear that those you are sacrificing for aren't really worth it. You'll feel that you're wasting your time, that sacrifice is a little too extreme. You could be spending your time on something you enjoy. You will be told that you're wasting your money giving it to God. Imagine how many more things you could enjoy if you would keep that 10%, or even more, for yourself and spend it on things that you want around the house, trips, and whatever else your heart desires. You will hear lies.

And we like the lies. They help us justify our human desire to not sacrifice.

Jesus didn't come riding on a horse, a tactical missile, or a drone and take over the world. He came in love, suffering, eventually bearing a cross that He was nailed to. This separates Jesus from all the other false saviors of this world. They redeem by violence, power, and authority. While Jesus redeemed by love.

Here are a few verses to emphasize that.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2 .ESV).

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—  but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:7-11 ESV).

He was willing to sacrifice for everyone, not just those who are worthy.
Are we willing to sacrifice for everyone - our enemies, the poor?

Paul taught,"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV).

We are called to follow Jesus' example. He gave Himself up for us. We must be willing to imitate Him and give ourselves up for others. But we have our own personal Gardens of Gethsemane where we often don't concede, "Not my will but your will be done." Instead, we try to take the easy road. We would much rather teach and instruct rather than sacrifice.

It's easy to tell the person considering an abortion, don't have one. It's harder to say, "I will adopt."

It's easy to tell the kid not doing their homework, "Get your homework done." It's harder to say, "I will help."

It's easy to tell someone poorly clothed and lacking in food, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled." It's harder to give them the things that they need.

Our problems aren't anything new. The early church was struggling with similar issues too. Hence the instruction of James.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,  and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:14-18 ESV).

I had a preacher friend who preached on adoption. And as pastors sometimes get, he got a scathing letter about his sermon. The gist of the letter was that adoption is a great cause but that it really shouldn't be a concern of the church. The salvation of people's souls, not adoption, is the focus of the church. Loving actions like adoption should be in the realm of organizations outside the church while the church teaches salvation in Jesus.

You know the problem with that email is that it is so close to being right. Satan won't come into our churches, ask us to chop up pigs, cover ourselves in blood, and dance around singing songs to a pagan idol. He will just take us one step away from the truth. That's damaging enough.

You may be thinking that my preacher friend is wrong and the email writer is right-on because that email at its essence expresses the American gospel from the last fifty years. A gospel that is concerned about the truth over love, getting people saved rather than living redeemed lives. A gospel that surgically removed loving actions to the community and the world into outside organizations from the heart of the church. It expresses the gospel that ushered in the decline of America. It expresses the gospel that created a powerless church. For it's like this was the gospel.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you just told me the truth of the gospel so that I would believe, I was thirsty and you just told me the truth of the gospel so that I would believe, I was a stranger and you just told me the truth of the gospel so that I would believe,  I was naked and you just told me the truth of the gospel so that I would believe, I was sick and you just told me the truth of the gospel so that I would believe, I was in prison and you just told me the truth of the gospel so that I would believe.’ 

No! No! No!

The gospel has been spoiled if we think that is what the gospel is. Jesus modeled sacrifice to us. And we must live sacrifically for others.

This is the actual teachings of Jesus:

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?  And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40 ESV).

We can't separate our spiritual life and the telling of the gospel from helping others. Likewise, we can't separate helping others from telling them the gospel. For our help is part of the gospel message. It's not the gospel without our sacrifice. The reason our communities aren't being reached for Jesus isn't because we haven't figured out the right program to reach them; it's because those of us who go to church on Sundays aren't surrendered to Jesus and living for Him. We don't model His sacrifice by becoming a living sacrifice for others.

We want to follow Jesus without any self-sacrifice. We want an easy gospel. But Jesus modeled self-sacrifice. And if we have given our life to following Jesus, to walk as He walks, then we will model that same self-sacrifice. We will give of ourselves so that others may know God. Just like Jesus gave of Himself so that you may know and be right with God.

Words are cheap. Sacrifice is what is needed to walk as Jesus walked. Sacrifice is what is needed to change this world for Jesus. 

Just A Crayon

When a crayon is your favorite possession. When a crayon is all that you have. I want to say that it will get better. But sometimes life is just sad.

When I went to Liberia, I was given the privilege of bringing soccer balls to give to schools that didn't have any soccer balls. (Thanks to the Antwerp Soccer Association, Dooley Funeral Home, and Floyd Ramsier for purchasing and sending me with these balls). The way our luggage worked is that I would have two suitcases. One that would be used for water systems and supplies for Hope 2 Liberia and one that I could use for the stuff I would need. I crammed my one suit case with fifteen soccer balls, air pumps, and needles. All my personal items were in my carry-on. I was going to bring soccer balls (footballs to them) to those that didn't have any soccer balls.

Before leaving, I thought giving away the soccer balls would be the best time of the trip. I knew that I was providing water systems that would give water that allows life. I knew that I was teaching lessons that would present the Gospel that would share the Living Water. In contrast to those things, soccer balls seem relatively meaningless. But, for some reason, I thought giving away the soccer balls would be the best thing ever.

And then I walked to the school to give away my first soccer ball. It was a school of around three hundred students. And I walked in. The students were crammed into rooms, receiving an education that will, hopefully, make their lives better.

The principal pulled the oldest class away from their studies for me to present the soccer ball to them. And grief just struck me. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was all of the eager students stuffed into rooms. Maybe it was the fact that these kids loved the soccer ball so much and had so little. Maybe it was the fact that my kids can misplace one of their many balls and forget about it while these kids have absolutely nothing.

When we gave away water systems to the families, I also had the privilege of giving away crayons at the end of the presentation to children. One crayon per kid. A crayon that would be their only toy. A crayon that they would love and cherish. A crayon. Just a crayon. The smiles. The joy. That just a crayon can bring.

I'm not going to repeat myself here (Opened Eyes - A Call To Help The Least of These) except to say that we are so blessed. And we let Calvinism creep in and think that this is just the way God wants this world. Or we let Americanism creep in and say that if they would just work harder they would have a better life. It's so easy for us to say that they need to do something. But if you were there, walking on those crowded streets, looking into those young, hope-filled eyes - if you could see those dirty streets and those old, hopeless eyes - you wouldn't think they need to work harder or they need to do this or that. You would say, "What can I do to help? What can I do to empower you to reach your potential and transform this nation from a place that was on the precipice of hell to what God intends it to be? What can I do to help you attain a better life?"

It's easy to tell people what they should do. It's much more difficult to ask, "What can I do?"

The Mother Keebeh Academy in Monrovia, Liberia.

One of the Classes at The Mother Keebeh Academy.

The Class with their soccer ball.

A little boy who received a crayon
along with a water filtration system
to keep him alive.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith  but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

A picture of our bucket of crayons
taken by Kelly Kuker

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith  apart from your works, and I will show you my faith  by my works. (James 2:14-18 ESV).

Committed to God more than to Ourselves

The author or Total Church shares a story of an incident at his church.

“Matt rang to ask what he should do.  His friend George has asked him to go street preaching.  Matt wasn’t interested but didn’t know how to respond.  So the three of us got together.  As the conversation began, it was clear that George thought we were selling out in some way.  But as we talked about sharing our lives with unbelievers, about evangelism that was 24/7, about opening our homes, George’s tone changed.  At the end of our conversation he admitted, “I’m not sure if I’m up for that kind of commitment.”

We would like an easy out.  Our fallen nature would like to be right with God by going to church every time the doors open, evangelize one night a week, and have the rest of our lives to ourselves.  But this just is not being a Christian.  There are reasons that we come to church and gather together – I think it is extremely important, but I think the most important places to worship God is at our workplaces and in our homes.  Our faith, if it stays in this building, is no faith at all.  And our faith, if it remains only words, is a mockery of the life Jesus intends for us to live. 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.   James 1:22-27 (ESV)

There is a danger in talking about loving people in that we can talk about it so much that we deceive our hearts and believe that we are doing it.  God is not impressed with us if we just sit around and talk about loving others.  He enjoys us when we actually go out and do something.  It can be small like giving our neighbors a present, it can be significant like giving someone a car, it’s helping out and meeting people’s need however we can.

If we have money as Paul taught in Ephesians 4 when talking about the new self and old self, then we are to use that money - not to fulfill our own dreams of having our dream home, nicer cars, or something for ourselves - to help those in need.  Most churches do not have the resources to significantly help people because we are like the Israelites at the time of Haggai the prophet (Haggai 1).  We spend all of our resources on our homes and our own desires while the work of the church struggles on.  So we, as a church find small things to help people in, but we could do so much more if we were all committed financially to ministering through the church, committed more than we are to our homes, to our cars, our entertainment, or other indulgences of this world.  Are we living our live for things that will last or for things that will pass away?

The church is a great tool to help us be who God intends for us to be.  But if we just talk church, go to classes, listen to sermons, yet do not let Jesus’ life of love shine out from us, then we are guilty of a grave sin.  Pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world.  We see the pendulum swinging here, a struggle within the faith.  Some like to abstain from sin and think that makes them right with God.  Others like to do loving deeds and think that makes them right with God.  The truth is that it is a combination of the two that is pure and undefiled religion.

In the documentary, Lord Save us From Your Followers, Tony Campolo shares the following illustration:

When I was in high school there was this boy name Roger.  He was outed - a gay kid and his homosexual orientation became known.  West Philadelphia High was a huge and tough inner-city school.  You can imagine what we did fifty years ago when ignorance prevailed on this issue.  We humiliated this kid at every turn.

On Fridays, after phys-ed, when all of the other kids would go into the shower Roger wouldn’t go in with us; he was afraid to.  When he took his turn we waited for him with our wet towels, and when he would come out, we would whip him and sting his little body.

I wasn’t there the day that they took Roger and dragged him into that shower room

and shoved him into the corner.  While he yelled and screamed for mercy, five guys urinated all over him.  I wasn’t there when that happened.

He went home.  He went to bed at about ten o’clock.  They say it was about two o’clock in the morning when Roger went down into the basement of his house and he hung himself.  I knew I wasn’t a Christian because if I was a Christian, I would have been Roger’s friend.  You don’t have to legitimate somebody’s lifestyle in order to love that person, to be brother or sister to that person, and to stand up for that person.

A true faith, one that isn’t just about me being sinless and me getting to heaven, lives itself out through meeting other people’s needs.  It is about befriending the friendless, giving to those who are not able to give back, and loving those around us any opportunity that we get.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.  James 2:18-26 (ESV).