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. 

Faith In Jesus

When we hear the phrase "faith in Jesus," what does that mean?

It means that when his teaching is difficult, we will do it.

It means that when we don't want to do what he teaches, we will do it.

It means that when it is countercultural, we will still do it.

It means that when it will make us unpopular, we will do it.

It means that when it requires sacrifice, we will do it.

Faith is all about trusting in something.

The first Saturday in May is always Free Comic Book Day. How are you all enjoying your free comics?

What? You're saying you didn't go and get your free comics?

That's the thing. Free doesn't mean forced. There were free comics given away on Saturday, May 4th, at comic shops around the nation. Yet if you didn't go get them, you don't have them.

Grace is free. Faith is free. You just have to take it. You just have to express it.

However, when we talk about faith and grace being free, we can ignore the fact that when you take the free grace and acknowledge faith in Jesus, your life will change.

This was tough for the Christians in Rome to understand when Paul wrote them his letter. A lot of them were Jews. And they had placed their faith in the Old Testament law. Paul was saying, "Place your faith in Jesus." The Gentiles also wrongly placed their faith. Instead of the law, they placed it in freedom, and Paul was saying, "Place your faith in Jesus."

This is also tough for us. Our world, even the Christian culture, tells us to place our faith in so many things that are not Jesus.

If you believe that there is nothing greater in life than being high or enjoying pleasure, then you will spend your life chasing the next high or temporary pleasure. If you believe that there is nothing greater in life than spending time with your biological family, then you will spend time investing in your biological family. If you believe there is nothing more important than sports, then you will spend your time training yourself or training your child.

However, if you believe there is nothing more important than following Jesus, then you will spend your life looking for ways to serve Him. If you believe that there is nothing greater in life than being part of the family of God, then you will align your biological family time with family of God time. If you believe there is nothing more important than spiritually training yourself, then you will invest your life in loving others, studying together, and praying.

What you believe in matters. Your true beliefs influence every action of your life.

When we have a problem serving God, setting aside time for God's family, loving others, studying together, and praying, it doesn't mean that we don't have time for those things. We always find time for the things we really believe in. It doesn't mean that those things are impossible in our life. We always make possible the things that we really want. It means that we have a belief in Jesus problem. We have either created a fictional, pseudo-Jesus that doesn't make those radical calls on our life, or we have just justified away the radical call of Jesus on our life.

So Jesus is saying, you can spend your time having faith in Him and live the life you were created to live. Or you can have faith in one of the many idols of this world. The choice is yours. Faith in something temporary that will not get you where you are supposed to go. Or faith in something beyond our greatest imagining.

You do have faith in something. The question is whether that faith is in the right thing and will get you living the life you were made to life. The good news is that life with Jesus is like a free gift. You just have to take it. It would be like a motorcycle giveaway. Even if you won, you would still have to put the key in and take it home.

The big point that faith heads toward:  Jesus' sacrifice covers our sins - if we have faith - to empower us to live like He lived, as a sacrifice for others. Faith is the key that unleashes God's work in our lives and in the lives around us. We have faith, and we bring that faith forward. From just something written about in a letter from Paul to the Christians in Rome nearly 2000 years ago to real life in your houses, in your churches, and in your community.

The Christian Stooge

For too long, Christians have been naive when it comes to politics. We have allowed politicians to manipulate us into giving them our vote when they say the right things on the issues we care about. But when it comes to actually doing anything about the issues that we vote for, they have failed to bring their pontifications to reality. Politicians are good for that. It's time for Christians to stop playing the funny man in the stooge's act.

It looks like it is happening again.

Recently, Eric Sapp wrote an article entitled Rick Perry's Church Giving Hypocrisy.

Here's a great excerpt:

What we should be saying is that it doesn't matter whether the Church could do a better job caring for the poor or not because the Church isn't doing it. We wouldn't need Section 8 housing if we had enough Habitat homes. We wouldn't need food stamps or school lunches if we had enough soup kitchens. The way to ensure better care for the poor than government can provide is not to hobble government programs but for the Church to make those programs unnecessary. The problem is not that government is doing too much but that the Church is doing too little.

He goes on to share that Rick Perry didn't even give a hundred dollars to the church the year that he made a million. Here is an article, Perry has not overburdened the collection plate, that goes in depth about his giving.

Wow. Actions like Perry's are not going to empower the church to step up and fill the hole caused by the disappearance of the government programs that many Christians, including Perry, are clamoring for. The moral thing for Christians and the church to do would be to actually provide the programs on a scale that the government would no longer need to do them. Until we step up and put our money and lives where our rhetoric is, we have no place, if we claim to be Christians, to ask for the government to stop the programs many poor people need. If we were already taking care of their needs, then we could be justified in asking the government to stop taking care of them.

If we think that the church can do it better than the state, then let's start doing it!

Quote from James and the Giant Peach - Learning to Dream Again

In James And The Giant Peach a little boy named James is orphaned and moves in with his evil aunts take care of him.  James dreams of escaping his terrible situation and traveling to New York City.  Then one magical day arrives.  James receives a magical seed that turns into a giant peach.  James and The Giant Peach is a story of suffering, triumph, and overcoming obstacles as James floats and flies across the ocean with the giant peach to New York City.

At the end of the movie, after James arrives in New York City, his aunts appear and attempt to take credit for the peach, so they can profit off of it.  James tries to get people to believe the truth when he explains the magical, wonderful, yet unbelievable story that caused the giant peach to arrive in New York City.

The aunt retorts in a slithery voice, "This is all something he dreamed up."

James finds courage and replies, "Well, maybe it started that way.  As a dream, but doesn't everything.  Those buildings.  These lights.  This whole city.  Somebody had to dream about it first.  And maybe that is what I did.  I dreamed about coming here, but then I did it."

Everything starts with a dream.

When the Holy Spirit came upon the early church, Peter quoted from the prophet Joel, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” [Acts 2:17-18, 21 (ESV)].

These days of the Spirit are here.  Notice that with the Holy Spirit, old men will dream dreams.  We are never too old to dream.  To think of things that aren’t yet that should be.  To see God’s vision of the world that we feel in the depths of our being should be but isn’t.

Age beats us down.  And the more we age, the more we can become disillusioned that the things we do become meaningless, that the wrongs in this world cannot be fixed.  The ideals we once strove for are unreachable.  But the Holy Spirit gives the power to continue dreaming.  It gives us the power to keep going despite all obstacles.  It gives us the strength to see a world that is not yet and go after it.  No longer do we have to stop dreaming as we age.  We can dream, and we can change into that which we dream.

May we continue to dream, and may we, as followers of Jesus, dream His dreams.  May His dreams become reality because we never give up on dreaming them.  It probably won’t be a giant peach, but it will be a better world.