“No one holds grudges against Santa and the Tooth Fairy or mythical beings like Thor and Zeus…but there’s something about Jesus.”

The basic premise in all this, is that if Jesus isn’t real or isn’t who he said he was (God), why are people so frustrated about him?

(Watch the video here RSS readers)

Coming from my Christian perspective, I obviously think there is some truth here, but I think the video fails to recognize the bigger issue. The atheists I’ve talked to and read rarely seem to have a problem with Jesus and even more rarely are they frustrated by him, it’s the Christians who believe in him that give them angst. They often choose to not believe in Jesus as God because of the actions of people who do. How can a loving God and a enemy loving Jesus produce such judgmental, hate-filled followers? To them, he must not be real because those who are supposed to be carrying his message don’t seem to be much like him.

So my problem with criticizing atheists for not seeing the fullness of their argument, is that it tries to take the onus off of Christians who have failed to fully be Christ followers. When it comes to the lack of faith in America and around the world, we have to start with owning where we’ve fallen short. We can’t just pass the blame onto others.

This points a finger, instead of extending a hand.

This builds a wall, instead of opening a door.

Instead of passing the blame off of ourselves onto them, let’s own our mistakes and the way we’ve failed to live into truly following Jesus. What kind of witness would that portray?

In all this I’m mostly talking about myself…the way that I’ve talked above atheists in conversations and how I’ve ended friendships with people who didn’t see life and faith the way I did. It’s sad to me that I’ve lived that way and I hope that I’ve learned enough to not think of people as any different than me.

I continue to pray for those who do not know Jesus, especially those who I’m close with.

I hope that I’ll continue befriending them, extending a hand, opening a door, instead of criticizing their beliefs.

Don’t pass the blame.

Your thoughts on the video and my comments are encouraged!

When we’re at church, we become our good Christian self.

When we’re at school, we become our smart and intellectual self.

When it’s the weekend, we become our fun-loving, have a good time self.

And rarely do any of these personalities we’ve created ever cross paths.

Somehow we’ve bought the lie that if we are our good Christian self enough of the time, God will have mercy on us and take us to heaven. He does love us with an unending grace right?

So we choose to stay as little baby Christians who go to church to hear great music and be convicted by great teaching, and once we leave the church we’ll enter into another one of our personalities and leave everything from church at church to pick it all up again a week later. When our faith becomes nothing more than leaving our normal life to attend church to make sure we’re good with God and forgiven of our sins, we’ve completely misunderstood our calling.

We’ve bought into the idea that the total and complete Christian message is that we’re sinners and God, through his great love, saved us. Christianity then becomes just something we accept, nothing else.

It doesn’t take much of us to simply believe in Jesus. In fact, that doesn’t cost us anything.

But following Jesus, that’s another matter. There’s no greater cost than following Jesus.

The challenge for us is for all of who we are to be wrapped up in Jesus.

The challenge is for us to lay down our lives for him.

I was reading through John 5 recently and one part of what Jesus was sharing stuck out to me so much.

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts (John 5:39-42).”

As I read that, I began to wonder if our focus on “Biblical teaching” and “Bible studies” might be getting in the way of us coming to Jesus. No doubt, the Scriptures teach about and point to Jesus. But Jesus clearly says here that they are not an end, in and of themselves. They only aid us as they push us closer to Him.

One interesting thing is how Biblically illiterate we are today even though we supposedly place a high emphasis on the Bible in our churches.

I even attend a seminary that has a slogan of: “If it’s the Bible you want, then you want…(my school).” It’s not that I hate the slogan, I have received a lot of wisdom from my professors who do well teaching directly from the Bible. But I do wonder if putting so much focus on the Bible turns our eyes to the wrong thing first.

Placing anything in front of Jesus is making it an idol. I can’t speak for all of us, but I’m sure on some level we’ve all made an idol out of the Bible.

I’m curious to hear some of your perspectives on this.

Does our focus on Biblical teaching and Bible centered churches push us to worship the Bible more than Jesus?

Should we be concerned at all by the words of Jesus in John 5?

The story of the astonishing act of God himself in coming down to be part of our alienated world, to endure the full horror of our rebellion against love, to take the whole burden of our guilt and shame, and to lift us up into communion and fellowship with himself, breaks into this self-centered search for our own happiness, shifts the center from the self and its desires to God and his glory.

It is true, God forgive us, that Christians have turned even this into something that they thought they could possess for themselves; that they have privatized this mighty work of grace and talked as if the whole cosmic drama of salvation culminated in the words “For me; for me.”

As if the one question is “How can I be saved?” leading inevitably to the question, “How can anyone be saved?”

But this is a perversion of the gospel.

For anyone who has understood what God did for us all in Jesus Christ, the one question is: “How shall God be glorified? How shall his amazing grace be known and celebrated and adored?”

The discussion of the role of the world religions and secular ideologies from the point of view of the Christian faith is skewed if it begins with the question, “Who is going to be saved at the end?”

That is a question which God alone will answer, and it is an arrogant presumption on the part of the theologians to suppose it is their business to answer it.

We have to begin with the might work of grace in Jesus Christ and ask, “How is he to be honored and glorified?”

The goal of missions is the glory of God.

—

Excerpt from Newbigin’s “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society,” pages 178-179.

I read this a few weeks back and it really broke me. How often does the Gospel become something centered on me rather than something that inspires me to bring glory to Him? For me, it is a difficult question to grasp.

Employment is often an area where many of us place our identity. It is quite easy for me to know myself as a worship leader. It is quite easy for my friend to know himself as a deadbeat working a dead-end job just to get by. For different reasons, the true identity we each have is getting lost.

This idea of identity is something I’ve been processing a lot lately because it is so closely tied to the purpose for life we each have. If our identity is employee or parent or deadbeat, that can often become the main purpose we have for our lives. Whether it be good or bad, it is not our true identity.

As I’ve navigated this for myself I want to recommend a few things that are helpful (or have been for me).

• Spending time in God’s Word. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” As we’ve talked about, I have a hard time saying that God’s Word is only the Bible, but clearly to be drawn into God’s presence the practice of consistently being rooted in the Bible is vital.
• Reading books. I know right? More reading? I sound like a grandpa. Reading allows you to enter into the big picture of life more easily. I prefer reading theology (the study of who God is) because I see it as so key for how we should live in light of who God is.
• Enjoy creativity and art. Creative art, whether it be movies, music, pictures, paintings, etc…takes us from the difficulties of life and can give us new aspirations and point us back to the true Creator.

In the end, the struggle for our true identity is something that never ends. We will be constantly fighting the battle to remain rooted in Him.

I’m thankful it isn’t a battle we’ll lose.

I’ve felt very convicted about something in the past week or two. It was lingering within me a couple weeks ago, but was definitely confirmed as something that needs to change this past Saturday.

I felt it partially 2 weeks ago when the Twins beat the Tigers in epic fashion. I felt it partially that same week when the Twins lost in epic fashion to the Yankees in a game that included a horrendous call that probably cost my team the game.

And then this weekend on Saturday I saw it watching some of the Florida/Arkansas game. You should have seen the faces of Florida fans when Arkansas was about to take the lead, and then the faces of those same people when Florida kicked a field goal to win with a few seconds left.

Or you should have seen how mad I was when Nebraska played about as bad as possible against Texas Tech.

Sports have a funny way of pulling out all our emotions…over something as simple as competition and game play. If you think about it…kind of a weird thing.

But I had this one thought in the back of my head on Saturday. It was the same thought I had a couple weeks ago, but it was a confirmed thought seeing it take place in other people.

I have all this passion and emotion about my favorite sports teams….

Do I have that same passion about seeing Jesus face to face?

I pose the same question to you.

I was thinking the other day about how weird it is that I’m convicted about different things in my life all the time. Trying to change my attitude in different situations, trying to make better decisions, etc.

In some ways this is a drag because I’m realizing it never ends. Being convicted is a part of the Christian life. It is a reality. I am constantly trying to break down the walls I build in my life that I don’t let Christ into.

To me, here is the reason why this process never ends:

Jesus wants all of me. Every single part.

And he wants all of you too.

(Photo: Loopack)

Dear Barack Obama

Dear Reader,

I’m sure you’ve been wondering why I’ve been writing about politics with such a negative tone. And that is a valid question. I’m sure that I managed to offend almost everyone with each of those letters that I posted. I do have a method behind my madness (if you want to call it that).

First off let me say that my words are not Gospel. I am truly a “man of depravity”. I could very well be in sin with my thoughts on politics and I fully accept and embrace that.

I spent plenty of time the past few weeks watching both conventions, only this time my vote was up for grabs. I remember watching these growing up and thinking they were extremely boring. Most of the time I thought the same thing watching them this year. Something did catch my eye this year though.

I think we’ve fallen for the politicians this time. What do I mean?

It seems now more than ever we are content with praising politicians for their ability to change the world (Of course I am young, so call me naive…I’m sure this has happened before).

I could swear that some people think that Barack Obama is Jesus. He is going to take away all our problems, he is going to make our country incredible again. I could swear that some people think Sarah Palin is the Virgin Mary. The perfect Christian woman who is against the right things and for the right things. She is going to turn our country around.

They both might be incredible people, but neither are the Savior.

While watching all those people at the conventions giving those mere mortal candidates endless standing ovations, I couldn’t help but wonder why.

I found myself yesterday asking, “Why am I getting all fired up about this stuff?” “Why do I let politics become about ‘they’ or ‘them’?” We’re all able to get pulled into the game of American politics, yet God calls us to something much more important: following and serving Him.

Somewhere we missed the idea that the hope of glory is Christ in us, not the next President. Changing our country isn’t their job, it is our job.

My friend Ross said it really well, “I don’t like that we want the government to do the Church’s job.”

What would it look like for followers of Christ to give all their energy in following Jesus instead of praising their favorite Presidential nominee?

Sincerely,

Tyler

Watercooler Wednesdays @ Ethos.

Creative Chaos @ The Soul.

Today I hope we provide some concrete answers. The beauty of this blog conversation and my conversation with Rose is that there are no concrete answers. As you can tell, I don’t deal with this very well, but I am doing my best to open up to God’s moving without specific answers. Here is the rest of our conversation:

Me: I totally understand that many of the things I feel called to cost money (guitar, schooling, etc.) and I need to have a way to pay for them. I also can see that God has blessed us with jobs, a car, a place to live, and I don’t need to give them up. But we still haven’t figured out how we can serve “the least of these” and also serve money. In some way we are serving money by working jobs, paying bills…all those things are money oriented. So how can we live to do these money oriented things and also serve the God who desires everything from us?

Rose: I think the biggest thing is how you spend your time. If someone chooses to work longer and allows that to be their top priority then I think they have their priorities wrong. In our situation, we don’t have a ton of money, but we do have time that we can give. I think everyone has time. When I spend time with my small group girls, I feel so much more fulfillment than anytime I have a big day at work. I try and focus my mind on eternity and not material things that are of the here and now.

Me: I like to think of how I can sanctify myself from unbelievers. How can I show that I am different? I think a lot of my life and a lot of the “average” Christian life, does show a difference but I don’t think finances is one of those ways. Christians spend lavishly just as much as anybody else. I look at my own life and wonder how much different I look than the average person with how I spend my money. Just because somewhere around 10% of our money might go to a church and humanitarian efforts doesn’t mean I have set myself a part with my finances. At the same time, I don’t think we spend money on anything crazy. But, I want to challenge us to think of ways to be sanctified with our spending outside the 10% we already give away. 10% is pretty pathetic if you ask me, and it is probably sad that I let it be the benchmark.

Rose: This takes me back to when we were really struggling financially and had some unfortunate things happen and people just gave us money…and we still don’t know who those people are. My trust in the Lord and confidence in His provision has never been the same since then. I want my spirit to be listening to Him so when others are in a similar situation, God can use us to help them through. To me the real giving of yourself, is giving of your heart, not just money. As long as your heart is rooted in Jesus and in love then I don’t think money is the problem.

Shane Claiborne was asked this: How do we combat the pull toward materialism, and what does simplicity look like in the 21st Century?

His response has stuck with me since I read it:

“I think the most important question is not what I should give away, because the Scriptures say you can sell everything you have and give it to the poor, but if you don’t have love it’s nothing. So the deepest question around simplicity is about love, and redistribution of resources is only meaningful inasmuch as it’s rooted in love. When we really figure out how to live in the personalism and love of Christ with our neighbor, then that defines what’s enough so that we’re not just driven by an ideology, but by a love relationship to our neighbor.”

Romans 12:8-10

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Scene: The coffee shop within Powell’s bookstore in Portland called World Cup Coffee and Tea.

A few weeks ago Rose (that is my wife for those who do not know) and I went out to coffee. I had lots rolling around in my head. So we just started talking. This post is a synopsis of that conversation. We are only posting this so that you can join that conversation and help us grapple with these things. This whole thing will be in two parts, one today, the other tomorrow.

Me: I struggle so much with living in suburbia, living on much more than $2 a day and also being a Christian. I read verses where Jesus tells a man to sell everything he has before he can follow Jesus, I read about Jesus explaining the kingdom being accessible to the sheep, but the goats not making the cut, and I hear story after story about how well off I have it compared to most people. I can’t help but cringe every time I fill up my tank or go to the store to buy clothes. How can we, as a couple desiring to live with Biblical principles, follow Jesus’ words and yet live in such a consumer driven society?

Rose: It is hard to compare our lives with the rest of the world. When we look at our lives, barely living pay check to pay check, it is considered wealthy by the world’s standards. Growing up in such a small home, it has always been a dream to have a nice home for our kids, and to be able to provide a nice life for them. That is important to me. But, when I think of my time in Africa, then I feel like I have way more than I could ever need. Does that mean I need to change my thinking? Or should I not compare myself to someone who lives in a totally different culture? I’ve been changed by having seen true poverty in Kenya, Uganda, and Romania, and it is so important for people to be able to see face to face, these things that are only words (poverty, malnutrition, etc).

Me: I think of Monica, the girl from Uganda that we sponsor, and I think about the fact that she walks miles a day, every day, just to get water. I don’t know how my life, other than giving $35 a month, can make an impact in her world. I need to keep my job and spend money to go to school, yet I can’t help but wonder whether I am that man that needs to sell everything.

Rose: Just like you can’t ever be perfect, I don’t think that if you sold everything you would find Christian perfection. I don’t think God is calling us to sell everything we have. I know Jesus is saying that in those verses, but I sense it is more of a mindset or heart issue. I can think of so many people who are driven by money everyday and it truly has become their idol. And there are others who have a lot of money but have used their income wisely to bless others, while still providing essential needs for themselves.

Discuss.