The Season of Giving

We often call Christmas the Season of Giving, and that's pretty awesome!  It's great to see that the birth of Christ can serve as an inspiration to the world to be more charitable.  There is absolutely no problem with this!  I see bumper stickers demanding that we all remember to keep Christ as the center of Christmas, which works for those of us who know Him.  However, for the passing world which has no idea who Jesus is, how much sense does that make?  They don't understand the need for a Savior yet, they don't recognize the price of a life owned by sin, nor do they recognize the birth of the One who willingly paid that debt...not yet at least.  What do they see?  They see the name of Christ attached to a holiday that professes selflessness as its central theme.  And, you know what?  That's pretty accurate!

The example of giving at Christmas does not ultimately come from the gifts of the wise men, nor does it come from December 25th being adopted as Jesus' birthday.  One of the best scriptures explaining from where giving at Christmas comes is Philippians 2:3-8 which says, "(Christ Jesus), being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!"

In the first half of that verse, we find ourselves at Christmas.  Sure, it misses the narration by Linus about the shepherds in the field being terrified and the "no room at the inn," but we as Christians must remember why the story of Mary, Joseph, the angels, the Shepherds and, four years later, the Magi is important.  This was not a Silent or Holy Night in and of itself.  The question is what "Came Upon a Midnight Clear?"  What, beyond the mere tradition of it all, happened?  It was at that moment when Jesus decided that it was time to forsake His Godly position and become a man, or as Paul writes in Philippians 2, made Himself "nothing."  He came as a servant of all people for all time.  This gift continued until around 33 years later when Jesus reached the summit of His purpose on earth, when He died on the cross for our sin.  Jesus is the gift at Christmas, not merely His presence but ultimately His selfless sacrifice.

So, this Christmas, let's focus on the words of application that came right before the above passage in Philippians 2.  These are verses 3 and 4 which say, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."  It's not enough to give gifts, because we can give for selfish reasons.  We aren't called to be generous, we're called to be selfless.  We aren't called to be giving because it feels good, we are called to put others above ourselves regardless of how it feels.  Jesus made Himself obedient to death on a cross, and, from what I have read, that doesn't feel nice at all.  1 John 3:16 says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us."  He placed the needs of everyone over His own needs.  That’s what Christmas is all about!  So what?  John continues, "And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

In this Season of Giving, let's have the attitude of Jesus.  Let's consider the needs of others so much greater than our own that we lay everything we have and are, our entire lives, down for their sake.  Let's not just put Christ back in Christmas...let's be Christ in Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

In His Grip,

BJ

A Submissive Faith

I praise God for the work He is doing in our teens!  Mia's baptism on Sunday was amazing and is but one of many ways that God is moving through our students!  What an entrance into Thanksgiving week!  It excites me to no end when students respond in faith to the Lord's movement in their lives!  We have been talking about faith so much in youth group; in fact, the first third of our year's theme is devoted to it.   A few weeks ago, I wrote about faith not being a feeling; a subject the teens discussed and learned at the beginning of our study on "a faith that cannot be shaken."  We have since moved to a more difficult understanding of faith which challenges even the most devout of us.  Life is so incredibly difficult!  It's like trying to drive a stick shift when you can't even reach the pedals!  We complain about not being able to figure out the clutch when, in reality, we are unable to even accelerate or brake!  For many of us, when life gets difficult, when stresses, anxieties and persecutions come, our faith struggles.  We have read, discussed and learned in youth group that this is because many who give their lives to the Lord don't understand that a faith in God through Jesus Christ must be actively submissive.

In Matthew 16:24, the Apostle pens a very famous saying of Jesus, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."  Without diving into the extensive study of what it means to "take up (one's) cross," let's dive into the discussion of what it means to deny one's self and follow Christ.  Many of us have an exceptionally hard time doing this!  In order to deny ourselves, we must allow someone else the title of "Lord over us."  That's all well and good when we want to be saved from sin and death!  We can easily invite Jesus to be "the Lord of our life" when it means that we get a Hell-free eternity out of the deal, but do we understand that inviting Jesus to be our Lord means that we are submitting ourselves, our thoughts, our actions, our passions and our possessions to His ownership?  Mia understood this when she was baptized this past Sunday.  It was the sole topic of one of our conversations leading up to her baptism.  If our faith is to stand the test of pain, suffering and persecution, we must understand that we are not our own, that we are bought with a price. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Jesus famously recites the greatest commandment in Mark 12:30 and Luke 10:27 when He says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  This is a complete look at what it means to Love God and submit ourselves to Him with everything that we are. Over and over again, scripture teaches us that, in faith, we must submit ourselves to the Lord, but what does that look like?  We must ask ourselves, does God own our heart, the seat of our emotions?  Luke 12:34 says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  Does God have our attention?  Do we know what God loves?  Do we love what God loves?  Do we know what God hates?  Do we hate what God hates?  It's about submission.  It's about ownership.  Does God have our soul: our will and our emotional drive?  Colossians 3:23 tells us that we must do everything with all of our soul for the Lord.  Does He have that?  Does He possess our passion, our focus, our complete emotional energy?  Can we submit that?  Does God have our mind?  Have we submitted ourselves to His command in Philippians 4:8 to only dwell on that which is pure and edifying?  Does God have our strength, our actions and physical energy?  Colossians 3:17 tells us that whatever we do, whether eating or drinking or any other action, we do it all in Jesus' name.  Have we?  Is that a fair description of our faith?  If we do not submit these parts of ourselves to God, we do not have faith in Him.  We do not trust Him.

We often see our relationship with Jesus, our reception of His presence in our lives, as a contract.  In various clauses, we like to try to dictate the nature of our relationship.  We ask for only that which is necessary for salvation (I must say that this is only oftentimes, not everyone and not always, praise God!).  That type of thinking and attitude has effectively dictated the transactional nature of this relationship, "You get yours, God, when I get mine."  One of the big problems with this line of thinking, aside from being hypocritical, offensive and outlandishly presumptuous, is that there is absolutely no obligation on our part.  We reserve the right to dictate our own terms, review God's demands and express our opinion of His decrees and desires.  Our faith must be BUILT on the premise of full surrender!  We are not our own!  If we are no longer slaves to sin and death, it is only because we are slaves to God.  As Americans, that rings incredibly offensive, but we must understand that there is no middle ground.  To receive Jesus' lordship of our lives is to renounce our own.  We look at what baptism is, the submission of our body to be buried with Christ's in order to be raised to a new life under new management with His, a display that is still fresh in our minds from last Sunday, and see that submission is our marching order!  Jesus Christ is our cornerstone, our master, our God, our brother and our friend.  When we remember this, the uncertainty of this world, the unclear decisions, the frustrating responsibilities all begin to fall off our shoulders.  It is no longer our responsibility.  Thank you, Lord, for taking control!

In His Grip,

BJ

Countercultural Christianity

Christians must live counterculturally.  Christians must not resemble the priorities, the struggles, the joys or the miseries of the world.  Christians must be holy, but now I'm raising an interesting question.

What does it mean to be holy?  I think there is a huge misunderstanding of the meaning of that word.  For many in Christ, the meaning of the word "holy" is something as far removed from the realm of possibility as perfection.  These Christians are haunted by verses like Matthew 5:48 which says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect."  When read out of context, this verse, as well as others like it, can seem outlandishly daunting.  To others, being "holy" simply means being set aside for a task or purpose, for the word "holy" does mean "set apart" in the Hebrew.  In this idea, holiness is not a lifestyle as much as it is an identity created by the presence of the Holy Spirit in us.  In this viewpoint, Christians are holy only by the nature of the Divine presence within and calling upon them. 

Where both of these views on holiness have some merit, neither is complete.  God doesn't expect perfection.  Scripture can appear to say that only a sinless life is holy and honorable to God, but we must remember that the debt of all sin, for all who are in Christ Jesus, has been paid by His sacrifice on the cross.  However, holiness is not just something received by the Holy Spirit.  1 Thessalonians 4:7 says, "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life."  To live a life that is set apart here takes on a meaning that goes beyond just "chosen."  The Greek word used here for "holy" is a word that means "pure" as we can see by the contrast created in the verse itself.  To be set apart from the world becomes complete by not being stained by the world; being pure salt, being pure light.

For any who know me, I find such revelation and illumination in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).  Jesus' traveling sermon is so all-inclusive in its implications that I am reminded of His words daily.  In the introduction of His sermon, Jesus describes what it means to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.  At first, Jesus turns the tables by saying that the least are the blessed.  He then moves to a brief description of the purpose of a Kingdom citizen's life.  Here are His words, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."  (Matthew 5:13-16)

Anything that contaminates our saltiness makes us "unsalty" and, by default, no different than the world.  In this regard, holiness is a purity set in direct contrast to the impurity of the world, but to what end?  We are a light in the darkness.  When light shines in the darkness, the darkness is overcome by the direct contrast.  When light shines in the darkness it's like a cityscape viewed from the country.  A brilliantly lit city outshines the stars in the sky.  It's impossible to miss.  When our purpose on this earth is to shine, our holiness is the radiance of that light drawing people to the Father.  Peter restates this in 1 Peter 2:12, "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." Holiness is our ministry.  Holiness is our purpose.  We must choose to live holy lives, lives in direct contrast to the impurity of the world, in order to point people to Christ.  We can't earn salvation through holiness, but when we are not living lives of purity, when we are not following Christ in His ways, lock-step as it were, then we are salt that has lost its saltiness, a lamp covered by a bowl, a tree that bears no fruit.  None of these describe kingdom citizens.  Being a follower of Christ is nothing decided for you but something we must work out daily as Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13, "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."

To that end, let's be set apart from the world.  Let's turn the world upside down (or right-side up).  Let's live in the world but not of the world.  Let's be a light to the world that all may see God working through us.  Let's be the instrument of God's mercy and grace.  Let's live counterculturally, against the societal norm.  Let's be holy!

In His Grip,

BJ

Faith Is not a Feeling!

Thank God reality is not based on how we feel! Many of us understand this intellectually; however, we contradict that knowledge with the way we live our lives. It's true. We live in a "feel-good" culture that trusts feelings over logic and sense! Marriages break up because two people don't feel that spark anymore, fall for someone else or other similar instances when feelings trump common sense and reality. We enter contractual agreements for cars and houses with the understanding that we can't just feel like turning our back on the agreement whenever we get a wild hair. Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more common for people to breach contracts, obligations and even marriages for that very reason. Our emotions have become the source of reality for us. They have become the dominant presence in our lives. What do I mean by that? Our emotions rule us. We, as a culture, are what we feel. How can God rule our lives when our hearts are doing that already?

Emotions are funny. They come and go. Happiness, sadness, contentment and wistfulness are strong yet unpredictable and spontaneous frames of mind. These emotions are not reality. They are experienced by us; they augment and enhance our lives, but they don't naturally define us. However, in this culture, to live contrary to one's emotions is perceived to be phony. I can't help but think of Psalm 13 where David says, "How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, 'I have overcome him,' and my foes will rejoice when I fall! But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has been good to me." Many would criticize these final lines of David's poetry saying that he is not being authentic and true to where his heart is. I agree that David's ending words probably were written in direct conflict to how he felt, but that is where the truth was. David's heart was strong, and his emotions were vibrant. However, he knew the truth disagreed with his heart as John later wrote in 1 John 3:20, "If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything."

If we allow our hearts to dominate our lives, we will end up enslaved to them. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24) It happens time and time again that people have entered into a relationship with the Lord to get those "feel-good" benefits. When we hear promises from the Lord that He will give us love, peace and joy, we often hear warm-fuzzies, tranquility and happiness. This presents a significant problem since Jesus guarantees that our lives will have trouble (John 16:33) and persecution (Matthew 5:11, John 15:20). What will we do? Will we feel lied to? Will we decry, "What's this God? I signed up for the feel-good plan!" Will we bail on God? Will we say, "I just don't feel it right now?" Will we allow our emotions to dictate what truth is in our lives? Will we say, "I used to have this fire, but I just don't feel it right now?"

So we don't feel close to God right now. So what! We have to understand that the first step for freedom from our hearts' dominion over our lives is to see that we are not our emotions! This "feel good," emotional thinking is a virulent form of selfishness. It only knows how it feels. Our minds must educate our hearts. Our faith in Jesus Christ must be cerebral; it must be what we know to be true, not what we feel. That's the bottom line. God is so much greater than our hearts. I have watched so many kids' movies saying "follow your hearts," but oftentimes people who follow their hearts follow to the end of a bottle or worse. Instead, let's thank God that when we feel alone, He is still there! When we feel abandoned, He is still holding on! When we feel guilty, He has forgiven us. Thank God reality is not based on how we feel!

In His Grip,

BJ