Following Jesus Son of God …

Why does the Church sometimes look so different from the outside than it does from the inside? Shouldn’t it be the same reflection no matter where you are standing?

When looking at the Church, why do so many people see an angry mob instead of the face of Jesus Christ?

When the world looks at the Church, why do they often see so much of us … but God … not so much?

• 2 Corinthians 4:6–7 (NIV84)
  For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

[Why is it that there are so many churches that are “the friendliest church in town” … in the same town? And how could it be that someone could visit such a church and, well, not find it so friendly?]

I always have looked at James 1:22ff from the perspective of an individual and that is correct. But the last few days my thoughts have expanded to groups and since individuals make up groups it seems the truth would apply to the group.

So let’s look at the irony of the life of a person who immerses himself in his religion and yet has no clue what he looks like to the world around him.

• James 1:22–24 (NIV84)
  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

I must not only listen to, or hear, the word, but I must do what it says. If not, I am deceiving myself. And the picture James presents is this: I walk up to the mirror and take a good look, but as soon as I step out of the bathroom and walk down the hall, I forget what I look like.

The tragedy of the person who doesn’t love Christ through his or her obedience to the word of Christ:

• Listen to the word only
• Deceive myself
• Take a good look at myself
• Walk away and immediately forget

Here is what has stood out to me over the last few days. Individuals make up our local church fellowship. What if the individuals in our church fellowship are only hearing and not doing?

Then they don’t know what they look like …

Then the church (that particular fellowship) does not know what it looks like.

• I am not talking about rote legalism, but love expressed to God through our obedience to the truth of the Bible. This is the path that God chooses for me. Legalism is the religious path that I choose for myself.

Or on a grander scale the church in the U.S. may not know what it looks like to a watching world. I’m thinking moral stands, ethical issues in courts, and maybe even the stir around Chick-fil-A.

We – evangelical Christians – are taking a stand with the owner of Chick-fil-A on the high moral ground of the sanctity of marriage. And we are right. God knows we are right. We know we are right because the Bible taught us these things. And we are going to shove our morality right back in their dirty, little immoral faces.

We are making a statement. This is who we are. This is the face of good, moral Christian people.

Why can’t “those people” see this because it’s pretty clear to us?

Maybe not. We can be right on the morals and still be deceived. Our country seems to be experiencing more than just a drought from our lack of rains but maybe even a dryness of our souls as professing believers in Jesus Christ …

Is pushing back with a moral agenda something Christ would call us to, or something we have called ourselves to and mounted our own charge in the name of Jesus?

Is it possible that “the world” is seeing more of us as opposed to the reflection of glory through the face of Jesus Christ from clay pots? Do we possibly fall short in obedience and submission to Jesus our King and thus we don’t see ourselves or our world as we should?

We are the face of Christianity to most, and maybe it isn’t so pretty. Maybe we don’t look like we think we do. Maybe we have put on our morals and have forgotten to put on the armor of Christ.

Maybe we have forgotten who we are and what we look like.

This was certainly the case of a particular church that Christ addressed in the Book of Revelation.

Laodicea Bible Fellowship Church …

• Revelation 3:17 (NIV84) You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

This was one impressive church, at least in their own eyes: Rich, wealthy, sufficient.

But Jesus said: wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

They were clearly deceived. They listened to each other more than they listened to God.

I haven’t really written this to anger anybody although I’m sure that it will.

But as the Church of Jesus Christ if we pursue a life of obedience on the path of Jesus Christ, we will see ourselves, our world and our God much differently. And we will trust God with much more.

Maybe we would have less fear mongering and less moral-sabre rattling and more filling of the Holy Spirit of God.

Maybe when they looked at the Church they would see the face of Christ and not an angry mob.

[Excerpt from Beyond Pretend: A Sheep’s Guide to the Universe!]

God is a good place to be. Always.

• God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in sea storm and earthquake, Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains… (Psalms 46:1-3 MSG).

Bad alternative medicine …
But we don’t always take our grief and our hurt to God. Sometimes we take matters into our own hands. We have too much pride to bow, so instead we strike back. We get mad and we get even. We treat ourselves to a big, delicious drink of vengeance.

• Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord (Romans 12:17–19 NASB95).

Maybe we could call the following …
Eve’s Garden of Eden theology: If it looks good and tastes good, then I have a right to it. Just like Adam and Eve in Genesis three, when we choose a direction contrary to God’s truth, then we step away from the sovereign care of a holy and loving God.

• When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it (Genesis 3:6 NIV84).

That the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was tasty and beautiful was never up for debate. Of course it was excellent. God created it. And that vengeance can look good and taste good is likewise not up for debate. Vengeance can be delicious but eating this tasty fruit moves us away from the will of God and the life he would have for us. No exceptions. And that means you.

Know this …
Wounded sheep that do not let the shepherd heal them will go somewhere to relieve the pain. And very often the healing potion first off the shelf is vengeance, distilled and perfected in the ways of humans for millennia, and often taking the form of gossip. Wound for wound, hurt for hurt, our salve is our vengeance.

And now evil has won the day.

• Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21 NIV84).

Let God heal your wounds, or run in the ways of the fallen.

Trusting God we are able “stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,” but refusing to bring our wounds before God, in our fear and insecurities, we run in the ways of the fallen. Our medicine is now their pain. Gossip is a common example of being overcome by evil. I believe (hope) that recognizing this “other-side-of-the-coin” relationship between running to God for refuge versus gossip, we may be able to make better choices as we struggle with the agony of life.

The universal acceptance of gossip…
Part of the problem with gossip is its universal acceptance and its effectiveness, even in the church.  Bringing some sense of justice into your world can feel good for a little while. You will fall into this overcoming evil if you do not  make a conscious decision to trust God with the events of your life, taking your wounded heart and soul to him instead of fending for yourself, giving God the opportunity to show you his greatness.

A very clear choice…
Trust God and taste his goodness, or trust ourselves and taste evil.

• Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see– how good GOD is. Blessed are you who run to him (Psalms 34:8 MSG).

[Excerpt from Beyond Pretend: A Sheep’s Guide to the Universe!]

Don’t miss this one: Wounds are part of the path.

So let God heal your wounds.

We get beat up.
Beat up for doing good.  Beat up for doing bad.  Wounds are part of life. To maintain our spiritual health as we follow Christ, we must allow God to heal our wounds, all of them.  God’s healing is necessary in his sanctification process. Do you remember that word – sanctification – from our living in a post-Eden world discussion? God’s transformation process (sanctification) is the part of our salvation package that he works out in the events, circumstances and details of our lives.

• He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24 ESV).

God’s navigation process ...
God’s healing is also necessary to his navigation process, his guiding and directing of our lives. In his wisdom he works his plan and process through our choices, good and bad. We don’t surprise God. He has made all the necessary provision through the shed blood of Jesus to transform us and bring us to himself. No feelings of guilt should ever hinder the course of your life or his navigation process.

As an example I would give the confession of sin.
God directs us to confess our sins to him. As he steers us through life, confession of sin is necessary to keep us in his will. We may not feel like God would forgive us again, but we continue on course by following his truth though it is contrary to our feelings. Guilt would have us make a u-turn from God’s forgiveness and cleansing because we don’t deserve it. But we continue to navigate the course God sets before us based on the coordinates of his words. We should never quit following Christ because of our guilt, real or imagined. Our decisions should never be based on guilt, false or otherwise. We trust God for the direction of our lives.

• If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1 John 1:8-10 ESV).

You may protest.
But what if I keep coming to God again and again confessing my sins? Duh. He will do what he says he will do. He will forgive you and cleanse you. Did you not notice in the text who John says is faithful and just? He writes that “he [God] is faithful and just.”  God is faithful and just, not you, not me.  Well, we are sometimes, but the promise of the text hinges on God’s faithfulness. The point is that life injures its participants. Even if the injury is self-inflicted (sin), our clear course of action is to come to God and trust him to do what he what he says he will do. Let God be God, and he will be!

• He only is my Rock and my salvation; he is my high tower; I will not be greatly moved (Psalms 62:2 BBE).

No, life is not so gentle at times.
In fact this world can be very harsh and cruel. But let God heal your wounds as “he is the healer of the brokenhearted. He is the one who bandages their wounds” (Psalms 147:3 GW). Believe what he says and take everything to him – hurtful words, broken relationships, unfair treatment on the job, racial and social slurs, discouragement from an illness, financial pressures or a spiritual and emotional beating from the dark forces. Everything. Let him show you his greatness in the time of your greatest need.

Let God be God, and he will be!

And that is not always so easy, especially when it seems that what is right and just has been twisted every which way but right and fair, and God has let us down again. We have all felt that way, that maybe we have wasted our time trying to be faithful to God, and even though we are trying to do the right thing, we look around and see the people who have no care for God, no thought for doing what is right, doing better than we are. Asaph outlines his struggle with this in Psalm 73. Confused and discouraged, on the verge of giving up, he finds his rescue as he comes into the holy place of God.

• But when I tried to understand this, it was too difficult for me. Only when I came into God’s holy place did I finally understand … (Psalms 73:16-17 GW).

[Excerpt Beyond Pretend: A Sheep’s Guide to the Universe!]

Be willing to stumble.

Sometimes our pride …
Sometimes our pride keeps us from following Christ through the difficult territory. We fall and he picks us up, but we don’t want to be seen with our clothes still dirty and torn, our lip cut, and maybe a few tears we haven’t brushed away yet. Sometimes we fall because we sin, but sometimes we fall because of the hate of the enemy. Job was God’s pick-of-the-litter and cream of the crop, and God allowed Satan to beat him up and embarrass him in front of the whole countryside. He stumbled, screamed and threw a fit, but he always directed his thoughts toward God. Through all his anger and distress, he always moved in the direction of God.

“This is what we believe …”
But for many of us our perspective of victory in the Christian life has no biblical roots. We accept only what we signed on for, upward and onward and well-played scenarios in our minds where we assume the roles of Christian super-heroes praying our way past the fiery darts of the enemy. We didn’t sign up for the ugly stuff, not so much into following Jesus if we can’t look good doing it. We have yet to learn that style points are overrated and pale in comparison to sheer faithfulness and determination to please our God. We haven’t learned the value of stumbling, even crawling, in Jesus’ name.

Think about it.
How did Jesus himself do with style points? Beaten, bloodied and humiliated he made his way through the streets of Jerusalem to the shame of a cross.

A lesson from Felix Mendelssohn in stumbling.
I was listening to WILL our local NPR station one day and they were interviewing someone discussing Felix Mendelssohn and his struggle in writing his Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. The account given was that he felt as if he were “fumbling” along.  They went on to discuss how insecure and unsure he was. But what was the result of his fumbling, his insecurity and unsurety? One of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos of all time. So if you can’t march and you can’t run, then stumble forward in Jesus’ name. You may have to change your clothes as we’ve seen that pride doesn’t wear so well in these situations. But if you throw on some humility and work through the tears and pain, you will taste the excellent fruit of righteousness.

Grinding it out.
In sports they talk about the athletes who know how to “grind it out,” do the grunt work, because they know the reward.  Sometimes our sky-high inspiration yields great work, but often we just grind and plod. We press toward the smile of God and provide a perfect opportunity for Christ to show his strength.

• And he said to me, My grace is enough for you, for my power is made complete in what is feeble. Most gladly, then, will I take pride in my feeble body, so that the power of Christ may be on me.  So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 BBE).

Proud wimps in Jesus name …
Dirty, frayed and frazzled we grind it out.  We continue, not because of what we see, but because of what we believe, what God keeps telling us is true and right, and then one bright day we celebrate with angels who are so happy that we faithfully served their King in ways they could not.

• But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly (Hebrews 12:22-23 NIV).

Hero for a moment:
One snowy winter day as I traveled into Chicago to work, I came up on a young woman in a car who had tried to make a U-turn across the concrete median and was now stuck in the snow on the curb. Not sure if I could help or not, I stopped my car and got out, and to my surprise pushed her enough to help her over the curb and on her way. Then the really cool part happened. I thought I heard people cheering and looking up I saw several guys hanging out of the windows of a factory on the north side of the street cheering me on like I had scored the winning touchdown at a Bears game.

Things that call to the hearts of the angels …
That was so cool. I was their hero if only for a moment. I did what their hearts were calling them to do in rescuing their damsel in distress. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to do things that call to the hearts of angels but in God’s sovereignty are assigned to mere humans. And maybe idle speculation, but I have to wonder if I might be surprised in heaven one day. What? No, those angels couldn’t be cheering for me, could they? Why would these beautiful, powerful beings be excited about something I had done? Because as weak and frail as I was, my service to Jesus Christ answered the call of their hearts. By the way, that will be even cooler than the guys at the factory cheering for me. Smile.

• His purpose was that through the church all the rulers and powers in the heavenly world will now know God’s wisdom, which has so many forms (Ephesians 3:10 NCV).

Victory is moving in the direction of God no matter the style points. We must understand that God honors our faithful walk even if it is is only inches at a time.