a righteous kill

I see this same pattern occurring today.  From John 12:

9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

What's the pattern? "Righteous" people trying to kill off the life-giving movements of God.

The Pharisees were trying to kill Lazarus--whom Jesus had already raised from the dead once--because "many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him."

How many times does this happen in our churches today?

How many times do we see people in the church trying to kill something off because people are finding life somewhere else, in something else?

How many times do we see people in the church defending to the death a long-standing program, a dated worship style, or a culturally irrelevant conviction as they see God give life to another?

Let's let the things that need to die, die.

Let's get on board with the things that God is using to bring the dead to life.

And, let's not make the mistake of trying to kill the the very same things that God is trying to bring to life.

if you knew...

I want you to ask yourselves a question that's unfortunately been made into a cliche.  This cliche, like so many cliches, is a cliche because there is a great deal of truth embedded in it.  So, the challenge is to get past the surface level garbage and our own pre-understandings in order for that truth to actually wash over us and change us.

So, here's the (cliche) question:

How would you live your life differently if you knew that Jesus was coming back tomorrow?

Can you hear the cliche sirens sounding?

Let's silence them by asking ourselves this same question from a different perspective.  In fact, let's silence them with Jesus' perspective to this very question.

From Luke 12:

43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ' My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

Read that a few times before you continue with this post.  Seriously.

Yeah... Jesus said that.

For those of us who believe that Jesus is going to return here to earth, who call Jesus our "Lord and Savior," who gather to worship him every weekend, we're guilty of thinking that we can pretty much live any old way we like and still be guaranteed a warm welcome in the sky.

But here's the thing: Jesus doesn't turn a blind eye to those of us who are beating up on someone else.

As a matter of fact, if you're guilty of beating on someone else, he's itching to give you the beating of your life.

So let's rephrase our question:

If you knew that Jesus was coming back tomorrow with one eye on your life laid bare, and one eye on his justice, what would you stop doing today?

Here's what I bet:

I bet you would stop bickering.

I bet you would stop complaining.

I bet you'd start picking your battles a lot more carefully.

I bet you'd stop hoarding your money.

I bet you'd stop playing the victim.

I bet you'd stop accusing, attacking, or judging.

I bet you'd stop letting the first thing that came to your mind come out of your mouth.

I bet you'd stop justifying yourself.

I bet you'd stop all of those things, and probably go over your life with a fine-tooth comb trying to figure out if there was anything else that you needed to stop doing, start doing, or make right.

Remember when your mom said to you, "Just wait until your father gets home?"  Remember that sickening feeling in your stomach?  Remember the dread that you felt as you watched the clock, knowing that you had something coming to you, and that you deserved what was coming to you?

It's kinda like that.

scandalous

As a leader in ministry, sometimes I get discouraged and even frustrated with the people I minister to.

I know. Scandalous.

Maybe you already think I'm a whiner.  But suspend your judgment for just a second until you hear what frustrates me.  Here it is:

Sometimes people give themselves permission to see and judge according to what is on the surface, rather than commit themselves to looking past the surface in the way that God requires, and in the way that God has made them able.

Take a look at this story from John 7:

21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man's whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.

Some of us rob ourselves of being blessed by God by choosing to be ambivalent, discontent, or even angry when God moves and blesses something that doesn't jive with our expectations, preferences, or convictions... as if our expectations, preferences, and convictions are the core of who we are and how God is forming us.

They are not the core of who we are.  Instead, they are surface level things.  They change as we change, grow as we grow, develop as we develop.  They (should) evolve according to how God reveals more of himself to us.  

Our God is the God who delights in breaking our rules.  He revels in leaving our pseudo-godly expectations unfulfilled.  He longs for us to leave behind the boxes we've put him in, and instead venture out into the new and unknown - to follow him not simply as the God who once was, but the God Who Is.

He's the God who works on the day in which we thought it was a sin to work. Scandalous.

So, ask yourself:

Are you worshiping a scandalous God?

If not, you're probably not worshiping the God of the Bible.

emote!

In public worship, let these words of Jesus in Luke 7 never be true of us:

Jesus went on to say, "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: 

       " 'We played the pipe for you, 

       and you did not dance; 

       we sang a dirge, 

       and you did not cry.'

As we worship, we are like actors in God's grand play.  We must play our part authentically, throwing everything we have into our roles.

I'm not saying to manufacture something.

But let's face it:

No one is ever moved by a stone-faced, monotone performance.

For God's sake: emote!

no more separation

In the Jewish mindset, death was a separation, not a ceasing of existence.  In death, the soul, still alive, was separated from the body.

When the Bible says that we were all born dead, this is what it means: we were born separated from God because of sin.

During Jesus' ministry, we have several accounts of him raising people from the dead, like in Luke 7:

11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."  

14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

As we read this in the modern age, we tend to be a little more amazed (or more skeptical) of the biological side of this account.

But the original readers would have been more amazed with the spiritual side of it.

By raising people from the dead, Jesus demonstrated that he had the power to overcome this separation.

He has the power to overcome the separation of those who die - to reunite the soul with the body.

He has the power to overcome the separation of those who are born dead - to reunite the sinner with the Father.

And he's been raising people from the dead ever since.

From the same chapter:

16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people."

God has come to help his people.

fruity

I love what Jesus juxtaposes.  Look at Matthew 7:21-23:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Prophesying, driving out demons, performing miracles.  Sounds like a pretty fruitful, compelling, relevant, lively ministry... the type that thousands of people would come to see and be a part of.

But sometimes,

sometimes,

sometimes we fall into this trap of thinking a fruitful life in ministry equals a fruitful life.

It does not.

I'm glad that I got this reminder today.

Peter vs. the crowd

Peter, after he saw Jesus fill the nets with fish after not catching anything all night, repented.

The crowd of 5,000, after they saw Jesus feed them from 5 loaves and 2 fish, wanted to make him king by force.

Peter, imperfect as he was, became one of Jesus' 3 closest followers in the world.

The crowd tried to force Christ into their own agenda, and in so doing, forced him to flee to the mountains.

Repentance leads to intimacy.

Control leads to distance.

Which are you doing?

helicoptering the Bible

I've been using a Bible reading plan from YouVersion for the last week or so, reading through the gospels in 30 days.  It's been great.

Today I came across this story from Jesus' temptation in Matthew 4:1-7 (TNIV):

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 

"'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands,  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" 

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

And it struck me:

At Satan's first attempt to cause Jesus to fall, Jesus simply used Scripture to ward off the attack.

But on his second attempt, Satan used Scripture itself to tempt Jesus.

That's a sobering thought: even what is holy and good can be used for evil intent.

And how often do we see this?  How often do we encounter some sort of pundit, author, songwriter, or other self-appointed mouthpiece for God do this same thing?

Or how about this:

How often do we ourselves use Scripture to justify our position, our reaction, or even our sin?

Here's what was so clever about the Enemy's ploy:

What he was saying - what he was quoting - was true.  It was written.

But: it was only half of the whole truth.

And so often, we love to do the same thing.  As a professor of mine once said: we "helicopter" down on a verse, use it to justify our position, and then "helicopter" off it it, back into our way of living.

Let us be people who who don't helicopter.  That's what the Enemy does.  Instead, let us be people who make it their joyful duty to journey through the entirety of Scripture, seek the entire counsel of God, and make decision and declarations that represent the fullness of the wisdom that has been revealed to us.