St. John Studies

I  have described Pastor Chan as obsessed about God and he thinks all true Christians should be also. In fact in Chapter 8 he has 13 markers for the “obsessed” person. Today I want to comment on 6 of those markers and tomorrow I will comment on the other 7.

1. “People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly, without censure. Obsessed people love those who hate them and who can never love them back.” This is a high bar God raises because most of us think twice as we encounter opportunities to give. I have heard many Christians excuse their lack of giving to the homeless by saying things like “That guy is panhandling for a living” or “He will just use your money to buy drugs” or “They put themselves in that poor situation with their bad choices. They don’t deserve my help.”   One day when a skeptical friend questioned another’s charity to a homeless individual, here was a response that seems appropriate for a Christian. “I am told by my Lord give to the poor; what the poor person does with the money is on them. I give it; I am not in charge of how they spend it.” When I think about the 2^nd part of this obsession, the part about loving those who hate, I am reminded about the response from family members of Emmanuel African Methodist Church when they heard of the death of their family members and church members in the murder that took place earlier this summer. They forgave the killer. That fits the profile of the obsessed Christian but many of us find it hard to do.
2. “People who are obsessed with Jesus aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort”. This means that obsessed Christians are willing to go where they are needed to help those in need. Where they have to go may be dangerous; what they will be called on to do will be uncomfortable but they go anyhow, because that is what God wants and they know God will protect them. A true believer will know that even in harm’s way, God is there and lack of safety and lack of comfort can just draw us closer to God. Pastor Chan writes “we have elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God’s best is.” We do this out of fear for our safety.
3. “People who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another.”   Some may think that # 3 is much like the first part of number 1 but I see two big differences. Giving freely in number one is not just giving to the poor and when Pastor Chan says we should “connect” with the poor, he means get to know the poor person as a person. Connection is a rare thing in this world today and it is needed as we isolate ourselves more and more from our fellow human beings. Probably no one feels isolation more than a person who is “down and out.” They need more than money sometimes; they need friendship. If you had some things to give to a poor person, would you have a hard time finding a way to get it in their hands? Like Pastor Chan, you don’t know anyone who is poor. All the people that you know have enough.
4. “Obsessed people are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling the status quo.” The enemy of the active Christian is the status quo because when one worries more about public perception than fulfilling real need, they are no longer obeying God. They are more concerned with fitting in with their friends.
5. “ A person who is obsessed with Jesus knows that the sin of pride is always a battle. Obsessed people know that you can never be ‘humble enough,’ and so they seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known.   I remember the story about Billy Graham who should get credit for leading so many people to know Jesus. After making an evangelistic plea which usually caused many people to come to the altar, he would take a seat on the rostrum. He always had a person sit beside him who was told to whisper in his ear “It was God; not you.” Too often Christians want to take credit for something that was never them. God working through them accomplished the goal but they stand in the way of giving God the glory.
6. “People who are obsessed with Jesus do not consider service a burden. Obsessed people take joy in loving God by loving his people.” Have you ever struggled to get to church or Sunday School? Maybe you just can’t come to church on Wednesday night for Wonderful Wednesdays. You want to sing but you can’t make it to choir practice. When the church has a special event it is too hard to get there. What about that mission trip or helping the youth director when she is taking the youth on a trip? When the United Methodist men are working on a project, you stay home. When the United Methodist women are having a project, you fail to contribute.   Obsessed people don’t hesitate to help. They realize that God will show up and where they are going yields a blessing. Many Christians like the label but they are never around to serve those in the church or those outside the church. They are too busy to work for God.

Part 2 in my next post…

This blog is such a surprising thing.

I remember I started the first week of January and I was afraid.

Would anyone read it?

Did that really matter?

Could I find things to say?

Was I in this for the long haul?

Well here it is August 8 and I have answers to some of these questions and the answers are coming in the midst of trouble. I am writing today’s post for three reasons:

1.to explain this week and apologize

2.to tell you why I am continuing on [selfish]

3.to tell you my source of strength [maybe unselfish]

First of all, this past week has been very stressful. My church family knows of the sickness in my immediate family. My son has been visiting this week and we have been very busy with him and last night his wife was hurt in an accident at work. He is having to rush back to Chicago to be with her. I ask for prayer for my family. I know everything will be ok but at times it is hard to see how it will be.

Secondly, I am amazed at how much writing is helping me. I am a person who likes to express himself. Pray for my poor wife who has to put up with me. This blog not only gives me a chance to get my thoughts out but it has been a growth experience for me. I am getting more into the Word, I am thinking more about my life with Christ here on earth, and I am making some changes that are so helpful. All this stuff is selfish [sorry].

Lastly, my God is so helpful to me in these times of trouble. As things happen, I turn to Him and He gives me strength. The strength is amazing because it does not make sense. I do not see complaining about life right now as a needed option. I know He is with me. I know He sustains me. I know He will show me what to do.

I love Him.

I pray that what I write helps someone who reads this blog.

I am sorry about the erratic week.

I press on…through the trouble.

Thanks but no thanks!

“Sometimes I feel like I make decisions that are remotely biblical, people who call themselves Christians are the first to criticize and say I’m crazy, that I am taking the Bible too literally, or that I’m not thinking about my family’s well-being.”

Have you ever wanted to say “Thanks but no thanks!” to a friend who was commenting on your behavior and they were telling you not to do what you are doing?

What’s up with that?

Pastor Chan writes about going to Africa and returning to the US to his home and asking his family to move to a smaller home. His friends said things like “It’s not fair to your kids” or “it’s not a prudent financial choice” or how about the one, “you are just doing it for show.” He just wanted to live a simpler, less expensive life so he could give away more to people less fortunate. This was not the usual thing to do.

Christian friends?

Is there a possibility that Pastor Chan is obeying a higher calling than his Christian friends?

I think so.

I have often thought that our Christian friends and even Christian family members can do the work of satan.

Before you think I am taking this too far, I feel that most of our friends and family members are doing the devil’s work unwittingly.

Mostly it is a matter of misunderstanding the intent of the person who is acting.

Eugene Peterson, the translator of the Bible into the popular version The Message, had some thoughts that highlight how misunderstandings can occur. He comments on the time Peter rebukes Jesus in Matthew and then Jesus rebukes Peter is some extremely strong language. You know; “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!’”

It wasn’t that Peter said something so bad but he had a very different viewpoint than Jesus and their two viewpoints clashed.

Peterson states:

“To Peter the cross was evidence of failure.

To Jesus the cross was the purpose for which he came to earth.

To Peter the cross meant that Jesus had been defeated.

To Jesus the cross was the means by which Satan was defeated.

To Peter the cross meant that evil had won the day.

To Jesus the cross was the path to final victory over sin.

To Peter the cross meant that Jesus was gone forever.

To Jesus the cross led to the empty tomb.

To Peter the cross was a badge of shame.

To Jesus the cross brought salvation to the world.

To Peter the cross meant they had no message to preach.

To Jesus the cross became the message they would preach to the nations.

To Peter the cross made no sense.

To Jesus the cross displayed the wisdom of God.”

Let’s toss in some very human emotions. Peter loved Jesus and he did not want to lose him. Also I suspect he did not want someone he loved so much to have to endure crucifixion a horrible and degrading way to be executed.

In addition, like many of us, Peter just could not fathom God’s plan for Jesus. Why should a man who represented God’s kingdom here on earth have to suffer such a horrible death? To Peter it was not fitting that this was happening. Jesus was about to be treated like a common criminal and He was a man of great love, a holy and pure man. Jesus did not deserve this.

What can we learn from this?

Can our Christian friends and family members do the work of the evil one?

They may not understand the call that is on another person’s life. And if you are experiencing “a call” you can’t explain it, but you know it is real. They may possibly never understand but you need to obey God, not your friends and family.

Pastor Ray Pritchard writes, “our closest friends may sometimes become our worst enemies. In this case Peter’s loyalty was not in question. What he said was foolish and wrong and reflected wrong thinking, but down deep he truly loved the Lord. That’s what makes this so tricky. We may find that our loved ones unwittingly become dupes of satan, tools he uses to get us sidetracked spiritually. In fact I daresay that this sort of temptation would more likely come from a husband, a wife, a co-worker, a close friend, a parent, a child, a close relative, or a friend we’ve known forever. In their attempt to “protect” us from what they perceive as danger, they may be Satan’s tools to keep us from doing God’s will.”

Pritchard continues “If we live on the level of our emotions, we may find ourselves actually opposing Jesus. If we think that our understanding equals God’s will, we are bound to fall into many grievous errors. And if we think that the way of the cross is not for us, then we ought to ask ourselves if we have ever really trusted in Christ at all.”

He recommends we ask 4 very hard questions about this issue:

“Am I ashamed of the cross of Christ?

Am I avoiding the cross myself?

Am I blocking someone else from taking their cross?

Do I demand that God’s plan make sense before I follow it?”

There are always a thousand reasons to say no to God but there is one overwhelming reason to say yes: God is asking you to say yes!

To your friends who want to stand in the way, sometimes the best thing to say is “thanks but no thanks.”

Nice is Not Good Enough

I once had a very close friend reveal to me that “nice is not good enough.”

This person had gone through a horrible time in their life and they did things they never thought they would do. Shocking things. Things out of character.

They looked me in the eye and said “I never really knew Jesus. I always went to church and tried to be a good person and then this period of my life came along and I went into depression.   I was so sad. Then I got angry at the way I was being treated and I felt justified in getting some much needed attention. I was tempted and did things I would never imagine I would do. Being a nice person was not enough to get me through this time.”

What did they need?

A relationship with their Lord and savior.

Chapter 8 in Crazy Love.

Get ready. If you think Pastor Chan has pushed you so far in his book, he is really going to push you in Chapter 8. He is obsessed with Jesus and he thinks all Christians should be.

It will be hard to read.

It always is hard to read when someone makes you feel like you are falling short. When you think you are a Christian and someone makes you think you are a weak Christian at best. When you think you are “nice” and someone makes your feel that “nice is not good enough.”

I have been reading Chapter 8 and I had to stop several times.

I felt so inadequate.

Over and over in my mind I said, I have not done that. I can’t do that. I don’t want to do that.

What is wrong with me?

Why can’t I be like Pastor Francis Chan?

Maybe I don’t let God take over my life the way He wants to. Is it a control thing? Is it an effort on my part to fit it with others? Am I afraid He will ask too much?

Probably all three of these.

I have always felt that I needed some control in my life; don’t you need some too? However, the idea of really having control is a joke. Intellectually, I know that control is a sham. All I have to do is think about what is going on in my life right now. As I write this, a friend of mine is battling a mysterious sickness that is making him very sick. These past few months he has had an accident at work that has damaged his eyesight and an accident at home where he tripped and injured his shoulder. He has had shoulder surgery and now this illness. Related to the shoulder surgery? The doctors don’t know. He has gone from a strong, active man to a very sick man in a few months. I pray for him every day and I am fearful that my prayers for recovery may not be answered. Deep within me is an even stronger fear. This was all out of his control. Things like this may be out of my control too. No one wants to go through this but things happen…things out of our control. Letting go and letting God take over is loss of control

We all desire to be accepted by someone. Maybe you have a close group of friends; maybe you have a family that you love and admire. Maybe you want to be respected and liked at work. What is wrong with that? What happens when God is pulling on you to make a move in your life, a move that is away from the norm? Then a family member feels close enough to you to say something like “you are going off the deep end.” Even a Christian friend in church has the gall to say “are you sure you know what you are doing?” Doubts begin to swirl in your head because there are literally a thousand reasons why you should not obey God. The most compelling one is it would just be easy to say no. The next most compelling one is that I will be more popular with my circle if I just try to fit it.

But God is telling you that “fitting in” is not the most important thing in life.

Thirdly, maybe I am afraid God is going to ask too much. Maybe God is going to indicate that I need to give more of my finances, my talent or my time but I have friends and family who already have dibs on a lot of my time. They expect me to help them but what did Jesus say about family: Matthew 10:37-39 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” That’s pretty clear. The number one priority in a Christian’s life should be God. If God puts it on your heart to do something, you better do it. Maybe you feel you have to have a lot of money to live; after all you have bought a lot of stuff and you have bills to pay. However God is telling you that you don’t need all that stuff. You can get by with less. You can give more of your stuff away to those who are less fortunate; you can learn to live on less money.

What is happening that keeps me from not aspiring to be the Christian that God wants me to be?

Selfishness…

I need control.

I need to fit in.

I want to have more than I really need.

Yes, I would have to agree with my close friend. Nice is not good enough. Maybe now that I have confessed some of my many weaknesses, I can read Chapter 8 with an honest heart.

“Excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic or emotion.”

Did you ever think of the members of the early church as being obsessed?

Those words start Chapter 8 of Crazy Love.

I have heard of people who are obsessed with golf, or obsessed with care of their car or obsessed with genealogy. That means that they are very focused on their hobby.

But were the Disciples obsessed with Jesus?

Were the early church followers obsessed with Christianity?

Then the next question…

Is there anything wrong with being obsessed with Jesus?

Other than people thinking you are “nutty”, there is nothing wrong.

But keep in mind, average Americans will think you are “nutty”.

One of the interesting studies I have done is a study of Ephesians. Ephesus is a strong church that Paul writes an epistle or letter to, a fairly glowing epistle, for Christians at Ephesus were doing a lot of things right.

But what if Paul were writing a letter to American Christians. Would he find us doing things “right?”

It seems that Martin Luther King Jr. has already explored this idea in his presentation that he delivered many times in his life beginning in 1956.

He “channeled” the character Paul, the Apostle and wrote a letter to America as Paul wrote the letter to Ephesus.

In his imaginary letter to America, “Paul” tells us that our mental capacity has outstripped our moral and spiritual capacity. We are inventors of great things in technology and science but there is a down side to this. Americans have too much allegiance to things of this world. “Paul” is not too happy with Christian Americans having dual citizenship. We may be citizens of America but we are foremost citizens of God’s kingdom.   We know Jesus says we have to live in this world but not be “of this world.” Our ultimate allegiance should be to God.

Capitalism is an economic system that “Paul” does not know, but he does know that Americans are engulfed in materialism. If Paul were in America today, he would be amazed at how many TV commercials were devoted to commerce, getting Americans to buy the newest car, the newest cell phone and the latest fashions. Success in finances is not a bad thing until it becomes all consuming; again we are aware in 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

“Paul” is also upset that American Christianity is split into so many different denominations.   Quoting from King’s letter, “Paul” says, “ The tragedy is not so much that you have such a multiplicity of denominations, but that most of them are warring against each other with a claim to absolute truth. This narrow sectarianism is destroying the unity of the Body of Christ.” “Paul” is disturbed that the protestant Christian church exists alongside the Roman Catholic Church, each not able to agree on much.  Added to that is the idea that Protestant denominations have splintered into so many denominations.   He is especially upset that we have too many white churches and black churches in America, as if color means so much that churches have to separate on racial lines.

Americans need to know what sacrifice means and “Paul” does not see that. He feels that Americans do practice philanthropy but it is not a philanthropy that comes from a place of love. “The greatest of all virtues is love. It is here that we find the true meaning of the Christian faith. This is at bottom the meaning of the cross. The great event on Calvary signifies more than a meaningless drama that took place on the stage of history. It is a telescope through which we look out into the long vista of eternity and see the love of God breaking forth into time.” If our generous behavior is rooted in love, it will be more effective.

You see Paul is obsessed with Jesus. He had that Damascus Road encounter where Jesus said “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And Jesus said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” That did it. Saul became Paul and he was obsessed with Jesus from that point on.

He did not need any more convincing to follow the faith of Jesus.

As Pastor Chan says about our culture, “We let the culture dictate how we live our Christian lives.”

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if it were the other way around: we let our lives dictate the culture?

Maybe we need to see Jesus or hear his voice so we can be obsessed. Once the Disciples and Paul encountered Jesus, nothing on this earth mattered anymore.

They were “excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic or emotion.”

By now, you realize that Pastor Francis Chan is “big on commitment.” He is not one to “sit on the fence”

Let’s go back to the starting words of Chapter 7: “By now you probably realized that you have a distinct choice to make; just let life happen, which is tantamount to serving God your leftovers, or actively run toward Christ.”

These are not the words of a “fence sitter”.

As we leave Chapter 7, let’s review some of the standards he expects Christians to meet:

1.Read your Bible as much as you can, really read it and study it. Know it.

2.Don’t be afraid to take a position for Christ. Pick Him over your friends if need be. Don’t worry about your popularity.   Actively try to live a life for Christ. That’s your only real concern.

3.Don’t be afraid to give of your money and time for God, especially to people who have less than you have. Remember, if you care for the less fortunate, you are doing that for Christ.

4.Live every day as if we are preparing for your final day. Learn to trust God for what you need in life.

5.Surrender to God and develop your faith in Him. Don’t be afraid to do something uncomfortable as you do something good. Remember, as Christians, we try to play it safe too much.

6.Use your talents to glorify God. Don’t be afraid to use your gifts if you are using them to further His kingdom here on earth.

A lot of what Pastor Chan is calling for is oppositional to our culture.   What are America’s core values? Have you ever explored those and see how they fit the Christian worldview?

Let’s pin our culture down to 6 core values and let’s examine them.

1. Liberty is the value that proclaims that people should be free to think, speak, and act as they choose as long as they do not offend the freedom and rights of others. [I don’t know; many times Jesus says put others first at your own expense. Philippians 2: 7 says of Jesus “he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” I wonder if Americans would have a hard time making themselves nothing.
2. Self-government is the value that declares that citizens have a say in how their government is run. Citizens are the primary source of the government’s authority; they participate actively in the political process, and the government exists to promote their well-being. Jesus says in Mark 12:17 “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” The context of this Scripture is that the Pharisees want to catch Jesus in some insurrectionist statement and He is doing His best to dodge their trap. However, Jesus is not afraid throughout the New Testament to stand for what is right; not what is “in line” with the government. Of course the Roman government of Jesus’ day is not a benevolent government that promotes peoples’ well-being.
3. Equality is the value that holds that all people must be treated fairly and with dignity and be able to embrace opportunities for education, economic success, political involvement, and a fulfilling life. This is an ideal that I believe Jesus would like but it is an “ideal”. Our culture says we hold this up as a core value but in reality, we have not really achieved equality in our culture.
4. Individualism is the value that is committed to independence, self-sufficiency, private initiative, and personal economic growth. When you view Chapter 7 and the many instances where Jesus says we need to care for others with our money and time, the self-centeredness of this value may fly in the face of a lot of those teachings, especially if Americans get materialistic.
5. Diversity is the value that teaches us to respect and embrace the fact that all people are unique and important no matter what their race, culture, heritage, belief system, or socio-economic status. Again, I feel Jesus would approve of our efforts to appreciate diversity in our culture. As a human walking this earth, he reached out to a wide variety of people unlike Himself; indeed many of those people were outcasts from his own culture. His actions speak loudly about acceptance of diverse peoples.
6. Unity: The principle that Americans are one people and form an indivisible union.   Jesus shows belief in unity but his unity is for believers. Philippians 2:2 “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” 1 Peter 3:8 “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.” It seems to me that Jesus is accepting of other’s viewpoints but He is not willing to concede that all viewpoints are the best way to live: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” [Matthew 7:13]

Pastor Chan realizes the life of the Christian will be challenging. The Christian way may not be the American way 100% of the time. That’s ok. We all have to make choices.

Of the choice our religion forces on us he says “you have a distinct choice to make; just let life happen, which is tantamount to serving God your leftovers, or actively run toward Christ.”

I think we should choose to “run toward Christ.”

“Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Wow! What has happened for this to occur?

Have you ever read the end of the parable of the talents? [Matthew 25: 30].

This is what Jesus says will happen to the servant who buries his talents in the ground.

What can we make of this?

Is it a threat?

Is it a warning?

Does it make you pause and think “What am I doing with my talents?”

Of course in Matthew the word talent refers to money but this connotative word can also refer to the gifts God has given to us. In the literal context, it refers to money and to be honest, it seems that the fearful, conservative investor who wants to put his money in his mattress will not fare well with Jesus.

Today we hear a lot of talk about the collapse of the economy and to avoid total loss of investment, one needs to invest in tangible precious metals which are likely not to increase in value. However, if economic Armageddon occurs, the gold or silver will be available to purchase needed commodities for survival.

But what is the survivalist who is investing in gold and silver doing with their talents?

Essentially they are burying them in a hole in the ground.

“Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

But what if we take the more connotative meaning of talent and say that it means a special ability that allows someone to do something well. What if you have a talent and you refuse to use it? What if you have a talent and you refuse to develop it? What if you choose to “bury” your talent?

Steve Pavlina [a personal development expert] likes to apply this parable to individual development. Truly some people are born with many talents and maybe others are born with few. If you are fortunate and have many talents, don’t just be satisfied with your abilities, push yourself to maximize your talents. If you only have one talent, do the best you can with it. In other words, increase your ability to use your talent.

Looking at this from a stewardship point of view, are you being a good steward of your talent? We don’t think of talent in this way but we should. A steward is one who is responsible for taking care of money or property. We hear the word tossed around in Christian circles a lot. We should be good stewards of our money and property. However, can we be good stewards of our talent? Can we use it to the best of our ability? Can we help others with it? Can we develop it?

In Jesus’ parable, the servant who does not grow his talent is called a “wicked, lazy servant.” Maybe we can be called that if we have a talent and we do nothing with it.

Pavlina comments on the word faithful. Sometimes when I read my Bible, words don’t strike me the way they should. When I did a close reading, I [like Pavlina] did notice the word “faithful” applied to the first two servants. Jesus says they are “good and faithful” as they have taken what they have been given and they have multiplied it. Since they have faith, they can make their talent grow. It seems like faith is necessary for talent to expand. Both servants who have faith and have grown their talent are given responsibility over more things: “I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master’s happiness!”

Finally, the parable taps into a core idea that will rob a person of growth opportunity. Fear and suspicion will keep you from growing. The servant who buries his talent fears his overseer.   He says “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed, so I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.”

That was not what the master wanted to hear and he says so. Why did you not return the money with interest? Why did you not develop your talent? Why did you not share your talent with others? Why did you not help others with your talent?

No one wants to be thrown outside, into the darkness. No one wants to be thrown where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

No one wants to hide their talent.

What are you doing with your talent/s?

Take Nothing For The Journey…

Luke 9:3

“He [Jesus] told them [the Disciples] Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.”

What if Jesus knocked on your door?

When you went to the door and He said “follow me.”

Would you say ok?

Let’s just say you did say ok. What would be the next thing you would say? Would it be “Wait a minute; I will be right with you. Let me get my suitcase of clothes, my wallet, my credit cards and identification. I need my car keys and a few snacks for the road. I need to stop by the atm to pick up some cash.”

Jesus would say “forget it; I will go and get someone else for this journey.”

What did He say to his Disciple in Luke 9:3. “Take nothing.”

Do you realize the significance of that?

He is telling them that to go on this journey with Him they are going to have to go on faith.

Let’s imagine that. They don’t have extra clothing. They don’t have money or food. They are going to have to rely on the charity of people to help them as they go along.

What does God ask of us? To live a life by faith.

How many of us do that? Hardly any of us.

What do you rely on? If you own a house, what do you probably have? Insurance. If the house burns, you have a way to replace it. If you own a car, what do you have [notice I left off probably since it is the law to have insurance]. If you wreck the car, you have a way to replace it. You may not want to work all your life so you are investing in a retirement plan of some kind. You are socking money away so it can grow and you can withdraw it when you are not working in your retirement years.   Say you are not so trusting of Wall Street. What are you doing? Maybe you are buying precious metals or investing in real estate.

“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” is in Matthew 8:26 as Jesus spoke to the Disciples as they were being tossed on the sea. He knew he could still the raging waters and he wondered why they were so afraid of the storm, with Him on board.

Why are we so afraid?

Is it the constant bombardment of the media as we hear story after story of people who are suffering? Is it the economists who warn us about the impending economic collapse? Is it the presidential candidates who say very negative things about the state of the world, so they can get us to vote for them? They will save us.

Why are we so afraid?

We lack faith.

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?   And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”…Matthew 6: 25-27

Jesus is trying to reason with us in these verses. Look at what God is doing for the birds. God loves the birds and he cares for them. God loves people also. If God loves birds and cares for birds, God will love people and care for people too.

Without getting too technical, this is deductive reasoning and it should work but it doesn’t. We may be able to say yes to the statement God loves birds. We may be able to say yes to the statement that God cares for the birds. It is that third part that bothers us. God loves people; therefore God will care for people. That is the part that requires faith.

“God will love you and God will care for you.”

We just have to hedge our bets, don’t we?

If Jesus came to the front door and said “follow me” we will probably say “Wait a minute…”

When we go back to the door, guess what…He will be gone.

“There but for the grace of God go I” is an expression that you hear from time to time. Some think it is in the Bible but it is not. When you investigate the expression, you will soon discover it is a quote from an extremely devout Church of England priest who lived from 1510 to 1555—John Bradford.   The original expression that Bradford coined was “But for the grace of God there goes John Bradford.”

Bradford meant it to express the idea that God’s grace was necessary for him to live a Christian life because he could not achieve salvation based on his own morality.

I heard it just the other day in reference to someone serving time in prison. A friend said “But for the grace of God, there go I” and I took it to mean that he could be in prison but God’s grace has kept him from becoming an inmate.

Of course, the idea is there is not much difference between ourselves and the prisoner, the homeless person, the drunk, the drug addict etc.

We could very easily find ourselves “hard up” if circumstances were different in our lives.

The problem with most of us relating to “hard up” people is we have never been in dire conditions and we don’t understand people who are. We “distance” ourselves from them because they are dirty, they stink, their hair is a mess and they have ragged clothes.

Yet, these are the very people Christ says we are supposed to serve.

Pastor Chan spends a lot of Chapter 7 talking about God expecting “us to treat the poor and the desperate as if they were Christ himself.”

Matthew 25:37-39 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?”

Jesus replies to the question: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.”

Again, as in yesterday’s post, I reference that Pastor Chan says that Christians like to “play it safe.” We like to say we are Christian but what are we doing to prove that we are?

1 John 3:18 says “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” We are the children that verse is addressed to.

I know it is hard to make ourselves do what we should do. It is so comfortable not being poor and maybe you would find it hard to share what you have with someone less fortunate.

But there is that expression by John Bradford: “But for the grace of God, there go I.”

What if the tables were turned and you were the one in need?

Since 2000, the National Coalition for the Homeless has been running “The Homeless Project, which encourages people to go to the streets for 48 hours. Why do people do this? So they can experience a little of the reality of homeless life. So they can have some knowledge of the crisis situation in this country as more and more people are going homeless. So they can develop an awareness of attitudes their community has toward homelessness and have first-hand experience dealing with social service networks.

Most of us will never know what it is like to be homeless.

Most of us will never know what it is like to not know where the next meal is coming from.

Most of us will never know what having no money is like.

But our Christian religion makes helping the people who are struggling a high priority. Jesus felt the pain of the poor, the lame and the blind and encouraged all of us to help them.

Pastor Chan says “How would my life change if I actually thought of each person I came into contact with as Christ.”

Each person.

Even dirty people.

Even stinking people.

Even people with mess up hair.

Even people with ragged clothes.

We don’t think of Christ as being dirty, stinking, having messed up hair and ragged clothes, but does the “down and out person” you meet have the Holy Spirit?

If they are a believer, they do.

What should we think when we see a person who is poor?

Remember, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.”

We should think that.

Islamic extremists who believe in suicide bombing as martyrdom expect rewards in the afterlife, as specified by the Quran. According to the religious text of Islam, male martyrs will receive 72 virgin maidens in paradise as a reward for their sacrifice [the Lifescience Website].

“Northern Cameroon On Wednesday, two girls under the age of 15 detonated explosions in Maroua and nearby Hausa, killing 11 and wounding 32 people. On Saturday, a 12-year-old girl set off a bomb in a bar, killing 20 and wounding about 80, the Economic Times reported. No group has taken responsibility for the attacks, but the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram is thought to be the force behind the attack.”

We see news like this again and again and as Christians, we don’t understand.

We disassociate ourselves from this type of cruel, horrific behavior, thinking it is far from what we believe as Christians.

I am not going to argue that we should do this type of thing [that would kill this blog for sure] but we have very short memories when it comes to our own Christian history. We have what I would call “selective memory.”

Pastor Chan in Chapter 7 writes of the Christian Martyrs: “They were tortured and refused to be released, so they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.”

You see, Pastor Chan points to the martyrs as evidence that Christians need a faith that when we really practice it, non-believers will think we are crazy.

From The Faith: A History of Christianity by Brian Moynahan, he describes the martyrdom of Stephen. When Stephen went before the Sanhedrin, he was “wildly unrepentant”, saying the temple was of no value and that God does not dwell in buildings made by man. He called his judges “stiff-necked,” “betrayers,” and “murderers.” He reported the heavens opened to him as he was accused and then he was taken out into the country and stoned to death. He knelt as he was stoned, crying out to the Lord “Lay not this sin on their charge.”

Moynahan said his stoning was a “watershed” moment for Christians. The strange new sect of Christianity was driven out of Jerusalem [the land of its birth] and into a wider world.

In short, the religion grew.

Like a well-made nail, the harder you hit Christianity, the deeper it goes into the wood. You don’t destroy it; you just make is stronger.

Christians today like to play it safe. We don’t want to put ourselves into situations where we have to show we are believers. We just want to say we are believers and leave it at that.

Can you imagine being identified as a Christian, owning up to it and then being killed because of your confession?

Early Christians knew that when they were asked the question, “Do you believe in Jesus?” that they were going to die.

So many said yes and went right on to their death.

Drawing a parallel to Muslim suicide bombers is risky at best but we should not act like a Christian would never martyr themselves.

They did.

We should never say that martyrdom is “way out there.”

Early Christians did it.

Lest we remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…He went to His death in a sacrificial manner. He went for our sins. He had the means to avoid his horrific end. All he had to do was say no to the question “Are you the king of the Jews?”

What did he say?

“It is as you say.”

Crazy behavior…

Before I leave this topic, you know there is a huge difference between what the Christian martyrs did and contemporary Muslim extremist martyrs are doing.

When an early Christian martyr went to his death because of his faith, he went alone. He did not feel compelled to murder innocent bystanders.

Today’s Muslim extremist does a cruel act, a horrific act. We don’t want to associate with suicide bombers. We don’t want to understand them.

Here is what I understand.

Early Christian martyrs did not instigate terror; they inspired devotion.

Jesus Christ did not instigate terror; His sacrifice saved my soul.