Love Conquers Hate

On October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the West Nickel Mines School house holding a loaded gun. He proceeded to shoot ten girls, between the ages of 6 and 13 years old, and killed five of them.

Eventually he turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

While stories like this are all-too-common in our world today, the reaction of the community was anything but.

This shooting had taken place in the Amish country of Bart Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The families who lost their daughters were filled with grief over the loss of their children, but they were also filled with the love of Christ.

This is why, instead of responding out of their despair, they followed the Prince of Peace and found the faith to act out the loving example of Jesus.

Just one week after the shooting, the same families who lost their daughters in this senseless and selfish act visited Marie Roberts, the wife of the man who had pulled the trigger and taken his own life.

They boldly, and sincerely, offered their complete forgiveness to her. They invited her to attend the funeral services for their slain daughters. They shared all relief funds sent to them with Mrs. Roberts and her own children who had lost their father that same day. They even attended the funeral of Charles Roberts and offered their loving support to his widow and his children.

This is love. This is true forgiveness and Christian compassion.

We saw this same brand of radical love and forgiveness a few days ago in Charleston, when the families of those who had lost their loved ones to the senseless shooting came face to face with the killer and sincerely forgave him.

Where do we find that kind of love? Where does it come from? Are these people just being religious? Are they pretending to love the one who killed their father, or mother, or sister or brother?

Or is it possible that the sort of love that Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount is actually real?

Out of hate, love can conquer. Out of despair, hope can rise. Out of tragedy, forgiveness can overcome and transcend human emotion.

Jesus empowers those who follow Him and put His words into practice. He fills us with real life, and real love that most people can only dream about.

In times of great darkness and despair, this love shines like the sun and puts Jesus on display for everyone to see.

This is why we're called to love our enemies. This is why we are expected to overcome evil with good. Not so we can be door mats, but so that we can demonstrate to the world that the Gospel is real and that His love transforms us into people who can love in the face of tragedy and forgive even the greatest evils.

The message of the Gospel is subversive. It goes against the grain. It makes a real, dramatic, powerful difference at just the right time, and when no one could possibly even expect it.

This is what we are called to, as followers of Christ. We are called to love extravagantly and to forgive inexplicably, and to demonstrate to the world that Jesus is alive inside of us.

Let the Kingdom come.

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*Updated 6/23/15

We Who Have Been Transformed

We who have been transformed are without excuse.


You opened the eyes of the blind.
Who are we to sing the songs of darkness?


You opened the door to the Kingdom.
Who are we to defend the way of the world?


You were beaten and tortured and killed.
Who are we to side with the aggressor?

You were born into poverty and had no place to lay your head.
Who are we to justify sending the poor away hungry?

You were forced to flee a violent dictator's sword.
Who are we to turn our backs on immigrant children?

Your mother carried the shame of an unexpected pregnancy.
Who are we to shame the unwed mothers?
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.


Our hardened hearts were transformed by your irresistible love.

Who are we to condemn sinners?

Our darkness was changed into light.

Who are we to say there is no hope for others?

Our violent souls were calmed by your voice.

Who are we to stand with those who do violence?

Your Kingdom subverted the glorification of power and redefined the meaning of authority.

Who are we to return to the worldly system of hierarchy and domination of others?

Now, let the transformed rise up to heal the wounded.
Let those who have been made new follow the way of the cross.

Let every creature that has been made new stand with the oppressed and the homeless and the orphan and the voiceless.

Let every child of the King point out the path to your everlasting peace.

Let those who hear your voice kneel down to wash the feet of our enemies.

Let those who follow the Prince of Peace lay down their weapons and fall to their knees.

Let those who are called by your name humble themselves and seek your face and turn from their wicked ways.


Now, let those who have received so great a mercy, extend that same mercy to everyone else.

We who have been transformed are without excuse.


We who have been made new are held to a higher standard.

Now, let the redeemed of the Lord please say so.

Please. Say so.

And do so.

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THE WAY OF THE CROSS IS GIVING

“I've given like a beggar but lived like the rich
And crafted myself a more comfortable cross,

Yet what I am called to is deeper than this,

It's time You had my whole life;

You can have it all.” – Matt Redman (The Way of the Cross)

Someone once said, “When we consider our love for others we measure how much we give. When God measures, He considers how much we hold on to.”

As the Christmas season approaches I can’t help but feel excitement at all I can give to those in need around me. I have been blessed beyond measure. I am rich in all the things that matter and my family has everything we need to survive (and a whole lot extra we don’t need too).

When we consider how much we have been blessed (and if we live in America we are among the richest people living on the planet today), it’s easy to let go of what we own and share it with those who have little.

I don’t care how poor you think you are, I can probably show you someone who is much worse off than you are. And joy comes from giving to others, helping people in need, and bringing a smile to someone else’s face. Joy is never about what you give to yourself, or even what someone gives to you. That might make you feel thankful, or happy for a moment, but real Joy is something deeper and lasting. It is always about what you give away to others. Making a noticeable difference in another person’s life and knowing that something you did, or something you gave away meant something to another human being is what fuels real joy.

For the last few years now our family has been moving away from buying gifts for one another and focusing instead on bringing joy to others around us. So, we take the money we would normally spend on gifts for each other and we buy gifts for children at the motel where we’ve been serving for over 8 years now. Or we take the time to go caroling at a local senior home and bring joy to people who are desperately lonely and empty. Or we find ways to creatively bless people on our street, or to see the person on the fringes who most people ignore and buy them a meal, or engage them in a friendly conversation.

What changed my mind about Christmas was when we partnered with a few others to bring a Christmas blessing to a woman and her son who were desperately poor a few years ago. She had just recovered from brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. Her son had asked if they could have a Christmas tree because they had never had a tree or gifts to put under it before. After we set up the tree and laid all the gifts under it and hung up the stockings which were jam-packed with blessings, we sat down to pray over her. When we were done she looked up and said, “Can I pray for you?” That’s the moment when my heart broke forever. As this dear, humble sister in Christ lifted up our family in prayer I silently wept. Huge, wet, hot tears dropped into my hands as she called us each by name and gave thanks to God for these blessings.

On my way out to our car to go home I told my family, “That was my Christmas gift. I don’t want or need anything else but that.” And I decided right there and then that from now on I only wanted my Christmas to be about doing all that I could to bless others.

Really, it’s a very selfish decision on my part. I get so much out of this. It’s not really fair because no matter how much I try to bless others, I always come away with a bigger blessing than I brought with me.

Listen to what Paul the Apostle said about serving and giving to others:

“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” (Acts 20:32-35)

What will you give away this Christmas? The more you give away, the more joy you’ll receive in return.

I dare you to test me on this one.

Peace,

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Love Much?

 

“The one who is forgiven much, loves much.” – Jesus

Have you ever found yourself running low on love? Especially if it’s for a certain person who tends to bother you?

Perhaps our lack of love is related to our unfamiliarity with repentance?

In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus teaches a parable to illustrate how our humility is related to our love. The story is told because a “sinful woman” crashes the party where Jesus is dining in the home of Simon, the Pharisee, and proceeds to weep. With her tears she washes the feet of Jesus, and with her hair she dries them off. Next, she opens an expensive alabaster jar of oil and anoints his feet with it. All the while, Simon and the other Pharisees murmur in their hearts about how scandalous the whole thing appears.

That’s when Jesus tells the story of two men who owed a debt to the same creditor. Both had their debts forgiven, but one of them owed a lot of money and the other only a little.

“Which of these men loved the creditor most?” asked Jesus.

Simon replied, “I suppose the one whom he forgave the most.”

That’s when Jesus makes his point about love and how it is tied to our acquaintance with our own sinfulness, saying that the one who is forgiven much loves much, and the one who is forgiven a little, loves little.

Those of us who are more aware of our weakness, and our sinfulness, tend to have a deeper well of love and compassion to draw from than those who refuse to confess their sins and receive God’s mercy. Consequently, whenever we find ourselves with very little love for another person it might be because we have forgotten how much we have been forgiven – and still need to be forgiven.

Hitler and I are both sinners. Without Christ, we would both end up receiving the exact same sentence of death and eternal separation from God. The playing field is level apart from the love of Jesus.

I share this insight with you because there is one particular person whom I am finding it very hard to love. Over the weekend, as our house church family gathered together and the Lord began to speak to us through one another and His Word, I began to realize that the problem was not the other person – it was me.

When it comes right down to it, my impatience and intolerance of this person is directly related to my lack of love. More specifically, my attitude about this person is tied to my blindness concerning my own need for Jesus.

See, God loves this person dearly. In fact, God loves this person exactly as much as He loves me. God sees me and this person the same way – He loves us through and through. So, why can’t I love this person? It’s because I have an unspoken perspective that thinks that this person and I are different. But we’re not. This person is arrogant. I am also frequently arrogant. This person is prideful. I am often prideful. This person is self-absorbed. I’m very self-absorbed at times. This person is not a follower of Jesus. I am a follower of Jesus. But we are both sinners.

As a follower of Jesus I am commanded to love everyone – even my enemies – so that those who have not experienced God’s unmerited grace and favor might get a taste of it by being in relationship with me.

Frankly, this is very, very hard for me to do. Whenever I see this person I want to run the other way. But instead I need to lay down my life, die to my flesh, and pray for the Holy Spirit to supernaturally fill me with His love so that I might be empowered to love this person as God loves him; to bless this person who annoys me; to serve this person who grinds my gears; so that the life and love of Jesus might shine through this jar of broken clay.

So, I confess to you all that I am a sinner, and that I am failing in this area of my Christian walk. I ask for your prayers to live out these things that I have learned. Because, in the words of Jesus: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:16-18)

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LOVE OTHERS OR YOURSELF?

Often whenever we talk about Jesus’ command that we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves, the question arises, “But what if we don’t love ourselves? If we don’t love ourselves, how can we love others?”

It’s a valid question. I’ve even wondered about this myself from time to time. But the real problem is that we’re not understanding Jesus in the first place, which is why that question throws us off.

Jesus is not saying that we need to love ourselves as much as possible so that we’ll have enough love inside to share with others. In fact, Jesus isn’t telling us anything in this statement other than that we need to go and love people. That’s it.

His point about “as we love ourselves” simply means that everyone wants to eat. So, as much as you want to feed yourself, feed another person. Everyone likes to have clothes to wear. So, in the same way we should want those without clothes to have them too.

This isn’t about not wanting food as much as we should. It’s about simply wanting for others what we automatically want for ourselves. Self-image is not issue. Compassion for others is.

So, the problem is not that we need to love ourselves more and more in order to obey Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The problem is that we do not love our neighbors in the same way that we love our own comfort.

Now, the question we ask about our own lack of self-esteem is also worth addressing. I do understand that many of us struggle with this issue. At the core I think the problem here is that we actually think too much about ourselves rather than not enough.

See, if God has said that He loves you and that He has forgiven your sins and that He thinks of you 24/7, then who are you to say otherwise? Are you suggesting that you’re the one person in the Universe that even God cannot love or accept?

If the God of the Universe says that you’re worth dying for, then all you have to do is to believe it.  If you forget it, remind yourself of it. If you need to write yourself a note, do that.

Better yet, God says that if we will put the needs of others ahead of our own, then we ourselves will be healed and restored.

In Isaiah God says that instead of fasting to get what we want from Him, we should instead share our bread with the hungry and bring the homeless into our homes. When we do that, God says:

“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’” (Isaiah 58:6-9)

And:

“…If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”-  (Isaiah 58:10-12)

Either way, we’re commanded to love others as we love ourselves. To share our food and our shelter and our comfort with those who don’t have any. If we lack self-esteem, we can overcome that by spending more time with those who have less than we do, and God will lift our hearts as we share in their sorrows.

 

 

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GIVE THANKS

At this time of year when we're all encouraged to stop and make a list of all that we're thankful for, I'd like to suggest we ask ourselves, "Who is thankful for me?"

As great as it is to cultivate our gratitude for all the blessings we've received from God and others, I think it's also very important to do our part to be a blessing so that others might stop and be thankful to God for our acts of kindness and compassion.

The way we live our lives matters to God, and it matters to others. This is why Jesus says that the two greatest commands are to love God and to love others as we love ourselves. In fact, he says that these two commands are alike. That means that loving God and loving others are related actions. 

"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." (1 John 4:20-21)

So, our mission is to be a blessing, not to be blessed. Our calling is to behave as ambassadors of God's love to everyone we meet, so that they might glorify God and develop a strong desire to know Him more and to love as we do.

The only way this will work is if we practice being a blessing to others every day of our lives, not just one day a year. It's also something we're expected to do even if we don't appear to be getting the intended results. Even if our kindness and compassion aren't reciprocated, we're still expected to continue in love, because that's what our Lord would do. 

For those who hate us, we're still expected to love them, and serve them, and to pray for them. Of course, that's where it really starts to get difficult, but we continue to love in spite of opposition because we know something that they don't know: Love has the power to heal and transform. How do we know this? Because we have been transformed by God's love. We have been healed by His love. And we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that perfect love casts out fear, and love never fails. 

This Thanksgiving, my prayer is that, by the grace of God, I will be a person who loves others and serves others, because my Lord did this for me, and because I was made to love and serve others. Because I've experienced the transforming power of God's love first hand, and honestly, I really want to see it happen again to as many people as possible before I see Him face to face.

Happy Thanksgiving. Now go and be the kind of person that others would be thankful for.

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TO LOVE OR JUDGE?

A friend recently engaged me in an online discussion about what it means to judge others, and specifically how we as Christians should respond to the controversy surrounding same-sex marriage. He especially wanted to know how we could possibly evangelize people if we don’t point out their sin first.

Here’s my response to my friend, with a few additional thoughts thrown in for good measure.

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What do you think Jesus means by saying we should love others and not judge them? Do you think it's possible to condemn people with the truth rather than love them and point them to the Truth?

I try to think of how I came to know Jesus. Your experience might be different, but I know that as a 9 year old boy I was mainly overwhelmed with my need for God. I couldn't have told you the first thing about sin or repentance or any of that. I just knew I needed Jesus desperately.

A friend of mine once told me that before he came to Jesus he already knew he was a sinner. No one needed to point that out to him. He got that. What he didn't know was what to do about it.

So, that's why I think our evangelism should be more about loving people first (and that can only be done in relationship), sharing our own testimony (we're sinners who are desperate for Jesus and actively learning to know and to love the God who created the Universe - again, relationship), and pointing them to Jesus so they can know Him.

I think God will convict people of their sins just fine without us - because that's what He said He would do – and He specifically told us that it is not our place to convict people of their sins.

If we love people we make room for the grace of God to touch their hearts. (The kindness of God leads to repentance). But if we judge people, our condemnation becomes a barrier to those people and they cannot see the love of Jesus in us...and where else are they supposed to see it?

As I already said, I don't think we need to point out people's sins. I think the Holy Spirit will do that if we will introduce them to Jesus. Another example I can share is a couple we met at the motel about 5 years ago. We continued to serve them and love them in practical ways as they had need. They eventually started joining us in our house church, and then we started reading through the Gospel of John with them. Suddenly they both realized that they were sinners and that they needed to make some changes in their life. That was the Holy Spirit, not us, and they are continuing to read the Word of God and to allow Him to change their hearts. We never once had to say anything to them about their sin.

If we want to talk about sinfulness we have to start with our own. We must freely admit that we are sinners in need of Christ.  Our message can't be, "You're a filthy sinner and you need Jesus" it should be, "I'm a filthy sinner and I need Jesus" and our invitation should be to follow Jesus daily, not to escape hell. If the emphasis is placed where Jesus put it - on following Him daily and surrendering our will to His - then the rest will follow (i.e. repentance, sanctification, justification, salvation, etc.).

We don't know who is or isn't saved, and acting as a judge isn't our job.

I'm not sure I see a correlation between voting and judging others really. But, I will address the question of how we speak to same-sex marriage.

In Luke, chapter 6, Jesus contrasts Love and Judgment as two opposite actions. We can't do one if we're busy doing the other. If our job - our mandate - from Jesus is to love like God does, then we can’t waste our time judging the hearts of others. Simply put, we can't love and judge at the same time.

In Romans 2:1, Paul says that when we judge others we're actually passing judgment on ourselves. James chapter 4 tells us that when we judge others we're putting ourselves in God’s place.

Paul even draws a distinction between correcting sinful behavior of those within the Church (1 Cor 5:12) with the right to judge those outside the church.

So, according to the New Testament, followers of Jesus have no business trying to condemn the morality of the culture at large. Paul never did it. Peter never did it. Jesus never did it.

Why do we feel the responsibility to change our culture to behave the way we want them to? It doesn't make any sense – especially if our primary way of affecting change is supposed to be preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all nations. We can only teach people to obey all that Jesus commanded if they are willing disciples. But if they're not disciples of Jesus, why do we think that we can change their hearts or influence their behavior with a law or a policy? It's foolish, and it's not the Kingdom.

We should be more concerned that Kingdom people actually live out the Gospel in their daily lives. That’s actually what Paul’s main point about judging those within the Body is all about in 1 Corinthians 5. We’re expected to keep our own people on the straight and narrow, not those outside the Church. God will judge them without our help.

If we major on following Jesus ourselves, and teaching others within the Church to do the same, then we can offer the culture an alternative lifestyle that is direct contrast to the sinful ways of men.

Yes, I understand that Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to "go and sin no more" but then again, Jesus was the only person left standing who didn't have any sins to confess. The whole point of that passage is that those men who brought the woman to Jesus were in no position to judge her. That's why they dropped their stones and walked away. They understood that they were also sinners. Just like you and me.

At least, that's how I see it.

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LOVE THE SINNER?

"Among the plastic saints of our times, Jesus has to do all the dying, and all we want to hear is another sermon about his dying." - AW Tozer

Just before Good Friday I posted the above quote on Twitter and Facebook. One of my friends from high school wasn't sure what the quote meant, so I tried to explain the quote to her. As we began to dialog back and forth, an interesting thread began to develop. 

I explained to her that this quote is meant to be a commentary on how Christians here in America tend to forget that Jesus said "If anyone would come after me, he must first die to himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23). Today, Christians just want to hear stories about Jesus' death and His cross, but want nothing to do with talk of their own dying to self or taking up their own cross to follow Jesus into selfless love for others.

I talked about how Jesus set us an example to love others and that loving others as Jesus expects involves being inconvenienced for the sake of others.

My friend then made a comment about the over used phrase that Christians throw around that says, "Love the sinner. Hate the sin."

In response I said, "If we did more actual loving of people, this phrase wouldn't be such a problem." And I think this is true. Unfortunately, what we see is people who call themselves followers of Jesus doing very little in the way of "Loving Sinners" and far too much in the way of "Hating the Sin" (and therefore the sinner, too).

Until we are marked by our love and known as great lovers of people, it will never matter what we say with our mouths or what our bumper stickers say. 

In other words, "Don't tell me Jesus loves me, SHOW me the love of Jesus."

My friend, who does not identify herself as a Christian, said that this sounded great, but that, in her opinion it seemed like that was ok for some Christians, but not for every Christian.

"Well," I told her, "the problem with this not being for every Christian is that Jesus never gave us any other options." We either follow Him, or we don't. Jesus invited people to follow him, and then he explained what that involved, which is total surrender.

“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

My friend responded by saying that if her Christian friends would spend as much time loving and serving others as they did trying to convert her, she would be a much happier person.

The funny thing about this is that Jesus never told his followers to convert anyone. He simply told us to love others, to be known for love, to love God, and to teach others to follow Him too. 

If people don't want to follow Jesus, we're not supposed to beat them up. We just continue to love them.

"Why don't more Christians do this?" my friend asked.

Why? Because once we start trying to actually love one another, or love our enemies, or love the poor we discover - almost immediately - that it is far from easy. It's actually impossible. Why? Because love like this involves sacrifice. It means laying down my desires and wants in favor of meeting another person's needs. This is what "taking up my cross" is all about. My cross is the instrument of death to self so that the life of Christ can live in me - and love through me. That's the only way it works.

The bottom line is, character and actions speak louder than words. Yes, Jesus is about so much more than getting us to love others and demonstrate compassion. This is part of it, certainly, but He's mainly about wanting us to know Him, and sometimes this is more easily accomplished in our hearts when we obey Him in acts of compassion. 

God says this over and over again throughout the Bible: 

"He defended the cause of the poor and the needy (God says), is that not what it means to know me?" (Jeremiah 22:16) 

Here, "Knowing God" is related to showing kindness to the poor. Elsewhere it says: 

"If anyone has material possessions, and sees a brother or sister in need and does nothing, how can the love of God be in him?" (1 John 3:17) 

So, the sharing of possessions is related to sharing the love of God within us? Wow.

Again, the Bible affirms that no human being of flesh and blood is our enemy. We are called to love people, no matter what they believe or how they behave towards us. Our only enemy is spiritual and our only weapons are prayer and trusting in God.

Hopefully the next few decades we'll see more and more Christians focus on the "Loving the Sinner" part than on "Hating the Sin." If so, maybe there's hope for the Gospel to penetrate even the hardest hearts - maybe even our own?

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Love: How much is too much?

As we’ve been in the process of helping and serving the homeless here in Orange County, my wife and I, and our house church family, have encountered more than a few challenges.

Sometimes people get concerned that we are doing too much to help people. Some suggest that it would be better for us to allow people to “hit bottom” and sleep in homeless shelters so that they will be more motivated to change their own lot in life. Others feel that we are enabling them to remain in their condition by propping them up from the outside without addressing their internal sin issues more directly. Still others are not comfortable with our helping them in more practical ways because by helping them we might somehow be showing approval to their questionable lifestyles (i.e. – having children out of wedlock, using drugs, abusing alcohol, etc.).

None of these concerns are taken lightly. In fact, over the years, my wife and I have withheld assistance from people who did not take the proper steps towards escaping their condition – whether that be homelessness, or addictions – and we’ve also questioned ourselves at times about whether helping someone does more harm than good.

For example, when the scripture says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17), maybe the question is really about what the real “need” is. Someone might tell you that their “need” is for $100 to cover their rent. But maybe their real “need” is for someone to help them understand how to budget their money so that they can pay their own rent?

Hopefully I can think out loud here and invite you and others to weigh in on this discussion, because it’s something I’m currently still debating with myself, and because I freely admit that I do not know exactly what I am doing all the time.

My reaction at first was to say that most of these people are not followers of Christ, and so I cannot withhold kindness to them based on their sinful behaviors. After all, doesn’t Jesus urge us to be like God and to show mercy to the “just and the unjust” as God does? (see Matthew 5:44-45)

Secondly, my own spiritual calling and gifting is largely in the area of hospitality and service. Showing practical kindness and serving others is how I communicate the Gospel of Jesus to people. I’m not likely to take 45 minutes to attempt to convince someone to agree with me that Jesus died on the cross for their sins. I am not an evangelist in this sense of the word. However, I do feel that I communicate the truth and the power of the Gospel message by doing acts of service and showing mercy to people in my path. For me, this IS evangelism. It is an apologetic that no one can argue with or disagree with (except perhaps for overly judgmental evangelicals who might say that I am a horrible witness).

So, I’m not very comfortable with the idea of imposing my will onto people by threatening to withhold the grace of God to them if they do not take the steps that I want them to take. For example, it has been suggested that our house church family not help people with addictions unless they agree to attend at least one AA meeting a week and find a job. At first blush this seems more than reasonable. They need jobs and so what’s the harm in adding an incentive? They need to break their cycle of addiction, so what’s wrong with saying that we won’t take care of them if they won’t take care of themselves?

Over the weekend, I spent some time listening to college students share their experiences getting to know the homeless at Isaiah House in Santa Ana. As we shared, the idea of imposing our will on them “for their own good” was brought up. I was reminded of a similar conversation I had regarding church discipline in the house church. In that context, I argued for the power of love and relationship to generate the necessary repentance rather than incorporating an external (or internal) authority structure to threaten people to act righteously. This is still my conviction, and now suddenly I could see how my desire to impose my will upon this homeless family – even though it was for their own good – was the equivalent of “bringing in the Bishop” to address ethical or theological errors in the Body. It seemed inconsistent to argue for the power of love and relationships in one context and to deny it in another.

I caught myself saying, in the discussion on Sunday afternoon at Isaiah House, that it’s better to speak to people out of a sincere love for them; out of relationship; to let people know that because we love them we wish they wouldn’t smoke, or take drugs, or remain homeless. I argued that it was more effective than withholding basic necessities from people as a way to gain leverage over them and coerce them into changing their behavior. Suddenly my theoretical discussion was reflected back at me and I realized that I was in the process of trying to apply pressure to these homeless people in just the same way.

Later this week I sat and talked with my friend Thomas Crisp (a professor of Philosophy at Biola) about this same issue. He agreed that it was an abuse of our authority to treat other human beings this way. In fact, he appealed to the exact same premise found in Dallas Willard’s book, “The Divine Conspiracy” as an example. Our interaction with others should be out of sincere love for them, not tainted with manipulation – even if we think we know what’s best for the person.

Certainly, we treat our children this way don’t we? Yes, but I think in the case of a parent to a child it’s appropriate to set expectations on proper behavior and to impose punishments when disobedience occurs. But this is between a parent and a child, not between one brother to another. I mean, for me to exalt myself over another human being outside my actual family (as if I were their father) is insulting and presumptuous. Maybe even sinful?

For someone in the Body of Christ, authority rests on Jesus and the Spirit of God and the Scriptures, not on me or any other authority figure. Outside the Church it should still be the Word of God and the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin – not you or I. And to be more blunt, what these people need more than a job and more than to be legally married, and more than to be free from their addiction, is Jesus. Only Jesus can change their hearts and only Jesus can convict them of sin and give them a real hope to escape their situation.

So, for me, by showing love for people in practical ways – even in the midst of their sin – we ARE showing them Christ. We are bringing the Word of God and the Spirit of God to them as we continue in relationship with them, as we pray for them, and meet with them, and even as we model right behavior for them.

As we serve people in this way, many of them have made comments to us about the difference our service and mercy and kindness has made in their lives. Even seeing how people love one another, how husbands treat their wives in our fellowship, how children are given a voice, how the poor worship alongside the rich, has challenged them to be more understanding and patient and loving of one another. So, we’re not at the finish line yet, but we have cleared several hurdles in our lane so far.

To be fair, I can understand when someone says that they’re not comfortable helping people who are living in sin. Those are all pretty huge issues for me. Do we, as a church, send the wrong message to people when we bless them in practical ways, even when we know that the entire relationship is outside of God’s perfect will?

If we are called to show extravagant love to those on the edges of society like this, we will have to continually confront these issues and answer these challenging questions. To be honest, anytime you buy a cheeseburger for a homeless person you – potentially – enable that person to spend the $5 they would’ve spent on food to buy alcohol or drugs. So, maybe you should just never help anyone ever again because potentially your help – even a cold cup of water in Jesus’ name – could result in further sinful behaviors.

Maybe it seems I’ve already made up my mind about this, but let me assure you I have not. I am still wrestling with this question. For now, I am inclined to continue to love and serve whoever Jesus puts in our path. Right now I’m leaning towards showing the unconditional love and praying for God to work on their hearts, but even as I write this article I am still not 100% sure.

What do you think?

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TIME TO SAY "I LOVE YOU"

On September 11th, 2001, the victims of the attack had precious seconds to call one person they loved and say goodbye, or ask forgiveness, or let them know just how much they cared for them. And then it was goodbye.

Who would you make that call to? What would you say to them?

As we remember the tragedy of 9/11 today, I encourage all of us to take the time to put ourselves in the shoes of those who lost their lives that fateful day. Find your cell phone. Call that one person. Make sure they know how much you love them. Make sure they know you're sorry what you did, or what you said.

And when you say 'goodbye' at the end of that call, rejoice that for you it is not goodbye forever. You are still alive. You can even make another call or two before this day is over.

This is your opportunity to heal; to forgive; to love; to live.

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Our Idea VS God's Idea

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the LORD." - Isaiah 55:8

Quite often we develop our own ideas about who God is and what He wants from us. Lately I've noticed that a few of our concepts about doctrine, worship, fasting, missions, church-planting and faith are quite divergent from what God reveals in His Word. Here's a few of them for you to consider. See if you notice a theme running through a lot of these:


Our idea of Sound Doctrine:
An unwavering commitment to a set of teachings about tongues, salvation, the return of Christ, baptism, hell, etc. that must be argued for, defended, and held onto in order to preserve our denominational truth and/or identity.

God’s idea of Sound Doctrine:
“You, (Titus) however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

"Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us." - Titus 2:1-8


Our idea of Faith:
To believe that what the Bible says is true and to agree with doctrines that our church upholds as truth.

God’s idea of Faith:
"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder." – (James 2:14-19)


Our idea of Fasting:
To abstain from food or water (or any other activity) for a set amount of time in order to pray and hopefully find an answer to our prayers or hear God’s voice for direction concerning a specific issue or question.


God’s idea of Fasting:
“Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ?
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” – (Isaiah 58:5-9)


Our idea of what is essential for Missions and/or Church planting:
Finding a strong pastor and leadership team, raising enough money to rent or purchase a building and marketing the new church in the community.


God's idea of what is essential for Missions and/or Church planting:
"James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." - (Galatians 2:9-10)

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." – (1 Cor 12:12)

"Now the body is not made up of one part but of many." – (1 Cor 12:14)

"But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be." – (1 Cor 12:18)

"…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." – (Matthew 16:18)


Our idea of knowing God:
To study the Bible and to learn as much as we can about His character and His covenant and how it all fits together.

God’s idea of knowing Him:
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD." – (Jeremiah 22:16)

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." – (John 5:39-40)

Our idea of Worship:
To close our eyes and lift our hands and to sing songs about Jesus for as long as possible in order to express to God our intense feelings of love and gratitude for His goodness to us.


God's idea of Worship:
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." – (Romans 12:1-2)

"Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"
– (Amos 5:23-24)

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Note: This article is a compilation of previous articles on this theme that appeared here in September of 2010 and earlier this year.

HOMELESS FAMILY IN NEED

I've been running around today trying to help a family with a 3 week old baby. We met them on Sunday for the first time at the motel church. The father is hispanic and I believe he's here legally. The mother is from South Carolina but they're both unemployed right now. Living at the motel (for at least another week) until they figure something out.

What I'm learning is that all the different non-profits and shelters in Orange County are completely useless. Most of them have a waiting list of at least two weeks or more. None of them have empty beds to offer. And all of them have different hoops to jump through. The Christian groups won't help you if you aren't married. (They're not). Some of them require you to be employed and demand some or all of your paycheck, others require you to be unemployed and ask you to quit your job to enter their program. (So they can help you find a job later?) It's madness.

So, after making a few phone calls to people I know and trust, it came down to this: They could either take their 3 week old baby girl into a homeless shelter (Salvation Army) and sleep apart on either end of a segregated facility, or the mom could take her baby and sleep at a women's shelter (because they don't take men) and the father could sleep on a park bench and hope he didn't get arrested for "public camping".

What really breaks my heart is knowing that organizations that I've championed for years cannot do a thing to actually help these people. The truth is, I'm learning, they never were capable of actually helping anyone beyond the 10 or 12 people they were currently helping, even though they were receiving millions of dollars a year from the Government to fight homelessness in Orange County. (Most of their funding finances are spent on paying their staff and keeping the lights on in their facilities).

I think when it really comes down to it the only real solution to helping people like this are you and me. The followers of Jesus have to step up and help. We have to invest our lives in their lives. We have to let them sleep on our couches, or lend them money to buy food, or share our resources with them, or put them up in a motel until they can get help, or they will never get off the streets.

The system is designed to keep people on the streets. The motels they stay at nickel and dime them for every little thing. You can't use the phone in your motel room because the management charges you more than it costs to walk across the street to use the pay phone bolted to the telephone pole.

You can't get a job because you don't have a computer to type out a resume, or the money it takes to pay Kinko's $4 an hour to use their computer and print from their printers. Even if you do have that money, you still need more for the bus pass to get to the Kinko's, and with your 3 week old baby under your arm and no diapers or food for her, not to mention no food for yourself either, it's going to be hard to justify that $7 for a resume at Kinkos when your baby is crying out in hunger.

If you don't have a car and you spend your last $5.00 to take a 3 and a half hour bus ride to get your social security card and find out that they won't see you until you run over to the courthouse to get something signed or stamped (another 30 minute bus ride), then you've wasted an entire day for nothing. This sort of thing happens all the time.

All we can do is help one person, or one family like this, at a time. The system is broken. The shelters are full. The rescue mission is understaffed and their waiting lists are so long that people will die of exposure before they get one of those beds.

Only those who claim to follow Jesus can ever hope to make a difference. How? By giving until it hurts and by serving those who can never pay us back. By sharing what we don't want to give up and by allowing the problems of the homeless and the poor to become our problems.

We'll have to love more than we think we can. We'll have to give more than we're expecting to. We'll have to do even greater things than these.

-kg

LOVE CONQUERS HATE

On October 2, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the West Nickel Mines School house holding a loaded gun. He proceeded to shoot ten girls, between the ages of 6 and 13 years old, and killed five of them. Eventually he turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

While stories like this are all-too-common in our world today, the reaction of the community was anything but.

This shooting had taken place in the Amish country of Bart Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The families who lost their daughters were filled with grief over the loss of their children, but they were also filled with the love of Christ. This is why, instead of responding out of their despair, they followed the Prince of Peace and found the faith to act out the loving example of Jesus.

Just one week after the shooting, the same families who lost their daughters in this senseless and selfish act visited Marie Roberts, the wife of the man who had pulled the trigger and taken his own life. They boldly, and sincerely, offered their complete forgiveness to her. They invited her to attend the funeral services for their slain daughters. They shared all relief funds sent to them with Mrs. Roberts and her own children who had lost their father that same day. They even attended the funeral of Charles Roberts and offered their loving support to his widow and his children.

This is love. This is true forgiveness and Christian compassion.

Out of hate, love can conquer. Out of despair, hope can rise. Out of tragedy, forgiveness can overcome.

The message of the Gospel is subversive. It goes against the grain. It makes a real, dramatic, powerful difference at just the right time, and when no one could possibly even expect it.

This is what we are called to, as followers of Christ. We are called to love extravagantly and to forgive inexplicably, and to demonstrate to the world that Jesus is alive inside of us.

Let the Kingdom come.

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THE MINISTRY OF ROBERT HIGGINS TO ME

Just the other day, Robert asked if he was a burden to me or if I was getting tired of doing stuff to help him. Of course, I said it was no trouble at all and that I was happy to serve him. I reminded him that I loved him and that God loved him, too.

After I prayed for Robert, I went home to eat dinner with my family.

But on the way home I thought about this a little more. In the beginning, my times with Robert were a little challenging and frustrating to me. Back when he was still living in the motel he and I would often grind gears over certain issues. Usually, I was the one who made Robert angry because I was doing things for him that he hadn't asked me to do. Eventually, I learned that, unless Robert had specifically asked me to do something, I should not do it. In time, Robert had trained me to listen to him intently and only do exactly what he asked me to do. Otherwise, I allowed him to do as much for himself as he possibly could.

Lately, Robert has been unable to do very much for himself at all. Sitting up in bed is a struggle for him. He will not allow me to pull him up by his hand because the day he needs my help - or anyone else's - to do something as simple as sit up in bed, he knows that the end is near. I understand that he also wants to do as much for himself as he can - for as long as he can - before the cancer takes that away from him.

What I do for Robert is still not very much, in my opinion. Yet, in his mind, I'm already doing too much. It was after I had pushed him in his wheelchair from outside and I helped him take off his shoes and placed them in front of his chair that he asked me if I was getting tired of helping him. Of course, he stood up on his own, and he walked to his bed on his own, and he laid down by himself. All I did during all of this was to watch him, and to stand ready to steady him should he begin to fall backwards.

The truth is that it is actually getting easier for me to serve Robert lately. I think this is partly because, in the beginning, I was too wrapped up in trying to be his pastor. I was trying hard to change Robert's attitude on my own. I was feeling frustrated that he was stubborn and heard-headed. Of course, God used this frustration to show me how much Robert and I were alike. As I began to see myself in him, I found more patience with him.

Over time I've been learning how to be his friend instead of trying to change him. I've also begun to develop a new perspective on what God is doing in Robert's life, and in my life through Robert.

Now I can't wait to talk to Robert about all of this. I want him to understand what Jesus is doing in my heart as I spend time with him, and I want to thank Robert for being part of God's working in my heart to humble me and change me.

I think that's one of the unexpected miracles of serving others. We start out believing that we have the answers and all the resources they lack, but in truth we end up being blessed even more than those we hope to serve.

It's amazing for me to realize that, after all this time, the real ministry taking place might actually be from Robert to me. Or, at least, that both of us are being changed through this process of serving and being served.

What a wonderful mystery of life in the Kingdom.

Peace,
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ENCOURAGING THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

I've recently started to sense that might be calling me to travel to encourage the Church in persecuted nations. Of course, first I have to apply for a passport and then wait for God to open a door, but someone handed me an envelope with enough cash to pay for my passport a few weeks ago, so I think I'm getting the hint.

As I was sharing this with our house church family recently, one brother asked me what I could possibly say to followers of Jesus who are already standing for their faith in the face of violence and death. I had to admit that I would probably only find out what God wanted me to share with them after the door had been opened. The best I could hope for would be to engage in a mutual exchange of encouragement with my brothers and sisters undergoing persecution.

But as I continued to think about this and pray about it, I realized that there was something I could encourage the persecuted church to do after all; “Love your enemies”.

A few days after this thought entered my mind, the floods in Pakistan become front page news. Thousands dead, millions homeless, complete devastation of entire villages. This was an opportunity for those who had been threatened to demonstrate compassion to the very people who hated them.

I know that Pakistan is one of the top nations in the world for Christian persecution. Can it be any coincidence that this tragedy has befallen these people? Not as a judgment of God against the persecuting ones, but as an opportunity for the persecuted to demonstrate the love of Jesus in tangible ways.

Certainly, our nation and many other governments and first-response non-profit groups will mobilize to show compassion from the outside. But this is the perfect opportunity for the Body of Christ in Pakistan to boldly stand up and love their neighbor as themselves.

May God give them grace enough to love those who have shown them such hate and may it turn many souls to the love of Christ.

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LOVE IS OUR (NEW) NATURE

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." - 1 Peter 3:12

If you believe in Jesus, you believe in the power of love to redeem. If you believe in Jesus, you are a living example of how love can change the human heart.

How then can we, as followers of Jesus, fail to respond to those who are bound by evil with love, compassion and mercy? Are we surprised that they are sinful? Does it seem strange that those who have not tasted of God’s love should lack evidence of it in their lives? Hardly. Yet, when we respond to hate with more hate, we ourselves are the ones who are acting out of character. The unbeliever who curses us or insults us is behaving exactly as he should. He is being true to his nature.

As it says in Romans 8:7-8, "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

However, you and I are no longer alive to the flesh or to sin. We are transformed into the image of Christ by the indwelling Spirit of God.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" – 2 Corinthians 5:17

In fact, if we are truly redeemed by Christ – if His Holy Spirit is living in us daily – then we shouldn’t even have to think about how to love our enemies, or even if we should or not. It should be our reasonable response to love those who hate us and to bless those who curse us.

"For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:20

When Jesus uttered these words there was no doubt a collective sigh of defeat from the crowd. How could anyone hope to be more righteous than the Pharisees? They were without equal in Jewish society as the defenders of the faith and keepers of the Law of Moses. No one outside of that group would ever have dared to proclaim that they were more righteous than any Pharisee. It would seem then that any hope of entering the Kingdom of God was extinguished from the beginning. “Who then, can be saved?”

What Jesus is pointing out here is that, even the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law is not enough. If the standard of righteousness required exceeds that of those professional law-keepers, then even they will be left outside of the Kingdom. Maybe what Jesus is suggesting is that keeping the law isn’t the right way to enter the Kingdom. Perhaps that door is locked? Or maybe that door was never a door at all.

I think that Jesus is trying to suggest that, unlike the Pharisees whose righteousness was only an outward display of false humility and oppressive legalism, our real hope for entering the Kingdom of God is found through transformation. Later on in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says,

"Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." – Matthew 7:17-18

Translation: It’s not about doing stuff. It’s about transformation.

The Pharisees had it backwards. They were attempting to produce good fruit in their lives by doing good things. Jesus uses the metaphor of fruit trees to point out that the kind of tree you are (your nature) determines the kind of fruit you produce (your actions).

One way to express this new perspective is to say, “To produce good fruit, first become a good tree. Good trees produce good fruit naturally.” The point Jesus is trying to make is that we are all “bad trees” and unless we are transformed from within, we will never become “good trees” capable of producing good fruit.

Our calling is to allow Jesus to transform us into His image so that we can model a righteousness that is a natural expression of our new nature.

My version of this idea is expressed in the phrase: “Swimming won’t make you a fish. But if you are a fish, you will swim.”

When we attempt to become righteous by doing good works, we miss the point. But, when we let go of our own effort and surrender ourselves to His indwelling Spirit, we allow Jesus to live in us and through us. When this happens, he empowers us to love the unlovable and serve others in His strength.

Of course, we must daily do battle with our own flesh – our own sinful nature – in order to allow the life of Christ to increase in us. This is what Jesus means when he says that those who desire to follow Him must take up their cross (the instrument of their own death) each and every day. Therefore, the beautiful thing about being humiliated by people who hate us is that it fuels our death to self. Insults are like the hammer pounding down on the nails in our hands. Spiteful actions are like a crown of thorns being pressed into our prideful brow. Persecution is like a spear being thrust into our soft, selfish flesh.

If we were dead to sin, these actions wouldn’t hurt us so much. If our pride wasn’t so sensitive, being disrespected wouldn’t wound us so deeply. The fact that we are insulted when someone treats us like a servant betrays the fact that we are not already humble enough to actually serve them.

So, laying down our lives for others is what we are called to do. Those who seek to find their lives lose them. Those who lose their lives for the sake of Christ, discover what true life is really all about.

If you believe in Jesus, you cannot put your faith in hate. You cannot put your trust in anger. You cannot. Your only hope is Christ. Your only salvation is through love. His love has changed your heart, and it can change the hearts of others too. When you are persecuted, insulted, and humiliated you are presented with an opportunity to share with Christ in His sufferings. You have been given a gift from God when this happens. It’s a gift-wrapped hammer and a set of nails. If you allow Him to, He will fill you with His love for those who mistreat you. He will help you to put to death your pride and your love of self. He will teach you how to serve others, even when they are doing their best to hate you.

This is what it means to follow Christ.

Conversatio Morem! Death to the Status Quo of Me!

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ARE YOU IMMUNE?

There are 700,000 child slaves in Indonesia alone. There are over 200,000 child soldiers in Uganda. There are 35,000 homeless in Orange County, California. 80% of those are families with children.

Why don't we care enough to change the world we live in?

A recent quote from artist and activist Milton Glaser noted that it becomes harder and harder to provoke Americans to act for justice because, as he says, "Americans are immune to outrage".

I have to wonder how we in American have become passive in the face of injustice and atrocity? Our Nation was founded by individuals who took up arms to protest an unjust system of "Taxation Without Representation". They were incensed and spurred to action because of a 4% sales tax that yielded no representation for the 13 Colonies in Parliament. Yet today, their descendants and the inheritors of their spirited revolt are quietly reserved to pay over 30% of their income to the United States Government each year and most have no faith that elected officials will fairly represent the true needs of the people they serve.

I'm not advocating a new revolution against our Government, but I am puzzled as to how we've become immune to the sort of outrage that helped found our Nation in the first place.

William Wilberforce fought the British slave trade in his day. After spending his life arguing for abolition and lobbying in Parliament for the immediate end of this inhuman practice he finally found victory on March 25th, 1807. He died three days later, his life's work completed.

Why did Wilberforce believe he could stand up to the powerful slave industry giants and succeed? Why did Luther believe he could take on the Universal Church of his day and prevail? Why did Martin Luther King Jr. believe he could overcome generations of hatred and bigotry and change the hearts and minds of an entire Nation?

Why don't we believe these things? Do we believe in anything enough to risk our lives, or our families or our careers to stand up and speak out? Are we too comfortable in our own little world that we cannot be bothered to experience sincere compassion, or moral outrage, at the exploitation of other human beings? Is it because they are far away? Is it because they are not American? Is it because we don't believe our voice will make any difference?

A dear friend of mine once admitted to me, "I don't care about the poor, and honestly what bothers me most is that I don't care that I don't care about the poor."

What is the cure for apathy? How do you provoke people to become outraged at their own lack of outrage? How do you inspire people to protest against their own lack of concern? What sort of hope is there for hopelessness? Who can awaken the one who does not wish to be awakened?

I often wonder why it is in America that we have made a multi-billion dollar industry out of escaping reality. We are the entertainment capital of the world. Yet, I cannot help but imagine what could happen if we were to spend those same billions of dollars on creating a world where reality was a place you didn't need to escape from?

Why don't we respond to the injustices of the day? Is it because we have no clear direction, no specific steps to take? Is it because we have no great leaders to show the way? Is it because we don't believe that our lives can make a difference? Or is it because we are too comfortable where we sit?

Where are the Wilberforces of today? Where are the Martin Luther Kings or the Ghandis or the Mother Teresas? For that matter, where are those who call themselves disciples of Jesus?

Why can't it be you or me? Aren't we ambassadors of the greatest world-changer who ever lived?

For me, to be a Christian is to be an activist. This is what "Subversive" is all about. It's about provoking others to change the status quo of their lives in order to follow in the radical life and love of Jesus of Nazareth.

To be a Christian is to be an activist.

In what way could someone call themselves a follower of Jesus and be anything other than someone who brings change in their wake? How else is a person who names the name of Christ to act?

In my mind, to be a follower of Jesus is to be one who sees things as they are and work to bring the Kingdom of God in order to make things better.

Looking at Matthew 25, it would seem that the kind of followers Jesus is looking for are the ones who are incapable of walking past the poor without doing something to help. When they see someone hungry, they give them food. When they see someone thirsty, they give them a cold cup of water. When they see someone who is lonely, they stop and spend a few hours with them.

“For whatever you've done for one of the least of these”, says Jesus – our example and teacher – “You've done it unto me.”

Jesus was a radical. He raised up a small army of revolutionaries with the sole "raison d'etre" of changing the world and turning it upside down. In their wake, the early followers of Jesus, left changed governments, changed religious systems, and changed hearts and minds.

If the early church had simply existed, if it had only found a way to blend in with the culture around it and become safe and acceptable to the populace, you and I might not ever have heard of a person by the name of Jesus of Nazareth who, about 2000 years ago, gave his life to change the world, one person at a time.

The church today needs to become more like its founder. It needs to be driven to press forward, out of its comfort zone, to get its hands dirty, to move in such a way that our words line up with our actions. To do any less is settle.

Who wants to belong to a predictable movement? Who wants to surrender their life for something ordinary and unremarkable?

Many of us are willing, we say, to die for Christ. The question is, are we willing to live for Christ?

When it comes to outrage, I believe a Christian needs to be constantly spurred to action against injustice and poverty.

Are you immune?


-KG

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds"
– Hebrews 10:23


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Originally published April, 2007