Abstinence of Evidence

"Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions." (Jesus in Matthew 7:20, NLT)

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (Jesus in John 13:34-35, NLT, emphasis obviously mine)

Believe it or not, unassailable doctrine, large churches, observance of strict moral codes, etc., are not the best indicators that we're followers of Jesus, although they may sometimes come along for the ride. But it doesn't get much simpler than this: our love for one another will prove to the world that we are Jesus' disciples.

Is it possible that followers of Christ tend to live under the impression -- and teach and imply -- that our abstinence from such-and-such "evil" will prove to the world that we're indeed Jesus' disciples? Certainly there are codes of conduct that are taught to the believer in Scripture, and often those things begin with "do not." I'm not saying or implying otherwise.

The problem, though, may be that we're so concerned with the "do not" parts that we tend to forget the "do" parts. Consider the fact that Jesus did not make any of these statements:

• "If you do not associate with sinners, you will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
• "If you do not use foul speech, this will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
• "Your abstinence from alcohol will prove to the world that you are my disciples."
• "If you do not support businesses that act in a way that is contrary to Scriptural principles, the world will know that you are my disciples."
• "If you do not gossip, it will be obvious to the world that you are my disciples."

Some of those things are fine (unless they're accompanied by legalism, at which point they're tainted), but according to Jesus, none are the most solid evidence that we are His disciples. In fact, our reliance on "do not" rules can have a tremendous negative effect. (Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons' eye-opening 2007 book, unChristian, is a great place to start in learning about this, and I highly recommend it.)

One of my favorite quotes about the Church is one made by a man known as Julian the Apostate, emperor of Rome from 361-363. He wrote in a letter to Arsacius, the high priest in Galatia, "These impious Galileans [Christians] not only feed their own poor, but ours also; welcoming them into their agapae, they attract them, as children are attracted, with cakes." It wasn't that this early group of believers stood up for their religious rights, abstained from certain foods and drinks, or didn't associate with pagans. It was direct outward evidence of their love for other people (which blossomed out of their love for Jesus) that was evidence that they were followers of The Way.

For the sake of Jesus Christ, let us become a generation of believers that is known for what it does rather than what it does not do.

(This post was originally made quite some time ago; you've just read a re-post. But that's okay. It was free!)

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Does Theology Trump Love?

Jesus' theology was perfect. The rest of us, as smart or as Spirit-filled as some may be, have an imperfect, even muddled understanding of it. While there's no getting around the fact that if objective truth does exist (and I believe it does), some people are closer to it than others. However, I hope that no follower of Christ is convinced that he has such a stranglehold on "proper theology" that it rivals that of Jesus.

So why have we elevated theological understanding to a place of supreme importance in the Church, displacing priorities that Jesus obviously held to be critical? I would argue that we have done so in a bold, unashamed manner.

When was the last time you heard of a person or family leaving a church fellowship because that church body didn't serve the needy people in the community? I'm not sure I've ever heard of anything like that. How long has it been since you found out about a family leaving their church because the pastor seemed to be leaning toward Calvinism? Yesterday? Last month? How often does a believer decide to seek out a new church home because their current one doesn't give much money to the poor or to sister churches in need? How often do they begin that journey because they feel like the deacons are trying to run the church? because the music is too "rock 'n roll"? because the pastor uses too many sermon illustrations and not enough Scripture?

In the Word we see by Jesus' actions and words that He was far more concerned about a person's love for the Lord and love for other people than He was about their theology. It seems quite odd to me, then, that most who claim to follow Him today have positioned their spiritual concerns in the exact opposite way.

Solid theology can and should coexist with love and justice (see my comments on Biblical justice when you have time), but it does not trump them and certainly doesn't replace them. Let's stop acting as though it does.

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8 (NLT)

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)

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What To Do With Those Stinking Hypocrites

Some people are worth our help, our grace, and our forgiveness. But some are worthless. Right?

No? I fear that evidence in our lives proves that many of us hold to this philosophy.

Over the past couple of years I've had the opportunity to share some of my past -- some things of which I'm not at all proud -- with a few brothers in Christ. Not at some group confessional, but in one-on-one situations when I've felt that some of my screw-ups (rather, their solutions) would help those friends in situations they've been going through.

The reason they're able to listen to those stories and not write me off as a completely dispicable person is that they know I'm not still that guy. I've had to repent of some big things, and now my goal, my desire, is to continually change to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Some of you, probably most of you, would give me that same grace given current conditions. You may know me personally or have read enough here to know that I don't want to be the old Dean anymore, and that God has done some serious things in my life. He's made minor and massive "adjustments" that were painful to me, seemed illogical, and weren't even changes I wanted for myself.

But what if you knew me when I was going through those situations? What if you knew that I called myself a Christian yet I did things that completely belied that description; things you'd probably call "evil" without a second thought? (No, I've not killed anyone or done anything nearly so heinous as that.)

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Loads of Love - One Year!

I've been a part of an effort (or a ministry) called "Loads of Love" for a whole year now! The text from one of our flyers gives a summary of what it is:

"On November 5 we invite you to Five Points Laundromat  (815 Wellman Ave, 35801) to wash and dry your clothes (up to three loads - for blankets and heavy items, one to two loads) free of charge or obligation. Just show up with dirty clothes and we'll provide detergent, fabric softener, bleach,  and the washers and dryers so they'll be clean when you leave."

Loads of Love was started both as a means of helping people without expecting any return and of team-building in preparation for a mission trip to Haiti that happened earlier this year. We do this to follow Jesus Christ and obey what He taught; not to make us feel good about ourselves. My friend Stephanie Newman has been the driving force behind LoL; she's responsible for conceiving it and for making it happen. Many thanks, Stephanie!

LoL happens on the first Saturday of each month and though our primary target group is Huntsville's homeless population, there are people from many walks of life that we're able to help. We started in November 2010. It was somewhat appropriate, then, that on our one-year anniversary Kay Campbell, the Faith & Values Editor for The Huntsville Times, visited us along with a gentleman named Robin (failed to get his last name), a photographer for the paper. Kay talked with several volunteers as well as a few clients yesterday to get a feel for what's been happening and how the ministry effort is making an impact on a little piece of our city.

We're praying and brainstorming about what to do next. We would love for more Christ-followers to be involved with this effort. Our next big need is a van and driver to make a stop at one homeless camp (we're limiting it to that right now) to pick up our clients and then to take them back after Loads of Love is finished. If we can get a few area churches to climb on board with this the "burden" would be spread out and would be quite easy to manage.

If you'd like more information, our would like to help or donate funds (we feed washers and dryers with quarters from donations), hygeiene products for the coming cold months, detergent, clothing, etc., please click here to send me an e-mail and I'll get you hooked up.

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Happy 20th Aniversary To Me (and Callie)!

Two days ago (April 6, 2011) my wife and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary! I sometimes think that I'd love to go back and change some of the stupid things I've done over the course of our lives together, but when I realize that even those things had a hand in bringing us to where we are today (keeping a correct reading of Romans 8:28 in mind; God didn't cause or tempt either of us to make mistakes, but as we've pursued and loved Him He's brought good out of them when they've come along), I decide that I wouldn't want to change a thing -- even the things that hurt badly at the time.

Together we've learned some very important facts over these often-strange yet ultimately fantastic years: 

• If you love (in actions as well as "in your heart") God before all else, your spouse next, and yourself last, even times that are horribly tough will be situations that you will weather.
• If it's just religious-speak to say that you love God before all else, your spouse next, and yourself last, your relationship is likely going to be very difficult.
• The best things (spiritual growth, relational growth, love, understanding of the other person, etc.) come if both of you are willing to (and do) love God before all else, your spouse next, and yourself last.

Do you see a common theme? If so, I think you should grab a highlighter and mark your screen so you'll never forget it.

On Wednesday I celebrated our anniversary publicly by posting to Twitter and Facebook 20 reasons that I love my wife. Without further ado, here is the list:

1. She loves Jesus Christ.

2. She loves me.

3. She is unfathomably forgiving.

4. She has incredibly amazing taste in men

5. She is not absent-minded like I am.

6. She likes almost all the same music I like.

7. She is beautiful (and not just that "internal beauty" thing people talk about).

8. She overlooks my faults and loves me in spite of them.

9. She doesn't let on that she's embarrassed when I wear white pants at age 41 (and prior to Easter).

10. She is a self-sacrificing mother.

11. She no longer gets visibly irritated when I forget stuff.

12. She will most likely forgive me for embarrassing her by posting "20 Things I Love About My Wife" one item at a time.

13. She is persistent about me building bookcases and an addition to the house. Wait, don't count this one...

13. She tolerates my hyper-uber-long-range contemplative phase prior to building bookcases and an addition to the house.

14. She got me Superman floor mats for our anniversary!

15. She likes big-budget sci-fi and action/adventure movies

16. She's happy with life even though we can't afford as much cool stuff as many of our friends.

17. She often reminds me of the heart of a Scripture whem I'm trying to go all philosophical (naah, this *never* happens).

18. She has a double-standard: she values my welfare above her own.

19. She didn't break up with me after I wrote that disuietingly-awful song (and played the tape) for her 22 years ago.

20. She knew me well and married me anyway, then got to know me *very* well and stayed with me anyway. Amazing!

Happy anniversary, Callie! I love you!

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Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin

Short post...

"Love the sinner, hate the sin."

This is possible for God. Is it possible for us? I've seen that our habit is to think we're loving the sinner and hating the sin, while we're actually hating both.

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A Dish Best Served Cold?

Don’t testify against your neighbors without cause;
    don’t lie about them.
And don’t say, “Now I can pay them back for what they’ve done to me!
    I’ll get even with them!”
- Proverbs 24:28-29 (NLT)

Here's a really simple principle. Don't try to get revenge on people. "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you," is the way Jesus put it. Like so many other instructions we're given, this sounds like a really great principle. It's one we hold to tightly.. until someone does something to us that we're sure deserves our retailation, if for no other reason than to teach them a lesson.

I've found that I don't struggle with this concept unless I'm thrust into a situation where I actually have to practice it. Then my inner desire for self-defense -- the entitlement impulse -- tempts me by saying that all bets are off. But the times when it's most difficult to obey the Word are actually the times I believe it's most critical that we do obey. It's no good to rationalize and tell yourself why you're justified in some kind of retribution. The fact is that we're not given liberty to do that.

Paul wrote in Romans 12:19, "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, 'I will take revenge; I will pay them back,' says the Lord." In essence, if we decide we're justified in retaliating whether it's in action or by simply ignoring someone (or maybe deleting them from your friend list on Facebook), we're stepping in to try to fill God's shoes, if only for a moment. That's the height of arrogance.

It's interesting to me that the writer of Proverbs groups this with lying about your neighbor.

I've learned that the best response, instead of taking offense in any given situation, is to start by getting over myself.

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I am not entitled...

Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was frustrated with another party who seemed -- to me -- to be completely overlooking some of the ground floor, simple teachings of Jesus, particularly in Matthew 5 (there are a lot of them there; I'm not going to talk specifics). In a nutshell, I felt they were overlooking grace and were simply self-concerned.

The thing that made my observation so off-base was that I felt they were overlooking grace toward me.

It's ironic -- in expecting someone else to have grace toward me, I was considering myself to be entitled to their grace. In doing so, I failed to give grace to them.

Realizing this made me consider a prominent theme throughout Scripture, and while it doesn't hold true for every situation (false teaching comes to mind), it applies in far more situations than you'd think in relationships with people:

I am not entitled to your grace, but you are entitled to mine.

I believe that this is the attitude that every Christ follower should embrace. It falls in line with what Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 8, regarding meat sacrificed to idols. "...while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church." (1 Corinthians 8:1b, NLT) Knowledge can be a killer when we apply it to everyone else. Our perspective in applying knowledge frequently makes everything seem lopsided in our favor, snuffing out our new nature that should be filled with grace for others. I say this for my own benefit, because I seem to be one of the worst violaters of this principle.

"I am not entitled to your grace, but you are entitled to mine." Accurate or not?

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Most Important of All...

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
- 1 Peter 4:8 (NLT)

Whenever this verse is used, people inevitably focus on the last part, and interpretations of that part are many and varied. Funny thing is, no matter how you read the last part, the first half of the verse stands strong and is really an idiot-proof command. Unfortunately, it rarely receives the attention that the other part does. So today I'm going to help by focusing on the first part:

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other.

There you have it.

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Firewood

This weekend I'm planning to take firewood to some people with an urgent need for it. I'd like to ask for donations of wood from those of you in the Huntsville, AL area. You don't have to donate a truckload or anything; any amount will do. Your donations will help this group who can't afford to buy wood or arrange for its delivery.

You can either e-mail me using the tab at the top of this page, or you can post a comment and I'll follow up with you.

Here's just one passage that's motivated me: "What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, 'Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well'—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?" (James 2:14-16, NLT)

James is actually not solely focusing on helping the poor in this passage. Rather, he uses feeding and clothing the poor as just one example of the broader picture of a living faith versus a dead faith. It doesn't just apply to a little niche thing that we do, and it's not instruction to soothe our consciences by performing one act of kindness. Rather, this sort of selflessness is to characterize everything that we do -- selflessly serving not only the poor, but people like our spouse, our boss, our annoying neighbor, etc.

You may find that in applying these verses, you'll be helping a different person or set of people than I might; individuals unique to your sphere of influence, but I'm sure you're going to find yourself doing something. Whatever the case, I encourage you to look for the opportunity today. Don't ever let yourself say, "I really need to do that..." and then do nothing about it.

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Assistance for the Homeless

I'd like to give a big, huge thank-you to all of you who gave and who responded regarding today's trip to help some folks. We had donations of Band-Aids, ointment, lip balm, gauze, cookies, and more. Thank you! Also, one of our local Family Christian Stores gave me a great deal on some Bibles last night.

My friend Ted went with me to take these things downtown to a group of homeless men and women. The drive back to the homes/tents under the bridge had been dug up to make way for a new drain pipe, so there was no easy walkway. We were greeted by a fellow named Ken, who saw us driving up and came out to meet us and made his way over the dug-up area. It was fairly obvious that it wasn't desired that we go back to their tents to distribute the first-aid supplies, Bibles, and cookies, so we talked with Ken for a minute or two and gave him the things to hand out himself.

The point of our visits is not to enable anyone to remain homeless, or to feed any desire to leech off of the donations of people, but rather to share out of the abundance of what we have, and to share about our relationship with Christ. My prayer is that we'll see some of these people overcome the obstacles that they're presented with, whether those obstacles are of their own making or circumstances beyond their control. And if I'm able to be a part of helping them to overcome these things, I want to be at their disposal and service.

And the point of our going frequently is to be enabled to get to know this group of people, and to enable them to know us and to realize that we're not just a group wanting to make ourselves feel generous or good or to patronize them, but that we actually care about them.

Next trip will be November 29 (or possibly the 22nd), and right now it looks like we'll plan on taking firewood, as that seems to be a need. We may help a group with hot meals, too.

E-mail me (new tab up at the top of the page) or post comments for more info or to let me know that you'd like to be a part of this ongoing effort.

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This Weekend -- the Homeless

This Saturday I'm going to be taking a trip downtown with Bibles, books, and medical supplies (Band-Aids, Carmex, OTC pain reliever, Neosporin, gauze, etc.) to take them to some of the homeless people who're under a particular bridge. I may hang out with some of the college kids I've met there who serve hot food every Saturday (of their own accord -- no organized establishment behind their efforts).

Would any of you in the Huntsville area like to go with me? I intend to do this about every two weeks, so you'll have the opportunity again. Don't let that be a reason for putting it off, though.

Also, if any of you would like to contribute any of the supplies listed above, please let me know in the comments or via e-mail (dean.lusk(the "at" symbol)gmail.com) I'm planning on making a run to a store (avoiding WalMart -- I promised myself I would never go there again) before Saturday, and any contributions before then would be greatly appreciated. I'll let you know how to get them to me or I can pick them up.

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Am I Fat and Happy?

Rather than trying to do a catchy, real-life-relating-to-spiritual-life story, I think I'll just talk about what's going on in my noggin lately. It's not all that uplifting of a post, to be honest. I pray (literally -- I'm not just using a religious phrase) that you will be motivated as I share what's been motivating me. I'm afraid it'll be a little offensive, but I'm not throwing stones, I promise.

I've observed that not everyone in the typical church fellowship takes his walk with Christ really seriously. That's shocking, of course, and I've probably just given a big eye-opener to all of you with that statement. You're welcome. But I've also learned that I can't push people into some life-changing Holy Spirit epiphany that calls them to (or back to) an intimate walk with Christ. And I really can't push a group of 500+ people that way. The Holy Spirit Himself has to draw them. And they have to make the choice to follow that direction ("repent"). God uses His people to this end, for sure. He's been using His Word to really get to me lately.

As I've gone through Christmas music to prepare for our choir (and to prepare our choir for it), I have a few images that keep going through my mind.

I can imagine us singing, "Glory to the newborn King!" in a well-decorated, heated sanctuary that has plumbing, bathrooms, [arguably] comfy seating, good-smelling people, water fountains, girly funeral home furniture, etc. (No, I don't go around smelling people.) And this is all rather easy to imagine, because we do it every year. That's image number one.

And then I picture a non-seasonal service at which we sing things like, "How great is our God," and hear sermons that say something like, "We need to be living for Christ on a daily basis," and in return those statements are given a hearty, and sometimes half-hearted, "Amen!"

Finally, I picture us, proverbially fat and happy, going home and doing very few Godly things. At least, I picture myself this way. We usually don't feel particularly convicted to help others willy-nilly -- that's not where God may be directing us. We often wait until He "convicts" us to do something. And in the meantime, He mercifully convicts us to watch TV, surf the internet, write blog posts, and things like that. (That idea is courtesy of Francis Chan in Crazy Love -- can't take credit for it.)

Of course I'm not condemning these things. They're good! God has blessed us in a huge way with physical things, with loving people and great relationships. I'm not at all suggesting that we should feel guilty for enjoying these blessings. But when these things are used at the expense of actively living in the fullness of God's will, they're simply not good. At that point we'll have taken a great gift and begun to regularly use it for our own gratification.

A couple of questions that I've found to be very revealing in my own life:

1) What am I doing today that requires faith?

2) How have I been directly living out what the Scriptures say a Christ-follower will do as a result of deep love for Christ and for people?

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Treat This Like It's Mine!

You know the old saying, "Treat that [thing that you're borrowing] as if it were your own"? I'm sure some of you have adopted the slightly different version, as I have, when loaning your stuff to someone: "Treat that thing as if it were someone else's." A lot of people just don't take good care of their things, and if I'm loaning, say, an expensive guitar to someone, by golly, I want them to treat it better than they'd treat their own expensive guitar.

That's what I was reminded of as I read through a little more of Francis Chan's book Crazy Love last night.

I've typically approached life with the mindset that I'm essentially being Jesus Christ to people with whom I come in contact (link goes to an older post called "How Do I Look?"). The Bible says we're the body of Christ, and it's upon that that I base this mindset. However, when I read one particular sentence, I raised my eyebrows and thought, "Hmmm," in spite of the fact that Jesus said that when you help the poor or feed the hungry, you're doing that to Him. Not sure why, but I never thought of it quite this way:

My suggestion as you think, make decisions, and discern how God would have you live is to ask yourself, "Is this the most loving way to do life? Am I loving my neighbor and my God by living where I live, by driving what I drive, by talking how I talk?" I urge you to consider and actually live as though each person you come in contact with is Christ. [emphasis mine]

If, as the Word says, we're to esteem others more highly than ourselves and to love our neighbor as ourselves, this is a great point. Preston commented yesterday that speaking about hell is probably one of the most loving things we can do for a person, and I agree, so don't necessarily think that I'm recommending we start doing the Precious Moments warm 'n' fuzzy thing with everyone all the time (although that's going to apply sometimes).

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Surrendering to a Sacrificial Life

I think some friends (and maybe relatives) are getting the impression that I'm going off the deep end, but God has really been shaping my thoughts and focus (or foci) lately in a way that's different from what I've ever allowed Him to do. And the deep end, therefore, is a nice place to go off of. Safe-feeling? Not really. But if God's there, that's where I want to be.

A question I've been asking myself lately (and one that I want you to ask yourself if you're a Christ-follower) is this: "What am I personally, actively doing that is evidence that my love for Jesus Christ is more than a passive thought?" I have to be honest with you: I've not been too happy with the answer I had. For all the things that I do from day to day as a Christ-follower, husband, dad, and worship pastor, I don't know if I could totally say that I've actively been living a James 1:22 kind of life and presenting myself to God as a living sacrifice -- laying down comforts to intentionally embrace what is usually discomfort for the sake of Jesus Christ.

1 John 3:17-19 (NLT) says this: "We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God's love be in that person? Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God."

Your "mission field" is likely to be different from mine, but I guarantee you that it's out there -- today. Could be right in front of you, but it might be way, way out of your comfort zone. And you know what? It could be terrifying.

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Craziness?

I'm not sure how best to phrase all this, so I'll just plunge in.

This morning I read the first thing in Francis Chan's book Crazy Love that I didn't like. In a section describing the personal sacrifices of many Christ-followers, he talked about Shane Claiborne's life at The Simple Way, a communal fellowship. Preston mention Claiborne and some other emergent church leaders yesterday and I ran out of time to chime in on the comments that I agree. I can't say that I dislike the guy personally; I don't know him. But from what I do know, I believe he misrepresents Christ.

So I read the section about Claiborne and thought, "Wow, bummer. That's kind of a notch down for ol' Francis in my book." He didn't paint Shane Claiborne as the end-all, be-all Christ-follower, but the inclusion of this part made me wonder about some of Chan's personal views.

But I continued reading. Here's the next part in that chapter, about those who sacrifice their own lives for others:

The Robynson Family
This family of five, with three kids under the age of ten, chooses to celebrate the birth of Christ in a unique way. On Christmas mornings, instead of focusing on the presents under the tree, they make pancakes, brew an urn of coffee, and head downtown. Once there, they load the coffee and food into the back of a red wagon. Then, with the eager help of their three-year-old, they pull the wagon around the mostly empty streets in search of homeless folks to offer a warm and filling breakfast on Christmas morning.

All three of the Robynson kids look forward to this time of giving a little bit of tangible love to people who otherwise would have been cold and probably without breakfast. Can you think of a better way to start the holiday that celebrates the God who is Love?

And all of a sudden Shane Claiborne was totally gone from my mind, and I wept in repentance of my own selfishness (I could say that I cried like a baby, but that wouldn't sound nearly as spiritual -- I like "spiritual vocabulary," don't you?).

It instantly hit me that deep down inside, I don't want to do anything like this. And that made me very sad.

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Rethinking Ways of Giving and Loving...

Do you ever get the feeling that sitting in a reasonably comfortable seat or pew at a church service and putting money into an offering plate might actually encourage people to be lazy in how they give? The Cooperative Program has been a literal Godsend to missionaries across the world, and there are numerous charitable organizations to which church fellowships of many denominations give liberally. A side-effect or our typical method of giving (impacting the giving individuals), I'm afraid, may be that the average churchgoer doesn't see the need to get "into the trenches," either in personal giving or in physical effort.

Yesterday a group of people, primarily teens but a few adults, went to a nearby gas station and gave away gas to people as long as money was available. It was a nice little chunk of change, but as I understand it, it went quickly, as you might imagine.

The group's purpose? To show that they care about people and that they want to give freely. They didn't specifically invite people to their church fellowship unless the conversation went that way itself, but most of them were wearing shirts that said "Be the Church." This was to discourage the idea that the group might be essentially bribing people to go to their church fellowship.

I can think of several arguments as to why this might appear to be a token gesture or why it's a generally silly thing to do. However, efforts like this are some of the "crazy" things that I believe aren't such wild ideas for Christ-followers. The churched crowd in America, as a whole, is ridiculously well-off financially (pulling from my current read, Francis Chan's "Crazy Love," 53% of the world's population earns $2 or less per day). As Jesus directly said, this makes it as difficult for them -- rich people -- to enter the kingdom of Heaven as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. That's "impossible," but it happened with Zacchaeus -- things that are impossible with man are possible with God.

Got any ideas of tangible ways that we as Christ-followers -- the Church -- can visibly show that we love one another and that we love people around us who are not Christ-followers? Not necessarily just "new" ideas, but ways that you or your church fellowship are actively doing this...?

Bear in mind that first, we have to love people; then we can genuinely show it. Otherwise it's going to be a hollow, gratutious gesture. Jesus didn't say that the world would know that His disciples are, indeed, His disciples by how many people they witness to or how well they propagate disciples (although that was also His command); Jesus said that the world would know this by how much we love one another. We've got to get it straight within the Church before we can get it straight outside.

Addendum: For the sake of clarity, I am not encouraging anyone to begin to give less, or to discontinue giving (either in money or commitment), through their local church. Don't think that I needed to say that, but thought I'd better.

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"Cynicism" -- Say it Ten Times Fast

"What is the most Christ-like thing that I could do (or not do) in this situation?"

One of the reasons I started this blog was to get Christ-followers to begin to ask this kind of question to themselves regularly. Its answer may or may not fall in line with what you've picked up over the years. A corollary to the non-Scriptural statement "God helps those who help themselves" (see Romans 5:6, not Poor Richard's Almanack) may be the statement, "I will only help those who help themselves." Our response to seeing someone in need, sometimes not in so many words (I don't think we're honest with ourselves sometimes), may be like this:

"He made his own bed, now he should lie in it."
"I would just be enabling him."
"That situation is a direct result of his sin."
"He needs to learn the hard way."
"Nobody helped me when I was in that situation. I had to rely on myself." (Or more pompously, "I had to rely on God.")
"He should have known better."

Each of these statements is the product of selfishness and anger; not wanting to dispense something that we think we've never received.

While our "job" may, from time to time, include helping people to learn to do things for themselves, our primary task as Christ-followers is not to convict people of sin (see John 16:8 for starters) or to leave them in a situation that may be of their own making -- for instance, the traveler in Luke 10:30-37 should probably have taken along traveling companions, but that didn't prevent the Good Samaritan from helping him. Our privilege is to live in obedience to Christ in day-to-day life, to show people that we love them like Christ loves them, and to spread ("preach") the Word.

Obey the simple truths of the Word without over-analyzing them. As we get older, we don't necessarily get wiser -- we can actually begin to use our past experiences and their resulting lessons as crutches.

Never mistake cynicism for widsom.

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Sizing Up Those Around Us

We tend to size people up by using ourselves as the standard for doing so, whether it be our morals, our sense of humor, hairstyles that we like, or our opinion of someone's physical attractiveness. Even if we have low opinions of ourselves, we typically still do this.

This allows us to group together with people with common interests, and can facilitate a learning and growing process. As Christ-followers, though, it enables us to keep people at arms' length and will often unconsciously prevent us from unconditional love (a wonderful buzz-phrase, but I sometimes wonder if it's become mostly meaningless to us). I've noticed that we in the Church often have a tough time loving one another. If my observations are accurate, how in the dickens can we be prepared to love those who aren't Christ-followers?

Putting self aside is a mammoth task.

"Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

"Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too."

Philippians 2:1-4 (NLT)

I encourage you to go read the whole chapter.

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Jump In -- The Water Is Fine

I've noticed that I haven't offered a whole lot of real-life scenarios for tie-ins lately. This post continues that trend. That's why I've made the title sound like it's going to be rather allegorical. But it's really a trick -- the title technically makes sense, but I don't have a pool story to go along with it...

Jesus told His disciples, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34-35, NLT)

As I have noted before, many Christ-followers wait for a special feeling or unusual sensation to help them determine if they should do something or not. Do we wait for that special prompting before loving people in our hearts, minds, and actions?

There are some things spelled out plainly that we're to do whether or not we feel like it. The fact that it is a commandment that we love one another just as Christ loved us means that we can actually choose to disobey it. If we could not do it, Jesus would not have told us (by extension as His disciples) to do it. So loving one another must be one of those things that the Christian is naturally empowered to do.

In my own life, I have seen that this is most often made possible by swallowing my pride and simply doing it rather than saying, "Lord, help me to love so-and-so." That kind of prayer has usually led to my waiting on a special, fuzzy feeling, and in the end, either inaction or procrastination -- the postponement of love, if you will.

Because of Jesus' words, we can know that God has already given us all the help and strength that we need to do this.

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