Gospel Notes

One of the biggest dangers continues to be equating spiritual life with religious practices and feelings. No ritual or feeling is proof God reigns. Rather Jesus is all the proof we need.  The reality of his resurrection inspired the disciples to give their lives spreading the Gospel.  This reality still transforms the lives of broken people, not by fixing their circumstances and making life easy, but by giving them an inner-peace that cannot be described or known by anyone outside the faith.  The point is that religious practices and intense feeling are surely part of the equation, but we cannot depend on them.  Rather, we must get real with ourselves and truly discover if we have accepted Christ as Lord.  While this starts with a belief in Him, it doesn’t end there.  If Christ is Lord EVERYTHING changes.  Has everything changed?     

  When one acknowledges Christ as King, and becomes surrendered to living the life prescribed in the Gospel, they begin to advance in spiritual life.  Being surrendered may produce ritualistic behavior and at times intense feeling, but it never depends on it. If it did, Jesus surely wouldn’t have gone through with the crucifixion, nor would the disciples have started the early church.  Likewise, our faith is tested pure when we go through the valley-and we all do-and come out the other side with the same knowledge Paul had that “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” 

The gospel hasn’t changed, but unfortunately the world hasn’t changed much either.  We can’t accept the bear minimum and expect the world to take notice and change can we?  Unfortunately, that seems to be the prayer of many people who claim to follow Jesus.

As we move toward fall and the end of the year, I’d like to continue sharing notes about the Gospel because I believe that it is the hope of the world.  We must becomse so entirely sold out to the Gospel that our lives are changed from the inside-out.  Soft-serve Christianity will no longer suffice.  It is time to go all in.

Labor Day Homework

When I started writing this blog two months ago, my prayer was simply that those reading it would be become greater disciples of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, I often refer to authors who are spiritually more mature, and have greater life experience than I.  Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, is one of those authors.  Therefore, in celebration of Labor Day Weekend, I encourage you to spend the time you normally spend reading this blog on the website for his book, The Hole In Our Gospel: http://www.theholeinourgospel.com/. 

Having just finished the book, I believe that everybody who considers themselves a Christ follower should read it.  But that isn’t why I hope you venture to the book’s website.  I hope you spend a few minutes there praying over the following questions:

1. Is my heart breaking to the things that break God’s? 

2.  What am I doing with my time, talents, and treasures to combat the greatest humanitarian need of our day?  (Like Stearns, I too believe that we need to be using all three: everybody can sacrifice time, everybody can sacrifice some of their talent, and as Americans we can certainly sacrifice some of our treasure).

3. What barriers prevent me from doing more? 

4. What ideas do I have to combat poverty?  (For those in the community group I lead, this especially is intended for you!  In addition to our B.H.A.P.s I will be challenging us to do something tangible regarding poverty in the coming weeks.  It isn’t about what I suggest either, it is about what we feel God leading us to do.  The point is that we will do something.  Please email or post any ideas).

5. How familiar am I to this current situation?  (Shameless plug, I HIGHLY encourage you to read Stearns’ book because it will educate you to the reality of poverty in our affluent world).

6.  Finally, what do I know about what Scripture says about the poor? 

While I can’t list all the statistics that Stearns presents in the book, a few that I remember stick out:  First off, it is estimated that 25,000 children die of preventable disease or hunger each day.  I didn’t type that incorrectly, EACH DAY.  By all accurate accounts, the average Christian tithes 2% of their income and the average church gives 2% of their funds to ministries over seas (in other words, the average American church is very focused on their congregation and surrounding community.  I would argue that the church is supposed to do this, but that doesn’t exclude the lack of giving to overseas ministries.  We were commanded to serve the poor, not give our scraps to them).  Before the cynic turns away, the majority of what Stearns argues has to do with sustainability (water wells that continue to provide for communities, and investing in small business enterprises etc.).  Therefore, he isn’t advocating handouts, which is the common misconception of the west.  Those of us who happened to attend this year’s Willow Creek Leadership Summit got an amazing overview and lesson on this from one of its speakers, Andrew Rugasira: http://www.willowcreek.com/Events/Leadership/2009/andrew-rugasira.asp. 

Once again, I’ll ask you to pray over the 6 questions above.  What can we, you and I, do to join in the fight?  Jesus didn’t give us an option, we must serve.

Grace That Knows No Bounds

This week I would like to share two observations from the following week that, when looked at together, demonstrate the love of Jesus. 

My Confession

On Thursday I decided to stop at Wendy’s for lunch because I love their spicy chicken sandwich.  As I ordered my sandwich, baked potato, and diet coke, the girl helping me repeated everything I said.  Sadly, a small voice within me started making a bunch of judgments:  I reasoned that she was doing this because being Hispanic she struggled with the English language.  Also, I reasoned that she wasn’t of extreme intelligence to begin with because she works at a fast food restaurant (please note the sarcasm).  In my twisted and sinful way, I was internally positioning myself as being better than her, which made me feel annoyed that she had to repeat everything I said.  I suddenly realized that this was happening and as this girl served me, she started to serve me more than food.  As she spoke, she displayed her positive attitude about work by telling me what a blessing it was to have a job given the economic environment we were in.  Her wise perspective gave me pause and I realized a few things.  First off, I was reminded that God loves everybody, regardless of their career, equally.  As I ate my lunch, I kept reminding myself of this truth.  I was entirely off base making those judgments, even if those judgments weren’t shared with others or said out loud.  Secondly, I was reminded that it is important to continually check my heart. I was starting to form judgments about people whose professions weren’t very glamorous.  I was also starting to form judgments about workers who weren’t as proficient with the English language as I am.  To combat this, I confessed and repented from this during my nightly prayer with my wife (we pray regularly together and I feel that she is often the best accountability partner because if I ever make these kinds of judgments, she has the courage to point them out and I am very glad she does, although I can get irritated when she does!).  By repent, I mean that I will intentionally love, and not judge, those who work in jobs that aren’t glamorous or those who have trouble speaking English well.  In other words, repentance involves more than words.  It involves action.

“Good” People Go To Heaven

I’ve seem to run into the “all good people” go to heaven argument a lot lately.  It is, after all, the politically correct thing to say because the world seems to think that we aren’t supposed to judge anyone.  As my example above demonstrates, this is somewhat true.  We shouldn’t judge people for their job, their language, and superficial things like that.  But there is a big difference between judgment and truth.  I believe that political correctness loses its power when we enter the arena of truth and this is precisely where matters of faith exist. 

Matters of faith exist in the world of truth because they either are or they are not.  C.S. Lewis once said “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance.”  Unfortunately, there are some who have been led to believe that Christianity is only partially true, but Jesus never gave us this option.  He said in John 14:6 that “no one comes to the Father except through me.”  This is pretty clear cut, isn’t it?  If we agree that it is, shouldn’t our faith be of “infinite importance?”   

But this doesn’t sit well with some because they know people outside the faith who are “good,” or at least they think they are.  They argue that if God is really as loving as the Bible claims He is, wouldn’t He let all “good” people into heaven?  Such an argument interests me for a few reasons.  First off, I’m always interested to figure out what constitutes as “good.”  We throw that term around a lot these days and I have trouble differentiating “good” from “not so good.”  For example, if Mother Theresa was “good,” and I think we all would argue that she was, where does that leave me?  Was she just on a different level of “good,” or am I suspected to store up enough good works that I compare at least partially?  Also, I wonder whether God grades on a curve because if He does people like Mother Theresa are ruining it for the rest of us!  All kidding aside, if we truly believe that access to heaven is about works, surely there is a cut-off line.  There has to be a certain number of good works required for access, so when will we know enough is enough? 

It is at this point where we see the amazing love of God.  Being the alpha and omega God that He is, God requires perfection.  None of us, including Mother Theresa, can live up to that.  But being so full of grace, God allowed His son, Jesus, to come and answer the how much is enough question for all of eternity.  You see, all heaven takes is coming to Jesus, giving Him your life, and allowing Him to be your sacrificial atonement for your lack of good deeds.  Grace knows no bounds, thus in our finite human nature, we cannot understand why an all loving God makes it so easy.  We can’t understand why heaven will one day be the place where people who did very few “good deeds” in this life will find access because they came to trust Jesus late in their lives.  But that is the reality of grace.

A few more comments before closing: One of the things I feel missing in the 21^st century Church is an honest look at the Bible and God’s wrath.  Perhaps some of our friends who don’t believe in Jesus persist in their unbelief because they don’t see their need for a savior to begin with.  In our effort to bring those far from the faith to the faith, I think we have often softened the message of Jesus.  This isn’t to say that Jesus isn’t full of grace because He is, but I think we often fail to remember how vengeful God is because God demands perfection.  Perfection can only be achieved through Jesus and that isn’t to say that we actually achieve it in this life.  But it is to say that we need to make it our life’s work to live the Gospel and be a fully devoted follower of Jesus.  Next, it is important to remember that every major faith has its own claim to the way to heaven.  Therefore, don’t ever buy into the lie that it is only the Christians who have the view it is their way or hell.  Finally, while we find heaven through Jesus, that doesn’t mean our work ends in the here and now.  As I passionately argue in each of my posts, we are commanded to do the work of Christ in the here and now.  As for what that work is, please refer to my post last week!

Tying It All Together:

My behavior at fast food restaurants is a perfect example of how much I need the grace of Jesus in my life.  Out of the awareness of my desperate need for a Savior, I commit daily to following Jesus.  I do this because His way is truly the best way to live today and it is the only way to have life after this one.  While such statements are often viewed as judgmental in our politically correct society, I unapologetically will continue making them because matters of faith are matters of truth and as Jesus said, “no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

All that Matters

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you faith by what I do.”  James 2: 18

 Before writing this post, I would like to pray. 

Dear God, you are the author of life.  You are the alpha and omega, the beginning and end.  You sent your son, Jesus, to this world to redeem us of sin and make us your disciples.  Through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, you have promised to use us for your Kingdom’s purposes.  Please Father, don’t let us miss this.  Challenge us to get into the daily ministry of demonstrating Christ-like love to this fallen and broken world.  We know that we can’t do it without the Holy Spirit’s love and guidance, but let us dare to live surrendered lives.  Your way is the only way.  Let the vision of that Way overpower us and shape our lives for the betterment of Your Kingdom.  I pray this in the name that all knees will one day bow to, the name that gives me life eternal and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the present, the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Please stop reading this post if you won’t take seriously what I am about to share with you.  I have a holy discontent regarding the way many people, who profess to believe in Jesus, are living their lives.  What I am about to share with you isn’t any sort of condemning word against them.  Rather, out of love, I pray with EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING that they would come to know the reality of the Kingdom of God among us.  Ever since the Pentecost (one can read about this in Acts 2), we who believe in Jesus have been empowered with the Holy Spirit to do God’s work in the here and now.  God’s work, outlined by Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28-16-20), is to make “disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  This, along with the two greatest commandments Jesus instructs in Luke 10:27 (love the lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself), make up the three big commands for Christian living. 

1. Love God
2. Love People
3. Make Disciples

This is pretty clear cut, yet how often do we live it? 

The beauty of these commands is that they encompass every ounce of our lives.  Think about it, in order to REALLY love God one has to put Him first in everything:  before money, before their own plans, before everything.  I think we lose sight of this because we have changed the definition of love from a commitment, or dare I say choice, to a feeling.  This is demonstrated by how freely we use the word: We love our cars, our televisions, our spouses, and our favorite football team.  This lessens the value of the word.  Isn’t love more than a feeling?  It was for Jesus, he loves us so much that endured nails being hammered into his hands for our sin.  If love was nothing more than a feeling to Jesus, he would have been out there quicker than Peter forsake Him.  Loving God simply encompasses EVERYHTING we do. 

Yes we understand this conceptually but do we live it?

Following Jesus Christ is an all out proposition.  This isn’t like joining the local health club because ‘half commitments’ do not count in the Kingdom of God.  In his new book, The Whole in Our Gospel, Richard Stearns says coming to faith in Jesus is like “betting the farm and signing over the deed.”  We no longer have control of our lives when we come to faith in Jesus.  We’ve turned that over to Him because His ways are simply better than our ways.  This means that we MUST follow His commands.  All of them and there are no exceptions.  This is why I continue to passionately argue for every reader of this blog to inundate themselves with the scriptures.  You aren’t reading to pass some sort of biblical literacy test, but to have your soul, and therefore your life, completely transformed by the hand of God.   PLEASE, make that a part of your daily routine.

I’ll repeat: Jesus wants all of you. This means that like Jesus, we are commanded to be doers of the word.  Specifically, this means that we need drop our consumer attitude regarding the Church.  Church isn’t about connecting with the preacher or what you get out of the message; it is about worshipping God and connecting with fellow believers.  At the risk of sounding too harsh, it would be absolutely staggering if the “sermon critics” among us put half as much energy into serving as they do into their analysis of each week’s message.  Of course there are better speakers than others, but that isn’t and has never been the point of church. 

I’ll keep prying, are you willing to live fully for Jesus?  What needs to change in your life?  With every ounce in my being I encourage you to make those changes.  In Luke 6:46 Jesus asks, “Why do you call me lord, lord, and do not do what I say.”  Or, as Jesus says in Matthew 21:7, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

It is all or nothing and the choice is yours.

I will close with an experience that deeply touched my life and the lives of those who I have the pleasure to lead in our community group.  A few weeks ago during our prayer request time, one of our members asked us to pray for his grandmother whose health was declining rapidly.  Being from the Samoa Islands, he felt helpless because he couldn’t get to her immediately.  Our hearts broke for his situation.  After the group ended, and he and his wife had left our house, group member after group member came up to me with the same idea: we, as a group, should provide financial help to get him to Samoa.  Immediately Acts 2:45 came to mind (“selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need”).  So the following Sunday we met as a group in the balcony of our church.  As the worship band was singing songs of praise, we passed around an envelope and each of us anonymously contributed to the ‘fund.’  We did so anonymously because we truly didn’t want to know how much each was giving because it didn’t matter.  This was a God thing, and if we found out who gave what we would immediately position ourselves in a ranked order which isn’t the intent.  Besides, we all are in different financial situations to begin with.  After the service, we walked down as a group and presented it to this couple.  With tears coming down their cheeks they accepted it and I led the group in a group prayer.  My friend is currently in Samoa, but he unfortunately wasn’t able to make it in time as his grandmother, a believer in Jesus and doer of His word, is now dancing in the eternal Kingdom of our Father’s making.  As I reflect on that experience all I can mutter is the following, Bill Hybels is more right than I ever imagined, ‘the local church IS the hope of the world.’ 

Don’t miss out on this.  Please, please, PLEASE, surrender your life to Jesus and to doing His commands.  Dare to live in such a way that you no longer can afford to rely solely on yourself, but daily you have to get on your knees and rely on God almighty.  He is all that lasts, all that counts, and all that matters.  As the Psalmist says, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good spirit lead me on level ground.”  Join me in making that the prayer of your life.   Amen.

Authority

“The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.”  Mark 1:22

As I have been studying the book of Mark this week, I have been reminded of the deity of Jesus.  He did not have to quote other leaders because his authority came directly from God.  This amazed people.  In fact, Mark records 12 instances*, starting with 1:22, where the authority of Jesus amazes the people who are following him.  Therefore, I propose the simple question; does the authority of Jesus still amaze you?

Before answering that question, I’d encourage you to remember the wisdom of Dallas Willard who I quoted a few posts ago.  Often, we who are followers of Jesus, proclaim to believe things that we really don’t.  For example, I’ve found lately that I proclaim that I trust God in all areas of my life, but truth be told, this is sometimes not the case.  This realization forced me to do some necessary confession and repentance because I was living differently than I was proclaiming to.  At the risk of lessening the significance of such a blunder, my “trust level” probably hovered somewhere around trusting God 90% of the time, it was just in my work life where I had begin to doubt.  But God never wants anything other than our very best and He most definitely wants our entire trust.  So, I had to repent of such non-sense and begin trusting Him again at work.  It is not ironic that my entire outlook changed once I made this confession.  I gave up trying to be “god” at work and bowed down to the one who has authority, thus I didn’t have to carry the load anymore.  Praise God.

I have tried to be very open and honest with my own practice in this post because I feel that many in the Christian community are still questioning the authority of Jesus, and more revealing, are thus living in a way that isn’t aligned with what they profess to believe.  Some may excuse such a statement as being judgmental, but I am not condemning anyone.  What I am doing is PLEADING with fellow followers of Christ to examine their own actions and with the Holy Spirit’s help learn to live the way Jesus prescribes 100% of the time.  I am utterly convinced that such a life is the BEST way to live, which is why I continually passionately argue for living such a life through this blog.  I’ll repeat, become absolutely familiar with God’s word and let that word penetrate every nick and cranny of your life.  You’ll never be the same and your relationship with God and those He has put in your life will also be forever changed.  The one who has authority can be trusted with your entire life!  So what are you waiting for?  

*The 12 instances in Mark: 1:22, 2:12, 5:20, 5:42, 6:2, 6:51, 7:37, 10:26, 10:32, 11:18, 12:17, and 15:5.

“Doing Good” for the Right Reasons

We often hear stories of how people, who are much more creative and gifted than us, create organizations that make world-wide impact.  Any serious minded Christian finds such stories hopeful because we all have built within us the desire to make a lasting impact in the world.  But, I’d like to propose in this post that this desire can be, and often is, sinful because it can stem from pride.  Much like the Pharisees, we want to be known for our good works.  We often crave the applause of others more than we realize.  Everybody wants to be a part of the cool movement because everybody wants to be liked.

Before moving forward, let me explain a few things.  The aforementioned desire of doing “good” originates from God.  In fact, there is nothing sinful in doing good deeds because God is the author of all good things (James 1:17).  That said, deep beneath the surface of many of our good works is a sinful motivation.  This motivation may range from the applause of others to the simple “doing this makes me feel better about myself.”  The point is that none of these reasons are anything other than self-serving justifications to serve others.  Our society has even gone as far as to justify these justifications.  For example, how often have you heard an organization being upset that they weren’t recognized enough for their “gift?” Being upset demonstrates that it really wasn’t a gift in the first place because real gifts don’t have strings attached, and that the organization is really attempting to purchase appraisal from the public. But it is only common decency to say thank you isn’t it?  Yes, but a thank you can be achieved by simply saying the words, it doesn’t have to be broadcasted or put on a wall!

How does all this tie into our work?  Think about it, how often do you go beyond the call of duty at work? Being young, I’ll lead the mass confession and confess that I don’t very often.  As a follower of Christ I’m called to do so.  What is more troubling, however, is that my sinful nature would probably desire some sort of recognition if and when I did.  This is not Biblical and it must change.

So how do we fix this?  If you are reading this I would like to ask for your participation via the comment section.  What ideas, or shall I say strategies, do you currently use to combat this tendency of ours?  What scripture do you use to guide your giving? I’ll start the conversation:

1. Engage in the Matthew 6 principle (verses 1-4): Heeding Jesus’ words, I have done things in the past that I have purposely not told anybody about (and I mean ANYBODY!).  I must do more of this at work. 
2. Find the busiest person in your department and ask them if you can give them a hand.  Then, when you are busy, resist in asking that person for help (i.e. getting your payback).  Again, this takes intentionality but don’t seek a reward. 

What else?

Words Matter

As I discussed in my last post, I want to look now at how the disciple sets themselves apart at the work place.  Before jumping into some very practical posts for the next few weeks, I need to mention that the majority of what I am going to discuss comes from Larry Burkett’s Business by the Book.  I highly recommend this book to everyone, regardless of their profession, because this book demonstrates how one should approach work, as a disciple of Jesus Christ.  To do this, one has to become very familiar with what the Biblical principles are and be willing to apply those principles-yes all of them-to their work.  Obviously, you can’t change company policy if you aren’t the CEO, but you are accountable for your own actions. 

Before moving further, I feel like I would be mistaken not to ask how familiar you are with the Bible?  The question isn’t how much of the Bible you know, but how much of the Bible is getting through you.  I have noticed recently that many well-meaning Christians fail to live up to biblical standards not because they are bad people but often because they are breaking commands that they don’t even know exist.  Or perhaps worse, they are breaking commands they know exist but fail to grasp fully.  Who, for example, can read the Bible often and continue to take the Lord’s name in vain?  Or, while we are on the topic of language, who can read the Bible often and use harsh language at all?  Jesus said after all that “the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean” (Matthew 15:18).  My point here isn’t that the Bible-reading Christian is perfect in these areas, but that they’re convicted when they’re not.  Obviously we should be striving to be people whose words are used for the edification of others, but such a destination is arrived at largely by grace.  Ironically, one doesn’t realize this last point until one becomes familiar with the Bible. 

Moving back to the working world, how would your words demonstrate your faith to your co-workers?  Are you one who goes off the deep-end every time something goes wrong, or are you one who speaks words of edification?  While it may be tempting to look past the significance of words, I believe they tell you a lot about a person’s faith because they give you a picture of that person’s heart (Matthew 15:18).  Besides language, a person’s words also testify to their commitment level through the vows they make.  Deuteronomy 23:23 states, “whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth.”  Imagine the testimony you would give if your vows were met just 90% of the time!  For most people this would be a huge difference maker because our society has been transformed into one where vows are made with out-clauses.  A quick look at the divorce rate, even among Christians, testifies to this sad state of our society.  But it doesn’t have to be like this. 

Hopefully you are encouraged by the simplicity of this post.  I believe that what’s really needed in the church is some simple obedience.  The same can be said for the business world.  This world is craving for followers of Jesus to become ruthlessly familiar with His teachings both in thought and practice.  Wash your mind with Scripture and let it transform your heart, which will in return change the words you use.  There is a great need for this and if you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus, you can’t live any other way.

Wise Counsel

The writings of Dallas Willard have impacted my life more than anything outside the Bible.  I would advise anyone interested in becoming a disciple to read a Willard book because his insights are priceless.  Therefore, I want to share some of his insights in this post to set up what I want to write about for the remainder of the summer.  Hopefully the reader will extend me some grace as it has been very difficult, given the nature of my summer schedule, to live up to my goal of writing a post twice per week.  While that will continue to be my aim, realistically that probably won’t be achieved until I get into the fall.  Hopefully the reader also understands that I put quite a lot of thought into what I write about, which usually requires some review of books that I have previously read.  All that to say, it takes time!  I do appreciate the feedback I have already received and I want to especially thank those reading this from the community group I have the blessing to co-lead with Sarah.  I firmly believe God has great things in store for our group and I thank God daily for bringing all of you into the lives of Sarah and I.  Discipleship happens through community, there is no doubt!  On to Willard…

In his book, The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard covers all the aspects of discipleship by examining countless pieces of scripture.  While I don’t have the time, much less intelligence and energy, to dive into all the points Willard makes I do want to share a section Willard wrote regarding what it means to be a disciple.  He says:

“Following up on what has already been said, then, a disciple, or apprentice, is simply someone who has decided to be with another person, under apprentice conditions, in order to become capable of doing what that person does or to become what that person is.  How does this apply to discipleship to Jesus? What is it, exactly, that he, the incarnate Lord, does? What, if you wish, is he good at?  The answer is found in the Gospels: he lives in the kingdom of God, and he applies that kingdom for the good of others and even makes it possible for them to enter it for themselves.  The deeper theological truths about his person and his work do not detract from the simple point.  It is what he calls us to by saying, ‘follow me’” p.282-283.

In other words, us becoming disciples should be good news for everybody we come in contact with because we should be “applying the kingdom for the good of others.”  In order to do this, the disciple needs to know something about the kingdom.  Hence, I’ve passionately argued that one can’t be a disciple without studying the word of God daily.  I’d also argue that one doesn’t grow effectively outside of community, which is a topic I should spend some time on in a later post because it is essential.  For now, I’ll suffice to say that community is so essential that even Jesus surrounded himself with apostles.  Yes, Jesus also went off by himself at times and so should we.  But that doesn’t excuse the fact that he also built into the lives of others on a daily basis.  We should heed our Lord’s example.  Furthermore, we should make strides daily to better understand His word, examine which parts of it we aren’t currently applying, and make the necessary changes.  Discipleship demands nothing less.  This of course isn’t easy.  You will fail, and I already fail, a lot.  But this is exactly the point where discipleship is born because one cannot come to this point without first having the realization that Jesus’ ways are simply better than their own.  After all, we don’t follow those we think are wrong, do we?   

If you are having trouble coming to this conclusion, that Jesus’ way is the best, then you may need to ask yourself a very difficult question: Do I really believe?  Willard says, “But in our culture there is a severe illusion about faith, or belief.  It is one that has been produced by many centuries of people professing, as a cultural identification, to believe things they do not really believe at all.  That goes hand in hand with the predominance of what was called client, or consumer, Christianity earlier.  Thus there arises the misunderstanding that human life is not really governed by belief.  This is disastrous error” (p.307).  This is a very sobering reminder that some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are not really brothers and sisters, at least yet.  They, perhaps, have come to want to believe, yet deep down they do not.  I encourage those people to keep seeking the Lord because they will find Him.  I would also suggest that they use the resource mentioned in the previous post, How To Read the Bible For All Its Worth, because it will give them the fundamental tools needed to read the Bible and understand it.  Understanding doesn’t produce faith, but lack of understanding can and does hinder it.  One last quick note to those of us who do believe, we need to daily examine if there are any areas in which we don’t believe.  For example, do you trust God for your eternal destiny, yet don’t trust Him with your finances?  This cannot be so. 

The leads me to what I would like to spend the majority of the summer discussing: discipleship within the workplace.  If being a disciple means ”applying the kingdom” everywhere, then this is definitely true at work because we cannot be “Christ-like” only part of the time.  Discipleship is full-time; hence our lives at work need to be transformed.  I’ll examine that next.

The Ultimate Indicator–Some House Cleaning Matters

As I alluded to in a prior blog, there is danger in writing this blog.  By expressing my thoughts, I may come across as having all the answers when that isn’t my intent.  I believe strongly in what I share, but I am still learning.  After all, isn’t learning a cornerstone of being a disciple?  Aren’t disciples those who are continually growing in their walk with God by making the necessary changes in their lives to be more like Jesus?  I believe this is an important distinction to make because it helps us understand discipleship.  Discipleship is coming to the conclusion that God’s way to live is not only the best way to live, but out of our love for him we are committed to living His ways.  This isn’t to say that his ways are always easy to follow.  Anyone who has studied the Bible will tell you that God’s ways can be VERY confusing.  But that is precisely why we need to study his word, which is why I recommend reading an NIV Study Bible daily as the notes are great tools to understanding how the Bible relates to our present day.  I also  HIGHLY recommend the book How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart because its gives the reader a basic understanding of how the Bible is composed, how to read different books given their different literary composition, as well as a basic understanding of how to engage in exegetical practices.  These two resources have greatly aided me.

Regarding last week’s post, I want to make it clear that God isn’t calling us to feel guilty if we have been blessed with “healthy” salaries.  In fact, as I pointed out in last week’s post, God is calling us to use that blessing for His purposes.  Let me elaborate here for a second.  The tithe is non-negotiable.  In fact, I personally hope to see my “tithe” grow in the coming years because my income rises.  I hope to someday be able to give closer to 20% or more!  That said God’s 10% command is exactly that, a command.  What I mean is that if you are currently giving 10% of your income to the local church, giving both your time and treasures to other ministries, and living sound financially (debt free and providing for your family), you have the flexibility to spend the rest of your income the way you like.  In other words, God is not trying to “guilt you into giving more.”  Conversely, however, I do believe that you will want to give more if you are really growing in your discipleship.  Why?  Because you will see that only the local church can walk along side an individual and make a difference in their life that will have ramifications for eternity.  No job promotion, trip to the Super Bowl, or really cool car can do that.  That isn’t to say that those things are bad either, it is just to say that they don’t have eternal effects (anyone who knows me would tell you that I’d love to go to the Super Bowl!). 

My point with all of this is that we need to do what God commands first.  If you aren’t currently doing that start immediately!  Let that be what you do for the next few years and see how faithful God is!  For those of us who have been faithful in our giving (both in time and treasures), we need to continually seek God’s will and listen to the promptings of our heart.  The Holy Spirit will prompt us if we need to give more of our income to a certain organization or if we need to cancel plans to participate in a serving project.  As we grow in our relationship with God, this will become natural because his Kingdom is all that matters.  Of course we need (I need!) reminders of this from time to time but that’s just part of our life. 

My prayer is that everyone reading these words will genuinely ask God to confirm how they’re doing with all of this.  Personally speaking, I’m continuing to try to improve in giving my time so I am strategically and intentionally getting involved in more serving projects.  Prayerfully consider what you need to do and tell someone close your game plan of improvement.  If you have a spouse like mine, they’ll help you remain on the right path!

The Ultimate Indicator

“Scripture teaches that people with the spiritual gift of giving are challenged to earn as much money as they can, live frugally, and flow as much money as possible into God’s work in this world.”
–Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership, p.110.

There is perhaps no area within the church that I am more passionate about then the area of giving.  Therefore, I will apologize in advance if any of what I am about to share rubs the reader the wrong way.  But, in my humble opinion, this is one area in the church that needs major work.  Let me be blunt, you cannot be a disciple of Jesus and get this wrong.  As Jesus says in Luke 12:34, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

I occasionally hear complaints from fellow believers that “every January our church does a financial series.”  Sometimes those people even go on to justify that it is because “the church needs our money.”  Duh!  Last time I checked, the church isn’t AIG and it isn’t going to get any of the bailout money.  So naturally it is funded by its congregation.  But to leave giving to just funding the church, or even to limit it to purely financial matters, misses the point.  For the remainder of this post, I want to share with you my thoughts on a few aspects of giving:

Financially:

The Bible doesn’t mix its advice with this.  If you consider yourself a Christ-follower you are commanded to give 10% of your income to the local church.  Period.  There is no debate.  Sadly, this doesn’t happen nearly enough.  In fact, it has been estimated that if EVERY Christ-follower gave the FULL 10%, the local church would have the funds necessary to put a HUGE dent into global poverty.  While the cynic may roll their eyes at such a statement, the Christ-follower should find such statements horrifying.  How can you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, and not give the FULL 10%?  For the life of me, I’ll never get it.  

I don’t want to give you the wrong impression.  I would gladly sit down with the strictest of accountants and have them look through my records to see if I give the full 10%.  In fact, tithing has become one of the cornerstones of my faith because God has shaped me through it.  Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t easy to start tithing.  For example, when I took my current job a little over a year ago, my income went up.  This is a good thing, but when I had to write the first tithe check, I found myself hesitating for a second because it was much larger than I was use to.  For the first time in my life, I realized how it might be difficult for someone making a large sum of money to tithe.  The sinful side of me could see how one could rationalize a certain dollar size being enough.  But tithing isn’t about dollar amounts; it is about where your heart is?  Think about it, if God is who we believe God is, couldn’t He raise trillions of dollars for the church in a snap of the fingers?  I believe He can.  So if that’s the case, what’s God after?  The clear answer is that God is after our hearts.  As the first commandment tells us, God wants to be first in our lives.  This is especially true with our resources.  If money is not your god, then you better be able to prove that by giving the full 10% (dare I say more…).

One last thing: I’ve often heard debate regarding whether or not we should give God the first 10% before or after taxes.  I must confess that I haven’t always been right on this.  But through a great series at Christ Community Church I realized that such questions really don’t need to be asked because God deserves our best.  Therefore, I started giving God the first 10% BEFORE taxes.  Yes, that means my take home pay is smaller, but the change in my attitude did wonders for my walk with God.  I dare you to do the same.

Time:

Besides tithing, the disciple looks for ways in which they can give financially to other ministries.  Personally speaking, I sponsor two children from Children’s International and World Vision because impoverished children are an issue I’m passionate about.  I’ve also been fortunate to form relationships with leaders from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and have become passionate about it, which has led me to financially supporting it.  But, giving doesn’t stop here. 

God also wants our time.  I must confess that this is an area that I haven’t always excelled in but I am strategically improving.  Between leading a small group, serving at the local church, and hopefully (prayerfully!) getting the opportunity to serve ministries like FCA through lay-leadership positions, I plan to serve God by giving Him my time.  Once again, the way we use our time is an indication of where our heart is with God.  Just think about what the church could do if more people gave their time to worthwhile ministries.  Such thoughts are why I am getting more into the game. 

Final Thoughts:

 Obviously, this list is not exhaustive.  There are many reasons to tithe, give to other ministries, and to give your time.  The point is that the disciple does so because God comes first.  I’ve often said that the ultimate indicator of what you treasure is your checkbook because we typically spend money on the items we value (outside of the necessities of course). 

Remember, I am not a pastor and my pay check is not determined by whether or not you tithe.  But I am taking up the pastor’s fight anyway because I am so passionate about this subject.  I dare you to start tithing.  Your relationship with God will never be the same.