What About Love?

Maybe, since it was the Beatles, we dismissed the message. Maybe, because the word was perverted in the 60's, we thought it wasn't legitimate. Maybe, since it was Jesus that introduced us to the concept, we thought the idea was too lofty. Regardless of our reasoning, what is it about love that we do not get? What is it about love that we have failed to embrace? With all the current ideas about creating cultures within our churches, seeking out the latest "discipleship" methods, and forming new purposes statements, the question I have to ask is: What About Love?

Here it is in black & white: "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things...So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." [1 Cor. 13:4-13]

Without going into detail about each of the attributes listed above, I just want you to read through them again and ask the question, what is not covered in LOVE?

Considering the shame, condemnation, & judgement that gets hurled at the world - what about love?
Considering the running around in circles within the church trying to get everybody to believe the exact same thing - what about love?
Considering the amount of fear based gospel messages - what about love?
Considering the amount of apocalyptic thought in the world today - what about love?
What is it about this word that leaves us thinking LOVE is not enough?

Jesus used this word as a way of describing our connection with Him. The Apostle John used this word is his description of the very nature of God. Paul felt that love was an important enough topic to designate a significant portion of his letter to the Corinthians to describe what love looks like in our midst. Jesus summed up all the Law & all the Prophets with love. When will we get the picture?

I think (and I mean this is totally my thinking on the matter) that we are afraid that love doesn't do enough. That love tends to let people off the hook. That love doesn't deal with the issues at hand. That love will not confront or love will not challenge. In particular, I think we believe that love doesn't punish. And even though we are grateful that God hasn't dealt with us according to our transgressions (that is biblical theology), we really want Him to deal with everyone else according to theirs (that is not biblical theology).

It's our sense of justice that is not satisfied with the idea of love. If that is the case, then we have a godless view of justice. If God is considered just, and He is, and He has not dealt with us according to our sins, then what would make Him just in dealing with others according to theirs? Does love not cover a multitude of sins? Has God commanded us to love our enemies while He hates His? Is God asking us to be more righteous than He is in Himself?

What has been lost in all of our understanding of love is that LOVE is the greatest purifying agent on the Earth. Think about the times that you encountered TRUE, AUTHENTIC, CHRISTLIKE, AGAPE (unconditional) LOVE. What did it do in your heart? How did it change your life? To be sure that it may have taken some time but when love has you in the cross-hairs, it does not miss. How many people's lives have been changed through this type of love? Brought back home because of the love of a parent/grandparent? Sought to change their lives because they wanted to live fully in the love that has been given to them? Love purifies. This is the consuming fire of our God.

When our understanding of the nature of God becomes centered upon love, it changes everything. When our Gospel becomes centered around the love of God for the entire world, rather than the judgement of God upon sin, it alters the way we preach the finished work of Christ. We begin to see sacrificial love for what it truly is. We see the Father's heart for us. We see the compassion of Jesus for His brethren. We finally take notice of the redemptive love that is found at the Cross. The freeing love that is within the Resurrection. The inclusive love that is seen in the Ascension. It is there already but we have allowed our minds to be cluttered with other things. God is, always has been, and forever will be L-O-V-E. Can we believe that?

What about love? Will the church, once again, be persuaded that this is the greatest possession that we can share with the world? Will we allow ourselves to be molded by, purified in, and practiced in the power of love? It's one of the greatest questions of our day. The world needs intentional love. Will we be intentional?

A Lesson in Encounter

John 5:39-40, "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me! Yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life." New Living Translation

The verse above consistently challenges me. It reminds me that we can be well versed in Scripture, doctrine, and the practices of our faith; and yet we can still miss out on the person of the Lord. The warning here is that we can be so dogmatic about what we believe about G-O-D that His activity in our lives can be overlooked. Even when He is standing right in front of us.

The men that Jesus is referring to are the ones who had dedicated their lives to the Scriptures. It was their duty to study, to understand, to interpret, and to apply the Torah. Jesus' words to them indicate that they have missed the greatest prophetic moment of their lives. As we read on in the New Testament, we discover that even the Law was meant to point us toward Christ. How could these devoted men miss out on the Messiah?

PRIDE
The refusal to admit we are wrong. The unwillingness on our part to simply say "we missed it."

BLINDNESS
I don't know if the religious leaders of the day could not see or just would not see. If they would not see then refer to the above section on PRIDE. If they could not see, then refer to the next section.

RELIGION
When God gets wrapped up in a religious system then we have to defend the system. The Jews believed their religion to be true with everything in them. All the rituals. All the traditions. All the rules. To have a breakdown in any area meant to have a breakdown with God. They had to protect it.

ARROGANCE
Most of us have heard about Jesus the Carpenter. How many of us have heard about Jesus the Rabbi? I have head a lot of teaching about the religious leaders being offended at this carpenter, but how about their offense at this teacher of the Law upsetting their understanding? I'm sure His age was offensive as well. How could someone so young made such radical declarations? How could He just come in and upset our way of doing things?

BIBLIOLATRY
The worship of Scriptures is never encouraged in Scripture. Is there a need to reverence what is written? Absolutely. However, anytime we lift up the written word above the revealed WORD, we have some major problems. Of course, the Jews did not hold within our scrolls what we hold in our hands today, but in their reading of the Torah they should have been able to see His coming.

I'm sure there are other things that were in play, but the warning here for us today is clear: We don't need to get so caught up in our belief systems that we miss the person of Jesus. The Bible should be a way of encountering Him. Our doctrines/beliefs should be a way of knowing Him in a better way, not trying to box Him in. Everything about our faith should lead to encounter. It should lead us to seeing Him clearly.

The religious leaders did not have a chapter & verse to explain Him. What they failed to realize is that He was the chapter & verse. HE IS THE WORD MADE FLESH. He is the divine expression of God. What they believed about the Scriptures should have led them to Him. However, in the end, they chose their religion and their own understanding over the life He offered.

May we have eyes to see and ears to hear. This is a lesson we need to learn. May we see Jesus.

Where Did You Go?

As a member of the human race, I must confess, there are days that I just don't feel it. Know what I'm talking about? Days when you just don't feel spiritual, normal, or loving. Days when you feel insignificant. It's in those moments that I have to make a choice. Am I going to embrace life OR am I going to escape?

Escapism - the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.
Been there?

There is just too much of our faith wrapped up in this type of thinking. We gather in the church to escape the pressures of life. We long for a rapture so we can escape the world. In fact, there's a lot of people who jumped in the faith journey just to escape hell. We seek to distract ourselves from unpleasant realities. In this case, it comes in the form of spirituality. Not really engaging. Simply going through the motions.

At some point in our lives, our faith needs to move from a sense of escaping life to an embracing of life. If we look at Jesus' statements concerning what He offered, it revolved around life. REAL LIFE. Life with purpose. Life with meaning. Coming to Jesus had nothing to do with escapism but everything to do with embracing what life was really all about.

Where's the disconnect? I think it's in our own thinking. We have viewed ourselves apart from our Father for far too long. We have seen ourselves through the eyes of Adam's Fall rather than in our original design. Paul told the Gentiles in Athens that God is not far from them. This blows the minds of any religious thinker. Yet here we are in 2014 still talking about people being separated from God. Therefore, faith becomes a means to disconnect from life rather than a way to connect with the true reality of it. Throw religion into the mix & you have what has been called the opiate of the masses.

Have we ever considered that the reason see faith in God is viewed this way because people see through the facade? Rather than real, living, breathing, authentic followers of Christ, all they see is the going through the motions. They don't experience change. They don't experience authenticity. We rail on the world about what they see in us rather than doing what needs to be done to change their opinion. They see it as an escape. We handle it like an escape. And we lose ourselves in the process.

I know the Bible talks about leaving the temporary & entering into the eternal. I realize that mortality will be swallowed up by immortality. I believe that we will lay down these earthly tents and be fully clothed. It's in the Bible. But what about the mean time? What happens in the middle of the story? Do we simply escape life or do we embrace it?

I get it. Life gets difficult sometimes. We go through some unpleasant things every now and then. But it's in those moments when we are to set our mind on heavenly things, not earthly things. It's in those moments that we are to live as those who are seated with Christ in Heavenly places. There's no need to run & hide. There's no need to lose ourselves in religious exercise. No need to hide in ritual. God can handle us where we are, in whatever circumstance we are going through, and regardless of how we feel. Scripture declares that we are more than conquerors. I don't see conquerors escaping. I see them overcoming.

Do you believe that it is in Him that we live & move & have our being?
Do you believe that He is the source for true, genuine, & authentic life?
Do you believe that your Heavenly Father wants you to experience His fullness right now?
Then where are you going? Why are you hiding? Why do we fantasize about an early departure? We were meant to inherit this earth, not escape it. We were meant to fill the earth not abandon it. We were meant to have dominion, not run & hide in our religion.

If abundant life was not possible then I don't believe Jesus would have offered it. This is where we have to step up to the plate. This is where we have to connect spiritually. This is where we close our eyes to the circumstances around us & look into the depths of the Holy Spirit within us. What God has given to us in Christ has a promise for the future but it also has practical use for today. Let's not waste it. Let us begin using faith as a means to embracing all that life has to offer. Stop hitting the escape button. Stop wearing masks. Stop thinking that you are not enough. Allow the original you to come forth. See yourself for who you really are and live with everything in you. You don't have to wait till Heaven to experience true & abiding life. Live it now.

Left to Ourselves...

One of my favorite statements from the movie Forrest Gump is, "Stupid is as stupid does." While it may sound a little harsh or condescending, the statement does point to cause & effect relationship. You may find this hard to believe, but Paul made a similar statement (sort of) in Ephesians 4. However, he also linked the stupidity of our own thinking to some things that are important for us to understand.

"So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart..." ~ Ephesians 4:17-18

I have used these verses on several occasion for the blog. They speak to the reality that so many people experience in their lives. When Paul decided to encourage the believers to not walk according to the Gentiles, he pointed out that they were simply living in the "futility of their mind." In other words, it was the emptiness of their own thinking (or blindness of their hearts depending on your English translation). They had been left to their own devices. What is interesting about this verse is the original language. The Greek is very pointed in its wording and can be translated "the STUPIDITY of their own thinking." OUCH!!!

There are plenty of places in the Bible that are this abrasive. I guess the translators chose to ease the language up a bit. However, Paul's point should be noted. When we are left to the stupidity of our own thinking, it can lead to lives that are lived in complete & utter darkness. The Apostle did take us a little deeper in his understanding. He believed the Gentiles lived the way they lived because they were ignorant (unlearned) and hardhearted (unbelieving). As I read these words, I'm reminded of two very important principles of life:
1) You cannot live in what you do not know
2) You cannot embrace what you do not believe

A Life of Ignorance...
The reason people live the way they live is because they don't know the truth. In their case, ignorance isn't bliss, ignorance is destructive. It keeps people bound to lifestyles that can be dangerous, hurtful, and even shameful. Without knowledge of the truth, they continue to live according to the world system in which they were raised. Ignorant of God and all that He had accomplished in Christ, they continue in idolatry & pagan practices. Believing they were satisfying some pagan deity, they were missing out on what it mean to be related to the One True God.

Paul went after this type of thinking in Athens. He witnessed, firsthand, their zeal for the Unknown God. Sent as a light to the Gentiles, he wanted to reveal to them the God that they worshiped in ignorance. Quoting the poets of their day, he longed to bring into their understanding that the God who created them, the One in which they "lived & moved & had their being" was not like the idols fashioned after wood or stone. He came in our form. Fashioned in the likeness of men. Into our darkness. Gave His life & was raised from the dead. While there were some who believed, there were many others who laughed at the idea of someone being raised from the dead. This leads me to the second point.

A Life of Blindness...
The people of Athens chose to live in blindness. They struggled to grasp the resurrection through their own thinking. What was once ignorance had been turned into pride. Rather than believe on the One whom Paul preached, regardless of how intrigued they were, they hardened their hearts. He became just another "babbler" to them.

This happens in our day as well. Once people are enlightened to the truth, when they choose to reject it, it becomes a matter of the heart. For whatever reason, they close their minds/hearts to the reality of Jesus Christ. It may have something to do with the way they were raised. It might be because the truth is so different than their own understanding of God. Whatever the reason, the excuse can no longer be ignorance. This is where pride sets up and creates a stronghold in the lives of people. They choose to live blinded to the truth.

When we don't know the truth, or we have allowed ourselves to become blind to the truth, we are left with only 1 option: to live according to our own way of thinking. Left to ourselves, we can create multiple realities. Ignorant of the life that God has provided for us, we live according to our own desires. Blinded to the truth of Jesus, we continue to seek a way to please the unknown gods in our life. This type of living looks different for every person. However, the emptiness and pain is all too real.

This is not only true to those "in the world", but I see this reality in the lives of many professing Christians. Ignorant of the goodness of God has led many people to a life of legalism. They have become the "do not touch, do not taste, do not handle" group of our day. Bound in a life of ritual and regulations, they simply miss out on the freedom that Christ came to bring. Rather than seeing the Law as something that Jesus fulfilled, they continue to try to meet its demands. They are frustrated, empty, and simply waiting to go home. Rather than embrace life & their role in the Earth, they seek to escape (preferably through the rapture). The good news for the ignorant is that they can be educated. They can come to understanding of the finished work of Christ. They can be taught about the death, burial, resurrection, & ascension of Jesus. And this TRUTH can set them free.

On the other hand, you have those who are blinded to the truth. They reject teaching on the finished work of Christ. Rather than embracing the reality of it, they become hardened in their thinking. They become even more rigid when you speak of freedom. For many of them it is simply the task of protecting what they have always believed to be true. "This is what Grandpa believed" or "This is what Mom taught me." Regardless of their reasoning, the unwillingness to repent (change the way they think) has left them to their own devices. They live lives trying to please a God who has already been satisfied through the Son. Why? All because of pride. Repentance is the only cure.

These are the ones who took the "blue pill" (see picture above). They simply go back to sleep, wake up and believe what they want to believe. For them, the rabbit hole is too deep and too dangerous. They would rather live in their blindness because their blindness is all they know. This is their reality. For those who have taken the "red pill" - the ones who have opened themselves up to the truth - they are the ones who have been freed into the life of the Son. They take their place in their generation. They rise up through the grace of God & will not go back. They have went down the rabbit hole of God's goodness & discovered Him to be even greater than imagined.

Ignorance & Unbelief. Two of the greatest dangers known to humanity. Ignorance creates mindless followers of ideology. Unbelief creates hardened individuals to their own way of thinking. Each of them creates a reality outside of the life of God. The finished work of Christ ensures that we don't have to live this way. We can live in Him - in His fullness - in His grace. No longer left to ourselves, we will be amazed at what He does in & through our lives. This is the journey. ENJOY!!!

Emerging Faith

The letter to the Hebrews has plenty to say about faith. Where I am in my journey with the Lord is discovering a greater quality of faith. I'm not as interested in a faith that acquires things as much as a faith that allow me to become. A faith that allows me to live consistently. A faith that allows me to be in the midst of every circumstance.

Emerge - verb - move out of or away from something to come into view
- become apparent, important, prominent
- (of facts or circumstances) become known
When I talk about an emerging faith, I'm talking about something that rises up from within. Something that becomes apparent to everyone around you. A faith that becomes known regardless of our circumstances.

Most of us have heard plenty of sermons about faith. Most of which have been directed at our trusting God for something greater. While I do believe this is a certain aspect of faith, I don't believe it is the overarching theme of faith that we discover in the New Testament. The faith that we see in the early church creates quality lives. Men & Women who do not shrink back in the face of adversity. A people whose faith has been tested in the fire and proven to be true. A faith that emerges from within and allows each individual to step into the light.

Do I believe God for things? Of course. However, my faith is not rooted in the giving, but the GIVER. My faith is rooted in His nature, not His activity. What do I mean by this? If you read through Hebrews you will discover a letter written to the scattered church. These men & women have been forced from their homes in the midst of persecution. They have experienced incredible loss, been ridiculed, and witnessed death. Yet the writer continues to encourage them. He wants them to hold on to the incredible hope of Jesus Christ without wavering. He wants them to consider how to stimulate one another to love and good works in the midst of it all. He instructs them to encourage one another. He sees a day approaching. He believes in a time when the persecution will end and judgement will come upon the Old Covenant system that harasses them. He does not want these brothers & sisters to lose themselves.

I'm seeing this quality of faith in my Ukrainian brothers & sisters. In the midst of the chaos they continue to emerge. They continue to reach out to one another. A friend of mine has taken aid into the hostile regions, carried refugees out to safety, and continually encouraged the church in the hell that they face. Most of the people I know have been run out of their homes, relocated to other areas, and are meeting secretly as I type these words. Some have stayed (whether by choice or by circumstance). None of them are shrinking back but continue to allow their faith to strengthen them, rise to the occasion, and seek to encourage one another. I'm honored to know them. And, to borrow a phrase from Hebrews, the world is not worthy of them.

Faith outside of persecution tends to become distorted. It becomes about things. This is not meant to knock anyone's faith, but to demonstrate how different our faith looks when we live in peace. Faith in the midst of persecution, however, looks very different. It's a means of survival. It's hoping against hope. It brings the quality of who you are to the surface. How much easier would it be to shrink back? Who would be concerned if I just went into survival mode - hid myself - and waited for all of this to pass over? When I say that faith is a means of survival, I'm not talking about just staying alive. I mean that faith is our life. It's about who we become in the trial.

This requires an unquenchable faith. Nothing less than the faith of Jesus emerging within us. Faith that believes nothing can separate us from the love of God. Faith that allows the original you, the one made in image & likeness, to rise to the surface. A faith that changes who we are, what we do, & how we behave. Paul talked about this kind of faith in Galatians 2:20, "...the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God..." I believe that he saw the faith of Jesus as a means of being truly alive. The circumstances did not matter. Whether he was hungry or full did not sway him. Safety or shipwreck would not alter what he knew to be true. The faith of Christ has changed him forever and he would not hold back.

Faith is more than a belief. It is a solid conviction. It is a trust & a confidence. It's an absolute reliance. According to Hebrews 11 it is substance & evidence of a greater reality. This is the faith that I'm talking about. This is the faith that emerges from within us. This is the faith that allows us to rise up. It is unquenchable because it comes from the Lord. It is overcoming, fearless, & undaunted. It is the faith that allows you to become.

Never allow faith to be separate from who you are. May it emerge, come to the surface, and forever alter your reality.