Yeah? Well You're In Prison Too

I've noticed a trend in my own family and in the culture at large that when people are passing judgment on others it's usually based on personal comparison and not an unchanging standard.  Barack Obama is already a great President because he's 'better than Bush.'  You see both sides on American Idol where some poor person who's been lied to, thinks or even claims to "know" that they're better than everyone else, while the judges use a standard that says, you have to at least be able to sing.  People plead guilty to "a lesser charge" because a misdemeanor won't look as bad as a felony.  And kids and Christians alike, when accused of wrong-doing often come back with - "Yeah, maybe, but haven't you seen so-and-so?  They're way worse than me"  

That seems a bit like trying to tell someone that you're not in prison because you're serving 6 months for grand theft, but your cellmate is doing 25-to-life for capital murder?  Come on dude, you're still in prison, you're still wrong, you still failed to live up to the standard yourself.

That kind of thinking, and that kind of attitude of superiority based on comparison is ruining the church.  One person thinks because they're Reformed or Arminian,  go to this church or that church, listen (or don't listen) to this pastor or that, use this translation (or don't), understand propitiation, premillennialism and imputation, that they're somehow better, more holy, righteous, closer to God, etc.  Well, comparatively (to others) that may be true, but compared to God's standard not one person is capable of claiming they are better than another (apart from Christ).

This weekend we'll be looking at another thing people hate about Christians - they think we're judgmental.  Some judgment is necessary, especially when it comes to things inside the church, but when we deal with people who are unchristian and don't know Jesus, yeah, well, you were in prison too (you just know who set us free).

Motion and Emotion

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day about message prep and speaking on Sunday mornings and he made the comment that when he's listened to me lately, something's different.  He says he thinks I'm speaking with more passion and people can "sense" it, so lately, the messages have been 'better' (not that ones before were 'bad' but these are more intense I guess)

Now, whether my speaking is better or worse isn't the point.  What got me thinking was the idea that emotions matter.  Think about it.  Have you ever been in a "funk" and been around people who've noticed?  You may say the same things, meet in the same places, do the same stuff, but they can tell that something just isn't right.  You're going through the motions but all without the right emotions.

It works the other way too.  When people see someone who is full of life (has a lot of emotion and passion on display) they wonder if it's just a show.  But when they see it consistently, day in and day out, people are attracted to that, they notice.

So here's my question.  When you look at your friends, who are the ones you are attracted to and want to spend time with?  Is it the ones who seem to just be going through the motions or is it the ones who live with passion and emotion on display for anyone to see.  If you're just going through the motions of life, eat, work, sleep, play, etc.  are you really living?  Stop being afraid to smile, cry publicly, laugh loudly, cheer wildly, tell stories with excitement and share your thoughts and opinions with passion and conviction.  I second that emotion.

Hypocrites

Yesterday, we started a new series called "6 Things I Hate About Christians"  The basic idea behind it is that Christians act terribly unChristian way too often and when the watching world sees us, they become even less likely to listen to us or believe what we have to say about Jesus being Good News.  Sure, there could be more things on the list, but six makes for a good series.  We started out with one common complaint - 

Christians are too hypocritical.

The bad news is, it's true.  The good news is we can change that image by dropping the masks we hide behind and becoming a mirror that reflects more accurately, who Christ is and who we are in Christ.  We hide behind the mask of the rules of Christianity.  We keep trying to "live right" and telling others how to "live right" that we forget that the very reason Jesus came and died was because we can't ever "live right."  It's not so much about following the rules as it is the Rule-maker.

There was a lot of discussion, dialogue and people really having to wrestle with whether or not they were willing to drop their mask and stop pretending they were something they're not, and stop measuring their success or failure as a Christian by how well they followed the rules.  I didn't know how it was going to work, but I took a little risk and we gave everyone coming in a mask.  At one point I asked everyone to put it on (and almost all did) and at the end, I asked people to get up, take off the mask and drop it on the stage IF they were willing to trade it in for a mirror (which we also had on stage).  It was a great start to the series for sure.  Next week: Christians are judgmental.

Here's what it looked like from where I was standing - bunch of hypocrites! (tough to take a great picture with the lighting, but you get the idea)

Prep, Planning and Panera

With the kids at home with the Grandparents, snow outside and 3 dogs inside.  I figured it'd be better if I left to get some work done.  So I spent the afternoon at Panera Bread (great soup) and finished up Sunday and Outlet Study Guides, got some work done on next week and spent some time dreaming up ways to impact this city.  Been a long day but I'm really excited about our new series starting on Sunday "6 Things I Hate About Christians."  First thing we're tackling is the idea that so many people view Christians as HYPOCRITES.  The sad news is, they're often right.  The good news is - it doesn't have to be that way.  The Great News is Jesus is still on the throne and offers LIFE to all who come to Him!

Here's what I look like after hours spent eating and drinking Panera's offerings.  Hey, at least I have picking Lora up in another hour or so to look forward to.  Missed her bunches today.  She's got to be the greatest wife ever (and the fact that she's smokin' hot doesn't hurt either)

Thank You Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I just finished watching this video with all my kids as part of their school for the day.  Amazing.  Eloquent.  Clear.  Powerful.  Challenging.  Motivating.  Truly one of the great speeches of all time.  Click HERE and read the text version.  You can really see the imagery, the forceful repetition, and even the Scriptural references he so seamlessly wove in.

I must admit, his dream hasn't yet been realized.  The sooner we as a nation realize that, the sooner we can fix it.  I am actually really excited about the inauguration of Barak Obama.  Sure I didn't vote for him (and I still wouldn't if given another chance) but what we'll be witnessing tomorrow is a huge milestone, the likes of which Dr. King was dreaming about.  

Take some time today to consider the contributions of men and women like Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Booker T Washington, George Washington Carver, Jackie Robinson, Mary McLeod Bethune or W.E.B. DuBois.  This country - our country - is better because of them.  Thank you Dr. King for dreaming big dreams and believing that opportunities still exist for all people.

Visitorship or Followership

With all the thoughts on worship lately, I've really been taking a lot of the comments in, reading more, searching the Bible and trying to come to grips with what worship at or in the church looks like.  Man, there are a million different thoughts and ideas floating around out there.  Some Biblical, some practical, some personal and some just plain nuts.  I still don't have "thee" answer, but I do have some clarity so thoughts I'd share my thoughts.

It seems as though worship in the church is suffering from the same kind of disease that western Christianity is suffering from - it's compartmentalized.  Believers have their "God-time", their family time, their church time, their exercise time, their work time, their down time, etc.  We schedule everything and stick it in a nice little box often right next to the words "to do" so we can check it off when it's done.  A friend of mine pointed out that even us pastors are contributing to the problem when we ask people "How's your spiritual life?" (like it's a separate part and not just life).

So I got to thinking about how people approach church and worship.  A lot of people come to a church looking for something and wanting to be taken care of, noticed, accepted, or whatever.  There's a place for that for sure, but it's not (and shouldn't be) the highest goal.  When that happens, people approach church, worship, God and Christianity like they're visitors, expecting someone else to do all the work and preparations before hand so that we can just show up and enjoy.  We (pastors and church leaders) do it too.  We prepare for guests to come, practice "our lines" and hope to make them feel welcomed enough that they can see, feel, connect or accept Jesus.  Not a bad thing either is it?

But I don't want to be a visitor when it comes to Christ; you know, here one minute and forget about Him the next.  That's why so much of the world sees us as hypocritical (BTW we'll be talking about that in our next series "6 Things I Hate About Christians")  I want to be a follower of Christ.  I want our church to be a follower of Christ first and foremost.  People coming to church to worship should be coming as followers of Christ (not visitors) - intent on lifting up His name, participating and sharing in the praise of who He is.  That needs to be the focus - Him.

Maybe it's time we stop treating people like visitors and start preparing for the followers to come.  Maybe it's time to stop worrying so much about "how" and start focusing solely on "who". (Hmmm, I like that - same letters totally different end result)  Maybe it's time we evaluate a successful church or worship service not by the positive or negative comments, but by whether or not everything pointed to the One who is worthy.  And if that's the case, we need strong leaders (pastors, worship leaders, etc) who can stand before the people and challenge them to "follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" *

So what are you?  A visitor?  A follower?  Who's your church preparing for?  Visitors?  Followers?  Both?  Help me understand this.

Swaziland

I've got some more information on our planned trip to Swaziland this summer.  First of all, space is limited for this trip.  Ten is the magic number, and since I'm going that leaves 9 spots left.  If I take my oldest, you can do the math, there's just 8 slots open.

The money we're collecting will go to help set up a solar-powered well in Maloma - an area deeply affected by a drought the last three years and where the situation is so bad that people who are alive while you're reading this, will die before we finally arrive in July because they don't have access to clean water.

Unless something changes, the dates are gonna be July 31 - August 10.  We'll fly out of Dulles in DC, head to Johannesburg and then to Swaziland.

The cost still isn't (and won't be) totally nailed down, but early estimates are between $2500 and $3000 for the 11 day trip.  Remember, we live in a fairly stable and predictable country, but no guarantee what costs among other things are going to be like in Swaziland in 7 months.

Start praying for Swaziland and us now.