Greasy Grace

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I don’t do grease.  I don’t cook with it (My choice these days is olive or coconut oil).  I used to grease my car back when cars weren’t so complicated, but no more. I pay someone else to do that.  I don’t even know if cars get greased anymore. In the 60s I would grease my hair – “a little dab’ll do ya” – now it’s pomade or something like that.

I found out a few days ago, though, that when it comes to Christianity, I am greasy.

A person who attends the church I pastor and who is part of a small group to which I belong told the group that he was accused of going to that “Greasy Grace” church. I wonder if the guy who made the statement has ever been to the church on which he slapped the label.  Has he heard me preach? I don’t know.

“Greasy Grace” church?  I had never heard of the term.   A quick Google search and I realized that the statement was not intended to be a compliment. I didn’t think it was.   People who make such statements usually make similar statements such as, “That preacher is soft on sin”, or “He is just giving them a license to sin” and, “You just don’t understand what it means to live holy.”  Oftentimes, “greasy grace” is combined with the catchy term, “sloppy agape.”  Nice.

I do preach grace.  No doubt about that.  I believe that:

– grace is the “good news”
– Jesus replaced a law-based religion with a grace-based relationship.
– Jesus replaced an obedience driven by fear, guilt and bargaining (If I am good, then God will be good) with a fresh motivation to follow Him out of love and joy.
-everything comes to us by grace.  To believe that we have to work for God’s blessings is to try and buy that which is not for sale.
– instead of following lists of rules Jesus calls people to follow Him.
– sin is overcome by grace.

The accusations against pro-grace people have been around a long time.  Paul was accused of promoting sin and reckless living.  Listen to what he said:  “And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, ‘The more we sin, the better it is!’ Those who say such things deserve to be condemned” (Romans 3:8 NLT)  Tough words.

These guys follow Paul’s lead… What do you think?

From D. Martin Lloyd-Jones:

There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. That is a very good test of gospel preaching. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel… I would say to all preachers: If your preaching of salvation has not been misunderstood in that way, then you had better examine your sermons again, and you had better make sure that you really are preaching the salvation that is offered in the New Testament…

Romans: The New Man, An Exposition of Chapter 6

From Charles Swindoll, commenting on the above comment:

“To all fellow ministers, if you claim to be a messenger of grace, if you think you are really preaching grace, yet no one is taking advantage of it, maybe you haven’t preached it hard enough or strong enough.  I can assure you of this: Grace-killing ministers will never have that charge brought against them.  They make sure of that!”

The Grace Awakening

Grace is big. Too big for me to understand.  I just re-read a book by Steve Brown, Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Reformed Theological Seminary.  Check out these quotes:

“You ought to live your life with such freedom and joy that uptight Christians will doubt your salvation.”  Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom

“The only people who get better are people who know that, if they never get better, God will love them anyway.”  Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom

“Religion can make people mean, angry, gloomy, critical, judgmental, and neurotic.  Religion can also become an abuser of Christians.  I have seen so many people hurt by religion that sometimes I think it would be better to be a pagan.  Worst of all, religion can keep you from God…Something about institutional Christianity (as necessary as it is) will kill your freedom if you aren’t careful.  Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom

Sounds greasy.

The statement made to my small group friend may have been intended as a criticism.  I think I’ll look at it as a compliment.

Franksgiving

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People are mad!  They’re picking sides.  Now, arguing and fighting are nothing new during the holidays –  just sit around the table of the average American family on Thanksgiving, or reach for the last specially marked item on the shelf on Black Friday.  But this fight is a bit unique.

The fight is not over what to buy but when to buy. Yep. Black Friday has expanded into Brown Thursday – a name I learned by watching  Jimmy Kimmel Live.   And the feelings run high.

“They’re ruining Thanksgiving!”

“It’s the death of Thanksgiving!”

A “Save Thanksgiving” Facebook page includes a “Naughty and Nice” list of who is open and who is not.  The “nice” list includes Home Depot, Sam’s Club, T.J. Maxx, Dillards.  On the “naughty” list we find “Macy’s, Walmart, Best Buy, among others.

Thirty-three million Americans have said they plan to be “naughty” this Thanksgiving.

This isn’t the first time controversy has been cooked up over Thanksgiving and shopping.  Ever hear of “Franksgiving”?    It’s a reference to our 32nd President, Franklin D. Roosevelt and his attempt to mess with tradition. The tradition was set by another President, Abraham Lincoln who, in 1863, set the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.

In 1939,  the last Thursday of the month was November 30 – which meant there were just 20 shopping days left til Christmas – not a good thing for retailers.  Business leaders, including the head guy of Federated Department Stores (Macy’s, Bloomingdales), and the Retail Dry Goods Association, expressed concern to the Secretary of Commerce who passed on the concern to the President, who in turn moved Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday of the month – to extend the shopping season.

Simple, right?  Not at all!  The public choked on their pecan pie.
Roosevelt was compared to Hitler.
Long time Democrats threatened to vote Republican in the next election.
In time, the earlier date became known as the “Democratic Thanksgiving” while the traditional “last Thursday” Thanksgiving became the “Republican Thanksgiving.”

Finally, after two years of squabbling and gobbling,  Congress made it official:  Thanksgiving Day would be the fourth Thursday of November – all because of shopping.

Observations:

  • So much for the “good old days” when Americans cared more about getting together with family to celebrate Thanksgiving than the gross national product.  Maybe the “good old days” aren’t really too much different than these days.
  • We still demonize our leaders.
  • Maybe Thanksgiving is more than just a particular “day.”
  • Remember Lincoln?  When he established Thanksgiving Day, he asked – no, he pled with – all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

A prayer for God’s care.  Let’s pray that.  Let’s be answers to that prayer.

No disagreement with that!

Eighty-five And It Still Hurts

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Bullying is back in the news.

A few “who” “what” “where” lessons I’m learning.

Who?  Anyone can be bullied – even an NFL player.

What?  Bullying – The technical definition:

“the repeated mistreatment of an individual by a person or group of people with malicious intent, humiliation, intimidation and sabotage of the person.”

Where?  Bullying can happen anyplace – not just the playground or middle school cafeteria.

Ever hear of “workplace” bullying?

Ever listen to a bullying pastor?

Boardroom. Locker-room. Break-room. Family-room. School. Home. Church. Everywhere. Bullying happens.

The impact? Huge. A person takes his/her life. A football player walks away from a multi-million dollar career. A senior citizen can’t shake the memory.

Two weeks ago as I walked out of an assisted-living facility where I give a weekly devotion to the residents, I noticed a car parked awfully close to mine with its door left open.  My first thought was, “I hope the driver didn’t ding my door.”  I know. Not the most spiritual thought I could have had.

As I squeezed into my car between the two doors, I noticed the back seat of the car was packed full.  The driver was moving into the residence. He came out of the facility, saw me between the cars and apologized for getting so close.  I felt bad for my thought.

I offered to help him move in and he reluctantly accepted. “I don’t want to put you out.”  “I’m sure you’re busy,” and so on. I insisted, so together, we moved his stuff from his car to his new home.

His “stuff” –  now reduced to what would fit into a small sedan.
His “new home” – from a large “family” home to an efficiency apartment.

Alone.

He was a bit disoriented in the hallway of the residence.  He had mistakenly gone to a room a few doors down from the one where he had instructed me to put his “stuff.”  I went up to him.

“Sir,” I asked, “Did I hear you correctly?  Is your room #224?”
“Yes, that’s right,” he said. “I’m a little confused today,”

We walked to his room. I saw his name on the door with a big sign,“Welcome to Your New Home, Red.”

“Is this right? Is this your name?” I asked.

I don’t know if he was overwhelmed with the combination of the major transitions through which he was going or if it was a reminder of an unhealed hurt,  but with a tear trickling down his cheek he told me,

“Yes, ‘Red‘ is what they called me when I was a boy.  I had bright red hair.  Kids can be mean.  There was a lot of teasing.”

An 85 year old gentleman. A 79 year old hurt.

Yes. Bullying has an impact.  An impact that can last a lifetime.

Some would say, “Get over it.” “Toughen up.”  “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”  Maybe. I don’t think, though, that that would have helped my new friend.

Jesus gives us the context in which we can deal with the hurts from bullying.

Hurting?   Let’s listen to who God says we are.  The bullies’ words are lies.  God’s words about us are true. Get some help to work through the hurt. Psychologists, counselors, therapists are great. It’s a process.

Jesus gives us the context in which bullying can be stopped.

See someone hurting?  Be a Good Samaritan and “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).

Put our Christianity in practice and stand with those who are hurting and against all forms of social injustice.

Hurting someone?  Why are you doing that?  What inner insecurity are you taking out on others (James 4:1-2)?

Golden rule time – Matthew 7:12.

Someone you meet today may be bullied.  Be a friend.

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I’m frequently asked how a Christ-follower can grow toward maturity without the law (rules)?  It happened again this week.  I love the question – most of the time.  Some of the time I don’t love it – times when the question is a set-up or even an attack instead of a genuine effort to understand how to be more like Jesus.

I do appreciate people who really want to grow in likeness to Christ.   I also understand people who get pretty passionate over their position.  I can be one of those passionate persons:)

I read again this week, Acts 15, which  records a debate between some pretty passionate people over the same topic.  In the early days of Christianity almost all Christians had been Jews. In Antioch, though, a lot of Gentiles (non Jews) had come to faith in Christ.  These new converts knew nothing about the laws of Judaism which really bothered the leadership. “Don’t non-Jews have to become Jews to follow the Jewish Messiah?” “Sure. Let’s give ‘em a list.”

One thing on the list was especially troublesome – especially to the men – surgery. Yep, circumcision.  “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1).  The list didn’t stop there.  The new converts were required to submit to the entire law!! This ticked off Paul and Barnabas, whom the Bible says were in “sharp dispute and debate” (Acts 15:2).  They couldn’t come to an agreement so they took it up with the big boys in Jerusalem – James and Peter.

The “passionate” debate continued.  Paul and Barnabas presented their view (grace) and their opponents countered with “No! The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses” (Acts 15:5).  I love Peter’s reply: “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?”   In other words, “Come on guys!  Get real.  How many of you keep all the law?  No hands? I didn’t think so.  So why are we making Gentiles keep it?” Peter concludes with a clear statement of his position: “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are” (Acts 15:11).

Game over, right?  Not yet.  It’s James’ turn.   “Peter’s right, guys. It is my judgment that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:14-19).   I wish James would have stopped there, but he doesn’t. “Let’s just make them do 4 things – 1. Eat no food sacrificed to idols, 2. stay away from sexual sin, 3. no eating animals that were strangled, 4. no eating bloody meat.  Really, James?  What are you saying?

Some commentators say that James was offering a compromise between the two groups.  His decision wasn’t so much theological as it was relational.  I like that view.  Others say that James was a legalist and really messed this one up.  Maybe so.   Or, there is the view that the stipulations still apply today!  I hope not.   I like my steak rare.

So, how does all this apply to maturing in our spiritual life.  How can we grow in Christ and help others grow?  Paul, one of the passionate debaters in the Acts 15 event makes the following contrasts in 2 Corinthians 3:1-18:
Old covenant – New covenant
Of the letter – of the Spirit
Etched in stone – written in our hearts
Kills – gives life
Brings condemnation – brings righteousness

Can we agree that the goal of spiritual growth is likeness to Christ?  Then what method is going to get us there?  Following rules or depending on the Spirit?

Paul concludes his thoughts in 2 Corinthians 3 with this  affirmation: “And the Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more like him as we are changed into his glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18).  I think I’ve got the answer for me.

Don’t Know Much About History

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Happy Columbus Day. It’s not a big holiday.  There are no Columbus Day parties, unless you’re a school kid.  Any day that school is out is a party.  Some people take advantage of some Columbus Day sales, but that’s about it.

Some people didn’t realize it was Columbus Day until they went out to their mailbox and found it empty. “What’s up?” “Where’s the mail?” “Oh yeah, it’s Columbus Day.”

I grew up in a time when Columbus was seen as a hero.  Do you remember this line from a poem, “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”  How cute.

And then I was taught by Christian leaders who described in glowing terms Columbus’ commitment to Christ and sense of mission to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people who were “living in darkness and the shadow of death” (A quote from Columbus’ journal).

Columbus’ writings, though, show another side to the guy who got a holiday named after him.  Alongside claims that he is doing his work for God’s glory, he writes in his journal on October 12, 1492, the first day he encountered the native people of the Americas, that “they should be good servants…I, our Lord being pleased, will take hence, at the time of my departure, six natives for your Highness.”  Columbus promises, in a report to the Court in Madrid, “as much gold as they need…and as many slaves as they ask.”  He even gives God credit for his “success”: “Thus an eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.”  When a large percentage of the Indians died in transit, Columbus wrote, “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.”

In the prologue of his journal, Columbus writes, “Your Highnesses, as Catholic Christians and Princes who love the  holy Christian faith, and the propagation of it, and who are enemies to the sect of Mahoma (Islam) and to all idolatries and heresies, resolved to send me, Cristobal Colon, to the said parts of India…with a view that they might be converted to our holy faith…Thus, after having turned out all the Jews from all your kingdoms and lordships…your Highnesses gave orders to me that with a sufficient fleet I should go to the said parts of India…”

Columbus was familiar with persecution and murder before arriving in the New World.  The day before Columbus left Spain, all of the Jews in Spain were required to leave.  During the time that Columbus was preparing for his voyage, an estimated 30,000 Spanish Jews were burned at the stake for their failure to convert to Christianity.  That’s some strategy for evangelism.

The list of gruesome acts attributed to Columbus against the island natives go on and on – rape, torture, sex-trade – things that just don’t jive with “spreading the Gospel” or “bearing the light of Christ” (the meaning of the name “Christopher”), and things that just didn’t make it into Little Johnny’s history books.

I realize I’m treading on sacred ground for some.  It is not my intent to disrespect or cast dispersion on someone who has been revered by so many.  It is my intent to face honestly any evidence uncovered by historians.  The title of the post applies to me.  I don’t know much about history or many of the other areas of study mentioned in the song from which that line is taken.  But I don’t want my preconceived ideas to prevent me from facing whatever truth is revealed.  For some  historians’ perspective, check out these links:

http://www.history.com/topics/columbus-controversy

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/aug/07/books.spain

Reading Columbus’ own words from his own journal,  and seeing the evidence uncovered by historians, what do we do with this?

1. Remember the line, “Those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

2. Some say Columbus was just a product of his time and culture.  Does that excuse behavior that goes against the character of Jesus?   What am I doing that may characterize me as a “product of my culture” but that contradicts the character of Jesus?

3. How do I see people?  Columbus obviously didn’t see the islanders through the eyes of Jesus.  How about me?  Through whose I eyes do I see people?

4.  In some way, Columbus’ journeys played a part in the founding of the United States – the freest country on earth.  That’s a good thing.   I’m glad to be an American.  I’m also a Christian – living in the kingdom of Christ.   I have to make sure my values and behaviors are determined not by my citizenship in America but by my citizenship in His Kingdom.

Happy Day.

A New Way of Life at Moody Bible Institute

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Image“Booze no longer banned!”  This was the headline that shook up a lot of church folks when it appeared on September 27.  Moody Bible Institute (MBI), a long-time bastion of conservative theology has dropped its ban on alcohol and tobacco consumption by its 600-some faculty and staff.

Some “slippery slope” folks are worried.

So, what’s up?

Insiders say that this change at Moody, which was founded by the 19th century evangelist, Dwight L. Moody, is a smart business move.  According to board member and author, Jerry Jenkins (have you heard of Left Behind?)  potential faculty and staff were put off by Moody having a “bunch of lists of rules,” calling the list “kind of pharisaical.”

“Bunch of lists of rules” and “kind of pharisaical” bring up a more significant issue – an issue of the very heart of Christianity.  To me, this really isn’t about alcohol. It’s about Christianity.

Christianity is Jesus.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.

Christianity is a person.  Christianity is not a performance.

Being a Christian doesn’t revolve around or even involve a list of do’s and don’ts.
Being a good Christian means understanding that Jesus is our life and allowing Him to live through us.  It is the person of Jesus performing His life through us – His life, His love, His values.

We can’t look at a list of rules and focus on Jesus at the same time (Galatians 5:1-5; Hebrews 12:1-2).  In fact, rules are the very things that “hinder” us from being and behaving “Christianly.”

As we live out our connection with Him, our behavior will take care of itself!

Let’s go back to the Moody decision.  According to Christine Gorz, VP of Marketing and Communications at MBI, the decision reflected a desire to create a “high trust environment that emphasizes values, not rules.”

Inherent in a rules-based faith is control – control people’s behavior.
Inherent in a Christ-based faith is trust – helping each other depend on, trust in the Spirit to live out the life of Christ in us (Galatians 5:16).

Way to go Moody.

Messy Desks, Messy Church

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This is for anyone who’s ever been scolded for being too MESSY!  

According to researchers at the University of Minnesota  “people working in their messy office come up with more imaginative ideas” because, “disorder inspires the mind to break free of convention.”   Kind of “out of the box” thinking.  Those who prefer to work at a neat desk with a place for everything and everything in its place tend to be “rule followers”.

Think about Albert Einstein: rule breaker, genius, and messy!!  Just look at that desk!  It was Einstein who said, “If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”   Good question.  

So, maybe a messy desk is not so bad.   But how about a messy church?

Denise, my wife, forwarded to me an article that put a spring in my step today.  It is written by Sam Rainer, president of Rainer Research, and son of Thom Rainer, President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. I guess research runs in their family.   Check it out.

Rainer makes a bold statement: “The healthiest churches are inevitably messy.”  Why?  Healthy churches are “telling others about Jesus and inviting them to worship services.  And ironically, successful churches in this area will often be viewed as unhealthy.”  Wow!  

He goes on: “A healthy church with a passionate outward focus can expect as much as 50% of the congregation to be loosely connected at any given point.  Why?  It means spiritually mature people are inviting their friends.”

“If you’re a church leader and you’re constantly dealing with how to disciple messy, new believers, then it probably means you’re dong something right.  Conversely, if everyone in your church is spiritually mature, then something is terribly wrong.  In fact, a church full of  ‘mature’ believers is quite immature because it means no one is reaching outward.”  

A good summary of Rainer’s thoughts are in the title of his article: “Messy is Healthy.”

And that’s why this article put a spring in my step – a quiver in my liver – and gave hope to my soul. You see, my desk is often messy,  my life is sometimes messy (I just ate 6 boxes of gluten-free fig newtons in one week), and I feel the most fulfilled in ministry when building a church of messy people.  

But messy isn’t typically seen as healthy.  Messy is, well, messy.  It’s not neat and tidy.  Messy asks questions.  Messy sometimes doubts. Can we be both maturing and messy?  Can we be growing in Christ and still ask questions and experience doubts?  I think so.  I read a phrase in the book, Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale, that I like and expresses how I see myself – “a reverent agnostic.”  The character in the book, a Franciscan priest, explains, “The word agnostic means ‘not knowing.’ There are countless mysteries that I have to stand before reverently and humbly while saying, ‘I don’t know.”

No, messiness is not seen as a positive.  The phrase is not “Messiness is next to Godliness.” But maybe it should be.  “Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). It seems that those who were seen as “messy” in Jesus’ day were in fact the ones closest to Jesus.
 
Is it possible that we are all messes?  That the difference is that some admit it and some don’t? Is Paul admitting that he’s a hot mess in 1 Timothy 1:14-15? “…and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.  It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.”

It is the messy who needs the Messiah.

“Look Away?”

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Do you remember that great scene in “Seinfeld” where Kramer invited Jerry into his “smoking lounge” apartment for pipe night?  After Jerry told Kramer his face was being disfigured by all the smoke, Kramer looked in a toaster (mirror), and said to Jerry, “Look away….I’m hideous”  -a line that definitely qualifies as one of the best lines from that iconic show.  It’s also a line, a form of which, has been ascribed to God.  It goes something like this:  “God is so holy, He cannot look at sin.”  Dr. R. Albert Mohler in an article, “The Salvation of the Little Ones: Do Infants Who Die Go To Heaven?” put it like this: “…God will not tolerate sinners.”

A teacher in our children’s ministry texted me a question about this after showing the kids in her class the “bridge illustration.” You know the one:  Imagine a valley.  The person is at the top on one side and God is at the top of the other side.  Between them is Sin Valley.  Then we draw a cross that forms a bridge over the valley signifying that Jesus died on the cross to fix the sin that separated us from God. Great illustration.  I’ve used it a ton of times.

But the teacher was conflicted – the illustration seems to “indicate that God can’t be around sin,” she said.  I love it when teachers analyze and ask!

A couple of things come to mind:
1. The holiness of God. Most of us think of “holiness” as morally pure.  Such a view leads us to
take a  Kramer-type approach to God: “God you are too pure.  Look away…I’m hideous” (Habakkuk 1:13).

“Holiness,” though, means “otherness.”  Holiness is what makes God different, separate, “other” from His creation.  Normally, we think of “holy” pretty much just in terms of purity.  God is sinless.  We’re not.  God is pure.  We’re not.   True enough.  No argument there.  But let’s not stop short of what the Biblical writers say:

Hosea 11:8-9, “How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over Israel?… My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.  I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I devastate Ephraim again.  For I am God, and not a man – the Holy One among you.”

Yep, God is certainly different than me.  When someone hurts me I’m all about hurting back!  But not God.  He is “holy,” different than man. He acts in mercy, not revenge.

As holy, God treats people differently than we treat people.    That sounds like what Jesus is trying to get across in Matthew 5:38-45:

“You have heard it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.  If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue  you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not run away from the one who wants to borrow from you.  You have heard it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven… And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even the pagans do that?”

Crazy, out of this world behavior! It’s certainly not human. It’s God-behavior.   He is different.  He is holy.
Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Maybe God’s holiness makes him more approachable, not less.  That’s what we see in Jesus.

2. How Jesus lived his life is the second thing to consider.  And it’s a big thing.

Jesus lived his life in such a way that he was accused by the religious group as being a “friend of sinners”  (Matthew 11:16-19; Mark 2:16; Luke 15:1-2).  Jesus knew sinners, went to their houses, talked with them over wine.  He knew their names, probably knew their kid’s names, knew their hopes, dreams, fears.  He knew their interests – you know, like a friend.  So that’s how Jesus lived his life.

Now, who is Jesus?  Jesus is the picture of God (Colossians 1:15; John 1:18; John 14:9).  In fact, the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus reveals God more clearly, precisely, accurately, than anyone or anything (Hebrews 1:1-3). If you link to the Hebrews passage you’ll notice the heading written by the Biblegateway folks: “God’s Final Word: His Son.”  They’re right. Any view of God not based on the person of Jesus is an inadequate view.

Jesus was a friend of sinners.  Jesus is God. So God is a friend of sinners.  God loves sinners and wants to be with sinners.  What God does not tolerate is sin.  Sin hurts us and God doesn’t like anything that hurts us.

Jesus deals with us and our sin not by isolating Himself from us (as did the Pharisees) but by getting involved with us (Luke 5:27-31).  He is with us and by being with us He is able to transform us with His love and grace.

So, what’s the answer to the teacher’s question?  What’s Jesus’ answer?
(Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:14-16).

Do We Profile?

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Type “racial profiling meaning” in the Google Search Bar and you get this result:

“Noun –  The practice of substituting skin color for evidence as grounds for suspicion.”

I am not a lawyer.  I cannot and will not speak to Florida’s “stand your ground law,” nor to the complexities of the legal  definitions of “second-degree murder” and “manslaughter,” nor to the meaning of “self-defense” as found in the 27 page set of instructions given to the 6-member jury.

I will not pass judgment on the jury or on the lawyers on either side.

But on the night of February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman passed judgment on 17 year-old Trayvon Martin. The grounds for judgment?  Skin color.

My younger son’s favorite snack growing up was Skittles.  My thoughts and emotions immediately went to him when I read that Trayvon was walking home from a convenience store where he had bought Arizona Iced-Tea and Skittles.  If that had been Devin out that night in that neighborhood, with Skittles in his pocket, he would have come back to his mom and dad unharmed.  Now, be honest.  We know this is true.  But when black 17year- old Trayvon Martin went out that night just to get a snack, he ended up dead.

Some people believe this case has nothing to do with race, that Trayvon’s Blackness was inconsequential to his death.  I wonder if that perception is held only by those who’ve not been on the receiving end of racism or profiling.  If you don’t buy the “color-connection” ask yourself: Why did Trayvon seem suspicious?  Why was his hoodie threatening to Zimmerman?  No one, to my knowledge, has been suspicious of Mark Zuckerberg in his hoodie.

Zimmerman’s own words are incriminating.  Remember his words to the police dispatcher when he called in to report seeing Trayvon walking in his neighborhood: “F-king punks.  These a**holes.  They always get away.”  Why would he think Trayvon was a “punk”?  Had Trayvon “gotten away” from something in that neighborhood?  When the defense put up as a witness a white woman who had been robbed by black men as central to why Zimmerman picked out Trayvon to follow and stalk – it says it all.  Was she robbed by Trayvon? No.  So why should he be suspect? Sounds like profiling, doesn’t it?

In a speech by Attorney General Eric Holder, he said a couple of things that we would do well to consider:

First, “Today I’d like to join President Obama in urging all Americans to recognize that, as he said, we are a nation of laws, and the jury has spoken.”

Second, “The news of Trayvon Martin’s death last year, and the discussions that have taken place since then, reminded me of my father’s words so many years ago and they brought me back to a number of experiences I had as a young man, when I was pulled over twice and my car was searched on the New Jersey Turnpike when I’m sure I wasn’t speeding, or when I was stopped by a police officer while simply running to catch a movie, at night in Georgetown, in Washington, D.C.   I was, at the time of that last incident, a federal prosecutor.  So Trayvon’s death last spring caused me to sit down to have a conversation with my own 15-year-old son, like my dad did with me.  This was a father-son tradition I hoped would not need to be handed down.  But as a father who loves his son and who is more knowing in the ways of the world, I had to protect my boy.  I am his father, and it is my responsibility, not to burden him with the baggage of eras long gone, but to make him aware of the world that he must still confront.”

My dad never had such a conversation with me.  I never had such a conversation with my sons.  There was no need. Black parents have to teach their children not to wear hoodies.  But white people don’t need to have any such conversation.

Do we get it?  Do we know what it’s like to be a black youth?  To be under suspicion just because of how we look?  I don’t.  I don’t know what it’s like to walk down the aisle at the grocery store and see the lady coming toward me reach down and grab her purse that is sitting in her grocery cart – or meet a lady in the mall and see her move her purse to the shoulder farthest away from me.  Friends of mine in Springfield, MO do know what that’s like.  They aren’t white.

No, I can’t speak to the legal proceedings, reasonings and deliberations in the George Zimmerman trial. I don’t know if it was George Zimmerman or Trayvon Martin who threw the first punch, or who was on top of whom. But without the profiling, there would have been no punch – no shot – no death.

“Lord, in what ways am I guilty of profiling?”

There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among others. Proverbs 6:16-19

“Lord, I don’t want to be a Samuel.”

When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely, this is the LORD’s anointed!” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.  The LORD doesn’t see things the way you see them.  People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”  1 Samuel 16:6-7

I want to be, I need to be more like Jesus.  How about you?

“Soul Freedom”

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Happy 4th of July.  Happy Birthday USA.  We live in the land of the free because this was the home of some very brave people.  One of these brave individuals is Roger Williams.  I grew up in a Baptist home, went to and pastored Baptist churches, received my undergrad and graduate education at Baptist schools. So Roger Williams was as much a hero to me as Stan Musial is to Cardinal Nation.  Yep.  Roger Williams established and pastored the first Baptist church in the New World, located in Providence, Rhode Island.   Oh, he founded the town of Providence as well, giving it that name because he figured that God’s providence had led him there – God’s providence and Roger’s rebel spirit.

Williams rebelled against the religious philosophy and practice of the day, which was basically, “my way or the highway,” or “my way or the stocks or sword”.    The Puritans came to these shores to find religious freedom, but when they got here they turned it around and denied it for everyone else.  “You’re free to think, believe, and act like us.”  New England residents who didn’t attend worship services were put in the stocks.  People of other faiths were often forced to pay higher taxes or kicked out of the colony.  This “my way” approach was personified in John Winthrop, the Governor of Massachusetts, the “City on a hill” guy.

Enter Roger Williams. He came to Massachusetts Bay from England preaching and teaching “soul freedom,” the idea that faith cannot be dictated by any civil or church authority.  In fact, he said that forcing someone toward a belief or to think a certain way was “soul rape.”  “Forced worship,” he said, “stinks in the nostrils of God!”

Roger Williams was a Bible scholar, holding a high view of Scripture. Yet, he recognized the difficulty in reconciling contradictory scriptural passages as well as different Bible translations.  Given these complexities, Williams judged it impossible for any human to interpret all Scripture without error.  So, he considered it “monstrous” for one person to impose any religious belief on another.

That kind of thinking might get you fired – or in William’s case, banished.  Roger Williams had once been considered as pastor of the Puritan church in Boston – a great job!  Yet his ideas were too radical. The authorities found him guilty of spreading “newe and dangerous opinions” and banished him from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  The colony’s leaders agreed that his position was nothing less than “Satan’s Policy.” Williams found a safe place with the Narragansett Indians whose chiefs sold land to him and his followers.  They established a new settlement and named it Providence.  Its reason for existence, its claim to fame was complete and absolute religious liberty.  Rhode Island became a safe haven for all sorts of religious outcasts and misfits  -people who would not let the establishment make spiritual decisions for them.

Having been both a witness to and victim of religious persecution, Roger Williams believed that most of the wars in the world were the result of religious conflict.  He advocated total religious toleration even as other Puritan pastors preached, “Tis Satan’s policy, to plead for an indefinite and boundless toleration.”  Not for Williams. He argued that “ all religious sects had the right to claim equal protection from the laws, and that the civil magistrates had no right to restrain the consciences of men or to interfere with their modes of worship and religious belief.”

Now we understand why Rhode Island never had a a witch trial.  Or blasphemy trials.  Nor hanged, whipped or jailed people because of religion.  All the other colonies executed witches. Most had blasphemy trials.  In nearly all of colonial America people of faith were persecuted.  Massachusetts hanged Quakers.  Virginia threw Baptists into jail.  These things did not happen in Rhode Island because Roger Williams founded Providence to be a “shelter for those distressed of conscience.”

Other governments called Rhode Island the “latrine of America”.  Roger Williams called it a “shelter.”

Fast forward 150 years.  Our founding fathers were putting together a government for the USA.  “Which way do we go?”  The way of John Winthrop or the way of Roger Williams. The way of religious intolerance or the way of  liberty? The way of government enforcing religious principles upon the people or the way of a wall of separation. The American experiment could have gone in the direction of John Winthrop and, yet, it went in the direction of Roger Williams.

Freedom.  We love and appreciate it.  Many have died for it.  It was Roger Williams who planted the seeds of religious liberty that we enjoy today.
Want a great book on Roger Williams?  Check out Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul by the premier historian John M. Barry.