Condemning Silence

How long are we going to treat Christianity like a self-help solution? Pastors, and religious authors teach us about all the things we need to do to achieve healing, prosperity, love, happiness, or become good people. There’s no doubt that their intentions are good, and that they’re helping a ton of people achieve a better life. But it all seems a little hollow to me. When I look at what Scripture says, I see a different approach to ‘improving’ lives.
In the very heart of the Scriptures we see over and over again that our best efforts to become good fail miserably, and always will. Instead of focusing on our sinful failings, we focus on becoming closer to God, and building a relationship with Him. God tells us that that relationship is enough to transform our lives!
Scripture makes it abundantly clear that the laws, and ‘guidelines’ are not the things that we strive towards. They are merely a measuring stick for us to use against our lives to determine where our relationship with the Lord actually is. They give us warning signs when we begin to stray. They remind us that we can’t acheive good on our own. God tells us that rather than strive to become better, we are to strive to know Him better, and He’ll take care of the rest. That’s it!
Take 1 Corinthians 13. Most Christians take it as a goal, something that they strive to achieve. That’s missing the whole point! Love is what manifests in our lives when our focus is on the Lord! It’s not about our effort, it’s about our focus!

Yes, I have been to Kenya.
Yes, I have seen an overwhelming amount of poverty in person.
Yes, it’s a very emotional experience.
No, it doesn’t change my response to the need. Nor should it!

Let me explain. For most, it seems the response to the overwhelming need we see throughout our world is based on how emotionally powerful it is. Kids dying in 3rd world countries don’t get help. Pictures of kids starving in 3rd world countries get help!

Undoubtedly you’ve seen images before of those around the world living in poverty. This is nothing new to anyone who has seen the evening news. We already know that throughout the world, people are dying in hunger without knowing Christ.

But I’m begging you to look at them a little differently than normal.

I challenge you to look past your emotions, past that little twinge of guilt, and look at the people. Look at them as your brother and sister, your father and mother, your grandchildren. Look into their eyes and see the hopes and dreams of real people, not just representative samples of the latest crisis. Put yourself in their shoes as they dream of better lives for themselves and their children.

At this point I should be challenging you to give to help with the current crisis, but I can’t. That’s not the point.

The Problem

In spite of the awareness, and in spite of the obvious facts, the suffering persists, and the church remains immobilized. The church hasn’t even fed the starving, or clothed the naked, let alone offered them life!

I saw a documentary a couple of months ago that was talking about the ‘science of evil’. In it, it talked about a study that was done that looked at the impact of distance on our understanding of evil. Specifically, they asked participants if it was evil to walk past a wounded person on the street. The vast majority of course said that it would be evil. Then they asked if they knew that the same person was dying on the other side of the globe, and they had the power to help, would it be evil not to help? The vast majority believed it wasn’t! Their conclusion: Evil is relative to our proximity to the person in need. That’s wrong! And yet for most Christians that is exactly how they act.

So what should our role be in all of this?
What’s our responsibility?

We help others because we can, and because we know that the abundance that God has given us is not for our own selfish comfort, but to empower us to help those in need!
Scripture commands us many, many times that we are to serve others whenever we can. Serving them by offering life, spiritually as well as physically.
Not suggests. Demands!
We ‘know’ this, and yet…

Where’s the disconnect? I’ve always wondered how it’s possible to see unimaginable suffering without taking any action beyond throwing a little guilt money at it. I’ve looked at this even more recently as I prepared for this trip. I could document the crisis, but to what purpose? It’s already been documented, and we’ve already become deadened(especially in the church) to the suffering of the world. How could I capture the plight of humanity in a way that could bring it home, make it tangible, to those who saw it. As I asked the Lord for inspiration, I began to see the answer. But it wasn’t in a picture, and it wasn’t in a video. The answer is a call to sacrifice.

We must look past our own selfishness, and our own comfort, and begin loving others with the same love that we have received from our Lord. Even when it hurts us a little! Even when it gets in way of our dreams! Even when it alienates us from our friends and families!
It’s not for those who are called by God into full time ministry! Christ calls everyone of us who claim to follow Him to sacrifice our lives for His kingdom and His glory.
In fact, Scripture tells us very clearly that we have never loved God if we don’t love our fellow man, not just in word, but in deed!

Now some of you are reading this, and you already have an excuse lined up to get yourself off the hook. Call it what it is, a lie from Satan, and move past it.

Common Excuses:

“But I can’t solve the world’s problems!” Nobody asked you too! God simply asks you to do your part.
“But there’s so much poverty/despair/problems right here at home!” Glad you noticed! How much are you sacrificing to alleviate the, comparatively small amount of, suffering in your own back yard?
“You’re just another bleeding heart” Not exactly, not that it would matter.
“That’s what missionaries are for” Find that in Scripture, and get back to me on that one!
“Oh, I send money to several groups that are doing a great work” Are you giving till it hurts?
“I can’t” You should be serving a more powerful God. Ask Him, and He’ll show you how you can change your world.
“Everyone can’t go!” Not everyone will cross the ocean, but everyone must go.

Go to your neighbors. Go to those in need. Go to those who are dying without hope. If you’ve allowed God to transform your life, then you know just how awesome a gift He offers through us to the world.
Go.

I can. Will you?

Listen to: I can’t

There’s a phrase that just drives me up a wall when I hear it.

“I can’t!”

When someone says that, my first instinct is to write them off as either a loser, or someone who just isn’t trying. But then the Lord pointed out that many times it’s true. We can’t!  Coming to that realization in many areas of our lives is exactly what God expects of us. Just as long as we don’t stop there!

The fact is that in so many areas, we can’t. We can’t overcome addictions. We can’t break generational curses. We can’t forgive people like we ought. We can’t love like we should. But God can! God can give us the power to overcome addictions! God can break generational curses! God can give us the ability to forgive! God can transform our hearts to love! God can, and does, take us so far beyond our limitations that He alone can get the credit!

When Moses told God that he couldn’t speak before Pharaoh, Scripture tells us that God got angry at him. After knowing God all his life, and standing before a burning bush, Moses was still so wrapped up in his limitations that he couldn’t see that if God called him to do something, God would give him the power to accomplish it!

We see the same concept repeated constantly in Scripture. Abraham, Joshua, Gideon, Esther, Daniel & Friends, Peter. Everyone of these people were called far beyond what they could do. When we read their stories, we don’t see what they accomplished, we see what God accomplished in spite them!

God calls each of us to something far greater than we can ever dream! We have to acknowledge that we can’t, but we’re willing! From there God takes over, and shows His power and glory to the world through our insignificant lives!

When I started the “Dangerous Christianity” series, I neglected to explain what the series is actually about! So here goes…

To me the term ‘dangerous christianity’ is the intersection of two distinct ideas.
1. Today’s Christianity promotes traditions, and pet doctrines. Churches spend their efforts teaching about, or against, doctrines like healing, fasting, baptism, tongues, and prosperity. These at best are distractions from the life and power that Christ offers. To consume ourselves with what amounts to a selfish gospel is dangerous! It’s dangerous to us, and to those around us. While we create a god that has nothing to do with Christ, our friends and neighbors live in death, longing for a hope that is nowhere to be found in our lives! This kind of Christianity is dangerous!

2. When we move away from this selfish gospel and pursue a real God who is a rewarder of those who seek Him, we find that He offers a fulfilled yet dangerous life! Scripture tells us of a God that calls us to far more than we ever dreamed. He also warns that in order to follow Him, He demands everything! He demands our life, our hopes, our dreams, and our total obedience. We see throughout Scripture examples of the times that He called ordinary people to do the impossible. For them, and for us, taking the step of faith to obey His call would seem to be nothing short of dangerous! But the resulting relationship with our God is more than worth it!

The intersection of those two concepts is where this series lies. Comparing the dangerous selfish gospel with the dangerous power-filled life in God we can see in the contrast where we are and what God offers.

Listen to: Dangerous Christianity: Heaven

How can a good God send good people to Hell?
Can you lose your salvation, or is the sinners prayer your ticket to Heaven?

To hear most Christians talk, the best thing about Heaven is that it’s not Hell! Apparently saying the sinners prayer makes us good people, and that’s why God doesn’t send us to Hell with the rest of those horrible people who aren’t smart enough to follow God. Now no Christian I know would actually admit to the previous sentence, but their lives express it very clearly!

Let’s take a look at what Heaven is, and why you might want to go there.

Heaven is the best of all the afterlife options that you’re offered. It’s a reward for not being as bad as murderers/drug addicts/politicians/etc. It’s the ultimate ‘vacation’ spot. Right?
Wrong!
Heaven is nothing more or less than the opportunity to spend eternity with the One that we love! It’s the marriage, the beginning of the best part of our relationship with the One that we adore! I submit that those who can’t imagine spending an infinite amount of time worshiping their Creator would be absolutely miserable in Heaven!
Heaven isn’t about a lavish retirement place. It isn’t about re-uniting with loved ones. It isn’t about living pain-free. Quite simply, it’s not about us at all! Much of what I hear about Heaven all revolves around us, how wonderful we’re going to feel, how happy we’re going to be, and how comfortable it’s going to be for us.
I don’t buy it! I dream of spending an eternity worshiping and serving in the presence of the One who gave me life! That’s so much more than enough! The happiness, the lack of pain, re-uniting with loved ones all fades into the background when we anticipate bowing down before our Saviour, and worshiping Him! If you could only grasp the magnificence of that thought!

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” – Phillipians 1:21

How so very true!

Now if the only appeal of Heaven is God’s presence, then why would someone who has rejected God want to spend eternity before Him?
God doesn’t choose to send people to Hell! He offers the choice of living in His presence, or not. The torment of Hell is the separation from His presence and care. On earth, regardless of whether we choose God or not, we enjoy His care, and the bounty of His creation. If we experience His care, and still reject Him, then as we enter eternity, Hell is the only logical option. It’s our choice, not God’s!

When we talk about Heaven, another question tends to quickly arise.
Once we’re saved, can we lose our salvation?
Let’s not beat around the bush. Yes! God tells us over and over that He longs for a relationship with us! He doesn’t say that He’s longing to punch our ticket to His jewelled resort. Anyone can give up on a relationship, and a relationship with God is no different.
I once heard it said that when we ask the question of whether or not we can lose our salvation, we’re really asking how far away from God we can get and still get into Heaven! That’s the wrong question! We should be asking ourselves how close can we get to God! When that’s your focus, you’ll find that a ton of ‘doctrinal issues’ like this disappear, or just look plain stupid!

Here’s what it boils down to: Your life can be full and overflowing by having a real relationship with a real God. When you have that kind of relationship, the anticipation of Heaven is almost unbearable, and the desire for others to experience that relationship is nothing short of overwhelming. On the flip side, if that anticipation and desire isn’t there, perhaps it’s time to do some searching for God!