It's funny how quickly things change, but still remain the same at the same time. It's one of life's great paradoxes. Two weeks ago, evangelical Christians thrust themselves into the spotlight once again. Maybe some would say they were forced into the spotlight and if you remember correctly, what forced them into the spotlight was a red cup sold by Starbucks. Those darn cups! How dare they not put the entire Gospel message on their cups so that everyone will know just how merry every Christmas should be! But, then again, they are a company that is about selling coffee not the Gospel.
Then we switched gears when Syrian refugees were trying to come into our country because the President said we should welcome at least 10,000 of them. Evangelicals reacted again with some saying that there is no way we should welcome Syrian refugees because of what happened in Paris. Then some said we should only let Christian refugees and exclude the Muslim refugees.
It seems more and more that evangelicals are being defined for what they are against rather than who they for. Also, we are becoming more and more dependent on the outside world to proclaim the message of Christ for us that we become upset when they don't (even though they were never meant to do it in the first place). The Starbucks cup incident was an incident that should never have happened. Who cares if Starbucks has a red, blue, orange, apricot, or yellow cup at Christmas time? We also like to make it a point to say Merry Christmas to any unsuspecting employee of a chain store who has to say, "Happy Holidays" to us. Have we ever stopped to think that there are some employees who don't want to say, "Happy Holidays," but are doing it because they need the job and they will be fired if they don't? Also, is saying Merry Christmas bringing someone closer to Christ? What I have observed through this incident is that we have become lazy followers of Jesus. We want others to do the work for us. If this is not true, then why do we get so upset when places like Starbucks don't put Merry Christmas on a cup? We are not called to be lazy, but to be ambassadors. Paul said in Acts 20:24, "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." Paul did not consider living life apart from Christ or doing anything other than testifying to the Gospel worth anything. Paul worked hard at testifying to the Gospel that had saved his life and changed his life. He did not rely on gimmicks, cups, or retail stores to testify; he testified himself through his life and words.
The refugee crisis is not as easy to deal with. There is a legitimate concern about letting refugees in because terrorists could pose as refugees to sneak into this country. But, on the other hand, these are people who need help. They are running for their lives while living in fear that they may never have a place to call home ever again. Imagine that. Imagine if you never had a place to call home ever again. Imagine if you had to live your life on the run with your children, hoping and praying that somebody would help you. I'm not saying that we should open our borders or close them. I am saying that we need to think long and hard about how we can help people who desperately need it. Also, how are Muslims going to know Christ if we say to them at our borders, "Christians only please. Muslims, you are on your own." That's what Jesus did right? Peter told the Gentiles to go home didn't he? Actually, Peter did not treat the Gentiles like he should have and Paul rebuked him for it.
We cannot live in fear and the way some Christians are responding to the refugee crisis is out of fear, understandable fear, but fear nonetheless. Psalm 27:1 says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" Do you know who wrote that Psalm? King David. Did you know that King David spent his time as a refugee, running for his life from King Saul who wanted to kill him? David spent time among the Philistines, a people not his own. He sought refuge there because Saul and his army were trying to kill him.
The Sons of Korah wrote in Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble." Did you catch that? God is our refuge. Do you know what that means? We are refugees! God wants to be our place of refuge, and He wants to be the place of refuge for those Syrians who are running for their lives. He wants to be a place of refuge for Syrians Muslims that some Christians don't want to let in this country.
I am not trying to oversimplify the issue, but I am calling us to think a little bit deeper about it. We are called to be different. We are called to live lives of trust in the Almighty God who loves us and cares for us. And, guess what? He loves and cares for those refugees too.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Lessons from recycle day
This morning I volunteered to help out with my son's school fundraiser. The fundraiser was a recycle day when people could bring their old junk that has probably sat in their garages or their yards for years and get rid of it for a donation fee. I said I would volunteer from 8-12 today and it was quite a workout. It was amazing the stuff that people had to get rid of and what else was amazing was some of the things that people were getting rid of. The main thing that people got rid of today was television sets. There were a few flat screens, but most of the sets that were brought were the big, heavy tube sets. You know what sets I'm talking about, the ones that are covered in plastic that don't look heavy until you actually pick them up. Most of the sets that were dropped off had to be lifted by at least of two of us volunteers. It was quite the workout and I go to the gym three days a week.
What struck me about these televisions is that only a decade ago (or maybe a little more) these sets were considered state of the art. These were coveted possessions. One person dropped off one of the first HD tvs that was probably the heaviest one that we lifted today. What once was state of the art was now junk.
When I got home, I was folding some laundry and praying (I do that sometimes not because the laundry is that bad, but it is one of the few quiet moments that I have in the day) and the lesson of the day struck me. I was praying that God would continue to give me and my church wisdom on how to adapt the Gospel to the different people in our community. While I was praying this, I thought about the junk that people brought to get rid of today. I thought that why are we so wise to get rid of the junk that sits in our houses because it is obsolete or not functional, but in the church we hold on to things that clearly are obsolete and are no longer functional? Looking at these televisions, you could not pay someone to take them home and use them today. Why use a heavy, outdated tv when you could buy a new one that is lighter and state of the art? But, when it comes to church, we still like to hold onto our old "tvs" because somewhere in our brains we think they still work.
Discipleship has been on my mind a lot lately. I want to be a disciple who makes disciples. I pray for wisdom to share the Gospel in any way that I can. I pray for wisdom because I know that the presentation has to change depending on the person and circumstance. And, I pray for wisdom because some of the methods I employed in the past may not work anymore. Those methods might be ready for a recycle day or just straight to the junk pile. The message itself does not change, but the methods we employ have to.
I understand why we want to hold onto things. Some things are nostalgic, reminding us of the past. If we let them go, we think that we are letting go of the past. But, there are some things that we need to let go of because they belong in the past. They can't exist in the present or the future because they were meant for the time they existed in. This is why we need to pray for wisdom so that we can know what things belong in the past and what things are timeless. The Gospel is timeless, but some of the ways we have presented the Gospel are not. Some of those methods used to be state of the art, but time has passed them by and that is OK! There are methods we employ now that will be obsolete a few years down the road and that is OK!
Our culture and society is changing rapidly. Generations are changing rapidly. The church is not. We are struggling to catch up. We are trying to hold onto the programs that worked in the past, but maybe it's time to let them go because those programs may be bogging us down and holding us back, keeping us from experiencing what God wants to do through us. I want to be a disciple who makes disciples, no matter what they may look like with any given person or situation. I want to be like Paul and become all things to all men so that they may experience Jesus in a way they will understand.
What "tvs" are you holding onto? Is it time to junk them? Let us listen to the Holy Spirit and be all things to all men.
What struck me about these televisions is that only a decade ago (or maybe a little more) these sets were considered state of the art. These were coveted possessions. One person dropped off one of the first HD tvs that was probably the heaviest one that we lifted today. What once was state of the art was now junk.
When I got home, I was folding some laundry and praying (I do that sometimes not because the laundry is that bad, but it is one of the few quiet moments that I have in the day) and the lesson of the day struck me. I was praying that God would continue to give me and my church wisdom on how to adapt the Gospel to the different people in our community. While I was praying this, I thought about the junk that people brought to get rid of today. I thought that why are we so wise to get rid of the junk that sits in our houses because it is obsolete or not functional, but in the church we hold on to things that clearly are obsolete and are no longer functional? Looking at these televisions, you could not pay someone to take them home and use them today. Why use a heavy, outdated tv when you could buy a new one that is lighter and state of the art? But, when it comes to church, we still like to hold onto our old "tvs" because somewhere in our brains we think they still work.
Discipleship has been on my mind a lot lately. I want to be a disciple who makes disciples. I pray for wisdom to share the Gospel in any way that I can. I pray for wisdom because I know that the presentation has to change depending on the person and circumstance. And, I pray for wisdom because some of the methods I employed in the past may not work anymore. Those methods might be ready for a recycle day or just straight to the junk pile. The message itself does not change, but the methods we employ have to.
I understand why we want to hold onto things. Some things are nostalgic, reminding us of the past. If we let them go, we think that we are letting go of the past. But, there are some things that we need to let go of because they belong in the past. They can't exist in the present or the future because they were meant for the time they existed in. This is why we need to pray for wisdom so that we can know what things belong in the past and what things are timeless. The Gospel is timeless, but some of the ways we have presented the Gospel are not. Some of those methods used to be state of the art, but time has passed them by and that is OK! There are methods we employ now that will be obsolete a few years down the road and that is OK!
Our culture and society is changing rapidly. Generations are changing rapidly. The church is not. We are struggling to catch up. We are trying to hold onto the programs that worked in the past, but maybe it's time to let them go because those programs may be bogging us down and holding us back, keeping us from experiencing what God wants to do through us. I want to be a disciple who makes disciples, no matter what they may look like with any given person or situation. I want to be like Paul and become all things to all men so that they may experience Jesus in a way they will understand.
What "tvs" are you holding onto? Is it time to junk them? Let us listen to the Holy Spirit and be all things to all men.
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