To Fix the World, I Must Start with Me

"All repentance and renewal must begin with me... Looking upon the evil-doing of others does not help me, and it helps me just as little to marvel at the righteousness of others." - MEDITATING ON THE WORD by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

When I read those words, I thought about recent posts. Can it be that I want, so much, to fix the world, I lose sight of my own shortcomings?

I am not, by any stretch, perfect. I've made mistakes in the past, and I will continue to make mistakes until the day I die. I'm human. But do I demonstrate that humanity when I talk about Christ? Do I show others that I am human or do I show others that I am better than they?

I am working to be like Christ. Humble with lofty goals. He could attain those goals through His humility, because He is God. I can attain those goals through my humility and His work in my life. But the key word is humility.

It is my prayer that I can reach others in His name, in a manner that they do not find offensive, and demonstrate His love to those who don't know Him. I pray that I can find a way to become their friend, just as Christ did, and bring them to Him. I pray that I can do His work, without becoming offended at the lifestyle of those I've been sent to minister.

Yeah, this is a short post. Had some thoughts to get off my mind...

Adios,
Clay

(äd-s) [Spanish adiós, probably translated from French à dieu. (I commend you) to God  : a, to (from Latin ad. See ad-) + Dieu, God (from Latin deus. See dyeu- in Indo-European Roots).]

V for Vendetta

This weekend, I watched my new favorite movie. Well, it hasn't replaced Star Wars Episode III, but it has joined it at the top (along with Pink Floyd's The Wall and others - I'm not a discriminating person! :). Like most of my favorite movies, they are not really suitable for viewing by youngsters (Star Wars being the exception). They are all full of deeper philosophy and meaning than what appears on the surface. V for Vendetta is no exception.

The thing that struck me about it, however, is different from all the reviews I've read this weekend. I was struck by their portrayal of Christians. Is that really what the rest of the world thinks about us? Is that really what we want them to think about us?

In the movie, England is run by a radical Christian theocracy, in all reality no different from the Ayatollah or Taliban. The "Voice of London" says at the beginning how he hates the "muslims, hawma-sexuals, terrorists... I'm a God-fearing Englishman and I'm [g-d] proud of it!"

To many, he is the image of Christianity. He is what they've seen of us. And they want nothing to do with us because of it.

At first, I was a little offended at what I saw. I mean, they're really making Christians look bad. But what they portrayed was simply what many non-Christians see when they look at us.

Let's take a look at the Gay Rights issue in the United States. That's not a very hot topic. LAUGHTER

At the root of it is the desire of two people who care deeply about each other desiring to be joined in a civil union. These people believe that their rights are not being honored simply because they are of the same gender. There are many in the Christian community who agree with them. What is so wrong with this - so that one can provide the other with all the rights and priveleges of a spouse?

Along come some Christian leaders who point out that this is a slippery slope (a term many Christians like to use in situations like this). If these "civil unions" are granted to the homosexuals, there will be nothing to stop bigamy, bestiality or NAMBLA-type unions. Much of the taboos that prevent sex offenses will be lifted. In fact, consent will no longer be an issue and sex-crimes will be erased from the books.

Who is correct? (I was going to use the word right, but that can be taken two ways...) Who, in God's eyes, is being faithful on this issue?

The truth is, neither is correct.

The Gay Rights community is acting against the will of God by engaging in behavior specifically condemned by scripture. The Christian community is retro-acting because of a failure over the last forty years to remain a vocal force in America (and elsewhere). In response, they are trying to legislate morality.

Legislating morality cannot work. Forcing people to behave in a manner that is pleasing to God has been proven time and again to fail. Christ, Himself, condemned this practice in Matthew 15.

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"

Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
" 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

- Matthew 15:1-9, NIV
God's Law was to ensure morality. The tradition of the Pharisees was to try and force the people into God's good graces.

Legislation to force non-believers to act as if they were believers will only drive them further from the truth. Enforcing such legislation can possibly lead to a world portrayed in the movie V for Vendetta where anyone deemed to be outside the will of God by the fascist theocratic ruler is condemned to death.

What, then, is the answer?

Turn people to Christ the way He turned them. He openly condemned those who believed they could see (the Pharisees - Matthew 23). But to those who admitted they were blind, even in their sin, He showed perfect love (the woman caught in adultery - John 8:1-11).

When a Christian demonstrates even the tiniest disdain for a person they believe is a "sinner", they have lost their right to reach out to that person. The "sinner" can detect this disdain and will openly rebel against the preaching.

For at least the last forty years, American Christians have fallen down in their job of spreading God's word with love. Facing a society filled with deplorable pleasures, American Christians have responded with rebukes and threats of hell that scripture reserves for professing believers. The face of Christ in America is no longer:

No, the face of Christ in America is rapidly becoming:

Here he is surrounded by his disciples: note Peter (actually "The Voice of London", Lewis Prothero) smiling at his lord...

In the opening lines of the movie, the "Voice of London" talks about the demise of America (so embroiled in a civil war that basic services like food and medical are no longer available) is because of "Godlessness. Judgment." He's not far from the truth. It's as Anne Graham Lotz said on The Today Show shortly after 9/11. She was asked, "If God is good, how could God let this happen?" Her answer:

I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we're sorry we have treated you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our trust in you. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it.

- Thanks to snopes.com for the quote!

We are in a dilemma, and it is of our own making. By cramming our ideology down the throats of everyone we see, we serve not Christ but ourselves. We are trying to prove to ourselves that we have not let this country literally go to hell. We cannot prevail on our own. We need to work on the crumbling situation in this country one person at a time. We will not succeed by hitting the entire country in one fell swoop.

To those who believe otherwise, I'm sorry. I can no longer support your efforts to legislate morality in this country. I do not believe it will work. I've been saying it for years on other issues, and now I will say it on this as well.

Prayer:

Almighty Heavenly Father, quick with judgment and mercy, guide our paths today. Show us the way to bring Your love and compassion into this country. Help us to love others into Your fold. Remove our contempt for those who are different. It is only through Your perfect example of love that we can succeed in bringing this country back to You.

Father, we acknowledge that we have slacked off in our commitment to keep this country close to you. We confess our sin of omission, for not doing a good thing is just as wrong as doing a bad thing.

Help us, Father. Help us to reach out to the hurting. Help us to make You real to those who do not know You. Help us to teach them how to heal. You told us that if we believe we can see, we will be made blind. And if we are blind, You will help us to see. Remove our blindness. Help us to see the true path You have made for us. It's time to inspire revival in America, and around the World.

Thank you, Father, for blessing us, even in our failures. Thank you, Father, for giving us Your presence. Thank you, Father, for being here when we don't even realize you're here.

It is in Christ's name we pray,
Amen.

Adios,
Clay

(äd-s) [Spanish adiós, probably translated from French à dieu. (I commend you) to God  : a, to (from Latin ad. See ad-) + Dieu, God (from Latin deus. See dyeu- in Indo-European Roots).]

Why Is It So Hard To Let Go?

A wise man once said, "Let go and let God." I found it attributed to a lot of different people, I don't know who said it first. It's one of those nice clichés that we like to pass along with a smile to someone who's having a rough time. Robert, a guy I worked with during a very short contract to the Houston Fire Department, shortened it to "let it goooooooooooooooo," referring to my anger management issues. I have to admit that I have trouble with both.

A week ago today, my wife went out of town to visit her ailing mother. She left me a list of honey-dos. The most important item on the list was completed within the first two days of her absence. APPLAUSE Yesterday, I completed another task: I mowed and edged the front yard and trimmed the hedges. The backyard is still a lake from Saturday's storms. Still, there are some items on the list that haven't been getting done.

Why? 'Cuz I really enjoy slacking off. I made this confession to an older friend at church yesterday. This friend is the man to whom I look when I want an example of a Christian. His name is Noah, and I've never seen him say a cross word about anybody - either to their face or behind their backs. He chastised me in a way that only he can. He said, "My friend, you have a lovely family. You have a wonderful wife. You have talents and abilities and youth on your side (he told me I have youth on my side). Why do you want to slack off? Why don't you get out and do something with your life?"

So, I came home and took care of the yard. I felt a heckuva lot better. I'm not abandoning my wife's desires. She won't be angry when she comes home this time.

Hmmm. I appear to be rambling again. I'll get straight to the point now. This morning, when I woke up, I prayed asking God to, again, do with me what He wants to do. Then I asked why He lets me do the stuff I want to do that is in a direct violation of His will. The answer was that He lets me do anything I want. If I choose to please Him, that's great. If not, I face the consequences - some of which are of His design, others are just the natural flow of life (like my wife coming home and finding the house a mess and her to-do list forgotten).

The thought, "Let go and let God" popped into my head. If I were to completely let go of my desires - those things that hold me back in this world, like being the master in CivIII only because I know a cheat - I would be doing His work. If I were to abandon me and devote myself to others, I would be doing His work. If. Why can't I do that?

It's not satisfaction. I get a lot of satisfaction from going into the prisons or giving a homeless guy a meal. And the satisfaction is immediate.

It's not desire. I truly desire to follow God's will and do His work during every waking moment.

It's not lack of motivation. I have plenty of motivation to at least follow up on my honey-do list without slacking off. I like to see my wife smile.

So, why is it so hard to let go?

I guess at the root of it, I suffer from pride. I need to be the one in charge. I need to be the one that says all the stuff on that list needs to be done. Since my wife said it, it's not my decision. Quickly, I scanned through a search on the word "pride" on Bible Gateway. I found over 50 negative references to the word "pride" and only 9 positive references - two of those were actually using the word as a pride (group) of lions. It appears that God doesn't like pride. In Ezekiel 28, God says He will bring down the king of Tyre because of his pride. In Proverbs, there are six negative references to pride, the most famous being, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18, NIV)

Pride prevents me from doing what my wife asks me to do in my own house. Since I'm not doing what she wants me to do, I've got a lot more time to play CivIII. OK, since I've got all this free time, why don't I go out and minister to the homeless and volunteer for more prison programs? Well, it's another of the seven deadly sins: I'm lazy. Those require I take a shower, get dressed, and go outside my house. I'd much rather sit around in my underwear and take over the world in CivIII. Man - I'm really starting to see a trend here...

Do I know the solution? If I did, I would be a millionaire. Many folks have written entire books that can be summed up with "Get off your lazy ass and do something!" And, I suppose that is the solution. But it's so hard to do. I answered the question in the title of today's post. I know the reason it's so hard to let go.

Do I know how to fix it? No.

Adios,
Clay

(äd-s) [Spanish adiós, probably translated from French à dieu. (I commend you) to God  : a, to (from Latin ad. See ad-) + Dieu, God (from Latin deus. See dyeu- in Indo-European Roots).]

Paul must suffer...

I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.
- Acts 9:16, NIV

These words were spoken by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to the disciple Ananias - the man who taught the Apostle Paul about the Lord. The him and he in this passage refer to Paul (at that time, Saul of Tarsus).

Saul was famous in these parts for persecuting Christians. He excelled at his chosen task, to the point when Christ appeared before Ananias in Damascus, Ananias asked Him, "Are you sure you have the right guy?" Today's scripture was part of Christ's response.

Suffering is part of the Christian gig. Paul notes that throughout his writings. He had been arrested many times, imprisoned, flogged, shipwrecked, caned, stoned, and spent at least 24 hours in the open sea. (You can read this yourself in 2 Corinthians 11:24-27.) Paul learned what it meant to suffer.

But perhaps, more compelling to me personally, is in the next chapter of 2 Corinthians. Paul tells about the "thorn in [his] flesh". In the fist six verses, Paul elaborates on his vision of Heaven. He described how he will not say, "I'm better than you because I saw all of this," because he is not the one to be glorified. Then, in verses 7 and 8, Paul says:

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

Scholars have argued for centuries about this thorn. Was it a physical ailment? Was he suffering from a loss of vision as a result of his conversion (Acts 8)? Was he lame? Was he suffering pain in some way? Or was it emotional? Was he clinically depressed? Was he suicidal? Was he bipolar?

I say it doesn't matter. Whatever the thorn was is not important. Paul's point was that he was suffering for the name of the Lord. And he goes on to clarify that point in verses 9 and 10:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

That last sentence is somewhat of a paradox. "When I am weak, then I am strong." Isn't all of following Christ a paradox?

• "Those who are first shall be last."
• "Those who think they can see are blind."
• "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven."

These are mysteries that our feeble human minds cannot comprehend.

So, if Christianity means we are to suffer, then why do we even bother? How can life be joy when it is filled with suffering? Entire religions have been founded to face this question. Buddhism is one that comes to mind. Once you accept the joy that life is suffering, you are bound for Nirvana. Until then, you're doomed to repeat life over and over again in a reincarnated body. Nirvana is oblivion - nothing left. In other words, your only hope to escape suffering is complete corporeal destruction.

Paul offers us a different hope.

as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
- Galatians 4:1-7, NIV

We are no longer slaves to sin, but children of God. As a child of God, we are heirs to the throne. You and I are no different than Paul or David or Abraham. We are all children of God.

Next time you are down 'cuz life is treating you hard, remember this. Remember that there is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness says you must smile all the time. Joy says you have a promise, a bright future to which you can look forward, even you don't feel like smiling.

Adios,
Clay

(äd-s) [Spanish adiós, probably translated from French à dieu. (I commend you) to God  : a, to (from Latin ad. See ad-) + Dieu, God (from Latin deus. See dyeu- in Indo-European Roots).]