On Being a Christian & Supporting Marriage Equality

If you are anything like me, you're pretty tired of your social  media newsfeed right about now. Not only are 95% of the posts about the same topic for several days now (which gets very old), but regardless of the poster's view, a vast majority of those posts are full of angry, hateful, and immature ways of discussing their opinion. Many people who believe in the legalization of gay marriage are calling those who disagree with them all kinds of ugly names and are being very judgmental. Many people who believe in maintaining laws in support of traditional marriage often call those who disagree with them all kinds of ugly names are are very judgmental. It's times like this I'd rather go spend my time watching my grass grow (or, since we're in a drought, it's more like watching it die) than spend another minute on social media.

So, with all that being said, I realize I'm adding just one more match to the existing bonfire of posts about this topic -- and I hesitate to do so. The only reason I've finally decided to write this is because I would like to share a view that has gotten very little press (at least that I've seen). In fact, to date I've only seen one other article with a similar view.

Put simply, I believe that the question "What should be legal?" is not synonymous with the question "What dis/pleases the Lord?". There are plenty of things that are legal in America that are not pleasing to God, and most Christians I know are fine with that. To cut to the very root of my thinking, let me pose a scenario for your consideration. (This is especially for my Christian brethren who believe that gay marriage should not be legal because God condemns the homosexual lifestyle.)

Imagine that our government decides that the Constitution is perhaps outdated and irrelevant to our current day & culture, and therefore they want America to vote on whether or not to keep it - in whole or in part. So every bit of the Constitution, the Amendments, and the Bill of Rights are up for vote. 

First on the chopping block is the First Amendment, which states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The question before you, dear American citizen and Christian, is whether or not the United States should continue being governed by the First Amendment. On one hand, you depend on the First Amendment in order to be able to freely worship Jehovah as you see fit, and to peaceably assemble publicly with other Christians to do so. This is, of course, a good thing. However, this same amendment guarantees the right of every other American citizen to gather together and worship whatever god they see fit in whatever lawful way they deem appropriate. The law that protects your right to worship Jesus is the same law that protects the Muslim's right to build a mosque and worship Allah, or the Hindu to worship Vishnu, or the atheist to worship no god at all.

So seriously consider this question: Should a Christian defend the right of a non-Christian to worship whatever false god they choose, even though idol worship is an abomination to Jehovah? 

Why or why not?

Because to me, all of the logic that is used to defend the freedom of any religion in America must be used to defend the freedom of any adult, consenting couple to marry. I have yet to hear a single argument defending the First Amendment that cannot (and in my opinion, should not) also defend marriage equality.

As I have said before, I believe the question of "What should be legal?" is not synonymous with the question of "What dis/pleases the Lord?". 

We do not live in a country (and I would not support such a country) who seeks to legislate the standards of the New Covenant.  We live in a country - and I thank the Lord for it - that protects and defends the free expression of the individual. We live in a free country, not a Christian one, even if the majority of citizens claim Christianity. Not since God's nation of Israel before the birth of Jesus Christ has God set forth laws for a nation that apply to all residents and "all foreigners living among you." Never once did Jesus Christ, nor his apostles, try to change the government to mimic the standards that God sets forth for his people. There is a way to make laws for the nation based on morals and not on religion -- even though as a Christian, I believe all morals have their root in God. (But that topic is too big for this post!)

Besides, it's all fun and games to make laws based on religion until your religion is no longer the majority.

It is legal in this country for a celebrity to marry someone and divorce just 72 days later, even though most Christians would say that grieves God. It is legal in this country (and in fact encouraged) to feverishly pursue wealth and fame, greedily clamoring for luxurious material goods and prestige, even though such arrogance and greed is an abomination to the Lord. It is legal in this country for me to get drunk in my home every single night, even though the Lord condemns drunkenness.

And on and on and on.

The full breadth of my thoughts on this issue are way beyond the scope of a single blog post, with so many branches that it might take a book to cover all of them. And I'm not here to convince anyone to see things like I do; just to submit another point of view for consideration. I understand that many of my brothers and sisters vehemently disagree with what I am saying -- and that's ok to me. I encourage respectful discussion (not heated debate) on all topics, since that is how we learn from one another. I haven't always seen this issue in this way - and who knows? - in another year or two I might see if differently yet. I am extremely thankful that what binds God's people together is solely the precious blood of Christ, not how we see different political, social, or doctrinal issues. Thank God.

To me it all comes down to this: I believe in a free country. A country where straight and homosexuals couples can marry and divorce; where everyone has their choice of whether to worship Jesus in a megachurch or a simple house church, or whether they worship a different god or no god at all; where companies can reserve the right to refuse service to anyone (even if I disagree with their reasons), where I can choose to give my money to companies I support and not spend it on companies with whom I disagree; and where all people have the equal opportunity to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Call me old-fashioned, but:

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
-- Beatrice Evelyn Hall

Gluten-Free Unleavened Bread Recipe

If you're like me, you've scoured the internet and yet still have had a hard time finding a decent (and easy!) recipe for making gluten-free unleavened bread (without a bunch of rare ingredients). I'm certainly no expert, but I do enjoy experimenting. We use this recipe for celebrating the Lord's Supper meal, but it's also great for any use. It has an earthy/honey flavor that we enjoy. We typically celebrate the Supper with about a dozen or so people, and this recipe makes a great size "loaf" that allows everyone to have more than just a snippet.

So without further ado, here is the recipe I've come up with. Everything is tweakable and I hope you play around with it and customize it to your liking. Comment below and let me know what you come up with!

1 cup All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour

Pinch of sea salt

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp coconut oil (warmed so it's liquid)

1 Tbsp water

2.5 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp ground rosemary

½ Tbsp ground flax

½ Tbsp minced onion

Mix all ingredients well. Divide into 2 lumps if desired for smaller "loafs". Roll out (or smash out with hands, as GF bread is crumblier and doesn't always cooperate with a rolling pin) to about ⅓" thick. Loaf will probably be about 6" in diameter. Place on preheated stoneware (or lightly greased/floured cookie sheet) and bake at 350º for about 8 minutes. GF flour will not brown much. Like cookies, this gets a little crunchier after you take it out of the oven and cool, so don't wait until it's crispy in the oven. We prefer the bread to still be a bit soft, but cook to your preferences. Play around with it and enjoy! Here's to making memories while breaking bread together.

The View From The Foot Of The Cross

The cross. 

The cross of our Lord is a beautiful thing.

The cross of Christ is the epitome of self-sacrifice and selfless love; it is the model for all time of what it looks like to love so much and so deep that there is no price you wouldn’t pay for that love.

In the cross is hope, and in the cross is peace. The cross of Christ is polished 18-karat gold set with brilliantly faceted diamonds, and is ushered in with a triumphal entry. It shines with the love of a Father who would pay a dear price now for a reward yet to come in eternity future; it glitters with the precious stones of a victor’s crown, and it twinkles with the faithfulness of a thousand promises fulfilled. The cross is the ultimate tool of reconciliation and of rebirth. The cross is a beautiful thing to behold.

“For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ,

 and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.” (Col 1:19,20)

The cross. 

My cross.

The cross of self is a painful thing.

The cross of self is the epitome of death to self, of the separation of the flesh and the spirit. The cross of self  is dying a thousand deaths upon the altar of Christ in order to be raised anew each time. The cross of self is death to the desires of the flesh and pride and ego.

“If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn 

from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me.

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.” (Lk 9:23,24)

In my cross there is sorrow, and in my cross there is pain. The cross of self is held together with rusted iron nails driven through the splintered wood of pride with the precision of a surgeon’s knife.  There is no shine or sparkle on the cross of self. There are no palm branches lain or shouts of 'Hosanna!' in the streets on the way to the cross of self. 

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed 

the passions and desires of their sinful nature

to his cross and crucified them there.” (Gal 5:24)

The cross of Christ was made of wood and iron and sat unmistakably atop the hill of Calvary. My cross is made of many different things, and is harder to recognize from a distance. But my cross is unflinchingly made with the same single-minded objective:  Death. Before there can be resurrection, there must be death. Before my Father can resurrect a new and perfect species from within this fallen jar of clay, there must be a death to my flesh. This death happens slowly, it happens repeatedly, and it happens constantly. It happens in a hundred small ways a day and a handful of major ways in a lifetime. 

“Whoever does not bear his own cross 
and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Lk 14:27)

I am confronted with my cross whenever I’m faced with the choice of living from the flesh or living from the Spirit of Christ in me - and I cannot live through the Spirit of Christ until the flesh has died. I stare at the foot of my own cross when I’m faced with the decision of maintaining a relationship by the silence of my lips, or of surrendering the relationship by speaking the gospel. What is honey in one heart is bitter in another, and only the Lord can sort the two. 

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,

the rock that makes them fall.” (1 Pet 2:8)

I am faced with my own cross when anything in my life is more treasured in my heart than my Lord. Because the Lord knows my heart, He knows what it is I have put between Him and me, and He will find a way to bring  it into light. And then, when I am faced with the choice between holding onto what is most precious to me and my Lord, I am at the foot of my own cross.  

“If you love father or mother more than you love Me,

you are not worthy of being Mine;

or if you love son or daughter more than Me,

you are not worthy of being Mine.” (Mat 10:37)

I stare at the foot of my own cross when people insult me and say all matter of negative things about me because of Him, and when I am faced with the decision to defend my pride or surrender the outcome to the Judge who sees the heart and judges perfectly and fairly. I stand at the foot of my cross when I feel the pull of my flesh and yet yield to the Spirit. 

“God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the earth.

God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.

God blesses those who work for peace,

for they will be called the children of God.

God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,

for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you

and lie about you and say all sorts of  evil things against you

because you are My followers.

A great reward awaits you in heaven.” (Mat 5)

When we behold the cross of Christ, it is a beautiful sight. It is beautiful because we are looking back - through the lens of the resurrection - and behold the cross. When we behold the cross of self, we see the view from Calvary; we are surrounded with soldiers and thieves and weeping women, and our eyes have not yet beheld the glory of the incorruptible creation on the other side. Yet it is on this cross of self that God can do His most glorious work, which is creating something new and perfect in His image out of our fallen lump of clay. Surely God is present with us in that time of transformation. 

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
All this is from God..." (2 Cor 5:17)

The painful part, though, it that before the house can be rebuilt, the foundation has to be cleared; all of our fleshly desires must first be put to death.  And yet, even in the midst of pain, torment and death, we can still hear the voice of our Savior whispering a promise to us that on the other side of this cross there is One who awaits us.

“You will be with Me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43)

So when you look around and find yourself at the foot of your cross - where the skies are dark and your company is thieves - you might want to remove your shoes, for the place you are standing is holy ground.
-----------------------------------
See this link for a great article about the cross by Frank Viola.

What If . . . ???

What if the answer wasn't a better band or a new praise team?
What if the answer wasn't a new preacher?
What if the answer wasn't a million-dollar renovation of the building, or even a new coat of paint?
What if the answer wasn't another specialized ministry for every possible group of people in the church by age, gender, marital status, work status, addiction or struggle?
What if the answer wasn't a more hip youth minister or better childcare or a more fun children's church?
What if the answer wasn't new songs? Or old songs?
What if the answer wasn't better training for our "worship leaders"?

What if the answer was Jesus?

What if the answer wasn't better sermons or more humor, personality or emotion from the speakers?
What if the answer wasn't more small groups?
What if the answer wasn't more community projects or a better VBS or more fun Bible camps?
What if the answer wasn't more guilt?
What if the answer wasn't about money?
What if the answer wasn't a better model of evangelism?
What if the answer wasn't new Bible studies or memory verses?

What if the answer was that we quit "going to church," and instead decided to live as the church?

What if the answer was simply . . . Jesus?

What if Jesus is telling us today the same thing He told His first disciples: "Follow Me"?

What if we set our hearts to love Jesus above everything and everyone else? What if we truly loved Him with our entire heart, soul, mind and strength? How would our lives change? How would our world change? I once heard the question asked: "If you could go to heaven with everyone you have ever loved, with no sickness, sorrow or pain, and you could enjoy all of the pleasures you desire for all of eternity -- but Jesus would not be there -- would you still want to go?" I think our deep, honest answer to that question is quite telling. What if we meditated on Jesus' statement: "Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me"? What if we could guarantee that our children and spouses would be in heaven with us, but Jesus would not be there? Would we still want to go?

What if Jesus is telling us today the same thing He told a rich young man so many years ago: "Sell all you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me"? 

What impact would we have on the world if we, collectively as Christians, sold our million-dollar buildings (or multi-million dollar buildings, more like) ... sold all the real estate and stained glass and pews and offices and fellowship halls and gymnasiums we've built up "in the name of God" and gave that straight to the poor? How many billions of dollars would we have available for actually helping people? (As just one aspect of this, note that a study states that the yearly cost of religious tax exemptions in the US alone is $71,000,000,000. That's billion, with a "b".) And then, without billions of dollars wrapped up in real estate (real estate that's used for, what, a handful of hours a week??), we wouldn't have to continue pouring money into insurance, taxes, building maintenance, lawn mowing, administrative costs .... just think of all the money that would suddenly be freed for kingdom use! 

What if we actually believed - and corporately lived - the reality that there is only one High Priest (Jesus) and that every.single.Christian. belongs to the household of priests? That no Christian is above any other? That there is no hierarchy possible under Christ? What if I took back all the responsibility that I have surrendered for so long to one (or a small handful) of specially-trained and 'pedigreed' men and women, and took to heart the words of Paul when he says that "each one of you has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation ..." to share when Christians get together? What would it be like if we all took responsibility for sharing the Christ that dwells in each one of us? And speaking of getting together -- what if we lived as a shared-life community, instead of associates that simply meet at an appointed time (say, once a week)? What if we stripped ourselves of all titles, status and positions? What if we gauged greatness among us by seeing who has humbled himself and served others and loved others the most, instead of by seminary degrees, prestige, titles or money?

What if we shifted our energy as a collective body? What if, instead of focusing so much attention on what does or doesn't happen during one hour a week, we started focusing on the other 167 hours in a week? What if we didn't look for rules & regulations & things we can check off a list for God, but instead we walk in mercy, justice and righteousness? 

What if we stripped down everything we think we know about religion until we were left with only Jesus? (❝..."How will we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way ... "❞) What if the answer is not more, but less? Not more ritual, or more study, or more works, but simply Jesus? What if I pursued such a relationship with Him that everything in my life radiated from that singular point? What if, instead of creating false illusions of spirituality by having certain people assigned to bring certain songs or teachings or revelations, we actually let the Spirit of Christ lead us, in a real and tangible way, not just whenever we get together organically with other believers but all throughout our lives? What if we lived as if the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of the One who raised Him from the dead - the Creator of everything that has ever been created - actually dwells inside each one of us? What if we lived as though we were the vehicle for the Spirit of the Divine?

What if . . . ???

Two Bodies, One Disease

In my body, the wiring of my immune system is all awry. The green wire is evidently connected to the black, the white wire is connected to the blue, and the red wire is just left bare and exposed. The result? I have a very, very hard working immune system - but it puts all its energy in the wrong places. Basically, it can't tell friend from foe - so it ends up attacking my own healthy cells as vigorously as it would attack a foreign threat. The way I've explained it to my nieces is to imagine two armies facing off in battle: the invading troops have all their guns pointed at their opponent, but the "home team," with all their guns, turn and aim at one another! What would the result of that war be? Total annihilation of the home team!

Welcome to my body.

So how are autoimmune diseases treated? The most common way is to disable the immune system, or at least to cripple it. (Basically, the guns are taken away from the army. They are left with pocketknives to fight a war.) With different levels of severity, medications are given that shut off the body's ability to fight -- the same medications that are given to organ transplant patients to prevent Graft Vs. Host disease. The good part about that is my body quits attacking healthy cells (OK, so it reduces the amount,) but unfortunately it means I'm also less able to fight off real threats, like the chicken pox and pneumonia that hospitalized me this year.

So it's a lifelong game of walking a balance beam, trying on one hand to minimize the amount of self-attacks, but at the same time leaving some kind of arsenal for my body to fight off the true threats.

But there's another body I have seen that suffers from the same autoimmune disorder.

And that is the body of Christ.

❝For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.❞
--Eph 6:12

Or, at least, we should be.

But what I see happening with startling prevalence is that we do fight flesh and blood -- and to the heartbreak of our Lord, we too often fight one another. We war within the very body of Christ.

We erect a building and we call it a church, and then we hang a painted sign over the door with a name that we feel designates us to be the right ones of God. Or we meet in a living room and feel spiritually superior to those who don't. And heaven help those who meet under a different umbrella!!! We grab onto a piece of doctrine and claim that those who don't subscribe to our brand of doctrine (which of course is THE right doctrine) are not as close to God as we are.

But this isn't new.

Jesus scolded his disciples about this very thing. Once, 'The Twelve' told Jesus about something they had done, undoubtedly proud of it and expecting kudos from the Lord. "Teacher," they said, "We saw a man using Your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn't one of our group." Can you hear the pride in that statement? He isn't one of our group. Can you see the Twelve fist-bumping each other for their brilliant move and holding out their fists to Jesus, expecting Him to fist-bump them back? But He rebuked them.  "Don't stop him!" Jesus said. [Imagine the shock on the disciples' faces right about now.] "Anyone who is not against us is for us." [BAM.] Jesus then went on to say that it would be better for anyone who causes someone to lose their faith in Him if they'd had a 130-lb rock tied to their neck and they were thrown in the sea. Wow! Can't you see the disciples' egos deflating like an untied helium balloon?

Ever since the beginning, followers of Jesus have had to fight the temptation to view the world in terms of "us" and "them." Instead of berating disciples for doing something differently, might Jesus want us to encourage them for following the Lord?

We put being right above being loving.

But this isn't new.

Two thousand years ago, Paul of Tarsus had to deal with believers in Galatia who were being nasty to each other. He encouraged these believers to "serve one another through love," reminding them that the entire Law and every prophet's message could be distilled down to one thing: Love. "But," he warned them, "If instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another." So we should live according to our new life in the Holy Spirit!

"What horrible people those were way back then! I'm glad we're not like that today," we say.

HA! OK, so what does autoimmune disease in the body of Christ look like today? As I said above, one major symptom is the sign hung above the door of the building some call churches. Within 5 minutes of meeting another believer, I can almost guarantee the question, "Where do you go to church?" will be asked. There is only one purpose of these titles and names: To divide ourselves. What is a denomination, other than a portion being denominated (divided) from the whole? Oddly enough, there are even certain groups who say that they are not a denomination. (If that's not an oxymoron, I don't know what is!) They come up with definitions of a denomination with only the traits they don't possess; for example, a common one I've heard is that you're not a denomination if you don't have a central governing body (such as the regional, national and international chains of command). But having a hierarchy outside a local group is not the definition of a denomination. Being divided from the whole is the definition of a denomination!

Other ways we see spiritual autoimmunity is in spreading gossip about one another, by not helping one another when we have the means to help, by not becoming invested in one another's lives - you know, being a true community and family! Instead, we go about our everyday lives without connecting with each other in meaningful and sacrificial ways. The picture of the earliest church is an astoundingly beautiful one, but unfortunately it is all too uncommon in our day.

It is long past time that we drop all the walls of division among believers. What would happen if we truly took seriously Jesus' prayer in the garden before His arrest? Imagine you are God made flesh, standing on the earth for the last time as a free man, before your arrest and execution. You have only a short amount of time to talk to your Father in heaven. Don't you think that what that prayer includes would be some mighty important stuff? I do! And that's why the fact that Jesus uses this time to pray that the people who believe in Him would be united in the truth by the Spirit is no small thing. Yet it seems like we are continually inventing new ways to divide from one another and attack each other!

Jesus showed no partiality when He walked the earth 2,000 years ago. He loved, served, and taught those within His circle and those outside of it. By example and by word, He taught His disciples to do the same thing - and then He told those disciples to teach & show others how to do the same. At every turn, Jesus and His apostles tried to nip division in the bud -- yet it flourishes today.

Jesus said, "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, love each other. Your love for each other will prove that you are My disciples."

Yet Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

Read that quote again, and let it break your heart.

If we, as those who bear the name of Jesus Christ, cannot truly love each other, how can we love unbelievers? How can we even claim to love God?

If we cannot stop biting and devouring one another, how can we expect to have anything appealing to offer the world?

We must remember that other believers - yes, even those who think differently - are not the enemy. ("He who is not against Me.....") If we are not a source of healing & love for the other members of the same body we are a part of, how could we ever help heal others? We also need to remember that the enemy is not the people outside of the church. Because we are a priesthood, our job is to intercede to God on behalf of those people! (Think of Abraham & Moses who pleaded that God would not destroy the people because of their disobedience.)

So as I will be doing, I would highly encourage you to go before our Advocate, Jesus Christ, and ask Him to reveal the ways in which you & I could improve in the way we show love for one another. Not in word, but in action. In the kind of way that would rock the foundation of our society, because love like this cannot come from any natural source. A love like this is truly supernatural, and I believe the world would sit up and take notice if they saw this kind of love in action. Instead of adding fuel to the enemy's fire, let us kindle a holy love between one another that would spark into the hearts of others.

Our God in heaven is the Great Physician, and He has the power to heal this spiritual autoimmune disease that is running rampant in the body of His Son. What is the treatment? An overflowing and constant dose of LOVE. Love for Jesus, love for His Body (which is Jesus in the flesh, a.k.a. the church), and love for others. Are we willing to submit to this treatment? (There is no danger of overdose!) My final thought for you is from 1st John (which is an excellent source of encouragement in this area):

❝Let us love one another, for love is of God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God ... if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another ... if we love one another, God abides in us ... God is love and the one who abides in love abides in God ... If someone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar.❞

What are some practical things we can each change in our own lives (with the emphasis on introspection, not  jumping right back in the U.S.S Criticize-Your-Brother ship) that will help heal this systemic disease and repair the damage?

Evidence Isn't Everything

Speaking from a scientific and medical perspective, is there any shadow of a doubt that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health? I would dare say that the answer is "no." So why then do people still smoke? Because our decisions are influenced by so much more than just the facts. Not even rock-solid evidence is enough to keep some people from continuing in harmful behavior.

And to be more specific, sometimes that evidence isn't enough to keep me from harmful behavior.

I have driven when I was way too tired. In fact, I've driven while under the influence. I've eaten McDonald's chicken nuggets even after learning about the ghastly pink slime. And I insert Q-Tips all the way inside my ear because the annoyance of a wet ear canal is evidently worth the risk of permanently damaging my hearing. For every single one of these decisions, I knew better at the time.

So what?

Well, I used to believe that *if* Jesus really WAS the Son of God like He claimed (and that was a big, gigantic IF), then surely there would've been compelling evidence of his other-worldliness while He walked the earth, and every single person within thousands of miles would've been His followers by the time He died. (And all the more so if the resurrection was true. Surely that made the cover of first-century newspapers, right?)

Instead, even the Bible tells us that within just a couple days of Him being executed, virtually all of His closest friends and so-called "disciples" had scattered like cockroaches in the light and were doubting what they once believed about Him being God-on-earth (as we plainly see by them saying things like, "We had hoped He would be the one...."). I mean, if Jesus really was God, then wouldn't there be so much proof of it that everyone could easily tell that Jesus "wasn't from around here"?? If He really did create the universe, then surely He could come up with enough proof to convince people. Surely it would take a few hundred years for the awe to wear off and people to stop believing in Him -- instead of the numbers going in the opposite direction.

So doesn't the fact that there weren't thousands upon thousands of die-hard believers in Jesus by the time He died prove that there wasn't very convincing evidence for His claims? In fact, not only did He not have multitudes of loyal followers at that point, but He couldn't even keep His few closest friends around. What kind of God can't even keep a dozen guys convinced?? There must not have been much evidence to back up His claims. Right?

Well, if that logic is true and we hold to it, then there shouldn't be a single cigarette smoker alive. Not a single meth user. No one would ever drive drunk and McDonald's would be out of business in a week. But yet we all continue to make decisions that we know aren't beneficial .... for some reason.

But why?

Because every one of us uses more than "just the facts" to make a decision. We consider what it will cost us and what we would gain. We consider how difficult it would be to change accordingly. (Admit it, quitting cigarette sounds like no fun at all.) The more we have to lose (friends, money, reputation, etc) and the more difficult the change, the less those facts are enough to impact us.

And make no mistake about it, Jesus wants nothing less than everything from you and me.

If we take Jesus at His word, then He wants to be absolutely first in our lives.

So what's the flip side of that coin? Why would I possibly want to hand over my entire life to Jesus? What could I possibly gain from that? Well, nothing less than immortality. Being forgiven of every bad thing you've ever done in your life - to have it all wiped clean. The constant presence of the Spirit of God who will actually make His home inside you, and then an eternity in the presence of Love Incarnate.

But too many of us (myself included, for too many years) chose to let such things as pride and immediate gratification take precedence over the proof and logical "cost/benefit analysis" of the equation. This is exactly why a large crowd could watch Jesus bring a guy that had been dead for many days back to life right in front of them - and yet many of those people never became His followers. They loved the approval of people and their status in society more.

So at the end of the day we each choose freely whether or not we will follow the Son of God, but let none of us say that it is only based on historical evidence.

One Sentence that Could Change the World

Once upon a time a group of highly religious people callously threw a woman, guilty of sexual sin, in the dust at the feet of Jesus. She had knowingly acted in a way that was against God's design. According to the design of God - according to the very nature of God, who by nature cannot be in the presence of sin - the wages of her sin was a death sentence. And the crowd who had brought her to the feet of Jesus - who claimed to speak for God Himself - was chomping at the bit to have that sentence carried out right then and there; they held the weapons in their hands that would be used to execute the woman. This moment was an incredibly combustible face-off between two of the most powerful forces of the day: in one corner stood the religious elite - the people who held the title of God's chosen race and holy nation, the people whose charge it was to represent the great I Am to a world outside of that covenant and who did not know God; what the world knew about God was what they learned through observing this holy nation of chosen people. And in the other corner stood Jesus, who claimed to be the very Son of God Himself. Not only did He speak exclusively for God, but He was God.

They asked Jesus again and again and demanded an answer.

But Jesus just sat down and started doodling in the dirt.

As you can imagine, this didn't make the mob happy. Finally, after much pestering, Jesus stood up and faced the angry mob of the religious elite. He looked them in the eye and instructed the woman to be stoned -- as long as the stoning began by the person in the crowd who had no sin throwing the first rock.

One by one, oldest to youngest, every single person in the angry crowd left. Soon only Jesus and the woman remained.

Upon noting that no one was left to condemn the woman, Jesus told the woman one single sentence - one that just might change the world. "Neither do I condemn you," Jesus said. "Now go your way and sin no more." 

The woman walked in expecting to be executed - and she walked away a free woman. After one meeting with Jesus, her life was forever changed.

There's four things about this event that I believe are absolutely pivotal.

◆ Jesus refused to get caught up in the emotion of the moment. He wouldn't jump on the bandwagon of hate and condemnation towards the woman, and yet He didn't act hateful towards the self-righteous either. He kept His cool.

◆ Jesus reminded the religious elite what they had evidently forgotten: that they too had fallen far short of the glory of God. They had no room to treat the woman as if they embodied God's law perfectly -- regardless of whether or not they had ever committed the same sin that this woman stood condemned for, they had nonetheless sinned. And if you were guilty of breaking one part of the law, you were guilty of the weight of the whole law.

◆ The fact that these people were guilty of sin did not excuse the behavior of the woman. Jesus then addressed her - but He did so in love and with compassion; He did not demean her or belittle her. In fact, He forgave her. He did the unthinkable and said that He did not condemn her.

◆ Far from excusing what she had done and the gravity of the situation, Jesus addressed her sinful life head-on. After forgiving her and wiping her slate clean, he told her to "go and sin no more." He recognized that what she had done was sin, and that she should never do this again. Because of the love she received from Him, He expects her life to look differently. She had been given a charge by the Son of God to change her life -- and I would think that being given the chance to walk away from death row would emblazon that on her heart in a way that made her think long & hard about that advice and her choice of lifestyles.

So why is this so important? Because frankly, in most conversations about sin I hear (and worse, what I see in the media), people ignore #1, have forgotten #2, refuse #3 and skip over #4. If we act like #3 and #4 are an either/or buffet; we either focus on excusing people of their sin, or we take it upon ourselves to campaign for everyone else to "go and sin no more." Typically that involves a lot of finger pointing and quoting our favorite "clobber verses." God's Word should be used as a healing balm, and not as a way to cauterize an open wound we just inflicted.

If we emphasize only #3 (Jesus' statement that He did not condemn the woman in sin) while neglecting #4 (the second half of Jesus' sentence warning her not to sin any more), we have perverted Jesus' message and are in danger of endorsing what has been called "cheap grace." But the flip side of that coin is just as dangerous! If all we talk about are the laws and "Thou Shalt Not's," then God becomes nothing more than a supernatural bully who is eagerly waiting for each of us to trip up so He can strike us with lightning and the full power of His wrath. That is not the God I know! That is not the God of the Bible! That is not Jesus!

I recently read an interesting blog post about some disturbing trends among Christendom today, and I thought the author made one especially poignant observation. Even though 80% of youth will leave "church" by the time they hit 30, the reasons they give for leaving - such as the experience of Christianity being shallow, or the church being antagonistic to unbelievers - "[U]pon heavy scrutiny [of their reasons for leaving], none of this remotely sounded like Jesus, so He wasn't the problem, which was a relief because when having a faith crisis, you don't want to discover your Main Character is a fraud. As far as I can tell, Jesus is still the easiest sell on earth, because if you don't love a guy who healed lepers and pulled children onto His lap and silenced the religious elite and ate and drank with sinners, then you just don't know Him."

The GOOD NEWS is that when we are humbly at the feet of Jesus, He will not condemn us. He will help us to our feet and dust us off. When Jesus encounters a person caught up in sin, He doesn't jump on the bandwagon of those who ignore their own sin while accusing others'. Instead, He extends love to the person, and He then adjures that person to change their life.

Is that what happens when you or I encounter a person caught up in sin?

God is love, so the only way we can accurately represent Him is by loving others.

"By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." 
--Jesus