The Greatest of These Is... Guilt?

  It's been said that guilt is not a good motivator.  But that hasn't stopped the church from dishing out unhealthy doses of it every week.  In the most common setting, I think it is usually an unfortunate by-product of the noble efforts of every well-meaning spiritual cheerleader, from pastors to Sunday School teachers to summer youth camp speakers.  But in the worst case scenario it is piled on intentionally to elicit desired behaviors, from tithing to daily devotions to regular church attendance - to taking a turn in the church nursery.

  A young friend stopped over a couple of days ago for a visit and he got talking about the previous twelve years of spiritual defeat that he had experienced starting at age 14 when a youth leader challenged everyone to sign on to a 30-day Adventure that would include a daily quiet time of Bible reading, prayer, and journalling.  He never got past day 4, and if you missed a day you had to start over, so he dreaded each Sunday's meeting when the successful few would be awarded a pop tart or a music CD while he received a challenge to start over and do better.  He never did better, and he's had trouble motivating himself to read the Bible ever since.

  Obviously, his mentor didn't mean to cause him a lifetime of defeat; it was just a nasty consequence of an under-developed and adolescent spiritual appetite found wanting in a zealous spiritual environment.  He lately reviewed one of his journals from those days and found several entries that ended with a sleepy scribble off the edge of the page where he had fallen asleep while journalling.  Defeat after defeat.  Guilt.

  I think this guilt that so widely pervades the realm of Christian experience is a result of a works-based gospel.  Salvation is supposed to bring freedom, but then it is followed by this burden of holiness.  Though intended to be an encouragement toward a closer relationship with God, the Sunday sermon ends up being a challenge for us to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps - in five easy steps that spell an acronym.

  I think the church needs a reboot to a grace-based gospel.  An author and online pastor, John Fischer, says that "When you get close to God you don't become more spiritual, you become more loving."  Love is the outgrowth of our own gracious redemption.

  The true test of spirituality is not in your quiet time or your devotional life, it is in your loving behavior.  Jesus said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord, and He never mentioned it without connecting the second greatest commandment, to love your neighbor.  The apostle Paul even consolidated them, skipping the first and going directly to the second when he said, "The ENTIRE law is summed up in ONE command, love your neighbor as yourself."(Gal. 5:14)  He somehow left out daily devotions and a whole bunch of other stuff.

  I've often asserted that the first commandment is fulfilled through the second.  In other words, we demonstrate our love for God by loving our fellowman.  We may develop a closer relationship with the Lord through Bible reading and prayer, but we carry it out by expressing the love of Christ to others.

  The fruit of a dedicated life may not be in how many Bible verses we can quote, but in how many of our friends and neighbors are having a better life because of us.

  So being spiritual can be as simple as carrying the groceries in for the neighbor lady.  But if you miss that opportunity, don't feel guilty about it; you might get to help another time; there are a million ways to express the love of God in the world.  

  Don't let me or any preacher guilt you into anything - not even about being more loving.  If you are more loving next week, that will be good.  And if you are not, your salvation is not in danger.  God still loves you.  You can't be bad enough for God to stop loving you, so relax.  And if you want to read the Bible, do it.  And if not, don't.  You're not any farther away from heaven when there is dust on your Bible.  Not only that, but you would probably be much more spiritual if you'd spend your tithe on new tires for your poor neighbor's car than to give it to the church.

  "For we are saved by grace through faith... it is the gift of God, not of works (behavior) lest anyone should boast."(Eph.2:8-9)  Augustine once said, "Love God... then do as you please."  I would adjust that to say, "Demonstrate your love for God by loving your neighbor... and then do as you please."  So there's no long list of things you must do to be more holy, only the law of love.

  The next time your spiritual coach makes you feel defeated or guilty, go out and buy your own pop tarts.  You will always deserve it.  And then if you want to be spiritual, share them with some other undeserving soul.

  "Now these three remain: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love." (I Cor. 13:13)  According to this, our love is even greater than our faith in God.  Wow.

  What makes you feel guilty or defeated in your spiritual walk?  Where does this guilt come from, and how can you stop it?

  

Born Losers

  Being born again means being born to lose.  If you want to be like Jesus.  Because Jesus was a loser.  Much to the disappointment of his followers, He did not come to set up an earthly kingdom.  American Christians seem to be generally unaware of this.  Being born and raised in a free country, we have become accustomed to having rights.  But followers of Christ have no rights.  Jesus gave up his rights to save the souls of mankind.  Should we do otherwise?

  Yesterday I viewed an online video that showed a bunch of Christian teenagers who are being rallied to "take back America" by pushing back on the anti-bullying campaign* that was launched by gay activists who were alarmed at the number of young gays lately committing suicide as a result of being bullied.  I think these young Christians are doing exactly what Jesus would NOT do.  Jesus clearly stated that his Kingdom would not be an earthly kingdom but a kingdom that resides in the hearts of men (Acts 17:24).

  The essential message of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount is capsulized in the Golden Rule: "Treat others the way you would like to be treated.... Don't resist an evil person.... Love your enemies".  Now which of our rights was he defending?

  Jesus was executed after a mock trial in the middle of the night followed by a beating, a whipping, ridicule and being spat upon.  Then the crucifixion.  And he didn't say anything to defend himself.  Not a bit of push back.  Do you want to be like Christ?  Then why are you fighting back against the evil in our world except by prayer and love?  "Overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21)

  "But this is supposed to be a Christian nation."  Wrong.  This is not supposed to be a Christian nation, but a nation that provides freedom of religion - for people of all faiths, not just Christians.  What gives us the idea that non-Christians should abide by our rules or that we should win our nation for Christ?  We are to make disciples, yes, but not make a Christian nation.  Jesus never gave us that commandment.

  I have often said that if every believer in America would simply love his neighbor like Jesus said to, we would win the world in a short time.  But my wife disagrees.  She reminded me that, just like 2000 years ago, Jesus is not about an earthly kingdom - not in Israel then, and not in America now.  He is about his followers really following him.  Yes, we should love as Jesus loved, but no, we should not expect to "take back America" for God by this means or any other.

  Read me clearly: Jesus does not care whether or not America is a Christian nation.  He cares whether you and I, as his followers, are loving our neighbors - and our enemies. - as he showed us in his teachings, in his life, and on the cross.

  American Christianity is a long way from what Jesus intended.  If we would all spend as much time on actually living and loving as Christ followers as we do promoting our favorite Christian political agenda, we could really make a difference in our neighborhood and all across the nation.

  Love everybody, not just your Christian friends. Be the Good Samaritan - without first checking to see if the person is gay or lesbian.  Love, especially if the victim is gay or lesbian.  True followers of Christ should be the first ones to sign anti-bullying legislation, and they should be the last ones to bully gays or others who don't live up to their holy standards.  That's what Jesus would do -  If he was into political activism at all, which of course, he is not.

  Look how far away from Christ's teachings we have gotten:

• Jesus was a friend of sinners and hung out with them.  We go out of our way to avoid them and condemn them.
• Jesus befriended outcasts, adulterers and other sexually immoral folks and treated them with respect.  We avoid them and call them names.
• Jesus taught submission to the government.  We speak all manner of evil about our president and politicians, even those who have given testimony as Christians but who do not have the same political stance as we.
• Jesus had a liberal (generous) approach to the poor.  We are conservative and resist helping the underprivileged and under-skilled, saying they should "just get a job".  New Testament believers shared their wealth with their needy friends so that "There were no needy persons among them."(Acts 4:14)  We demonize any program that advocates sharing the wealth.
• Jesus was persecuted.  We push back when criticized and stand up for our "rights".
• Jesus taught peaceful non-resistance, saying "Turn the other cheek."  We support war and violence.
• Jesus was "salt and light" out in the community every day.  We huddle in our sanctuaries, worshipping the Lord - and our freedom - while criticizing the ungodly and the unlovely and taking great care to keep separate from the world.

We know how to be real followers of Christ if we can just make ourselves do it.  Many are doing it, but it takes rethinking our way of life in small ways every day:

• Under-the-radar generosity:  Going through the drive-through at McDonald's, my pastor friend pays for his meal  - and for the folks in the car behind him.  He does it often.
• Going into a cafe, my friend pays for his coffee and donut with a twenty, then refuses the change, asking that it be applied to the next several customers.
• Realizing that gays do not choose to be gay any more than heterosexuals choose their orientation, my friend treats them the same as anybody else - but sometimes goes out of his way to support their businesses since they've been boycotted by others.
• Generous tipping, especially on Sundays.  My brother used to be a waiter at Red Lobster.  He hated the Sunday shift because the after-church crowd were the worst tippers, sometimes leaving only a gospel tract with some stupid "tip" on it for him (I guess there isn't much left after giving a tithe to the church).  Upon learning this, everyone in my family became generous tippers.  Especially on Sundays.
• Whenever he goes jogging, my friend picks up the empty beer cans that his neighbors have thrown out of their car windows the night before. He calls himself the neighborhood environmentalist.  He knows at least one of the neighbors who discards the empties but never confronts him about it insisting it's important to be on good terms with the neighbors.
• The economic downturn has caused a corresponding upturn in the number of thrift stores and food panties which are popping up everywhere, evidence that generous people are responding to the need in practical and compassionate ways.
• And a thousand more Christ-like actions and attitudes that happen every day by those who really seek to follow Jesus.

  Notice I didn't list any political actions on this list of how to be like Christ?  That's because I believe we do the name of Jesus a disservice with much of the Christianizing we attempt in American political action.  For the most part, American politics is nothing like Christ.  I'm not saying political action is wrong for a believer; I'm saying it is often harmful to the true cause of Christ.  Jesus was apolitical.  His Kingdom was not of this world.  I think that if things get worse for Christians in America we will have no one to blame but ourselves and our own hateful and ungodly behavior.  We have turned the Good News into the bad news.

  Don't attempt to take back America for Christ.  Just return to Christ-like living yourself, in your neighborhood and your community.  Be nice.  To everybody.  Even the neighborhood bullies.

   "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ, who gave up his rights by taking the very nature of a servant, even being obedient to the cross." (Phil.2: 7-8)

  Be like Christ, be a lover and a loser. 

  What loving, losing deeds have you noticed among your friends?

  * Here's the irony (hypocrisy) of this whole push-back on the anti-bullying campaign: The backstory is that gay youths were being bullied at school (some by so-called Christian kids who thought it was their responsibility to "witness" to the gays, letting them know it was an abomination to God and they were going to hell).  Several of the gays couldn't take it anymore and killed themselves.  To stop the suicides, gay activists started a campaign to let the gay kids know that "It gets better".  They maintained that school is not the real world and life would improve after graduation.  At a seminar of one of these "It gets better" rallies, the moderator launched a tirade at the Christians, who left the room saying they were being bullied.  And they were.  They were being bullied by the anti-bullying spokesman, who blamed them for bullying the gays in the first place.
  Now the gist of this new campaign is that the Christians are not going to take it anymore.  They're going to resist the bullying of the anti-bullying campaign so they can continue to bully gays.  For the sake of Christ, of course. 
  When I communicated with the leader of this campaign asking him what practical steps the program would implement for role-modeling the nature of Christ in the face of persecution, he responded with sarcastic derision, saying the whole thing wasn't about being Christ-like.  He was pretty mean about it.
  Yeah, he sort of bullied me. I think it's part of his strategy to take back America for Jesus.

Disclaimer:  To my wonderful conservative readers, please don't be offended at my blunt commentary.  I realize my views are in the minority among American Christians, but after all, it's my opinion posted on my blog.  I hope you'll stay with me for the next post; I think it will be a very encouraging one.  Feel free to make a level-headed comment below.  Love ya!