I Want to Care; I Just Can’t

One of the most divisive issues in America is whether or not to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the news.  Sure, abortion, gay marriage & Obamacare are big ones…but what about the judgmental attitude some of us have toward those who avoid the news altogether and drink up The Bachelor like cold water on a hot day?

Most of us have been in conversations over the years where this came up.  One side says something like, “I used to watch the news, but everything is so depressing.”  If someone responds at all, it may sound something like, “You can’t just bury your head in the sand!  This stuff is real!  You’re just living in a world of fiction; and you’ll never make a difference in the world!”

Allow me to jump in and make enemies on both sides.  (It’s a gift of mine.)

To my friends who love reality TV: There are very real things in this world that break God’s heart.  You are His hands and feet; so do something with your life.

To my friends who are news junkies: You are not the Messiah.  You cannot wipe away every tear.  Work hard for the orphan, the widow & the foreigner, but understand that the ultimate solution is in Christ alone.  Only He forgives sin, and only He can end all injustice.

Some of us find ourselves in a tough spot in-between: we switch channels away from the starving Ugandan child or the fighting in Israel because to become emotionally invested seems masochistic when I can’t do anything to fix the problem.

If you are skimming this post, please go back to my last sentence.

My proposed solution: How about church leaders lead?  How about breaking down huge problems into smaller, bite-sized tasks to glory of God?

Can I end abortion? No.  Could my pastors encourage my wife and me to go be trained to be adoptive parents so that one day we can say to a 15-year old girl, “We will raise your baby?”  Yes.

Can I end multi-generational poverty? No.  Could my church engage relationally with high school students; inviting them into our adult small groups, or maybe just do a great job of staffing our student ministry events?  Yes.  Young people will go out into the world repeating what they know. What if a student is in your house the first time he hears a man apologize to a woman?  What if he watches you fight with your wife, and is quietly amazed that you did not scream at her, threaten her, or worse?  Can our churches help us live in relationship with young people?  Of course.

Lord, light a fire in our congregations!  Spirit move until we cry out, “God, I want to care, and now I can!”

Miss One Part & You’ll Be On the Floor in Pain

We Christians are notorious for pursuing the blessings of God in ways other than how the Bible tells us how to pursue them.

So let’s get down to brass tacks as it relates to sanctification (spiritual growth.)  I am asserting that there are four components in play; please comment if you have anything to add or modify. Thanks in advance for the insightful comments!

 

The Seat of the Stool: The Holy Spirit

I love ending my arguments with my strongest and most important point, but I feel the need to work in reverse here…

The Bible isn’t convincing when my heart is still made of stone.  The Church is just a social gathering when their is no common Spirit.  My personal decisions are dictated by one will; the will of the flesh, until I know Him.

I must have the Holy Spirit of God inside me if I am to grow spiritually.  I must be saved by Christ first, or else the three-legged stool is nothing more than empty religious effort.  The Holy Spirit holds the other three parts together.

Good.  Glad we got that settled.

 

The First Leg: The Word of God

In short, the Bible is a mirror and a scalpel.  (Hebrews 4:12) It shows us the things God still wants to cut out for His glory and our good, then it does it.  It does this through mediation on, memorization of, & cherishing of the Scriptures(Psalm 118).

 

The Second Leg: The Church

One of the ways the people of God glorify Him is by strengthening each other.  They live life in relationship with one another, being real, reminding each other of the Gospel and it’s implications, teaching, correcting, encouraging, etc.  It’s messy and beautiful and powerful. (For a great list of the “one anothers,” click here. )

 

The Third Leg: Personal Decisions

The Bible says that a Christian has two wills inside his/her heart: the person you were before Christ saved you, and a new person who desires to honor Jesus.  (Romans 7:21-25)  The Holy Spirit gives you the desire and power to make decisions that honor God, (Ephesians 2) the Word strengthens you, the Church encourages you, and in the end, you still have to make the call.  Obedience, or disobedience.

 

Growth happens in the synergy of all three, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Are there other things that you would add to these parts?  Build on? Modify?  I struggled over whether or how to include prayer and pain in this discussion.  Let me know what you think!

A Financial Game of Thrones

Two years ago I was reading the letters to the editor in that month’s issue of Money Magazine, and what I read stunned me.  A woman in her early fifties described her situation with her boyfriend and asked,

“Would it benefit us financially to get married?”

I feel like the question reveals what the priority is: money.

As a happily married man, this broke my heart.  I thought to myself, “Is this the dark ages?  What is the bride price?  Where is the contract between your father, the king, and the noble, whose son you are marrying?”

It seems that for some, marriage is a game of jockeying and positioning for leverage and/or wealth.

Despite my shock, one fact remains: The Church’s job is proclaiming the Gospel for the reconciliation of God and people, (2 Cor. 5) not enforcing conformity to Christian ways of thinking/behaving, and our job is definitely not sitting around and complaining about the broken moral compass of the world.

As my Pastor put it well in the sermon yesterday, “What’s the point in changing someone’s behavior without the Savior changing their heart and eternal destiny?”

Amen, Pastor Steve.