Live.Awake

Haiti and Other Acts of God

// January 19th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Christian Living

The world stood agast this week as a massive earthquake shook the tiny country of Haiti down to rubble.  The death toll rises daily, unrelentingly reminding the world of its own frail mortality.  As of the writing of this article, the EU reports an estimated 200,000 people dead and over 1.5 million rendered homeless.  This number is likely to rise due to lack of medical attention and the violence that has erupted in this unstable nation.

By all accounts, this is a disaster.  A tragedy.  Some have used the phrase, “an act of God”.  My insurance company uses that phrase to refer to bad things that happen to my car that cannot be blamed on anyone.  They just happened, they’re bad, so we call them “acts of God”.

In times like this, everyone wants to know who to blame.  They want to know who they can shake their fist at, and hopefully extract their pound of flesh from in the name of closure.  When there is another individual to blame, we punish them in our justice system.  When it’s another country to blame, we punish them with economic sanctions and possibly go to war.  But what are we to do with an act of God?

When it comes to this problem, most of us know where the ditches are on each side of the road that we have to avoid.  On one side is the ditch that says, “It’s the victim’s fault.”  On the other side is the ditch that says, “God did evil.”  We know we have to stay out of the ditches, but we still can’t figure out how to keep this bus in the lane, so we bump back and forth until the moment passes and our lives can continue blissfully.

I believe that God is in control, that He has not left us on our own.  I also believe that He is good.  Sometimes, I can’t put those two ideas perfectly together in a way that pulls in all the loose threads.  It’s in those moments that I have to be willing to confess that I do not understand.  That, like Job in the Bible, I am broken and crushed but I will still choose to trust in my great and sovereign God.

What’s really happening is that we want life to fit in neat and comfortable boxes.  We expect our God to be easily explained.  We want a religion that is manageable.  We want a God that is tame.  And we want a life that is predictable in a world that always makes sense.

God never promised us any of these things.  In fact, Jesus told us that there would be times when the cross we bear would be a heavy burden.  He also promised that He would be with us to the end.  He promised us that He would bring His shalom, peace that makes everything right and undoes all the injustice that this world has seen.

Maybe we should adjust our terminology.  Maybe the next time the sun sets and the sky turns 100 shades of orange and red we should call that an act of God.  Maybe the next time a child is born healthy we should call it an act of God.  Maybe the next time someone falls in love with their soulmate we should call it an act of God.  Maybe we should strive to replace our cynicism with wonder, our doubt with faith, and our weariness with everlasting hope.

Hope requires courage.  Courage to believe that Jesus is who He said He is.  That he has not left us, even when the world has shaken and we’ve been crushed in the rubble.

Share your thoughts in the comments.  I’d love to hear from you.

Didn’t Enjoy a Christian Movie? Permission Granted.

// January 11th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Christian Living, Movies

I have a staggering confession to make.  I didn’t enjoy the movie Fireproof.  I wasn’t entertained or particularly moved by it.  I didn’t cry.  That’s saying a lot because I recently got misty-eyed at the end of a re-run episode of Full House.  Kirk Cameron didn’t revolutionize my marriage or inspire me to become a fire chief who makes good chili and inspires his men to be soft-spoken and wear dockers pants.  However, his idea of pounding the outside trash can with a bat is a good one that I plan to implement soon.  Looked like fun.  But, seriously, if my house was on fire and Mike Seaver showed up to lead the effort in saving my cigar collection from smoking itself, I would be more than a little concerned.  I’d probably ask him to call in a favor to Kurt Russell for assistance.

“Didn’t this movie come out a while ago?  Why are you talking about it now?”  Everyone that has asked me if I liked the movie has gotten some kind of awkward response like, “I thought it was pretty good.  I mean, it could have been a lot better but considering how this church gave up so much and all those volunteers worked so hard, it’s amazing.”

Sigh.  It’s taken me this long to get up the gumption to come out of the closet on this.

You see, the problem is that I watched the extras on the DVD.  You know, all the behind the scenes footage of regular church folk praying before each scene in the movie, volunteering their time, believing in the project, eating Chick-fil-A, doing morning devotionals, all while Third Day plays softly in the background.  It’s touching.  In fact, I was far more moved by the behind the scenes stuff than I was by anything in the movie itself.  But then I was confused.  The rules of criticism are different between a movie you pay for, and ministry you receive.  Is it ok for me to say that I really didn’t like a Christian movie?

Y E S !

If movies made by Christians are going to get better, they need to be held to the same critique as other films in the marketplace.  They need to be treated the same.  In my opinion, it’s patronizing to the good people that made the movie to pat the movie on the head and say, “For a Christian, you’re ok.  Bless your heart.”

Now, I know that many people really liked it.  They say that Kirk is a sexy-in-a-christian-kind-of-way male lead.  They found the plot riveting.  MANY MANY people say that it (and the accompanying devotional study) helped their marriages.  That’s awesome.  I’m not saying we should NOT like Christian movies.  That would be like someone saying that all Ninja movies are bad.  That would be crazy because any time throwing stars are involved, great entertainment is sure to follow.

Now THAT’s an idea.  A christian ninja movie.  Does James Caviezel know karate?  I bet he’s available.

Robbing God of Our Weakness

// January 3rd, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Christian Living

When Jesus began his ministry, and throughout his 3 years of public ministry, he performed many miracles.  Luke 4:31-44, I believe, relveals something interesting about WHY he performed those miracles.  Yes, he was certainly motivated by compassion for those he healed.  But in Luke we see Jesus leave a multitude of needy people so that he could go elsewhere to declare the gospel of the kingdom of God.

This fact, as well as the context of Jesus’ statements in the synagogue just a few verses earlier, make it clear that these miracles are meant to proclaim the arrival of “the year of the Lord’s favor”.  The coming of the Messiah, the inauguration of God’s kingdom on earth.  Jesus was doing what only God could do.

For us, this has radical consequences.  This means that our weakness, sickness, brokeness, poverty, etc is not TRULY a handicap.  Not to sound too much like a motivational speaker, but your weakness is Jesus’ opportunity to declare his name.  To declare that the Kingdom of God is now.  To declare “the year of the Lord’s favor”.  Your weakness is the best way for God to get the glory he deserves.

Could it be that when we boast of our strengths and try to conceal our weaknesses that we are robbing God of his chance of using us to proclaim his message through us?  Could it be that we’ve got it backwards?  Maybe our strength is our greatest enemy and our weakness our greatest asset.

God Is With Us

// December 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // Christian Living

Due to weather here in Kernersville, NC I didn’t get to preach my full Christmas message.  I had about 2 minutes.  I was considering how to distill everything down to one or two sentences.  How could I summarize the fall of man in the beginning, the frustration of mankind’s attempts to rescue himself and the promise of a coming Rescuer in the Old Testament, the humility and glory of the incarnation all into one brief thought?

Matthew 1:23 – “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).”

Quoting Isaiah 7:14, we are given His name – Immanuel… God with us.  I think this summarizes Christmas well.

God, the divine Creator, Elohim, holy, majestic, righteous, and loving.  He came to rescue us.  He came to reconcile us to himself.

Underneath the stillness of the nativity is a Creator shouting, proclaiming his name and all that it means.  Immanuel.  You are not alone.  I promised I would come.  And now I have done it.

So, after the presents are unwrapped, the tree discarded, the trash bagged and it’s time to do your taxes remember his name.  Remember that no matter what you face in the coming year, or what you face now, the King of Kings is with you.  He promises you that He will come.  And he will do it.

Is Discipleship Renovation or Transformation?

// December 3rd, 2009 // 3 Comments » // Christian Living

I’ve been thinking through a sermon series on Discipleship that simply asks the question, “What is a disciple?” and “How do we become one?”.  As I look at examples of what a disciple is in Scripture and how they are made, it actually seems to be far simpler than we have made it out to be.  I don’t think that the Church’s lack of disciples has happened because it’s too hard or too complicated.  I think it may be something else entirely.

I think it comes down to the fact that we don’t actually believe that people can change.  More accurately, we believe the gospel is effective in yanking us from the clutches of Hell, but not much more.  We don’t believe that a person can move from brokenness to wholeness.  We think people can make improvements to their existing set of abilities, but we do NOT believe in transformation.

We talk about the process of sanctification like it’s a kitchen renovation.  Slap some paint on the cabinets, new counter tops and tile the floor.  If you’re really special, get some new appliances.  Underneath it’s the same nasty kitchen, but at least it looks better on the outside.  But I don’t think this is the Biblical perspective.  I think God is a God of transformation.  The gospel transforms us into something completely new.  A new creation.  Not a caterpillar to a butterfly, but rather a whole new species.  New DNA altogether.

God doesn’t renovate.  He guts the kitchen.  Rips it all out and builds it back the way He wants it.  Brand new.

Do you know what this means?  This means that there is no limit to what God can do.  God can take the most broken, most flawed, least talented person and transform them into a hero, a leader, a disciple.

Moses from cowardice and speech impediment to rescuer of Israel.  David from runt shepherd boy to King and friend of God.  Peter from fisherman and denier of Christ to rock of the Church.  Paul from murderer and persecutor of Christians to great apostle of the early Church.

None of them had a lick of potential before Jesus got to them.

Until we get this one simple truth rooted into our thinking, discipleship will remain elitist and ineffective.  We’ll either avoid discipleship altogether or only disciple those that exhibit the most visible potential.

“There are no ordinary people.  You have never talked to a mere mortal.” – CS Lewis