Measureless Christianity

I read another article yesterday about how so many in the church are overly focused on love and that we aren't accurately representing the judgment of God.  It made me sick to my stomach.  Maybe its because, for thousands of years it seems, we have been preaching judgment that the love message is so appealing.  Maybe we have swung the pendulum in the other direction, but I believe it was about time.  The Bible is a love story.  It's a manifestation of the Love of God.  Its a message of redemption that can only be made possible through an incomprehensible love.  The Bible says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  We weren't qualified for His redemption.  Jesus died for us because he loves us, not because we were good enough.  Without a sacrifice, Old or New Testament, we would have all died in our sins.  Jesus, the innocent one, said I'll fulfill the covenant.  I'll be the sacrificial lamb.  If Jesus loved us so much to die for us when we were in our sin, how could our message be anything but love.  Love melts the hearts of men; judgment hardens their resolve.  We sin because we don't know who we are.  Sin is the ultimate identity crisis.  When we tell people where they're failing it only reinforces that identity crisis.  I'm not saying that we don't need to introduce the need for change, I'm simply saying that love is a better motivator than fear.

It's also important for another reason.  Jesus didn't just die for our sin, He gave us the Kingdom.  When we don't realize our value it's hard to receive the Kingdom.  The level of sacrifice reveals the value of the prize.  Jesus paid it all.  He thought you were worth it.  Makes religious people cringe because religion tries to create it's own redemption.  You're not an orphan you're part of the family; a son or daughter of the king.  You have access to the kingdom realm as heir of the King.  If I know that, then I can receive all that comes with that inheritance.  We have been given His Spirit as a downpayment to that inheritance and that also comes with a promise.  In John 3:34 it says that Jesus gives us the Spirit without measure.  I've heard many people say that this scripture is about Jesus and that it isn't for us.  I would beg to differ.  He whom God has sent (Jesus) speaks the words of God; For He (Jesus) gives the spirit without measure.  If it was just for Jesus then who does He give the Spirit to?  I think we need to stop thinking we are pathetic, barely worthy, hardly going to make it sinners and realize that available to us is the glorious inheritance of the saints.  Then we will know what it's like to experience His Spirit without measure.

Permission to Be Yourself

Permission to Be Yourself

There seems to be a lot of emphasis on self-improvement these days.  We’re always trying to be a better person.  I guess it’s a good thing, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a better version of yourself.  So off we go in search of who we should be.  There’s all kinds of resources out there.  You can analyze your personality in 100 different ways.  It’s all rather exciting!  I get to categorize myself with other people that share similar personality types.  I get to celebrate agreeing with what I already know about myself.  If you’ve picked up on a hint of sarcasm then you are very intuitive.  While these tools can be helpful (and no I won’t mention any of them by name, I’m sure you can figure it out) No test or quiz can accurately assess the real you.  You are unique in all of creation.  There has never been a you and when you are gone there will never be another you. 

I think it’s important that we improve ourselves; physical, emotional, and spiritual growth is important.  If we aren’t growing we’re dying; I get all that.  However, sometimes our efforts to become better seem to take away from who we really are.  We adjust our personalities to make them more palatable to the people around us.  If you’re too opinionated, dial it down.  Which in many cases means I don’t want to hear your opinion and if you could change and be like me, that would be great.  Truth is, the quirkiness of the people we are in relationship with is often what drew us into the relationship in the first place.  We love and hate those qualities in others, but if we remove that quirkiness we also remove an important part of their personalities.  It’s like saying I really love hot sauce but could you remove all the hot stuff from it.  I hate to tell but you really don’t love hot sauce then.  Celebrate people for who they are, be honest with them when they hurt your feelings or say something to you that offends you, but don’t try to create a watered down version of who they are.  Give others around you permission to be themselves and maybe others will be able to celebrate you in all your quirkiness as well.

That’s the View from Here….   

Determining Your Value

For a long time being in a room with people that seemed more powerful than me would produce a reaction inside me that I didn't like.  I would feel really small, like I didn't belong in that room.  I would typically be very quiet and only speak when spoken to.  Usually I would try to avoid eye contact with people and would be very glad when the meeting was over.  I'm not exactly sure when this changed for me, but I find myself in a different place now.  I don't feel intimidated in this circumstance anymore because I'm finally beginning to discover who I am.  Instead of acting out of who I thought I should be, I started just focusing on being myself.  Maybe Stuart Smalley (of Saturday Night Live fame) was right "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and gosh darn it people like me!"  Seriously, it's amazing how much the value we place on ourselves is determined by the value people have for us.  This is so backwards.  Your value is found in you.   I see so many people that are so concerned about who they are to others that they never really discover who they really are.  Even when they are so gifted and talented they don't see it.  On my way to church last night I felt the presence of the Lord so strongly in my car.  I heard him say "You are the pearl of great price, I sold everything to buy you!  Your worth isn't determined by the people around you; it's determined by the price it cost to buy you back!"  I was absolutely floored!  I have have always looked at the story of the pearl of great price in Matthew 13 as our responsibility in the Kingdom.  If we want to have the Kingdom we have to sell all that we have to get this most precious pearl.  I've never looked at it from God's perspective.  He literally bankrupted Heaven by giving us Jesus, so that he could purchase our freedom.  This story is about what the Kingdom looks like.  He really wants us to know how valuable we are.  So many of us determine our value by our failures.  By who we aren't instead of by who we are.  God looks at us and says even in your most rebellious state I choose you!  You are so precious that I would give everything to get you back.  That should change the way we see ourselves.  You may need to remind yourself of this a few times.  You are the pearl of great price because God saw your potential and it was worth it to give His son for you!

That's the View from Here...

The Performance Trap

All of us want to do well.  We all want to be successful, not only in our eyes but in the eyes of others as well.  Shakespeare wasn't too far from the truth when he said that "all the world's a stage".  There is nothing wrong with wanting to do something with excellence and receiving kudos for a job well done.  However, there are days when our performance isn't appreciated.  When others don't notice what we have worked so hard to accomplish.  Sometimes they are even jealous of our success.  Even worse they judge our intentions.  This is the trap.  A wise person once said "don't live by the praises of men and you won't die by their criticisms."  Even Jesus didn't put too much stock in whether or not people liked Him.  I'm sure He knew that they could love Him one moment and be ready to kill Him the next...literally.  King David knew this too.  After investing his time and energy in a group of misfits they were ready to kill him when something went wrong.  So, do we not perform?  I think the answer isn't in whether or not to perform but in who we are performing for.  Every day I want to be the best at what I do, but that is so subjective if I leave myself open to be analyzed by others.  Ok, so don't perform for others...check.  So do I perform for God?  What does He think of my abilities?  I think like any proud Father He loves watching His kids try.  He loves us whether we're winning or losing.  Whether we've succeeded or failed.  He just flat out loves us and it is really unnecessary to perform Him; He much prefers you just be yourself.  That's why He encourages us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth (By being real).  So who are we performing for then?  At the end of the day, I think, we should be able to look ourselves in the mirror and be satisfied with the effort we've given.  If I can be satisfied with my performance that's really all that matters.  Before I go too much further let me add a little disclaimer.  If I'm doing a terrible job at work and I'm still satisfied with my effort; I may need to develop some better self-awareness.  I'm fairly confident that life and the lack of a steady income will teach that lesson.  What I'm going after is our overdeveloped need for people's approval.  If you have done the best that you possibly could, then give yourself a pat on the back.  Draw strength and confidence in who you are becoming.  Every day that you move forward is a day forward toward accomplishing your goals.  Every day that you put forth your best performance you develop new skills and new confidence and you become a better you. Go for it!  That's the View from Here....

No Pain, No Gain Christianity

I learned awhile back that when you get afraid, you try to control.  I see it displayed everywhere.  People get angry because they can't control what is going on around them.  The result is that we put up controls all around us that we think will keep us safe.  If you struggle somewhere just edit that part of your life so that you will never have to face it.  After all, it sounds spiritual right?  Be in the world but not of it etc...Only problem is that it doesn't make the issues go away.  You can pretend they don't exist but it doesn't make them go away.  So what do we do?  As usual Jesus gave us a key in the scriptures.

In John 15:10 it says "“Hear and understand. 11 “aIt is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”, We spend so much time trying to control our exterior environment, when it is really our internal ecosystem that needs attention.  It isn't what you expose yourself to externally that defiles you, it is what you agree with internally.  I manifest what I believe by the choices I make.  If I choose life then the fruit of that believe system will be love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faith and self control.  If those qualities are being manifested then I am living in a healthy internal ecosystem dominated by Heaven's thinking.  If the fruit looks like, 1aimmorality, impurity, sensuality,  20 idolatry, asorcery, enmities, bstrife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, cdisputes, dissensions, 1dfactions,  21 envying, adrunkenness, carousing, (Galatians 19-21).; then you know that your internal eco-system needs work.  Let's take it a little further.  Luke 11:34 says 34 “aThe eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is 1clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is 2bad, your body also is full of darkness.  The word bad in this scripture is poneros which is where we get our english word for pornography.  It represents perversion; or in other words the wrong version.  This scripture has always confused me in the past.  Why would what I look at cause my eye to be darkened?  What happens if I look at something unintentionally?  Then I realized that the previous scripture (John 15:10) helps to lay the ground work of understanding for this verse in Luke.  It's not what I see but how I see it that enables me to walk in the light.  When I believe truth then I am full of light.  His word becomes a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.  When my eye is "bad"i am paralyzed by darkness.  I don't know where to walk.  I don't know how to proceed so I stay trapped in darkness until someone brings me light.  I need a revelation that as a believer the exterior isn't always a sign of what is happening internally.  Sometimes we are doing the "right" thing for the wrong reason.  We are making choices based on religion.  Religion is form without power.  Religion is keeping up appearances but it isn't rooted in relationship it is rooted in performance.  Religion makes me perform to make God happy.  Guarding my heart is taking responsibility for my internal ecosystem.  I don't want to hurt my relationship with the Father so I actively make choices to protect my heart from things that will keep me from Heaven's influence.   

We can take the "no pain, no gain" approach to our Christian life if we want.  We can actively work hard to separate ourselves from every evil influence that might come across our path.  Or...we can become strong in spirit, bearing fruit in every good thing, tapping into the grace of God which enables us to overcome the world.  If we are meant to be salt to the world then we are meant to influence.  We don't have to work to earn God's favor we must just simply learn to live in it.  Ultimately Jesus pain was our gain and the fruit of our belief system will be manifested through the glory revealed in our lives.  

That's the View from Here...