Thursday, May 27, 2010

Weird



You were born an original. Don't die a copy. ~John Mason


Elizabeth, one of my dearest friends here in Georgia, made a statement last year that really sticks with me. She had been growing in her faith and watching our little group of friends as we worked out our business with God -- and one night she said, "I see how God works weird in other people's lives, and it occurs to me that He might just work weird through me too."


I love that. It's not particularly profound -- but it really resonates with me. My life has been weird. My path from one thing to the next has been weird. My friendships, body, choices, humor, and relationships have been weird too. While it's not huge -- I've realized that I've always carried a wee bit of bitterness toward God about the fact that my life seems to be the weird one.


What I'm learning in this season of my life - and at this place in ministry - is that I'm not alone. Most people think their lives are weird too. We've believed the lie that "everyone" moves through one stage to the next with little resistance. The truth is that few people do. The "weird" path - turns out to be the average one.


The great news about the fact that our lives are weird -- is that God is in the specific business of dealing with weirdos. Jesus chose twelve people to stick tight with him when he stepped out to do some radical "weird" work. A few of his group were fishermen, some of them were related, one of them collected taxes, a few of them never seemed to "get it", others were great leaders, there were a couple enigmas in the mix, and all of them were definitely sinners -- even to the point of betrayal. Clearly "weird" was something Jesus felt comfortable being around.


If you have anything really valuable to contribute to the world it will come through the expression of your own personality, that single spark of divinity that sets you off and makes you different from every other living creature. -Bruce Barton


I love that my friends are eclectic, as is my reading, my politics, my taste, my path, and my faith. It's all real, and it's me, and it seems to be something God is willing to work through. I am in process -- and process isn't always pretty.


But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. -Numbers 14:24

Friday, May 7, 2010

Mom

There's nothing like a mama-hug. -Terri Guillemets


My mother is coming next week for a 6-day visit. I can hardly wait.

I'm ready for a mama hug.


(Mom & Great Uncle Richard)
My Mom is extraordinary -- easily one of the greatest gifts God has given me. While there are a million compliments I could pay my mother, the one that encompasses them all is to say that she truly understands grace. I have watched my mom behave humbly, choose not to say what she has every right to say, offer a new perspective when something seems daunting or painful, and forgive any number of people for any number of things -- without another word about it. If Mom happens to read this post, she will surely be embarrassed - and think of the times when she didn't quite hit the mark on one of those things I just mentioned. I love when she does that. She is not righteous - nor is she perfect. But the world doesn't need perfect mothers. The world needs mothers who understand unconditional love. I'm lucky enough to have one who does.
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My worth has never been at stake. In the thousands of ways I have fallen short over the last 32 years, and the many consequences and "punishments" I have carried as a result, I have never once wondered if I was still loved and of immeasurable worth. Why? Because my mother told me so. Long before I knew the words to "Jesus Loves Me" or had the opportunity to read and understand the Word - I had a mother whose grace was running ahead of my choices. I first met Christ in the form of two welcoming arms, an encouraging word, a kind gesture, and a knowledge that there was nothing I could ever do to separate myself from her love.
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The God-light in my mother has lit the way for me to know that such love does exist.
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There is nothing greater than love - and yet it cannot be measured, quantified, or explained. Prove that love is real. Follow the scientific method and search for a tangible way to demonstrate the reality of love - and you will come up short. And yet - it is the most real thing in life. At the end of the day, love is all I really care about. I guess I have to call that faith.
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Grace is the demonstration of true love.
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Justice is getting what you deserve.
Forgiveness is not getting what you deserve.
Grace is getting what you never deserved in the first place.
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My mom has offered me a million clean slates, and because of her love, I can fathom the love of a Savior.
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Thanks, Mom. I love you.
Happy Mothers Day!


(My other favorite mothers -- my sisters!)






Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Trying to be Justified

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. "A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.

As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves! You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. --Galatians 5:1-15

My father is part of a weekly men's Bible study that has met together for a number of years. They're a great group of guys who challenge one another, think, discuss, and pray together every week. They don't always agree -- which is a good thing! We need to be challenging what we hear from our brothers & sisters in Christ, our pastors, evangelists, and authors. Since we have the opportunity to read the Word for ourselves, and be in relationship with a living God, then we can judge if what we are being told speaks to the truth we know. Sometimes it is the still small voice in us that is the best mediator.

One man in Dad's study was arguing a point a few months ago - and ultimately said something along the lines of, "I wish there was just a clear list of rules so we knew what was wrong and what is right." Apparently they had been discussing some social issue, behavior, condition, or choice -- and found themselves on both sides of the issue. My dad responded by explaining that God had already tried that.

It's true. The "law" has been tried. Jesus came to abolish the law and offer a new covenant and a new commandment: a relationship with God - and a pretty clear instruction to love our neighbors as ourselves. We can either keep arguing about who is in and who is out (who is circumcised and who is not) or we can move past that and work on forming ourselves into the image of a God whose justice is only outmatched by His grace.

Christian bumper stickers drive me crazy. Lots of "Christian" things drive me crazy. For example, I have no idea why the church wants to be identified by their stand on homosexuality above all else. It makes me incredibly sad. In a world where marriages are often unhealthy, broken, or shallow -- why is the church focusing on who shouldn't be in love --- instead of what God has to say about love in the first place? Besides, the Christian community is doing a poor job of maintaining marriages - since the statistics for divorce run from 40-50% in Christian and non-Christian marriages. Perhaps that is the case because so much of our energy is devoted to creating boundary markers and feeling incredibly righteous about the side of the "law" we fall on.

Jesus spent a lot of time talking about gossip and judgment -- but I have rarely seen Christians carrying signs and pasting bumper stickers that have anything to do with that. Jesus had a lot to say about the use of money & talent -- but those things don't seem to find their way on signs either. The Bible I read talks a lot about divorce -- but I don't see churches dividing over whether or not their pastors are divorced.

Paul said, "You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

If that is the only thing that counts -- then we need some new PR people in the Christian community. What we represent needs to be the love of God --- not our own desperate need to be "right" or the limitations of a law that was declared dead over 2000 years ago.

The only thing that counts is FAITH expressing itself through LOVE.

Now that would be a great bumper sticker.