Do As I Say, Not As I Do

January 20, 2017

Do as I say, not as I do.

The memory is as clear as the day it happened. The small cafeteria/study hall in my high school. Group of high school students gathered around a new teacher. She tells them to do something. High school students are prone to questioning things. She uttered that response.

Paul devotes much writing to showing us how we’ll live as someone who believes in Jesus–the gospel, good news, resurrection from death.

People get confused. They think it ends with faith. Faith that Jesus is the Son of God. Not faith in Jesus as our guide and teacher and way to God.

Paul says many times, if we have faith, then we will behave in certain ways.

James says faith without works is dead.

Jesus says the second commandment (of two) is to love our neighbor. Then he shows us examples of love and neighbor. Revolutionary to his original listeners. Revolutionary to most of us.

John talked much of love–not love as an emotion but love as an action.

As I grow older, I listen less to what men say and watch what they do. — Andrew Carnegie

Some people can talk a good game. But they don’t play it.

Beware the person who tells you what to do with their mouth but says something completely different with their life.

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A Leader To Bring Us Together

January 19, 2017

Those people! Those (other) people.

They ignore all the rules. They bring their guitars and drums into church. Wear whatever clothes they wish. They shout and dance. They don’t believe all of our strict interpretations of Scripture. They don’t even look like us. They don’t always speak the same language.

Those people!

They are so strict and humorless. They think they follow all the rules and sit there pointing out where everyone else falls short of following some rule. They think everyone should believe everything just like them, dress like them, talk like them. If not, then they don’t belong.

Sorry, I’m not talking about the politics of Washington, D.C. Or France. Or Britain. Or Germany. Or whatever. The state of politics globally is pretty divisive right now.

But what about churches?

I’m not Catholic, but I love to see the direction that Pope Francis is trying to lead.

On the other hand, there is the politics of all the local places of Christian worship. So much divisiveness.

Where is the injunction of Jesus–“you will know my followers by their love”?

In those early years of the church, leaders struggled with bringing together two completely different groups of people into one faith. The “racial” divide at the time was between Jews and everyone else in the world who was not a Jew.

Keeping that in mind, go back and read Romans straight through. Read it from the point of view of what Paul is saying about that divide.

“Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised (Jews) on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised (everyone else) through that same faith.”

Paul’s plea throughout the letter is that the two sides come together. I often fall short of being that kind of reconciler. We need more of us to speak up to bring people together instead of bowing down to those who seek to divide.

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God’s Kindness Leads to Our Changing Our Life

January 18, 2017

Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? — Paul, to the Roman church

If you judge other people as to the things they do that are wrong, you judge yourself as well.

Paul was very clear. He listed all the moral wrongs that people do. He must have realized that when people heard that list, they would immediately assume that the list applied to other people. Then he hits them, hard, by saying in essence that you also do things morally wrong. How is it then that you can sit there with righteous face on condemning others? You also are condemned.

But Paul doesn’t leave us just hanging out there condemned. He offers an alternative.

Already in the letter he hints at the theme. God’s grace.

Is repentance one of those words that triggers images of mean-spirited men or women with frowning faces, pointing fingers, shouting at you that you’re going to hell?

Actually all it means is that where once your life journey took you to places with people that you should not have gone to and with. Then you decide, with God’s help, to turn in a different direction and live life differently.

Instead of following our passions, our emotions, our “friends”, we start acting according to the many examples we can find from Jesus and Paul and others.

We put God first.

We help those in need.

Our lives reflect the fruit of the spirit–love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

(Me, I’m working on that forbearance part. What about you?)

We practice the spiritual disciplines–study, prayer, meditation, living simply, quiet, celebration, worship, and the rest.

 

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Those Darn Other People Are The Problem

January 17, 2017

Ran into a guy the other day. He was so happy that he found a church where everyone believed just exactly like he did. The pastor met the litmus test of disliking (hating?) homosexual people (except that they never add “people” to the phrase) and anti-abortion.

Mentioned something about other sins the people might have. He kind of blew that comment off.

It’s a small church, by the way.

Paul starts his journey of spiritual formation in his letter to the Romans by listing all the sins that humans commit. I always like to ask people who just read the last part of Chapter 1, “how did you feel as you read it?” Meaning, “Did you think about how bad other people are, or how much I myself sin?”

Paul assumes you’ll be answering the first way–all those darn (because I’m perfect, I don’t use vulgar language) other people. They are all such bad sinners.

Paul continues:

Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgement on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.

That’s one of those phrases I should have pop up on my smart phone every time I turn it on. Just as a constant reminder. No matter how much people disappoint me and I call them out. It still points back to me.

Those other people, why, they’re just like me. In need of grace.

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I Have A Dream

January 16, 2017

Is there an American who does not know what follows that phrase, “I have a dream”?

I hope not.

I remember taking a lot of grief from pretty much everyone in my home town back in the day for agreeing with that dream.

But I still have the dream–that every person will be judged by the strength of their character and not the color of their skin–or any of the other ways we have of dividing people into groups “like us” and “not like us”.

Jesus did not have difficulties crossing the very strict racial boundaries of his day (Jew v non-Jew).

I’m leading a small group studying from Romans right now. Paul is devoting much time to bridging the divide between the significant racial divide of his day–Jew v non-Jew.

It was painful to me in the last presidential election to watch one marketing message very clearly playing on the racial fears or prejudices of a group of Americans while the other candidate failed to come out strongly as one who would bridge the gap.

The same attitudes are springing up world-wide. Look at the unrest in Europe right now.

Where is the next Martin Luther King, Jr. who can raise a powerful voice in a non-violent way to unify people instead of dividing them?

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Persistence Or Stubbornness 

January 13, 2017

When am I exhibiting the virtue of persistence or is it the destructive vice of stubbornness?

I get in situations where I care about the organization and just can’t help myself from trying again. Even though the track record of the organization or leader is poor. Am I persistent? Stubborn? Stupid?

Jesus called persistence a virtue when a person is seeking justice. Think of the story of the woman before the judge. She was a bit like the Proverb that describes a nagging wife like a persistent drip. The judge got so tired of her coming day after day that he granted justice.

On the other hand, think of the many times God calls the Jews a stubborn and stiff-necked people.

The father of persistence is seeking what is right. Being helpful. The mother of persistence is the wish to serve God.

The parent of stubbornness is pride.

Pride puts us first, not God. When pride grabs us, we are prone to all manner of sin.

Stubborn means going my own way. Not seeking or accepting advice. Putting my self before others or the mission. I’d rather fail than admit any weakness.

Maybe in my case, there is a third way. Foolish persistence begs the advice, “Hey, wake up and smell the coffee.”

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Watch Out For What Can Kill Your Soul

January 12, 2017

Fear him who can kill both (your body and your soul). — Jesus

There does not seem to be a lot of attention paid these days to a spiritual person identified as Satan or The Deceiver in the New Testament. The medieval drawings of the Devil are often stuck in our memories.

Just as we talk about God whispering to us, someone else whispers to us. “Go ahead and do that. It’ll be fun. Everyone does it.”

There is a cartoon character who lives deep in the Appalachian mountains. A “good old boy”, he fishes, plays checkers, cheats at cards, and brews illegal moonshine. Sometimes the artist would draw Snuffy Smith with a small angel hovering over one shoulder and a small devil hovering over the other. These beings would engage in a verbal tug of war to influence Snuffy’s next decision.

Do you ever feel that same tug of war played out in your mind?

Andy Stanley has advised that whenever you get a feeling of uncertainty about a decision or proposed activity, you should stop and consider. Don’t just act rashly. There is that tug of war going on within you.

I’m teaching on Romans again. While studying about it, I ran into a commentator who said that while the other Pauline letters were written to people he knew or churches he had founded, he had never been to Rome and knew only a few of the Romans there. Therefore, he concludes, he wrote a dispassionate theological treatise.

Dispassionate? Where was this guy when he read the letter?

When I read the last half of the first chapter I feel the outrage and disgust of person who simply cannot believe the open flaunting of moral standards that he witnesses in Corinth–the city where he was when he wrote Romans.

“They became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.” And again, “Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” He talks about giving in to their passions and their debased minds. Then he lists all the things that he sees.

The Deceiver has cost them their souls. Fear him who can kill the soul.

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Waiting In Silence

January 11, 2017

For God alone, my soul waits in silence. — Psalm 62:1 and 62:5

Two things are difficult–waiting and silence.

Try doing them at the same time. It’s enough to drive the modern person to drink.

Hermann Hesse was called the first modern writer. His characters might have lived alone, but they needed noise. For example, the first thing the main character of Steppenwolf did when he entered his apartment was turn on the radio. He needed noise as a distraction.

Imagine Hesse writing today. Constant distraction. Does that smart phone ever leave your hand? Some people wear their Apple Watch or FitBit to bed. I wonder if the alerts wake them constantly.

We end a Yoga class lying on our backs on our mats in meditation usually called “Final Relaxation.” I’ve been teaching for years. I’ve seen many people who can settle into deep relaxation for those six precious minutes. Others fidget so much I fear they will wear out their mats.

A psychologist instructed a patient to go home, find a quiet place where he could be alone, and just spend an hour a day quietly by himself.

At the next session, the psychologist asked how it went. “Oh, I played around with my violin some. Picked up a book and read.”

“No,” the psychologist said, “I want you to sit quietly by yourself. Doing nothing. Not planning tomorrow. Just waiting quietly.” The man could not bear to be with himself. No wonder the family couldn’t bear to be with him either.

Waiting?

How will you hear God’s whispers or feel his nudges if you are noisy, distracted, and busy? 

Your soul needs to be fed. It likes silently waiting for God.

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What If We Lived Everyone Had A Soul

January 10, 2017

Yesterday I was a little philosophical. But not really if you digest the thought that we are all souls that have a physical body.

What if we took care of our souls like we took care of our bodies? For some of us, that’s not so good. On the other hand, checking out most of the advertisements on TV, magazines, interspersed in your social media “news” streams, and so on, you’d think that we devote hours of thinking about how to get our physical bodies beautiful.

What about our soul?

While I was meditating this morning, I was hit by this vision–what if we treated everyone we meet as a soul loved by a God who dearly wants to draw it (him/her) close?

What if a politician, instead of making an object of an opponent and says things like “it’s just politics”, actually considers that even opponents are human souls loved by God? Maybe despite differing opinions they could work together to solve problems that a government can solve.

Once again while meditating, The Autobiography of Malcolm X came to me. Have you not read that? As a Christian reading it 50 years ago, I was grieved that a black man in the 50s and 60s could not find acceptance within Christian circles but the followers of Islam welcomed him as a brother. Even when he traveled to Mecca.

What if, instead of sitting in our seats in church judging others who come into the room by their clothes or appearance or race, welcomed them as brothers and sisters. Fellow human souls loved by a God who wants to draw them close?

Would that change the way we live each day?

Certainly we must evaluate people and not be led astray by manipulators and people consumed by evil. But how many of those do you meet in a day?

Maybe today I will look at everyone I meet and think about just a little differently.

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We Don’t Have a Soul; We Are One

January 9, 2017

We are a soul that has a body; we’re not a body that has a soul. — John Ortberg, Sr. Pastor of Menlo Churches

We live in such a rationalistic age. Everything is about thinking. We believe in a proposition rather than experiencing God. We study the body in all its intricacies. We study the mind and the brain. We study words and repeat them.

Ancient peoples studied the soul.

What you find by reading the works of those ancient spiritual explorers and even those up until today that there is universal agreement across all cultures that there is a soul.

You, too, can get in touch with your soul.

Stop, pause, consider–who is the thinker of your thoughts?

When is it time to stop thinking, though, and just find that still point of communion with God. No need for words. No need for actions–that comes later. We finally slow down, open up, focus inward beyond thoughts and worries and plans, and bask in the light that comes from God.

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