You can’t live for God until you learn how to live because of God. You can’t make good choices for God until you’ve read the Gospel that says the choices you make DON’T make you who you are. What Christ has done for you makes you who you are. Yes, there are consequences to our choices, the choices we make have ramifications about where we end up, but here’s the Gospel: Where we end up, is not who we are. Who we are isn’t what we do, who we are is what has been done for us.
I wanted to complain today.
I wanted to tell my wife all the things that didn’t go as planned.
I wanted someone to notice I was working too many hours.
I wanted to talk to my family who I haven’t seen in months.
I wanted to put up a snarky, sarcastic facebook post.
I wanted to tweet my frustration. I even started to type a message in anger.
I wanted to complain because I read 10 other messages from other people complaining about something stupid. I selfishly thought, “If they knew what MY day looked like, maybe they wouldn’t be complaining to me about something so annoying.”
BUT.
I just taught a lesson two days ago on Philippians 2. Yeah, that’s the passage with the annoying verse that says, “do everything without complaining or arguing.” So annoying.
And yes, this is me complaining about a verse in the Bible that talks about not complaining. I see the irony. And I’m still complaining about it.
But here’s the problem with complaining: it doesn’t solve anything. If I’m not talking to someone who can DO something about it, all I’m doing is (at best) dragging someone else down with a burden they shouldn’t have to bear. Or (much worse) I begin to gossip and maybe tarnish someone else’s view of the person who’s wronged me.
But we want to get people in our corner. Plus, most people naturally complain about life. I’ve noticed lately that most people start conversations by complaining about whatever it is they can think of to complain about. The weather, their homework, their job, their spouse, their sports team not winning. It makes conversation. And it is interesting.
The problem is, we as Christians are no different when it comes to complaining. Part of following Christ is looking different than the world. Or as Philippians 2 puts it, to “shine like the stars.” To be a light in the darkness.
Part of the beautiful thing of preparing lessons for young people each week is that I spend a good amount of concentrated time reading and praying (inserted side note: my quiet time is late evenings at home – find what works for you!). The Bible always has this unique way of redirecting my life. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever read.
And how interesting that one of my main points that I taught (to a bunch of 13-year olds bouncing off the wall) is convicting me on a Saturday morning (I should probably complain here about being a loser, but I’m resisting the urge 
).
I wanted to complain, but I’m not going to. I’m going to press on, live free of taking others down, and choose God’s way.
The better way.
Yeah?
I read a tweet from a musician about a month ago that has stuck with me:
“Everyone needs to have a safe place, where you can expose the things you spend your life hiding. If you don’t have a safe place, find one.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about our need as humans for accountability and transparency. I believe that every person craves community. But the hard part about connections with others is that it takes sacrifice. There is a time commitment – and it takes some sort of change – some sort of initiative on our part.
I’ve found that there is always an excuse for not having time for meaningful relationships. My pastor, in reference to serving God, put it in perspective by saying (paraphrase):
I remember feeling convicted as he spoke those words. I never want to fall into the rut of being too busy that I can’t serve God and others.
And the same can be said of being accountable to some trustworthy friends.
For me, these meet ups do not need to happen every week, but they DO have to be intentional. And the gathering does not need to be entirely serious or struggle talk – it should be mixed with fun, laughs, prayer – combined with these sacred, spiritual moments.
James writes Read More
Last year, I compiled 15 quotes worth reading from Martin Luther King Jr. That list is quoted below, or you can go to the original post to check that out.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
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I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
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Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.
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Only in the darkness can you see the stars.
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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
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If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.
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To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
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Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
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All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
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At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
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Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?
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Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
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Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
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He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
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I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.
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I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
For something a little less “orthodox” for most of Christian thinking (I use the word “orthodox” meaning “accepted” here), you can check out my other post from today: MLK’s 6 reasons why non-violence is a good idea. His compelling list might just make you re-think some of your own thoughts on the issue.
“Were all in this TOGETHER.” -MLK.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day. I pray that God would give all of us dreams worth dying for.
Have you ever responded to someone or a situation with the comment, “All I can do is pray…”? I’ve said it many times before. And to be honest, I think it’s one of the dumbest things I say.
Another blogger, Stephen Altrogge, inspired this whole thought for me. He said, “When I say, ‘All I can do is pray’, what I’m really saying is…
- All I can do is ask the omnipotent, almighty God, who holds the universe in His hands to work on my behalf.
- All I can do is ask for grace from the God who gave up His son for me and adopted me into His family.
- All I can do is stop trying to run the world and ask God to do something.
- I can run most of my life on my own, but when it comes to this situation, all I can do is pray.
- I’ve run out of things that I can do, and now I guess I’ll resort to asking God for his help.
- For a while I had this situation under control, but now I’ve got to ask God to lend a hand.”
What a ridiculous statement, right? All of a sudden, with this innocent saying, I am revealing my lack of trust in God, my doubt that He is who He said He is, and that I believe my way is superior to God’s way.
See my normal response is to do, do, do.
This person is in trouble? …How do I fix it?
Someone needs something? …How can I provide?
Maybe it’s time I start trusting in God. Maybe God shouldn’t be my last resort. And maybe I should trust that God actually is in control.
What about you? Have you ever said this phrase? Do you think this reveals anything about you and your faith?
It looks like Rob Bell (pastor/author) will be releasing another book in 2011, this one entitled “Love Wins”. I couldn’t agree more with this statement, but I’m not sure if I will actually end up agreeing with his premise in this book (despite me openly supporting most of the conclusions Rob Bell comes to). The description at the Harper One website says:
Rob Bell reveals a secret deep in the heart of millions of Christians–they don’t believe what they have been taught are the essential truths of their faith. Out of respect for their tradition, they keep quiet, confiding to a few close friends their doubts and questions about salvation, Jesus, and, of course, God.
Bell brings out to the open and faces squarely the questions on everyone’s mind: Does it really make sense that God is a loving, kind, compassionate God who wants to know people in a personal way, but if they reject this relationship with Jesus, they will be sent to hell where God will eternally punish them forever?
In Love Wins, Bell goes to the heart of these issues and argues that the church’s traditional understanding of heaven and hell is actually not taught by the Bible. Bell is emphatically not offering a new view of heaven and hell; instead, he closely examines every verse in the Bible on heaven and hell and shows what they really teach. And he discovers that Jesus’s most fundamental teaching about heaven and hell is, “Love wins.”
The question raised in the second paragraph is a huge question, and one that is very dividing for many Christians. Brian McLaren weighed in his opinion this year in A New Kind of Christianity, and ends up with a lot of different answers than I would cite (despite me still deeply appreciating him and his heart). I’m not sure if Rob is going to take it as far as “hell is non-existent”, but the one thing that Bell seems to do well is walk the line of controversy, yet remain a consistent voice that challenges the Evangelical community. The best example of this is in Velvet Elvis where Rob Bell uses the example of questioning the Virgin birth to make a case for deconstructing one’s faith, even though he doesn’t actually make the claim that Jesus was not born of a Virgin. Since this is a pillar of faith for most Christians (myself included), this (of course) stirred controversy in the ole blogosphere (love this word), and Rob Bell blew up with a Christian bestseller. Bell’s like the Kanye West of Christian authors, minus the arrogance and annoyance factor…so I guess not much at all.
But it seems like this new book is inspired by this sermon (which you can download for free) – and I agree with the mantra that:
The cross is God’s way of saying, “Love Wins.”
I can get behind that. And if you really like this idea, you can buy the phrase for a buck and put it on your bumper. Of course.
Love Wins. I agree. We’ll see about his new book.
Also, you can check out our “Parent Cue”, which is a parent discussion guide at the church blog here. Can’t wait to see you all on Sunday!
