Sacrifice, Part Two

I want to talk to you about New Testament sacrifice.

Yes, I know that I just published a post declaring that all that sacrifice stuff was over. Jesus died as sin so that, in Him, our flesh and hearts and spirits could be made new and pure as well. But if you are reading this, you are still living on earth. And I think we'd all agree that, while our spirits have been made completely right before God in Christ, earth is still a nasty, nasty place, because "we do not yet see everything in subjection to him" (Hebrews 2:8).

As I said in my last post, because Jesus died and rose again, it is now unnecessary for anyone to die either spiritually or physically (aka resurrection bodies and heaven). But people still do. That is the reason for the Great Commission. That is the reason we don't immediately go to heaven when we become believers: so that, living this resurrection life, we may attract the broken, hurting, and dying and bring them to new life on earth and in heaven.

You can believe in Jesus and go to heaven when you die without much change on earth. You can assent to the deity of Jesus without submitting your daily life to Him. But that's half the gospel. And these days we have a Bride who has been deceived into believing that half of the cross is enough.

The fact is, you can live in as much spiritual death as you want. You can keep your mind full of worldly thoughts; you can refuse to address internal issues that cause sin; you can persist in negative, untrue beliefs. You can remain in fear.

As Paul addressed the Galatians: "You are no longer a slave, but a son" (4:7). But God will not force freedom on you if you don't want it. You can wander in the desert for 40 years if that's what you prefer. But I'm telling you there's a promised land that has already been bought by the blood of Jesus and paid for with His body, and it's got your name on it.

Jesus told an over-zealous Peter, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean" (John 13:10). Your spirit is completely clean if you are in Christ, and you're going to heaven. But if you want to reach a dying world with the "readiness given by the gospel of peace" as shoes for your feet (Ephesians 6:15), you have to wash them daily in the Word of God...that is, Jesus Christ and His truth. His sacrifice.

This leads me back to the sacrifice thing. Jesus was the once-for-all offering that killed sin forever. But the dust of sin's zombie corpse still clings to our feet because we live on earth. It whispers lies: that we are not good enough, that bad things will happen to us, that we will be tossed about in the world's whims. Sin--ours an other people's--argues with the Word of God in our lives. And even though we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and not of this world (John 17:16), we often believe these lies over the promises of God.

Like any good zombie, sin inspires fear. Fear is like one of those Old Testament sacrificial lambs coming back from the dead, creeping around your house bleating, "I'm baaa-aaack!"

Gross.

Not to be graphic, but part of New Testament sacrifice is laying your own unbelief and fear on the altar every day and cutting its throat. When that offering is burned in the spiritual realm, it gives off a pleasing aroma to God.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.--Romans 11:36-12:2

Paul is addressing the Romans here. If you recall, the Romans were the ones who nailed Jesus to the cross. They understood the cost of sacrifice.

Whoever separated the Bible into chapters divided these verses, but I think they are better read back-to-back. I think you can't understand 12:1 without reading 11:36. From him and through him and to him are all things. ALL THINGS. That means EVERYTHING that you are. The totality of this statement should make the lines following it hit you with greater gravity: present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

We tend to think about these verses in terms of sacrificing your "body" by abstaining from sin, or becoming a martyr, or whatever thousands of other ways that law-oriented preachers have parsed it out. I support keeping your body from sin, definitely, and sacrificing your time, money, and talents to the church; and my personal opinion is that martyrdom is an honor. But I think these verses go deeper. Yes, living sacrifice is something much different from martyrdom.

A while back, I tried to explain "sacrifice" to a group of ESL fourth-graders who were unfamiliar with the word. After a lengthy discussion with many examples, they concluded that sacrifice is "giving up something you want for someone else." That's an over-simplification, but it rings true.

Sacrifice is submission to the Word of God in the face of the world's scare tactics. Why? Because it costs us something.

I think that, often, we want our fear. We believe that if we give up control of our lives to God, He won't come through for us. We still think we can manage things ourselves. We think all the weight of responsibility is on us. So we hold on to our anxiety, as if worrying about something or over-thinking it gives us control. (FYI: it doesn't. Not any more than unicorns can fly in the sky.)

So to lay fear and anxiety on the altar of God every day is sometimes the hardest thing we can do because it means releasing control. And that requires humility.

I think this kind of sacrifice applies to anything--pet sins, unforgiveness, hoping in romantic relationships over Christ, etc. But I am addressing anxiety specifically because it is personal.

I have been struggling with many worries as my first year of teaching approaches. I was also struggling with a negative attitude. To be honest, my internal emo negativity is simply a by-product of pride, because in my human heart I believe I deserve to be in control of my life and that, of course, everything should be easy-peasy lemon squeezy for me (to put it in elementary terms).

But I decided that I was tired of being in an anxious state. I also concluded that my bad attitude was really a killjoy for the positive, bubblelicious woman God created me to be. I had a choice whether to accept the lies of fear and pride or to BURN THEM. Well, y'all know I can be a spiritual pyro. So I took the fear of disappointment, failure, along with my nasty bad attitude and every other zombie in my heart's closet, and burned them on the altar before God.

You can't imagine the relief I felt and the joyful intimacy with God that was born from submission to Him in these areas. Now that I'm gaining freedom, He is showing me more and more of who I am and what He can do in my life. I can't go back now. If the lies try to come back, I'll just put them back up there, fire up the blowtorch of the Father's love, and give them what they deserve as a criminal against the daughter of the King.

I think this type of sacrifice is what God really wants. Everyone struggles with anxiety and pride, but the beautiful news is that, as believers, we have the power to renew our minds every single day by completely rejecting the lies of darkness in the light of His promises.

Present your bodies holy and acceptable, Paul instructs us. The action word here is not "make your bodies holy and acceptable," but rather present. Because of Jesus, we already are holy and acceptable; it's our daily submission to that truth that makes a clean presentation. According to these verses, if we even want to know what is acceptable and good and perfect, we have to renew our minds to the truth.

The truth is Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. The truth is God's perfect love for you.

I challenge you to examine your heart to find areas of fear or negativity, then submit those areas to God in humility and intimacy. He will come through with fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifice.

Sacrifice, Part One

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.--Hebrews 10:1

A major act of worship for Old Testament Jews was sacrifice. They could not enter the temple without presenting a sacrifice for sin. This sin offering opened the door for Jews to commune with God in the more holy parts of the temple. (You can read Leviticus if you want to know all the specifications and gory details.)

We don't sacrifice animals anymore, but just imagine what it might have been like. (Sorry to all you animal lovers out there.) Imagine leading your lamb, the one that you had herded and protected from its birth, up to an altar, laying your hand on its head as a symbolic imputation of sin, and watching its throat slit for your impurities and transgressions.

To most suburban Westerners, this practice probably seems at best weird and at worst cruel, barbaric, and primitive. To a non-animal lover like me (again, sorry), it just seems nasty and troublesome. Can you imagine the sacrifices of thousands of animals burning on altars? I mean, just think about how much blood that would be. There were probably some serious smells happening in the temple courts, and none of them were pleasant. Even though the priests' methods were relatively humane (and the animals were probably going to be slaughtered and eaten eventually anyway), sacrifice is not a pretty picture.

The question you're probably asking yourself about now is, "Why would God require such a strange and bloody thing?"

So....think about all the genocides, murders, child abuse, forced labor, sex trafficking, broken relationships, oppression, cruelty, disease, disasters, hopelessness, depression, uncertainty, anxiety, failure, addiction--the unfathomable horror of our world. (As if you weren't already appalled at the animal sacrifice thing.) Consider all that chaos and terror for just a moment.

Then consider a God who is the exact opposite of all of that. Imagine a being who "is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). No dark spot in Him at all--not one atom of cruelty, not one thought of hate.

It's hard for us to imagine one so perfect in love, goodness, justice, and purity. But since we're human, we are all too familiar with sin and its consequences. We understand pain. So we can perhaps grasp the goodness of God by thinking of it as a direct contrast to everything we know.

If one so perfect does exist, it would be impossible for someone like me or you--someone who has been exposed to and has participated in the imperfection of the world--to enter His presence without first becoming clean from impurities.

For us to become clean, sin has to die.

That was what the animal sacrifice was for: to symbolically slaughter the sins of the people. Devout Jews saw this process repeatedly over the course of their lives until sacrifice became inseparable from their existence and their identity: God is good. You are not. Someone has to die. Over and over again. Were you a jerk to your neighbor? Kill a goat! Did you drop a hammer on your foot and utter a curse? So long, pet doves. You can try to be perfect next week...but I wouldn't count on that bull making it to his next birthday. The Jews became defined by the hopelessness of how imperfect they were in comparison to God.

Have you ever felt like a failure? Have you ever felt hopeless?

I want to introduce you to my friend, Jesus.

You see, the reason for all the animal sacrifice was to remind the Jews that they could never achieve perfection on their own. It was to show them that they needed a permanent sacrifice. Animals are sinless because they can't make decisions, like we do. They don't have a sense of right and wrong or a deep sense of love. (Again, sorry animal lovers...I know your dog loves you, but I promise your mother, wife, friend loves you in a deeper way.) In order to take care of our problems once and for all, we needed a sinless human.

I want you to think about Jesus on the cross. There are many graphic descriptions of crucifixion you can find if you really want to know the details. I think every believer needs to understand what Jesus went through on the cross, not so that we may be condemned, but so that we may be convinced of our holiness through the perfection of His sacrifice.

Think about the animals being slaughtered. Then think about the perfection of God in contrast to the horrors of the world. Then think this: God sacrificed Himself.

I'm not trying to be morbid. (Network TV now provides a great selection of morbidity if that's what you're after.) I'm just telling the truth. It's amazing to me how many Christians try to worship without recognizing the cross. His death is our life.

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).

When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:8-10).

It's hard for us to wrap our minds around sacrifice, especially literal sacrifice. As we see above, God doesn't really enjoy it either--especially not when He was the object of sacrifice Himself. Not really a fun-in-the-sun Kodak moment for Jesus. But sacrifice is a requirement that God must impose because He is perfectly good. His nature demands purity.

I could write a whole book about God's holiness, the symbolic nature of offering, and why sacrifice is required to approach Him. If you want to talk about that, send me an email. (Or better yet, read The Attributes of God by A.W. Tozer.) For the purposes of keeping this blog post shorter than War and Peace, I'm just going to wrap it up with thoughts about why Jesus said "It is finished" on the cross.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Jesus not only bore our sin, He became our sin. When He died, sin died. All the sin in us--past, present, future--died.  The God-man who had never known separation from the perfect goodness of God, who was completely unfamiliar with the horrors I described earlier in this post, had to become the horror. Try to wrap your mind around that.

Sin--all the horror of the world--was separating a perfect Father from His wounded, terrorized children. For a time He was content for it to be slaughtered in the flesh of bulls and sheep. But one beautiful day, He took sin and violently destroyed it once and for all, flogging it, piercing it, and nailing it to a cross in the form of the flesh of...Himself.

We may never really understand this glorious exchange in this earthly life. It's a mystery that should leave us humbled.

All the sin in us was placed on that cross. It became unnecessary, from that moment on, for anyone to die for sin. Goats, bulls, lambs, doves never had to die again, and we don't either. Jesus died--and in Him, so did we.

But that's not all. The greater news is this: Jesus rose from the dead--and in Him, so did we. We live a new reality, one infused with hope and success and freedom.

And that's what I want to talk about in my next post. Stay tuned.

Gimme that Gospel

I have been listening to gospel music lately. (If you haven't made a Israel Houghton Pandora station, DO IT.) Even non-Christians listen to gospel because of it is so exciting and moving. You can call it emotionalism or whatever you want, but the fact is that, if it's done right by people who really have a heart of worship, gospel music brings a spirit of joy that can be felt even by people who don't know the Lord.

If you know me, which most of you do, you know that I spent a lot of time in graduate school studying American slavery. (Why I would pick such a depressing subject to specialize in, I don't know.) It occurred to me this week that one of the reasons gospel music is so moving is because it is a genre created by people who understood the meaning of freedom. Even during the restrictive and horrific times of Jim Crow laws and government-approved African-American oppression, gospel music was a way for a disadvantaged people group to find purpose. It was a constructive outlet for intense emotions. In addition to that--and this is the reason I've been listening to it this week--gospel music is appealing because it communicates dogged resilience and stubborn perseverance. It's laughing in the face of oppression; it's flagrant rebellion against the lies of a relentless enemy; it's running out in front of an oncoming army and screaming like a madman with the kind of boldness even William Wallace would admire.

Honestly, it's borderline ballistic. But the reason there is an under-melody of joy in gospel music is because it is sung from a position of victory. It is sung by people who have stepped into the light of freedom from a place of intense bondage. They know what slavery is, and they are NOT going back.

Christians of all backgrounds: this is our story.

"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'"-- Romans 8:15

We were all captivated and held hostage by sin until Jesus came and liberated us (Isaiah 61:1). As people who are free, we should be unstoppable, walking in the authority of sons and daughters. We have the keys to Dad's house in our pockets.

But I think that many of us (well, all of us at some point) think like the Israelites after they were liberated from Egypt.

"'...I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.' Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery."--Exodus 6:8-9

All human beings are born into slavery. We are all born into a culture, an onslaught of mindsets, a fallen world that breaks spirits until we submit to slavery. Gospel music emphasizes freedom from slave mentalities that color every thought and action of our daily lives. I think that's why it touches even unbelievers: because they, too, have experienced slavery.

Jesus wore a crown of thorns so that your slave mentality could be redeemed. But sadly, we as Christians are often more content to wander in the wilderness, with a victim mentality and without an identity, eating manna the rest of our lives, than enter the promised land. We've been so brainwashed by the slave master that we can't conceive of a victory that has already been won.

How many of you know: if you're in Christ, you are more than a conqueror simply based on His victory (Romans 8:37). If you still see yourself as a slave or victim, it's in your mind.

I'm not knocking anybody for this, because this week has been an exercise in breaking every thought that comes from fear. I asked the Lord to give me discernment about thoughts that move me deeply, lead me down rabbit trails in my mind, or influence my behavior. If they are thoughts that come from slavery, from fear, they get thrown on a bonfire. If they are a thought from or about Jesus, they get to stay.

There really are only those two choices for any thought in my mind that is deeper than what I'll eat for breakfast or brushing my teeth. Jesus or fear. I'm not over-analyzing every thought (Lord knows I've had enough analyzation)--I've asked for divine discernment from the Spirit of God. And He shows me the origin of the thought before I finish thinking it. It's that simple: keep it or burn it, and go on your merry way. It's so incredibly freeing that it makes me want to sing gospel music from my rooftop.

God created me (and you) to be fearless. This is a kind of fearlessness beyond "having fear and continuing anyway." It's kingdom boldness. It is to literally be without fear in everything because the love of God casts out every consideration but Himself (1 John 4:18). Slaves are afraid; followers of Christ are without fear. I want that so badly. But I can't embrace that identity if I'm agreeing with and submitting to the slave master of fear.

It's not easy to submit your thought life to God. To be honest, I've been holding onto it all this time because--like a true slave--I felt like it was the one thing I could control. But in reality, it was controlling me. In my thoughts, fear was able to creep in and influence my behavior. Worse, it was hijacking my identity, because I hoarded my mind and didn't allow God in. The enemy was able to accuse me of the very things I was afraid to be accused of.

It takes good friends to remind you that broken spirit and harsh slavery are not your identity. Fear is not your identity. It took several people in my life (as resistant as I am) to remind me that I don't have to let fear influence my thought patterns. A good friend (or sibling...thanks, little bro) will tell you, "Your thoughts are, like, ridiculous psycho. Better look at what's motivating that. Hello, you're not a slave."

There were actually slaves after the Civil War who weren't aware that they were free because they were so isolated. They continued to submit to a life of slavery just because no one told them the good news.

I'm telling you today. Jesus has already freed you. The only weapon the devil has is to convince you that you're still a slave. Ask for discernment of your thoughts, because Jesus will surely break every chain in His name.

Genie in a Bottle

I am in a season of what we who speak Christianese call "pruning." It is also referred to as "the winepress." In regular people talk, it's called, "OUCH."

If you want true transformation, if you want to become who He designed you to be, it usually means spiritual heart surgery. The world has influenced our minds with its abuse and ideas. He removes those things to make room for His endless, perfect love: the only thing in the universe that offers us unconditional security and hope.

Through His Holy Spirit (and only through Him), God has brought me such a long way, and freed me from so many wounds and issues that I didn't even know were there, which is awesome. It's just that the process sometimes feels heavy...or like someone is giving you a shot in your soul...a shot with a really long, fat needle that burns and makes you want to slap the nurse. You feel SO MUCH BETTER when it's over, and it doesn't even last that long, but the whole time it's happening, you're screaming, "This is not what I signed up for!" You come in for a lovely little checkup, and you end up having a procedure for a problem you didn't know you had.

Have I made my point clear? God gets rid of the cancer that is killing us. He heals those emotional wounds and the prideful mentalities and the false hopes, replacing them all with the eternal goodness of Himself. But boy is it a rattling process sometimes.

I realized recently that, due to years of of-and-on pruning seasons (and one too many dramatic, taking-yourself-too-seriously worship songs), I tend to think of Holy Spirit as the cosmic killjoy of the Trinity, the mean nurse with all the shots. This is the picture in my head: Jesus is leaping around doing backflips on His white horse and yelling, "I'm King of the Universe!" and Holy Spirit is standing nearby with a scowl like Felix Unger, shaking His head and saying, "Tsk, tsk, Jesus...there is really no need for all these shenanigans. The are people are messed up and MUST be FIXED if I am expected to live inside them. What a dirty job, but...(sigh) someone has to do it. Since you and Daddy are having too much fun, I guess it will have to be me."

I know this sounds ridiculous. When I realized it this week, I was like, "Wait a second....that's not what the Bible says."

I've been re-reading Romans 8, and it's been coming at me from every sermon I've heard over the past week or two, so I guess there's a reason for that. I won't retype the whole thing here, but I think you should go read it for yourself.

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace (v. 6).

Life and peace. Not stress, hopelessness, and punk alternative music.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).

What if we really believed that? God Himself--Jesus and the Father--are the Spirit. He's not some awkward third-party body guard, silent and moody, waiting to kick people in the rear end. Nor is He God's enslaved minion, like the Genie from Aladdin, a special friend who just grants selfish wishes whenever we snap our fingers. He's not an afterthought to the Trinity. He is THE Spirit of GOD, with all of God's personality and goodness. And He is Jesus' greatest gift to us, and actually a better part of God to have around even than Jesus in the flesh, because He can live inside of us. Jesus said so Himself (John 16:7).

And Paul goes even further.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control....(Galatians 5:22).

If we work to obtain these things ourselves, we simply can't do it. Yes, you can be successful for a time at managing your behavior....But it's not really about the behavior. If you don't address the root issue that causes unhealthy behaviors, or adopt the right thinking that causes the good behaviors, sin is always going to be a challenge, and you're always going to be fighting it.

But what does Romans say the Spirit brings?...Oh yeah, peace.

So although the pruning process is painful, it's way less painful than spending your life fighting against your own wounds and then internalizing victimization as your identity. This goes WAY deeper, but if you want a great example of "failure to heal," you could just read Judges. It's the story of people recognizing right and wrong, then trying to live up to a moral code without addressing the issues that caused their hearts to want to sin in the first place. They always failed, which resulted in such disasters as people poking out one another's eyeballs, stabbing obese kings to death, and cutting up their own concubines...oh yeah, and then mailing the body parts to different people.....Folks got issues.

"Royal fail" doesn't begin to describe humanity in so many of our failings. But it's really not our fault that we're messed up. I think that when we go through seasons of pruning, we tend to think we're defective. The light of God shines on us (Ephesians 5:13), we see our faults, and we think, "Gosh, how can He ever use me? I'm a hot mess." We even sometimes feel hopeless, like there is no way we will ever overcome these issues, sins, negative thoughts, wrong beliefs.

And let me assure you: we won't. Thanks be to God: it's not up to us, because we can't do it. That's like asking a 2-year-old to perform brain surgery. Even if they were smart enough, they don't have the fine motor skills to even pick up the utensils.

But Holy Spirit does.

And His ultimate goal is not to condemn us or make us feel down on ourselves. He convicts the world of sin, but He convicts God's people of who they are (John 16:8). He doesn't "discipline" us like earthly fathers, who get angry and spank without explanation (Hebrews 12...just read the whole chapter). Rather, God disciples us through His Holy Spirit, leading gently and healing and comforting through Holy Spirit in a way only He can do.

Basically, Holy Spirit doesn't have ulterior motives to crush followers of Jesus into submission to God. He has one aim: to make the love of God known to the world through Jesus Christ. When that love enters, sure, it prunes some things; but it's only clearing things out of the way so we can experience the JOY of knowing the love of the Father through Jesus Christ. 

Holy Spirit isn't some mysterious, creepy old sorcerer. He is not a grumpy old man. He is not some floating, enigmatic mist, either. He has a personality. He is actually God Himself coming to live within us. He is deep and rich and sometimes, well, weird. (I mean, regeneration of limbs and being raised from the dead is kind of strange....and these things do happen in the world today. Holy Spirit is working.) He can seem mysterious. However, relationship with Him is really not that complicated. He comes to bring simplicity to our walk with the Lord by revealing the heart of the Father through the Son. And when we get the epitomal revelation that the Father loves us, and in that is our whole identity, we're relieved, filled not with emo songs about rejection and failure, but with joyful songs of worship. (Sorry, Death Cab.)

If you're in a time of pruning, great! God is just de-complicating your spirit to make room for His joy.

From now on, I will picture Holy Spirit smiling and laughing, full of life and the realest kind of love there is.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

It's a Bird...It's a Plane.....

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.--Ephesians 2:8-10

Every kid wants to be a superhero. If you work with kids, like me, it's a topic that comes up quite a bit...especially during times when the students are supposed to be talking about letters and numbers, not movies and comic books.

So I am reminded often of my favorite superhero, Spider-Man. I've wondered before why he is my favorite, but I think it's because Peter Parker is so relatable. He's just a dumb kid from a poor area of town with no social skills and no future (at least in the Tobey Maguire movie version--I am uneducated about the comic books or the more recent films). He's smart, but a lot of good it's doing him...he struggles even to make conversation. He even has a selfish, scared, revengeful heart that causes him to let a burglar get away...and he loses his Uncle Ben because of his own mistake. 

Peter Parker is a loser with a capital L. I mean, really: this kid's got NOTHING. 

Nothing except a radioactive spider bite that changes his life.

I think that when Marvel published the comic books about Spider-Man, they didn't realize that, in some unorthodox way, they were telling the Christian story.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:22-30).

That's a hefty chunk of scripture, but what it's saying is that God is so wise that even his "foolishness" (something that looks foolish to the world--the entire message of grace and redemption through Jesus) is way wiser than what we can come up with. 

If you feel today that you are an idiot, unaccomplished, lowly, exhausted, worthless, unable to do anything for God: great!! I mean, we'll work on your self-esteem...but when you're at a place of surrender like that, knowing that what God has commissioned us to do is way harder than you could ever accomplish, you're at a wonderful place, because that's just where God can use you. 

I mean, think about it: Jesus didn't say "Go out and make converts, beating people in the head with a Bible and telling them to get saved or go to hell." That's actually pretty easy.All you'd have to do is go into the streets, knock a few people around, and go home and eat a hamburger and watch TV, feeling good about yourself for what you've "done for God." 

But what Jesus actually said was, "Go out into the world and make disciples" (Matthew 28:16-20). That means having real relationship with people--even people we in our Pharisee mindsets find dirty. It means listening to them, holding them, teaching them, cleaning their wounds, praying for them, and authentically caring about them, sharing our hearts with them as He does and loving them even if they reject and kill you. That's hard stuff. If you think you can accomplish that without the Holy Spirit, you have a rude awakening coming. And, not to be a jerk, but if you think you can do that in your own strength, chances are you're not actually doing it. You've probably skipped straight to the eating a hamburger and feeling smug about yourself part. 

It's the truth. And I'm preaching to myself more than anyone.

But thanks be to God, because He humbles us enough to get us out of our own way and lead us to the fulfilling life of ministry He designed from the first.

Think about Batman. He had some SERIOUS childhood issues. He needed therapy. But instead, he adopted a savior complex, built a cool car, hired a genius butler, and tried to redeem his own issues. Sure, he was smart, could learn any number of languages, probably had 25 graduate degrees, and could probably beat even Karate Kid to a pulp. But all of that didn't heal his pain. It did nothing to redeem him. At the end of the day, Batman is just a guy wearing a weird black mask and missing what was stolen from him in his childhood.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker is daydreaming about really cool Batman-esque cars when he accidentally shoots some web out of his wrist and exclaims, "Hey, I didn't know I could do that!" 

We are all inept in our human strength, no matter how great and awesome and talented and mysteriously charming we are. The cross brings us to this life-altering revelation. But that's not all. Jesus didn't just die: He was raised from the dead. And the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead lives in YOU, Spirit-filled believer (Romans 8:11). When you start walking in that revelation, you discover powers you didn't know you had...and, haphazardly, probably clumsily, but definitely with eternal effects, you start living the Great Commission.

Like Batman, I was a scholar, an intellectual, someone who often didn't stop to listen to the Holy Spirit because, obviously, I already knew exactly what to do. God had to show me more and more that being a snotty little hipster was basically as weird as dressing up in a black skin-tight outfit and trying to save the world by myself. I'm not getting down on myself here; God gave me tremendous talents and skills. I am very blessed. But it tends to be the talented of us who put the most pressure on ourselves. It tends to be the over-achievers who invest most of our identity in what we can do. I want you to experience this relief today: it's not about you. It's all about Jesus.

While my own talents can accomplish a lot in the world, and even make a few people's lives better, they can't bring them the deep, personal, intimate healing, joy, and love that God wants to give everyone. Without Him, I can't bring freedom to a lost and dying world. I'm just a person with a savior complex who needs therapy.

When I look at myself from an eternal, cosmic perspective, I look a lot like Peter Parker: I got nothing...just a lot of pride and maybe some photography skills. I'm really glad the saving of the world doesn't depend on me, because, frankly, the world would have no hope. Instead, we have an eternal hope: Jesus Christ...who, by the way, already saved the world and probably looked way better (and less creepy) than Batman doing it.

Jesus said, "Turn and become like children." Children want to be superheros. They dream of great things, and they know they can't get there by themselves. Like them, we need a radioactive spider bite from Holy Spirit. And what a beautiful, tremendous relief it is to discover that, in the consistency and perfection of God, NOTHING depends on your skill, wisdom, intellect, beauty, or ability to build really cool cars. It all depends on Him, so just go for what He's telling you to do. Even if you're imperfect, He's still going to make it happen, because He is perfect.

I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2).

It's the great joke of the gospel: God is so awesome that He can make even a talking donkey (Numbers 22) or rocks accomplish His purposes (Luke 19:40). His foolishness is wiser than men.

But He doesn't use rocks. He can do what He wants in spite of us, but He desires to do it with us. That's the gospel.

If you're talented, great. But don't put so much pressure on yourself to achieve, because that only leads to paralyzing fear, anxiety, and failure. Only when you realize it's not up to you will you start walking in the boldness He's called you to--and you will really change the world.

I don't normally read the Message, since it's such a paraphrase translation, but I like how it gives life to Matthew 11:28-30. So that's the thought I want to leave with you, the sweet, relieving invitation of Jesus:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

For an over-achiever like me, this is good news. Happy web-slinging, folks.

Half-Full? That doesn't sound like the gospel to me....

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.--Psalm 23:5

Can you imagine a soldier going out on the very front of the battle lines, sitting down at a banquet table, humming as he ties on one of those Red Lobster bibs, and eating a scrumptious meal as if nothing were going on? Think about the faces of the enemy as they march toward him. They would probably look at each other like, "What does this guy think he's doing?"

With God, that's basically what we get to do. This verse doesn't say, "God shows me a place to cower and hide from my big meany-britches enemies until they go away." It says that He prepares a table (read: the most DELICIOUS heavenly buffet EVER), even when the enemy is prowling around.

Eat that, devil.

I think our "enemies" are often not physical people that want to chop our heads off, like they were in King David's day. I think, for us in the Western world at least, "enemies" are far more insidious, and they want to do to us spiritually what King Saul wanted to do to David: spear us to a wall....or at least cripple or maim us.

Unfortunately, they are often successful.

I'm talking about fear and an earth-bound mentality.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.--Colossians 3:1-3

Things that are above. Why did Paul have to write this twice? Because, although these Christians were born-again in their spirits, their minds were still concerned about their earthly lives.

I don't want you to quit your job and spend three weeks on your face in prayer. (I mean, unless God tells you to. In that case, right on, brother.) We're not meant to go around like zombies, only thinking about roses and clouds and bumping into door frames. It was Paul who said, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). But we're also not meant to treat work as a treadmill, an endless task, believing that WE are the ones providing for ourselves--that our earthly comforts depend completely on us. We are not meant to be afraid of earthly tasks--afraid to do them, or afraid not to do them.

I think what this verse from Colossians means is this, Stop worrying about yourself and thinking too far into the future about your physical needs. By the same token, stop over-spiritualizing every earthly detail of your life. Just work together with His energy, remembering who you are and from whom your provision comes. 

You CAN accomplish your tasks in this earthly life--just do it to the rhythms of my grace, knowing that this isn't the end or the object. Your earthly life is a mist (James 4:14). Stop being afraid of a future that isn't here. Have confidence in your Redeemer. Remember that you're a son or daughter of the King, and your treasure is with Him.

It's the biblical equivalent of James Earl Jones's voice in The Lion King: "Remember, Simbaaaa....remember who you are...." (Speaking of over-spiritualizing earthly things....) I mean, as soon as Simba realized his identity, he was empowered to take back the kingdom. Because it really wasn't about his uncle or who was in charge of the pridelands--that was earthly stuff. It was about his relationship with his father, and realizing that he was royalty. (I KNOW my Disney references bear witness with some of y'all in your spirit...don't even lie!)

I tend to err on the side of over-working rather than under-working, fearing that if I don't "get ahead" financially (as if I can foresee what my expenses will be), I will "fall behind" (whatever that means). At the same time, I also sometimes become paralyzed when faced with earthly choices (as meaningful as jobs or as insignificant as ordering at a restaurant) because I fear making a "wrong choice" and suffering regret. I have consistently over-thought decisions I have had to make. The conflict between indecision and overworking is what causes pretty much every kind of stress I have felt in my life. I'm being real. I know y'all are following me.

This week, God has ordered me specifically to rest and not work. (And, to emphasize the point, He removed whatever work schedule I could have had...He knows me too well.) This is hard for me, because Earthly Mentality #1 (WORK WORK WORK) started pounding in my head. Earthly Mentality #2 (THINK THINK THINK) decided to join the party as well. The result was mild depression, a symptom of fear.

But, as I have obeyed and spent much time in prayer and worship, I learned some things about the heart of the Father. It's only Wednesday, and already I have had two unexpected work opportunities open up for me for greater financial blessing and experience. Not only that, but I've had several ministry opportunities, which I've been able to take advantage of due to my open schedule.

Basically, He is working it out better than I could have with all my planning, strategizing, scheming, or worrying.

Over and over again, He has to say to me, "Relax, honey. I promise you, I got this. You're going to like my plan way better than yours."

The pivotal truth is this: we are in Christ. There is no need to be concerned about earthly things. Be responsible for them, and live your life, but don't allow fear of them--of not doing it right, of not having enough, of failure--keep you from accomplishing things in the spiritual realm.

I think sometimes we fear making a "wrong decision," so we make no decision. We do nothing. We become paralyzed by fear, too concerned about our earthly lives to break free from them, or even to live them at all. We either run around like crazy hamsters on wheels, or we sit down and play video games all day. We go around trying to find out if the glass is half-empty or half-full, trying to create in ourselves a "good attitude" or to convince ourselves that our bad attitude is prophetic, a signal of negative things to come.

But people who created that metaphor are all wrong when it comes to Christians. We don't see the glass as half-full OR half-empty. Our attitudes aren't limited by what the world sees. We are seated with Christ in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), which makes for a pretty good view. We know our work in the world is important, but it's nothing compared with eternity. We don't rely on ourselves for understanding, like people of the earth, anxiously peering into the glass and measuring drop by drop.

We don't have to try to overcome our "bad attitudes" or to manufacture some kind of "good attitude"--we have a God attitude. Our way of thinking  is genetic. It comes from our Father.

We can have perfect peace when the whole world is in chaos, because we get something they don't. We understand that the cup isn't the object. The Living Water is....and our cup overflows. Half-full or half-empty isn't really a question.

You have no reason to fear. God has set a five-course banquet and fancy silverware before you in the presence of your fears, because they're only smoke screens and lies. You are a child of the King. Eat up. And drink up, too, because your supply will never run out.

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"--Jesus (John 7:37-38)

Don't Burn the Onions

"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."--Job 42:2

Onions need to be cooked at a low temperature, because if you get your skillet too hot, you're going to burn the butter and blacken the onions. You will end up with a sizzling mess.

But I have a bad habit when it comes to cooking onions. Impatience, twenty-first-century addiction to instant gratification, and simple hunger kick in. I end up turning the temperature high because I want my onions to cook faster. As a result, instead of perfectly tender onion strips, I end up with pieces that are black on one side and raw on the other. This makes for a meal that is ready faster but is not nearly as appetizing as one that is timed properly.

Just like I have a hunger for dinner, I have a strong hunger for full-time ministry. (This blog is going to speak to those of you who have the same desire.) I want the bing bang boom of the Christian life: moving to a third-world country, adopting some orphans, picking out people's lice, praying for the sick, casting out demons--everything. I have a wild imagination. I want to do the stuff that other people say I'm crazy for doing. I want the fire! I want the kind of life people want to read books about....you know, books like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I'm into the epic stuff, the Acts life, the sell-all-you-have-and-follow-me directive. (At least, this is what I tell people.)

I'm a pretty extreme person. Any onion I've ever cooked can testify to that. (Can I get a witness?? ...Nope, they're all burned to a crisp.)

I wanna get to it. Sometimes my everyday American life (Texas style) seems to have about as much flavor as a saltine cracker compared to the Asian buffet adventures I dream up for myself. I can get restless and impatient--even though moving here and teaching elementary school were steps of faith, pretty extreme. In fact, they were exactly what God told me to do.

I was half-mindedly contemplating all of this while cooking dinner recently. As I struggled impatiently to watch slow onions cook, I considered turning them up. But God said to me, Stop. Don't burn the onions.

Just as it takes the perfect amount of time and temperature to cook onions to the perfect consistency, so it takes just the right conditions for God's plan for me to come to pass in the way He intends. He's the cook, not me. He knows just how to spice, just how to stir, just how much time He needs to get it just right. It's not that I'm a smelly, belligerent, raw onion; it's just that the big plan is much more intricate than I can imagine and involves way more people than I would choose to involve in my onion-burning impatience. Since He created me, He knows perfectly how to prepare my life.

While He cooks, the table must be set. Other dishes must be prepared, other ingredients chopped, other pots boiled. If I neglect to do those things and concentrate only on the onions, I will end up with nothing for dinner but burnt onions.

See what I mean?

I know it's a cheesy metaphor, but I think you're tracking with me.

What's more, if you rush His process trying to get to your big dream, you miss the amazing gifts He has placed in your path.

Picture a wife on date night with her husband. She knows they're going to her favorite restaurant, because he's already told her. She can't stop thinking about that big, juicy steak that she knows is waiting for her. So she throws aside the chocolates, the little notes left all over the house, the conversation in the car, the whole movie he brings her to watch (which she asked to see in the first place). She completely ignores her husband, in fact, because she wants to eat steak.

Getting the picture? The husband doesn't care as much about the steak as he does about spending time with his bride.

Like I say, I know all this sounds pretty cheesy, and I don't like sounding cheesy. I am not trying to give you prescribed answers to fix your spiritual problems. I know firsthand: waiting is HARD, especially if what you're waiting for is something you've been promised by God Himself, something you know is so wonderful and so amazing and beyond your wildest dreams because, after all, He does for us beyond what we could ask, think, or even imagine (Ephesians 3:20). It's easy for restlessness to kick in. Restlessness breeds impatience; and impatience, resentment.

That's a dangerous combo, people...hot enough to scorch any meal the Celestial Chef is trying to prepare.

Not that you can really ruin His plan for your life anyway. But you can make it way less fun than He intended for it to be for you.

I don't mean we shouldn't contend for those big ministry dreams we have. We should definitely ask for and pursue them. Actually, I believe we should hold on to those dreams, because they're already happening. We should remember that God is a right now God. In His eyes, the ministry is already around you right now. Don't forget to set the table because you're so ready to eat. Don't neglect to stop and pray for a stranger, feed the orphans, be faithful at work, train your tongue, forgive your family member, serve at church, wash someone's feet, because you are "waiting" for "big ministry" to happen.

You're called. Don't make excuses for not doing what is right in front of you. If you don't do small things now, you'll probably wimp out about big things later. (I may already know about this from experience, so don't think I'm condemning you.)

But also remember that you can relax and rest easy, because the One who does the ministry isn't you. Not only is ministry being done through you, it is being done on you, like, at the same time!

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

He prepares everything for the meal beforehand, then cooks it for you. Don't forsake a single morsel of the feast prepared for you by a God who cares more about the details and the big picture than you do. Believe me, if He promised it, He will do it.

Onions really don't take that long to cook, anyway.