Category Archives: God and Culture

We are regularly bombarded by current events. Life moves by us at a break-neck pace. Without careful forethought it is easy to get swept up into believing and repeating exactly what our culture says. We can literally become culture clones. But God calls us to look at culture through His lens first, before we ever decide how to react and respond to the things happening around us.

He Has Come

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Christmas is a vivid reminder to the world that Jesus did in fact come.

Jesus, having the ability to meet our deepest need and hearing the command of God, came down to earth and took on human form. He became flesh and “moved into the neighborhood”.

Having heard the call of God and having acted in obedience Jesus went on to secure for the world the opportunity to relationship with God the Father.

This Christmas as you exchange gifts, spend time with family and reflect on another year gone by may you also consider the profound truth that Jesus came.

And as you reflect may you come to see that this action of Christ’s coming is not just something to be admired by His followers but something to be emulated. We, who are children of God, are called to enter into this same world that Jesus entered in order to bring the same hope Jesus himself brought. This hope is the truth that “the world might be saved through Jesus”.

My prayer for all you this Christmas is that you would rediscover Jesus as the one who came and the one who sends. That this Christmas you would not only find Jesus but take Jesus to a world the Father still desperately loves.

Merry Christmas!

 

Sizzle, Pop and Swagger

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Sometimes I fear that Jesus would have been voted off his own reality television show.

Jesus was never really concerned with popularity. Am I?

Jesus did not call his disciples to popularity he called them to die. This is the heart of discipleship. To be a disciple is to be a follower. To follow Jesus means to take the path of suffering and death. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

How do you make the concept of death and suffering pop? How do we make these ideas sizzle? Do inmates on death row have swagger?

We live in a culture that worships success. It is said that if something is to be “successful” it must “sell itself. But death does not sell itself. It cannot. We cannot make the life of Christ into something sexy. Something attractive for attractions sake. No. The first thing the would be follower of Jesus Christ is confronted with is the absolute and total command of Jesus Christ to die to everything but Jesus Himself.

The call to discipleship is a lonely call. Is a hard call. Is an absurd call. It’s the call to die. So will you follow Jesus when it’s not that popular? Will you follow him to the cross? Will you continue to live out, in the mundane and difficult moments of life, the calling of Jesus. Will you follow him even without the accolades?

Jesus is not looking for a marketing team, for men and women who can make Christianity sizzle. He is looking for followers who are willing to die in order to experience life to the fullest.

Community Questions:

Why is it hard to follow Jesus in walking away from the crowds rather than embracing them?

What does it mean to bear our cross (death) daily in the context and comfort of America?

Body AND Soul

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God is profoundly interested in what you do with your body!

The very first commands God gave to Adam and Eve had everything to do with their bodies. I find it fascinating that God did not say something like: “have a great daily quiet time” or “don’t forget to pray before every meal”. Rather, God said, “I gave you the gift of sexuality…use it well!” and “get your hands dirty in the garden!” (Genesis 1:26-28).

God wants followers who are committed with body AND soul. It simply will not do if you only commit your heart to Jesus. He wants both body and soul because the two are inextricably connected. What is primarily physical is also spiritual. What is primarily spiritual is also physical.

Think about it. Is there such a thing as truly “spiritual” prayer? Prayer that does not engage any part of our body…at all…ever? Is there such a thing as truly “spiritual” worship? Or isn’t it true that we engage our voice, our hands, and so many other parts of our body in worship.

So reverse it, is there such a thing as purely physical eating? or sleeping? I think it’s easier for us to think so. But the truth is, if we follow God, these physical activities have a spiritual component as well. What and how we eat says something about our relationship with God. How much or little rest we take says something about how much we trust God to provide.

God wants us to submit our bodies to him in service, not just our hearts. Have you given Him both?

Thoughts to consider:

How do we serve God through what and how we eat?

What do we reveal about our relationship with God by how much or little rest we get?

What are some warning signs that we have made our bodies into idols in place of God instead of vessels to be used by God?

Musings on the “Occupation”

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MORE…it’s the kind of word that seems appropriate in all caps.

Now, before you think this is just a rant on the “Occupy” movement I want to broaden our view. The 99 are certainly asking for MORE but they aren’t alone. NBA players recently reached a shaky deal with owners. Before this deal the NBA had been in a lockout. Professional basketball players wanted MORE. This past Friday, reports say, was a record Black Friday where consumers spent 7% MORE than they did last year. Yesterday MORE Americans spent MORE money than ever before to get MORE Christmas presents on Cyber Monday.

I think we could do with a little less MORE don’t you?

John the Baptist had everything going for Him. Yet when He met up with Jesus He quickly got the point. If John was to worship Jesus the right way John had to let Jesus have the spot light. So John 3:30 tells us John diminished so that Jesus could rise.

How might we become a little less this season so that Jesus might become a little MORE? Is there something you need to let go of this Christmas season in order to give a little MORE of your time, treasure, or family to Jesus? Do you need to seek forgiveness for following the crowds that are clamoring for MORE in the streets, malls, or workplace?

May you find that the MORE we become less the less we will worry about having MORE and the MORE Jesus will have His right place in our lives.

 

At the Altar

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As I stepped into the nearly 100 year old cathedral the air was heavy with sanctity. The stain glass windows cast their rainbow shadows down upon row after row of solid wooden pews. The walls, the ceiling, even the floor with its intricate workmanship all whispered to me of a master craftsman who had dedicated this building to God. I was in God’s house.

Yet the closer I came to the front the stronger this queer feeling in the pit of my stomach grew. Something, amidst all the beauty, wasn’t right. Finally as I reached the front of the cathedral I realized what was wrong. Today, in this house built for God and dedicated to Jesus Christ, there was a Hindu ceremony about to take place. As the apostles and saints watched from their stain glass perches idols were being set about the front of this house of worship. Incense now burned in places where before Holy Communion was offered. The scene was stark and the reason…cultural diversity on a university campus.

As my mind connected the dots my first thought was outrage! What would those who sacrificed to see this building erected think? My second thought was pity. How sad that this edifice of glory had been reduced to a house for idols. My third thought was frightening.

My third thought, really wasn’t my thought at all, but God’s still small voice opening my eyes to a truth so profoundly displayed before me. My third thought was that this scene was a picture of the condition of my heart.

How many times have I found myself drawn after something other, something far removed from God. How many times have I chased that something with the full intent of installing it on the altar of my heart with not a second thought of what it really meant to do so.

This scene is a stark reality for so many of us. God has crafted us as temples reflecting His glory. We were designed with this purpose in mind. Yet, I think we would all confess that at times there were idols on the altar of our heart, an altar that should have been reserved for God alone.

May this be a moment for us all to consider what is on the altar of our heart. If confession is needed, then allow the forgiveness of God to clean house. If, upon reflection, you still have a heart dedicated to God than, in humility, praise him for the strength to continue on in dedication to him.

While the scene inside the century old sanctuary was indeed sad, never forget that sadder still is a human sanctuary dedicated to God in name, but with a completely different image on the altar.

Community Questions:

Why is it so easy to condemn a scene like this in the world and completely overlook the condition of our own hearts?

Is it right or wrong for a university to offer such diversity? Why or Why Not?