WWJD?!

Do you remember the popular phrase in the past decade “WWJD”? There were bracelets, bumper stickers, and t-shirts galore with this acronym on them. You could buy it at the gas station or get it for a prize at the arcade. But when is the last time you really stopped to think about what that means?

WWJD. What would Jesus do?

……Well……any thoughts?!

As Christians today I think we have become way to concerned and consumed with social media and “winning” some theological, political debate. We are too busy defending our beliefs instead of just living them. You see if you are truly walking a strong and confident walk with Jesus, you won’t need to quote scripture every day. You won’t need to constantly tell people you are a Christian and you are different. Because if you are doing things right, people will know. They can look at you and see a difference. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person”.

Too often today we get caught up in the endless cycle of trying to be perfect, blameless, and blemish-free. However, that is impossible here on Earth. It’s never going to happen. Lisa TerKeurst says, “Am I trying to prove I am right or to improve the relationship?” Are we living out WWJD?! Tony Nolan says, “There is a difference between the God we know and the God we show.” Are you showing the character of Christ in your life?

Jesus did not spend his time surrounded by priests. He did not seek out the important people in the hierarchy. Jesus loved the unlovable. He surrounded Himself with thieves, whores, tax collectors, lepers, impoverished individuals. Why did the King of Kings do such a thing? Because these are the people who needed to know they were loved and could be forgiven.

Jesus did not push His agenda on people. He shared what he came here to share. He listened to others who agreed and disagreed with His teachings. He did not constantly quote scripture from the Old Testament. No, he LIVED the scripture. That is what made Him different and set Him apart from other priests who always had an underlying agenda based on money or worldly morals. That is the example set before us. That is what we should always strive to do. Even upon His death, when Jesus had told the people over and over who He was, they still chose not to believe. They were still so full of sin. And yet He still forgave them, he still loved them, and still died to save them. Jesus died to save us all, not just the few who go to church every Sunday, never cuss, and don’t have a tattoo. He died for us ALL.

Luke 7:47 says, “If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.” Those who were the most sinful were most grateful for the grace.

As Christians we tend to focus a lot of our time and energy keeping certain individuals away from the church. We may not SAY that’s what we are doing, but we shun them in little ways. Do you go to a “white church” or “black church”? Have you ever noticed the way members of the congregation look at and act towards people who “look” gay, have tattoos, or are not dressed “appropriately”? At that exact moment, I have to think, WWJD. Sometimes it is hard, because it may make me uncomfortable. But I am living in this world for Jesus and Jesus would never cringe or shy away from that person. Jesus would embrace and love. And that is what our Father has commanded us to do as well. The whole premise of our existence can be broken into two requirements, loving God and loving our neighbor. That is all we are here for.

We need to stop all this stereotyping and hatefulness. Is this judging? Yes. Is that our job? No. Now I know the Bible tells us that if a person is in-Christ and is blatantly sinning, we are not to stand by and condone it. But we can find a kind way to point it out and still be loving that person. Lisa TerKeurst says, “if a person criticizes me without ever having built me up or said a kind word to me, it hardly feels like constructive criticism.” We must speak in love first and criticize second.

There are certain things the Bible instructs is against God’s will and is sinning. There are other things that our society has determined is a sin, and is found nowhere in the Bible. For example, tattoos. Just as a disclaimer, I do not have a tattoo, but that is ONLY because I don’t want one. Most people feel that their tattoos are an expression of themselves and is a form of artwork. If that is the case, they may believe that by having tattoos they are simply decorating God’s temple. And when you look at it that way, what’s wrong with that? We paint the walls of the church. We change the color of the carpet.

The bottom line is, just because someone is not like you doesn’t mean they are wrong. It doesn’t mean they are going to Hell. And it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be welcomed in the church. A church is a building FULL of sinners. And as I seem to point out in every post, all sins are the same and equal in the eyes of our Lord. Therefore, we should welcome these people with open arms. We should treat them gently and love them. It is not up to us to cast them out and seal their fate with our judgement. We don’t have that kind of power, and we don’t need it.

Stop and think about what WWJD truly means. Ponder on Jesus’s friends, his disciples, and what he was able to do in their lives. If we do not expose ourselves to such individuals, we may be missing an opportunity for blessing to take place in our lives. It is never too late to help disciple a lost soul. It is not our job to save, that is Jesus’s job. Our job is to love, and in loving, instill the Word of God in each person we meet.

Why you gotta be so mean?!

Why are people so mean? More specifically, why are Christians so mean?

Those who do not follow Christ have somewhat of an excuse, because there has been no standard or bar set for how they should act. This doesn’t mean these folks won’t have to answer for their meanness, they just don’t want to believe it.

Christians, as the hands and feet of God, people look at us differently. We are constantly under scrutiny from the outside world, yet we still give into the Devil’s qualms. Look around you; there are people in your life who do not attend church or do not follow Jesus. There is a reason for that. Nonbelievers look at “us” and see God. As His hands and feet, doing all things “to the glory of Christ”, WE are a representation of him. And to a nonbeliever, how we act is how God would act. They associate our actions, morals, and emphasis with that of our God. And though we are not sinless and are constantly falling short, that doesn’t stop people from looking at us and thinking this way. Therefore we must be VERY careful in what we say and do to others and to each other.

Christians persecuting other Christians is the worst kind of dispute. We are to LOVE one another and build each other up, not point fingers, name names, and slander our Brother or Sister in the community. The sickest part about this is that some who do this think they are doing it in “good faith” and that it is the right thing to do. No WONDER people don’t want to come to church with you! Good grief! Who in the world would think that doing such mean, hateful, and ungodly things would be a positive representation of Christ?!

The Devil is a liar and a thief who’s purpose is to destroy this world and pit us against one another. He does this in multiple ways, and one way is through an individual. The Devil can be working in you and you not even know it. In fact, he may even trick you into thinking you are doing “the Lord’s work”. Be careful of this my friends. You may be able to point the finger at someone whom you think he is using, only to realize later that YOU were that person all along.

Matthew 19:19 says, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This phrase is no coincidence. God knew how selfish and self-centered we were. He then instructs you to take that very self-righteous love you have for yourself and give it away. Give it to someone else. Can you say you have done that today? Loved someone else as much as you love yourself? And I am not talking about your mom or dad. They’re easy to love. I am talking about your “enemy”. Your adversary.

Love is the only way to overcome such meanness and hurt. Love and forgiveness.

In the last month, my home church (that little old Southern Baptist one I have mentioned before) has lost its pastor, 4 deacons, a pianist, choir director, treasurer, and 40 members. During the last month there have members within those 40 who have lied, slandered, accused, stonewalled, disrespected, and hurt other members. This has been a rough month. Some have questioned how could Christians treat others in such a way. I believe that Perry Noble says it best when he points out that God has His hand in all things. ALL things, not just the good. God either makes things happen or allows them to happen. This has come as no surprise to God. He allowed the Devil to do this to our church, just as he allowed the Devil to test many in the Bible. However, the Devil does not rule. God owns the Devil and the Devil only does things to the extent that God allows. Therefore, there is no real reason to worry. Yes, we have “lost” a lot this month. But we are promised that whatever we give, we will get back ten-fold. So I have no worries at all about the stability of our church.

Now we are not focused on hurrying up and getting out of this situation we are in. We got here and here is where we are. Instead we are seeking how we can walk through this stressful situation well. Because this is where God put us. This is His will. And it WILL be for the good. Perry Noble says, “As our view of God increases, our worry and stress decrease, because it’s only then that we begin to believe that all the things that are over our heads are under His feet.”

Joseph shows us in Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, the importance of forgiveness. The power of forgiveness is greater than the pain of our circumstances. Someone may intend to harm you, but God intends it all for good.

Jesus is our role model. We should do nothing but strive to be more like him each day. Everyone, whether Christian or unbeliever, know the story of his death. The horrific and gruesome details. But one of the most incredible parts of his story is that he forgave. He forgave the people who were murdering him, and they never even asked for it, he just gave it to them. Freely. I’ve heard people say that they would forgive someone if that person who offended them apologized and then asked for forgiveness. As nice as that would be, it doesn’t always happen. But the example set before us is to forgive freely- even to those who don’t deserve it.

There has been one particular individual who told elders in our church that when she left with our pastor, the Devil would outweigh the Lord in our church. And she was taking God with her when she left.

Have you ever heard such ridiculous statements?

To set the record straight, the Devil will NEVER outweigh MY God. My God is supreme, all-knowing, omnipotent, and in control. He could go to Hell and walk among all those burning in the lake of fire and he would STILL be bigger! He would still be ruling. He is NEVER outnumbered, outweighed, or outmatched. If anyone tries to tell you so, call them a lie and don’t listen to another word. Secondly, to think that a human can “take” God anywhere is just stupid. God is everywhere, all the time, with everyone. Furthermore where two or three gather in His name, He is there in even MORE power. For a lady to think that she is the boss and can order MY Lord around, she is sadly mistaken. I can see her now saying, “Come on Lord, get in my bag, you’re coming with ME!” ……….yeah right.

I will end this lengthy post by saying that as Christians, we should love. No matter what. And I do still love each and every person who has left our church. But sometimes love is done best when it is done at a distance.

I would also like to say that NO ONE or NO THING is going to steal my joy.

Kay Warren says, “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in all things.”

I will not be separated from that joy. Nice try, Devil. Try again later.

The Rich

This past Sunday I visited a new church. My home church is a traditional Southern Baptist, and I love the people who are there…I just wanted to try something different. I heard about this new church that was fairly young in my area that is a praise and worship type church, with Baptist affiliation. I found myself being very welcomed in the congregation and truly enjoyed the sermon. But wouldn’t you know the one Sunday I visit, the subject is money and being rich.

Smack my head. Every pastor’s nightmare.

The way this pastor preaches, he picks a certain portion of the Bible and goes verse by verse each week. They had been focusing on James 5, and I guess last Sunday was when the dreaded portion of the text arose.

There were many things that stuck out to me during the sermon, but the opening statement really grabbed me. Pastor Daylon said, “When I say the word “rich”, you automatically had someone particular come to mind.” …..true. So very true. As a full-time graduate student, full-time employee at a nonprofit organization, young adult with a car payment and 2 dogs; I know what it’s like to pinch pennies. Although I am not poor by any means, I can definitely think of someone rich and lots of people richer than me. He then went on to say that in reality, Americans today and people in general are ALL “the rich”. We have free access to things today that the majority of kings, queens, and royalty throughout history has never experienced. At the push of a button we can experience hot or cold air, have our waste swept away from out from under us, and clean water; just to name a few. Stop and think about that for a second.

Wow.

That’s incredible.

Daylon said, “Having riches is not a sin. It’s what you do with these riches.”

This passage in James is eluding back to the story of the Rich Young Man in Mark 10:17-27.

Having riches is fine, as long as you are willing to give them up if asked and share then with others without being asked.

In America, there is always extra. We throw away so much that could be used. Now some will say, “Oh there are starving children in Africa that would love to have your left-overs.” That’s not what I am saying. I say, “There are starving children in your NEIGHBORHOOD that would love your left-overs.” People, we HAVE to take care of our own before we can spread to other nations. Some focus on the ministry to other countries and shoeboxes to foreign lands. I often wonder, would there be children in Rocky Mount that could use shoeboxes? Although every individual, rich or poor, in this country is still technically rich, could I change their way of life and help them just a little?

The main problems that people fall into with their riches is the need for control of those riches, greed in wanting to keep them, and a lack of generosity to share them with others. If any of these three things is you, you are DEAD in your SIN. Your main concern can NOT be you and your stuff. Food spoils, clothes rot, even metal rusts. If our Lord has blessed you with more than you need, give it away. And while you are giving it away, be sure to let that person know that it is God who has provided for you, and in turn, them. Use that giving opportunity to give away more than stuff. Give away knowledge about Jesus.

It is by no mistake that you are blessed with all you have. There are 3 main reasons that we have riches; to meet your needs, to enjoy, and to give generously. Did you hear that? The Lord blesses you with riches not ONLY to meet your needs, but to please you and for your enjoyment. There is no need to feel guilty about being rich. If you can afford to have nice things, buy them. As long as you leave some to give away. You see? God doesn’t want you to starve in order to feed others. He doesn’t want you to gain riches and lead a miserable life because you give it all away. He wants you to ENJOY what he has blessed you with. Just remember to give. As long as you give, you will continue to receive. God pours himself into our emptiness and will continue to bless you if you do His good works.

God blesses us to increase our standard of living and our standard of GIVING!

No matter how financially rich or poor you are, you have something to give others. What you give to others will return to you ten-fold. Never become naïve to the point that you believe you created the riches for yourself. You can do all things through CHRIST who gives you strength (Phil. 4:13). It is not by your mere will alone that you are blessed with riches.

Be thankful for all you have. Even the smallest things. There have been millions throughout history who did not have such things. There are millions today that still don’t.

YOU are blessed. YOU are rich.

Thank God Almighty for that.