Becoming Play-Dough Christians

Suggested Reading: Hebrews 3:7-15

One of the things I always dreaded at my children's birthday parties was the idea that someone was going to give them play-dough. Inevitably, you end up with little crumbles of dried play-dough scattered through the carpet or squished into the floor. Half the time, they end up leaving it out, and it dries out. There are plenty of toys you can leave out, and it doesn't harm the toy unless you accidentally step on it and break it. Play-dough is not that way. Play-dough has to be played with or sealed up. If you leave it out by itself, it ends up drying out, and then it becomes useless. If it is left out, play-dough has to be pushed, shaped, prodded, rolled, or pushed through those little play-dough squisher accessories they sell. If not, when left exposed to the air, play-dough becomes nothing more than a dry, lifeless chunk of colored, crumbling rock.

Hebrews 3:13 reads: "But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin's deception" (HCSB). Some people make the mistake of thinking that the life of a Christ follower can be lived in isolation. If a church makes us angry, we can just go to church at the lake or in our living rooms, listening to a preacher on TV. We make the mistake of thinking of our local churches as nothing more than classrooms where we are given Christian educations and, if needed, we can just homeschool ourselves. Unfortunately, coming together as a church is about more than an education program. The author of Hebrews, when talking about how some people had stopped coming together, wrote this: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25, NIV).

You see, we need to be poked and prodded and shaped and pushed through little squisher accessories by our interaction with other believers, or we can be hardened by the sin in and around us. If we don't have people to encourage us and whom we can encourage in return, we are just like that lump of play-dough that slowly hardens until it's not good for much of anything. We get bad ideas that are never tested by the wisdom and experience of others. We allow bad habits to form that we never notice until they have become lifestyles. We miss out on the insights and help that other believers can give us and the encouragement that enables us to navigate difficult situations.

The life of a Christ-follower was never intended to be lived in seclusion and isolation. In fact, Jesus' teachings and the writings of the New Testament seemed to take for granted that we would exist in a community of believers. When Jesus taught the Lord's prayer, he prayed, "Our Father in heaven…Give us our daily bread…forgive us our trespasses." Not my. One of the greatest traps we can fall into as Christians is the trap of thinking we can live a Christ-centered life on our own. We need to interact with other believers to encourage each other, to learn from each other, and to pray for and sharpen each other.

Don't let yourself get isolated. Sometimes that may require creativity. But find a body of believers with whom you can get involved, loving, serving, helping, and encouraging each other. And if you already have that kind of fellowship, don't let it go. Trust me, you don't want to harden up like a lump of play-dough.

Figuring out the Rules of the Game

Suggested Reading: Luke 2:41-52

Last night, we had our grown children over for a family dinner and, afterwards, we played a new card game. My wife and I had played it before, but no one else had. There were several moments throughout the game where mistakes were made because we were all still figuring out the rules. As the game went on, we got better at playing, but through the first several rounds, there were some moments of embarrassment because one of us discarded the wrong card or thought we had the round won, only to discover we had forgotten something important. Overall, though, it was a lot of fun, especially once we got the game figured out.

Having to figure things out is a part of growing up, and even Jesus had to do it, which is not something we typically think about. As a twelve-year-old boy, Jesus and his parents went up to Jerusalem for the Passover. When they were done, Jesus' parents headed home as part of a larger caravan. Jesus, somewhere along the way, had decided to head back to the temple without telling his parents. Mary and Joseph had reasonably assumed that Jesus would be where he was supposed to be, so it wasn't until much later that they discovered Jesus wasn't with them. They headed back to Jerusalem, where they searched frantically for Jesus, finally finding him on the third day in the temple where "all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers" (Luke 2:47, ESV). When his mother confronted him about not being where he was supposed to be, Jesus responded, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?"

As a twelve-year-old boy, Jesus understood his identity as the Father's Son. He understood the scriptures so well that the teachers and those listening were amazed by his understanding and his answers. But apparently, he didn't yet understand that he should tell his parents when he wanted to run off to the temple on the day they were returning home to Nazareth. Jesus worried his parents to death. He ran off without telling them and wasn't where he should have been. Not because he was being rebellious or sinful, but simply because he was a twelve-year-old boy and there were some things he was still figuring out.

There are a lot of things in life that we don't get right because we are limited, ignorant human beings who are still figuring things out. And, sometimes, we are really hard on ourselves because we haven't gotten everything right. But Jesus, the Son of God, who understood that he was the Son of God and understood the scriptures far better than we can ever hope to, worried his parents to death, not because he was sinning but because he still had things to figure out. If Jesus, even as a twelve-year-old, still had things to figure out, we still have things we need to figure out, and failing from time to time doesn't necessaarily mean we are sinning. It might just mean we haven't figured everything out yet. 

Where are some areas that you have failed recently? Are you coming down hard on yourself believing that you must have sinned somewhere along the way? Maybe you did. But, maybe, there are just some things you still haven't figured out yet. Pray through the situation. Ask God to reveal to you what's been happening. Maybe there was something sinful that needs to be corrected. Or maybe there are just a few lessons about life that you still need to learn and it's time to be intentional about learning them.

People Never Change

Suggested Reading:  Acts 15:36-41

"People never change."

How many times have you heard that statement? For some reason, there is an ongoing debate about whether or not people change that has been raging for centuries.  On the one hand, there are examples of people who make the same mistakes over and over again. No matter how many times they promise to never make the same mistake again, no matter how many times they start over, no matter how many chances they get, there are some people who obviously don't change. On the  flip side, there are people who obviously do change. Some people have a pivotal experience in life that causes them to re-examine everything, who they are, what they believe, and how they act.

But I have noticed an interesting phenomenon. Those people who do change, who do pull their lives together and overcome the problems that they have faced and the mistakes of their past, inspire us so that we have hope for ourselves that we might be able to change, but they rarely inspire us enough to believe that other people will change. The dynamic is often pushed even farther when we believe we have changed and we want other people to acknowledge that we have changed, but we don't want to extend that courtesy to others. For some reason, human nature allows us to believe that change is possible for ourselves but rarely in other people. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with that dynamic.

Paul had been a persecutor of the Church, one who opposed Jesus at every turn and abused Jesus' disciples, but Paul had an experience with the living Christ that changed him, that caused him to become one of the very people he had been persecuting. You would think that he could believe that anyone could change. But at the end of Acts chapter 15, we see Paul and Barnabas get into such a major argument that they part ways. The nature of the argument? Barnabas wanted his cousin John Mark to accompany them on their next missionary journey while Paul thought it was a bad idea because Mark had abandoned them on a previous journey. Barnabas believed that John Mark was worth the risk, he believed in Mark. Paul, on the other hand, apparently felt that Mark was unreliable and unworthy of a second chance. Paul, recipient of, perhaps, one of the most undeserving second chances in history, did not believe that Mark could be relied upon, did not believe that Mark had changed or that Mark could change.

Fortunately, Paul's inability to see the potential for change in Mark did not last forever. Years later, when writing 2 Timothy, Paul instructed Timothy, "Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11, NIV). Then, in Colossians, Paul reminded the Colossians how to receive Mark if he happened to come to them from Paul (Colossians 4:10). Not only did Paul eventually change his mind about Mark, but Paul came to rely on Mark and counted Mark as an asset in his own ministry.

One of the great miracles of life in Christ is the opportunity for sinful people to become new creations, the opportunity for change. And while we must keep our eyes open and not naively trust people who have proven themselves unreliable, we must also keep our minds open to the reality that, in Christ, people change. Far too often, we judge people for mistakes that have been left far in the past and refuse to see the evidence of a changed life right before our eyes. Paul may have done that with John Mark, but he eventually opened up to the possibility that Mark had changed, and Paul's life and ministry were blessed as a result.

If we have received new life in Christ, if we have been changed by the Spirit of God, we must be open to the possibility that other people can change as well. When we won't allow for the possibility of change, we might be missing out on some of life's biggest blessings. 

Cain's Battle With the Borg

Suggested Reading: Genesis 4:1-16

There is a pivotal scene in Star Trek: First Contact where Captain Picard has issued orders for the crew to stand their ground and fight a hopeless battle against the Borg, a group of cybernetically enhanced aliens who are over-running his ship. At the time his judgment seems to be clouded by his own experience with the Borg, an experience in which he himself had been kidnapped, his body implanted with Borg devices, and his mind controlled as he was forced to kill and destroy people for whom he cared. Though he had buried his anger and desire for revenge, when the Borg attacked his ship once again he allowed those feelings to take over. Only when a stranger quoted Moby Dick to him, comparing him to Captain Ahab who allowed his thirst for revenge to destroy him, did Captain Picard realize what he was doing and decide to let go of his anger in order to save his crew.

Unfortunately for Cain in Genesis 4, Moby Dick hadn't been written yet, but Cain did have someone point out the danger of holding onto his anger. After his offering had been rejected, Cain was visited by God himself who warned him, "Why are you so angry? Why is your face so downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:6-7, NIV). God himself warned Cain about his anger, and told him that he had a choice to make: deal with his anger and do what was right by mastering his sin, or allow his anger to continue unchecked and allow sin to master him instead.

Another path along the road to committing horrible deeds we never could have imagined is the choice to stay angry. God warned Cain that he had a choice to make, but Cain chose to stay angry. Cain chose to ignore the warning that God himself had issued about the dangers of allowing anger to rule him and he ended up murdering his brother. Even when we are truly injured and wronged, we have a choice to make about the role anger will play in our decisions. We can continue to be angry, justified or not, or we can choose to forgive so that we don't give sin a chance to master us. At times, it simply feels good to be angry. It feels good to be consumed with something that energizes and motivates us. But we cannot allow anger to be our driving force. 

Paul said in Ephesians 4:26-27, "'In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold" (NIV). Allowing anger to motivate us and dictate our actions is a very dangerous game, one that offers Satan a foothold in our lives. Cain didn't pay attention to the warning he received. Will we?

Dealing with Cain's Login Errors

Suggested Reading: Genesis 4:1-16

Not long ago I had one of those frustrating computer moments. I was trying to login to one of my online accounts and I kept getting the error message that my user ID and password didn't match. So I kept trying different passwords in an attempt to get something to work. Nothing did. I just kept getting that same error message. After about 15 attempts I finally stopped long enough to look at my user ID and noticed that I had left out a letter in the ID. After that, I tried the very first password again and within seconds I had logged in. I felt rather embarrassed that I had gotten so frustrated about forgetting my password only to discover that something else had been the problem all along.

In the story of Cain and Abel we see a similar dynamic in Cain's descent to murder. He and his brother had both brought offerings to the Lord but only Abel's had been accepted, probably because Abel had offered the first fruits, the first-born of his herds, while Cain had just brought some of the produce the ground had produced, not the first fruits of his crops. Whatever the reason, God had a conversation with Cain about the rejection of his offering, asking "Why are you so angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" (Genesis 4:6-7, NIV). The fact that Cain then went out and murdered his brother Abel would seem to indicate that his anger was directed in the wrong place. He either murdered Abel because his brother had made him angry by showing him up (not an uncommon emotional response) or in order to get back at God for accepting Abel's offering but not his own. In either case, Cain directed his anger and probably the blame for his failure somewhere other than where it should have been: on himself.

Quite often, as sinful human beings, we find ourselves doing horrible things we never would have imagined doing beforehand: killing people, having affairs, cheating on our taxes, lying. And quite often the first step along the path to those unimaginable deeds is blaming someone else for our own failures. Affairs often start because one spouse blames the other for not meeting his or her unrealistic expectations. Cheating on taxes or stealing from the office is justified because we manage our money poorly and then blame the government for taking too much or our bosses for not paying us enough. The first step on the road to unimaginable deeds is frequently placing the blame for our failures anywhere but on ourselves, which, apparently, is exactly what Cain did.

Have you experienced anger so deep that you feel tempted to do things you know are wrong? Have you felt so cheated or under-appreciated that you consider doing things that would previously have been unfathomable? If our reaction to those feelings is the temptation to knowingly do something wrong, we have a problem. Instead of placing blame on other people for our own failures, lets take good long looks at ourselves. Just like when trying a dozen different passwords instead of checking the user ID, putting the blame in the right place will help us fix our problems a whole lot faster than laying our failures at someone else's feet.

Ugly Facebook Fights and Handwritten Letters

Suggested Reading: Ezekiel 3:17-21

A while ago, I witnessed a very ugly Facebook attack between two people I know. One person was in the process of making a decision she would regret for the rest of her life. The other was a family member who, seeing that this person was repeating the mistakes her own parent had made, tried to warn her about that choice in a private text message. The warning was as polite and thoughtful as it can be when you have to tell someone they are being selfish and doing something they will regret for the rest of their life but this woman didn't take it well.  Instead, she posted a screen capture of the text message on Facebook and attempted to berate this loving family member for being "ugly" and "mean" and "judgmental." Another person (who was also making bad life-choices at least partially in response to her own parent's mistakes) jumped in, berating the family member who had sent the text, stating that loving and helping someone means that you "support them no matter what," by which she really meant that you condone and support any action the person you love takes, regardless of how irresponsible, sinful, or selfish that action may be. Together, these two tried to attack this family member who had tried to privately warn someone she loved about a terrible decision she was making.

The attack made me angry, in part, because this woman who didn't want to face the selfish nature of her actions chose to attack someone who acted in love and, in part, because they were pushing the lie that loving and supporting someone means never telling them when they are making bad decisions or doing something wrong. Proverbs 13:24 tells us, Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them (NLT). While this verse specifically talks about parent-child relationships, it echoes a sentiment that is found throughout all of scripture: loving someone means calling them on their sin so that they don't cause themselves harm. A loving response is not one that says, "I support you in your sinful act" but one that says, "I love you, but what you are doing is wrong and you're going to hurt yourself and others if you continue." A loving response says, "I love you too much to put your opinion of me before your welfare" and "I will always tell you the truth in love, even if you hate me for it." What is more, Ezekiel 3 seems to indicate that we ourselves will be held responsible when we fail to warn those whose sin is about to destroy them.

At another end of the spectrum, when my wife and I decided to start trying to get pregnant, my best friend wrote me a long-handwritten letter telling me that he thought I was making a mistake and detailing a list of his reasons. Instead of getting angry, I called him and we talked about it. I explained our reasons for trying to have kids, several of which he was unaware of, and he accepted my decision. I don't know if he ever agreed with me, but he realized he hadn't seen the whole situation. I could have gotten angry and called him judgmental and told him to butt out. As far as I was concerned, he was wrong. But he was my best friend, in large part, because when he thought I was doing something stupid he was willing to call me on it. Even when he was wrong, he cared about me enough to lovingly tell me the truth, and I knew he cared about me, so I was willing to listen.

Loving and supporting someone doesn't necessarily mean you keep your mouth shut when they are doing something stupid and the fact that someone tells you you're being selfish doesn't mean they are judgmental. Sometimes we are being selfish and only the people who truly love us will call us out for it. Only fools get angry with someone for being honest, even if they are honestly wrong. And only uncaring people keep their mouths shut when they see someone about to hurt themselves.

Bringing Down a Super-Villain's Defenses

Suggested Reading: Revelation 2:12-17

In Superman II,  three super-powered villains from Krypton come to earth to take revenge on their jailer by killing their jailer’s son, Superman. After several battles where neither Superman nor the villains can gain the advantage, Superman lures them to his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic. Playing on Lex Luthor’s greed and tendency for betrayal, he tricks the villains into turning on a machine that will eliminate their powers while Superman himself is protected within a crystal vault.  Superman knew that in order to win, he had to eliminate the villains' advantage.

When Israel was wondering through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, they wanted to pass through the land of Midian. Balak, the king of Midian, tried to hire a prophet named Balaam to curse Israel so that he could wipe them out, but each time, Balaam’s attempt to curse the Israelites turned into a blessing.  The Israelites were protected by God and, seemingly, there was no way to curse them or defeat them.  Not long after that, however, according to Jewish tradition, Balaam found a way to remove Israel’s singular advantage of God’s blessing. This new tactic is summarized in Revelation 2:14 as the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality (HCSB).  Balaam knew that Israel could never be defeated by Midian so long as they were under God’s blessing so, according to Jewish tradition, he encouraged Balak to send in some seductive women who would encourage the Israelites to engage in idolatry and sexual immorality, breaking God’s laws and removing God's blessing from them so that they could be defeated.

Like the Israelites, we also have an Enemy who roams about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour us. Our Enemy also knows that we can never be defeated as long as God’s blessing rests on our lives, so he seeks to remove that blessing by tempting us into sin and into lifestyles that will separate us from the blessing of God. Our Enemy knows that if we remove ourselves from God’s protective blessings that we can be rendered ineffective and begin living defeated lives. Satan doesn’t always come at us head on, trying to mow us over. On the contrary, the Enemy tempts us to remove ourselves from God’s blessing, to give up our singular advantage.

Choosing to continue in a lifestyle of sin is not harmless. Rather, continuing in sin sets us up for failure and defeat, playing right into the Enemy’s hands. Choosing to sin and allowing sin to have a foothold in our lives amounts to stepping out from under the impenetrable shield of God’s blessing. By doing so, we give up our singular advantage and make ourselves vulnerable to the Enemy’s attacks. Why would we do that to ourselves?

Intentionally engaging in sinful behavior makes us vulnerable to the Enemy’s attacks. Recognize temptation for what it is: an attempt by your Enemy to bring down your defenses.

Getting Embarrassed by Your Pastor

Suggested Reading: James 5:13-20

I was eighteen years old when I planned my first youth trip as a leader. I was the summer youth minister for a little church on the Texas coast and I was taking our youth group to Schlitterbaun Water Parks in New Braunfels. I was just beginning to drive long distance trips on my own, but here I was with a car full of youth, leading a caravan to a place I had never been. I had printed out directions but between not knowing where I was going and being distracted by all of the kids in my car, I ended up missing a major turn. Fortunately, our pastor was driving the car behind me and he pulled up beside me, got my attention, and we turned around and headed the right direction. Then I missed another turn. After the third missed turn, the pastor took the lead. I was a little embarrassed. No, I was a lot embarrassed. But, in the end, I was glad that he stopped me and turned me back in the right direction because I wanted to get to Schlitterbaun, not end up in Dallas. I've since gotten much better at driving long distances and making all of my own turns.

After all of the practical advice for Christian living that the book of James contains, it ends with the following verses: My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins (James 5:19-20, NLT). In my experience, one of the greatest deterrents to pointing out when people have wandered away from the truth and into sin is the idea that we will embarrass them or hurt their feelings. This fear is a well-founded fear because nearly everyone gets embarrassed when their mistakes and bad choices are called to light. But letting them continue to wander can lead to far more devastating consequences.

I was embarrassed when that pastor stopped me and turned me around, but I was embarrassed because I was at fault. Ultimately, however, I would much rather have been embarrassed right then than discover my mistake an hour down the road or, even worse, when I was completely lost. But all that trip would have cost me would be a bunch of disappointed kids, angry parents, and a loss of trust. Wandering away from the truth can lead to life-shattering consequences and, just as I was ultimately glad that my pastor embarrassed me and turned me around, I would want someone to turn me around if I was wandering away from the truth and off into sin. I would want that person to turn me around gently and kindly, but I would want to be turned around.

If we truly care about someone, we won't simply let them wander away from the truth - we won't let them end up in a place they would never have wanted to go without at least trying to warn them and turn them around. Yes, they might be embarrassed or get their feelings hurt. But that is a small price to pay for saving them from tragic consequences.

The Ethics of Batman Begins

Suggested Reading: Mark 2:23-3:6

The movie Batman Begins relaunched the adventures of the Dark Knight in a much more compelling fashion than the Batman movies of the previous decade. At one point in the movie, a young Bruce Wayne has missed his chance for revenge against his parents' murderer. A childhood friend, who is also Batman's love interest, shows him a place where everyone knows the city's biggest crime boss hangs out but adds that no one will touch him. She makes this statement (paraphrased), "All it takes for evil to win is for the good people to do nothing."

In Mark chapter three, Jesus finds himself in a setup by the Pharisees. A man with a withered hand is in the synagogue while Jesus is teaching. Jesus had already taught that human life was more important than religious regulation, including the observance of the Sabbath, and now the Pharisees were watching how Jesus would respond to this man's presence. Would Jesus really break the Sabbath in order to heal someone? But Jesus turned the test around on the Pharisees by asking them a question: "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm? To save a soul or to destroy it?" (Mark 3:4, HCSB). By asking this question, Jesus reminded the Pharisees of their own traditions and interpretations of the law which equated the refusal to do good with doing evil.

We often hear people make the statement, "I'm not that bad," and we agree with them because they don't kill or steal or cheat people. But we cannot judge ourselves by the evil things we avoid doing. Jesus basically said that to choose not to do good when we have the ability to do good is evil. The book of James actually spells it out for us. "So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it" (James 4:17, HCSB).

We cannot judge ourselves solely by the evil things we don't do. We must also judge ourselves by the number of chances we have to do good and how often we actually take those chances. How often do we see someone stranded on the side of the road and choose to ignore them? How often do we see someone in need and choose not to share what we have? How often do we see the defenseless attacked and do nothing to defend them? How often do we fail to pass on the vital lessons of the faith because we're too tired to bother?

As followers of Christ, it is never enough that we simply avoid committing evil acts. We must never refuse to do the good we are capable of doing. Choosing not to act when we are capable of doing good, Jesus argued, was the same thing as doing evil.

Removing Dragon Flesh With Burning Coals

Suggested Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8

In C.S. Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Eustace, one of the children who gets magically transported to Narnia, falls under an enchantment and becomes a dragon, unable to communicate properly with his shipmates and powerless to return to his human form. Eustace, who had started off as a pain in everyone's side with an antagonistic view of all of his shipmates, doesn't realize how bad he's been until he sees how well he is treated as a dragon, even though he is a burden to his companions. Finally, Aslan the Great Lion appears in order to remove Eustace's dragon curse.  He does so by ripping into the dragon flesh with his claws, peeling it away, and causing Eustace enormous pain. But Eustace welcomed the pain because it accompanied his healing. Almost instantly, the pain was forgotten in the joy that he had been restored to his rightful form.

The prophet Isaiah, I think, experienced a similar sensation when he saw the Lord seated on the throne of Heaven. Immediately, upon seeing the Lord, Isaiah said, "Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts." Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed and your sin is atoned for (Isaiah 6:5-7, HCSB). Isaiah's immediate reaction to seeing the Lord was one of pain; he became acutely aware of his sinfulness and knew it created a problem. More than that, the cure itself was painful: a burning coal pressed against his lips. But Isaiah never mentioned the pain this act undoubtedly caused him. The fact that his sin had been cleansed from him overrode the pain.

God's process for removing the sin from our lives is almost always painful. God removes our delusions and shatters the false images we have of ourselves. Often God pulls out the sin by allowing us to suffer its consequences and experience a great deal of pain. But when we allow God to do what is necessary, embracing the purifying fire and the pain that comes with it, God is able to peel away our sinful covering and restore us to our proper form. We can become the people God created us to be in the first place.

If you haven't yet, you will eventually experience the pain that comes when God begins purifying you and removing the sin in your life. Rather than running from the pain, when you recognize God exposing and dealing with your sin, embrace the pain, laying yourself open to God's cleansing work in your life. The process will be painful but, once completed, will be something you look back on with a profound sense of gratitude and joy.

Going Through Spiritual Chemotherapy

Suggested Reading: Job 1-2, 8-9

Over the last few years, a number of people in my life have had to go through chemotherapy. Chemo is a nasty process; it is brutal and painful and, at times, humiliating. Chemo makes you horribly sick. It can cause you to shed your hair and lose weight. For a time, chemo can seem unbearable and make you wonder if the pain is worth it. Chemo is not something anybody ever wants to go through, but people endure it because there is no other way, at present, to get rid of some cancers.

In the book of Job, God brings Job to Satan's attention because Job is a good and righteous person. Satan gets permission to test Job by making him suffer. Job loses his children, his wealth, his health, and even the support of his wife. Job's friends come to comfort him, but quickly begin telling him good sounding lies to try to explain Job's situation, telling Job how to fix his life and make God bless him again. Bildad tells Job, "If you are pure and upright, then [God] will move even now on your behalf and restore the home where your righteousness dwells" (Job 8:6, NLT). Bildad was telling Job that if he would just start being righteous, his suffering would end. Bildad tells Job, "Look, God does not reject a person of integrity and he will not support evildoers" (Job 8:20), which was true, except that they thought enduring loss and tragedy was a sign of God's rejection. Job and Bildad didn't know that Job was suffering, not because he was a sinner, but because he was righteous. Bildad was sharing truths with cancer cells in them, he was telling Job lies that were almost true. But the real problem was that Job believed these lies! Job responded to Bildad, "Yes, I know what you've said is true, but how can a person be justified before God?" (Job 9:1, NLT). Sometimes, we can get so caught up in answering Job's question, that we miss the fact that Job believed the cancerous truths; Job believed the lies, and Job spent much of the next 30 chapters wanting to make his case to God that he really is righteous, so that his suffering will end.

At least part of the reason that God allowed Job to endure all of this loss and tragedy was that God needed to kill those cancerous lies. God needed to expose the lies that had wormed their way into the truths Job believed - both for Job and for us. So, God brought Job face to face with, both, his own suffering and his own righteousness, until the lie was finally exposed as a lie. It was painful. It was agonizing. And, in the end, God did move on Jobs behalf to restore his home, but Job had learned the truth that a person's righteousness doesn't mean God is going to restore things right now. Too many people believe the lie that, if you are a righteous person, God will restore things right now, that if you live like you are supposed to and have the faith you should have, God will bless every area of your life right now. Too many of us, like Job, believe these cancerous truths, these small lies within a larger truth that require God's own version of chemotherapy to kill.

What cancerous lies have you allowed yourself to believe, lies that are mostly true but with just a lethal bit of falsehood added in? If you want to avoid going through spiritual chemotherapy, study God's Word diligently so that the lies come to light on their own. Maybe you can catch the lies early, before they have a chance to spread.

If You're Going To Sin, At Least Don't Be Stupid

Suggested Reading: Proverbs 6:20-35

The other day I was reading my daily dose of Proverbs when I stumbled across this verse: "For a prostitute's fee is only a loaf of bread but an adulteress goes after a precious life" (Proverbs 6:26, HCSB). And I thought, Wait, is scripture seriously telling us that it is better to go to a prostitute than to have an affair? Thinking that was odd, I kept reading. A few versus later, another sin was compared to having an affair. "People don't despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry. Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much; he must give up all the wealth in his house. The one who commits adultery lacks sense; whoever does so destroys himself" (Proverbs 6:30-32, HCSB).

For a minute, I wrestled with the question: But aren't all sins the same in the eyes of God? Doesn't God hold us just as accountable for any one sin as for any other sin? Even though that is what I've been taught most of my life, I'm not entirely convinced that is the case, but that concept doesn’t even enter into the picture with these verses. These verses aren't about which sins God counts as worse than others. These verses are about which sins are going to get us into the most trouble here on earth.

The author of these proverbs is trying to tell us, in rather pithy terms, that going to a prostitute only costs you money but having an affair can cost you your life; stealing, if you have a legitimate need, will be punished but understood, while having an affair is just stupid. Talking about having an affair, the proverbist (I may have just made up that word) asks, "Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? Can a man walk on burning coals without scorching his feet?" (Proverbs 6:27-28, HCSB). Now, aside from the obvious masters of mystical arts, the answers to both of these questions is "NO!" If I were to write a summary of this passage, I would probably write, "If you're going to sin, at least don't be stupid!"

We live in a society where people almost expect to see affairs take place. One movie I saw recently tried to convince the audience that having an affair could actually strengthen a marriage by giving one's spouse a boost of confidence that would improve the relationship between husband and wife. Media is constantly produced that manipulates audiences into rooting for an affair to take place because "they really love each other" or because "they deserve to be happy" or because "their spouse is an insensitive jerk." We have websites designed to help people have affairs behind their spouse's back. Everywhere we look, people are telling us that affairs are natural, that they are expected, that they really don't do that much harm, that they may lead to a purer love than the marriage itself. To all of these ideas, the author of Proverbs calls "BS."

Why is it that ancient societies often extended the death penalty to adultery? Why is it that the only excuse Jesus gave for divorce was infidelity? Why does the author of Proverbs even suggest that going to a prostitute is better than having an affair? Why is it that country songs about affairs always end in a semi-truck plowing through the local hotel? Secularists and some academics today will tell you that affairs were not tolerated as a symptom of a male-dominated society trying to imprison its woman to a set of rules that held them down. The real reason? Extra-marital affairs destroy lives.

Even more sobering is Jesus' assertion that if a man looks at a woman in order to lust after her, he "has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28, NIV). This one statement of Jesus should cause us to see pornography in any form in a new light and to lump it in with these warnings that the author of Proverbs is giving us.

All sin is wrong, although some sins are understandable. Committing adultery, however, shows a lack of sense, whether it involves an actual physical act or only occurs in our hearts. We all fall into sin, but we don't have to be stupid about it.

The Choice Between Hatred and Hiding

Suggested Reading: Proverbs 10:13-21

In season 5 of Smallville, when Clark Kent and his high school buddies spent their first year in college, Lana Lang discovered a pair of drugs that would kill her and then bring her back from the dead, which she used to try to communicate with her deceased parents (yes, it sounds ridiculous). The near-death experiences became addicting and Lana began acting much like any drug addict would. She was constantly strung out, spent all of her money paying for the drugs and then, when she ran out of money, she decided to break into her friend Lex Luthor's house and steal from him to pay for her next fix. Naturally, Lex caught her in the act and demanded to know why she didn't simply come to him for the money (after all, he was a billionaire). Lana told him, "I didn't want to have to lie to you." Lex was naturally incredulous and responded, "You didn't want to lie to me, but you broke into my house and tried to steal from me?"

Lana's dilemma mirrors a dynamic found in Proverbs 10:18, which reads, Hiding hatred makes you a liar (NLT). Now, if  you were raised in a home where you were supposed to be courteous and civil to everyone, regardless of how you feel about them, or even if you just like to mask your feelings so as not to cause problems with people, this verse might present a problem for you. Naturally, your next question might be, "Well, should I just be open about the fact that I hate that person?" And if that question were the real choice you were faced with then I would suggest that open hatred is less sinful than deceiving someone with regard to your hate. But that is not the real choice you are faced with. The real choice is not between hiding your hatred or being open about it; the real choice is whether or not you should hate in the first place.

Quite often we get into positions where we don't want to tell people about certain things we have done or where we feel we need to hide some ongoing situation in our lives, whether it is hating someone, or being too friendly with the wrong person, or going to a place our friends and family might not approve of. When we find ourselves contemplating something that we feel compelled to hide, our real choice is not whether or not to hide it but whether or not to do the thing in the first place.  If we feel the need to hide that relationship from someone, we probably shouldn't be involved in the relationship in the first place. If we feel like we need to hide our hateful feelings toward someone, then we should take a good long look inside ourselves and see what we can do to change our own heart so we don't feel that way. If we are compelled to hide a purchase from a spouse or a date destination from a parent, we should probably avoid it in the first place.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their first instinct was to hide - they hid their bodies from each other with clothes, and they tried to hide themselves from God when he came walking in the Garden. The desire to hide can be a good indicator of the presence of sin. So the next time you think about doing something that you feel like hiding from people who deserve to know, do yourself a favor and just don't do it.  

Taking a Beating Like a Klingon

Suggested Reading: Isaiah 1:2-9

There is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine where Worf (the Klingon transfer from the Next Generation) is captured by the enemy and is forced into a gladiator style prison tournament. Over the course of the episode Worf fights and wins match after match until he is tired and worn out and then has to fight the enemy's best soldier. Having already been the subject of so much abuse, Worf can barely manage to get back on his feet time after time, but somehow he continues to pull himself up. Because Worf feels he is in the right, he refuses to give up, no matter how many beatings he has to take, no matter how bloodied and bruised he gets.

When Worf continues to stand up time and time again even though it means he will take more abuse, it is considered an honorable thing because Worf refuses to let the enemy win. But what if a person endured such abuse simply because they refused to admit that they were wrong? That kind of stubbornness isn't quite so admirable. In Isaiah chapter 1, God is discussing the discipline that had been poured out on his people because they stubbornly refuse to give up their sinful ways. God asks, “Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness – only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil" (Isaiah 1:5-6, HCSB).

Far too often, we endure suffering, which is either a direct consequence of our own sinful behavior or is the discipline of a God who is desperately trying to turn us around before we destroy ourselves, and we stubbornly refuse to give in, continuing to engage in our sinful, harmful activity. Too often we decide that regardless of the consequences we are going to continue doing what we want to do, no matter how wrong it is or how much we suffer as a result. But while suffering for a just cause can be admirable, suffering because we just don't want to change is destructive and stupid.

What about you? What are you stubbornly refusing to give up, even though you are facing increasingly difficult consequences for it? What are you considering doing, even though you know the consequences could be dire? What are you trying to convince yourself that you can get away with, knowing you probably won't? Imagine yourself facing the full set of consequences for that decision and choose right now to do the right thing.

Suffering for a just cause is admirable. Suffering because we refuse to give up our sin is just sad.

We'll Take The Murderer But Not The Adulterer

Suggested Reading: James 2:1-13

In the same passage where James warns against showing favoritism based on the benefit we might receive, he goes on to say, But if you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking it all. For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you are a lawbreaker (James 2:9-11, HCSB).

Though he doesn't specifically come out and say it, James hovers on the edge of another way we sometimes play favorites in the Church when he compares a person who commits adultery with one who commits murder, as if one might be acceptable while the other is not. That might sound far fetched, but I've known people in churches who are perfectly willing to accept someone fresh out of jail for a violent crime but unwilling to accept a person who has been through a divorce. Going a step farther, I've seen churches accept heterosexual couples living together outside of marriage but unwilling to accept homosexual couples.

My point is not that any of these activities should be condoned or accepted but that far too often we play favorites based on which sins we find acceptable and which ones we don't. Some sins we don't like but will look past because we understand them: robbery (if you're a dumb teenager), pre-marital sex (darn those pesky hormones), gossip (that really is a juicy story), lying (they must have had a good reason). But some sins we immediately use as justification to ostracize people: homosexuality (the perverts!), abortion (you're just being irresponsible and selfish, you murderer!), or gossip (I was just telling a juicy story but you're flat-out lying about me!).

James reminds us that we are all lawbreakers, that all of us have broken the entire law, and that all of us are in need of God's mercy. Speak and act as those who will be judged by the law of freedom. For judgment is without mercy to the one who hasn’t shown mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:12-13, HCSB). Sooner or later, playing favorites based on which sins are okay and which ones deserve condemnation will blow up in our faces. People will realize that we are hypocrites, the sins that we commit will fall out of favor, and we will face God's judgment for our own lack of mercy.

We can't afford to play favorites when it comes to sin. Eventually, popular opinion will turn against our own sins. Instead, let's remember that we have all received mercy and treat people as if we really believe that.

Being Grateful for Banishment

Suggested Reading: Romans 7:13-25

An odd thought struck me the other day. I had been reading through Romans where Paul, expressing his frustration with the sinful state of our lives, asked the question, Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24). Not long after that, I read Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and sin entered into the world.  Genesis 3:22-24 reads, The Lord God said, “Since man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”  So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life (HCSB).

Quite often, I have heard those verses described as God's punishment for sin. But having just read Paul in Romans, I thought about the verses a little differently. Paul seemed to view sin as something that lives in our fleshly bodies. In fact, while God's grace negates the power of sin, the death of this body seems to be the thing that finally, truly sets us free from the influence of sin. If that is the case, then banishing Adam and Eve from the garden where they could have eaten from the Tree of Life was not a punishment but an act of grace. If God had not banished them, preventing them from eating from the Tree of Life, they would have lived in their sin forever, without the benefit of death to break sin's hold on them, and their separation from God would have been eternal.  God's decision to banish them from the garden, though I'm sure it felt like a punishment, was really an act of grace.

Sometimes, we experience things that feel like punishments, the loss of a relationship, the end of a time of privilege, a downturn in our financial circumstances. And though we might be able to draw a direct line between these events and our own bad decisions, while discipline may well be involved, remember that God is not a vindictive God. God's hope is to rehabilitate us and to save us, not to beat us down because we provided an opportunity for God to punish us. And the very thing we view as a punishment may really be an act of God's grace, keeping us from something worse down the road or clearing the way for something wonderful.

Yes, God does discipline those who belong to Him, but God's discipline is redemptive in nature. When you feel like you're being punished by God, fix the appropriate part of your life and thank God for the grace you've been given. God's discipline is an act of love for the children of God. Don't be discouraged by discipline. Learn the lesson God is teaching and be grateful for God's grace.

Playing Tickling Games With God

Suggested Reading: Exodus 10:16-11:10

When my son was very young, he and I had a game we liked to play. He would come up and "attack" me when I wasn't expecting it and I would "retaliate" by tickling him. He'd begin to cry out between fits of laughter, "Stop! Stop!" I'd ask if he was going to attack me again and he would promise not to. I'd release him and he would immediately "attack" me again. We would repeat the cycle numerous times until I got worn out or he got tired of being tickled. But the key to the game was my son knowing that I would relent if he promised to stop and my being prepared to tickle again as soon as he attacked.

Throughout history, many people have thought God was playing a similar game with them. Pharaoh was one of them. When God sent Moses to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt, he sent Moses with a repertoire of miracles/plagues to perform against Pharaoh when he refused to cooperate. The first nine of these plagues were temporary kinds of plagues and, when the plague became too much to bear, Pharaoh would promise to comply long enough for God to remove the plague. Pharaoh played a game with God, believing he could go back to doing what he wanted as soon as God relented from the plague. He kept doing it until Moses announced to Pharaoh, “This is what the Lord says: At midnight tonight I will pass through the heart of Egypt. All the firstborn sons will die in every family in Egypt, from the oldest son of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, to the oldest son of his lowliest servant girl who grinds the flour. Even the firstborn of all the livestock will die (Exodus 11:4-6, NLT). Not until a plague arrived that couldn't be taken back - the death of Pharaoh's firstborn son - did Pharaoh realize that God was not playing a game.

How often do we try to play the same kind of game with God? We suffer terrible consequences for sin in our lives and pray for God's mercy, only to return to our ways when the consequences lessen? How often do we end bad habits because life gets tough, only to return to those same habits when things get a little better?

Whether it's mishandling finances or abusing drugs or simply being nonchalant about spending time with God, are we playing with God, hoping things will get better so we can go back to doing our own thing? My son was never able to win the tickle game with me, and we can't expect to win when we play games with God. Isn't it about time we get serious?

Christmas Hams and Farcical Worship

Suggested Reading: Mark 7:1-13

The story goes of a mom who was cooking a Christmas ham with her daughter. The daughter watched patiently as the mom prepared the ham and as she chopped off the front of the ham before putting it in the baking pan and placing it in the oven. The little girl asked her mom why she chopped off the front of the ham and mom admitted she wasn't sure but that grandma had always done that when she was a little girl. So mom called grandma to ask why you were supposed to chop off the front of the ham. Upon hearing the question grandma cracked up laughing and explained, "I chopped off the front of the ham because my baking pan was too small for the whole ham!" Mom had mistaken the way her mother did things for the way things had to be done.

In Mark chapter 7, we find another group of people who had gotten things a little mixed up. A group of scribes and Pharisees came down to see Jesus to examine him and determine whether or not they should support him. Their initial criticism of Jesus, however, had nothing to do with his teachings being wrong or with accusations that he was mistreating the poor or neglecting the widow or fatherless child. Their initial criticism was a question of why Jesus' disciples didn't follow the traditions of the elders and wash their hands before eating!

Now, I think we can all agree that washing your hands is a good thing to do but Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God' (Mark 7:6-7, NLT). While washing one's hands is certainly a good thing to do, there is no command in scripture to wash your hands before you eat. That was a human idea - a good one to be sure, but still human - and these people were judging Jesus' disciples on it as if it were a command of God.

As followers of Jesus, we must make an effort to distinguish between our own ideas and those that come from scripture. Ideas like "drinking is a sin," or "God helps those who help themselves" are ideas that may have logical human reasons behind them but they can't be found anywhere in scripture and may in fact be contrary to scripture. We must have enough respect for God's Word to actually know God's Word -- to understand the difference between what it does say and what it doesn't say. When we start confusing the two and teaching or practicing our own ideas as God's word, our worship becomes a farce.

Batman, the Righteous Prostitute

Suggested Reading: Genesis 38

One of the compelling elements of superhero stories is the contradiction inherent in a person who illegally acts as a vigilante in order to fight crime and seek justice. Batman is a great example. Often chased by the police for his vigilante activity, Batman is also the only means of defeating many of the super-villains who attack Gotham City. In some tellings, Batman works with the police but it is often a secret relationship because Batman's work is technically illegal. Technically, Batman is breaking the law but he is trying to do the best he can in a desperate world.

In Genesis 38, Judah, one of the twelve sons of Israel, has three sons. His oldest marries a woman named Tamar but then dies. In accordance with the Old Testament laws of levirite marriage, Judah's second son also marries Tamar. But when the second son dies, Judah puts off giving his youngest son to Tamar, afraid the woman is a jinx. When Tamar realizes Judah is not going to follow through with his obligations of providing his youngest son as her husband, she dresses up as a prostitute and positions herself where she knows Judah will pass. Judah encounters her, propositions her, seals the deal, and then goes on his way, never realizing that he slept with his daughter-in-law. When Tamar shows up pregnant, Judah is furious and wants to have her executed for adultery. But when she provides evidence that she is pregnant with Judah's child, he changes his tone. He proclaims, "She is more righteous than I am, because I didn't arrange for her to marry my son Shelah" (Genesis 38:26, NLT).

At times, we see people in their sin and we want to pass judgment on them. A man leaves his wife and we want to judge him for infidelity or for giving up on his marriage. We see a young woman get pregnant out of wedlock and we want to label her as easy or promiscuous. Our child comes home from school with a note about the disturbance they created in P.E. and we want to jump all over them for being a problem child. And while the things these people have done are wrong, we rarely know when they are only doing something wrong because they don't know how to make a bad situation any better otherwise. Maybe that man is leaving because his wife is abusive. Maybe that young woman was trying to avoid losing the only man who ever showed her any positive attention. Maybe that child was defending himself from kids who know how to strike when the teacher isn't looking. Maybe they're all just being selfish. But maybe they have reasons.

The point is that we never know why people make the decisions they do. We never know if we would do the same thing - or something worse - if we were put in their place. So we should avoid judging people just because they do something wrong. Maybe they are just making bad choices. But maybe they are just desperate and need our help and prayers more than our condemnation. Their reasons never make the actions right but we should take a look at their circumstances before we start bringing the hammer down on people who mess up. After all, we can all wind up desperate.

Typhoons and Temptresses

Suggested Reading: Genesis 39:1-10

In Karate Kid, Part II, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi go to Okinawa to visit Mr. Miyagi's dying father. Almost immediately upon arriving they both find themselves confronted by angry rivals seeking to demonstrate how much better they are than the heroes of the movie. Near the climax of the film, in the middle of a typhoon, Daniel's rival, Chozen, refuses to go help a little girl caught in the storm. Instead, Daniel has to save her. Upon seeing Chozen's cowardice and his refusal to help the little girl, his mentor Sato tells him, "Now, to me, you are dead." Chozen had wronged the little girl and her family by not helping but, worse, he had dishonored Sato by being a coward. Sato took Chozen's failure to help the little girl as a sin against himself.

As odd as that interchange may seem to most Americans, a similar kind of honor can been seen throughout scripture. In Genesis 39, Joseph, whose brothers had sold him into slavery, had worked his way up through the ranks at his owner's home and Potiphar had placed him in charge of everything. Potiphar's wife took notice of Joseph and repeatedly tried to seduce him. Joseph's response to her is found in Genesis 39:8-9: Look, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority. No one in this house is greater than I am. He was withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God? (HCSB).

For Joseph, while sleeping with his master's wife would be wrong because of his relationship with her husband, Joseph spoke of the situation as a sin against God, not his master. Joseph would not have denied that sleeping with this woman was a sin against her husband, but he understood something deeper and more important: maintaining our integrity must be seen first, and foremost, in terms of our relationship with God.  If we are only concerned about not hurting people or not sinning against people, there may be times we think we can get away with something because no one will never find out. We can cheat on our spouse on a business trip because we are 300 miles away and she will never know. We can fudge our mileage when listing our tax deductions because no one will be able to prove us wrong. But that thinking only works if our focus is on the people involved. When we turn to consider God, who holds us accountable whether people know or not, who sees every hidden act and every desire of our hearts, we must view our behavior in a different light.

While it is important that we avoid hurting people and that we honor people's trust, it is more important that we live a life of integrity before God. We must remember that we ultimately reflect the One who sees everything we do and think, even if no one else ever knows. Does what you do in secret bring God shame or reflect his glory?