Gossip is a destroyer

I don’t know of a single person who hasn’t been a victim of gossip and, at the same time, a gossiper about others. What’s more, every one of us gets caught up in gossip – coming and going – every single day.

More than once I’ve had to come to the rescue of family and friends who were the victims of gossip; a lot more than once I’ve had to be shamed because of things I said about others. There’s one thing about gossip that you and I need to remember: Gossip always finds its way home. Always.

The Proverbs, in the Old Testament, warn against gossip at least four different times. (Proverbs 20:19, Proverbs 11:12-13, Proverbs 16:28, and Proverbs 18:7-8). Proverbs 16:28 likens a gossip to a “perverse man.” A gossiper is defined as “one who reveals secrets, one who goes about as a tale-bearer or scandal-monger.” Many will position gossip as “information sharing” or “within the realm of good business practice” or even, wickedly, as “prayer requests.”

Many, with an already poor self-esteem, lacking attention or praise or recognition from anyone about anything, will use gossip to pull others down and lift themselves up. Gossipers like to be at the center of attention; the center of the all-knowing, all-wise and all-perfect.

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul writes boldly and straight-forward about “God’s Anger at Sin.” Paul is writing about all of us – wrapped up in our sinful living. Put a finger on the first sentence of v. 26 that reads, “That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires.” We’ll come back to that.

Beginning in verse 28, Paul writes, “When they refused to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. (Again, Paul writes that God abandons us). Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless and unforgiving. They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

You may be asking, “Scott, who is Paul writing about?”

Continue reading into Romans 2:1 – “You may be saying, 'What terrible people, you have been talking about?' But you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you do these very same things. (v. 2) And, we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.”

Here are some things we need to consider:

• Paul throws a wide net in making a case that God hates sin – all sin – and there’s no pecking order for it. Beyond the listing in v. 28-32, Paul also includes homosexuality in v. 26-27. But, understand, God hates all of it equally. He lists murder in the same sentence with gossip. I thought that was interesting, especially since gossip does murder another person’s reputation and character. Anything that lifts self over God and others is sinful, and God hates it.
• In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gives us clear direction that we are to go and make disciples, and help people discover Jesus as Savior. As we have studied before, this mission often includes building relationships with people. If we are involved in envy, fighting, deception, gossip, breaking promises and greed, well, we are not building relationships – we are destroying them. Not only that, but we are exhausted in the things of sin and have no energy left to reflect Jesus.
• We are all guilty. I can point a finger at a homosexual. You can whisper around about someone’s alcohol problem. We can talk arrogantly about someone’s sexual missteps; we can hold up another person’s failings and shake them out for all to see. But, as you and I do this to others, we need to remember that somewhere someone is breathing that same acidic breath in our direction. God will punish you and me, and everyone, for our lack of mercy and grace and love toward others.
• What does God’s punishment look like? In v. 26 and again in v. 28, Paul writes that God abandons us. I can’t think of a punishment worse that being out of daily fellowship with Almighty God. It’s as if God takes His hands off of us and lets us slip into the muck of the world. We lose our calm, we lose our peace, we lose our courage, we lose our patience, we lose our sense of direction, and we lose our sense of right and wrong. We become adrift because we can’t be in fellowship with God, following Jesus, and be mired up in hurting others with our tongues. We can’t be destroying people on the one hand and be in the center of God’s will for us at the same time. Each of us chooses - God or self. And, God lets us choose.

To put the wickedness of gossip in a modern day context, I turn to Joseph Goebbels, who served as Adolph Hitler’s Reich Minister of Propoganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. It was Goebbels’ strategy that vilified the Jews so that everyday Germans would not rise up when the Third Reich moved in to destroy the Jews. Goebbels led book burning, took control of the media, produced anti-Jewish films, and created a frenzy of anti-Jewish sentiment throughout the German people. But, it has been said of Goebbels, and wrote of him, that his most effective tool in pushing people toward mass hate and extermination was simply this: The Whisper Method of propaganda. Gossip.

The Whisper Method of propaganda works like this: Human nature is so rotten that when presented information about another person – good or bad – we can’t help but tell someone else and often twist it to our own biases. My friends, I want to tell you something. This is dangerous shifting-sand. If you and I do anything to harm the ones that God loves (everyone), we can fully expect that to come home to us. Gossip finds its way home.

James 3:6: The tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.”

This lesson has given me some things to clean up in my own life, and to pray about with vigor. Here are a few considerations. My friend Rob Motley would call them “guard rails” in daily living.

• Let’s not talk about anyone without their permission. I know that’s impossible, but let’s set it as a goal to perhaps curb some of our gossip.
•  Let’s not say anything about anyone that would hurt another person’s reputation; let’s not say anything about someone that we are not willing to say directly to them. Let’s stop living around the perimeter of people’s lives, guessing and speculating about what’s happening with them. Let’s instead get inside people’s lives, live with them, encourage them and even correct them toward being complete with Jesus Christ
•   Let’s protect relationships, preserving the opportunity to talk about Jesus and faith.
• When in positions to talk about someone as in an employment discussion or whether to accept someone as a volunteer, let’s seek open and prayerful discernment regarding what’s appropriate and inappropriate to discuss. Let’s get God in the center of our discussions and trust Him to guide our motives and our discussions.

Fighting jealousy and discontent; finding peace

I am friends with two sisters on Facebook. They have children who appear to be about the same age. They are constantly bickering through Facebook. Now, they don’t verbally do it; they do it through photographs. One will post a photograph of her daughter doing something very special; the other sister will soon after post a photograph of her daughter doing something very special. One will post where her family is going on vacation; the other tries to trump it. This weekend, as the girls moved into college, there was a war of photographs comparing dorm rooms.

Last football season, as Richard finished out his year on the offensive line, I was approached by a parent who said, “I pray that none of these boys ever gets injured, but I realize that my son is just one injury away from getting to play.” Translation: If your boy gets hurt, mine gets to start on Friday nights.

I have told you before about the time we were at a birthday party, and a friend said to me, “My wife is always complaining about our yard and griping because she’s embarrassed of what our neighbors think. When she does that, I just drive her past your house.”

A year after we were married, Vicki and I had some friends who invited us to their house for dinner. The after-dinner entertainment was a one-hour, narrated slide show about their vacation to the Caribbean. When we left their house, we drove in silence for several minutes, contemplating our camping trip to a local state park. Finally I said, “I hate the Caribbean.” And, we laughed all the way home. I wanted to ride back by their house and just give them the finger on the drive-by.

We get restless don’t we? And, we compare ourselves to others, don’t we? Why is this happening to me and not you? Why do you have and I don’t have? Why are your children over-achievers and mine don’t seem to care about today, much less tomorrow? Why am I having to care for my parents day-and-night? Why do I worry all the time? Why do we bicker all the time within our family? Why does life seem so easy for you and so difficult for me? Why do I feel jealous? Why do you seem so jealous? Why is your life so perfect? Why does my life stink?

I want to tell you something. No one’s life is perfect. None is righteous; no, not one. (Romans 3:10) Or, how about Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 1 Peter 5:10 says that only Jesus will eternally put us on a firm foundation. So, get this straight: No one is perfect. Not me, not you and not them; not anyone. No one's life is perfect. Don’t get into comparisons. I remember the story of Miss Kate, in Jesup, Ga., whose husband died without life insurance, whose children were all addicts, and whose house burned completely to the ground, leaving her a stranger living in a friend’s basement. Someone said, “Oh, Miss Kate, if only you could trade your life with someone else.” And, she said, “I would not trade my problems for anyone’s problems. I know my problems. Behind the mask, their problems may be worse than my own, and I know through my Savior that all my problems are just temporary anyway."

Today’s lesson is a reminder to find contentment with where you are. And, I want to use Philippians 4. In this passage, Paul is writing to the church at Phillipi, and he opens with instruction for two women who are bickering with one another. We don’t know why they are bickering, but let’s assume they are comparing children, or comparing homes, or comparing cornbread recipes. Maybe they are fussing over who is more prominent within the church. Maybe they are squabbling over theology. Whatever it is, I like to think they are comparing lives and opinions, and that leads to envy and jealousy.

Paul reminds them that (a) they both belong to the Lord; and (b) they must settle their disagreement (they can’t be in true fellowship with God, as believers, if they are ugly to one another). Paul says to the rest of the church that friends shouldn’t sit on the sidelines, but should be involved in bringing peace to these women. Because all the energy should be on matters of faith – not jealousy or envy or feeling sorry for yourself or comparing yourself to others.
And, knowing that we all share times and feelings of discontent, of comparing ourselves to others, of restlessness, or jealousy and envy, Paul gives us some very encouraging words in the rich, rich Scripture of Philippians 4:1-8.

1. "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – Rejoice!" What? ? Are you crazy, Paul? In times of being angry and dispirited, I am supposed to be joyful? Yes. Consider that when Paul wrote this he was in prison - so he practiced what he preached.. Paul is saying that our inner attitudes should not be dependent on our outer circumstances, because no matter where we are – Jesus is with us. My son, Andrew, had a tough week this week. As he pulled out of the funk, he wrote, “When, I look in the rear view mirror of my life, I can see how God was with me in the times of joy and sorrow, and years from now when I look in the rear view mirror, I will see what I know is true – God is with me now.” This past week, even in tough circumstances, my boy did not let it change his inner perspective.
2. "Let everyone see that you are considerate in all that you do. Remember the Lord is coming soon." The most important thing you and I can do is protect our witness, and when we slink into the darkness of despair, envy, jealousy, and discontent it becomes very difficult to fully reflect the love we have for Jesus. In fact, I believe a person's spiritual growth is evidenced by how much they wallow in negatively, envy, jealousy and bitterness. We can’t get caught up in petty revenge and ugliness – it reflects that we really don’t love Jesus like we claim to love Him. And, others see that false witness we project. And, He is coming soon, and the world must know Him or be lost forever. We have to keep on mission despite the swirl around us.
3. You know this beautiful verse (v. 6): "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful that the human can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Many have delivered college-age children to schools this weekend, saying good-bye in very real ways to childhood. And, I don’t care who you are – when they leave home (even for college) there is worry, and there is some personal pain over the reshuffling of the family deck and its relationships. And, I know many of you are worried about your jobs, and most all of us are worried about the economy’s toll on our lives now and in the future, when we attempt to retire. But, Paul says, “Worry about nothing.” In fact, every time you feel the need to worry – turn that worry into prayer. Middle of the night? Don't take sleeping medicine; Get up and pray. The more you pray – the less you will worry. Philippians 4:7 says, “If you do this – pray over worry – you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." One more thing – Yes, God knows our problems without our prayers, but He wants us to come talk to Him about them. And, that’s what prayer is – talking to God about the concerns of our lives. He will listen, and is on call for us 24/7. No conversation with God is too small; if it troubles you and me – it troubles Him. True peace is not found in positive thinking, in the absence of conflict or in good feelings. True peace comes from knowing that God is in control.
4. Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. What goes into your life will come out through your life. Each of us should take time to self-evaluate what we are putting into our lives. For me, I have moved away from the network sitcoms and reality shows to old movies on Turner Classic Movies. I have also replaced television with good books – good fiction, biographies, and the occasional devotion book. You may be at place where you need to reshuffle the deck of your friendships, especially if you can’t say ‘no’ to some of the places those friends are taking you. If you are distracted easily, like me, pray for God to keep you so busy in day-to-day service to others that you are too exhausted to do anything but sleep at the end of the day. Focus on the honorable and right; expect Jesus to come right now and find you honorable.

Mostly, today, I want you to know that it’s sinful to compare yourself to others, and put people in positions of comparing themselves to you. Live the life that God has given you, put all of your trust in His plans for you, and fully love and serve anyone and everyone He sends to you. In that, you will find peace in all of these very temporary circumstances.

When Jesus says, "Go" - it's not optional

In the last words of Matthew, the apostle writes that the 11 remaining disciples (Judas is dead) left for Galilee and went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they arrived, they saw Jesus, who was preparing to take His eternal place at the right hand of God. Seeing Jesus, the disciples worshipped Him, but some still doubted. Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) told them, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The Bible is full of rich Scripture passages, but for me this is one of the richest of them all. Ben and Jerry’s makes an ice cream flavor called Chocolate Therapy. It contains chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies, and swirls of chocolate pudding. It’s loaded. That’s how I see Matthew 28:18-20: Loaded.

Jesus proclaims Himself as King Of Everything – heaven and earth. You and I must bite down on that one. When I was a little boy, my daddy had complete authority over me. I did exactly what he said, and if I refused there were consequences. If there was wiggle room it was because he gave it to me and not because I demanded it. He was the boss of me. Well, Jesus trumps that father-son and every other relationship that I have. Jesus has authority over me and everything about me, and that authority extends to everything, everywhere, natural and supernatural. So, when Jesus says “Scott, go do xyz” I have two responses – submit and do it, or reject Him. If I reject Him, I am disloyal. Whew. Reject Jesus? Whew, again.

Because Jesus is King of Everything, when He says, “Go! Make disciples . . .” I have no choice but to do it. Neither do you. None of us have a choice if indeed Jesus is our Savior and our Lord. In the context of today, I believe Jesus is saying, “You have slipped into believing faith is sitting in a seat, serving on a church committee, throwing your coins in an offering plate, and calling yourself a ‘Good Christian.’” That’s not good enough. That’s not “going.” Jesus is saying, “Do Something – and not just roll back poverty at Christmas.” No. Jesus is saying, “The end result is not the going and doing – the end result is making disciples, seeing people baptized, and teaching the gospel to people who haven’t heard it.”

And, Jesus reminds us that as we step out of comfort zones and "Go," we don't have to worry about anything. Because He is "always with us - until the end of time as we know it" and - He is King over everything, including both our comfort zones and where we are being called to go.

When my dad told me, “Scott, go cut the grass,” I went and cut the grass. When my dad said, “Scott, I need you to help me after school today,” I helped my dad after school that day. As my authority, He commanded and I submitted.

Jesus expects that, too. Business commitments? Family commitments? Physical restraints? He understands all that because all of that is under His authority, too. Still, He says, “Go, and as you go, be prepared to share your faith story.”

If Jesus knocked on your front door and said, “Come with me. I’ve got something for you to do.” What would you do? What are you doing? He is knocking all the time. His call to “Go” is constant.

Our class response to this Scripture mandate is to a be a missional Sunday School class. That’s why we are involved in partnerships with Lexington Interfaith Community Services (LICS), our Behind The Badge work with local law enforcement agencies, our annual walk with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, our trip to North Dakota, and our response to Lexington Baptist Church missions and ministries. It’s why I want to see us be intentional about providing devotions at Sunday morning youth sports events. It’s why we have adopted a parking lot to greet people on Sunday mornings. It’s why we engage local benefit projects. God may be calling you to lead us in a new partnership. Because as we get our hands and feet involved in faith, we build partnerships and relationships, and through those the Holy Spirit will help us share Jesus with others. The end game is not the charitable work. The end game is making disciples and seeing people come to know Jesus as Savior . . . and King of Everything natural and supernatural.

We cannot hide from God

A dirt road separated our chicken and hog farm from the angus beef farm of Mr. John Strozier, who my granddaddy liked a lot and was a good neighbor with.
Between our two farms was a large corridor – not quite a forest – of thick woods, mostly pine trees and underbrush. Some of it was easily passable; but other places were not, especially for boys without a machete.
We called those woods, “Strozier’s Woods” and Mr. Strozier was more than gracious to let us play in them and camp in them, and build forts in them.
One summer – I know it was summer because my cousin Jeff was visiting from Atlanta – me, my brother Tim and Jeff decided to explorer the deeper recesses of Strozier’s Woods, going far beyond our usual haunts.
With canteens of water and sticks to beat back the underbrush, we began our descent into Strozier’s Woods. There were places we had to lie on bellies and crawl through the brush, giving not one thought to rodents or snakes or chiggers. There were places we had to use our sticks to beat through the brush, clearing a little walking path. At one point, we even had to climb one of the pine trees and jump to a spot more clear.
It was such a great adventure for three pre-adolescent boys with nothing to do on a summer day.
As we got deeper into the woods, the canopy of the pine trees cast an eerie and kind of dark pallor over us, and as we were walking along, my brother Tim noticed something to our right, several sections of pine trees stacked up like a wall.
That certainly deserved investigation, and so we walked over to it, and then realized it had walls! And, it had a bit of a roof on it – some pine sections covered with pine straw. And, we continued walking around it – not sure what we would see at the opening, which faced a dense part of the woods.
Around the short corner we went, and peeked inside, fully expecting to see a skeleton.
Instead, we saw a collection of beer cans and glass liquor bottles.
We ran out of the woods, finding the dirt road that separated our farm from Mr. Strozier’s, and we beat a path to find our grandfather. We needed to report this “hideout” we had discovered.
When we told our papa, he told us to never go back that deep into the woods, and to stay away from that place.
A few years later, when I was older, I went back down into those woods and the hideout was gone. The boards were scattered and the mess cleaned up.

I don’t know whose hideout it was, but it was someone’s secret place to hide from the world and indulge in self.

Whoever built the hideout likely did so alone – a place to escape from the world. They carefully sought a place hidden within dense woods, away from roads and away from people. It was a place to go, to get away, to find solace in the darkness of self-retreat.
And, yet what that person failed to know and realize was this: God was there.
God was there in the selection of the place. God was there in the placement of each pine tree branch. God was there in the slipping away to the place. God was there in the lies that led to the place. God was there when the top came off the bottle. God was there in the self-indulgence. God was there in the depression and the self-pity. God was there in the guilt that came after the sin. God was there.
We all have those hideouts, don’t we? I know people who sneak around and do all sorts of things, forgetting that God is literally right there with them. I’ve done it, too – still do it some. I know people whose “hideout” is sitting in front “the screens” computer, television, smart pad and smart phone consumed with self-indulgence, forgetting that God is there, too.

On a scout campout, when I was in the 9^th Grade, some of the older boys brought their Playboy and Penthouse magazines. Unbeknownst to me, one of those boys stuck the April 1974 issue of Playboy into my backpack, and I discovered it when I got home. I didn’t throw it away; I kept it – put it under my bed. I cleaned my own room; my mama would never find it. Sadly, the scars of sin hang around – I can tell you the name of that centerfold to this day – she made a big impression on me.
But, that summer, while I was away – on a church trip, no less – my mama did clean out from under my bed and she did discover Miss Marlene Morrow.
When I came home, I walked in my room to find the magazine neatly in the center of my bed. As I turned around, my dad stood there. He said, “You need to get rid of that. Your mama went screaming through the house that we raising a smut king.”
I was so ashamed and guilt-stricken – I couldn’t stand to be around my mama for days. She didn’t say a word about it until one day she said, “There are no secrets from God. Not one. You can hide your life from people, but you will never hide not one passing thought from God.”

Like you, I’ve done a lot of things in the past 52 years – some I was able to keep hidden; some not. But, regardless, there is no hiding anything from God. There is no hideout. There are no dark places beyond the vision of Almighty God.

The heart beats our life, doesn’t it? It is the source of our life, and Scripture over and over defines our heart as the center place – the HQ – for our moments of triumph in the Spirit and for our moments of wickedness.
Matthew 15:7-8 says, “We might praise Him with our mouths, but it may be that our hearts are far from Him.” And, in Matthew 5:27-28, “We might refrain from committing adultery with our bodies, but it is still possible to commit adultery with our hearts.”
Jesus said, in Luke 16:15: “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
We can’t pull the wool over God eyes. Psalm 90:8 – “You have kept our hidden sins under the light of your scrutiny.” Matthew 23:28: “You outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
After lamenting the inexplicable dark mystery of the human heart (“the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt”), Jeremiah cried out, “Who can understand it?” But, God immediately replied, “I, the Lord, search the mind and try the heart.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). We are not stuck forever with the limitations and defects of our hearts, if we confidently entrust them to Him who is greater than our hearts.

Nothing is hidden from God. There are no hideouts. If you are burdened by self-focused action, self-focused thinking, self-focused talking – now is the time to clean it up. God knows. And, God may not allow you to live in private, continuing to sin as if no one is watching. My mama likes to say, “God will not allow one of His to continue ignoring Him and living in unrepentant sin.” You may find your hiding place discovered by a group of boys or by your mama cleaning under your bed. Turn from The Hideout. Seek a new refuge in the Lord, throw yourself into the company of other believers, and remove from your life the distractions that keep you from following Jesus and listening to the Holy Spirit within you. In the light is where we are called to live. And only in the light can we find peace, joy, love and hope.

The J Word 8 & Final: See Jesus Clearly

Last week, I read an e-mail containing the blog post of Abraham Piper, son (prodigal son) of renowned pastor John Piper. If you have a prodigal or are ministering to someone with a prodigal, this blog post is worthreading,

Abraham Piper writes this: “Your rebellious child’s real problem is not drugs or sex or cigarettes or porn or laziness or crime or cussing or slovenliness or homosexuality or being in a punk band. The real problem is that your child doesn’t see Jesus clearly.”

Is Piper writing that in relation to our children or to God in relation to His children (us)? Because I agree. We so often times over-focus on the symptoms of poor decisions and living in valleys that we miss our real problem. We fail to see Jesus clearly.

In John 4, Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at the well, and their exchange dances around several issues through which the woman fails to see Jesus for who He is. Then, finally, she wants to chase a rabbit, discussing worship differences between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus answers that, and opens her eyes in verse 26 by saying, “I AM (caps) the Messiah.” I believe He was also letting her know, in a way that got her attention, that He was God (I AM). I believe she saw a clarity of God that cut her to the core. What does she do? She drops everything and runs to the village, telling everyone to come see Jesus. He ends up ministering there for two days, and many more heard his message and believed.

You see, Jesus looked straight through her problems and issues, including adultery, and brought her to see Him clearly.

In sharing Jesus with another person, that’s my ultimate goal: To help people see Jesus, clearly. It’s not to dwell on their inconsistencies and problems, but to say, “Where is Jesus in this?”

In Mark 8, 22-26, Jesus heals a blind man. And, in the healing process we see three stages of sight: (1) The man was blind; (2) The man had a blurry vision (v.24); and then (3) The man had a clear vision of Jesus.

You and I are surrounded by people who have a blind and blurry vision of Jesus, and we believers toggle back and forth between blurry and clear.
Blind people don’t know Jesus. Their lives indicate as much. They believe Jesus was a great man, a prophet, and a magician.

People with a blurred vision perhaps see Jesus as Savior, but have not surrendered to Him as Lord of their lives. Many of these good people are “Sunday morning Christians,” confusing church attendance with salvation; confusing church involvement with following Jesus. They say (we say), “I want Jesus for an eternity, but I don’t want Him complicating my life right now.” Even Jesus’ disciples struggled with this – not fully understanding Jesus until after the Resurrection.

And, then there are those of us who have come to a place of seeing Jesus clearly, or at least we get there and hold the position until we slip backwards into a comfortable blurry state for a time. The Holy Spirit then convicts us to wipe away our eyes and see clearly again. What does it mean to see Jesus clearly? How can I help others see Jesus’ clearly? As I minister to the blind and blurry-eyed, what can I tell them that will help them see Jesus clearly?

For me, here’s what I want people to know about my Jesus (no ranking).

1. Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it; He came to save it. Throughout His life, Jesus built loving relationships with broken, bruised and hurting people, loved and served them, and encouraged them to follow Him instead of the world. (John 3:17). We can’t condemn others and help them discover Jesus at the same time.
2. Jesus is all God and Jesus is all man. (Isaiah 9:6) We need to remember that Jesus was God – all God – when He came to Earth. People who saw Jesus were in fact seeing Almighty God, Sovereign God. God is in three person – God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit. Jesus was also all man, and so He understands our range of emotions, how we are tempted, how we hurt for those we love, and why we fall down so often. As God is Love, Jesus is completely Love. (John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, He gave His only son . . .” He gave Love. What does that Love look like? Think about the precious, precious moments when you love your children or you consider how you have been loved: Empathetic, sympathetic, patient, kind, gentle. (1 Corinthians 13:1-13). Love expressed and Love in action defines the believer, but not all who love are believers.
3. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. In the deepest valleys of my life, I found unbelievable comfort in just closing my eyes and whispering, “Jesus, the Prince of Peace.” I would often ease into sleep repeating those words. Jesus brings peace to the lives of those willing to look in the mirror and cry out because they no longer love what they see – sinful, lonely, hurting, mistake-driven, relationally tortured, financially ruined, sick. Read Matthew 14:29. In a violent storm, Jesus called Peter to walk on water toward Him, and as Peter focused on Jesus the storm calmed. A focus on Jesus calms the storm. It may not go away, but Jesus holds it and brings peace in it.
4. Jesus is Grace in Motion (my words). His grace – forgiveness undeserved – is alive and active. For those who cry out for Him, Jesus sees past all the selfishness and says, “You are Mine.” For those following Him, Jesus forgives everything about our yesterday and even our today. Jesus reminds the woman about to be stoned that He does not condemn her, and He instructs her, “Go and sin  no more.” Oh, what grace.
5.  Jesus is the Only Way to restoration with God. Jesus is our only Savior from God’s wrath. As you talk to people about Jesus, you will be stunned to your core at how Satan has so confused people. Good people, smart people, have been confused and deceived into believing they can financially give their way into fellowship with God; that they can build resumes of church and community service, and secure relationship with God; and even that a ‘cloud of witnesses’ will testify in heaven that they should be allowed into the restoration with God. None of this is true. Following Jesus is the only way to escape God’s wrath on our sinfulness. How do I do that?
1. Publicly, among men and woman and children, confidently confess Jesus as your Savior. Romans 10:9. This marks your life. You do it often.
2. Pour yourself into the matters of faith: Bible Study (devotions, books anchored in Scripture – anything that opens your Bible and puts you in it – look for answers to life’s problems in Scripture).
3. Prayer (communicate with God. You may not know what to say, and that’s okay. Some of my best prayer time is just quietly coming before God, and focusing on Him. It’s not necessary to open your mouth; you will know when it’s time and what to say or cry out).
4.  The Fellowship of Believers (surround yourself with other believers for encouragement and correction).
5. Missional Involvement (in the name of Jesus, loving and serving others by putting feet to prayers).
6. Once You Follow Jesus, Nothing But Jesus Will Ever Do. You will not live a perfect life in a ruined world, but you will find love, peace and grace within it by walking with the Savior. The more you follow Jesus through Scripture, prayer, fellowship and service, the less things of the world will matter, and you will begin seeing more of the world as Jesus sees it and loving more people despite themselves.

The J Word 7: Don't condemn others

Last night, I was reading a story about the life of the actor Bill Bixby, who died of complications from cancer in 1993. Most everyone of the TV Generation remembers Bixby for his role on either My Favorite Martian or The Courtship of Eddie’s Father or The Incredible Hulk.

Bixby’s first marriage was to a beautiful actress by the name of Brenda Benet. The two of them had a son, Christopher, who died at six years old of a rare throat infection. Perhaps despondent over that death, Benet committed suicide less than a year later in 1982. She put a gun in her mouth.


Certainly, I didn’t know Bill Bixby, and for sure I didn’t know Brenda Benet. But, reading or hearing about a suicide – regardless of who it is – always leaves me empty inside. The news of suicide always leaves me hurting. How did the pain get so bad that all hope was lost?
At my first newspaper job, after college, I worked alongside another writer whose name was Jay. Jay was brilliantly awkward. He was so very intellectual, but he was also so very socially awkward. That combination left him alone a lot, and I presume it left him very lonely. We only worked alongside each other for a year and then I moved away. About 10 years later, I learned that Jay had killed himself. I just remember sitting at my desk and crying over that obituary. How did the pain get so bad that all hope was lost?  Why had he not turned to faith? How had the universal congregation of believers failed him? What did his death say of my faith 10 years before when I knew he was lonely but did not act? What did his death say of the believers surrounding him now, seeing his pain and failing to act? Perhaps, Satan  whispered that we were too busy for ministry, or that once we served Jay he would be difficult to get rid of should we tire of him. 


But, let’s look at this a different way.

What if Jay was outside of faith and fellowship because, throughout his life, he had been criticized by other believers, or scolded by the faith community, or made to feel guilty by the community of faith? What if, on the eve of his suicide, in the dark of a lonely apartment, he cried out for someone to love him, but had no faith in the church or its membership to love him right where he stood . . . broken, lost and in pain. What if Jay felt so condemned by the fellowship of believers that he felt he could not turn to it in his darkest hour? What if he had lost hope in God, but also in the humans who pledged to love God and others?

You and I must be very careful. We don’t know how the conversations, attitudes and actions of this day will affect someone tomorrow, in a decade, and in the valleys of their lives. We must be people who talk about salvation, grace and reconciliation. We cannot be people who condemn others and make them feel hopeless.

We like to focus on John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s the cornerstone of the gospel presentation. But, look at John 3:17, “God send his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”

Jesus is about salvation from a fate that is already sealed.

And, so that’s our message to others: Salvation; not condemnation.
                 
In our ongoing story of Jesus and the woman at the well (beginning at John 4:15), we go back to last week’s exchange.  Jesus introduces the idea of the “living water” as opposed to the water that comes from the well. The woman appears eager to know more and Jesus says, “Go and get your husband.” And, she says, “I don’t have a husband.” And, Jesus says, “You are right! You don’t have a husband – for you have had five husbands and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” The woman says, “Sir, you must be a prophet.” And, a conversation begins that ends with v. 26, when Jesus proclaims himself as the Messiah.” In his conversation with this woman, Jesus acknowledged what she already knew – that she had previous husbands and wasn’t married to the man she lived with now. In that, He did not dwell on condemning her for it. He didn’t beat her up over it. He acknowledged the facts and moved on.

You and I know people who need Jesus. We know people whose lives are in pain and we see them turning to every solution – every solution except faith. Perhaps you have been one of those people – I know that I have. I have lived through painful valleys and turned to every possible solution except Jesus – except faith.
And, in those valleys, I can tell you the last thing I wanted or needed was for someone – especially in the name of Jesus - to come alongside me, kick me while I was down and say, “Why did you do that?” or “What were you thinking?” or “You are an idiot!” or “Here, you need to this (xyz) because this is how decent people live their lives.” No, what I needed was someone to come into that valley with me, and say, “Can I walk with you out of this mess? How can I help you? Where is Jesus in all of this?”


You see we like to condemn people. We like to beat on people.

• If I can beat on someone – then I don’t have to look in the mirror and beat on myself.
• If those around me are beaten down, it makes me stand a little taller.
• I love fixing people, and I can fix you.
• They have always seemed so perfect; it makes me feel good to see them suffer some, too.

But, beating people up never introduces Jesus because Jesus was not about beating people up. He was about loving them, serving them, putting an X on their pain and pointing them forward.

Now, this is not to say that Jesus won’t judge sin. He will. All the sin of the world will one day be judged. And, sinfulness – anything that involves me over the Lord or me over others – is evil, and wrong, and hurtful, and will be judged by God. Non-believers will take the wrath of God for sinfulness; Jesus has stood in the gap and has taken the wrath for those who believe in Him.Jesus didn’t excuse the adulterous life of the woman at the well. No, he acknowledged it, and used it to explain salvation to her.


We must keep in mind, always, that our ministry is a ministry of reconciliation. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:18, “And God has given us (believers) this task of reconciling the world to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

And, as we do this, reaching down and helping people see Jesus, we need to remember 2 Corinthians 5:16: “So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view.”
                 
Are you a reconciler in the name of Jesus? Or, are you a condemner?

All around me there is a Brenda and a Jay – people whose pain is extraordinary and who feel unworthy to approach faith. Maybe they just don’t know how to approach faith. What can I do today to help them avoid the darkest of all places – a place of dark, perceived hopelessness.

As we look into the eyes of their pain, and it cries out for a Savior, will we say, “Look at you, you deserve this” or will we ask, “Where is Jesus in all of this? Can I introduce you to Him? Can I help you find him again? Can I help you reach for the hem of His garment? Can I be your friend?”

The J Word 6: Pace Yourself

As a recap, this summer we are studying Personal Evangelism – me (as a believer) telling someone else about my relationship with Jesus as directed by the Holy Spirit. Each and every believer is instructed by Jesus to do this (Matthew 28:19) – “Go, make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” Jesus is not suggesting we do this. Jesus is telling us to do this because (v. 18) “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth, therefore . . .”

What we’ve learned so far:

1. Be Social – we must be out and among people to tell some about Jesus.
2. Find Common Ground – when the Holy Spirit presents someone to us, we can find conversational common ground around family, hometown, hobbies and interests.
3. Spiritual Arousal – as we develop a conversation, we lean on the Holy Spirit for the opportunity to talk about faith, church, Scripture, prayer and, yes, Jesus. If we converse with people long enough, we’ll hear opportunity to move beyond hometowns and hobbies, and insert faith into the conversation. We don’t have to have the answers, we just have to Be Willing as followers of Jesus.

And, now we look at some Guidelines to Personal Evangelism. The first is this: Don’t Go Too Far, Too Fast.

In 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, Paul writes to the church at Corinth: “Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to mature Christians. I had to talk as though you belong to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn’t handle anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your own demons? You are acting like people who don’t belong to the Lord.”

In 1984, I was coaching a baseball team of boys ages 10-12. I was living in Statesboro, GA, serving as associate editor of the daily newspaper there. I had a good team, and I knew it. Jeff Yawn, Sean Sanders, Del Akins, Jonathan Stapleton, Jamie Sapp, and Chris Boyd were a few of the boys – now dads themselves – on that team. We won our division that year and I was able to coach All-Stars. But, the first day of practice, I was joined by two of the dads. While I gathered and completed all the necessary paperwork on the players, these two dads started practice. And, right off the bat, they put players at positions and started working on complicated cut-off plays between the outfielders and infielders. I watched in disbelief. I could tell the boys had no idea what these men were talking about, and the men were getting a little frustrated. So, here I am, 25, and I walk out to these two dads, and said something like, “We’re not doing that. We don’t need to teach them the entire game of baseball, we just need to teach them what they need to know at 10 and 12 to be competitive. Then, at the next level, someone can add to the foundation we’ve advanced.” And, so I called the boys in, apologized, and told them how we were going to it. We had so much fun that year, finished 15-5, and won our division championship. The lesson that I learned was this one: Sometimes, you can go too far, too fast – you have to meet people where they are, love and coach them right there, and nudge them on to the next level.

Each and every one of us is walking up a spiritual mountain. As new believers we are “born again” at the bottom of the mountain. Our climb up the mountain represents our spiritual growth. Spiritual growth occurs as we shed the priorities and wants and desires of this Earth, and replace them with the priorities of God to completely love Him, completely love and serve others, and make disciples. Up, up, up, we are called to climb. But, we can’t forget about those just starting out at the bottom of the mountain *or* those who don’t even know about the mountain! And, we can’t expect someone just starting a spiritual journey to suddenly join us where we might be. That’s like asking a first-grader to know Algebra, or feeding an infant a breakfast of steak, eggs and pancakes. No, we have to meet people where they are, listen and love them toward taking their own steps up the mountain of spiritual growth. One of the best testimonies we can give is to say, “Come on, friend, you can do it. I know what you are thinking and going through because I’ve been in that same place on this mountain.”

Even Jesus understood this. The backdrop of this Personal Evangelism study has been Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, John 4:13-16, he said to her, “People soon become thirsty again after drinking this well water. But, the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.” She says, “Please sir, give me some of that water! Then, I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to haul water.” And, Jesus says, “Go and get your husband.” She says, “I have no husband.” Jesus says, “Right – you’ve had five of them and you aren’t married to the one you are with now.” You see, Jesus had the opportunity to move from the analogy of the living water to real faith conversations, but Jesus instead steps back and focuses the woman on her life and her life’s decisions. She had to confront her sinful (self-focused) choices, repent from them, and then embrace the living water of Jesus.

It’s easy to say, “I can’t do that” or “that’s not my comfort zone (to talk about faith with others)” but again – you and I, as believers, have no choice. If all authority has been given Jesus and He has instructed us to go and tell others, well, we must do it or we aren’t following Jesus ourselves. (That’s not good). When someone approaches me about faith or I have those common ground conversations, I never *plan* a strategy to talk about faith. I don’t go into those conversations with this calculated, strategic method of talking about Jesus. No, I just listen to the urging of the Holy Spirit as conversations unfold, and then I act on those urgings. My experience is that He will always provide the words and the direction and the answers that I need. And, sometimes the answer is “I don’t know, but let’s find out together.”

A Warning: While we are saying “don’t go too far, too fast” we can’t use that as a stalling tactic until we find the courage to talk to others about Jesus. No, this is not a method to let us off the hook or excuse our inadequacies. Because hovering over each day of our lives is an urgency to help people discover Jesus as Savior. People – men, women, teenagers – who die without confidently confessing Jesus as both Savior and Lord will spend an eternity separated from God. You and I need to bite down on that reality. We are not living a game. I know we are a culture of mercy and grace, and of second and third and fourth chances, but in this there is no second chance after death. All around us there are men, women and teenagers who have never heard a friend or family member talk about Jesus,  and there are people who wrongly believe a church ceremony standing only on its own merit secured their eternity. There are people attending church every Sunday who believe that good works secure their place in heaven. Most sadly, are those who have attend church all their lives, know all the answers, and carry a Bible yet have never confessed Jesus as their Savior. They want to confess Jesus, I know they do, but Satan has convinced them that they will be embarrassed by doing so as adults – especially living in the church as a believer for a long time. You and I must be Christian Soldiers in all of this confusion. We must share the gospel. We must balance the urgency of the hour with meeting people where they are, and helping them along. We must tell the world that we love Jesus, and be ready for Him to send people to us.        

My prayer is this:

1. If you are clinging to the world’s priorities, I want you to let go of that and lay your life down for Jesus. I want you to say, “I can’t do this life by myself, anymore. I’m tired of doing the same old thing all the time.” You and I must get right with Jesus so that we have a story to tell those who don’t know Him.
2. If you are committed to follow Jesus, I want you to get urgent about the people in your life. Do you love others enough to ensure they hear about Jesus. You can’t save them – all you can do is talk to them. Do you love them that much? Do you value you relationship with them more than you value their relationship with the Lord? You can talk to people about Jesus without being condescending or critical or ugly. Do you love them?
3. Can you take the time to meet people where they are in life, and help them take baby-steps toward faith? Can you build a relationship that involves a lot of time, a lot of prayer, a lot of conversations, a lot of your own self-reflection? Can you be patient, be authentic, be genuine, and love others toward a relationship with Jesus – regardless of how long it might take?