Hollow

“I hate, I despise your feast days, and I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.” Amos 5:21-23

Prophets have a hard job. God tells them what to say, and then they have to stand up in front of people and say it. And the message that God gives them is rarely, “Great job, folks! Keep it up!”

Even so, these particular verses from Amos seem harsh. Imagine if your preacher stood up in the pulpit and said, “This is what God has told me to say to you: ‘I hate, I despise your potlucks and your worship services. Even though you offer Me your tithe and your offering, I will not accept them. Take away from Me the noise your praise songs and hymns, for I will not hear the melody of your pianos, organs, guitars or drums.”

It sure sounds like God hates church! Why would He hate church? What God hates is hollow worship – where people just go through the motions. I think we’ve probably all done that from time to time. Maybe we’ve had a really rough week, so we come to church and we stand when the congregation stands, kneel when everybody kneels, we may even talk to people we know. We sit through the whole service but we leave without ever being mentally or spiritually touched by anything that went on. If anybody asked us what the message was, we probably couldn’t tell them.

Imagine though, if that went on for so long, that we accept that as how things should be. We’re just going through the motions – we look like Christians, we act like Christians, we even think we are Christians, but we have so relationship with God at all. And that’s what God hates – hollow Christians.

Amos was talking to the Jews of his time. Jesus said pretty much the same things to the Jews of His time.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew 23:23-28

The scribes and the Pharisees were hollow just like their worship. They made sure they did all the right things, wore the right clothes, and ate all the right foods, but it was all for show. In their hearts they were terrible people who took advantage of people who sincerely were seeking God.

John Boykin explains in his column, “The Gospel of Coincidence.”

“What was so bad about [the Pharisees'] hypocrisy? If we think of it as consisting merely in their teaching or pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory, we will miss Jesus' main point. What He nailed them for was that they were using God and the things of God as a means to some other end. That's what was insidious about the Pharisees' example. ‘They do all their deeds to be noticed by men’ (Matthew 23:5). ... Theirs was a problem of priorities: their first priority was social status, to which end God was but a means. What greater affront to God could there be? Better to ignore Him altogether than to exploit Him as a means to something else you value more highly.”[1]

Why are we Christians? Why do we go to the church we do? Is coming to church mainly our social event of the week? Are we more concerned about what we wear than what we hear from the pulpit? Do we worry more about the form of worship than actually worshipping? And what difference does it make, anyway? Isn’t it more important that we’re there than not being involved at all?

“Jesus spoke as one having knowledge and authority. The denunciation he uttered against the Jews condemned their formalism and hypocrisy. His scathing rebukes and denunciation of formalism have the same force today as they had in the days of the scribes and Pharisees, and apply to those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. The God of infinite holiness cannot accept external service as spiritual worship. Those who worship God must worship him in spirit and truth, or their service is vain. There must be reality in the religious ceremonies, or they are simply pretensions, hollow abominations. But though Jesus rebuked the priests and religious teachers for their formalism and hypocrisy, yet how forbearing and tender were his lessons to the poor, the oppressed, the afflicted, and discouraged. The priests and rulers, the scribes and Pharisees, destroyed the living pastures, and defiled the well-springs of the water of life. By their false precepts they confused the understanding, and clouded that which was clear. They misrepresented God by their hardness of heart, by their impurity, pride, and selfishness. They made God altogether such a one as themselves. Their imagination was darkened and polluted by their wicked works. Because of their religious degeneracy they could discern nothing that pertained to the spiritual kingdom of Christ. Through rejecting the messages of mercy brought to them by the Lord of light and glory, they became, in their stubborn resistance, past feeling. They had evidence in abundance of the divine character and mission of Christ, and increased evidence would only have increased their guilt. Thinking themselves to be wise, they became fools. As men do today, so they did then, and used the very intellect that God had given them to brand with falsehood his eternal truth.” (E.G. White, Sabbath School Worker, December 1, 1894)

So, what’s it going to be for us? Are we going to take our lead from the Pharisees or from Jesus? Will we allow the vessel to become more important to us than the contents? Are we going to worry more about how people are dressed at church than that they’re at church at all? Are we going to come to church to meet our friends or to meet with God? Are we going to let the formality of our church service get between God and a searching heart?

God is longing to meet us and inhabit our worship. Let’s not let our worship be hollow anymore. Let’s not wait to hear, “Woe unto you!” Let’s fill our hearts and minds with the spirit of praise.

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[1] John Boykin, The Gospel of Coincidence, Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 5

One God - One Goal - One Glory

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 11.24.12

Do you remember this song?

We are one in the Spirit

We are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit

We are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

We will work with each other

We will work side by side

We will work with each other

We will work side by side

And we'll guard each man’s dignity

And save each man’s pride

We will walk with each other

We will walk hand in hand

We will walk with each other

We will walk hand in hand

And together we'll spread the news

That God is in our land

And they'll know that we are Christians by our love

By our love

Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love [1]

That was one of my favorite songs as a young person. I hadn’t thought of it in years, but as I was thinking about ‘unity’ I found myself humming it. (And now it will be stuck in your head too. Ha!)

Did you read the lyrics? They provide an excellent picture of what unity among Christians should look like, don’t you think?

I was reading the dictionary definition of unity. It says, 

“1. the state of being one; oneness. 2. a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one. 3. the state or fact of being united or combined into one, as of the parts of a whole; unification. 4. absence of diversity; unvaried or uniform character. 5. oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony, or agreement.” [2]

It’s a good definition – it covers all the bases. Number 4 bothers me a bit, though. I don’t believe that one describes the kind of unity we should find among Christians. What do you think?

My understanding of unity within the church with our common belief in a loving, creator God, includes our common goal of bringing as many souls as possible into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and our shared expectation of spending eternity with our Savior. One God -- One Goal -- One Glory

Beyond that, though, I believe that our methods can be quite diverse. God made each of us individual. There are as many methods of sharing the gospel as there are Christians – and I believe that’s a good thing.

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” Ephesians 4:11-12

Can you imagine a football team where, even though the entire team agreed that they all wanted to win the game, everybody wanted to be quarterback? Would that team be able to fulfill its goal to win the game? Probably not. There’d be 11 men throwing the ball around, but nobody would be catching it. That team would be everybody’s joke.

Look at Jesus’ disciples. They did not look like clones of Jesus or each other? Did they all have the same personality? Absolutely not! The disciples were vastly different from each other, weren’t they? But they were unified in their belief that Jesus the Messiah.

What’s the trick to finding unity within the body of Christ? How can we be like the disciples and be “all in one accord” and ready to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

“Notice that it was after the disciples had come into perfect unity, when they were no longer striving for the highest place, that the Spirit was poured out. They were of one accord. All differences had been put away. And the testimony borne of them after the Spirit had been given is the same. Mark the word: ‘The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.’  Acts 4:32. The Spirit of Him who died that sinners might live animated the entire congregation of believers.” E.G. White, Counsels for the Church, p.  98

So, what are you doing to further the cause of Jesus Christ? Have you found your ministry niche? If not, why not? Don’t want to stand up in front and speak – no problem. Can’t sing or play an instrument? That’s ok. For everything you think of that you say you cannot do, there is at least one other form of ministry that you can do. You can help the pastor in his office, clean the church, help in one of the children’s departments, help with potlucks, be a greeter, or become a prayer warrior for your spiritual family.

Jesus has a specific and unique mission for you that will fit in perfectly with what everyone else in your church is doing.

When you feel like complaining that someone isn’t doing their job right, pray instead that God will show you how you can help? Maybe that person has been holding that job just for you. If you turn it down, who else will fill your spot?

“Strive earnestly for unity. Pray for it, work for it. It will bring spiritual health, elevation of thought, nobility of character, heavenly-mindedness, enabling you to overcome selfishness and evil surmisings, and to be more than conquerors through Him that loved you and gave Himself for you. Crucify self; esteem others better than yourselves. Thus you will be brought into oneness with Christ. Before the heavenly universe, and before the church and the world, you will bear unmistakable evidence that you are God’s sons and daughters. God will be glorified in the example that you set.
“The world needs to see worked out before it the miracle that binds the hearts of God’s people together in Christian love. It needs to see the Lord’s people sitting together in heavenly places in Christ. Will you not give in your lives an evidence of what the truth of God can do for those who love and serve Him? God knows what you can be. He knows what divine grace can do for you if you will be partakers of the divine nature.”  E.G. White, Counsels for the Church, p. 290-291        

You can’t be a Christian from the sidelines. You’re either part of the problem or part of the solution. You’re either with Jesus or against Him. There is no middle ground. 

     

Remember, we share a belief in the “one, true God.”  Our shared mission is to introduce as many people as possible to our Redeemer.  And, by God’s grace, we will meet beside the Sea of Glass and spend Eternity in the presence of Jesus.  One God – One Goal – One Glory  

---

[1] Peter Scholte, “We Are One In The Spirit,” HigherPraise.com, http://www.higherpraise.com/lyrics/p/peter_scholte/peter_scholte-we_are_one_in_the_spirit.html

[2] http://dictionary.reference.com/

Till We Meet Again

 Thoughts on the Sabbath School lesson for 8.25.12

I recently met a woman whose husband died, suddenly and tragically, less than a year ago. They had been together over forty years and had been high school sweethearts. She has the most amazing attitude. Yes she misses him terribly, but she has such an amazing spiritual outlook. She knows that she will see her husband again. In fact, they had promised each other long ago that if they didn’t see Jesus come together, they would meet at the Tree of Life. I’ve known other folks who made arraignments to find each other beside the Sea of Glass. Will they really remember to do that when we all get to Heaven? I don’t know, but it gives us hope in a situation in which many people have no hope at all.

I was just trying to remember and I don’t believe I’ve ever been to a funeral for someone who didn’t believe in some kind of “life after death,” so I don’t really know what that ceremony would be like. What would anyone say to comfort the friends and relatives? What songs would they sing? I really can’t imagine how it would go. It would seem like a terribly hopeless situation.

The Christians in Thessalonica were experiencing an even worse fear. They had the mistaken belief that only the Believers who were alive when Jesus came back would go to Heaven. Can you imagine the almost frantic pressure you would feel to help your loved ones live as long as possible? Thankfully, Paul heard about this and wrote to them about it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Isn’t that wonderful news?

“The hope and joy which this assurance gave to the young church at Thessalonica can scarcely be understood by us. That letter, coming from their father in the gospel, was believed and cherished by them, and their hearts went out in love to him who had brought them the precious light of truth. He had told them these things before; but at that time their minds were grasping doctrines new and surpassingly strange to them, and it is not surprising that the force of some points had not been vividly impressed upon their minds. But they were hungering for truth, and Paul’s epistle gave to their souls new hope and strength, a firmer faith in, and a deeper affection for, the Redeemer who had brought life and immortality to light through his death.
“The darkness that had enshrouded the sepulcher of the dead was dispelled; for they now knew that their believing friends would be resurrected from the grave, and enjoy immortal life in the kingdom of God. A new splendor now crowned the Christian faith, and they saw a new glory in the life, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Christ.”[1]

Can you imagine how excited you would be the first time you heard that news? What a relief! What hope! Christians never have to say a final Good Bye but a “see you later.”

“Sheldon Vanauken was a student of the English professor and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis in the early 1950s. He recounts in his book A Severe Mercy the story of his last meeting with his mentor when Vanauken was leaving Oxford for the United States. Over one final lunch together at a pub, they had spent time wondering aloud about the nature of life after death. When they had finished eating, they stood outside of the pub, talked for a few more minutes, and just before parting ways, Lewis said to Vanauken, ‘I shan't say goodbye. We'll meet again.’ The great apologist then plunged into the traffic to cross the street while Vanuaken watched his friend walk away. When Lewis got to the other side of the street, he turned around, anticipating that his friend would still be standing there. With a grin on his face, Lewis shouted over the great roar of cars, ‘Besides—Christians never say goodbye.’”[2]

What a wonderful hope we have as Christians! Not only do we never have to say goodbye, but when we meet again in Heaven, we will have new perfect bodies and minds. But you know what will be even more exciting than finding our family and friends will be that Jesus will be there to greet every single one of us.

“Face to face with Christ, my Savior, / Face to face—what will it be? When with rapture I behold Him, / Jesus Christ who died for me. / Face to face I shall behold Him, / Far beyond the starry sky; Face to face in all His glory, / I shall see Him by and by! / Only faintly now, I see Him, / With the darkling veil between, / But a blessed day is coming, / When His glory shall be seen. / What rejoicing in His presence, / When are banished grief and pain; / When the crooked ways are straightened, / And the dark things shall be plain.Face to face! O blissful moment! / Face to face—to see and know; / Face to face with my Redeemer, / Jesus Christ who loves me so.[3]

I can hardly wait! What about you? I’ll meet you at the Sea of Glass.

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[1] E.G. White, Sketches from the Life of Paul, p. 112

[2] Greg Ogden, in the sermon "Christians Never Say Good-Bye," Christ Church of Oak Brook (Oak Brook, IL) (preached 5-24-09)

[3]Carrie E. Breck, “Face to Face” http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/963#ixzz23nEbzzeV

Radical Commitment

What is your attitude toward obedience?

a.         I’ll do what I want.  I don’t care what God wants me to do.

b.        If God will give me what I want first, then I’ll give Him what He wants.

c.         I’ll give God what He wants first, with faith that He’ll give me what I want.

d.        I’ll give God what He wants, regardless of what He gives me.

I think most of us hover between c and d, right?  Well, I do anyway.  The problem is, though, that God isn’t asking us to “kinda, sorta, on my terms” commit to following Him.  He wants 100% commitment.

“As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’
 “Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’        He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’“But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’“ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’
“Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.’
“Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”  Luke 9:57-62

That’s rough!  Are we sure we’re ready for that kind of commitment?  What would that look like in someone’s everyday life?  Can you picture it?

It’s sort of hard to picture isn’t it?  What with daily life getting in the way and all.  But try this:  Picture what the life of a committed Olympic athlete would look like?

That’s a little easier isn’t it?  Check out what some committed athletes do everyday.  All of them say they get up early, anywhere from 4:30 am to 6:30am; then breakfast.  But those are pretty much the easiest parts of their days.  One runner starts her training at 8:30 am (after she’s already taken her dog for a 20 minute walk) by meeting “up with a group of elite runners, for practice, which lasts anywhere from two to four hours and 10 to 24 miles.”  Which she follows with an ice-cold bath.  (that’s what I said!)  Then she does weight training and then runs another four to six miles.  She says she hates parts of what she does, the ice cold bath, specifically, but running is something that she’s committed to.

Here’s a typical day for a water polo player:

“7:30 Time for weights; we lift four days a week, two for upper body and two for lower.
9:00 After weights, a strength circuit; we use stability balls, medicine balls, a slide board, a Spinning bike and wooden boxes to jump on and off of. It's usually about seven exercises, and it's never the same thing twice. By the end of this session, I'm already tired--and we haven't even gotten in the pool yet.9:25 In the pool for a freestyle workout. Through a mix of sprints and longer-distance swims, we cover between 3,000 and 4,000 meters.10:30 We bust out the stretch cords and medicine ball to do a leg circuit in the water. Final drill: Drag a teammate, who is dead weight, across the pool.10:50 Done with first workout.
1:30 Out the door for second practice.2:00 Warm up: Do some laps, throw the ball a bit.2:30 Technique-oriented practice, which sounds easy, but it isn't. If we're working on counter-attacking skills, we'll be swimming back and forth for 90 minutes straight.5:00 Done for the day. I may or may not shower; after being in the water for more than three hours. I'm sick of being wet.”

Now that’s radical commitment!  But do you know any Christians with that kind of commitment to serving God?  People who are willing to get up early, do things they don’t necessarily enjoy doing, training, working, and exhausting themselves for God until the end of the day?  Paul comes to mind, or any of the disciples for that matter.  Even though David, Daniel and Moses weren’t technically Christians, they definitely shared a radical commitment to God.

Some would say that that kind of commitment isn’t possible any more.  We have to have “real” jobs and can’t just spend all day witnessing.  What do you think?  Was being completely committed to God easier during Bible times?  Does God have a different set of standards for us?

You know, like lesson plans:  “Lillianne will complete her sabbath school lesson study 80% of the time with 75% accuracy, with only two verbal or nonverbal reminders.”  Folks during Bible times were responsible for 100% commitment but since life’s harder and busier now, we’re only responsible for 75 to 80% commitment.

I don’t think so!  Do you know that there are people today who are totally committed to Fantasy Football, video games, basketball, or any number of other things.  So what’s stopping you and me from being completely committed to Christ?

Good question.  In the early 1900’s, Lenin set down four “totals” that would be evident in people who were totally committed to communism.  They were:  “total acceptance of the cause, total dedication to the cause, total discipline in the cause, and total action for the cause.”  Those seemed to have worked for Lenin, for a while anyway.  But look at them again, those for “totals” could work for almost anything, couldn’t they?   A committed Christian will display total acceptance of the mission of Jesus; totally dedication to the mission of Jesus; total discipline toward the mission of Jesus and total action for the mission of Jesus. 

Do you accept the word of God as the central force in your life?  Are you totally dedicated to seeing the Gospel preached?  Do you have the discipline to incorporate the Word of God into every aspect of your life?  Are you willing to do something everyday to share the love of Jesus with someone?

That actually sounds like something I could do!  What do you think?

Still not convinced?  Consider this:  Without a radical commitment to Jesus, what will happen when the trials, tribulations and general tough stuff comes along?  Aha!  That’s why we need to be fully committed now – to keep us steady in present and future suffering.  If we don’t have Jesus to hang onto, chances are excellent that we won’t make it!

 

In his book, Gulag Archipelago, Alexander Solzhenitsyn talked about how he hung on during the awful interrogations that he endured at the hands of the Soviets:

“So what is the answer?  How can you stand your ground when you are weak and sensitive to pain, when people you love are still alive, when you are unprepared?  What do you need to make you stronger than the interrogator and the whole trap?  From the moment you go to prison you must put your cozy past firmly behind you.  At the very threshold, you must say to yourself: ‘My life is over, a little early to be sure, but there’s nothing to be done about it.  I shall never return to freedom.  I am condemned to die—now or a little later.  But later on, in truth, it will be harder, and so the sooner the better.  I no longer have any property whatsoever.  For me those I love have died, and for them I have died.  From today on, my body is useless and alien to me.  Only my spirit and my conscience remain precious and important to me.’“Confronted by such a prisoner, the interrogator will tremble.  Only the man who has renounced everything can win that victory.”

Sound familiar?  “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”  Luke 14:33, and “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.   But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:” Philippians 1:20-23

Let’s make a radical commitment today to God’s word, God’s will and Jesus Christ so that when troubles and suffering come, we will be able to stand and not fall.

Concept Worship

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson dated 9.10.11

In case you don’t have compound eyes and can’t read today’s title, it’s “Concept Worship.”  Have you ever looked through old copies of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics and noticed the pictures of the concept cars they had?  I can remember seeing lots of them – some were supposed to float, fly, parallel park, all kinds of cool stuff.  But most of them didn’t ever get made.  There is a website I like to visit these days that has all kinds of other “concept” products like cell phones, kitchens, furniture, even concept houses.  They’re fun to look at, a concept product usually looks really amazing, but often isn’t terribly practical or useful. 

I think that sometimes worship can become kind of like that;  we have these great ideas about where and how and when to worship, but they don’t always translate very well into actual, real-world, practical worship.

The Bible story of the woman at the well is a great example of “concept worship.”  Jesus has just told the Samaritan woman all of the things about her life that she’d just as soon nobody talk about and she tries to change the subject by bringing up the running argument about where the appropriate place to worship was.

“‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’”  John 4:19-20

She was probably thinking that if she could get this Jewish Man into a discussion about worship, then she wouldn’t have to worry about what He would say about her life choices.

Jesus wasn’t going to get pulled in, though.  In just a couple of sentences, He let her know that the where was a whole lot less important than the how and the Who.

“‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’”  John 4:21-24

Of course, the next logical question is, what is worshipping “in the Spirit and in the truth”?  and that’s a really good question.

My thinking is that it’s like concept and realization, idea and action, thought and deed, theory and practice, generalities and specifics.  See, it’s easy to talk a good game, but much more difficult to actually live it out.   Talking about general things like “love for our fellow men” or “taking Jesus to the world” is pretty easy.  But, what would either of those things look like?  How would anybody be able to tell if we were actually doing what we were talking about?  That’s much trickier to spell out. 

What tends to happen then is that many Christians end up doing is speaking in clichés that begin to become meaningless even to those of us who use them.  (Now, don’t get excited.  I don’t believe any of us do this maliciously, and it’s certainly not specific to Christians only. Every group of individuals who share common experiences do the same thing.)  The problem is, though, that we want to “spread the gospel,” a difficult thing to do if we are essentially speaking our own personal language.

Another downside is that the more we say these things, the less we think about what we’re actually saying and the more trivial they become, and that doesn’t just shut people out, it damages from within.

“Trivialization in the church, as in society, results in a loss of the ability to think. Christians are lured to view the world as the world views itself--uncritically and without a basis for understanding. Many of us find ourselves ‘getting along by going along.’ And the Christian community slowly, imperceptibly ‘moves two inches a year toward total decline.’”[1]

“We must be aware of trivializing the gospel, of presenting it in a form that compromises the radicality of its message. If someone is used to seeing or hearing ‘Coke adds life,’ he or she will, most likely, understand ‘Christ adds life’ in the same commercial way: Christ is just another consumer item vying for attention. Christ doesn't speak as crucified King, but as a tricky salesman; not as Lord of the universe, but as genius of the slogan.
“The slogan trivializes the message and suffocates understanding. So we must move beyond the slogan to the creed. A slogan-saturated society tempts us to demote the Christian faith to the level of a slogan. When we give in, we freeze our understanding at a commercialized level. We are satisfied with a starvation diet.
“But the truth of God is rich and full; our orthodoxy is full-orbed and comprehensive. We may credally summarize it without suffocating it with the trivial. We cannot bottle up and mechanically dispense the great truths of our Lord, but we can celebrate our doctrinal inheritance with joy.”[2]

It’s so easy to forget how important the message of Jesus Christ, our Creator and Redeemer, really is.

“The gospel is too readily heard and taken for granted, as though it contained no unsettling news and no unwelcome threat. ... It is a truth that has been flattened, trivialized, and rendered inane.”[3]

I know that we need to be careful to not lean on our emotions to confirm our salvation, but wouldn’t it be tragic if we started sounding like Spock from Star Trek?  “Righteousness by faith is the only logical way to proceed, Mr. Smith.”  (You have to hear Leonard Nimoy in your head for that statement to work.)   I don’t see that being a terribly effective witnessing strategy.  I think the pointy ears would be pretty off-putting as well.

Really, though, when was the last time my interaction with Jesus moved me?  When did the knowledge of His love for me take my breath away?  When has my heart broken because of what I cost the Creator of the Universe?

“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.  For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.”  John 3:16-17 The Amplified Bible

What a concept…

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[1] Don McCory in Eternity, (Oct. 1986). Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no. 2.

[2] Douglas Groothuis, "Creeds, Slogans, and Full-orbed Orthodoxy" (Radix, Fall 1985). Christianity Today, Vol. 30, no. 8.

[3] Walter Brueggemann in Finally Comes the Prophet. Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 9.

Treasure in Heaven

How many times have we heard those words? 

"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:" Matthew 6:20

I’ve heard them my whole life!  But what do they really mean?  Can you name, right off the top of your head, a specific treasure that we can “lay up” in Heaven?  Or do you have more of a nebulous, non-specific idea of what treasure in Heaven might involve?  About the only things the text tells us is that it can’t be ruined, lost or stolen.  That doesn’t leave much.

Well, I did quite a bit of reading this week trying to see what other people might think these treasures are.  Oddly enough, there aren’t many articles about it.  I found out we, as Christians, get very wrapped up in what we’re told not to do, but we don’t spend much time learning what to do.

By the way, why do you think Jesus tells us to avoid earthly treasures and gather heavenly treasures?  Well, He tells us in the very next verse:  Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  Do you think Jesus is just being selfish?  He just wants us to think about Him, so we will keep on worshipping Him.  Well, that may be what Satan wants you to think.  But I think Solomon would disagree.   Solomon calls “earthly treasure” (and the getting of it) an evil upon the earth.  Mrs. White says that God gives us these instructions not for selfish reasons but that

“It is for your own interest to secure heavenly riches. These alone, of all that you possess, are really yours. The treasure laid up in heaven is imperishable. No fire or flood can destroy it, no thief despoil it, no moth or rust corrupt it; for it is in the keeping of God.” {MB 89.2}

In fact, think about something that happened just this week and compare it to Ecclesiastes 6:2. 

“A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease.”

Do you know what current event I’m thinking of?  The death of Anna Nicole Smith.  She spent most of her adult life fighting over her dead husband’s money.  She had like 4 million dollars when she died this week at age 39.  She’d been married three times, had two children, was admired (?) by millions of people.  She’d been in Playboy; she’d been on TV.  She’d been fat; she’d been thin.  But most of the folks I’ve heard talk about her in the last couple of days, have said what a tragic life she had.  What? How do you figure that?  It looks to me like she got everything she’d gone looking for when she left Mexia, Texas.  So, did she die happy? 

I believe that one of the reasons Jesus tells us to store up treasures in Heaven is because we become like what (or whom) we spend the most time with.  If we spend all of our time here chasing after what the world has, we’re going to become more and more like the world.  Who does “the world” look like?  Not Jesus. 

Remember “going with” someone in high school or academy?  Did you get matching t-shirts or jackets?  Didn’t you want everyone to be able to tell, just by looking, that you two were “together”?  Were school holidays or even weekends things you looked forward to or dreaded, because you would miss being with that other person?  You were at home with your family, but where were your heart and mind?  Were you happy?  Or where you just waiting for the next school day so you could be together again?  Can you imagine being happy in Heaven if everything and everyone you cared about somewhere else?  Would that be Heaven for you?  Have you ever seen those t-shirts that say things like,  “If there’s no _________ (fill in the blank) in Heaven, then I’m not going.”  I was stunned the first time I ever saw one of those sayings.  I couldn’t, and still can’t, imagine that there are people out there who would even joke about not going to Heaven.  Maybe I’m too much of a worrier to consider making jokes like that.  But the concept is true.  If you love golf, or sailing, or anything more than you love God, you’re not going to be happy in Heaven. 

So, I want to go to Heaven, how do I make sure my treasures are there?  Well, again, Jesus, Himself, tells us!  How exciting!  (I’m probably the last one to catch on, but some of this stuff, I’m just putting together for the first time.) 

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. Luke 12:32-33

Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. Luke 18:18-27

OK, next question, does that mean that all we have to do is give money to the poor and we get into heaven?  No, you’re right, there’s more to it than that.  E.G. White says:

“In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would separate us from Him.  Hence the Saviour says, ‘Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.’  Luke 14:33.  Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up.”  Steps to Christ, p. 44

The Old Testament talks about the year of Jubilee where all property reverted to the original owners and the slaves were freed and debts were forgiven.  It was supposed to keep the Israelites from getting so attached to their possessions and money.  Giving to the poor isn’t as much for them as it is for us.  It keeps us from getting so attached to our money and possessions. When we quit thinking so much about ourselves: what we think we need and what we want, then we are more able to think about what we can do to lead others to Christ.  That’s the real treasure!  Then we’ll be anxious to get to Heaven to be with Jesus.  That excitement will be contagious and bubble over into the lives of the people we meet. 

This treasure, which Christ esteems as precious above all estimate, is 

"the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." Ephesians 1:18. 

The disciples of Christ are called His jewels, His precious and peculiar treasure. He says, 

"They shall be as the stones of a crown." "I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir." Zechariah 9:16; Isaiah 13:12. 

Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection as the reward of all His sufferings, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory--Christ, the great Center, from whom radiates all glory. {MB 89.3}

Think of it…Jesus is our treasure in Heaven and we are His.  I can’t wait!!!!

In The Moment…

“Just live in the moment.”  Have you ever heard anybody say that?  Do you think that’s really possible?  Now, I listen to The Dog Whisperer (because my dog needs him), and he says that dogs “live in the moment.”  I believe that because dogs have no self-awareness.  They know who feeds them, that it’s time to take a nap, and that something needs to be barked at.  That’s about it.  But dogs don’t plan what to make for dinner, what to wear to church tomorrow, or where they want to go on Saturday night.  But people do…I don’t think we can help it!  Can you think of anybody, no matter what he (or she) says, that truly lives “in the moment”?

The problem is, we, as humans, have to make plans!  In fact, what happens to people who don’t make plans?  They have a really hard time, don’t they?   It’s kind of a depressing way to live when you think about it.  If you live “in the moment”, you’re kind of denying that the future exists.  As Christians, we absolutely can’t live like that because the future is what gets us through the moments.  The future is our hope; it’s what we live for – our future with Jesus.

The thing is, if somebody can convince himself that all that’s important is right here and now, then he can ignore any consequences for what he chooses to do at any particular moment.  Things that happen become luck or coincidence rather than the leading or chastening of God.  I do know several people who think like that.  But if we have no choice about what happens in our lives, then we are helpless victims living in a hopeless world.  If we are at the mercy of circumstance, then what’s the point?  We might as well be animals because they don’t have any control over their lives either.

That’s the natural progression of a society that has taken the God of Creation out of life.  I don’t believe that Solomon went so far as to deny that God exists…he just lost sight of Him for a while.  The effect was the same though.  Solomon came to the conclusion that there wasn’t much point in anything because we are all going to wind up dead, so why bother.

Well, for one thing, God told us in Genesis that we aren’t like the animals, that we are like Him and better than the animals. 

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.”  Genesis 1:26-30 KJV

How wonderful!  We don’t need to look for meaning in each moment, because God, by creating us in His image, worked meaning into our DNA.  We don’t have to search for meaning, find excitement or build a legacy because God has given it to us.  Our legacy has almost nothing to do with right now and everything to do with eternity.  Look at these quotes from Ellen White:

Next to the angelic beings, the human family, formed in the image of God, are the noblest of His created works.--RH Dec. 3, 1908. {TA 48.2} The Lord . . . had endowed Adam with powers of mind superior to any living creature that He had made. His mental powers were but little lower than those of the angels.--RH Feb. 24, 1874. {TA 48.3} God created man for His own glory, that after test and trial the human family might become one with the heavenly family. It was God's purpose to repopulate heaven with the human family.--1BC 1082. {TA 48.7} The vacancies made in heaven by the fall of Satan and his angels will be filled by the redeemed of the Lord.--RH May 29, 1900. {TA 49.1}

So, let’s not live “in the moment”, let’s live for eternity!!!