Judgemental

Through a message series at our church we are facing the perceptions unchurched people have of organized Christianity. (See the Barna group research results compiled in David Kinnamon's UnChristian. ) Some of those perceptions are not positive. Right or wrong, perception is reality until proven otherwise. Among those perceptions in play, people who are not connected with churches tend to see Christian people as judgemental; intolerant of other people's beliefs and presenting an air of superiority.

This perception poses a particular problem for followers of Jesus. On one hand, there is a particularity to our faith. We do believe that God is fully revealed in a particular person, who lived at a particular time in history, in a specific place, among a unique kind of people. We proclaim that all humanity's hope and destiny is found in this individual's death and resurrection, which is a matter of history record. We affirm that no one comes to God except through this particular individual. At root, we do not accept that all faiths are equally valid.

On the other hand, Jesus himself disallows a posture of superiority and judgement. Evidence for this abound in our own Bible. We are not to judge, lest we be judged. We are to esteem others a better than ourselves. With his dying breaths, Jesus forgave the very people who did not believe in him and who engineered his execution. We do not have the right or leeway to judge and attack those who don't believe the way we believe. In fact, Jesus makes clear that they are our mission field.

So what are we to do? I believe we've received a clue in the way a follower of Jesus called Paul handled being surrounded by the challenge of other faiths. Find a Bible and locate the book of Acts, the 17th chapter, verses 16 through 23. What do you think of the way Paul handles the situation?

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

Which Comes First - Repentance or Forgiveness?

On Facebook and Twitter recently I asked the following: Is repentance a prerequisite for forgiveness or the result of forgiveness? Followers of Jesus are not of one mind on this.

Here's part of the reason I ask. In the Christian Bible there is a story about the one called Jesus of Nazareth traveling through a particular Judean town - Jericho. Passing through a crowd of people who have gathered around him, Jesus picks out a particular man and invites himself to be a guest for dinner at that man's home. What Jesus did was scandalous in his culture at that time, for two basic reasons. First, the man was Jew working for officials of the Roman Empire to collect revenue for Rome. He had become rich by way of bleeding money out of his own people to feed the demands of their occupiers. Tax-collectors represented betrayal and idolatry. No one wanted association with them. Second, table fellowship carried a strong social message at that time, in that place. To dine with someone signalled approval and acceptance of that person. A collective gasp would have accompanied Jesus' public desire to share a meal with this worst kind of a sinner.

Notice, Jesus' gesture to the man came first. The tax-collector's remorse and repentance followed, as a reaction to the uncommon grace extended by Jesus, and the forgiveness implied therein. If we who follow Jesus are to be like Jesus, what does that say about the conditions and the sequence with which we offer forgiveness to others?

I'll see you around the next bend in the river. Plan to be on an actual river for an early autumn float this Friday.

Hypocrites or Genuine Followers?

The research of David Kinnamon (Barna Group) gives ample evidence that people outside of Christian faith and organized churches view Christians as hypocritical. This especially applies to younger generations. They don't necessarily mean this in a judgmental way. It's simply an observation. They hear us talk about certain things we believe. However, they don't observe us acting as if we believe those things. In fact, they don't see us acting much different than anyone else.

For example, most churches say they believe in forgiveness. As Jesus has forgiven us of our sin and our separation from God, so we should forgive others. For those of us who use the words of the "Lord's Prayer" every week, we say we believe this. Do we actually practice it? Most churches like the concept of redemption. This is to say that a life that is lost can be reclaimed by God and found. Do we believe this, or do we in fact decide that certain people do not and cannot change or be changed? Most fellowships of Jesus-followers speak of hope. We believe that, in spite of all contrary evidence, God give uncommon hope to the hopeless. If the carnage of an executioner's cross of wood gives way to the hope of victory in the risen Jesus, then hope is real and receivable. Do we give evidence of hope to others, or do we just join in with the many voices of despair.

This Sunday in the worship services in which I participate I will interview of man who earlier this year was released from prison after serving 27 years for dealing drugs. Once an athlete, honor student, and a respected teacher, he created untold wreckage in the lives of many, including his own. And yet, at the pit of his own existence, he experienced real forgiveness, genuine redemption, and uncommon hope against all odds. We could just talk about forgiveness, redemption, and hope in some abstract way. With this man's presence and testimony, however, we will all have the chance to see if we really believe these things and practice them.

Every day God gives us the opportunity to live what we say we believe. What am I doing today to change the perceptions the Barna research identified? I'll see you around the next bend in the river.

From Here to There

Anyone who explores what it means to follow the one called Jesus soon discovers that Jesus doesn't embody a God who allows much standing still. Quite the contrary, you see a whole lot of moving people from here to there.

• Don't stay here in your comfortable homeland Abram and Sarai. I need you to go there - to a land you've never seen before.
• Don't stay here in the comfort of a king's palace, Moses. Run off to Midian for a while, then get your keester back to Egypt to lead your people there, to a promised land.
• Don't stay here on this side of the Jordan River, Joshua. Go there - to Jericho - and make the walls fall down.
• Don't stay here tending sheep, David. Go there - into the valley where a giant wants to humiliate you, then kill you.
• Don't stay here in Galilee, Jesus. Go to there to Jerusalem and die there.
• Don't stay here in this tomb, Jesus. Get up and smack sin and death in the face.
• Don't just stay here on the ground outside of Damascus, blind and shocked, Saul of Tarsus. Get up and go there - to the entire empire, and tell them about the One who knocked you down and picked you back up!

So, I guess if you're looking for a faith that will just let you stay here, (whatever "here" is for you), and remain comfortable and unchallenged, don't pick this one. Who knows what kind of there God might have in store for you.

From the river, which is all about not staying here, but floating and paddling on to the next there...I'll see you around the next bend.

The Living Body of Christ

Recently I witnessed several men from the same worshipping fellowship gather for prayer, hearing the Word of God, and mutual encouragement; this group being in the practice of doing this regularly. On this particular occasion two other men where present who were not from the same worshipping congregation. These two men had come at the invitation of the on-going group. The two new individuals were each facing different but equally difficult challenges in their lives; challenges that could leave them drained of hope. One by one each of the men in the group shared with the newcomers how they also had faced or were facing circumstances that left them defeated or discouraged. The group promised the newcomers their support through their circumstances and their active presence. Group members gathered around their beleaguered new brothers, laid hands on them and prayed for protection for their hearts and their hope. Basically members of the group said, "We've got your back. We will be the presence of Jesus for you. You will not be alone through this."

There's a word for what I saw.

It's called "Church."

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.