Crucify Your Expectations

It seems to me that the root of most of my dissatisfaction, with just about anything, is unmet expectations. Now don't go thinking that I walk around in a constant state of dissatisfaction. Just not true. However, it would be nice to experience more of that "abundant life" Jesus tells us is ours and I think, for me at least, the bitter taste of my expectations crashing and burning robs me of that experience.

Expectations are part of our nature. They are part of everything we experience. When my wife sees an outfit on the rack that she likes, she has the expectation that it will look great on her. When we go out for a frozen custard sundae we expect that it will be a time deliciously spent. We have expectations about everything!

Dissatisfaction sets in, though, when those expectations are not met; the outfit doesn't look right or the frozen custard place is closed (because it can never taste bad!!). These are pretty benign experiences but when we broaden our scope to include our relationships, including our relationship with God, things can get cancerous.

When things don't turn out the way I expect they should I blame the perpetrator before ever thinking that, perhaps, my expectation was incorrect. I find that I even treat God this way. When he doesn't act like I think he is supposed to I get upset with him! This is truly a "potter and the clay" issue in me. What do I know of anything?? In my human relationships these unmet expectations can seed roots of bitterness that lead to mistrust and, eventually, dormancy or death.

When we boil it down...selfishness is what it's all about.

So what can we do? We can continually and willfully crucify our expectations. This means letting go our hold on them and releasing them to die at the feet of Jesus. He, then, can return to us his reality of the abundant life! As long as we have our hands full of the rocks we feel are so important, Jesus can't give us the gems of what he has waiting for us.

Go to the cross continually, crucify your selfishness and receive back your true self; your abundant self in Christ.

Missions, in light of "Love Wins"

Since reading “Love Wins” by Rob Bell I have been considering my response as a mobilizer of missionaries. If Pastor Bell is correct in his assertion that death might not end God’s graceful redemptive effort of souls (something also proposed by C.S. Lewis), how would the missionary effort change? Should it change??

Certainly the focus of cross-cultural work could, and probably should, broaden to more fully embrace care for physical and emotional needs along with its effort toward spiritual wellbeing. In fact, if we were to model our efforts more after Jesus’ ministry we would reveal him through lives of care for the hurting, as he did. I see this as a “both/and,” as opposed to an “either/or,” situation.

Certainly, also, the Great Commission still applies to us today. We are to be witnesses, for those we come into contact with, of the power and grace of God in our lives; our encounter with Jesus. Though, with Bell, we may agree that God is not limited to our traditions and understandings of faith in the revelation of himself in Christ to everyone, we are not free from his command to witness to the Christ who captivated us, altering the course of our lives through his mercy. It is obvious that God is still using our understanding of faith to bring tens of thousands to a knowledge of, and a faith in, himself daily around the globe.

I would relate this to the view of missions of a past age in light of Calvin’s premise of “Limited Atonement.” One would think, in a belief system where man’s salvation was totally a work of God’s sovereignty and where salvation only applies to the “elect,” that missions would be a low priority. On the contrary, missionaries from reformed traditions flooded the global scene from the late 1800s through the late 1900s with a great passion for the lost and hurting.

No matter what we believe about “Love Wins,” our response to Jesus command to be his witnesses in our “Jerusalem,” our “Judea,” our “Samaria” and the rest of the world can ONLY be one of obedience. We must answer with Isaiah, “Here am I, send me!”

Between what's Right and what's Best

The more I ponder about how our lives relate to scripture, the more I am certain that we, the church, are best represented by the Pharisees. I am generalizing, of course, but as I listen to and observe ourselves, the things that were important to them are important to us...the way we live, what church we go to, how often we go there, whether we tithe, how pure our doctrine is...basically, we want to be "right" before God. Sadly, this is what Jesus confronted the Pharisees about over and over. Their concern for purity consumed them to the point of missing the point. "White-washed tombs" he called them. All show and no substance. Could this be us ? If Jesus were here today would he be challenging our commitment to a dying world of hurting people while we parade all of the "rightness" of our belief system before him?

"Rightness" may have a place but it can often take the place of what is "best." Martha was consumed with doing what was "right" when Jesus was visiting...making sure that food was prepared and everything was in order...while Mary chose what was "best" by just immersing herself in Jesus presence.

Here is a little self-test for you. When you heard that Magic Johnson, an NBA superstar, had contracted the HIV virus was your first thought, "Serves him right for being so promiscuous." or "I wonder if there is something I can do for him or others whose lives have been dashed by this hellacious disease?" Most often, I find myself on the "judgment" side, instead of the "mercy" side, of that fence. I think we would all agree that Jesus would be, if he is "the same yesterday, today and forever," on the mercy side. Will we continue to hold to what is "right" or will we be willing to let "rightness" go in order to hold on to Jesus in what is "best?"

On Being Dogmatic

It's ironic, but my lot,

To discern the fine line

Between right and right,

And there, on that perfect spot,

To take my stand,

Only then to find...

It's not.



The True Essence of the Gospel

Thank you, Alec! Your art inspires me every day by helping keep the main thing the only thing.

Who needs the Gospel: Me??

This morning I was caught up in a spiritual battle; you know, one I usually lose. Some of the women in our office had just been to a retreat in Portugal and they were giving a report on the wonderful things God had done. He had revealed himself in new and exciting ways to women there from all over the world. I should have been overjoyed, basking in the glory of what God had done. Instead, my head was bowed and I found myself resentful. "Why are they able to do this and not me?" I thought. As I reflect on it now someone else comes to mind who had nearly those exact thoughts. I think his name was Judas Iscariot.

You know, some people have spiritual struggles at high tech levels, but not me. I can't even get past one of those simple commandments, "Don't covet." Just two words in the "Jeff's Paraphrase" are all it takes to put me back in my place, clinging by my fingernails to the cross. My flesh is crucified, I know, but it seems to be rotting somewhere beneath the blood. Who needs the gospel?? Have mercy on ME, a sinner!

Have Mercy on Me, a Sinner!

A dear friend and I were discussing Rob Bell's book, Love Wins, and his question to me was, "If God was not a God of judgment, a God who would judge sin, would he be worthy of worship?" I did not respond because, well, God is the judge. He defines right and wrong. Black and white. Darkness and light. As I have pondered this over the last week, some other thoughts have come to me. All gods judge. That is what makes people fear them and worship them. When they are angry we assume we have done something to displease them, something "wrong," and try to find a sacrifice suitable to appease them. What truly sets our God apart is not that he is a judge, or that we spell his name with a capital "G;" but, that he is a God who forgives. Not only does he forgive, but he offered up the sacrifice for forgiveness himself. Is that not the foundation of our hope? We don't hope in the fact that God is the righteous judge, because if we all got what we deserved, we are all doomed. Our hope is in the faith that God, no matter how unfaithful we are, will have mercy on us and forgive us and accept us as we are. At least, that is my hope! "Have mercy on me, a sinner."

Can You Say...Martyr?

It never ceases to amaze me that, no matter how much we know about another culture or religious tradition, we still act as if they think like we do. The news of bin Laden's death last night brought this to mind again. Did a majority of Americans want him dead? Probably. Do the majority of Americans realize what killing a radical fundamentalist leader will do to his followers? Probably not...though they should. From our cultural grid, based in our mostly European past, we "know" that eliminating the leader of a group should disperse, or at least, severely weaken his followers. However, are we forgetting the last 50 years of history? What kind of people send children among their enemy strapped with explosives (Vietnam) or wipe out all of their educated population (Cambodia) or massacre children at a local school (Afghanistan) or blow themselves up in a crowded market (Iraq)? People that don't think like us. People who make decisions based on a different set of values than us. There is every likelihood that this action will result in a greater resolve by terrorists around the world who saw bin Laden as their leader to commit themselves ever more solidly to our destruction. Will they destroy us? Probably not. Are we at a greater risk of terrorism within our country's borders? Almost certainly. My response: praying for our leaders, our military and our people here and around the globe. Please join me.

Putting out Flaming Arrows

One of the most encouraging God lessons I have had recently came from a rabbit trail my mind took (or maybe where the Holy Spirit led me) during a message a couple Sunday's ago. My apologies to the speaker! For years I have struggled with why God allows horrible things to happen to his people, people that we need in the battle for the advance of the Kingdom. I just couldn't make sense of it. Now, I know that, as the "clay" I am not really in the "need to know" group for the "potter"; but still, making some sense of things would help sometimes! As I listened that day my mind was directed to Ephesians 6:16..."wield the shield of faith with which you can put out the flaming arrows of the evil one." (JP - Jeff's Paraphrase) I think, most of the time, I have thought of this as our shield stopping the arrows before they reach us; but, that is not what the passage says...at least in English. Our faith puts out the fire of the arrows. It nullifies their purpose, which is to burn us up, to destroy us. However we may, at times, still be pierced by them and injured. We are in a battle after all.

Faith changes the intended purpose of evil. Think about it. Doesn't God always turn Satan's best plans on their heads. The prime example? Killing Jesus seemed to be the triumphant victory of the enemy and yet was actually his ultimate doom. To conquer death Jesus had to die and rise again, opening the door for us to follow...Praise Him!

Does this make suffering any easier? Probably not. But, for me, it helps in getting my mind around God's choices at times. Would I prefer that the arrows never reach me? Of course! But, if God allows them to, I know that he is only doing so to put our enemy on his head just one more time. I know that by faith, and faith alone. Our belief that God is in control changes our outlook on what we are experiencing and assures us that the ultimate victory is won!!