The Good Life

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

My life hasn't gone at all according to my dreams and plans. My struggle comes in trusting in God's goodness and His ultimate designs and plans for my life. I feel every human being deeply desires two things in life: Relationship (to love and be loved) and Purpose (a reason why we were born). Thus the drive and strong desire to work, get more involved at our churches and start a family. While I believe all of these desires are good and placed there by God, they might not happen the way we had hoped and planned. Why?

The bible speaks often of rewards and how we will be rewarded based on our works. (Revelation 22:12) Well what is this reward? Ruling? There are indications of this. Crowns and glory? Also the bible speaks on this. However, I believe the reward answers our deepest longings for relationship and purpose. I believe we were created for relationship with God. Sin is born out of our desire to find satisfaction in anything other than God. Ultimately both our salvation and reward can both be found in Jesus. To know Him as we are now fully known. In Him we find the mending of the fall, the broken relationship with God. In Jesus we find both the relationship we were created for and the fulfillment/purpose we deeply long for. This life can be a frustration at times since the world and everyone in it is broken and the love we find will be conditional and imperfect. So “we love Him because He first loved us” becomes a more practical every day understanding (1 John 4:19). So as sinful people who love conditionally, we are able to better love and receive love from other sinners because we love and are loved by a perfect God who loves us unconditionally. Our purpose? To encourage the saints and fulfill the Great Commission. While this love and purpose can certainly be fulfilled in marriage and starting a family, we are not promised this.

Why did my dad pass away in 2008? Why did my mother pass away last year? Why am I out of work for the 5th or 6th time? Why haven’t any of these past relationships worked out? I believe all these questions will be answered when I am with the Lord. I believe the question "why didn't my life turn out the way I had hoped?" will be answered by Jesus displaying our lives before us as part of His redemptive workmanship. As He wipes away every tear He may say something like: "See I told you I had plans to prosper and not harm you. I told you I had plans for you you wouldn't believe." (Jeremiah 29:11 & Habakkuk 1:5).

Several years ago I told a buddy of mine that I wanted to go to seminary. While even to this day I strongly desire a ministry of teaching, encouraging and discipling I still think back to this friend's response. He said "Everyone wants to do something big and important for God, but all God calls us to do is to Trust and Obey". Now this doesn't mean we shouldn't seek out relationships and purpose in this life. For me it means this is what God is more interested in, in my life. In my relationships, in my work and ministries I am called to trust and obey God. So He is more interested, perhaps, in how He can help me to trust and obey Him more? I can plan my life, but I must acknowledge God's authority in it (Proverbs 19:21). At the end of the day I can either trust in His good character and intentions for my life or I can become embittered towards my circumstances. For me this is a daily struggle, but fortunately He is new every morning and I am called to pick up my cross and put on my armor daily.

Adam and Eve or Adam and Steve?

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." (Genesis 2:18)

Men and women were created equal, but with important and divine differences. We shouldn't live in ignorance of this nor fight against it. The world does, but Christians ought not to. These differences are not only beautiful, but necessary. When we fight against it we fight against God and the order of His creation and thus will live profoundly discontented lives always seeking but never finding. Since the world accepts and even condones these evil practices many can be led astray and it’s made worse by the lie that for a season many can find “a sense” of the acceptance they’ve been seeking their entire lives, moments of pleasure or happiness. However, even though we may “doing well” in the eyes of the world, we will be miserable and/or dead inside and so the incessant seeking of the flesh continues.

When we ignore the differences between men and women we miss out on an aspect of creation and then wonder why our lives feel so empty. The relationship between a man and woman should reflect the wonder and beauty of God. This is why it's a sacrament of the faith. This is why gay marriage, adultery and fornication are so wrong. Each of these sinful practices are fleshly drives for perceived acceptance and momentary pleasure. They aren’t wrong simply because they are against “nature” or different than “the norm”, or even threatening to a particular way of life. The world makes the issue out to be discrimination and freedom of choice, the way of the world and acceptance, but it's not. Unfortunately, many on the other side of these issues do have prejudice in their hearts as they react out of fear, ignorance and hatred. All of these perspectives are wrong. It’s not about acceptance, freedom to choose, forcing views on others, abandonment, fear or hatred. You see at least the homosexual, the adulterer and the fornicator acknowledge outwardly their deep inward longings to be accepted, to find happiness, pleasure, love and acceptance in a crappy, hurtful and broken world. At least they see the hole in their hearts and are trying to fill it with some form of relationship. However, where they go wrong is in where they seek this. Other broken people, of which comprises all of humanity, are never the answer to these longings. Only a sincere and humble heart seeking after Jesus Christ is the answer. Everything else is at best a temporary distraction. Homosexual or heterosexual doesn’t matter. The sense of longing and deadness will still be there whether it’s sought in a same sex partner or opposite sex.  

Now to the response of the church.

The church seems to always have one of two reactions to these above sexual sins, especially homosexuality:

1.   1.    Excommunication. Get away from us we want nothing to do with you. You are wicked, foul, openly disobedient and outside of the faith. We want nothing to do with you.

or

2.   2.    We love you. We forgive you. We accept you. The above people are wrong. Come join us. No need to repent because you have nothing to repent of.

Both of these responses are wrong and not taught anywhere in scripture.

The crowd in camp 1 have missed the lesson of 2 Corinthians 2 about forgiving the offending brother. Also they ignore 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 with regards to the Christian response to the non-believer (i.e. the Christian worldview shouldn’t be expected or forced on anyone).

The crowd in camp 2 ignore Matthew 18 about confronting and responsibility to the sinful brother and 1 Corinthians 5:1-8 about the churches response to the sinful brother. They also completely miss the need for repentance (turning from sin to Jesus). While forgiveness and love are paramount in the Christian life, love is meaningless without a response and that response is often times repentance. 

If one person tells another they love them, but are unwilling to commit to an exclusive relationship, risk their own heart or tell them when they cross a boundary or hurt them, then is this really love? In the same way if we say we love God and others, but are cruel, unforgiving and intolerant how are we showing love? If we never set boundaries, enable destructive behaviors, never confront or admonish how are we showing love? It's far too easy to marginalize or dismiss people and it's too easy to accept others without boundaries.

We are all free to make choices which can ultimately destroy us, but does this mean others should stand around as bystanders using the excuse of "This is the choice they made, so we ought to accept it. Didn't Jesus say to love one another and not judge?" or “They are too broken to be concerned with” then criticize and do nothing to help. The response is to hold to Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2). Jesus always loved and yet He was always clear about what was wrong and why. He loved too much to allow us to keep on sinning in ignorance, but loved us enough to know we would. Yes His message was one of love, but also repentance.

Personal Jesus: Doing what is right in my own eyes

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

So often men turn simple things, which were intended to be simple, into detrimentally complex matters. Why? Control. We are afraid of the unknown and the intangible. However, when we quantify something or someone, when we label it or them, it or them loses some of it's awe. It's original sin continually slapping us in the face. The desire to be like God and it takes on so many different aspects that it can hide behind even seemingly holy things. Look at Mark 6: Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 

See here how these people brought Jesus down to their level and stripped Him of His godhood. Now don't be too quick to dismiss their argument. Would you really have been so quick, if you were one of these people, to chastise them and stand for Jesus? Knowing what you know today perhaps, but if you were there, if Jesus had played with your kids as a child, if you had paid Him to work on your home or to build something; would you be so quick then to come against these people? It's far too easy to stand in judgement of these people. It's far too easy today, 2000 years removed, to make Jesus out to be this ethereal spirit man who is unreachable and these types of people as fools who should've known better. If you can try to understand the position of these folks, or the Pharisees, then you can start to understand the importance of faith and why Jesus continually pushed its importance in the Christian walk. Even here it was the lack of faith which held Jesus back from performing many miracles.

As something or someone becomes more known and understood, fear fades as does awe and mystery. So the question is this desire to quantify and understand stem from a holy desire to know and be known, to be holy as He is holy or to somehow gain the control and upper hand or to control our own destinies? The Jews created many laws around the Sabbath:  Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8) Now holy doesn't equal adding burdens, laws, duties and following old traditions (necessarily). These are all burdens and so work. Jesus was fighting against this false premise throughout His ministry. Why? Well look at the Pharisees. They worshiped their ancient traditions and laws while ignoring the greater things (love and mercy, or God Himself). 

It is very easy to see the Pharisees were closer to the truth than any of the other religious groups of Jesus' day. This is also why Jesus conflicted with them more than the others. It's far too easy for the modern day pot to call the old kettle black. What's the point? The point is everything we do must be only and always to worship Jesus! NOT traditions, duties, comfort, personal beliefs  and especially NOT ANY person (other than Jesus of course)! 

If your church traditions and leaders help you to worship Jesus more, draw closer to Him, fall more in love with Him, trust Him more, be more concerned with God's praise and opinion of you, rather than the opinions and praise of man, then you are where you need to be. However, if your church leaders simply tell you what you want to hear or encourage you to worship traditions, duties and them, get out now! You must throw out any personal beliefs which contradict the bible, your personal Jesus and any traditions and duties which take your eyes off of the real Jesus! If you don't take a Joseph type stance on this (running away from his masters wife) you are in danger of falling, just as Joseph would've if he hadn't taken immediate action. 

Try this: "church wasn't made for man and man wasn't made for church. Both were made for God. However, Jesus was sacrificed for the salvation of man." Everyone must ask themselves how they ought to respond to this. The answer is profound and should impact the way you view God, church and life. Essentially, if its not about Him then something's missing and you should consider a change.