R3: radical, revolutionary, different

All I have to do is look at my own life to realize it’s no wonder why people react so harshly to the word “Christian.”  To be honest it’s been a bit humbling thinking about all the times I’ve screwed up.  Sometimes in our enthusiasm to talk about God we do it in pretty heavy handed ways.  And sometimes those hands come with steel gloves…  

And frankly, I’d probably respond that way too if I felt someone was judging me unfairly.  It’s hard to build trust with someone when they are already suspicious of your motives.  It’s hard for them to let their guard down when they expect to be attacked at any moment. 

This presents a serious problem, because the message we need to deliver can be hard to accept.  Especially in a world of hyper-rationalism.  Things like gods, angels, and demons seem irrational.  So how can Christians claim these exist, let alone knowledge of a one true God?  Even claiming that is enough to put many people on edge. 

And can you blame them?  It’s hard to believe in those things.  It’s hard to buy into things we can’t always prove with 100% certainty. 

That’s why relationships are so important.  Relationships build trust.  Or perhaps I should say - if you don’t trust someone how do you know they aren’t a crack pot?

For example: who am I more likely to believe?  A person I’ve known for years, someone I know is sane, telling me they believe in angels?  Or a random person off the street talking about being demon-possessed?

I’ll save you a guess, it’s not even a close contest! 

Of course according to Christianity, they may both be right.  But I have a hard time believing the person I don’t know.  I have no context in which to evaluate his (or her) outrageous claims.  And I think when you make outrageous claims you’d better be able to back that up.  I also have no reason to spend time evaluating their claim.  They are just one more lunatic on a street corner.

Relationships force us to evaluate radical ideas more closely because we have something invested. 

It’s no different with our behavior.  When we talk about how loving, generous, and forgiving God is, and then turn around and attack people because of their lifestyle, why should they believe us?  What possible motivation would they have for trusting us?

There’s a reason that Jesus got under the skin of the religious elite, but was loved by “sinners.”  I think maybe we should be a little more like that, and a little less unChristian. 

We all have more power over the people around us than we imagine. Every so often something reminds me of my this. I know I should be more aware of this, but life is hectic and it’s easier to just forget about it. After all, who wants to consider other people all the time?

The trouble is, that’s what we should be about as Christians - other people.

Now this power I talk of sounds kind of ominous, doesn’t it? I promise I’m not any kind of supervillain. And I don’t wear a black hat. But I still have a lot of influence over people.

Sometimes I am reminded of this power when I watch the reactions of someone I’m talking to. I can see them deflate or get excited. Other times I see it in an e-mail. You can read the tension in the e-mail all because I was too hasty in writing down my thoughts. And still other times I see it in how relationships have changed over time.

When you look at the Bible you’ll find a lot of references to the words “mouth” or “speak”. The writers of these books knew just what words could do. They knew that revolutions and romances have started from a few select words. They knew that knowledge can be passed from one generation to the next just through talking. Even the universe was created with a word from God.

Words have power.

The irony is we often use this power in a way that actually hurts the message we’re trying to send. According to research done by the Barna Group when people are asked to associate terms with Christianity the picture isn’t flattering. They use words like “hypocritical”, “homophobic”, “closed minded”, and “judgmental”.

Ouch.

That does not make me feel good. In fact it breaks my heart because I know that I don’t always reach out to people in love. I don’t always characterize who Jesus was. I’m sometimes too consumed with my own life to care. In short, I am very unChristian. Oh sure I probably have excuses. Some of them are probably even pretty good.

But none of that matters. When we act carelessly with our words we run the risk of turning someone away from the very message they need to hear. If they don’t believe God is love because they see Christians as bigoted, how can they ever experience the freedom that love brings? If they hear us judging them instead of giving them support, why would they think God would be there for them when they are alone and hurting?

Words mean something. And all too often I’m guilty of using them carelessly.

There are many things I struggle with in my faith.  And there are many things I do that I regret.  (Not the least of which is eating too many Brownie Obsessions.)  But one area that really bothers me is sharing my faith with friends and family.  Or to be more precise, the lack of it.

I don’t have any problems getting into a conversation about God with a stranger.  In fact I seem to do that all the time.  Strangers are easy to talk to.  I don’t have to worry about looking like an idiot or damaging a relationship because after we part company I’ll never see them again. 

But friends are different.

Christians don’t enjoy the most positive of images at the moment.  Nothing drives this home like the book unChristian, by the Barna Group.  Their research shows that nonbelievers view Christians the same as they view Mormon evangelicals.  You know, the kind that show up at your door when you’re about to go eat a Brownie Obsession.  Not that this ever happens to me…

So what do we do?  Didn’t Jesus tell us it was important to talk to people about him?  The problem is our friends might not be interested in hearing about God.  Maybe they don’t care, maybe they disagree, or maybe they have their own issues around God.  Or maybe they just are looking to relax and have fun. 

Even our best efforts to be sincere and open may come across as judgmental and trying to “convert” them.

It seems a tough place to be.

And for me it is.  The people I should care about most are the people I’m most hesitant to talk to.  It’s as if I have this great secret, but I’m afraid of sharing it.  Not because I think they’ll laugh at me (although I suppose they might) but because I’m more afraid of pushing them away from God.  I’m afraid of them rejecting the most important thing in my life, because I was clumsy and awkward. 

So for me, I think the first place I start is this - I’m sorry if my attempts to tell you about what Jesus has done in my life come across as awkward.  I’m sorry if it feels weird for you.  It feels weird to me too.  But I wouldn’t be talking about him if I didn’t think he was amazing.

So maybe we can both just be honest with each other.  And maybe we’ll end up better friends (or family) for it.

God - I see just how far I need to go, and once again just how broken I am.  Please, please forgive me.  I want to sin, even when I say I don’t want to.  Please help me stay on the right path, because only through you can I change.  Only through you do I have strength. 

I want to act when  you tell me to act.  Please give me the strength to mean that and not just say it…

By my unofficial, and highly unscientific estimation the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren is a hugely popular book.  I believe the exact number of people who have read it is, a lot.

But not me.  I avoided it.

I saw how many people have read it, and I’ve heard people talk about it so often I thought it would be best to steer clear.  Don’t ask why, it doesn’t really make any sense to me either.  But all that came to an end when I found a copy for $4 at a used book sale.

What I read makes me understand why it’s such a popular book.  Purpose Driven Life sets you on a 40 day journey to better understand yourself, and you’re relationship with God.  While I disagree with some of the first few chapters, I was blown away by two major themes I saw in this book: 

1.  We are all called to change the world, even if that’s only one person or one city.  God expects great things from us.  Not because he’s a task master or over bearing, but because he knows just how amazing we can be.  No one knows our potential like God.  He also knows exactly what we can handle.  And because of that he has big plans for us.

2.  We should focus on the eternal.  No one denies that life gets busy and hectic.  It’s easy to misplace our priorities and start chasing after things that don’t matter.  Sometimes we even intentionally choose to go after a career or family instead of God.  While a lot of the things we emphasize in our life are good, they all fall short of the importance of how we spend eternity.

Purpose Driven Life really highlighted the fact that living with the future in mind changes how you see the present.  If the only thing we’re living for is a new job, a new car, or the perfect family we will be devastated when we don’t get promoted, can’t afford an upgrade, or our family has problems. 

When you live your life thinking about the impact you can make for all time, a lot of our fears seem pretty insignificant.  After all, what’s a little criticism or rejection when you can impact someone forever?

God created us for a reason, and while we can certainly go through life without living out our purpose, it seems like we’d be missing out on something. 

Just because life is short, doesn’t mean we can’t change eternity.  And I find that exciting.

There’s something about driving in a car that brings out the best in us.  And by best I mean homicidal rage. 

Following God is more than an hour commitment on Sunday or a visit to an orphanage.  It’s about the way we live our lives.  This means that God has something to say about all aspects of our life.  And driving is no exception.  So I decided to follow through with some good old fashioned Biblical advice and love my enemies. 

Kind of radical, I know.  But it was hard to follow through on that.  How could I love someone when they were so clearly a moron?  Didn’t God see the fact this guy didn’t use his turn signal?!  Didn’t God know that parking space was mine?! 

Of course God did. 

But none of that excuses me for getting angry.  And I knew I had to act.   

The solution: drive-by prayers.  Whenever someone cuts me off in traffic I take a deep breath and ask God to do something for that person.  I don’t ask for wishy-washy “God please bless this person.”  (Although there’s probably nothing wrong with that prayer.)  But I prefer to spend some time and actively think of something specific to pray about.  Maybe it’s good health, no car troubles, or just having a great day.  I want what I pray for to have a real impact on their lives.  I want them to know God’s greatness through that act.  I try to focus on the other person, and in a small way, love them. 

It’s not easy.  Especially for those people who literally put your life in danger.  Sometimes all I can do is ask God that the person ahead of me (or behind me) realizes that they are risking the lives of other drivers. 

The one thing I include in all of these drive-by prayers is that whenever God acts on that prayer, they realize it comes from Him.  In the end I have no idea if these prayers make a difference with these drivers.  I’ll never see them again.  But they impact me.  They force me to think of others before myself, even when I don’t want to.  They put me in a service mindset. 

Like I said, this isn’t always easy.  But being a Christian isn’t about doing things that are easy.  It’s about living in a way that shows people we’re different.  And that there’s something more to life than getting to soccer practice on time or meeting friends promptly at 5:00 for dinner. 

“Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.” (Matthew 11:20)

Jesus spent a lot of time around the Sea of Galilee.  Especially during his early ministry.  While he was there he did some pretty amazing things.  Stuff like curing illnesses, calming a violent storm, and healing a paralytic.  To me that looks like a fairly impressive resume.  But apparently not everyone felt that way.

Which, ironically, was a pretty common reaction to Jesus. 

No matter how amazing God is, or what miracles he performs, not everyone will be impressed enough to change their lives.  I’ve often wondered why that is.  If you saw Jesus raise someone from the dead, or cure someone’s blindness, don’t you think you’d be willing to change your life?  Wouldn’t you jump at the chance to follow a guy like that? 

But when I look at the times God has done the miraculous for me, I have to admit, I’m not always willing to make a change.  I think this has to do with not wanting to make a choice.  We tend to be comfortable in our lives and our problems.

There have been studies involving people with debilitating diseases and handicaps.  They are told, “if you could give up your illness or disability, but had to select another disability, what would you do?”  Overwhelmingly people responded that they would choose to keep their current illness / disability.  Even when their disability was more severe than another option.  Why?  Because it was something known.  

Of course we don’t need to have a severe illness in order to understand this.  Think about something in your life you struggle with.  Now if you could have any other weakness, would you be willing to give up yours?  As much as we may hate our weaknesses or our temptations, we often cling to them.  Because they are known.  Because they are comfortable.  Even when we absolutely hate them.

When God shows me something amazing I tend to get really excited.  I’m convinced that my excitement alone will be enough to change my life.  But it never lasts.  Slowly that excitement is replaced with the realization of how hard it is to change.  So instead of acting, things stay the same. 

For all of God’s power and strength he never compels us to do anything.  He simply asks.

The burden is on us.  We have to chose whether we’re willing to respond.  We have to choose if we believe in Jesus.  And then we have to choose if we’ll live our lives according to that belief.  And for me that’s often a scary choice.  Let’s face it, it can be dangerous to follow God.  God doesn’t always stay to the well-lit paths.  He goes to those places that make us uncomfortable and afraid.

But in my mind the alternative is worse - not spending the rest of existence with God.  Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 11:28)

I don’t think Jesus is trying to motivate us with fear.  I don’t think he’s saying God is scary.  But I do think he’s saying that there are consequences for not acting, just like there are consequences for acting.  Just because we don’t want to choose, doesn’t mean we don’t have to.   

What is it that makes people do revolutionary things like starting ministries, helping the poor, and loving the broken?  Why is it that someone would be willing to sacrifice everything and follow God into the unknown? 

For me that answer is simple, and it’s the same answer Jesus gave when a sinful woman poured perfume over his feet - “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much.  But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” (Luke 7:47) 

What drives your relationship with God?

Few things aggravate me more than wasting time.  I combine trips so I don’t have to drive the same street more than once.  I get furious when I’m stuck behind slow moving traffic.  I’m even a big fan of foods that are “instant.”   

But the irony is I fill my life with wasteful things.

So often I am content making decisions based on desire, fear, or convenience.  I all too often walk around assuming that the things I set up in my life as important actually are.  But as they say, not everything is created equal:

Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
       over it he prepares his meal,
       he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
       He also warms himself and says,
       “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
       he bows down to it and worships.
       He prays to it and says,
       “Save me; you are my god.” (Isaiah 44:16-17)

This is exactly how I am tempted to live my life.  I have been so eager to set up gods out of work, friends, influence, or perfection that it never even occurred to me that I was wasting my time.  But I was.  All of the things I think of as important are worthless if I miss the big picture - having God at the center of my life.

How can anything we create be a god?  Saying “this is god” doesn’t make it true.  Because if it did, what a small god it would be. 

One of my favorite games on Who’s Line Is It Anyway? was ‘Questions Only.’  A game made up of nothing more than asking questions. 

“How are you?”

“Are you talking to me?”

“Who else would I be talking to?”

“How should I know?”

 You get the idea…right?  *cough**cough*  It was probably the only game on that show I felt like I could hold my own.  I think, in some small way, this game captures how I think. 

What does that mean?  How does that work?  Where can I find that?  How does this relate?  Questions are constantly running through my mind.  It’s not that I like to ask questions.  Frankly I find it a little annoying.  But it just seems to be part of who I am.

Now there’s a problem with asking questions.  Sometimes you find an answer.

That’s where I was when I suddenly realized I was a Christian.  For a long time I had been asking questions about who God was.  What if the Bible is true?  What does this mean for my life?  How does my behavior need to change?  Does it need to change?  How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

You know, the important issues.

And I was content just to ask questions.  But as the evidence continued to mount in favor of God being real, I knew I faced a decision.  If God is real, then my life needed to change.  It just didn’t make any sense to believe in him and not change my habits and lifestyle.  If I wasn’t willing to change based on new information, why ask the questions in the first place?  Isn’t that what a good scientist would do?

So when I finally accepted that the Bible was an historically reliable document, and that God was real, I knew it meant radical change in my life.  Some habits developed quickly.  I was more compassionate towards people, I started going to church regularly, I developed a few friendships where I could freely discuss God, and what he had done in my life.  I also started reading as many books as I could, and listening to as many podcasts as I could. 

Others took more work.  Having empathy towards people, loving my enemies, sharing my faith with non-Christians.  These were (and are!) hard for me to do.  Learning to live life as a Christian is truly a life long process.  And some days it feels like a slow process!

Over the last few years I’ve found two things that seem to work really well together: reading the Bible and writing down my thoughts.

1.  Reading the Bible.  For me, reading the Bible was a chance to confront some of the questions I had.  I was surprised to learn that many of the stereotypes I had of Christianity were quickly dismissed.  I learned that the “angry God” of the Old Testament never existed.  And I learned that there’s no such thing as “hippy Jesus.”  Instead I saw that God showed more patience with people in the Old Testament than I ever would have.  And that Jesus was a radical, completely challenging society. 

Without reading the Bible for myself these things never would have sunk in. Because no one sat me down and explained it, when I reached these conclusions on my own, it had a powerful effect.  It’s hard to argue with your own conclusions! 

2.  Note Taking.  As interesting as these revelations were, they wouldn’t have been nearly as impactful if I hadn’t written down my thoughts.  Or as some people call it, “journaling.”  I don’t because that sounds kind of lame.  I prefer to call this “research” or “note taking.”  <insert Tim Allen grunting here>  

Writing down my thoughts helps me keep track all of the things I’ve learned.  When I write something I’m a lot more likely to follow through with it.  But interestingly, and perhaps more importantly, I can go back and see how God has acted in my life.  So many things I wrote about a year or two ago have happened.  So many of the things I struggled with or didn’t understand, have resolved themselves.

If I hadn’t written these things down I never would have remembered them. 

Do you have to do these things to be a Christian?

Of course not.

But you would also be missing out a great opportunity.  What kind of amazing things is God doing in your life that you haven’t noticed because you’re too busy to look around?  What kind of patterns of behavior are keeping you from him, that you might have seen if you had kept track of your thoughts?

So go ahead, ask questions.  You may be surprised by the answers.