The End of the World

Korea just happened. As I write this, it's 2:41 AM CST on Tuesday, November 23, 2010, and on the other side of the planet, some 20 minutes ago, North Korea just fired on South Korea. I don't know how big a deal this is gonna turn out to be. Right now, the reports I'm seeing say that 2 South Korean soldiers are dead, with another 15 soldiers wounded, as well as three civilians. That may not seem like a lot, but nobody died during the actual battle of Fort Sumter, and that still tipped off the American Civil War, so who knows what could go down in Korea?

Now, I'll fully admit that I'm not the most geo-politically aware guy in the neighborhood, but I do understand that Kim Jong-il is on an entirely separate wavelength of crazy than the majority of world leaders, and that North Korea claims to have nuclear capabilities.

So it's entirely possible that things are gonna get crazy here pretty soon. I don't know.

And I don't want to be taking part in any kind of fear-mongering hysteria, like all the panic that went down about Y2K, H1N1, SARS, mad cow disease or anything else like that, but seriously, you have to at least consider the possibility that there's a very silly man with a severe cult of personality sitting in Pyongyang with way, way, WAY too much destructive power at his fingertips, and he just might get carried away with it and unleash something that changes the face of the earth for all time.

But so what?

Every few years, NASA or somebody will release another report about another meteor or comet or asteroid or whatever that might be headed towards earth's orbit and could possibly destroy all human life if we know it if it hits us.

So what?

The world might end in a nuclear holocaust tomorrow. Fiery death might crash down upon us all from the cold depths of space. It could also rain.

So what?

I'm not saying those things aren't bad, and I'm not saying that the loss of life wouldn't be tragic. I'm just saying that it shouldn't make any direct impact on the way you and I live our lives right now, and I think that for most of us, it already doesn't.

But what about the potential things of the future that we do let control our lives? We get caught up in money, in planning our futures, in planning our money for our futures, in worrying about what's gonna happen if someone gets sick...

Why?

I do not claim any sort of exclusive understanding of the Bible, nor do I want people to think that I am anything close to a "Bible scholar." I read it the best I can, and I read it often, but there are still huge stretches that I just do not understand.

For instance, the majority of the book of Revelation. I'll just straight up admit right now that I got no idea what's goin' on there. God wins. That's about as good as I can get it.

But in my encounters with Christians of other backgrounds, I've come across all sorts of interpretations for the prophetic message of John's Apocalypse. I've heard about millennialism, premillennialism (both post- and pre-tribulational), postmillennialism, amillennialism... And you know what? I don't really even understand any of them. I'll just own up to my ignorance here.

But I'll also own up to the fact that it is at least in part a willful ignorance. It's not that I think Revelation should just be ignored or anything, it's just that I don't think it's really worth too much of our time to be all caught up in trying to understand the end of the world, and there's two specific reasons for this.

Reason #1

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Matthew 24:36

If Jesus Himself doesn't know, why are we even trying to figure it out?

Reason #2 (actually the far bigger of the two reasons)

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Luke 17:20-21

Oh, right... We're supposed to be living like it's already here.

As I've mentioned before, if we're focused on the future reward of our faith, we're not living in its present responsibility. And like I said last week, if you're gonna believe in God, believe what He says, do what He asks... Then why are we doing anything but living in the moment?

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

James 4:13-17

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:25-34

You know what? It may be tomorrow. Tomorrow may be the end of the whole thing. Is that going to change how I live my life for God?

But what if it's another 2,000 years from now? Or even more? What if we're still the "early" church?

Does it matter?

Does it make a difference?

It shouldn't.

Live today - and every day - for God. Live right now for God. Don't worry about the future - God will still be there. You might not be.

Jesus asks us to do something that is so contrary to what the world tells us we have to do in order to have productive lives - He tells us to focus on living in the moment. He tells us to stop worrying about the future. He tells us to seek God first, above everything else, above retirement plans, above food, clothing and shelter, above any of the other millions of things we have floating around in our lives that keep us from focusing on who He is and who we are in relation to Him.

This is going up the day before Thanksgiving. I may not even make it to tomorrow. I sure hope I do! But even if I don't, I've got enough faith in the God that I serve that I know that I'll be OK. And even if I make it to Thanksgiving 2083, I'll still be in the hands of the God that made me, and things will still be OK.

If the whole ride comes to a screeching halt today, how's it gonna go down? Are you trusting the One who's in control, or are you trying to control it all yourself?

The Safe Bet

In his unfinished and posthumously published Pensées, 17th century French philosopher, inventor, mathematician, theologian, writer, physicist and all-around smart guy Blaise Pascal wrote out what has since become known as "Pascal's Gambit" or "Pascal's Wager."

Pascal presents the gambit as an argument not for or against the actual existence of God Himself, but towards faith. Pascal argues that reason cannot be trusted to determine the truth of an idea -the existence or non-existence of God - that is within a realm completely separate from reason by its very nature.

"God is, or He is not." But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity of this infinite distance where heads or tails will turn up. What will you wager? According to reason, you can do neither the one thing nor the other; according to reason, you can defend neither of the propositions.

So it's down to a coin toss, and we have to make a bet on where the coin will land. Either it's heads and God is real (specifically, the God of the Bible), or tails and He's not. And the thing is, you can't not bet. Like Canadian progressive rock power trio Rush says, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Pascal points out that we are all each of us already living out our choice on where the coin will fall.

And here's where I think things get particularly awesome.

Pascal says that if the God of the Bible is real and we live our lives like we believe it, then we stand to win an infinite gain - Heaven.

If God is real and we live like He's not, we stand to lose an infinite loss - Hell, the second death, darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, etc...

If God isn't real and we live like it, well, we'll be wrong in the end, but if we're actually living like God is real, then we're living lives dedicated to being people filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control... and what's bad about being that kind of person? Isn't that what we wish everybody else would be like? Aren't those exactly the kinds of words we all want people to use when they're describing us at our funeral? So it's still to your gain to live as though God is real, even if He's not, because in the end, it just makes you a nice and well-loved person.

And then, of course, there's the fourth possibility - God's not real, and you don't live like it anyway. Well, if that's true, you live however you want and then you die. The end. The gain here was that you got to do what you wanted.

But of the four possibilities, the safest bet is to live as though God is real, simply because the amount you stand to lose (your life, sacrificed in service to God) is completely worth the amount you could potentially win (infinite bliss). The only way you can really lose is if God's real and you don't live like it. That's the only option in which there is an actual BAD THING that happens to you in the end. So just from a probabilities standpoint, it makes more sense to live your life as though there is a God, because even if there isn't, things work out pretty well for you anyway.

(What I'm presenting here is a very, very, very simplified version of Pascal's original writings, but it still covers the basic thrust of the idea.)

I used to play a whole lot of poker when I was in college. I don't want to sound arrogant, but truth be told, I was pretty good. I didn't always win, but I won more often than I lost. With the guys I played with, we only played for five bucks each - small enough that you're not really gonna miss it if you lose, but big enough that if you win a game with 6 guys, it's 30 bucks in your pocket.

One of the guys I played with - I'll call him Keith, since that's his name - had this particular betting style that always messed with my head. Once the cards were dealt out and everybody had made their piddling little 25-cent bets and 50-cent raises, Keith would come out swinging with three dollars (out of an initial five!) on top.

It was always, always, always the last thing you expected him to do, even though he'd done it countless times before. It was always, always, always an impossible situation to react to, as well, because you never knew if he was putting on a stone-cold bluff or if he actually had pretty good cards.

I seemed to have the exactly worst possible luck in those hands because I would invariably fold my pocket 10s when Keith was only holding a 4 and a 7, or I'd wind up calling with two pair, Jacks and nines, and then look up to see Keith's full house, Aces over Jacks, and... uhhh... well, there went all of my money.

Now, that bet didn't always work for Keith. In poker, there is nothing that always works. But when it did work... Yeah, it paid off really well for him. Part of the reason that it ever worked out for him was that he was the only guy at the table willing to make such an insane bet in the first place. Some of us (me) were dumb enough to call, and occasionally - seldom is actually a better word here - it would work out, but most of the time, the boldness of the bet itself was enough to scare everybody else out, leaving Keith to rake in the chips.

No matter what you or I choose to believe about God, morality, faith, Heaven, Hell, or anything else, there is risk involved. The risk is that we might be wrong. It doesn't matter what you believe - it might be wrong. Whether you believe God is real or not, you might be wrong. It's definitely a possibility.

But that's where faith comes in, isn't it? It is our faith that assures us that God is real, that the Bible is an accurate relaying of His message to us, and that our sins have been forgiven because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Remember the words of Christ to the apostle Thomas: "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29) We who call ourselves Christian are definitely blessed because we are in a relationship with God that is not based on sight, but on faith - on a trust in the existence not seen by human eyes or made with human hands, but above nature, supernatural, divine... something distinctly "other" from everything else in this world.

But are we really doing enough to say that we're living by faith?

Or have we allowed our faith in God to become more like an insurance policy - something that we don't really ever think about, and hope we don't ever have to deal with, but we keep paying the absolute minimum just in case things go wrong?

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you — you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:19-34, emphasis added

Did you notice how Jesus pretty blatantly said we're not supposed to worry about money? Or clothes? Or food? Or tomorrow?

So what if we actually started doing that?

What if we actually started focusing on the things Jesus told us to focus on - His Kingdom and His Righteousness - and actually had the faith that God would provide the rest?

What would that look like? Would it look crazy? Well, Paul says yes.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;

the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

I Corinthians 1:18-31

"Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?" Isn't following after what the world says is the right way to live out your life kind of dumb once you believe in God? Isn't the whole point of this God thing that we listen to God instead of... well, anything that isn't God?

What's the point of believing in God if we're not going to live like the God we believe in is actually going to do anything for us?

If we believe in God, wouldn't that mean we believe what He says?

Isn't that the whole point of faith in the first place?

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

“Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”

Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”

They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Luke 8:40-56, emphases added

What did Jesus say to the woman? What was it that healed her? Was it God? Was it Jesus Himself? Was it the woman touching His cloak?

Or was it her faith?

(In case you missed it, here it is again - "Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace." Luke 8:48, the Bible, the Holy Inspired Word of God, the people-I-promise-I'm-not-making-this-up book.)

And what about Jairus? What was it He told Jairus?

I'm not gonna give you the answer this time, but I'll give you a GREAT BIG HINT: it's on this page already. It's just a few lines up. It's RIGHT AFTER Jesus tells the woman that her faith healed her...

"Just believe and she will be healed." Luke 8:50, once again, the Bible, the Holy Inspired Word of God, etc... (I know I said I wasn't going to tell you, but whatever, I'm trying to make a point here.)

And then there's...

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

Matthew 8:5-13, emphasis added

But there's also...

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before Him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Matthew 17:14-20, emphasis added

Oh, and let's not forget...

When Jesus had finished these parables, He moved on from there. Coming to His hometown, He began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”

And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Matthew 13:53-58, emphasis added

Are you picking up on a trend here? Have you noticed that there's something of a correlation between how much faith someone has in Jesus and how much crazy awesome stuff He does in that person's life?

Do you think that we've been given any reason to believe that things work any differently today?

Did the rules change anytime in the last 1,970-ish years, or is God still in charge?

No matter what you say or think you believe, you are living out your life according to what you actually believe.

So take a look at yourself. Take a goooooood look. Are you living your life as a bet that the coin is gonna come up heads and that God - the God of the Bible, the Father of Jesus Christ, the Creator of the Universe - is real and that those who actually have the faith in Him to deny themselves and the "wisdom" of this world will have a part in Eternity with Him?

Or are you just making the "safe" bet and hoping everything works out, just in case He's actually there?

It takes a lot of faith to just give up on the world and let an invisible God who revealed Himself to people thousands of years ago take care of everything, and I realize that's a big step. Thing is, God realizes that, too, and that is exactly what He's asking us to do anyway.

God wants to be a part of your life in a huge, crazy, big, amazing, powerful, undeniable, holy, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, life-changing way.

But it's up to YOU to have the faith to let Him do it.

Ruining My Own Good Name

I don't know how many of you play StarCraft - or even know what StarCraft is - but if you do, or if you play World of Warcraft, you can look me up on Battle.Net as AaronRushton. My character code is 187.

If you'd like to talk to me on AIM, my screen name is AaronRushton.

If you'd like to access my facebook profile, go to http://www.facebook.com/AaronJRushton.

If you go to the Perpetual Groove website and check their forum, you'll find me listed as AaronJRushton.

If you were to Google me (and please, don't), you'd find a whole lot of angry nerd rants from a few years ago on various comic book message boards under the username of AaronRushton.

And even in the rare cases that I'm not registered under my real name, for whatever reason, 99% of my involvement with the internet over the past 15 years has included a signature as Aaron J. Rushton.

One of the most amazing things about the internet is the ability to instantly connect to hundreds, even thousands, of people with whom you share interests.

And easily the worst thing about the internet is that there are a great deal many of those people who take the distance and anonymity afforded them by the internet as license to be complete jerks.

Let's say you have a picture of yourself and your niece and put it up on any one of the thousands of open photography hosting sites online. Now, it's not too far-fetched to think that your parents, your siblings, your grandparents, your cousins, your other nieces and nephews, etc... would get on and leave a comment saying, "Oh, this is a great picture of Nikki! Thanks for sharing it! Love, Uncle Buck."

But, unfortunately, it's not too impossible to imagine a scenario where those comments are followed up by things like "i hate ur face die in a fire" from some idiot who calls himself BIGPIMP420.

You see, most people are not quite as willing to display morally reprehensible behavior if their names are actually attached to it. Or, at least... I'm not.

So that's why my name - my real name - is plastered all over the internet.

There are some things I've said in the past that are, unfortunately, beyond my power to delete from the internet. But for the most part, I've managed to keep myself in check by the simple virtue of the fact that yeah, that's my name on that post. That's my name that people see on the monitor on the other side. That's my name ranting for four pages about how much I didn't like the 300 movie. So maybe I'd better keep it cleanish.

And maybe my motivations are wrong in this. Maybe I should be at a point where I just want to be good and clean and nice for the simple sake of being good and clean and nice. But as it is, I'm trying to be good and clean and nice just because I don't want people out there thinking that Aaron J. Rushton is a jerk.

(Well... not any more people than already do, that is...)

Not only do I have to worry about my own specific name's reputation - the "Aaron J." part - I've also got the "Rushton" tag at the end that's not exclusively my own. There are other Rushtons in this world who might not appreciate me stinkin' up the name for them.

In fact, I've met some other Rushtons who I'm very happy to not be related to (and will quickly deny any relation to), simply because their behavior and personalities did not reflect well on the name. I don't want to be any part of something that will leave a bad taste in people's mouths when they think of Rushtons, because hey - we're awesome.

So, to recap what I've got so far...

My behavior reflects on who I am, and once I've actually identified myself to the world as Aaron J. Rushton, it becomes even more important that my behavior is such that I will not besmirch myself through it. Anything that I do or say or write that is tied to my name is tied to what people think of me.

So when in the world are Christians the world over going to figure out that the same thing is true for us and how we reflect on the name of Christ?

Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.

A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.

Romans 2:17-29

See, the thing is... This really isn't about us. This whole Christianity thing... it's not about us. It's about God. It's all about God. Everything is about God. If you want to make your life work, if you want things to line up right, if you want it good... make your life about God.

And once you start down the path of trying to line your life up with God's will, trying to realign yourself to the purpose that you and I and everyone else were all created for, that's when things start to get better, and the whole point of it is to bring glory to God.

Your life is meant to show the world how awesome God is.

And every time we screw up, we show the world... well... something different.

I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations they profaned My holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the LORD’s people, and yet they had to leave His land.’ I had concern for My holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.

“Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

Ezekiel 36:19-23

If you're not up on your Biblical chronology, let me remind you that Ezekiel was one of the prophets of the Babylonian exile (thanks, Dr. Fortner!), and here we have God telling Israel that their upheaval and removal from Canaan was a result of their sin. Their sin, in turn, "blasphemed God's name among the Gentiles", as Paul put it back up in Romans 2. Israel's sin made God look bad, and as we clearly see throughout the Bible, making God look bad is not a good idea.

The LORD is my Shepherd;

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness

for His Name's sake.

Psalm 23:1-3

David says that God led him in righteousness for His Name's - God's Name's - sake, not David's sake. It is not to David's glory that he follows the righteousness of God. It is to his credit, and it definitely behooves him to do so, yes... but it's still all about God.

Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.

He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them His way.

All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful

toward those who keep the demands of His covenant.

For the sake of Your Name, LORD,

forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Psalm 25:8-11

Our sins reflect on us, sure. But what do they reflect? That we're messed up? That we're not perfect? That we're still human and still make mistakes?

Who cares about that? What difference does that make to anybody? How is that news?

But when our sins reflect on God... that's when there's a problem.

Think about people like Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church. If you don't recognize the name immediately, you'll probably recognize the fruits of their efforts. The Westboro Baptist Church is the group that has been going around protesting - among other things - the funerals of military men and women who died in Iraq or Afghanistan, preaching a message of hate, which they claim to be sanctioned by God.

I am not ashamed of the gospel... but sometimes I'm ashamed of other people who are calling themselves Christians.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

There are some people out there who are making us look bad. Worse, they're making God look bad. They present a stumbling block to the truth with the way they warp and mistreat the gospel, their distortions of Christ's message of love and peace and goodwill to all mankind.

It is precisely because of people like Fred Phelps that the world has such a staunch opposition to Christianity - TRUE Christianity, as it is described in the Bible and led by the Spirit. It is explicitly because of the prejudices that fill our churches that people don't feel welcome. It is entirely because of the people who have completely missed the point of all this that the world at large misses the point, too.

I don't want to be a part of the problem. I know I have been at times. I know I occasionally still am. And believe me, it turns my stomach just to think of it. It kills me to think that I have, in any way, prevented anyone from knowing the awesome power of God in this world. I cannot bear the idea that I am possibly the one person whose actions have put such a smudge on the reputation of the church to the point that anyone - anyone at all - refuses to be any part of it.

I want to do it right. If I am to feel the sting of persecution, Lord, please let it be a result of my doing the right thing, not because I'm just messing it all up. God, please fill me with the strength to follow You in such a way that I bring glory to Your Name. Father, please help me live a life worthy of the name Christian.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

I Peter 4:12-17

Live up to the name. Please. Not for my sake, not for your own sake, and really, not even for the sake of the world outside who are looking in at us. Live up to it for the sake of God.

Don't Worry About the Rules - There Aren't Any!

Let us consider the game of football.

Football itself is pretty much just an abstract concept for me, really, so I'll fully admit that I might not really know what I'm talking about here, but I want you to think specifically about a friendly game of football played in the backyard with the types of people who actually play football in the backyard. I am not one of those types of people, so I may not know what I'm talking about.

But in a backyard football situation, isn't it kind of the norm that there aren't any "rules"? There's no play clock, there's no yellow flag for an offsides penalty, there's no league suspension for excessive TD celebration... It's just football.

So now that we've got this hypothetical "no-rules" game of football, how do the teams score?

Is the score derived from the number of times runners round all four bases? Or does the number of times players manage to get the ball into the basket matter? Or maybe it's how many times someone can get the puck past the goalie and into the net?

Or is it all still based on touchdowns?

Just because you're playing a game of football without any rules, that doesn't mean that the concept of football is suddenly an arbitrary, subjectively defined, nebulous idea of a game with no central understanding of how the game is played. Everybody knows how the game is played, everybody knows the mechanics of the game, everybody knows the scoring method of the game... there just aren't any rules. So all you do is play the game. Just play football.

But now I want us to imagine another type of football game. This time, all of the rules are in full effect, and all of the players on the field are also referees. So every time there's an attempt at a play, one player may see another player commit a minor infraction and will then call a penalty, which delays the game. Each penalty sets the offense back 5 yards or benches some player or in some other way just slows everything down. Again, I don't play football and never have, but I would imagine that it would be a good bit harder to just play some football in a game setting like this.

Now that I've pretty much exhausted every bit of football knowledge I have to construct that opening metaphor, let's get into some Bible, eh?

When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

Galatians 2:11-3:14, 5, 6:2-6, 12-16 (emphases added)

I realize that 39.8% of the book of Galatians might be a bit to swallow all at once - and yes, I did the math - but I wanted to make sure that I got my point across, especially since it's not even my point. It's not like I came up with this whole idea of living by the Spirit. Pretty sure that was... wait, wait... don't tell me... oh, right! GOD.

Do you mind if I drop some more Bible down? Because here it comes.

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Mark 7:1-8

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Colossians 2:16-23

I could go on (I Timothy 1:3-11, Philippians 3, I Corinthians 8-10, the entirety of Romans and Hebrews), but I hope that the point has been made.

And just in case it hasn't, here it is plain and simple: we are not meant to live our lives by a law, but by the Spirit.

There IS NO LAW in Christ - there is the Spirit.

The commands of Christ are simple - Love God and Love Others (Matthew 22:36-40, Galatians 5:6, 5:14). That's it. That's all it is. That's all we have to do.

Now... Does this mean that Christians can get away with anything, since there is no Law? Of course not. It means that a true Christian, one who has truly chosen to focus on a life dedicated to following in the footsteps of Christ, will live a life by the Spirit - a life that bears the fruits of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, a life that is above needing a law to illustrate the principles of right and wrong because those principles are now directly given to us by the Spirit of God! God lives in us! God is the one telling us what is right and wrong, in our own lives, every day!

And anything we try to set up that gets in the way of that is against the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

If we force rules on others, or even upon ourselves, then Christ died for nothing! If we live by a law, then we are judged by a law, and we have all fallen completely short of any law, even if it is an inferior law of our own making.

But if we live by the Spirit... it works out.

The only snag I see now is this: there are too many people in today's Christianity that don't even believe in the Spirit in the first place.

Is the Holy Spirit still real for you? Does God still come and take up residence in your soul and guide you along the paths He has set out for you? Or is God confined to the Bible?

If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show Myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do You intend to show Yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves Me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 14:15-26

Wait, did Jesus say "forever"? Like, forever forever? FOR-EVER?

The Holy Spirit will be with us... forever?

SO WHY IN THE WORLD DON'T WE LIVE LIKE IT?