The Big Man, the Big Bang, and the Big Question

Space... is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.

- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

So where did it all come from?

For the sake of simplicity of the discussion, let's consider two possibilities for the origin of everything:

1. the Biblical account found in Genesis 1:1 - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
2. the Big Bang theory and all that it entails, as it is the most widespread, standard, and uniformly accepted scientific model.

OK, so which is right?

Or are both of them right?

Does the truth of one define the falsity of the other?

Notice that my reference to the Biblical account is limited to Genesis 1:1. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Is that verse any less true if God used the Big Bang to do it?

I've had this conversation before, and I've had it on three different levels, and I'm pretty sure you fall into one of the following three categories.

Category 1: The Big Bang theory disproves the Biblical account because...

I didn't finish that header because I don't really know what to put there. I know that there are a lot of people out there who consider the Big Bang theory to be sufficient evidence against the presence of a Creator, but the problem is that there are some pretty substantial leaps in reasoning being taken here. Just because science has developed a theory - a pretty plausible one, based on the evidence that we have at this point - that explains the mechanics of the creation of the universe, does that mean that God didn't create it?

This line of thinking, as logically shaky as it may be, is unfortunately very prevalent in the world today. There are plenty of people whose beliefs hinge upon the idea that because we know how the universe was created, there is therefore no Creator.

This would be similar to finding a 1908 Model T in the middle of a factory in Dearborn, Michigan, along with filmed footage of the assembly line production of said Model T...

...and then using this as evidence to denounce the existence of Henry Ford.

Category 2: The Biblical account disproves the Big Bang theory because that's not how the Bible says it happened.

The objection here is that the idea of the Big Bang goes against the rest of the Genesis creation account found in Genesis 1:2-3:24, up to the expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

This is an understandable objection at first, as it stems from a desire to hold the Bible up as an accurate and reliable source of truth, but it falls apart under closer scrutiny.

Consider some scripture with me.

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

- Psalm 19:1-4

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

- II Timothy 3:16-17

If Psalm 19 is true, which I believe it is, we should be able to learn about the glory of God, the incredible power of God, the awe-inspiring works of God, through our study of the universe, right?

Well... The study of the universe, even on a very, very, very elementary level without having to get into any crazy deep science, tells us that the universe is several billions of years old, standing in stark opposition to the roughly 6,000 years projected by Ussher's chronology, the model accepted by "Young Earth" creationists who take the Genesis account a good bit more literally than I do.

But if II Timothy 3:16-17 is true, which I believe it is, doesn't that mean that I'm contradicting myself by not believing in the literal 6 day creation of the earth as presented in Genesis?

Well... I certainly don't think so!

And that brings me to...

Category 3: What if the Big Bang is actually how God created everything?

I don't want to go so far as to say that I don't believe that there was an actual, literal, temporal Garden of Eden, or that there weren't actually an Adam and Eve...

But I will go ahead and say I don't think it really matters, because that's not the point of the story anyway.

Paul tells Timothy that Scripture is useful for "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" - which is exactly what I believe the Genesis account is to be used for.

When I read Genesis, I'm not reading it to understand how God created everything, I'm reading it to understand why He created everything the way He did and what it means for the way I'm supposed to behave. That's a very important distinction that I think we've slipped away from understanding.

Do I believe that God created the universe? Entirely! Wholly! Completely! Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!

But do I believe that the point of the Genesis account is to tell us the names of the first four people in the world? No. Goodness no. Merciful heavens, no. Not at all.

What good would that knowledge do me in my pursuit of holiness? What benefit comes from my knowing that the Garden was located between the Tigris, Euphrates, Pishon and Gihon rivers? Especially since we only know where the Tigris and Euphrates are!

But you know, there's a lot I can learn from the story of temptation, rebellion, holiness, punishment...

And I believe that's the part that matters.

Do I believe the Genesis account is true? Yes, I do. Just like I believe the parable of the Good Samaritan is true.

Do I believe that there actually was a man lying in a ditch, and that an actual priest and Levite passed him by, and that an actual Samaritan came and took care of him, transcending issues of racial prejudice and extending God's Love to a fellow human being?

Well... No. I think it was just a story that Jesus told to illustrate the point of Loving our neighbors by showing us that Love crosses all boundaries.

But if it's "just a story that Jesus told," does that mean it's not true?

What if the first 5 chapters of Genesis are "just a story"? Does that mean it's not true?

Does that mean God didn't create the universe and everything in it?

Or does it maybe mean that there's a bigger truth behind it all?

Please, don't think for a second that I'm trying to dismiss the credibility of the Bible. I'm not at all trying to do anything close to that.

What I'm trying to say is that maybe we're in one of those "forest vs. trees" situations.

Maybe the point isn't that God created the earth in 144 hours and then took a day off. Maybe the point is that God created the earth and instilled it with order so that we could learn to submit to and worship Him.

And maybe the point isn't that Jesus died for our sins so we can be forgiven and then we can be good people and then we can take part in the Kingdom of Heaven forever. Maybe the point is that Jesus died for the world's sin so the world can be forgiven and then the world can be good people and then the world can take part in the Kingdom of Heaven forever.

Maybe the point isn't that we are the people God called to leave this place because it's so terrible. Maybe the point is that we are the people God called to love this place so it will be better tomorrow than it was today.

I believe that Genesis 1:1 is one of the most important verses in the Bible. If the listener believes that verse to be true, then everything else falls into place. An understanding of morality as defined by the Creator of the Universe makes sense because, after all, He created the Universe. I think that gives Him license to tell us how to behave.

I've heard people in Category 1 say that the Big Bang disproves the existence of God solely based upon the fact that the Big Bang doesn't fit the 6 day creation account.

I've heard people in Category 2 say that God planted false evidence in the fossil record and the background radiation of the universe to confuse the scientists into thinking the earth is older than the Bible says it is so we'd have to choose between trusting God or trusting science.

And what I don't understand is how either of those goes with or against the simple truth that all we are asked to do... the only thing that matters... the whole point of God telling us the story in the first place... is to Love God and Love Others.

At least, that's the way I see it.

A few thoughts about making sense

I promise, the following conversations actually happened. To avoid embarrassing people who I know don't read my blog anyway, I have omitted names.

First off... The Kid. He was 17 years old at the time of this conversation, and he's a good kid for the most part - he just has the unfortunate luck of being surrounded by a group of friends who make being an atheist the popular choice. His whole family is regularly involved in the church, but The Kid is an atheist, and his atheism exists entirely because he has decided that he's an atheist.

Here's a late-night discussion between me and The Kid:

Me: So let's just be point blank about it... You don't believe in God, right?

The Kid: Right.

Me: Any particular reason why not?

The Kid: Well, it just doesn't make sense to me.

Me: OK. I can see that. I can understand that it's a pretty big thing to take in. So let me ask you this, then... Do you believe in the scientific theory of the Big Bang?

The Kid: Yeah.

Me: OK, good. So which makes more sense to you, then? That the universe and everything in it came from absolutely nothing, or that there was a Creator behind it all?

The Kid: Well, I don't believe in God, so I guess it has to be that it came from nothing.

Me: Really? You sound a little hesitant there. It really makes more sense to you that everything came from nothing than that there would be a Creator?

The Kid: Well... I guess not...

Me: So you agree that it's pretty logical to assume that God made the Universe?

The Kid: ...yeah, I guess so.

Me: So does that change your mind about God at all?

The Kid: No.

Me: Wait, wait, wait... You just said that you believe that it makes more sense for God to have created the universe than not, and yet you still don't believe in God? Why not?

The Kid: Because I just don't.

Me: You do realize that, by your own definitions, your beliefs don't make any sense, right?

The Kid: That's OK, they're my beliefs.

Me: Well, you definitely have a point there.

_______________________________________________

The less I tell you about The Girl, the better. But we did have the following conversation.

The Girl: It makes me so mad that you always know you're right.

Me: Well... Yeah. I mean, I can see that. I know arrogance is definitely one of my weaknesses. I'm really trying to work on it. I'm sorry.

The Girl: No, no, that's not what I mean. I mean, yes, you are arrogant. But that's not what I'm talking about. I hate it when you know you're right.

Me: Uhhh... You mean... like... when I'm actually right?

The Girl: Yeah.

Me: And... and when these moments come up that I know that I'm right because I actually happen to be right... do you know that I'm right?

The Girl: Yeah.

Me: So... Let me see if I'm getting this... If I'm right... and we both know I'm right... you're mad at me?

The Girl: Yeah.

Me: ...why?

The Girl: Because it means I'm wrong. That's why I hate hearing you talk about God. If you're right about God, which you probably are, then I'm wrong, and that means I have to change a lot of things.

Me: But you already think that I'm probably right about God?

The Girl: Yeah.

Me: And yet you're choosing to believe things that you already know are probably wrong?

The Girl: Yeah.

Me: Why?

The Girl: Because I don't want to have to change anything. And I also don't want you to be right.

Me: Well... That's a valid reason, I guess...

_______________________________________________

I didn't put these up out of a spirit of mockery, but to point out the fact that sometimes people are operating with a dangerously misguided understanding of reality that hinges not on the evidence for reality itself but, instead, their own personal preferences.

Consider this quote from Robert Jastow's God and the Astronomers:

There is a kind of religion in science; it is the religion of a person who believes there is order and harmony in the Universe. Every event can be explained in a rational way as the product of some previous event; every effect must have its cause; there is no First Cause... This religious faith of the scientist is violated by the discovery that the world had a beginning under conditions in which the known laws of physics are not valid, and as a product of forces or circumstances we cannot discover. When that happens the scientist has lost control. If he really examined the implications, he would be traumatized.

The "traumatizing implications" here are that the evidence of the beginning of the physical universe coming completely out of nothing strongly points to the possibility - even probability - of a Creator. If a scientist is truly open to all possibilities in the search for Truth, then the possibility of God must be acknowledged as feasible. But if the question is approached from a position of believing that God isn't a possible answer in the first place, no amount of evidence will change that scientist's mind.

(Incidentally... From about 300 years before the birth of Christ to roughly 100 years ago, the standard accepted scientific model was the Aristotelian view that the universe is infinite and eternal, without beginning, simply existing forever. So for something over 2,000 years, science stood in judgment of the Abrahamic religions' belief that the universe was in fact a created thing, temporal and with a beginning. The widespread acceptance of the theory of the Big Bang as the standard of universal origin was a step closer to a scientific agreement with the Bible, not a step away as so many people seem to believe.)

It's easy to point out that a non-theistic worldview is challenged by the evidences for the existence of God, but I don't think that all that many atheists read my stuff. (If I'm wrong, hi! I'm glad you're here. God Loves you, even if you don't think He exists!) But the problem I'm specifically wondering about is how we address fellow Christians whose belief systems are leading them down dangerous paths.

For example... Consider Romans 14 and Paul's thoughts about "the weak and the strong." In my journey through Christendom, I have at times definitely been the person whose faith allows him to eat anything. I understand that it is my responsibility to use discretion through Love for my brothers and sisters to avoid placing any stumbling block in their path, but the entire point of that chapter is actually that it is the responsibility of the weaker brother or sister to not judge the stronger.

So why have we come to a point in our churches today where we exclusively cater to the weak? Why do we allow them to remain weak, instead of encouraging them to grow stronger?

If we're going to claim that our faith is based on the Bible, we've got to actually follow the Bible in order for that to be true.

And there are just some things we're doing these days that really don't make any sense.

Since when did Christianity become the religion of teetotalers? Doesn't Jesus make water into wine? (John 2:1-11) Doesn't Jesus, in fact, drink? And drink enough that the Pharisees accuse Him of being a drunkard? (Luke 7:18-35) Doesn't the Bible actually encourage people to drink a bit when they're down in the dumps? (Proverbs 31:6-7)

So why is there this largely unspoken yet very real disapproval of Christians responsibly enjoying alcoholic beverages?

Or what about dress codes at church? Since when was dressing nice a requirement? Doesn't James specifically say that it's wrong to treat people differently because of what they wear? (James 2:1-13) Don't Peter and Paul specifically say that we shouldn't try to impress people with our clothes? (I Peter 3:3, I Timothy 2:9) Doesn't Jesus pretty explicitly tell us to not worry about our clothes? (Matthew 6:25-34)

Those are the easy ones.

What about the way the modern church at large treats homosexuals? When are we gonna start Loving them as we Love ourselves?

What about the way guys like Joel Osteen promote the idea that God wants you to be comfortable with your money instead of reminding us that we're actually called to use it more on others than we do on ourselves?

When are we going to actually start calling each other out on our sins - in grace, truth, and Love, of course - instead of hiding behind the idea that we don't want to appear judgmental? There is an enormous difference between judging someone as a bad person and telling someone that they are doing a bad thing.

I have been working on this post all day. Normally, I get something started or I pick up on an idea that I've already got written down, and within two hours, I'm finished. Not this one. I've been going all day. I've passed the 10 hour mark. There are so many things that I just want to understand, so many things that we do that just don't make any sense. I just want to see us stop.

I'll be honest, there are times when I feel like I'm putting something up just to put something up. This is one of them. It's not that I'm trying to fill space, it's just that I am so confused by what Christianity has become, especially when I look at what it is meant to be, that I don't even know how to begin to address it.

Love God, Love Others. That's it.

My brain is tired. So is my butt.

Maybe next week I'll make some sense.

Intent vs. Interpretation

I'm gonna pick on my buddy Will here for a minute.

Back in January of 2010, I wrote a short story entitled "Their Only Date" (link is to Facebook). If you haven't read it, please do, because I'm about to spoil the ending for you, and once that's out of the bag, the story just really loses whatever impact it has.

Seriously, you need to read it to get what I'm talking about here.

Last chance before I ruin everything.

And now it is on your own head.

Some days or whatever after I had written that story, Will and I were doing what we do - not very much at all - and he brought it up, saying that he had enjoyed it. He went on to tell me that he had appreciated not only the effort I'd put into it, but the emotional honesty behind it. He told me that he could see me working through some then-recent heartbreak by expressing my feelings in the story of two people who seemed to be perfect for each other and were just fated to not be together for whatever small reason. Though the story itself is funny (or at least I meant it to be funny - no telling whether it actually is or not), the pain was real enough, and by addressing my own pain through a filter of humor, he could see how I was taking a big step on the road to my own personal recovery.

I sat and listened as Will expounded on his theory behind the meaning of my small literary effort. Once he was done, I let him in on the deeper truth behind the story.

"Uhh... it's about nerd feuds, man..."

"Wait... What? Are you serious? Is that it?"

"Well... Yeah. I mean... I'm flattered that you can see that much depth in something that I wrote, but I promise you, man... at the end of the day, it's about nerds. The chick likes Star Trek and the dude likes Star Wars, so they can't be with each other. They're nerds."

"So the whole thing is just an elaborately told joke?"

"Yeah."

We sat in silence for a second as Will let that revelation sink in.

"Well, that's disappointing! I liked my version a lot better."

And like I said - I was impressed that he saw that much depth in something that held no more meaning to me than to say that sometimes people get silly about their passions, which is something that anybody who knows me can readily attest to.

Before I go any further, I'd like to make something extraordinarily clear, just in case there's anybody reading who doesn't know this just yet: I'm not a "Biblical scholar." I can't read Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic. I don't know all the theories about the sources and dating of the Biblical text. When it comes to the academic approach to the text of the Scriptures, I am definitely not what anyone could call with any degree of truth a "well-educated individual."

But just the same... I know how to read my Bible, and I make a regular habit of doing just that.

And as I continue to read my Bible and grow in my own understanding of what it means, a question keeps coming to my mind over and over and over again: Is it possible that we're making Christianity a little bit more complicated than Jesus actually meant for it to be?

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

- Matthew 22:34-40

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.

- John 13:34-35

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.

- James 2:8

But whoever loves God is known by God.

- I Corinthians 8:3

I was in Searcy a couple weeks back and got to talking pretty late with some of the fellas. As usually happens with us in those 2 AM think tanks, we got to talking about what it means to actually be Christian the way God wants us to be Christian.

The consensus was there among all of us that there is nothing more to it than to Love God and Love Others. We all felt pretty confident in saying that, and we all felt that there was more than enough Scripture to back us up in our belief.

The challenging part of the discussion, however, was in determining what it actually means to Love God and Love Others. I feel safe in saying that this has been the same unique challenge for all Christendom over the past two millennia.

Again, I feel the need to stress to you that I am by no means a Biblical scholar.

But all the same... I think I can say, with some pretty solid ideological and Scriptural footing, that we have collectively fallen short of the intent because we've been so busy focusing on the interpretation.

Denominations argue and bicker amongst themselves while the hungry remain hungry and the naked remain naked.

Fights over the timing and purpose of baptism confuse and frustrate those considering Christianity to the point that they abandon the Truth altogether.

A man enters a church for the first time in three decades and sits by himself because he doesn't have the right clothes on.

A church cancels a job interview with one of God's most dedicated, loving, and humble servants because of a controversial yet Biblically sound view that can't even be seen by the public anymore, just in case anybody's offended by the truth.

I realize that I'm not really saying anything new this week. As you probably figured out from "Their First Date," a lot of what I write is a big theatrical presentation centered around one simple idea. And unfortunately, I don't really think that this is gonna do a lot of good in the first place - the type of people I'm actually the maddest at don't read my blog, and even if they did, they're not the kind of folks who are going to accept the opinion of a guy who thinks it's OK to wear tie-dyed shirts to church on Sunday morning. This, of course, is part of why I'm mad at them in the first place, and so the whole cycle just repeats itself in a sort of passive-aggressive standoff.

But I do hope that it can encourage you to be a part of the solution. And more than that, I hope it will remind me to do the same.

Like I said... I'm not really getting at anything earth-shattering here... I really just want to see people stop screwing it up.

Questions of interpretation matter. I get that. I really do. In fact, it's been kind of a hot topic lately with some of the folks I talk to, specifically in address to the question of whether or not homosexuality is a sin. If the Bible has been misinterpreted and homosexuality isn't actually a sin, then hey, we've got a lot of stuff to re-think. But if the interpretation of Scripture has been accurate, at least in the broad strokes, over the past 5,000 years, I think we're pretty safe in saying that yeah, homosexuality is still a sin.

But here's the kicker: whether it is or isn't, we're still called to Love God and Love Others. That's the point. That's what it's all about. That's why God created us, that's why Jesus came down, that's why He died, that's why He was resurrected, that's why anything that is, is.

Love God, Love Others.

If your interpretation says anything other than that, I've got news for you: YOUR INTERPRETATION IS WRONG.

Led Zeppelin t-shirts, Jesus fish, and other things that tick me off

One of the greatest frustrations in my life is that this shirt does not come in XXXL.

Look at it. It is a thing of beauty. That winged fella there is Icarus, the "mascot" (I guess) of Led Zeppelin's Swan Song Records label. The 1977 tour referenced was the last US tour Zep ever made, and it was a MONSTER. I've got some bootlegs as well as a few official live recordings pieced together from that tour... and wow. Led Zeppelin. Dang.

I know it hasn't been that long since I wrote about Led Zeppelin, and that last post wasn't the first time they've come up on the blog, so I hope you'll forgive me going back to the (nigh upon bottomless) well of my passion for Led Zeppelin in trying to illustrate some point to you about God.

So I wanna tell you a story about this kid I met a few years ago, after I went back to Harding. It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was at this lunch thing at the campus ministry's Rock House. In coming back to Harding after a year gone, most of my friends had graduated or drifted off in other directions, so I really just didn't know a ton of people. I was trying to be somewhat more social, trying to mingle in with more people, trying to connect... and in walks this kid with the shirt pictured.

BAM. Conversation starter. Yes. Something for me to go on. A potential in-roads to a connection with another human being. (Or so I thought.)

I am not saying that I'm automatically going to be buddies with a dude just because he likes Led Zeppelin, but the chances are a LOT higher that I'll get along with the guy in the Zep shirt than the guy in the KISS Army shirt. It's just a foothold, something I can latch on to, something that I am extraordinarily passionate about, something that - if all else fails - I can engage in conversation over for HOURS.

So I found myself sitting across from this kid - maybe all of 19 years old, versus my 24 at the time - and just casually said, "So... what's your favorite Zep album?"

"Huh?"

"Your shirt. The shirt there. You a big Led Zeppelin fan?"

"Oh, uhhh... No, not really... I just like the shirt. A lot of my friends have it, so I picked one up. It's vintage."

Oh, the rage. Oh, the unbearable, unspeakable, unstoppable rage.

Where is the fairness in that? Here's this 5'4" twerp, maybe 140 pounds if he's holding a 50 pound sack of dog food, doing his dead-level best to look like Harry Potter stumbled through Goodwill on a shopping spree specifically engineered to make high school girls think he doesn't care about his looks, wearing a shirt - dare I say PROFANING a shirt - that I would gladly amputate a limb to have in my size. (Not one of my limbs... that'd just be silly.)

And it's not like I'm saying the kid's got to be on "my level" of fandom to earn the right to wear the shirt or anything... But at least, you know, be able to name an album or something... And it's not like that's a hard task, either... The first three albums are all called Led Zeppelin, so it's really hard to mess up... The fourth album doesn't even have a name... Come on, kid.

At the end of the day, am I just jealous because some kid doesn't care about the band on the shirt that he's wearing? Yes. But at the same time, it really gets under my skin because I enjoy Led Zeppelin so much and take their music so seriously to heart and have nothing to tangibly show the world "YES! I AM COMPLETELY NUTS ABOUT LED ZEPPELIN!" And then there's this kid who doesn't even come close to pretending he cares about the band, and he gets the shirt. He wants to look like he cares about Led Zeppelin - specifically because of the added bonus of looking "vintage" - but at the end of the day, all he cares about is the look. It doesn't actually affect his life one way or another what's on the shirt, so long as the design of the shirt is popular. The label didn't have any relation to the contents of the package.

And now a story that I assure you is completely unrelated.

I was driving with Dad to Arkansas last week and as we went through Memphis, we wound up going through a construction zone. This isn't really a surprise... I don't think I've ever been through Memphis when there wasn't interstate construction in progress... But this time, there was plenty of warning about the upcoming construction zone. There were construction signs on the side of the road warning drivers that the left lane was closed 5 miles out. The overhead traffic advisory signs were warning us that the left lane was closed 3 miles out. The road cones started showing up 2 miles out, in addition to more signs. And then you know the rest. "LEFT LANE CLOSED 1 MILE" led to "LEFT LANE CLOSED 1/2 MILE" and then "LEFT LANE CLOSED 1000 FEET" and then... you know... the left lane closed.

So for the entirety of the five miles since that first sign proclaiming that the left lane would be closed, there's this fancy SUV thing hovering next to me in the left lane. I'm not usually a very aggressive driver in the first place, and with Dad sleeping in the passenger seat and Pink Floyd coming through the speakers, I was in an even more chilled-out mood than usual. So for all five of those five miles since the first hint of warning for the upcoming lane closure of doom, I've been rolling along at a steady pace, keeping a ridiculous amount of room between myself and the car in front of me. Seriously, at times it was at least a quarter of a mile. There was room for the guy to my left to get over, as well as several other guys to my left who may or may not have existed.

But you wanna know what happened? As the countdown kept going - 5 miles, 4 miles, 3 miles - the guy stayed there. Once the traffic barrels showed up - 2 miles, 1 mile, 1/2 mile - the guy just stayed there. Once the lane closure was actually immediately visible - 2000 feet, 1000 feet, 500 feet - he still didn't do anything, and I'm still leaving enough room to drive a truck through, which is a figure of speech that somehow loses its power when actually talking about traffic.

So what else was going to happen but the inevitable: once we actually got to the point of no return where the lane is closed and the barrels are blocking off the lane, this guy floors it, cuts me off, clips one of the barrels with his fender, slams on his brakes to avoid ramming the guy in front of him, forcing me to slam on my brakes, causing a whole shockwave jam in traffic and screwing things up for everybody.

And that's when I saw the Jesus fish on the rear bumper.

I'll be honest - I don't really have the highest of expectations for the majority of the people in the world. I kinda operate on the assumption that most everybody out there is a first-class jerk who would just as soon punch a baby as extend kindness to a stranger. I don't think this way because I view myself as so much better, but because it helps me keep my cool. If I already expect 99% of the world to be completely awful, I'm not all that angered with 75% of the world that actually lives up to that expectation, and I'm in fact grateful for the 24% that surprised me.

But I really, really, really wish I didn't ever have to see this kind of behavior from somebody who is proclaiming with a little magnetic ΙΧΘΥΣ that they're supposed to be cut from a different cloth than the rest of the world. Apparently that fish held nothing more than strictly ornamental purposes, because it sure didn't affect the way the guy drove. As the traffic slowed to a crawl, I watched this guy weave in and out of lanes, cheat by driving on the shoulder, cut off several other drivers, doing everything he could to ignore the fact that "the first will be last and the last will be first."

I could bust out a ton of scripture here (Matthew 23, James 1:22-25 and 2:14-26, Revelation 3:1-6, 14-21, just for starters) about how it's not enough to look like you're following God, you've actually got to do something about it.

We've come to a point (and it's not like this happened recently) where Christianity is just enough of a social norm that a lot of people want to look like Christians even if they're not willing to live like Christians. But it's that look that is so important. It's the look that keeps everybody complacent in their faith because of a widespread misunderstanding of what Jesus meant when he was talking about planks and sawdust. It's the look that lets people get away with anything they feel like because they know they've been forgiven and that God wants you to forgive them, too. It's the same look that keeps us all paralyzed, locked in a self-defeating and self-perpetuating cycle of sin and purposeful ignorance.

But what if we stopped just trying to look like it?

What if we actually took the challenge of Christ seriously and stopped caring about what people think of us and just focused on doing what was right?

So many people miss the point of everything in Christianity because they've got their focus on the wrong thing. If you're focused on looking Christian, you're not actually going to do a good job of being Christian, because you're focused on appearances. That's not going to get you anywhere. Jesus said it, Paul said it, Peter said it, James, Jude and John said it, Augustine said it, Francis of Assisi said it, G.K. Chesterton said it, C.S. Lewis said it, and I'm saying it. So pick one of those guys to listen to and knock it off.

Why is it that the people who are the quickest to remind us not to judge are the ones who are the same ones who need to be reminded that there actually is such a thing as right and wrong?

Why is it that there are countless people in the world today who can rattle off verse after verse of the scriptures that point out what YOU are doing wrong, but live in complete ignorance of anything that condemns their own actions?

Y'all... I'm not perfect.

I struggle with a lot of things. I struggle with lust, anger, prejudices, nicotine addiction, insensitivity to the feelings of others, and a great deal many other things that I can't actually come up with right now because another of my many faults is being arrogant enough to think that I'm really not that bad of a guy.

I know I don't have any room to say that I'm any better than anybody else, and I sincerely hope to God that nobody hears me saying that. And I know I can't judge the content of anyone else's heart and decide how sincere that person's faith is (or isn't).

But at the same time... "By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:15-20)

So let me leave this post with an open question... When do we call people out? How? Where's the line?

Bear Romans 14 and I Corinthians 10 & 12 in mind, remember the lessons of the meat to idols and our freedom in Christ. But there comes a point where we've gone beyond the boundaries of acceptable celebrations of our uniqueness in Christ and have just lunged headlong into straight up ignoring the Bible and living in sin.

So what do you do?

And does anyone ever actually listen?

Read This Post or I'll Shoot My Cat

Just take a look at this big, fat ball of hair (the cat, not me). You wouldn't want his death on your conscience, would you? I'm completely serious. Have you ever seen Boondock Saints?

OK, so, now that I've got your attention, I'll go ahead and let you know that I have absolutely zero intention of hurting Deputy. He's my cat. Come on. I'm not gonna shoot my cat. If the post had been about me shooting my sister's dog, you would have had legitimate reason for concern, but I would never purposefully bring even the slightest harm to Deputy, so you can go ahead and stop writing your angry e-mails to the ASPCA and just pay attention.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The Life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the Eternal Life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

- I John 1:1-4

That's the prologue to the first of John's epistles. It's a beautifully expressed declaration of the tangible reality of both the person and the divinity of Jesus Christ, and opens up one of my favorite books of the Bible. But for the purposes of this post, I really just want to focus on verse 4: "We write this to make our joy complete."

Proselytizing, evangelizing, whatever you wanna call it - spreading the Gospel, telling others about Jesus, and bringing people into God's presence is an absolutely undeniable part of Christianity. If you're not sharing your Christianity, you're not actually doing your Christianity.

It doesn't have to be so overt as this blog, or so obliviously ineffective as standing on a street corner in a sandwich board and shouting at passers-by, but it's got to happen. That's made perfectly clear throughout the entire New Testament.

But why?

"...to make our joy complete."

I'm sorry to resort to such a low-down dirty trick as pretending to threaten my cat, but I'm just trying to do whatever I can to get you to notice this stuff. It's not so much because I crave an audience as much as it is that I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. I have something to say that I think you would benefit from hearing. I actually think it's important enough that I'm willing to play whatever cards I've got at my disposal just to get you to read at least ONE of these posts, hopefully more. And it's not like I've got any kind of ad revenue coming to me off of this. Facebook definitely ain't payin' me, even though it alone is at least a part-time job just based on the hours I put in each week...

But I do get something from it. I get something of a completion of my joy. I get the thrill of knowing that I've helped people focus on God, maybe even in a way that they never had before. That is awesome for me. And not because it's got anything to do with me, but because it's entirely about you, the one reading this. If you are reading this, I am thrilled. I'm even more thrilled if you're actually absorbing any of it. I'm elated if it challenges you to think about your relationship with Christ and the improvements you can make to it. I'm overjoyed beyond the limitations of the English language to express if, by some movement of the Holy Spirit through me and my keyboard, you - the actual YOU reading this right now, not the general "not me" version of "you" - take a step closer to God that you'd never taken before, whether you've been going to church your whole life or you've never once heard a word of the Bible.

And it doesn't give me all those warm fuzzies because I'm the one that wrote whatever words changed your life. It rocks my gypsy soul for the same reason that the shepherd rejoiced when he found his lost sheep, the woman rejoiced when she found her lost coin, the father rejoiced when his lost son came home, and the Father and all the hosts of angels rejoice when one repentant sinner accepts the Grace of God and steps into the Light.

It makes my joy complete.

If I can be the instrument God chooses to use to bring you, in any way, closer to Him, hey - that's awesome. You will not find me complaining about that. I try not to complain about God using me in general, but that specific use would be pretty solid.

But why? Why does it even matter to me?

Because I fully believe that everybody's life - and I mean everybody-everybody - could be improved by better knowing the Majesty, the Splendor, the Glory, the Holiness, the Power, the Presence, and the unfailing, unending, unmistakable Love of God.

Look, folks... God is... the best. The. Best. Imagine the best thing you've ever experienced. Now go infinitely better. That's a rough picture of the goodness of God. I cannot possibly explain to you in enough detail how good God is. 1) I don't have the words to convey it all, and 2) you don't have the patience to read my futile attempt, which would be so overly verbose that Google would shut me down for clogging up the internet.

I don't know what your relationship with God is like. I hope it's incredible. I hope that whatever you're getting is anything like what I'm getting, because folks, I ain't lying when I tell you that what is happening in my life is so very good that I cannot possibly keep it to myself.

It's Oreos and Led Zeppelin and good Batman comics and perfect air conditioning and the comfiest couch in the world and every other possibility of anything GOOD in this world all rolled up into one inexpressibly perfect thing, and I would feel like an absolute jerk if I kept it to myself.

If you eat at an awesome restaurant, you tell your friends, right?

If you see a mind-blowingly good movie, you tell your friends, right?

If you have goodness, you share it with the people you love, right?

That's what I want to do.

I want to tell you how awesome God is for me, because I know that when you let Him, He will be every bit as awesome for you. I mean that, no matter where you are in your walk with Him. If you're a staunch atheist, I want to talk to you about God. If you've never missed a church service in your life, I want to talk to you about God. If you just don't know where you fit in, I want to talk to you about God.

And I am totally willing to cheat in order to get that done.

Why else would I have been writing posts openly drawing comparisons between God and Batman or God and Eric Clapton?

It's not (exclusively) because of my inability to escape my own nerdiness, but it is because I am trying to do anything I can to get people to read this. I want to talk to you about God. That is my goal. If this means I lure you in with sensationalist headlines about killing my cat, so be it.

Jesus performed miracles for a reason - to get people to listen to Him. The Holy Spirit manifested miraculous gifts in the early church for the exact same reason - to get people's attention and show them the glory of God. Whatever gifts I do have from the Spirit, I have not as yet been able to heal a lame man with my shadow, so I will have to do what I can to bring people in, because I can think of absolutely nothing in existence that could ever be any more fulfilling than to encourage those around me (and, through the magic of the interwebs, those nowhere near me) into a closer relationship with God.

It makes my joy complete.

But here's the twist.

I jokingly threatened my cat just to get you to read this. It's an absurd example, but it worked, right? I mean, you are, after all, reading this...

How would you have responded if this week's entry had instead been titled "Live Your Life By My Rules or I'll Shoot You"?

I don't think there's any point in being bashful about my intentions. Yes, I want to encourage you to grow closer to God. That's my goal. Again, I don't care if you're already a very strong Christian or if you're a very strong atheist or if you're just very strongly confused. I want to talk to you about God. And my ideal outcome of any conversation that we should ever have about God is that we both walk away with refreshed spirits, renewed minds, and rejoicing hearts.

But the last thing I want to do is bully you into accepting what I believe.

I do believe, fully, that Christianity is the best possible way to live your life. I also believe, with every bit the same fullness, that the Christian life that I'm living is the best I can do with the knowledge and understanding that I currently have. In other words - yeah, I think I'm right. Of course I think I'm right. If I didn't think I was right, why would I continue to think things that I thought were wrong? That's dumb.

But there is a gigantic difference between my telling you that I feel that the truths behind my beliefs would be of great benefit in your own life if you applied them the same way I do and my telling you that you're evil and stupid for believing something other than what I believe and should immediately recognize the rightness of my beliefs and just stop your silly questioning because how could a fool like you ever know anything worth saying in the first place.

Put a bit more simply: there is a HUGE difference between sharing the Gospel through Love and forcing the Gospel down people's throats through arrogant moral superiority.

I'm perfectly willing to trick you into a conversation about God. I don't feel bad about that.

I'm also completely at peace with the idea of using whatever connections I might have with you or anyone else I ever encounter to find a way to get my foot in the door and then get to that conversation about God. It's worth working towards. In my work towards connecting people to God, I'm willing to be a downright snake in the grass, if I have to.

So that's what I've got this week. I've got nothing to hide - my mission, my purpose, my goal is to talk to you about God. I don't care where you stand with Him, I fully believe that both of us have everything to gain from striving for a more perfect understanding of the infinite goodness of God.

It is to that end, then, that I would like to close this post with an especially heartfelt encouragement and sincere exhortation: talk back. I have always wanted this bloggery business to be a conversation more than a sermon. I would LOVE to hear from you - no matter who you are, no matter what you believe. Ask questions. Debate points of doctrine. Drop a truthbomb on me with a scripture I might not have thought of that shows things in a different light. Whatever it is, please... do it. I want to be better at this, and a lot of the learning comes from feedback.

I do sincerely appreciate those of you who do comment and write me and everything else. It definitely means a lot, and please don't feel that I don't value your input - I do. I just want more. Is that so bad?

God bless you... And hopefully we'll talk soon.