Book Review: The Gospel in Ten Words

I've been doing a number of book reviews here at Beyond the Pale but this is the first review I have done where I have known the author on such a personal level.  Paul Ellis, author of the Escape to Reality blog http://escapetoreality.org/ , has published his first "Christian" book.  I have to designate the "Christian" part because Paul, as a university professor of 15 years in Hong Kong, is one of the most prolific authors in the field of International business.  Fortunately for us, Paul has shifted his energies from the academic arena to the area he is most passionate about; the Grace of God.

The Gospel in Ten Words unpacks the grace of God through the use of ten, often misunderstood, words.  I have been on a Christian book marathon since about February and I have read a number that have blessed me greatly.  However, I can name two that will have long term impact on me and I will be buying and passing out copies for years to come. 

The first was Brian Zahnd's Beauty Will Save the World which caused a paradigm shift in my thinking about what church is meant to be.

The second is Paul Ellis' Gospel in Ten Words which will become a major resource tool for me as it is, in all honesty, the best book on explaining the grace of God I have ever read.

Loved
Forgiven
Saved
Union
Accepted
Holy
Rightous
Died
New
Royal

Using these 10 words Paul defangs law, cripples self-righteous effort, and reminds the children of God that they are His children and that none can pluck them from His hand! Ten Words reminds us that the "good news" is indeed, good!

Because of Paul's many years as a Christian and ten years as a pastor, he may not have seen it all, but he's seen ALOT.  For this reason,  he is extremely adept at turning long entrenched religious structures inside out and exposing them for what they are; dead works that often keep the Children of God in chains and ignorant of their position as sons and daughters of the Most High.

For example, much of my Christian life has revolved around getting people to "accept Christ."  However, Ten Words suggests:

"The gospel is not an invitation to accept Jesus; it is the stunning announcement that He accepts you.  Although the law reveals it is impossible for you to make yourself acceptable and pleasing to God, the gospel of acceptance declares that in Christ you have been made acceptable for eternity.  Nothing you do can make you more or less pleasing to God than you already are.  All this is to the praise and glory of His grace."

Now

"Secure in your Father's favor you will become fearless and bold.  You will dine in the presence of your enemies and laugh in the face of adversity.  You will dance upon the waves of circumstance and when you are tried by fires of life you shall not be burned."

I've enjoyed the irony of seeing a very academic professor, whose previous professional articles on statistics, research, and business models I could barely understand, produce a book on the gospel that is so profound and yet, so simple.  Probably the reason for that is he ultimately brings everything back to Jesus!

The individual chapters are bite sized nuggets that can be easily digested in a short read.  Hence in the coming weeks and months I will be returning to the book to spend 20 minutes reading about "Holy" or "Loved"; allowing these foundations to be reenforced so that my "good news" remains good.

I really recommend you allow this book to be a blessing to you as much as it has been to me.  Check it out on Amazon here 

"Let's Bring Heaven to Earth"...Bono

For a while I had been wondering what has been happening with Bill Hybels from Willow Creek. Seemed in the 1990's we were all reading his books and watching his teachings. Haven't heard from him as much these days...

Well, I perused YouTube looking for whats been happening with Bill lately and found a great interview he had with U 2's Bono. They both look a little younger so I'm not sure when the interview occurred but when I see it I get excited. I see a church that is beginning to "get it"! 

A church that that God applauds because we are doing for the "least of these" as unto Jesus Christ himself

A church that is not as concerned with:

• getting a particular political candidate elected
• church buildings and construction projects as it is with "living stones"
• leading social agenda crusades that do nothing to demonstrate Christ's love
• enforcing the "law" as it is with the dispensing of Grace

 But rather a church that brings the love that Christ first showed us to the world!

 And just think, when its all over, we get to go to a really great U2 concert in heaven!

Does God Really Hate You?

A friend of mine shared a clip of Pastor Mark Driscoll on Facebook...and Mark was pretty angry.  For those who are not aware, Mark Driscoll is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle with a congregation of about 10,000 as well as overseeing a network of other churches.

I've included the clip here below but it will shock many to find that:

 "Some of you, God Hates you...some of you, God is sick of you, God is frustrated with you, God is wearied by you, God has suffered long enough with you...."

I could go on...but I think you get the picture.  Poor Mark...unlike my friend who shared the clip and was pretty straight forward in his disgust, I felt a measure of pity for Mark.  I know what its like to pastor, that is to  shepherd a group of people toward God and at times...well, it can get a little frustrating.  Sometimes the anger we can feel dealing with the shortcomings of people day in and day out can get you pretty agitated and if we're not careful we can transfer our anger and use God as our proxy to help legitimize those feelings.  Then its not me who hates and is frustrated with you (which can be more easily dismissed)...

...its God who can't stand you! (The clip gets to the point at 4:35)




I couldn't help but think of Moses out in the desert leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land.

Those people were a handful to say the least but God declared them to be His children and He loved them.  One day they were out of water and they gave Moses an earful.  Numbers 20:2-13 says:

  Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. ³ They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD! ⁴ Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? ⁵ Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
 ⁶ Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. ⁷ The LORD said to Moses, ⁸ “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
 ⁹ So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he commanded him. ¹⁰ He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
 ¹² But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
 ¹³ These were the waters of Meribah,^[a] where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD and where he was proved holy among them.

Moses was angry at the people and felt they deserved God's wrath...not his blessing.  So Moses strikes the rock in anger rather than speak to it as commanded.  The people, who really do deserve God's wrath, instead experience the provision of water (and Grace) from a loving Father...and the only one who is judged is Moses.

Mark Driscoll needs to tread more carefully.  He has been put in a position to influence tens of thousands with the Grace of God and probably needs to be more mindful of the message he is communicating.

Cowboys...Aliens...and the Grace of God

Just took Gabriel to see the new summer blockbuster Cowboys & Aliens!  I knew from when I first heard the title I was going to love it because ...well...it has Cowboys...and Aliens.  Nuff said!

Anyhow as I was watching the movie I was struck by how much the idea of redemption and God's Grace underpinned the movie.  That wasn't surprising as when I saw the credits roll at the beginning I noticed one of the screenwriters for the film was Lost writer Damon Lindelof. The Catholic Lindelof was  known for including Christian themes such as redemption into the story line of Lost so it came as no shock to me when I saw similar themes in Cowboys & Aliens.  Even the "preacher" in the film (played by the always solid Clancy Brown)  was a man of conviction who brought life and grace to those he met.

Like I was saying though, it was the message of God's Grace that really struck me.  Harrsison Ford plays local land baron Woodrow Dolarhyde.  At the beginning of the film Dolarhyde's arrogant, spoiled son Percy shoots the town's deputy more from stupidity than maliciousness.  The "law" in the form of the Sheriff arrests Percy and has him sent to another city for trial.  Dolarhyde rides into town to rescue Percy and although he knows Percy is a silly spoiled child,  he is still his son.  The scene of Dolarhyde attempting to get his boy free though is interrupted by the "aliens" who sweep down from the sky and kidnap a number of town folk including young Percy.

Despite the fact his son has shown to not be deserving of his Father's love, Dolarhyde mounts a posse to go and save him as well as the rest of the townspeople.  Along the way Dolarhyde shows himself to be a "father" to other "adopted" sons along the way.

In the end, Percy is saved and when he sees what his father has done to redeem him, it changes who he is.  His behaviour begins to model that of his father.  In turn, Dolarhyde informs his son he had the bank checks redone to reflect the new family business name, "Dolarhyde & Son".

In the same way, we have done nothing to earn our heavenly father's love other than to be his children.  It is when we realize the blessed position we are in and the love our father has for us that we can begin to experience genuine transformation in who we really are.

Another great illustration from the movie was when Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) who was a wanted felon, is given his freedom at the end of the movie.  After he had demonstrated selflessness and his own change of character, the sheriff and Dolarhyde inform him that when the Federal Marshall's came looking to arrest him, they told them Jake Lonergan died in the battle.  The old man that he used to be was dead and the law has no hold on a dead man.  He was free to go.

Sound familiar?

Cowboys and Aliens was great summer popcorn fun.  Seeing Harrison Ford back in action (heck, admittedly I grew up watching Harrison Ford) fighting...shooting bad guys...and being, ...well...Harrison Ford is all I need in a summer movie.  Plus it has Cowboys...and Aliens!

Can you really beat that?

Video Games, Porn, and The Demise of Guys

Just finished watching a fascinating TED talk by Philip Zimbardo about the struggles men face entitled The Demise of Guys.  Turns out that all of those hours in front of a computer video screen are really bad for people in general and boys specifically. 

Consider first these statistics from the talk:

• Boys are 30% more likely to drop out of school
• Girls outperform boys at every level from elementary school through graduate programs (There is a 10% differential in the area of BA & Graduate degrees awarded)
• Two thirds of students in Special Ed. remedial programs are boys
• Boys are 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls

Zimbardo goes on to give his suggestion that these increasingly alarming figures are the result of over stimulation and addiction to the internet resulting in what he refers to as Social Intensity Syndrome. He says it is

" a social awkwardness like you're a stranger in a foreign land.  They don't know what to say, they don't know what to do, especially one-on-one with the opposite sex.  They don't know the language of face contact, the verbal and non-verbal set of rules that enable you to comfortably be able to talk to someone else, listen to someone else."

The difficulty with the internet and long term usage which boys are more prone to than women is that it creates arousal addiction.  Unlike drug addiction where you just want more, Zimbardo explains that arousal addiction means you always need something different.

Consider these further statistics:

• The average boy by the time he is 21 will have played more than 10,000 hours of video games (most of that in isolation)
• The average boy watches 50 porn clips a week on the internet. The American porn industry is the fastest growing industry in America
• For every 400 Hollywood movies made there are 11,000 pornographic movies produced

When one considers that porn is available at a finger touch from any computer, iPad, or cell phone you realize why more and more men are forgoing the complexities of building real relationships of love with women for the quick thrill of a imitation erotic moment.  Cindy Gallop says,

"Men no longer know the difference between making love and doing porn." 

 At the end of the talk Zimbardo laughs off the fact that he doesn't have a solution, he's just brings the problem to light...

... but I do have a solution.

  The Grace of God that comes through Jesus Christ.  Romans 3: 21 says: "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.... and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Once Christian men grasp that they are really Sons of God and have taken on his righteousness the desire to view 50 porn clips a week on the internet will fade away!

How well did I understand grace before I understood grace?

My friend Paul over at Escape to Reality had recently thrown out 10 years of sermon notes because of his realization that he had not been preaching God's Grace to people even when he honestly thought he had.  So when Paul was recently asked by a mutual friend about "how much he understood grace before he understood grace"...he sat down and penned the following response. What follows is a Holy Spirit inspired explanation of the Grace of God.

Look down at some of the things he lists below and see how many you can identify with:   

How well did I understand grace before I understood grace?

Have you ever seen those Magic Eye 3D pictures that look random at first glance but then reveal a hidden picture? Maybe there’s a group of you looking and someone says, “Wow – look at that! It’s a ship!” Then another person sees it and now they’re both describing the picture to you. But try as you might you just can’t see it. They try to encourage you. “Look – it’s right there. It’s huge!” But still you can’t see it. You’re starting to think there’s no picture at all and they’re all deluded when suddenly, revelation comes and a ship appears! If you’re like me and you’re usually the last person to see these things, you’ll no doubt embarrass yourself at this point by shouting, “I see it!”

That’s how it was for me with grace.

I knew people who looked into the Bible and saw radical grace but I didn’t. Sure, there were pockets of grace but there was a whole lot of other stuff as well. Then one day, revelation came and I saw Grace! He’s right there on every page and in every book! How can you miss Him? He’s huge! I now find myself reading old scriptures with new eyes and saying, “Look! This is speaking of Jesus! This is all about Him – I never saw this before.” Now that I’ve seen Him once I see Him everywhere. I was saved decades ago and I have always loved God with my whole heart. But when I got this revelation of His amazing grace, it was like being born again, again.

A friend recently asked me, “How well did you understand grace before you understood grace?” Here’s my answer: I thought I understood grace perfectly well. For as long as I can remember I’ve considered myself a testimony of His grace. But when Grace Himself came into focus, I was floored. I realized that I had barely understood grace at all. Looking back I can identify nine signs that showed I did not fully grasp the grace of God.

1. I understood that I was saved by grace but not that I was kept by grace

I had received Christ by faith and without doing a thing, but I was not continuing in Him by that same faith (Col 2:6). Although I would never have said it, I had taken out a little works insurance. Faith is a positive response to what God has done, but I liked to initiate things. And so my walk became “do, do, do,” rather than it’s “done, done, done.” There was no rest, only performance anxiety. There was always another meeting to lead, another plank of truth to teach, another stray sheep to gather. I thought this was normal. I could get excited about the idea of being saved and saving others, but I was not drawing from the wells of salvation with joy (Is 12:3). I was constantly stressed and I treated grace as grease for my engine.

2. I felt obliged to serve

Jesus had done everything for me, what would I do for Him? Of course I didn’t use the word “indebted” – that would’ve alerted me to the poverty of my theology – but much of what I did was motivated by a sense of obligation. I thus cheapened the exceeding riches of His grace (Eph 1:7) by trying to pay Him back for His priceless gift. Inevitably this shifted my focus from Him and His work to me and mine. Instead of being impressed by what He had done, I was trying to impress Him with what I was doing.

3. I motivated others using carrots and sticks

Because my own motives were screwed up it was inevitable that I would preach rewards and punishments to others. Do good, get good; do bad, get bad. At the same time as I was preaching against legalism I was putting people under law! My gospel was like an ash-tray – full of “buts”! God loves you but… Jesus died for you but…  God’s gifts always came with a price to pay. But grace is free – you either receive it or reject it but the moment you start charging for it, you’ve missed it. There’s only one motive in the kingdom and that is love. The Son of Man didn’t come to threaten us, judge us, or scare us, but to demonstrate love (Rm 5:8). I no longer believe that evangelism means scaring the hell out of people. The good news that the world needs to hear is that God is good and He loves us. The new covenant of grace is the formal expression of His unfailing love for us (Is 54:10).

4. I saw myself as a servant rather than a son

My identity was in the things I did rather than in my Father. I saw myself as working for God (a noble cause!) rather than doing the works of God. I would not have said I was justified by what I did for I knew that grace and works don’t mix (Rms 11:6). Yet I was mixing grace with works like there was no tomorrow! But here’s the strange thing. Even though I preached servanthood more than sonship, whenever there was a crisis I was quick to relate to Him as Papa. It was only when I was strong and healthy that I was seduced by the religious need to do something for God. Happily, there were many crises!

5. I kept asking God to provide things that He’s already provided

I knew enough about grace to approach Him boldly in my hour of need, but I didn’t know that He has already given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). If someone was sick I would ask for healing when I should’ve just healed them (Mt 10:8). I would ask for more faith instead of living by the faith of the Son of God (Ga 2:20). Like the prodigal’s older brother I felt that God would bless me as I did my part. I didn’t realize that I was already blessed, deeply loved, and highly favored. In my ignorance I wasted a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing. I thought I was being active and fruitful but in reality I was passive and faithless. God had already come but there I was face down asking Him to come again.

6. I was more sin-conscious than Christ-conscious

Like many Christians I was afraid of sin (keep it out of the camp!) and I was not known as a friend of sinners. I defined sin as bad works only and I taught that the solution to sin was repentance. I had read that the grace of God teaches us to say no to ungodliness (Tit 2:12), but I wasn’t quite sure how that worked. So when preaching against sin I used inferior incentives like fear and punishment that led, at best, to temporary, will-powered changes in behavior. I emphasized what people must do (repent!) more that what God has already done (forgiven us!). I kept the focus on us when it should’ve been on Him and my preaching was powerless as a result. If anyone failed to experience victory over sin, I just figured they were unacquainted with God’s transforming grace – even though I had given them none.

7. I always tried to do the right thing

Someone under grace says, “I trust Him from start to finish. He will lead me in the right path” (Ps 23:3). But in subtle ways I preferred rules to relationship. What I craved were clear Biblical guidelines for living. I thought I was choosing good, but then so did Adam. We both had an independent spirit that led us to eat from the wrong tree. I felt particularly good when people came to me for guidance. I thought I was giving them wisdom when really I should just have got out of the way and taught them to lean on Jesus (Jn 10:27).

8. I had a stronger relationship with the written word than with the Living Word

I did not read the scriptures to find Jesus (Lk 24:27) but to learn, what should I do? I read indiscriminately and was often confused by scriptures that seemed to contradict each other. My solution was to go for balance: A little of this, a little of that, for all scripture is profitable. But by failing to filter what I read through the finished work of the cross, I unwittingly poisoned myself. I was mixing the death-dealing words of the law with the life-giving words of grace. Although I was zealous for the Lord, in truth I was lukewarm. I was neither under the stone-cold reality of the law nor walking in the red-hot heat of His unconditional love and grace.

9. I knew I was righteous, but I didn’t feel righteous

When I stumbled I would more readily confess my sins to God than allow the Holy Spirit to remind me of the gift of His righteousness to me (Jn 16:10). I knew I was a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), but in many ways I acted and spoke as if I was merely an improved creation. I thought honesty about my struggles was the key to getting more grace. But I probably would not have struggled so much in the first place if I had just learned to see myself as God sees me – redeemed, righteous, and holy.

I am convinced that grace comes by revelation. If you don’t yet see it this post may sound like the ramblings of a man who is unbalanced. (Thank God I am! I’m done with balance!) If you do see Grace, then right now you will be resonating like a tuning fork. So let me finish with a few words for those of you in the first group. Please be patient with those of us who are leaping for joy. Don’t walk away from the Magic Eye picture scowling, “I can’t see it, there’s nothing there.” Just keep looking! Grace really is standing right there in front of you. And He’s huge!

The Church and the Things People Hide!

My blogging peer Michael over at Megaloi-Great Things posted a thought-provoking piece recently. He raised the issue of a lack of transparency in church circles despite our claims to be an open, sharing community. He notes the following encounter at a church small group:

Classmate: I think our church is an open place, and the members are open with one another. We share our lives.

Me: I don't think that's true.

Classmate: What do you mean?

Me: I think most of our lives, especially the struggles, are almost completely hidden from our church friends. Take divorce, for example. At least five couples in our group have been separated and divorced over the past few years, and none of us saw it coming. Because they never opened up to any of us about the problems in their marriage. For all I know many of you are having those types of struggles right now. Or maybe Jamie and I am. But the history shows that you'd never know and we don't talk about it here.

Classmate: What can we do about that, though? If they don't choose to be honest and share their lives, how can we know if they need help?

Me: That's just the thing -- I think we've created an environment that makes it almost impossible to be honest about these things. It's like there's a list of sins or problems that we're not allowed to talk about at church.

Classmate: (Challenging) Give me an example.

Me: Let's start with sex, since it's probably the easiest and most obvious. Do you think there are men in this church who struggle with lust, pornography and adultery?

Classmate: Probably.

Me: No probably, I guarantee it. With more than 1,000 members in this church, I guarantee you that there are triple-digit numbers of guys wrestling with pornography. I'm one of them, but it never gets talked about here.

Female classmate: (confused) Triple digits?

Me: At least 100 guys. Sexual temptation and struggle is almost written into our DNA, but after more than 30 years attending church I can't think of a single time I personally witnessed a man testify to his struggle with sexuality. We don't talk about it, and that silence makes it seem that nobody is having this problem. So 100 guys are left to feel alone with no support system until the problem grows large enough for painful consequences to set in.

Classmate: Okay, I see what you're saying. Are there more things on this list?

Me: Substance abuse, greed/stealing, addictions of various types. How many times have any of you seen a public or even classroom/group setting where a person confessed to one of these things? The only struggles that seem to be okay to discuss at church are depression, joblessness, and "not living better for Jesus". Meanwhile we wrestle with all of these other very real issues on our own.

Classmate: But what would change that?

Me: Somebody would have to be very brave and step out in trust that they could talk about this type of thing in vulnerable confession, and that the group would respond in love. If it worked, it might make it easier for the second person to come forward. If not, then we'd prove we aren't a safe place to come with problems, and we can forget about getting deeper than the happy-looking surface level in this building. I think it's tragic, and that Jesus would say this is a place for the sick and the hurting. How sad that this is the last place people want to bring their real problems.



Unlike Michael, I have experienced times of transparency in the church that have provided powerful moments of healing from those that are hurting behind closed doors...but perhaps not often enough

Tammy and I have run marriage groups that ran over the course of 14 weeks.  The first 3-4 weeks everyone is pretty tightlipped, and then slowly, as they get to know one another, things come out.  And then everyone realizes that we are ALL struggling with the same issues.  One wife, wishing her husband would be more like "that guy" in the church, finds out "that guy's" wife is really irritated with the same things she is.  Husbands find out that their struggles are not isolated but shared by most everyone else.  Put that in an atmosphere where we are asking God to to restore and Whammo... lives are healed and marriages are strengthened.

But it doesn't happen near enough.  We live in a culture saturated with sensuality and lust and I just read an article at CNN that for the first time there is a significant number of 20 something males that are off of the "long term" relation market affecting the marriage prospects for women.

 The reason?

Internet pornography is so wide spread that they choose to forgo the commitment and expense of an actual relationship and simply, "take care of themselves".

If the church thinks this issue doesn't affect its congregations, worship teams, leadership teams, and even its pulpit...it better think again.

And yet it is the church that has the answer which is the Grace of God provided through Jesus Christ.

Its tragic though when churches fail to really teach grace in areas where people struggle because then the initial blessing that the transparency provides morphs into a never ending cycle of guilt and shame that stem from the sin, repent, sin, repent lifestyle.

I've mentioned before how I've known far too many church men's groups that instead of providing a platform for equipping and releasing men for works of ministry degenerate into confession booths for weekly sexual temptation mishaps.

Here's hoping for increased transparency in the church so that God's grace can be released even more.

More Thoughts on God's Grace

The Grace of God has become new to me... all over again. That's one (of many) things I love about God. Just when you think you reached the top step of understanding in an area, He opens the door, and there's a whole 'nother staircase.

And now, after 34 years of being a Christian and 20 years of pastoral ministry I realize I'm just scratching the surface in my understanding of God's "Unmerited Favor".

In the last few months I've been exposed to some powerful teachings on Grace. Whether from guys like Rob Rufus at City Church International, old friends like Paul Ellis, or new acquaintances like Cornel Marais I've been challenged to see what the Grace of God can do when it is not just applied to my own relationship with God, but when it is unleashed on the church.



Now understand, the fact that we do not have to earn God's favor was a concept that came pretty easy to me. That my Heavenly Father loved me despite my behavior was normal because that was the relation I had with my earthly father. I never had to earn my parents love. If I behaved well, they loved me; if I behaved badly, they loved me. My position in the family did not change. Earning or performing were not part of my upbringing...

But the church is full of people today who think that when they sin, somehow they are outside the covering of God and once they repent, they are welcomed back in. I don't think our relationship with God is that fragile, and at worst it nullifies in our hearts the sacrifice Christ made on the cross. Our standing before God rests on Christ's actions, not ours. (Thank God :)

What if, though, people were freed of the constant burden of spending most of their time trying to get "right" with God? What if we people didn't feel like they had to expend so much effort simply trying to get back to the starting line?

Take for instance, "men's groups" in church. I can't tell you how many of these I've been part of over the years, and they nearly all end up the same. Rather than preparing, equipping, and unleashing men for leadership in the church, they degenerate into "how to overcome sexual temptation discussions". The Grace of God and an understanding of His righteousness is replaced with trying to overcome sin on our own strength...and because we can NEVER do that, our effectiveness for the Kingdom of God is buried under the crippling weight of guilt and shame!

And that is just one small example...

* What if the church didn't grasp after the latest leadership or organizational "model" but embraced Grace?

* What if we stopped trying to analyze how "authentic" or "relevant" we are and instead enjoyed a journey with God that was paved in His Grace?

* What if we didn't focus on ourselves, but on the the Grace that comes to us through Jesus Christ?

MMmmmm...What if?

Conviction & Compassion: or What to do with my Democrat, Muslim, and Gay friends

I recently had dinner with a new friend here in Hong Kong. We had been talking about different cuisines and I had been bemoaning the fact that my favorite Lebanese restaurant had closed. When I told him of how much I missed the place and my love for Arabic and Mediterranean food his eyes lit up. "Steve, I am going to take you and Tammy to a Lebanese place you will really enjoy."

And did we! And as we conversed over lamb, humus, hot pita, and red wine he mentioned that although his family had emigrated to the West when he was a boy, he was in fact Palestinian originally and born in Jerusalem.

"Wow!" I thought. I have had a lot of of diverse friends but I had never had a Palestinian friend.

The evening turned out to be full of great conversation and it really got me reflecting. See, I'm a big supporter of Israel. Ever since I read Leon Uris' Exodus in high school I have been behind the establishment and defense of the modern Jewish homeland...and because of that, and knowing emotions can get passionate, I kept my mouth shut. Why?

Because he's my friend...

I think some of the vitriolic talk and bombastic assaults on different people groups, be they religious, ethnic, or social, come because often people don't have friends in those groups.

I'm a Republican...but the reason I don't join in on mindless banter slamming the Democrats is because...I have Democrat friends.

I don't support homosexuality or a homosexual lifestyle...but one of the reasons I rarely, if ever, blog on the issue is because I have gay friends.

I am a Christian and desire to share my faith with Muslims across the globe but the reason I don't engage in demeaning talk about Islam is because I have Muslim friends.

Its a shame some people believe if they show compassion, they sacrifice conviction. Nothing could be further from the truth. Compassion legitimizes conviction.

Jesus gave us the example. The Bible says he was friends with "publicans and sinners" He was friends with people whose lifestyles he wouldn't necessarily endorse or approve of. He didn't protest them, harm them, or even start a radio talk show claiming the end of the world if their evil agendas were allowed unchecked.

Instead, he loved them and became an example of a better way. His conviction was never lost in his compassion. He didn't tell the woman caught in adultery, "Your sins are forgiven, now follow your heart and if you really love this man, go and be happy." No...he forgave her (compassion) and told her to "Go, and sin no more," (conviction).

Now anyone that knows me knows I love good argument. I am quite happy to debate political, social, and religious issues just about anytime and anyplace...but I refuse to join the mob and too much of the American political landscape has been overrun by a mob mentality. Intellectual discourse has all but disappeared...and much of the reason is the balkinization of society into groups where people are only surrounded by other people that think like them.

Both sides of the political spectrum, Left & Right, are equally guilty but I have a solution...

Get more friends!

Thoughts on God's Grace Pt 1

Years ago as a young man in Hong Kong, I would often find myself with friends at a restaurant whose menu options were way out of my price range. My "faith based" missions income just couldn't compete with the expat salary packages many of my friends lived on. So as I sat there fumbling to make conversation, all I could really think was how much I couldn't afford to eat here, my own financial shortcomings, and tradeoffs in my mind that reasoned if I had a meal here today I would only eat noodles for the next 3.

Then suddenly a friend, perhaps sensing my dilemma, would say something like, "Order anything you like Steve, the meal's on me today."

Suddenly, everything changed.

One little phrase, and then I could enjoy my meal. I could now appreciate the fact that I was in a fine dining restaurant with exquisite interior and cuisine rather that a neon lit McDonalds with a Big Mac meal resting on a plastic tray. The focus was no longer on what I didn't have, but on what another person's grace had allowed me to enjoy.

I find many (if not most) Christians are in the same place spiritually. How many of us has the enemy convinced that they are not holy enough, good enough, or righteous enough for God to use. Jesus says, "I've consecrated you, and made you clean" and through our actions we say back to him, "Ah, no you didn't" We are crippled by our inability to afford the menu prices when Christ has already pulled the check to his side of the table.

God wants us to enjoy our position as His children. The Grace of God is more than just a "forgiveness of sins". It allows us to perceive reality differently. The focus is no longer on what I don't have have but on what Christ has! Paul says in the book of Romans:

but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

We don't act differently, and then get to be an heir. Because we are an heir...we act differently!

So, relax...enjoy the meal, the bill has already been paid!

Bart Campolo and the Cross of Christ

When John the Baptist sees Jesus approaching at a point early in the Gospel of John he declares, "Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." The sacrificial lamb John was referring to was first required by God as a sacrifice to save his people, the Israelites, as he brought judgement on the nation of Egypt. Exodus 12 says that as death passed through the land taking the first born, he would "passover" the houses of the Israelites whose doorpost had the slain blood of a perfect lamb.

The whole scene was a foreshadow of Jesus, the perfect lamb, being slain and his sacrifice being the requirement for judgement to "passover" us. For years I have heard two views on the crucifixion. Some people believe that the Jesus is the Son of God and His sacrifice on the cross was the perfect love offering reconciling us to a God whom, through our sin, we were estranged and those who didn't believe Jesus was the Son of God; that the whole story was nonsense.

Lately, I've been seeing a new group emerge.

Those that claim Jesus as the Son of God but believe the sacrifice of Christ was not orchestrated by God at all (or if it was, it was ancillary to other, more important, goals). I recently saw a video clip by Bart Campolo (son of famed minister Tony Campolo) where this view point is explained.

What's the Point of Jesus? from Recycle Your Faith on Vimeo.

The disappointment I found in this clip was that some valid elements of the Grace of God that Mr. Campolo brings to the table are diluted by his rejection of the Cross of Christ being the focus of the mission. The intricately crafted plan that God lays out from Man's first sin in the garden is sidelined in favor of basically what Mr. Campolo would do if he were God. Which is simply forgive...without sacrifice.

Paul the Apostle promised that the cross of Christ would be a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks, and in watching the video I'm still unsure what view Campolo leans toward but it certainly seems like it is a distraction to what he views was the central mission of Jesus which is the messages on love and forgiveness he taught before his crucifixion.

The problem with that is scripture, as a whole, is like a beacon pointing to the cross of Christ. The Old Testament prophets declare its going to happen, the Gospels share how it happens, and the Epistles exclaim, "Wow, look what happened!" Paul even says in 1 Corinthians 2:2that he is "resolved to know nothing...except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Again, its a shame that the wonderful truths of Christ's message on grace and forgiveness that Campolo so lovingly demonstrates is diluted because he creates a false dichotomy by presenting them as an antithesis to judgement and sacrifice. Somehow in this equation love becomes antagonistic to justice. Whereas I believe the cross is so focal to the Christian faith because it is there that love and justice, judgement and grace, and sacrifice and mercy converge in one beautiful act of redemption.

Here's to increased dialogue on Grace and Forgiveness...but rooted in the Cross!