2. Someone asks if they can borrow a room in your home to have a Bible study.

3. A village nearby doesn’t have any water and there is a breakout of severe diarrhea among the children.

4. You get word that another village has sold 20 of their children to a couple of men who say they can give the kids a better life.

5. You have a committee meeting to decide on the order of worship.

6. A baby gets dropped off at your doorstep.

7. A small group of ‘rookie’ preachers asks you to help them prepare for an upcoming sermon.

8. You have a lunch appointment to encourage a friend who is having trouble deciding what to do with his business.

9. You hear of a village where the children are going blind for lack of Vitamin A.

10. The church needs new carpet.

Which one will you do first? Why? Seriously…give it a try. I’ll tell you my answer if you tell me yours.

That story is found in both Matthew 7 and Luke 6. The Bible in Basic English translates the Matthew passage this way:

Everyone, then, to whom my words come and who does them, will be like a wise man who made his house on a rock; and the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house, but it was not moved; because it was based on the rock. And everyone to whom my words come and who does them not, will be like a foolish man who made his house on sand; and the rain came down and there was a rush of waters and the winds were driving against that house; and it came down and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

What does a life built on sand look like? In the world, it looks like relying on natural talent without adding hard work. As a former tennis professional, and even as someone who has a bit of natural talent, I know something about that. Natural talent — some people might call it a gift — is great fun at first. People praise you, you win quickly, and the sky seems to be the limit. But the missing link, the failure to work, keeps many naturals on the ground.

The corollary in Christianity is the one who has been in the church for a long time, for whom Christianity is “natural,” but who fails to work at following the teachings of Christ. As a minister — and a long time Christian myself — I know something about that, too. Jesus can be part of your life, you can be a declared Christian, and you may be able to quote a lot of the Bible. But the missing link is that you don’t consciously work at applying the teachings of Jesus in your daily life, because your “natural” Christianity already makes you better than most, and that is good enough for you.

If that sound like you, here’s the good news: the link doesn’t have to stay missing. Find it and you can be part of a modern day miracle — the miracle of turning sand into rock.

Praying that you do…

I’ve been thinking about what kind of welcome they will receive.

Last week while at the World Convention in Nashville I picked up a book (I admit, I read, too) , written by an Indian native preacher. One of his thoughts -

The church “…took up an offering and presented me with a check for what seemed like a great amount of money. Then with their usual hospitality, they invited me to eat with the leaders following the meeting. To my horror, the food and ‘fellowship’ frequently cost more than the money they had just given to missions.”

I wonder…what kind of welcome do we have planned for our missionaries this Wednesday evening?

He sent me a story of a woman who was saved because she knew Acts 2:38.

——

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, (another good reason to go to church) when she was startled by an intruder.

She caught the man in the act of robbing her of her valuables and yelled:

‘Stop! Acts 2:38!‘,

The burglar was stunned and immediately stopped. The woman then calmly called the police and explained to them what had been going on and what she had done.

As the officer handcuffed the dude to take him in, he asked the knucklehead: ‘Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a Bible verse at to you.’

‘Bible verse?’ replied the burglar. ‘I thought she said she had an ax and two 38s!’

Acts 2:38 saved this woman. It could save you, too.

Here’s another thought-provoking quote from Shane Claiborne’s book “The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical”:

“In my youth-group days, I had seen all too many wild would-be Jesus radicals fall by the wayside because they had never been trusted with the adventure of revolutionary living…. God forgive us for all those we have lost because we made the gospel boring. I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and materialism, of violence and war, it’s because we don’t dare them, not because we don’t entertain them. It’s because we make the gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult. Kids want to do something heroic with their lives, which is why they play video games and join the army. But what are they to do with a church that teaches them to tiptoe through life so they can arrive safely at death?”

I have to confess that I tend towards tiptoeing rather than living on the edge, but that certainly isn’t the way Jesus lived.

What makes living out the gospel exciting to you?

I had a day kind of like that today, and I thought all that was a bit ironic given that yesterday’s sermon was about the causes and cures for anxiety. “Oh yeah, Greer? Let’s see how you like a little bit of this.” Well, I don’t like it. Satan is craftier and stronger than I am, and he has a lot of resources he can draw on to remind me of all that, which he did today with, I suppose, great delight.

To be fair to the spiritual warfare going on in this part of Palo Alto today, God’s warriors got in some pretty good shots as well. I got a video mail message from our great-nieces that was delightful (I’ve watched it at least seven times already), I had a great conversation about church and church related things with a good friend and was able (I hope) to help him with some challenges that he is dealing with, and I got to fix and mail a card to some dear friends who are about to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Does the day balance out? No, God wins. Even when it doesn’t look like it, God wins. But I recognize that I have a part in the battle, too, and not just as a punching bag, but also as a fighter. I have to leave it up to the Holy Spirit and God’s angels to be the real fighters, but one thing I can fight i the anxiety that is so easily created in my life. I’m not going to do that, because I’m choosing the best portion (fellowship with Jesus), the best conversation (talking with God), and the best priority (seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness).

My goal is not just to preach God’s way of fighting anxiety, but to practice it, and I’m thankful that I’m getting this chance. Not that I’m asking for more chances, mind you.

Under the mercy…

I generally begin my class with a list of “Things I think I think.” I didn’t do it last week, but should have. That point is beyond the scope of this post.

Here again are the things I think I think for newcomers to the class and for those who might like to discuss them without taking up class time.

1. There are answers to any and all problems. I believe Jesus is the answer, not mostly the answer. I believe the Bible has answers, not most of them. (more…)

Nearly two years ago, I read Why Men Hate Going to Church. It opened my eyes to several things that had been right in front of me forever, yet I hadn’t been able to “see” them before. The book made me wonder if some church practices (passive activities, sweet songs, and so on) had become unduly feminine. As I grappled with that thought (continuing to this day), I came across an oddly titled book, Jesus: Mean and Wild. I had to buy it — that characterization was so different from Jesus as I had understood him to be, yet I wondered what a “mean and wild” Jesus might look like. Confession: I tossed it on my huge TBR(ead) pile of books and didn’t read it for a long time. But I looked at it. And I talked about it. Every time I mentioned the title, I’d get that, “You’re crazy!” look. Okay, whatever. Some people don’t recognize hyperbole for what it is.

At Lewis’ suggestion, I agreed to co-teach the Sermon on the Mount with him, but I told him up front, “This is not my favorite topic. I don’t get it, and I don’t like reading lectures.” He told me, “That’s okay. You’re gonna love it when we’re done, because it’s my very favorite thing!” Okay, the gauntlet had been thrown, and I picked it up.

But I am so far from the “Bible is simple. All ya gotta do is open it and read it and do it. Done deal.” Maybe I’m just thick-headed, but a lot of times when I read the Bible, I’m like, “So? What did that mean? How am I supposed to do that?” Did Jesus really want me to pluck out my eye or chop off my hand? (Interesting how most of us do recognize the hyperbole here; at least I haven’t noticed any one-eyed, one-armed Christians running around, though I bet they have sinned through their seeing or touching.) Most of the Bible is told in stories. The stories reveal — obliquely!!! — the heart of God, his goals and purposes for people, his disappointments with their actions, his irrational love for downtrodden, ostracized, marginalized groups (like Israel). (more…)

“The matter is quite simple.  The Bible is very easy to understand.  But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers.  We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.  Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly.  My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined.  How would I ever get on in the world?  Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship.  Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close.  Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you?  Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God.  Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”

Then Claiborne talks about going to work with Mother Teresa and meeting a fundamentalist (not a selective fundamentalist) who actually sold all he had and gave to the poor.

I’m looking forward to seeing what else this ordinary radical has to say, and contemplating what I might end up doing as a result.

Anything in the Bible you are trying not to understand?

What about mosquitoes themselves — any redeeming value or balancing benefit? Certainly the birds and bats think so, because they eat them. So do spiders, which is why I’m on friendlier terms with most spiders than a lot of folks might be. (If you don’t like spiders, you have that in common with mosquitoes.)

But there is one balancing benefit to many, many bad things, and that benefit is prayer. I don’t like it when bad things happen in my life or in the lives of those I know and love. I don’t like it when people get sick, when they are in financially difficult times, or when they are experiencing some emotional crisis. But the good side of that is that it causes that person, and more than likely many others as well, to turn to God in prayer.

God doesn’t always grant the requests of the prayers that are spoken in the midst of life’s challenges, I know, but he always likes it when we talk to him.

So don’t wait for something bad to happen, talk to him anyway. Just talk. If the world is going to be out of balance at all, let it be on the good side for a change.