Sin by Any Other Name

I was already going to blog about homosexuality and all the hype about gay marriage/union/rights, and then came along the whole Chick-fil-a scandal. First, I would like to be perfectly clear that I don't feel hatred or even anger toward homosexuals, nor am I homophobic. I understand that homosexuals are, in fact, people too. I realize that they contribute to society, they work hard, and most are probably good and loving people. I am opposed to gay marriage, but I'm not more opposed to it than any other sins.

I have to make it clear that homosexuality (the act of it) is sinful (1  Cor. 6:9-10, Rom 1:24-27, Lev 18:22). That isn't something that I see reasonable to argue about. Whether there is a "gay gene" or not, I'm not the expert, but it seems as though some are much more susceptible to being attracted to the same sex. Is that wrong? I think it is clear that only lusting or physically engaging someone homosexually is the sin, not the attraction. It is the same as me liking woman, but not lusting after them. The thing is though, God's design is not gay marriage. You can be mad at me for that, but it's not me you need to fight. I would also just like to say this: I see that it would be incredible hard if someone were to tell me that it was wrong for me to love my wife. I understand why there is such an uproarious defense. However, if God is telling me that the way I live is wrong, I have no choice to respond to this God.

I think there is a much bigger, over-arching problem than simply gay marriage. There is a lack of love, and a lack of communication. Both sides won't admit to doing wrong, both sides are unwilling to listen, and both sides aren't showing much love to each other. So allow me to do my miniscule part to clear the air.

First, Chick-fil-a. I think the whole situation is idiotic. Just because they support the Biblical idea of family, doesn't mean they hate gay folks. I certainly don't hate gay people, you would be crazy to assume that. This has been blown way out of proportion and doesn't even deserve this paragraph! Cities have the right to rid themselves of whatever business they want, and so does every individual. They have the right, but not a good reason. It's slightly ironic that Christians are most often deemed "hypocrites" when this is one of the most hypocritical moves I've seen from the secular world. It is just as hateful to try and shut out Chick-fil-a for its beliefs. Chicago, Boston, Philly, etc. want to exclude CFA, but CFA is not excluding anyone by stating their beliefs. Seems silly. I am sick of hearing about it, and I'm not going to give it any more attention.

One thing that proponents of same-sex marriage are claiming is that by not allowing them to get married, they are being treated in a sub-human way with sub-human rights. That sounds like a cry from a highly emotional teenage girl. It seems incredibly fallacious to me... It may surprise you, but I'm actually not sure if I care whether gay marriage is legalized. It doesn't make it any less/more sinful, it doesn't change much of the way gay people live together (there's plenty of heterosexual couples who disregard marriage and live in sin). The only argument I see against gay marriage is that it is opening the flood gate to allowing all other sorts of sinful laws. I know we should take a stand against immorality in our country and be an impacting effect on the people here, but we have lost power in the government. We have several rich, carefree, detached politicians who pass laws without asking us. Maybe our impact is more effective person-to-person? I don't have a good answer, but I'm not sure it changes much.

I think that we are a little too affixed on the issue of gay marriage, and have made homosexuals seems like extraordinary outcasts in the Christian community. It seems like almost every kind of sin/sinner is more accepted than the homosexual. For whatever reason, we have made homosexuality the line in the sand. I don't know why, but I do want to apologize to any and every gay person who has ever been truly victimized by the church. I won't apologize for calling sin "sin." Sin by any other name is still sin. The apology is for treating you all so poorly. I apologize for making several jokes in my life about gay people, and I apologized for the times when I have shown any hate toward you. You deserve better treatment from those under Christ (and myself) there is no doubt about that.There are 5 verses in the Bible dealing with homosexuality, but over 2000 dealing with giving to the poor. Yet some of the greediest people out there are church goers like me. I apologize for our sometimes twisted priorities and focuses. We need, I need, forgiveness.

Something that I can't emphasize enough is that sin is the same in God's eyes. My sin, your sin, "fag lovers," and Phelps alike- we are all sinners. What we deserve for our sin is death. God is totally holy and perfect, and because of that we are unworthy to be in his presence. I have darkness in my past that is as sinful as anyone else's on Earth. But God, in his incredible kindness, has given us Jesus to make us holy and worthy in God's sight. That's offered to anyone; all you need is need.

So what's the solution? I don't have a 12 step program for rehabbing homosexuals, or for any other sins you deal with. I didn't pull myself out of my own sins. You need Jesus...plain and simple. Cry out to God. The verse following 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 is "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified,  you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." How great is that? I was once greedy, idolatrous, and sexually immoral, but I have been washed! Praise God that he is in the business of changing people.

I hope I have shown the love of Jesus to you and not left you without something to think about. I just hope that we could learn to love better and that we can make a difference in the world with our love. Anger won't solve our problems, and the government can't bail us out of our depravity, so let's try something different. I don't have to hold up, I just want to say that God love ya.

Itching Ears

I hear about a lot of people who are breaking away from the traditional idea of church. Bono, for example, doesn't really agree with sticking with one church, but instead drifts around and takes his own spiritual journey. That doesn't make him a bad person, and of course "the church" is certainly more than one building, congregation, or denomination. However, this is another side-effect of over-personalizing faith. Faith is consistently referred to as a personal or private matter. Jesus (and any Christian who has ever read the Bible) should tell you that faith is anything but private.

People everywhere are beginning to tune-in to t.v. preachers, online sermons, and do anything they can to stay out of a church building. What's wrong with that? They are hearing the Gospel aren't they? Yes, and that's certainly good, but what is the church for? The church isn't only to hear the Gospel is it?

One of the most important functions of the church is to be a community of faith, and one of the most important functions of community is accountability. I understand that I sound negative quite often, but almost anyone would agree that accountability is a problem everywhere. It isn't spoken about enough, isn't encouraged as strongly as it should be, and it isn't practiced the way it has to be.

Accountability is critical, absolutely vital to the church. Read Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, Hebrews 3:13, and Hebrews 10:25. Our purpose in to encourage, strengthen, and build up. How can you build somebody up if their foundation is crumbling already? We want to ignore other people's flaws because we are afraid to hurt feelings, to push them away, or bring them down further. Or is it because we know we would have to come face-to-face with our own shortcomings?

Accountability is not: meeting at Starbucks every Tuesday and talking about how you both have a porn addiction and feeling bummed about it for five seconds. Accountability needs to be more painful than that. I have been blessed to have two friends who were willing to ask me how I was doing and what I was failing at. They have had a resounding effect on my life. I knew that I could tell either of them what I was struggling with, no matter how dark, and they would pull me up out of it. The pain was strong, but worth it for becoming more like Jesus.

James 5:16 is a bit overlooked in the Protestant church. We would prefer to just keep it between us and God. That is because we have it backwards. There is something more immediate and shameful about confessing your sins to other people; it involves a great deal of trust. We see that God is forgiving and we know that he won't tell anyone else, so we feel safer. But shouldn't we be more ashamed to tell the faithful, holy, and still-wrathful God that we have rebelled against him and put ourselves in his place? Regardless, it is important for us to confess our sins to one another. What's the problem, then?

2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." Is that not an exact description of some of our churches? When Joel Osteen is the preacher of the biggest church in our country, we have a problem. 

The truth is- we don't want the truth. That is obvious in the way we function day-to-day. Marriages fail, families crumble, churches die, Christians fizzle out, and the truth is suppressed because we don't want it. I don't want to hear that I am wrong, so you must be wrong. You don't know what I've been through, so how can you tell me that what I'm doing is wrong? You don't know how I grew up, who are you to judge? "Judge not, lest ye be judged!" We've become futile in our thinking and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. 

What you want to hear is not usually what you need to hear. It's like lying on a calorie counter- you may have good looking stats (what you want to see), but still be getting fat (what you need to see). It does you no good to ignore reality. It all comes back to humility...you can't be held accountable if you are proud, and you can't be humble unless you realize the wickedness that we have all committed against God. If you needed to read this, don't ignore it. We need to expose our darkness and snitch on ourselves. Get to church and get accountable.

Beware of your itching ears, they will betray you. They will lead you off the narrow path. What do you want: to keep believing the load of bull you feed yourself to avoid having to make tough decisions, or do you want to live forever? You can keep the lies, I choose to live with my eyes open.

No Regret

I am, once again, inspired by a song by Lecrae... I'm not too embarrassed because, really, hardly any of my blogs aren't inspired by someone who is much wiser than myself. In this song Lecrae reflects on the life that he has walked away from while the chorus (sang by Suzy Rock) asks "Was it worth it- the hurt, and the pain, and the life I chose?" Quickly it is answered with "I'll do it again in a heartbeat."

I heard a question once, I don't know where from, but the question was something like "If there was no eternal life, would you still follow Jesus?" So, what would you say? I think the way that we answer that question is very telling. If you answer no, then do you believe that your life (the finite one)  is none the better for following Jesus? That is for you to wonder, but I want to share with you why I would still say "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Thankfully there is eternal life awaiting me, and I've never been more sure of that then now. It is interesting to ask the question above, though. I don't want to contradict 1 Corinthians 15, because I do know that we will raise with Christ. The hypothetical question isn't really the important part, because it is just that- hypothetical. I simply want to share with you the joy of my life in Christ.

I was not a Christian until high school, so I can remember life before God. As I've said before, that is somewhat of a humbling privilege. I don't remember a whole lot because middle schoolers aren't the most contemplative bunch, but I do know the difference in my life. 

If you knew me at all, you would know that I was awkward physically, socially, and emotionally. I dealt with a little bit of depression, at times even wondering what difference my existence even made. My brother in Christ, Sam Landis, was instrumental in leading me to Christ- not just planting a seed, but growing it as well. I'm sure if you asked him he would, rightfully, tell you that is was all God. God used a young man's faithfulness to draw me in, and I changed...a lot!

People who knew me well enough before knew that I cursed like a sailor, wanted a girlfriend more desperately than I wanted God, and had no driving purpose in my life. God has changed me so much that I don't even recognize it at times. For example: the person I am now would only be the wildest day-dream of myself 4 years ago. The things I struggled with back then are silly to me know, but that is without a doubt only by the grace of God working in me.

What I Missed: I left behind some opportunities by accepting Christ. No it wasn't some kind of sports scholarship (which some folks are more than happy to tell you about) but I did miss out on some things that the world sees as valuable. I left behind the typical idea of what high school is all about: getting drunk, getting high, stacking money, staying fly, living up the players life (another Lecrae reference). In all honesty, I was probably far too gawky and bashful to pull any girls, but I wanted nothing more than to get chicks. That would probably be the driving force behind my life had I not encountered Christ. The funny thing is, a lot of guys I know still live for that.

What I Gained: I could certainly talk about this for much longer than what I missed, and I will probably write a whole 'nother post about it. I have been thinking about this post for days and thinking about how my cup overflows with joy! As I sit here, I am saved, sanctified, joyful (not just happy), and hopeful because I know that someday I will be glorified with Jesus! Don't mistake all this joy for being a therapeutic remedy for my once melancholy life; I have counted the cost and have made the informed, intelligent decision to follow Christ. Now that I have, I can tell you confidently that what I "gave up" to follow Christ is infinitesimally trivial compared to the joy that I have now, and the greater joy that awaits me. I don't follow Jesus because he makes my life better, and sometimes my life is a lot harder because I do, but my life is better because I have decided to follow him. Any hardships I face are met with the promise of James 1, Romans 8, and Matthew 6. I used to deal with anxiety, but I have peace with God. I used to desperately need the approval of people, but now I have been called a co-heir with Christ. I used to want money and a big house, now I am content with whatever my circumstance. There is nothing I'd rather be doing than following the will of God.

Please don't mistake my words for arrogance because I wouldn't have any of this peace apart from God. I have made mistakes and will surely make more, and there are some things that I would take back if I could. But if you ask me about following Jesus at the end of my life, "Was it worth it- the hurt, and the pain, and the life [you] chose?" I'd do it again in a heartbeat. When I die I'll have no regret.

Can you say the same?

re·pent

[ri-pent]: to feel such sorrow for sin or fault as to be disposed to change one's life for the better

This is the final post of a series of definitions that I think are important for Christians to understand clearer. This is a word that I think is both misunderstood and under-used. Repentance reliant on the former word, humility, and is a vital part of Christian faith. Repentance is the beginning of our very lives as Christians. What does it mean to repent?

A lot of people would probably define it as feeling sorry for a wrong they've done, but not just sorry, really sorry. That's not all there is to it. That definition is a result of over-personalizing salvation (like the idea that all we need to do to accept Jesus is say a special little prayer and accept him as our "personal savior"). Jesus is very much a personal God who wants to be personally intimate with you, but he isn't only my God. His personality isn't based on how I, or anyone else, perceives him, but rather it's based on who he actually is. Obsessive, selfish, custom designed faith leads to the American idea of faith being "personal and private." The real Jesus, the Biblical one, does not define repentance as being really sorry. I should probably get to the point, huh?

Repentance starts with feeling sorrow; conviction is obviously the first step. However, repentance calls for a reversal, not just a tap on the brakes. To be repentant means to take a change in direction. You may have heard the analogy that the Christian walk is like being on a tread mill- you can go forward, but it's hard, and if you stop moving you are actually going backwards. That's the truth. Sinning is like running backwards on the treadmill- you will eventually fall off the back! If all you do is feel "really sorry," it is like standing still on the treadmill; you're still going backwards. Repentance is realizing that you're an idiot and that you've been running the wrong way, and now it's time to turn around and run the way that the treadmill is designed for. 

Feeling sorry for what you've done isn't always hard. I've seen a lot of people be "sorry," but really it's just because they are sorry that they are in a bad spot. Feeling sorry is sometimes used as an excuse to not have to live with the consequences. I've seen too many people hide behind the fact that they feel bad, so they are off the hook. Repentance goes so much deeper than that! 

Repentance is scattered throughout the Bible as a command to turn back toward God and away from their idols. If you don't understand the severity of sin (being idol worship at its core (the idol being yourself)) I encourage you to read an older post I wrote. 

My favorite picture of repentance is from Acts 2: "When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized..." Can you feel the desperation of the people as they groaned "what shall we do?" The first attitude of repentance is humility! You have to realize your brokenness, helplessness, and desperate need to be saved from yourself. The problem is, I don't think that many of us feel like we are desperate for anything. Our pride tells us that we don't need forgiveness, just look at any argument you've ever been in.

One thing I've learned to be 100% true in my short walk with Christ is this: you can feel sorry for sin as much as you want, but until you legitimately hate sin with all your being, you will never get away from it. I remember feeling sorry many times, but repentance came when it finally clicked that sin was killing me, and I needed to hate it and turn to Jesus. That sounds so simple, but I'd be willing to bet that you and I haven't examined ourselves enough to see the rotten stuff inside of us that we need to turn from. 

Something I can't stress enough is that you don't have the power to bring yourself to repentance (see post). Read Romans 2:3-5 and see that it is God's kindness that will take you there. 

As we are approaching a time of supreme pride in our country, don't forget that what we need way more than freedom or independence is a repentant heart. As Christians we should ask God to turn our hearts back to him, for our country to do the same, and for the rest of the world also.

Conviction of sin is important, but if it is without repentance we are no better off than any pagan. Which way are you walking? No matter how long you've been walking backwards, you can turn around and receive the same reward that I am promised in Christ. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.