Modern Christianity and a big fat lie

"Accept me as I am. Don't judge me"

  I was reading through the book of Luke when I noticed the chapter headings—the unclean spirit cast out, the sick healed, the leper cleansed, a man with palsy healed (and his sins forgiven), a demoniac boy healed, etc. Did you notice something odd about those headings? I did. I noticed something that did not fit with American Christianity today. But think about those headings, while I deviate with a short story. I promise to return and explain why this struck me.

 

~A DISEASE IGNORED~
 

  She came into the doctor's office, sick and emaciated. The disease had destroyed her body. She sat in the cold examination room, her hands rubbing the plastic examination bed. All she could hear in the silence was the scratching of the doctor's pen. The scratching noise stopped.

“All right, I want you to take this prescription to the pharmacist. These pills will help you feel better.”

“Will they cure the problem?” asked the girl as she took the paper from him.

“No, but they will cure the pain.”

“But what about my illness? Can you fix my problem?”

“Don't worry about the disease. These pills should help you feel better.”

“Doctor, what can I do to get well?

“Lady, I accept you as you are. Don't worry about your disease. I've seen worse. You just keep taking these drugs, and coming to see me, and we'll talk about your little problem later.”

“So... I'm not as sick as we thought? We don't have to worry about the disease?”

“If it worries or offends you, we wont talk about it. We will just pretend it doesn't exist.”

  Ok, I know this story is unbelievable and I wrote it that way on purpose. But look at the contrast between the way that Jesus treated the sick and the way this lying doctor treated his patient. Which was the kind physician? It certainly wasn't the doctor because all he gave her was false hope and drugs to cover her pain. But Jesus addressed his patients' problems and sins. First, he fixed the physical ailments and then he fixed the spiritual sicknesses.

   Please pay attention because I want to expose one of the biggest false doctrines among Christians today. I am going to be honest with you, and I believe that my honesty will offend many Christians.   

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   Christians preach a false doctrine called, “Judge not lest ye be judged.” When people come to us in spiritual sickness, we ignore their sins. We are so bent on accepting everybody, that we have become worthless Christians. We only want to love each other. We tell them that “you're sin isn't so bad. I've seen worse. I accept you as you are.” How can we accept their sin when we know the consequences of letting them continue in sin? Do you know remember that “the wages of sin are death”? Death! We are letting them die when we accept their sin.

   When sinners came to Christ to be His disciples, what was the first thing that He did? He confronted their sin. He didn't beat around the bush, because He knew that the sinner had to abandon his sin before he could find Christ.

   Don't tell me that Christ was the friend of sinners and publicans. He was the friend of former sinners and publicans. These sinners that surrounded him were healed and forgiven. They had turned from their sins because Christ was merciful and cleansed them from their sins.

   We need to have the boldness of Christ and speak the truth with people. “No, your sin is wrong. And this is why, because the Bible says its wrong.” How can you ever surgically remove a cancer if you never make the first cut? Yes, the truth will not only hurt, it will cut like a “sharp edged sword.” But we have to give out the t~ruth, because the only way we will ever save a person is by our boldness. How can we hide such a marvelous, life-changing truth like the gospel? Do we even care about those people who are on their way to hell because of their sins? We will never change them if we cannot tell them the truth. And a person will never be saved until he knows that he is lost.

   Now the opposite side of the coin is a brutal approach to people. I'm not advocating that you wield this "sharp edged sword" like it is a club. I never said you should beat people up with the truth. The truth cuts deep enough without using a large amount of force. The purpose of the truth should be to cure not to hurt even though it will do both.

   Our whole purpose for being truthfull with people should be to kill the sin in their lives because we hate its destructive power over them. We should hate sin. Did you know that to be a true follower of God, you have to hate sin? Did you forget about the God who hates sin? What about the God who, consumed with righteous wrath, flooded the earth to punish sinners? Has our God changed? He says that he never changes. Perhaps, we are the only ones who have changed our mind about sin. 

 

"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."

~Proverbs 8:13~





   We are to hate evil and love good. God draws us away from the evil of our sin and into his goodness. We are to forsake iniquity and seek God. It is a biblical principal that we cannot have fellowship with God if we are still clinging to our sin. And it is wrong to tell others that God accepts a person as they are. He does not. He has never promised to accept a person as they are. He said that we should come unto him “all ye who are weary and sick and he will give us rest”, but he never said that he wouldn't change or heal us. He is too kind of a God to accept our sickness.

   I want you to understand. I want myself to understand. We are not doing lost people a favor by being “loving” and non “judgmental”. We are simply saying that we don't care enough about them to tell them the truth. We are too weak to throw a safety line to those in need. I'm tired of weak and wimpy Christianity. I want to be a Christian that truly loves my neighbors, who tells them the truth about sin because I love them.

Tightropes beneath our feet

Walking on precarious paths

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   Why did I climb this stupid platform? I asked myself for the hundredth time. I was supposed to walk across a rope and expect my tether rope and harness to keep me safe. A zip line with a pulley was strung above the tightrope to keep me balanced on the rope. If I would only walk, the rope would hold me on the tightrope, but I was too scared. The teenage boy holding my tether rope, stared up at me. He had given up trying to convince me to walk across, he only wanted me to jump from the platform.

   “Just jump, I'll catch you,” He told me.

   “How much do you weigh?” I asked him doubtfully. He looked too skinny to be able to catch anything, especially a thirteen old girl who was pushing six feet.

   “It doesn't matter. The rope will catch you. Just jump! You've been up there for half an hour,” he retorted loudly.

   I closed my eyes and felt my knees sag. No. I couldn't do it.

   “Jump!” He yelled.

   I made the decision. And leaped off the platform. The boy wasn't expecting my sudden burst of courage and he flew up into the air, but he stopped the tether rope zipping through his pulley by jerking it up against his belt. The rope held. I slammed to a stop in the air. The boy let the rope pass through his hands slowly, and I fell onto the ground, my legs trembling too much to hold me up.

   “See? That wasn't so hard,” he told me. He grabbed my hand and jerked me to my feet.

   Sometimes, I think that my life is like that tightrope. God has a tether rope on me, and He tells me to walk across that tightrope. If I fall, He promises to catch me. But I always seem to look at the circumstances.

   God, are you sure you can catch me? That tightrope is strung too high. What if I slip? God, will you catch me? I can't do this. I'm too weak. I know I'll slip. Why are you torturing me by making me walk this rope? Are you really the kind God that I have learned to love?

   Doubts plague me and hold me to the platform, my body trembling with anxiety. I sit down on that platform. I'm listening to my fears and I cannot perform this feat that God wants me to do. He just wants me to try and walk. He wants me to trust Him. But I am busy talking to myself and depending on my own strength.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

~Proverbs 3:5~

   Lately, I have been learning that trust is a decision. God wants us to trust Him. He doesn't want us to balance on the rope by ourselves; He only wants us to take the first step. He desires to show us how He will keep our feet planted on that path. He wants us to throw ourselves on His strength so that He can show us His marvelous strength and providence.

   A few days ago, I had a tightrope to walk. I was driving my car home, worrying about these circumstances beyond my control. My mind had been tossing this impossible circumstance around like a tennis player bouncing a ball off the wall. Every possible solution was exhausted and I was in tears. But I had come to the point where I was exhausted by my fears. I decided that I could not deal with this problem in my own strength.

   Ok, God. You have to do this. I will trust you. I will!

   The circumstance was still before me, stretched like a tightrope. Nothing had changed except that now I had the peace and trust to walk it. God is holding me up, and I can take the steps necessary to pass over this precarious path.

   When we abandon our own fears and apprehensions, then God can show us a strength beyond ourselves. Don't sit on that platform. Decide that even though the height is immense, the path is precarious, and your strength is not enough, you will walk. You will trust God.

What shall we give for love?

The price of love

Many waters cannot quench love

neither can the floods drown

it: if a man would give all 

the substance of his house 

for love, it would utterly 

be contemned.

~Song of Solomon 8:7~

           He shuffled into the room, a little old man with a plastic grocery bag. We continued to sing our hymns while he sat down next to the paralyzed woman in her wheel chair. She was strapped into her chair; her head was the only thing that moved. But she couldn't even control her head, it moved from side to side. He sat down next to her, pulled a banana from the grocery bag, and peeled it. Slowly, he fed her the fruit—a piece at a time.

            “Mabel, eat your banana sweetie,” he might say. He spoke to her as if she could hear him.

            My family went to the nursing home every week to put on a service for the older people. They couldn't leave the nursing home to go to church, so we came to them. I don't remember the old man's name, but I do remember his love for his wife. Every day, he would get up and drive to the nursing home to see her even though she couldn't respond to his attention. She couldn't feel or give him love in response, yet he never faltered in his devotion.

            True love. We all seek a perfect man or woman to fill our loneliness. We want somebody to show us the devotion that the man in the paragraph above showed his wife. Television portrays romance as two people fighting destiny which eventually draws them together, they fall in love, they sleep together, and then they get married. Happily ever after.

            Rarely, does the happily ever after show the love of his life suffering a stroke and living her last five years without her motor skills while he feeds her bananas. He wipes away the banana that she drools out of her mouth. This scene is their only passionate act of love.

            What is love? I Corinthians says, “Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never fails.” Read the passage carefully. Did you know that every characteristic listed is against human nature? So, love is not a natural feeling. Love is work because you have to deny your desires.

            The woman from the Song of Solomon said that “many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it, if a man would give all of his substance for love, it would utterly be contemned.” If you love somebody, you give. You give so much that you would lose everything you for the one you love. Isn't this a contradiction to modern love? If we don't get our way, or the relationship is not benefiting us somehow, we rarely stick around. We don't give our hearts; we hold ourselves back.

            Holding ourselves from our spouse is a failure of modern love. To completely give yourself to someone, to completely trust them, opens us up to vulnerability. We don't want to give everything to a human so prone to mistakes. What if they hurt us? Did you know that hurt is a way of life? Did you know that a lot of good things come from pain? For example, a baby comes from a birth, knowledge comes from spankings, and a doctor cuts open a person's chest to fix their irregular heartbeat.

            When you give love, in a way, you are healing that person. You are showing them that they are not alone, that they are treasured, that they can be loved though they have flaws. I think every person needs love and according to my pastor “many people do not receive nearly enough love”.

            But you cannot give the kind of love that I Corinthians describes because it is humanly impossible. Since giving that kind of love all the time is against human nature, you have to kill your nature. How is it possible to kill yourself and give pure love? Christ says that he wants us to believe on him. He asks us to admit that we have a sinful and perverted nature, and turn to Him. He asks us to believe on his blood, death, and resurrection. He gave the ultimate gift of love when he gave everything—His very life—to cover the death penalty demanded by a pure and Holy God. He showed ultimate love. And the only way we can give this love to others is to let Him change our nature.

            If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us your sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

~I John 1:9~

            When the old man in the nursing home—I never did learn his name—died, he left Mabel behind. The Sunday that he died we went to the nursing home and found Mabel sitting motionless, as usual, in her wheel chair. But when my mom went over to talk to her, Mabel started to jerk her head as if she wanted to say something. Then she said, “He's gone.” That was the only time we ever heard her say anything. A month later, Mabel died as well.

            True love. When two people last a lifetime together, know each other’s greatest faults, but still love each other—we have seen God in their lives. We know that our impossible selfish natures can be killed by the love of God and we are able to love our spouses like Christ loved us.

Modestly a girl

Changing our hearts before our wardrobes



                        http://inspirationlane.tumblr.com/

  What is modesty? As a Christian young woman, I have been exposed to this question over and over again. I have always been under the standards of my parents, my schools, and my Christian culture. I went to a private school where we wore blue plaid skirts and a navy cardigan; I went to a college that was only second to West Point in strict standards. You would think that modesty wouldn't be an issue in environments like the ones I just described. But girls still pushed the line—in high school they rolled the tops of their skirts and in college they wore the dress code out of the dorms and changed in the bathroom. My schools enforced the law, but they could not enforce the spirit of the law in the girls.

  Why do girls dress immodestly? I think I know the answer. Girls know that they can attract a man by their body. Gaining power by beauty or immodest is a woman's chief temptation. A girl has the need to feel loved and desired, but the need for love should never be replaced by the need to control.

  What are we seeking when we dress immodestly—love or worship? If a woman dresses immodestly, she is not winning love. She has his attention, but she doesn't have his heart. He does not cherish her soul; he is not drawn by her personality. She is deceived by the emptiness of her power, because when he is satisfied by her flesh then he will leave. She has not experienced love, only lust. And she has not won anything, she only lost much.

  What does it mean to be modest? I don't think modesty is socks up to the knees, a skirt to the ankles, or a shirt that wears like a potato sack. No, modesty is a little more simplified. I can't give you modesty standards like the schools I attended—you should read and apply the Bible for your standards. But I can say that if you have a spirit that wants to be immodest than you will use a potato sack wrongly. Do you think a Muslim woman, wrapped from head to toe in fabric, can be immodest? Yes, she can use her eyes to attract the wrong attention. First things first. Why don't we change our hearts and then we can work on changing our wardrobe?

 

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." Romans 8:5

 

  Why don't we stop seeking our own status symbols? Does it really matter how many guys take us out on dates? Does it really matter if we are 'prettier' than any other girl on campus? Come on ladies, let's grow up. Are you tired of playing these stupid power games where you only get hurt? Why don't you play for keeps? Put some clothes on and let a Christian man cherish your soul not your body.

  Perhaps, you don't really believe that God will provide you with a Christian man. Do you think that you have to help God out by dressing to attract a man? Look at the Bible. In Genesis 24, Rebekah was not expecting love but God had a plan for her. He sent a servant of Isaac to find a godly woman. And she, instead of thinking of herself, gave this servant and his animals water. And God blessed her for her trust in him. Don't we believe that the God of the Bible is still God today? Can't we let Him write our love story, or do we have to start scribbling away and mess everything up? God loves you and He wants to fill you. Claim His promises to fill us.

   Lastly, I'm not saying that we should dress like slobs. No. I highly advocate perfume, deodorant, style, make-up, and all kinds of shoes. I love to look beautiful, and if you are a girl, you should also enjoy being feminine and beautiful. But there is a big difference between beauty and barely there. Let us be women seeking to give to those around us, not girls who only seek to defraud and deceive the men around them.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another." I John 4:10-11

What is the big deal about Jesus?

A reason to rejoice. . .

  “What is the big deal about Jesus? Everybody talks Jesus and his big sacrifice for us, but what about God? Wasn't God the one who sent Jesus? I believe in God not Jesus. God is the main man,” said the lady at the door.

  I walked away from her in frustration. If the woman could not even see why Jesus was a “big deal” how could I ever hope to help her to salvation? But I, as usual, thought about her question all day. And a story developed in my mind. . .

   The woman felt a horrible blinding light. The light was brilliant and pure, eliminating any speck of darkness in that place. The woman almost felt as if the light could shoot through her skin and illuminate the darkness within her soul.

   She sensed a great deal of people and saw beings with wings that were not quite human, but the one being who riveted her attention was seated in a great throne. Everything within her resisted drawing close to the being, but she was drawn by a sensation that the being wanted her before him. He would not let her flee from his presence.

   “Come and make a defense for yourself,” He spoke.
   She walked forward, a huge terror invading her soul. She fell on her face before him. Her whole body trembled with fear.
   “Why have you bowed before me?”
   “Because I am unclean. I am a sinner. How can I stand before you?” She answered. She did not want to speak, but she knew that she must.

 

For all have sinned and

come short of the

glory of God. 

 ~Romans 3:23~

   “You have answered well. You are a sinner. How will you justify yourself to me?”
   “I—I have always believed in you, God. I—worshiped you alone. I believe that you are holy and that you are just. You are a good God.”
   “If I am just, then I will make a correct judgment for you. What judgment do you deserve according to the law?”
   The woman licked dry lips. She remembered her life—the lies to her parents, the money stolen from her job, the man that she had lusted after, the filthy thoughts, the betrayal of her friend, etc. She held her head in an effort to turn off the memories.
   “NO!” She screamed. She knew that the holy being before her had seen those sins. How could he accept a filthy person like her? He was pure, good, and holy. He was perfect. He stood up before her.
   “Enough. I have seen your life. You were a better than average person, but you were not perfect. I cannot accept you. You have violated my commands. What do you deserve? What does the law demand?”
    “The law demands death of the sinner. Blood must be shed to cover my sins.” She felt despair fill her. The despair of her soul was almost tangible enough to be tasted in her mouth.
    “I must fulfill the law,” said the being. “Take her away to the pit filled with everlasting fire.”
    “But I believed in you God! I believed in you!”

   I closed my eyes against the image of the woman being carried away. I tried to shove away the horrible image of the woman being thrown into the pit of fire. But then I thought of Jesus. And a new ending for the story developed in my mind.

   “The law demands death of the sinner. Blood must be shed to cover my sins.” She felt despair fill her. The despair of her soul was almost tangible like bile in her mouth. But, suddenly, the woman lying prostate on the floor heard a man speak. She turned her head and saw feet that she recognized. The feet had gaping holes in them, but they were not bleeding. The holes were healed and looked like oversized ear piercings.

   “She is a sinner, and she has no excuse, Father, except for one thing. She has claimed me as her Savior. She has accepted my death in place of her own death. But I defeated death by rising again. Is my blood enough to cover her sin? Is the penalty fulfilled?”

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.                                                             ~Romans 6:23~

   The woman reached out and grabbed the man's feet. She felt a spark of hope. And a memory that pushed aside all her other memories overwhelmed her mind. She remembered a time when she had believed that Jesus had died for her and she remembered asking Him to take her sins upon him.

   “Jesus. Yes. Yes! I have no hope but you,” murmured the woman.

   The being of light and truth and justice sat down upon his throne.

   “It is enough. You have satisfied the demands of the law. I will accept your death in place of her death.”

 

  What is the "big deal" about Jesus? He makes all the difference in the world. He is the only person that can save a sinner from the terrifying hands of a good and just God. Jesus is not only a "big deal", he is the "biggest deal".

The Ride

"Enjoy the Ride"

The rain slipped down my nose and hit the saddle horn. I wiped a hand across my face just as a calf darted from the herd. The black little devil ran with his tail in the air, freedom bound for anywhere and nowhere.  My horse leapt into pursuit while I, caught off guard, grabbed for her mane. Sweat flying, arms flailing, hooves pounding—we caught the calf just as he veered away. My horse tried to make the turn, but she lost her footing in the mud and fell. I don’t remember the fall; I just remember being lifted out of the saddle and hitting my back—hard. When I woke up, I felt hot air on my face and hair tickling my cheek. I sat up making my horse step back. Climbing to my feet, I began to lead my horse by her reigns, but my brother rode up.

“Get back on,” he commanded.

“No, I’m not feeling very well,” I replied and kept tugging on her reins.

“Either you get back on that horse now, or you will never ride again.”

Photo by IFYR

I knew he was telling me the truth. If a rider fell and did not immediately remount, he would forever fear the ride. I placed a shaky hand on my horse’s neck thinking of what the ride meant to me; it was wind in my hair, her mane stinging my face, the pull of leather reigns in my hands, and the thrill of power controlled by a bar of metal. I couldn’t lose the ride. I stuck my foot in the stirrup, gathered my courage, and swung my leg over her back.

People experience falls in life as well. Life isn’t predictable and, sometimes, she turns too fast and you fall. I experienced some falls about a year ago—two in a row—that threw me down hard. At that point, I decided to forgive and forget. But I also decided to be cautious after those hurts by never compromising my heart again. Caution is not an evil decision, but God never called us to hide away from hurts. (He took Jesus through great hurt.)

Photo by Pony Express

For a year, I led life around by the reins. At college, I drew my circle of friends closer and found myself seeking the quiet places. God had taken two things out of my life for my good, but he had supplied me with an abundance of close friends, financial security, freedom, and family. Somehow, I didn’t enjoy any of it even though I had accepted the loss. My joy was gone.

I graduated from college, came home, found a job, and started to make close friends again.  But I was discontent. God had blessed me with much, but I couldn’t enjoy it properly. I felt as if He was telling me like C.S. Lewis wrote in his last book, “Child, you are not yet as happy as I have planned for you to be.”

Just this week, I was encouraged by a text from a dear friend about my lack of joy. She sensed that I was down and told me to “enjoy the ride.” But I had stopped riding; I was still standing on the ground holding the reins.

I began to count my blessings (as the song runs) and remembered how blessed I truly was. Life is rough; she isn’t kind. But God is kind and his “mercies endure forever”. It was time for me to enjoy the goodness of my God. 

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.”

~Isaiah 61:10~

I didn’t want to live without joy. I decided that I couldn’t miss out on the ride and remounted. 

Mixing Christians and Politics

 Uncapped Salt Shakers

"Ye are the salt of the earth."  

Yesterday, I stopped by a coffee shop in town owned by a Christian woman. While I was browsing through the books on the shelves and enjoying the smell of espresso, I overheard a Christian man telling the owner of the shop that he doesn’t vote because he doesn’t want to contaminate himself with politics. After he left, the owner turned to me and said that many Christians in town had given her this reason for not being registered to vote. Some Christians think politics will contaminate them, so they stay away from involvement in elections. I think that this excuse is heresy. I have three reasons to back me up.

First, the Bible says in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 13 that “ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.” If we are salt, our function in this world is to preserve it. How can we preserve the world from evil if we stay—safe and secure—in our little salt shaker? We must uncap the salt shaker and pour ourselves onto our job, our communities, and our world. Yes, it is hard to fight. Yes, you will struggle with keeping yourself pure from the evil. But we are worthless if we don’t fulfill our purpose in this world.

Secondly, some of the most influential politicians have been Christians. William Wilberforce—one of my heroes—was a politician in England during the slave trade era. Before he was a Christian, he lived for pleasure. But after his salvation, he became intensely interested in social reform.

“So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the Trade's wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for Abolition. Let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.”-William Wilberforce 

 He fought against the slave trade for years and finally saw it abolished in 1833. Wilberforce poured his heart into killing evil and preserving human freedom. He was able to kill the slave trade through politics without a bloody war—unlike America. Wilberforce is only one of many Christian men who have changed the world through politics. Ronald Regan, often quoted by candidates and presidents today, was a dedicated Christian that pulled America through the Cold War and potential depression. In America, most of the founding fathers were dedicated Christians.

Thirdly, look at the life of Christ. He poured himself onto his world. Because of his great gift—salvation from eternal damnation through his blood— to the world, we have hope. Christ did not come to live a secluded life. At the end of his life when he was before the high priest he said, “I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing (John 18:20).” He always spoke in public places. He spoke to the great leaders of the Jewish world without fear.

How can we hold ourselves from the world? Perhaps, if we extend our hand to the world around us, we can save some souls or some good in this world. If we sit back and do nothing, we deserve to be judged by a God that gave everything for a filthy world. Can we withhold the good that is in us from the world? Are we too selfish that we won’t make a difference? Will we allow the weak to be trampled by greedy men and the innocent to be crushed by evil men? I will not.