Gold Medal Righteousness

Photo Credit: Stefano Costanzo

Have you ever wondered what it's like to train like an Olympian?  Right now, the greatest athletes in the world have gathered in London for the 2012 Olympic Games.  Each of these individuals has trained their bodies to the razor's edge of perfection in their respective disciplines.

Perhaps as training regiments go Michael Phelps swims only the minimum required laps.  Surely, Usain Bolt's target mark is to merely match his previous world record.  Gold medalist Abby Wambach and the U.S. Women's soccer team are probably just happy to participate on this global stage.

These statements sound a bit ridiculous.  We know that these athletes haven't reached the Olympics without a fierce drive to push themselves further than ever before.  Each Olympian has the gold medal in their sights.  They strive forward for the prize knowing that only the pinnacle of physical performance will gain the reward.

Should our spiritual lives be any less focussed?

Philippians 3:14:
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

In chapter three of Philippians, Paul is describing his own spiritual walk.  He describes the things he has endured and lost on his journey.  He talks about his accomplishments, but clearly puts little stock in them in comparison to his ultimate prize as stated in verses 8 and 9:

"What is more, I consider everything a loss because of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."

Paul was on the leading edge of the Christian faith at this point in history.  He was God's apostle to the Gentiles, and writer of the bulk of the New Testament.  Yet in this same chapter he says, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal".  If Paul still falls short, how can there be hope for us?

First, we have to see that clearly Paul doesn't define righteousness through the lens of a checklist of lawful accomplishments.  Recall from the earlier verse, "not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law".  When we try to "accomplish" our righteousness through obedience, we lean on our own strength and fail to have faith in Christ and His sacrifice for fulfilling all that required of us.

Besides, Jesus himself expanded the law beyond the rigors of Levitical scriptures.  In the Sermon on the Mount, adultery went from the mere act of fornication to "anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery with her in his heart."  And the Parable of the Good Samaritan laid the groundwork for a whole new classification of sin.  Now, there weren't merely sins that we can DO against God, but also things that we DON'T DO called sins of omission.  Denomination are still working out definitions to that one centuries later.

If it all seems like too much for a person to bear, that's because it is.  After He sent away the rich, young ruler, Jesus' disciples asked Him "Who then can be saved?"

"What is impossible with man is possible with God." (Luke 18:27)

Romans 3:23 puts it this way, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".  And this is the second thing for us to understand about Paul's race toward the goal.  He knew that he, just like each of us, would never reach it.  Romans goes on in verse 24, "and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

We have all sinned.  We will all continue to sin.  This is human nature.  Paul understood this.  His goal wasn't merely the accomplishment of a list of rules: follow the Ten Commandments, be nice to your neighbors, and go to church three out of four Sundays a month.  No.  Paul's prize was the impossible.  He aimed to emulate the perfect character of Christ.  He says so in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."  And he knew he would fall short of this, but salvation wasn't dependent on his, or our own, efforts; it has always been about the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

This is our gold medal effort.  Not that we strive to avoid those things that make God angry, but that we continually seek to gain His pleasure by emulating His Son, our Lord.  Keep your eyes focussed on the prize.  Continually strive towards the perfect character of Christ.  We seek to be as Christ-like as possible in ALL situations, always as loving, graceful, truthful, and selfless as He is.  Recognize that sin is anytime we fall away from His glorious, shining image.  And that we will sin, but His grace is sufficient to reach the prize.

Thermostats

My friend Eric recommended a book to me a little over a month ago, and one of the chapters has to do with the comparison between a thermometer and a thermostat. A thermometer reflects the temperature of the room, while a thermostat controls the climate of the room. 

The point being we are to strive to be thermostats: people who control the spiritual climate around them.

 
My friend Andrew was recently without a job for about a month. In our culture here in America, this would normally result in fear of the unknown, worry about how to provide, and a loss of self-worth over being jobless. In essence, most people would be thermometers, reacting to the circumstance.
However, every time I saw Andrew for that month, he was smiling, joking around, and offering encouragement while caring for those around him. Essentially, nothing had changed in his demeanor. He talked of how he was enjoying the time of rest, how the Lord was providing for him and his wife, and how the Lord was using him to bless the lives of others. 

Andrew is a thermostat. 

My sister Jael and her husband Marty lost their little girl, Hosanna, a few months ago. Many would have crumbled at such a loss, withdrawing from community and questioning their faith in a God who could allow that.  However, amidst their suffering, amidst their pain, amidst their questions, they continued to have faith in a God who might never answer that question of “why”. They talked of Hosanna being in a better place. They praised a God who was still faithful to them. Because of that reaction, several others have talked and wrote of their faith and have been encouraged. 

Jael and Marty are thermostats. 

Two thousand years ago a man decided to suffer the worst of deaths. He was beaten, crushed, humiliated, and crucified. While many of us live in sin and question why bad things happen to such “good” people, Jesus lived a perfect life and embraced the death we should have died. All of us would have ran, reacting to being treated so unfairly. We would have been thermometers. 

Luckily, Jesus chose to be a thermostat. 

Just like Andrew, Jael, Marty, and Jesus, we are all called to be thermostats. We are called to give thanks in all circumstances, not just when those circumstances are “good”. We are called to be joyful always, not just when our surroundings are pleasing to us. We are called to love others at all times, not just when we determine they are lovable. 

It is when we give thanks amidst persecution, have joy amidst suffering, and love amidst sin that God’s grace and power are clearly known. It is these times when we serve beyond human capacity, and therein lies the greatest opportunity to proclaim the gospel. It is in these times when we must make the most of every opportunity to be thermostats, changing the lives of those around us rather than letting our circumstances change us. 

Pray for the church, that among us, there may be no thermometers.

On Superheroes, the Silver Screen, and the Savior

I'm willing to guess that many of you, like myself, spent hours of childhood play with a towel precariously tied around your neck and the derring-do of your favorite superhero buzzing in your brain.  Batman, Superman, the X-men, these were always my childhood favorites.  Their adventures were fodder for my imagination, pushing back the forces of evil and making way for truth, justice, and nap time.  Perhaps you were Spider-man web slinging through city streets, Wonder Woman seeking the truth with magical lasso, or Captain America keeping the world safe for democracy.   


The point is we have an obsession with superheroes.  In June 1938, Superman smashed his way onto newsstands in Action Comics #1, and superheroes have been donning masks and capes in our collective psyche ever since.  Just last year, total comic book sales in North America alone neared the half a billion dollar mark according to The Comic Chronicle.  Add in the merchandising of toys, cereal, underwear, and of course, the movies and the superhero business hops over $1 Billion in a single bound.  


These caped crusaders aren't merely resigned to the lonely halls of geekdom either.  A brief look at any major multiplex's marquee will show... superheroes have gone mainstream.  Earlier this summer, Marvel's The Avengers assembled on silver screens around the world to positive critical reception and fanboy acclaim.  The Hulk and company smashed through the box office on their way to earning over $600 Million domestically as reported by Box Office Mojo.  Later this week, Batman hopes to wrest the superhero box office crown away as Christopher Nolan's trilogy closes with The Dark Knight Rises.  The film hits theaters this Friday amidst lofty expectations and a media frenzy.  


All of this adds up to a lot of money, time, and attention paid to men and women who jump in front of bullets in costumes of long underwear.  It begs the question:  Why?  


I would argue that the answer is as old as time itself.  


The current trend of super heroics is hardly the first time that people have been enamored with flamboyant characters wielding otherworldly powers.  Various cultures' mythic pantheons of gods and demigods share a thematic thread with our modern superheroes.  Thor, Apollo, Mercury, Vishnu and the like are all ways that our ancestors have tried to understand the imperfections in the world around them and hope for renewal.  In their collective imaginations, these gods bore the lightning, the sun, and the wind.  In various ways the gods of old pushed back evil, were responsible for the cycles of the earth, and would one day destroy foundations of chaotic systems so the world could be reborn in glory and order.  


Of course, the story of an anointed individual with world-changing power to wipeout evil, and usher in a new world is hardly a new one to people familiar with the Gospel.  Since the Fall of Man, the very beginning of human culture, we have lived in the shadow of the serpent and have looked for that one who would "crush (his) head..."  


The story of Jesus Christ didn't begin some 2000 years ago in a humble manger or on a lonely executioner's hill.  He has been part of this world since before "in the beginning."  


Colossians 1:16-17
"For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."  


But as a species, we are impatient; we try to understand the world around us by the things we can observe.  So we invent gods.  Personalities that are selfish and imperfect, yet otherworldly and bearing awesome power.  Zeus, Superman, Odin, Iron Man; new and old gods; we invent them in our collected psyche to avoid the unbearable weight of Truth.  That we were made in the image of an Almighty God, made to bear His image, but free to choose otherwise.  When we fell short of the calling, God responded in ways we don't fully understand, patiently with a focus on the eternal rather than the temporal world we live in and observe.  We do know this:  at last He came into the world in the form of a man, but not as a ruler or demigod, but a carpenter and teacher.  He came and bore the full burden of our sin across all the eons of history on one cross outside Jerusalem.  He loved with His very life.   


This is difficult to fully grasp.  That the primary motivation of the Universe's most powerful entity is life-forfeiting love.  Even various church movements throughout the past have had trouble understanding God's fullness and have built various boxes in which to contain Him.  We prefer our deities to be stubborn, selfish, fallible.  Relatable.   


When those old myths ultimately fail us, we turn to ourselves.  We deny the spiritual, unobserved world, in favor of cold facts and reason.  We seek to capture the sun for ourselves and wield its power on the earth, in the form of atom splitting bombs.  We strive for the power to conquer space and time, to make all the world available to us in an instant, so the internet and smartphones make us ubiquitously present.  The super myths exist only to spur our imaginations onward, a reflection in individuals of what we as a collective culture of humanity are capable of doing.  Secular humanist culture sells the myth that we are heir to their powers and their responsibility.  That we have it in ourselves to push back the night and rebuild the world.  


And still the world falls into chaos.  The story of Christ is unique in that it invites us along side our deity.  He redeems and empowers us to take part in renewal  


Colossians 1:19-22
"For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation."


Jupiter, Superman, Rama, or Batman could never promise to invite you into the story.  The Holy Spirit takes residence within us.  God breathes new life into our souls giving us strength and knowledge to do His will.  Paul finishes the great invocation of Christ's supremacy from chapter 1 of Colossians with these words:


Colossians 1:28-29
"We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me."


Take up Christ's call to action through His power we can engage in the world around us and present the Gospel to a world shrouded in darkness.  Acclaimed comics writer, Grant Morrison, wrote, "We live in the stories we tell ourselves."  Tell yourself and those you love the story of God come to earth to redeem the world.  That He loved each of us enough to lay down His life, then took it up again to be the firstborn of a new race of humanity, indwelt with God's own Spirit.  See how that affects the world we live in...  

A Plentiful Harvest

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”  Matthew 9:37-38

A friend of mine who is doing a Crusade Summer Project out in Lake Tahoe this summer posted a picture of this verse a few weeks ago, and the verse has not left my mind since.  To be honest, most of the time my heart and mind believe the opposite: that the workers are many and the harvest is few. 

I remember going door-to-door during the Dare2share conference sharing our faith “hoping” that one person out of the many we talked to would receive Jesus.  The Lord has presented me with numerous opportunities to speak and write, and often times I “hope” that at least one person would be touched by the Spirit working on their hearts.  As I have worked with several customers at Verizon over the last year I “hope” that one person would recognize that there is something different about the service I give them and ask about it. 

I “hope” to impact ONE person.

I put hope in quotation marks, because it is really not hope at all, but rather wishing.  Hope is the assurance of things to come.  I am hardly assured. 

The verse is Matthew above tells us we should have hope that others will be impacted,  that there are those waiting to be touched, and that those waiting are numerous.  So numerous, in fact, that we cannot do the work on our own.

How incredible is that news?!!!

We can be assured that there is not just one person in our neighborhood waiting to trust in Jesus by hearing the gospel, but many.  So many, in fact, that we need to pray to ask more Christians to move into the neighborhood to help love and share Jesus with them.

We can be assured that there is not just one co-worker in our place of work waiting to trust in Jesus by hearing the gospel, but many.  So many, in fact, that we need to pray to ask more Christians to speak up or work with us to help love and share Jesus with them.

We can be assured that there is not just one person in our community waiting to trust in Jesus by hearing the gospel, but many.  So many, in fact, that we need to pray to ask more Christians in our churches to help serve their needs, lead bible studies, give financially, and share the gospel with them. 

I will paraphrase Jesus once again by saying the problem is not that there are only a few waiting to receive Christ and we have exhausted sharing the gospel.  Jesus is very intentional about using the word “harvest” instead of “planting” and “plentiful” instead of “minimal”.  The point is that there are people READY to receive Him just as a crop is READY when harvesting season comes.  Secondly, those people are numerous.  Therefore, the problem is that we are not sharing the message of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross enough, AND we never could.  EVER.  We need others, so many more others, to join with us in doing so, just to meet the growing number of waiting gospel recipients.  Do you believe this truth?

More than we need to be praying for “insert name here” to receive the gospel, we need to be praying for someone to SHARE the gospel with them.  More than we need to pray for our ministries to grow we need to pray for more to serve.  More than we need to pray about whether our church will survive, we need to pray about whether where we are meeting will be enough to contain the people attending.  The harvest is ALREADY PLENTIFUL; it is the WORKERS that are MINIMAL.

Although the disciples may not have understood what Jesus meant when they first heard this truth, I am sure they did at Pentecost when 3000 trusted in Christ for the first time.  Suddenly, the harvest was plentiful.  Or how about the Lord adding to their numbers daily (Acts 2:47) to the point where the number of MEN grew to 5000 (Acts 4:4).  Or how about the time when more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number (Acts 5:14) so much that the disciples were overlooking an error in the daily distribution of food (Acts 6).  (Sounds like a lack of harvesters to me)  So they pray for more workers among them and the result: “So the word of God spread.  The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7)

Do you believe that this revival could happen in your neighborhood?  Your workplace?  Your community?  We should.  Our Lord says the harvest is ready.  He is waiting for us to pray for workers.

Independence Day

I pray that this Fourth of July you will have opportunity to remember that many words we throw around casually, Freedom, Liberty, Valor, Honor, Courage, Equality, and Independence, have weighty meanings behind them.  And they are bought at significant cost.  The struggle for these values hardly started July 4th, 1776.  Though as Americans, we collectively share this date as the birth of our nation, people throughout history have paved the foundation for Liberty by their sweat, toil, and blood.  

Most notably, a couple thousand years ago in a tiny province of the vast Roman Empire, a man who was God Incarnate died to grant all humanity Freedom from sin, punishment, and condemnation.  Jesus Christ shed His blood so all people may have access to God and know Liberty from sin and death.    

Celebrate hardily this holiday.  You have reason to.  

Happy Fourth of July.