What Can Jesus Do For You?

When did following Jesus shift from taking up a cross, expecting persecution, being a servant, and giving up your life to 12 things Jesus can do for you?

We are drowning in a culture of consumerism. What can Brown do for you is the motto for everything. If you don't get good service, complain and it will be fixed otherwise you go somewhere else. As the customer, I am always right. I deserve to be helped. What's in it for me?

I really don't believe people (me included) are trying to be selfish. In fact, if you were to try and point out to someone their self-centered nature they could probably give you a list of all the things they have done for others lately. (the fact that we keep those lists at the front of our minds probably says something about our attitude toward being servants) But we are surrounded by messages that tell us we deserve more; we deserve better. Car commercials show us the luxury car that will meet all of our comfort needs while raising our standing in society. Investment firms remind us of how much they can make our money grow so that we can afford the bigger and better. We build houses where everyone has their own room with their own space and their own entertainment so that we can get what we want when we want with no sacrifice or compromise. It is all about us and most of the time we don't even realize we are thinking it.

This leads to a dilemma for the church and for pastors of churches. Denominational leaders, church boards, congregational lay leader, as well as pastors themselves are driven by numbers. How many people are we getting into the building? How many people are being converted? Or would the better phrase be, "How many people are buying Jesus?" We don't talk to each other about it in these terms but we are really marketing and selling the Savior of the world. The One who created all that we see is now being sold like a product. The worst part...I don't think we realize we are doing it.

I have heard sermons lately, from people who I know love God and have a heart for seeing people know Jesus, presenting the gospel in a way that puts the emphasis on the benefits to us. This used to show itself in convincing people that heaven is great and hell is bad so you should get to know Jesus who can give you heaven and keep you out of hell. It seems to have transformed into a multi-step program about how Jesus can make our lives better.

• If we are faithful, God will bless us. This approach rarely defines blessing in a very helpful way and it usually leaves open serious pain and questions when bad things happen to "good" people.
• Do the "right" things and God will make you prosperous. But what about dedicated Jesus followers in third world countries who have nothing?
• Follow Jesus and things will work out for you in the end. Our implication of "end" is generally not an eschatological one. It is usually pointed toward the end of this particular difficult circumstance in which I find myself.

I'm not just talking about "hard-core name-it-and-claim-it" preaching. We are hearing this in evangelical churches whose intentions are not bad. They may just be a little misdirected. We are selling people a Jesus who solves their problems and makes their lives more comfortable. I hope we aren't misrepresenting the message of our crucified LORD.

So here is the question. How do we redirect the tide? How do we begin to help each other see the blinders society has placed on us? In our cities there are churches on every street corner and if we begin to challenge the powers (dare I say idols?) of comfort, pleasure, and self-satisfaction people are going to begin to go to those other churches. How do we move people to a new way of thinking without moving them to another church that isn't challenging the comfort of our day?

God, give us undivided hearts directed toward you. Help us to get our eyes off of ourselves and onto Your mission for saving the world. Forgive us for our self-centered attitudes and grant us the grace to walk humbly, justly, and with the mercy You have shown to us.

Come and Listen to a Story 'Bout a Man Named...

In the beginning God... (Gen 1)

This is the list of the descendants of Adam...When Lamech had lived for one hundred and eighty-two years, he became the father of a son; he named him Noah... (Gen 5)

These are the descendants of Noah's sons...These are the descendants of Shem...When Terah had lived for seventy years, he became the father of Abram... (Gen 11)

This is the length of Abraham's life, one hundred and seventy-five years. Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah...These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham's son...The first came out red , all his body like a hairy mantle; so they named him Esau. Afterwards his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob... (Gen 25)

Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob... (Gen 37)

Then Joseph said to his brothers, ""I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, "When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here." And Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt. (Gen 50.24-26)

Genealogies are not everyone's favorite sections of scripture to study in the Bible. In fact, most of us see the beginning of a genealogy and run our finger through that section of scripture until we see the "action" begin to take place again. Part of the reason we do this is because in the modern world we communicate history through events. When did the Revolutionary war begin? When was the Battle of Gettysburg? When did WWI and WWII begin and end? (do you also notice that our events seem to be centered around war?) We mark our time by major events. We order them chronologically and then go to the next major event to understand how we got to where we are today. This is modern history.

The ancient historians did not work this way. They were story tellers. They told history through the actions and lives of specific people. Please hear me clearly! Don't miss this! I am NOT saying that because ancient historians tell stories about people that the events did not really occur. I am NOT saying that these events are not true. I AM saying that they had a different way of approaching history.

The book of Genesis is completely structured around the lives of people and those genealogies that we like to avoid are major division markers throughout the book letting us know that the story (where we would use events) is about to change. You could argue that Genesis is still structured chronologically and has major events and I would agree. However, the story of the person is the driving force rather than specific events. When we study Martin Luther King or Martin Luther or Abraham Lincoln it is the events surrounding their lives and their place in that story that tend to take us to them. Not the other way around. The ancient historians start with the person and then move to events and significant happenings.

This becomes even more clear (and leads to some confusion for modern readers) in the books of Judges and 1 & 2 Kings. As modern readers we get confused with the jumping from one place to the next in what we perceive as no particular order. The "order" however lies in the stories of the people on which the author is focusing. Gideon, Sampson, Deborah (represent ladies!), Elijah, etc. Again, these people fall in an order that is somewhat chronological but to try and recreate a time line of events from these stories is difficult and it is not the author's purpose.

And that is the real point. What is the author's purpose? Most of ancient history is written to make a theological point rather than to record history for history's sake. The way the author tells the story, the order in which he places events, the numbers, the time frames, the events are all pointing to the theological truth that he wants the reader to understand. Understanding this way of reading Biblical history is crucial to understanding, teaching, and preaching in our churches. If we look at the history of the Bible through our modern historical mindset, we will miss the point of the ancient historical writer.

We mustn't get caught up in arguing with the people of modern culture about the historicity of the historical books of the Bible. The stories are true but are not recorded in a way the "enlightened" mind tries to define true history. Instead we should be pointing out the theological significance of the passages. What the author is communicating about God. How those truths change the way we live as the people of God. These are the things we must be teaching and preaching in our churches.

Genealogies may not be exhilarating reading but come and listen to a story about a man named...and hear what this story teaches us about the Creator.

Between the Word and Finanaces

The idea of ministry as a vocation has started to become a bit of a strange idea to me lately. The idea that a pastor is supposed to be following God's leadership and preaching the Word of God to people on a weekly basis regardless of how much that Word could offend people, while at the same time being paid by the money that those same people bring as a offering seems to put a pastor in a very difficult place. If it is the pastor's role to be a truth teller and to give people a Word from God on a weekly basis then chances are that those words are not always going to tickle the ear of the listener. And let's be quite frank, people don't always like to hear things that challenge their lives of comfort. I'm not saying that pastors should always be beating up their congregations with their sermons but there are going to be times when the church needs to be given a little push to get back on the right track. We all need that push from time to time. But how easy is it to be the giver of that push when the people you are pushing are making decisions about the paycheck that supports your family?

Maybe the pastor isn't supposed to be the only truth teller and that is the job for the church as a whole to be doing for each other. That takes some pressure off the pastor but it still raises the question for me as to what the role of the pastor then becomes. Is is caretaker? Vision giver or leader? CEO? Administrator? All of these roles seem to me to be things that the Body we call the church should be doing collectively as a community. If the role of the pastor is spiritual director then why do we employ them full-time? Why don't we work the church in a more community fashion and pay some people part-time here and there for administrative duties?

I'm just wondering if the idea of "full-time pastor" is going to become a thing of the past. Why not organize a church as a body of believers challenging each other and caring for each other in a spirit of unity and love? Is this idea a pie-in-the-sky dream that can't happen? Does a group of people always need someone "in charge?" This is something I want to look into Biblically and practically in the next while and see where it takes me. It may not be too appealing to those of us who "work" for the church currently but it has been on my mind and I need to get at least a little resolution. Just thinking here. Anyone have any answers for me?