To what standard?

Yesterday I asked on Facebook "To what standard are we to hold Christians? And how high is too high?" 

As you can imagine I got a myriad of answers. Many said "Grace is the standard." Yet others said "Love thy neighbor as thyself" and others still "maybe if Christians held themselves to higher standards we wouldn't be asking such things." What no one knew was my reason for asking the question. 

So to shed some light on why I was asking. Last Saturday I attended the funeral of a 16 year old young man who died from injuries sustained in a car accident. Upon arriving at the church, someone who knows only half the story of my past (not my side, I may add) decided to start talking and calling me various names, in hopes that I would leave the funeral. I will be the first person to tell you that I have a past, I have made mistakes I am not proud of, I have done stupid things; and in some way or another I have paid dearly for those mistakes. And yes, I expect that because of the mistakes the people on the receiving end of those mistakes have told their friends--in fact I know at least one has because the woman from the funeral, was caught taking my picture while I was sitting in my car. 

However, despite all of that, I have decided to hold myself to a high standard. I don't want to be the reason why anyone doesn't attend church or walks away from faith or stumbles in their faith. Through this experience, I have come to look at the way we help new Christians form their faith. 

Spiritual formation used to be a serious matter after you became a Christian; yet in today's church I am finding that it's just enough to pray, and be baptized with hopes that you "finally get it" at some point. So what is spiritual formation? Spiritual formation is a process of being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others.” (M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey) Yet a more intimate definition is The process that changes a person’s inner and outer life. Jesus was always more interested in what was going on in the inside of people than he was with mere outward activity. He talked of cleaning the inside of the cup first and then the outside will become clean as well (Matt. 23:26). Spiritual formation is about having the inner recesses of our lives touched by God’s Spirit.

One of folks that I asked my original question of stated "I don't think we can hold all Christians to the same standard because we are all at different places." While I knew that answer, it helped me to put into perspective that the woman who was deriding me to her friends, probably isn't in the same spiritual place I am. Now, I don't say this to make myself sound "better than," rather to let people know that I am no better than she was because at one time I may have found myself doing the same thing. 

Yet spiritual formation is hugely important if we are going to continue calling people to follow Christ.  It is God’s desire for every follower of Christ. People sometimes think that spiritual formation is just for the “really committed, you know, those who are really into discipleship.” Nothing could be further from the truth. God’s intention is that the process of spiritual formation would be an ongoing part of every believer’s life. 

Even Paul wrote in Romans 12:2, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Equally he wrote about the negative side of not being transformed in 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 

In Ephesians 4:12-13, we read that the goal of ministry in the church is "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ," or to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29, NIV). Maturity in Christ or becoming like Jesus or spiritual formation in Christ is therefore the ultimate goal of a local church. Just as a baby is born into a family and experiences safety and structure for growing from infancy to childhood to adolescence to adulthood, so we as Christians grow towards adulthood in our spiritual family. Certainly children sometimes survive outside of healthy families but human growth and development is usually stunted; it is the same with growth in Christian maturity. Perhaps a Christian can survive without a spiritual family but certainly their spiritual growth and development will be stunted and they will not flourish.

So where does the local church fit in? The spiritual formation of church members should be the very impetus of the church's vision and mission to glorify the Lord Jesus and to be the heart, hands, and feet of Christ in the world. Without members being spiritually formed, the church becomes more like a social club than the very body of Christ, wavering through various winds of change and remaining immature and impotent (Eph. 4:14)

In the end, I realize that maybe it's not the individual that I need to be worried about in how they spiritually stack up, instead, maybe we need to take a look at the standard to which we hold the church and it's ability to help new Christians, and spiritual infants grow in Christ. 

The Theology of Remembrance and Grief

I don't normally just write from a raw place, especially in terms of theology.  However, I feel like tonight, I have observed enough of my own grief to know that what I write is true. I woke up this morning to the news that the 16 year old son of one of my best friend's had died in a car accident the day prior. The sad thing is I heard the sirens, I prayed in my heart that whoever the sirens were for, was okay...and I went about my evening like nothing was happening. 

The young man that died was an amazing teenager. He didn't see people as others saw them; he saw people as who they truly were. I remember one night I was going to meet his mom at the gym, and she was telling him that she was going to meet me and she said "I don't want to go to hard on Rai, but I also want to get my time in fully." He looked at his mom and said "Have you met her? Don't underestimate Rai, because of her weight...she may outshine you!" That night we went to the gym, I went mile for mile on the treadmill, when we did weight machines, I did pound for pound and then some. His mom called him and told him "You were right!" He said "I know..." This young man always had my back! 

At Christmas, I was at his mom's house and we all decided to decorate the tree. He asked me "what I was thinking about." I told him "My past!" His mom had tried for years to convince me that I wasn't who everyone seemed to think I was. He looked at me, as I was hanging ornaments on the tree, came over, put his arm around me and said "You are not who everyone thinks you are!" I don't know if his mom heard him say that or not, but to me it meant the world! 

I often referred to this young man as my "best buddy" or my nephew from the heart! So today, when I found out about his death, immediately I felt numb. I've not been able to feel today...I've not been able to think. I've just been existing and maybe it is too early to say this, but I think merely existing at this time is okay--especially when you can't see things properly from the fact that you have tears in your eyes. 

You see grief, even when you are first in wading into the waters, is a hard place to be. But the Christian is promised that although weeping may endure for a night, joy will eventually come in the morning. But we are never told how long that night will be or how long our season of grief may last. Your theology and your faith are shaped as much by those seasons of grief as they are by glimpses of a joyful morning.

A theology for grieving people must make room for tears, weeping, wailing, pain, and anger.  Too often we need a place to grieve, but sadly, we are often pushed through grief--too fast by cultural, political, and theological forces — to quickly forgive those who trespass against us. We are rushed to the space of forgiveness and healing before we can even bury the dead or evaluate the scope of our loss. But the cross reminds us that we cannot quickly race to Resurrection Sunday; we must sit with the pain of Friday’s crucifixion and with Saturday’s silence. There must be room for rage and anger and despair. There must be room to ask about being forsaken and abandoned. 

Death is not natural; it’s an aberration that jars against the core of our being, regardless of our attempts to rationalize it. In fact, our cries point toward God rather than away from him. At the heart of the Christian faith is One who says he’s always with us—and who stared grief and loss square in the face. Isaiah described him as a “man of sorrows and familiar with suffering” and “acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). When Jesus experienced the death of his close friend Lazarus, he wept (John 11:34). On the cross, Jesus took grief and loss to unfathomable depths, such that the forsakenness he endured caused him to cry out the Why? question of Psalm 22. 

And when grieving is over...hope eternal; then on that day, God will personally wipe away all our tears and bury our grief for good. 

You're Not Even Human!

Meme I posted, it was in bad taste.
I removed it and apologized. 

Everyone that knows me, knows that I am a traditionalist when it comes to all forms of sexual immorality. I don't believe in premarital sex, I don't believe in extramarital sex, I don't believe in homosexuality. I believe that gender dysphoria is a real diagnosis--as does the American Psychiatry Association. Yet we have an entire generation that doesn't think that it's real...matter of fact, it's a mental illness that is to be celebrated instead of cured. 

Earlier in the day, the news reported that a trans-gender man (male to female) had his titles removed in powerlifting because he's not biologically a woman. I simply agreed with this proposal. I actually posted a meme that was in bad taste. As you can imagine loads of people decided to harass me over it. Friends we have a whole generation that thinks God has made mistakes; or worse that God doesn't even exist. They are headed straight into the pit of hell and there is nothing we can say to help them. 

Every day, I see a new status update by friends who are gay stating "I am so lonely...this hurts." "I didn't choose this, and God knows I wouldn't have chosen this life." I'll be the first to tell my friends, I don't understand your loneliness. I can't imagine being that depressed. However, I do understand loneliness and I do understand depression. The one that has made all the difference in my life, is that I have put my life and my future in the hands of a loving God. I am called to a life that is held in high standard compared to that of the world. That rich man that Jesus said "Take up your cross and follow me." (Matthew 19:16-30) That was me, by the world's standard, I was rich and still am. Yet by God's holy standard, I was depleted of funds and running low on cash. Yet as soon as I turned my life back over to Jesus, I found myself no longer depleted on funds. 

Each day that I see these statuses from my "fun side of the rainbow friends" I remind them that while I don't agree with them, I do, like the UMC 2016 Book of Discipline states “affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God,” and that all persons need the ministry of the church."

Yet, the very acceptance that the LGBTQIA community is seeking is actually continuing to lead to their own suicidal deaths. In an Huffington Post article by Michael Hobbes, a gay man, writes "Gay men everywhere, at every age, are two to ten times more likely than heterosexual men to commit suicide." As recently as March 1, 2019, a study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine published the finding "that lesbian and gay people are likelier than straight people to have reported a “depressed mood” or “intimate partner problems and arguments” before dying by suicide." In 2016, it was reportedthat “Homosexuals who ‘marry’ each other are almost three times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual counterparts, even in very gay-friendly Sweden, according to a study published in the May issue of the European Journal of Epidemiology.” 

Evidently dehumanizing is
okay to the progressives

So maybe you are asking yourself about the title of this blog, where did that come from. Well one person after I posted the meme, had the audacity to tell me "Go back to Russia, Traitor! You're not even human!" Nothing bothers me in the world more than people dehumanizing someone. 

It was okay to this man too...

The sad thing is the progressives talk about us in their speeches; they compare us to Nazis, yet they forget that their own words, were used before--would you like to wager a guess by whom? That's right! Adolf Hitler! Matter of fact, it's well known that Hitler stated "Jews are not people; they are animals." Friends, evidently I have been reduced to nothing more than an animal by the progressive left. 

Surely the spirit of Anti-Christ is among us. I can no longer honestly say that being a Christian is going to be protected; our very rights are being taken from us left and right. I used to say the day is coming that we won't be a protected people, however, that day is truly now! If people are already trying to dehumanize Christians, it means they are trying make us subservient to their own spiritual slavery. John 10:10 reminds us "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." However, my complete comfort comes from John 15:18 "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you."

You Are Not Your Backstory

When we look at someone’s past it’s easy to label them. If someone kills another, even if the victim’s family forgives them they are a murderer. If you get caught up in drugs or alcoholism, you’re a junkie, addict or drunk. If you’ve remotely seen someone out in public, and they think you are following them, you can be labeled a stalker. However, when you turn your life around you are still labeled by these things and it’s hard to get past, to show the world who you are now. When we look back in our life's past, what do we see? Are we necessarily proud of everything that we have done? For most of us, the answer would be no. In fact, some of us let our past decisions define who we are. I mean do we give ourselves nicknames, you know those names that we call ourselves when others are looking. “I’m such a loser” or “Man, I am such an idiot!” 

For an instance of this we need not look very far, after the resurrection of Jesus, He appeared to the disciples; and there was one named Thomas who was not with them when Jesus appeared. When the disciples, told Thomas that Jesus appeared to them, he responded “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)

Thomas witnessing the Risen Christ

From that moment on, through out history Thomas is known as the one who doubted. Never mind that Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” He is known as Doubting Thomas. But if we look at Thomas’ story a bit more closely we see that he displayed great courage and loyalty. When the other disciples tried to keep Jesus from going to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead because of the danger from those in the area who had just earlier tried to stone Him (John 11:8);  Thomas said to them, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him" (John 11:16). Thomas also asked Him one of the most famous questions. John 14:5-6 says, "Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?' Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ Yet no one really remembers that. 

Let’s take a look at the NBC hit show This is Us. When we watch this show we see a family, and each member has their own issues. But what makes the show come to life is that we have “flashbacks” that show us why members of the family are the way they are. Maybe the daughter has an eating problem because of something that happened in her past. I posted early this week on facebook that if we knew each others backstories maybe we’d be easier, more compassionate, kinder,  more loving to people. 

My friends you are not your backstory. Yes, you have done things that you are not proud of, I have too. But 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells me that I am a new creation in Jesus Christ. Look at the woman at the well, seven husbands! Seven! She comes to the well midday, knowing that she was not well liked in the town, knowing that people were talking about her, she wanted to come to that well so she didn’t have to face anyone there, and the one day that she comes, there is a Jewish man at the well, HE knows her entire backstory, and tells her about herself and changes her life! She runs into the town, telling people you have to come to the well to see the man who knows everything about me and has still changed me! She came to the well one type of person and left a completely changed woman! But we don’t see her as the woman who was changed, we still see her as the woman at the well, the woman who was so caught up in sin that she had to come to well for water at midday. 

What is really interesting is that we sometimes get frozen in people’s minds as our backstory. We can’t live but up their labels. We all have friends, and relatives that knew us “back when…” But God wants us to tell our stories, to let the world know “hey that label was me, but that isn’t me now…and here is how I have changed.” 

I don’t know what label the world has given you, but I do know that Jesus is willing to change that label for you. And you will have choices to make daily, some so that you don’t have to live with that label again—but Jesus is there, waiting for you to say “I can’t do this alone.” He will take you by the hand and He will lead you to where you need to be so that you can encourage others in their walk with Christ also. 

Tonight as I write this, if you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, I am going to ask you to say a simple prayer. Tell God that you want to know Him better, that you want to drop the labels of your past and follow Him. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and need God’s grace and ask Him to take your hand and guide you daily. 

If you want to let someone know that you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you can reach out to me at the1witnessblog@gmail.com; you can contact me through this blog and of course, you can follow the blog for more faith based articles that will help you grow in Faith in Jesus Christ. 

Church Decline

The LA Times recently published an article stating that Christians are evangelizing hate against gays overseas. It's an article from five years ago, it's propaganda and it's completely untrue. 

First off, I find it hilariously sad that progressives want to quote the LA Times, the Boston Globe, even the local newspaper as the gospel, but they look at the Bible as an antique. "We've gained so much new knowledge since it was written--a new age of enlightenment." you will hear the progressive say. Matter of fact, liberal/progressive Christianity is on a decline; because the god of the modern Christian movement isn't the God of the Bible. 

Here is the truth: In 2010, the PCUSA fully affirmed homosexuality, and their churches have been declining since. Those leaving have done so and the numbers have increased from 21 churches and 4,718 members dismissed in 2011, the number jumped to 110 churches and 33,659 members dismissed in 2012. That pattern continued until 2017, when the number of dismissed churches fell to 45 and the number of members dismissed dipped to 6,910. The PC(USA) currently has 9,304 congregations, 147 fewer than at the end of 2016.

In July of 2018, Mike Tooley writes: Answers to some of these mysteries might be found at the Presbyterian Church USA General Assembly meeting last month and the Episcopal General Convention meeting this month. At their current rates of decline neither denomination will exist in 20 years. Yet neither convention focused on evangelism or church growth. Episcopalians debated whether to compel a handful of dissenting traditional dioceses to host same sex nuptials. They also discussed editing their liturgies to become more gender neutral. Presbyterians denounced Israel and USA border policies, opposed religious liberty in favor of LGBTQ and abortion rights, and pondered whether to divest from fossil fuels. A senior church official claimed there’s increasing excitement in their denomination over “ justice” issues. No doubt. They lost 68,000 members last year.

Americans and people around the world are vacating progressive pews and flocking to churches that offer more traditional versions of Christianity; most people go to church to get something they cannot get elsewhere. This consuming public--people who already believe, or who are attempting to believe, who want their children to believe--go to church to learn about the mysterious Truth on which the Christian religion is built. They want the Good News, not the minister's political views or intellectual coaching. The latter creates sprawling vacancies in the pews. Indeed, those empty pews can be considered the earthly reward for abandoning heaven, traditionally understood.

According to a study done, 69 percent of pastors at declining churches believe Christian beliefs need to change over time to stay relevant, not one pastor at a growing church says the same. The study goes on to say “Our research suggests that churches don’t have to abandon or water down their core beliefs to remain ‘relevant’ or attract people to their services, on the contrary, churches that stick to quite conservative beliefs that emphasize the truth of the Bible, the importance of sharing the gospel, and God’s continuing action in the world are actually more likely to grow.”