713-Wasn't-Me

Last week I was driving in Houston and saw a billboard for a defense attorney that read 713-Wasn't-Me. At first I laughed out loud at the ad. It was a great ad and very creative! But then I began to think a little more about it. The reason it fits so well is that this is the mentality we all seem to have. No one wants to take responsibility for anything.

Why is it so hard for us to take responsibility for ourselves and our actions? Why are we so good at making excuses and looking for loopholes, blaming others and trying to skirt by?

Sorry to disappoint, but this is nothing new. In fact, it began all the way back in the Garden with Adam and Eve.

The serpent tempted Eve by offering her something that seemed better to God's way. It made her think she was being cheated. She gave in. She then persuaded Adam to disobey God too. He gave in. Then the blame game began. It wasn't Adam's fault, but Eve's. No, it wasn't Eve's fault, but the serpent's. No, it wasn't the serpent's fault; it was really God's. God created the system after all and allowed the serpent to do what he did, so ultimately it's His fault, right?

We look at that story and kind of laugh, saying that we would never do that. But we do! In fact, we do it all the time. Sometimes we even justify ourselves and try to spiritualize away our sin. Gossiping, for example, becomes "sharing a concern" about someone. Criticism, dissension and backbiting becomes "wanting the best" for everyone. You get the point . . .

Brennan Manning writes:

In a world where the only plea is "not guilty," what possibility is there for an honest encounter with Jesus, "who died for our sins"? We can only pretend that we are sinners, and thus only pretend that we are forgiven. (Ruthless Trust, Pg. 171)

John said it another way:

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:5-10)

What has kept you from taking responsibility for yourself, especially the things in your life not pleasing to God?

In your mind, how can you build a real relationship with a God based on forgiveness and grace if you have nothing to confess and no sin for Him to forgive?

What's the best way forward?

What's love got to do with it?

When Jesus answered the lawyer's question (Matthew 22:34-40) about which commandment was the greatest He wasn't sharing any brand new information. He was reminding the crowd that day of the central prayer/affirmation of the Jewish people - the shema - found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

And He reminded them of a pinnacle piece of the holiness code found in Leviticus 19:18:

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

What Jesus did, however, was brilliant and powerful. That day He made very clear that love of others is just as important as loving God. Also, loving God is the same as following Jesus.

The center of life for a God-follower is to love Him. How? By following Jesus - His example, teachings, etc. If I take that seriously, what happens? I learn to increasingly love my neighbor as myself.

Jesus said ALL of the Law hung on that very thing. All the Scripture hangs on that truth. I guess that makes it pretty important!

If that is true, then unexpressed love doesn't mean much, does it? Love isn't a feeling as much as it is an active verb, a choice. We DO love. We LIVE love. We DECIDE to allow Jesus to live in and through us so that we embody His love.

You cannot follow Jesus without loving AND growing more and more in His love!

How do you reflect on this? Is there anything you would add? What are some of the best ways you have found to follow Jesus by expressing His love to others?

Following Jesus or an Idol of Him

Last week I talked about following Jesus and not a theological system or a cause about him. This provoked several conversations and questions - though not tons of posts! :) - and I wanted to say a little more about it.

I think the person Jesus Christ, my living Lord and Savior, defies our complete understanding. We cannot "figure God out" and place everything we know into a neat system or ethic and call it all done. Every time people have tried to do that, God has stubbornly got in their way and blown the doors off of their system.

• That is what happened to the prophet Jonah when he thought God should only care about the people of Israel, but found God loved even Israel's enemies.
• That is what happened to the Jews when they went into exile in Babylon and found they could worship and know God away from Jerusalem and the destroyed temple. God's power and presence wasn't limited to geography.
• That is what happened to the Pharisees when they encountered Jesus. In order to honor God they devised a rigid way of life filled with rules that guaranteed they would not violate God's commands. Yet they found out that in their pursuit of God they missed the real spirit of His laws.

The real danger then seems to be making Jesus into an idol, rather than the living and sovereign God He is. I can control and idol. An idol cannot challenge and convict me like a living God can!

Tim Keller, in his book Counterfeit Gods writes:

An idol is something that we look to for things only God can give. Idolatry functions widely inside religious communities when doctrinal truth is elevated to the position of a false god. This occurs when people rely on the rightness of their doctrine for their standing with God rather than on God himself and his grace. It is a subtle but deadly mistake. The sign that you have slipped into this form of self-justification is that you become what the book of Proverbs calls a "scoffer" (131).

Have you ever made an idol out of Jesus? I have come close a time or two.

What do you do to make sure you stay true to Jesus and not someone's (or your) construct of Him?

Following Jesus - not a system or a standard about Him!

In his book Jesus Manifesto, Leonard Sweet makes the following statement:

According to Scripture, Jesus Christ (and not a doctrine about Him) is the truth. In addition, Jesus Christ (and not an ethic derived from His teaching) is the way. In other words, both God's truth and God's way are embodied in a living, breathing person - Christ (pg. 80).

To me, that is a powerful reminder not to allow anything to take the place of my allegiance to the person of Christ. Jesus cannot be separated from His teachings and the person Jesus obviously does not contradict the truth laid down in Scripture. However, I never want to make anything a substitute for Jesus.

But its so easy to do . . . People, without even being conscious of it, substitute simply following the person Jesus for a political agenda, a cause they believe in, a theological system, a ministry goal, etc.

Do I have theological convictions I would fight for? - Absolutely! Do I think there are clear ways that Christians should and should not live? - Of course!

But I never want to forget that Jesus can't be subordinated to a single theological system and His teachings are never a means to an end for my agenda. Jesus is bigger than all of those things and I never want to miss being challenged by Him and by His Word to something new and fresh.

What do you think? Do you think people can get caught up following a theological system or pursuing another good agenda and drift away from following the person Jesus? How can we keep ourselves focused on Him?