The Convenience of Living for Jesus

You hear it all the time...

Why does it matter if I _________?  Jesus did!

And you can fill that blank in with pretty much anything.  From anything as simple as wearing long hair, to the one we've all heard: drinking.  

Without losing track and heading down the long road of a rant, here's what I think is wrong with this mindset.

We want to do _________ because we like doing it.  It may be looked down on in our society, but John Brown-it, if we can find a way to justify it, why not?  And what better way of justifying it than by proclaiming that Jesus did it!       

There's absolutely nothing wrong with modeling our lives after Jesus, and there's no better way of doing so than to model His actions.  But why don't we spend more time modeling the hard actions of Jesus' life?  Why not preach the Word of God to the world?  Why not love those who we view as unlovable? 

No.  We're more worried about formulating "sound" arguments for why we can do _________.  Instead of us being formed in God's image, we try to reverse it and form Jesus in our image so that we can justify our actions.  

My question is a simple one: why?  Why do we think we can pick and choose which parts of Jesus we like and throw out the parts we don't?  That's called being a lukewarm Christian.  Nothing in scripture lends to this mindset being accurate.  In fact, Jesus Himself stated the obvious.

15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. Rev 3:15-16 (HCSB)

As my pastor said in a sermon weeks ago...

Do we change our desires to fit our theology, or do we change our theology to fit our desires?

"Max on Life" by Max Lucado

"I seem to work more and more these days.  Could this negatively affect my family?"


"How should a Christian react to poverty?"


"How could a loving God send people to Hell?"


"If God knew all along that Jesus would rise from the dead three days later, then how was His death really considered a sacrifice?"

Questions.  We all run into them from time to time.  Some are easy to answer.  Some are much tougher.

As Christians, we are on the receiving end of these types of questions, and Max Lucado's new book, "Max on Life," aims to answer them.

As a pastor whose ministry reaches far beyond the walls of his church, questions such as these have been directed his way for decades, and Lucado hopes to provide us with some answers.  This book follows the typical Q&A format.  Presented at the top of the page is the question, and his answer, usually less than one page in length, follows underneath.  The questions are categorized as follows:

1. Hope: God, Grace, and "Why am I Here?"
2. Hurt: Conflicts, Calamities, and "Why me?"
3. Help: Prayer, Scripture, and "Why church?"
4. Him/Her: Sex, Romance, and "Any chance of a second chance?"
5. Home: Diapers, Disagreements, and "Any hope for prodigals?"
6. Haves/Have-Nots: Work, Money, and "Where's the lifeline?"
7. Hereafter: Cemeteries, Heaven, Hell, and "Who goes where?"       

He even graciously includes writing tips, along with references, a topical index, and finally, a scripture index.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I enjoyed this book.  I did not find it to be very reader-friendly, as it literally changed topics with each flip of the page.  And with this book containing 172 questions, I found that there was too much information and not enough time to process it, especially if you're looking to read for the sake of reading.  I was not expecting the book to be in this format.

But enough time spent on the technical merit of the book.  Let's get into the meat of it.

Naturally, I did not agree with everything he said on a doctrinal level.  For example, one questions deals with life's exhaustion leaving us no strength to pray, and whether or not God is disappointed in us for not praying.  He mentions that Jesus is our advocate and He steps up on our behalf, even when we don't.  I don't disagree with this.  But he goes on to say that, "God is not disappointed that we are so burdened we can't pray."  Key word: can't.  


So exhaustion and life's burdens render us unable to pray?  No.  "God, I'd like to talk with you today, but I'm too tired.  Maybe tomorrow, after I get some rest."  While we go through trying times, times where we can easily think that God isn't present, I don't believe it's okay to use trials (that God's in charge of, and that He's allowing us to go through) as an excuse to skip praying.  Especially when those are the times we need to lean on God the most.  Choosing not to pray when we're exhausted is, in my opinion, selfish.  And scripture is clear that life's not about us.  (I'm not sure if he intended it this way, but that's the way I took it.)

Also, while he uses scripture as a basis for nearly answer (which is great), he tends to use stories and analogies to answer the questions instead of directly answering them.  And I feel that he left some tough questions unanswered by doing this.  I know he doesn't claim to know the answer to everything - none of us do - but why include it in your book if you aren't going to attempt to answer it?  This, in my opinion, tends to water things down in an attempt to make scripture warm and fuzzy.

So, to wrap up, I really didn't enjoy the book.  The format isn't what I was expecting, but I can't fault a book for not doing something it wasn't intended to do, just like I can't fault a cat for not being a dog (gotta love analogies).  And I feel that he could have gone more in depth, but instead chose to water it down so more people would read it.

I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it either.  3 out of 5 stars.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Who Should We Really Be Fearful Of Offending?

I'm sure you've seen this.  Kobe was given a technical foul.  He wasn't happy about it.  As he went to sit down after receiving it, he commenced to throwing a hissy-fit by punching his chair and throwing his towel down.  But that wasn't all.  The two choice words that flowed from his mouth, directed at the official, have brought massive controversy Kobe's way.  The NBA fined him $100,000 for it.  Some are even calling for his suspension.

So what did he say?  I won't repeat it here, but he used the f-word in conjunction with another word that describes a bundle of sticks.  But here's the kicker: the official he directed these words at is homosexual, or, to be politically correct, a member of an "alternative" lifestyle.  And his two choice words are now being referred to as a horribly offensive "homophobic slur" by the media.

First, let me say this.  I don't use this type of language, so the use of any of it is found offensive by me.  And I don't care who uses it, from a elementary school kid who thinks they're cool, to a teenager who knows they're cool, to an adult who should know better, to celebrities, athletes, and so on.  I don't like it, but I won't harp on this point because people have the choice to say whatever they want to, within reason of course.

So, based on my above paragraph, I think what he said was wrong.  But why did this even become a story?  How many players, coaches, celebrities, and so on, have used language publicly?  Would we have even heard about it if he called the official any other cuss word?  Or what if he had used God's name in vein?  It would have been written off as something we all say in the "heat of the moment." 

So to answer my question, it became a story because it offended a minority group of people.  It was wrong of him to do it, I agree, but look at this scenario.  What if a religious group went public and demanded his apology and that he be suspended for offending the religious community by his use of language?  He probably would have apologized, but it would have been a I'm-sorry-for-getting-caught apology (like his apology he submitted) instead of a I'm-sorry-for-what-I-did apology.  And the people demanding this would have been laughed at and called "religious fanatics" and would have been dismissed. 

So this begs a question:

Are we more worried about offending people then we are about offending God?     

God and Football

If you would, participate in this little exercise: raise your hand (or pretend to raise your hand).

I'm going to ask you some questions.  If your answer is "Yes" then keep your hand up, and if your answer is "No" then put it down.

1. Are you a college football fan?  (You clicked to read this, so I'm guessing your answer is Yes.)
2. Do you own any team paraphernalia?  (shirts, hats...)
3. Do you "follow" your team? (read about them, listen to/watch/attend games.)
4. Has the outcome of a game ever affected your worship the next day at church? (My hand's still up too.)

This intersection of faith and football is what led Chad Gibbs to write his book God and Football: Faith and Fanaticism in the SEC.     

While writing this book, Chad traveled to each SEC campus to attend a game, meet with other Christians there, and see how, and if, they balanced their fandom with their faith in Christ.  What followed was an amazing story, one that taught him, and his readers, a lot about how people went about obtaining this lofty goal.

So how did they do it?  As is the nature of people, he found differing opinions on this.

The Time-Loggers

These are the people that attempted to "cancel out" their football obsession time with "God" time.  If they spend 8 hours a week crazily following their team, they would counteract that by spending 8 hours a week with God.  

While spending time with God is always a great thing, there is a problem with this mindset.  God's not looking for us to apply some formula when it comes to following Him. 

The Football-Prayers

These are the ones that instead of separating time between football and God, they combine it by praying for their teams.  What a great idea!  They either pray for their team to be injury-free, to play to the best of their abilities (underhanded way of praying for a win), or they actually pray for their team to win.  

I don't disagree with all of this.  I do believe that God wants us to talk with Him about what's on our minds, but I have to question the motivation for the prayer.  Is it to really talk with God, or is to justify our obsession with football?

Bottom line, God doesn't want us to conjure up some crazy scheme to balance our non-God stuff with our God stuff (even though I don't really believe in the word "secular" because God's involved in everything... another post for a later day, maybe?).  He doesn't want us to follow a formula, or pray just to feel better about how much time we spend not praying.  And lastly, he doesn't want us to feel guilty about liking things such as football.

I truly believe that we serve a loving God, one that loves us enough to give us things here on Earth that we can enjoy, such as sports.  And I believe that He wants us to have a relationship with Him.  He just doesn't want the creation to become more important than the Creator.

Even though I read this book months ago, the message it brought is still fresh on my mind.  I would highly recommend that everyone read this.  But by all means, please do not do a Google image search for "God and football."  

Top 10 Most Exciting SEC Football Players to Watch - That I've Seen In My Short Time

I'm ready for football.  So ready that I'll probably trek 60 miles this Saturday to watch my team play... a practice game... against themselves.  The A-Day Game.  And I'll even pay money to see it.  It's a sad state of affairs how much time we spend wrapped up in our teams, but that's another post for a later date.

So in the spirit of football, I began to think of the most exciting players I've seen in my lifetime, the ones I had the most fun watching.  And I've decided to include my expert commentary (insert joke here) along with each player listed.

Here goes...


10) Dexter McCluster - He may not have been the best player on the field, but he brought something to the table that everyone coveted: pure speed.  Seeing him in the open field was a joy.

 9) Knowshon Moreno - Point blank - he hurdled people.

 8) Shaun Alexander - Great football player.  Great guy off the field.  One of those running backs that could not be tackled.

 7) Matthew Stafford - One of the strongest-armed QB's I've seen in some time.  

 6) Rolando McClain - One of the smartest football players I've ever seen.  And he had a little bit of talent also.

 5) Cadillac Williams - I remember a game where he literally ran on top of a pile of people to score.  But the play that always comes to mind... Go crazy, Cadillac!

 4) Darren McFadden - My first AU game was against Arkansas.  I watched in awe as McFadden ran for 6,257 yards.  Not the best AU memory I have, but he was fun to watch.

 3) Peyton Manning - Probably one of the best QB's to ever play the game.  Funny commercials too.

 2) Tim Tebow - Took charge on the huddle like no other.  I have never liked Florida, but I watched too many of their games to count just to watch him play.  And most importantly, he uses his talents for the Kingdom of Christ.

  1) Cam Newton - Who else could end up at number 1?  He was probably the most loved player by AU fans, and the most hated players by everyone else.  But regardless, the most exciting player I've ever had the joy of watching.

BookSneeze

I've toyed with the thought of starting a blog for some time now, but I figured that people wouldn't care to read what goes through my head and I've never had a reason to actually do it.  Until now.  

I stumbled upon BookSneeze, a program started by Thomas Nelson Publishers, that allows bloggers to receive a complementary copy of a book of their choosing in exchange for a 200-word review posted on their blog and retail website.  The blogger isn't required to post a positive comment, just an honest response to the book.  When they finish the book, and provide evidence that the required blog was posted, they select another book and keep on keeping on.  

The best part is that the blogger isn't required to return the book after reading it.  Free books!  I know, I know, you can get free books at the library.  But these are new books, and they don't contain smashed boogers between the pages; that is if your library book actually contains all of its pages.  (Ok, I've never checked out a book with with boogers in it, but it could happen.)

So I'm starting this program and will post reviews from time to time, along with anything else that crosses my mind.  I can't promise that it will be interesting, but I can promise that what you read here contains no boogers.