Sin

"Sin" is a word that some (understandably) reject because they're not Christian. A common definition of sin: when you break God's laws. What if I told you that sin is when you damage a relationship? More akin to a creator simply wanting us to trust our God-given sense of what is right and what is wrong (for own own happiness and preservation). Not a teacher looking for someone breaking rules.  

What if guilt and pain - the byproduct of sin - is the searing pain of touching a hot pan?  It's a good pain that is a warning sign to keep us from burning our skin off. 

Sin hurts because it breaks a trust with God who created us out of love.  Viewing sin as the violation of a relationship versus law breaking is important because God simply wants us to trust him - God doesn't want us trying to do a bunch of good works to try and make up for our mistakes.  God IS love - and love is about relationship not religiosity. 

Faith, Family...

I recently read an article about Peyton Manning and how faith is an important part of his life. Peyton said that his priorities have always been "Faith, Family, Football." This is the second celebrity that I've heard in the last month that has a "Faith, Family, ______" thing going on (Phil Robertson has "Faith, Family, Ducks") so it caused me to pause and wonder if I should maybe have a "Faith, Family, _______" deal and what the third one should be.  

My first thought is that just like anything that tries to put structure to faith, this could be a cute little saying that could quickly become an empty religious ritual consisting of more "structure" than spirit. Like writing new years resolutions - easily a meaningless exercise.

My second thought, is that if I was to have a "Faith, Family, _______" it would be "Faith, Family, Others" because I believe the core message of Jesus is about sacrificing for others.

My third thought is - hold up a minute - shouldn't faith permeate every area of our life and not be a category?

After thinking about it some more, I realized that having a "Faith, Family..." deal, if taken seriously, is a good thing because it forces you to think about getting off of the throne.  We all tend to think of ourselves first, and anything that helps us to be mindful to put others first is a good thing.  Is it kind of religious-y and ritualistic-ish? Yes - but so is making a habit to pray and read your Bible - both good things.  In this rat-race society that's full of illusions of happiness we have to sometimes add structure to our lives to ground ourselves and make sure we do what we already want to do.  

What would be your "Faith, Family, __________"?

I love Miley Cyrus

 I love Miley Cyrus.  I know, I'm not exactly the stereotype of someone who loves Destiny Hope Cyrus - (especially since I'm old enough to have someone the age of Miley).  So why do I love Miley?  Because she's like me.  She's goofy.  Like me. She embraces creativity.  Like me.  And... she makes mistakes.  Like me.  She's immature.  Like me.  She's ignorant.  Like me.  She gets lost in this crazy world.  Like me.  She falls short of being a perfect human being.  Like me.  She hurts herself and others.  Like me.  Keeping it real -- do I listen to her music -- well let's just say I don't turn it off. Heh.

I came across a post on The Christian Post in my FB feed today that almost made my head explode. Honestly I don't know why I even follow The Christian Post because a lot of the things they post threaten to ruin my day just like this specific post. Let me explain. The article was reporting Miley Cyrus posted a photo photo in her instagram feed that stated that Jesus 'Was Never Anti-Gay, Never Mentioned Abortion or Birth Control' -- and all Hell broke loose in the comments of this article with people - most of them from Christians I assume - completely ripping Miley to shreds.  

Comments such as "Can this girl get any more stupid than she already is? Jesus didn't mention Big Macs but gluttony is still a sin. Good Lord I wish she would just go away." (which had 62 "likes" last I looked).  

This isn't the post that even bothered me so much. It's the ones that say that we should pray for Miley.  

Before I explain why, I must say that I assume that these folks are sincere.  And I also will assume that these people recognize that they need prayers just as much as Miley.

Why this bothers me, is because this places the person saying "we should pray for her" on a pedestal, looking down at someone who perhaps more exposed sins in their life.  It's kind of like a Christian back-handed blessing.

"We should pray for her" can be a way to group people into "those we should pray for" and "those who are OK."  

You might be thinking "Well she doesn't know God so she DOES need more prayers - she ISN'T in the same group as us - she's obviously not a Christian."

If this is what you're thinking -- then how do you know she doesn't have a relationship with God?  Because of what you've seen on TV?  Because of how she dresses?  Because of how she sticks out her tongue?  

Before you group her as someone who isn't saved -- ask yourself if you've ever willingly done something you know isn't right.  Ask yourself if you've ever struggled ongoing with something you know isn't right.  Ask yourself if you've ever done things in your life that were broadcast on TV, if people would question whether you follow Jesus.  As you size yourself up as a "good person" or what you think a "saved person" looks like as we're talking about Miley, ask yourself if you're counting the public displays of "Christian behavior" and "public declarations of faith in God" and if you're mostly counting the good things vs. the bad things you do -- but not about the millions of good things that you have not done -- and have as a result done bad by inaction.

Is she still in your "unsaved group?"

OK. Now ask yourself -- can you read Miley's mind? Do you know if she prays at night?  Do you know if she wonders who God is, but can't feel God now and is struggling with doubt?  Do you know everything about Miley's journey?  Do you know that God has turned his back on the girl that used to openly confess her faith? Are you positive that if at this moment, Miley got hit by a bus, that her spirit would never be with God?

I don't know if Miley is currently choosing to let Jesus save her, but I can say with 100% confidence that I can't answer any of the questions above.  And I can say with 100% confidence that I need prayers just as much as Miley Cyrus.  I can say with 100% confidence that I am on a journey, like Miley is on a journey, and there have been times in my life that I've lived like a dirtbag, and I've struggled with doubt, but I've always had a faith that has saved me.  My proposal is that we give others like Miley Cyrus a break and be careful when we publicly highlight those we should pray for.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom?

Do you believe this? Perhaps the notion of "fearing God" pisses you off a little bit because you were raised in a church that put fear in to you to try and control you? I know people like this.

I believe that this Proverb is much richer than a "Fear Big Brother" translation that a simple reading may suggest. 

First off, should we fear God?  I suggest that given the entire theme of the Bible centering around God wanting a relationship with us, the answer is yes and no.  Fear in the sense of a deep respect and reverence for God's greatness? Yes. Fear in the sense of I am afraid of God and my fear is based on a dysfunctional idea that God is angry at me? No. 

I believe in this information era that we are living in right now, "the fear of God the beginning of knowledge" is a very worthy proverb to consider. Why? Because we all feel like we know so much. With Google, Siri, and a million other websites and apps brimming with information, we are a few clicks away from thinking that we can know anything.  Does having a lot of information equal wisdom? I think we all can agree that no. We all probably know someone who knows a lot, but constantly makes poor decisions in their life.

Why is the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom? It's because when we fear/respect God we stay humble enough to know that we don't know A LOT, and therefore we are open to learning. We are open to having a perspective that grows.

We can all think of a very ignorant, narrow-minded, stupid person who thinks they know everything. When you think you know everything your focusing is no longer on learning.  The more humble you are, the more open you are to keep learning and growing and gaining knowledge. 

Even someone who seeks God with all their heart may not fear God - and not even know it. How? Because they have an idol of certainty that they have the perfect understanding of scripture. This isn't the fear of God, this is the fear of being wrong. This is "the Bible told me so" notion that they have all of the answers right here, thankyouverymuch.  The fear of God should compel you to realize that you're not God, so you don't know God fully.

So once we can all admit that we won't even scrape the surface of wisdom, what can we know? What do we need to know? What knowledge is most important?

Self-sacrificial love. Jesus dying for us. Jesus summing it all up to "Love God, and love others.  Make sense?  Of all of the information in the universe, if you know what real love is, everything else pales in impotence.  

Someone can spend their whole life seeking all sorts of knowledge, trying to master a career or craft, seeking a goal, and miss life in the process because they didn't know love.  

The minute you understand love, you are on a path that is full of meaning the whole entire way, not simply a goal.

This is the beginning of wisdom.

Fictional Bibles

  
I just read a headline for an article ridiculing Christians for being upset about Costco putting the Bible in the "Fiction" category, even though it includes stories about a "talking snake" and other crazy stories.  

This article upset me for three reasons. 

Reason number 1, is, it wasn't a talking snake, it was a talking serpent, number 2, just because Costco labels the Bible as fiction doesn't mean it's fiction, so no need for Christians to get their undies in a bundle (you can't force anyone to have faith in what you have faith), and 3, not everyone understands that talking serpents, talking donkeys, and other wild stories in the bible may have not been literal events, but stories that pointed to a higher meaning, so have grace on people who don't believe.

For arguments sake, even if every story in the bible was fictional, but still accomplished it's purpose leading us to worshiping the God of self-sacrificial love, I don't think that God would mind being in the fiction category.  Jude 1:22