Selective Love?

Disagreeing with someone doesn’t mean that they have become your enemy. This is the way of the weak and insecure. The idea that we can only befriend those who think like us is flawed. Difference in beliefs is not a declaration of war. The wisest way of life is to love everyone – including our real and imagined enemies. As Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” Truth does not need to live in isolation. Truth can thrive in the midst of those who deny it.

Life Unscripted

Living in a media saturated culture has an effect on how we see life. Because we have seen so many movies and watched so much television, it seems to have tainted everything about us. We quote lines that we have heard in films and on television. We wear had-me-down fashions that have appeared on celebrities. Our schedules revolve around what time our favorite shows are on the telly. We rehearse situations as though we are actors or actresses preparing for some climactic scene.

This media obsession can easily color the way we view Scripture. Instead of understanding it as a record of the lives of ordinary people, we approach it as some kind of epic. When we come to stories such as the Woman Taken In Adultery in John 8 we forget that this is a narrative and we consider it as a production. In our minds it is as though a director began John 8 by saying, “Okay people. Today we’re recording John 8. I trust you’ve all studied your lines. I don’t want a lot of ad libbing—after all this is Scripture. As you hopefully know from the script, this is a big conflict scene between the Pharisees and Jesus. Now, those of you in the crowd, I want you to act shocked when they bring the woman on the stage. Where is my woman caught in adultery? Is she back from wardrobe? Good—Okay, doll. When the Pharisees drag you in, I need you to look terrified. Where’s Jesus? Jesus! Come over here. Now, big guy, I need for you to be “in the zone” WHEN THE Pharisees bring this gal and throw her at your feet. You’re not intimidated by these guys—you know what they’re doing! Okay, everyone think they’ve got it? Places, everyone—Okay, cue the rising sun. People start gathering on the temple set and action!”

Believe it or not, this was not how it happened. God’s Word records for us the events as they unfolded. The writers are simply bearing witness—testifying to what they have observed. The people who appear in the Bible accounts did not have advance notice of the day’s events. They did not know at the time that their words and actions were going to be recorded for us. There was no script memorization, no rehearsals, and no search for the motivation of the characters. No, the Bible is a “real time” document. It is reality television without the television.

Each day is not a rehearsal for the rest of our lives. Today is not a dress rehearsal for life—it is life. There is no preparation for ministry—preparation is ministry. We spend so much of our time and invest so much of our energy in preparing for the next big thing and there isn’t always a next big thing looming in the dawn. Each day, each hour, each moment is life. There is no pause button. Life is real time. And, for good or for harm, you and I encounter life’s events as they occur. We do not have the luxury of reviewing the filming schedule for tomorrow. We cannot ask to see the script. (Some would tell you there is no script.) Either way, we “do not know what will happen tomorrow” (James 4:14).

So, since we know that we don’t have the luxury of memorizing our lives, does this resign us to haphazard living? Yes and no. Not knowing the exact route does not mean that we do not know the destination. Not knowing the play by play does not mean that we do not understand how to play the game. And, having accumulated a bunch of knowledge through the course of our lives thus far, we have a wealth of knowledge to draw from for today.

Best of all, we have today. We don’t know the entire screenplay, so we can’t know for certain how close to the end we are, but we have today. We may or may not have had our heroic moment, but we have today.

Risking It All

Our desire for authentic relationships presents us with a strange paradox. On the one hand, we desire to be loved for who we are. In order to be loved for who we are we must be known for who we are. Yet, in order for that revelation to take place, we must be open and vulnerable. So we are left with a choice. Either we remain safely contained within ourselves - lonely, but secure, or we attempt to share our selves, which at best could lead to the relationship we have always craved or, at worst, to rejection. It is not an easy choice. It was not meant to be easy.

The vast majority of people crave a safe relationship. Millions spend their lives in search of that one who will love them in spite of who they are. They seek relationships that are committed. In other words, people are looking for relationships that will not change at the whim of choice or at the change of a mood. In the book Quality Friendship, Gary Inrig relates a moving story of the commitment that existed between two friends. It exemplifies the type of commitment we seek in our friendships. Writing of two World War I soldiers, Inrig writes of their inseparable relationship:

They had enlisted together, trained together, were shipped overseas together, and fought side-by-side in the trenches. During an attack, one of the men was critically wounded in a field filled with barbed wire obstacles, and he was unable to crawl back to his foxhole. The entire area was under a withering enemy crossfire, and it was suicidal to try to reach him. Yet his friend decided to try. Before he could get out of his own trench, his sergeant yanked him back inside and ordered him not to go. “It's too late. You can't do him any good, and you'll only get yourself killed.”

A few minutes later, the officer turned his back, and instantly the man was gone after his friend. A few minutes later, he staggered back, mortally wounded, with his friend, now dead, in his arms. The sergeant was both angry and deeply moved. 'What a waste,' he blurted out. 'He's dead and you're dying. It just wasn't worth it.' With almost his last breath, the dying man replied, 'Oh, yes, it was, Sarge. When I got to him, the only thing he said was, 'I knew you'd come, Jim.”

Who would risk everything to be at your side? There is one who already has.

Is there anyone that you love enough to give all? If not, you haven’t yet loved.

Legacy?

When we read of the lives of the extraordinary, we often believe that somehow they knew that their lives would be legendary. We nurture the notion that these people had a sense of destiny. And because they were aware of their manifest destiny, they conducted themselves in a manner befitting a heroine or hero. They were intentional about doing great things and accomplishing great deeds. So, we believe that in order to live a life of consequence we must do likewise.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was martyred by the Nazis on April 9, 1945. He had been an outspoken critic of Hitler’s Reich. Through long months of confinement in various prisons across Germany, Bonhoeffer did his best to live the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. Through ministry and concern for his fellow prisoners, Dietrich did what he could do given the time and place where he lived. When he died at the end of a hangman’s noose, Bonhoeffer could not have foreseen the import his life and writings would have on future generations. He did not know the depths to which his life would touch the hearts and minds of those followers of Christ who would follow after him. No, Dietrich Bonhoeffer could only live as he chose to live and be the person he was. In the midst of extraordinary circumstances he lived a life of simple faithfulness to his Father.

Our legacy is determined by others. All of this talk of “leaving a legacy” is self-important self-aggrandizement. It is those who follow after us who will determine where we failed and where we succeeded. The best that we can do is to live faithfully in the moment in which we find ourselves. We can do no more than our best.

More Than The Daily Grind

Among the plethora of activities I juggle, I serve as a life coach. One of the privileges I have is to help my client’s set and achieve goals in their lives. Often the temptation is to develop a “master plan” for life. By setting goals for relationships, education, career and interests, some believe that they can plan their entire lives. By getting the basics out of the way, a course is set for the rest of life. But things don’t always work out the way we plan. (Trust me on that one.) Relationships can transform, education can become outmoded, careers can change and interests grow. A master plan can easily become a list of items to complete. Once those things are finished, then we can slide through the rest of our lives. When this happens, we no longer live intentionally, but instead switch to autopilot.

Living each day as something special unto itself is a better way to live. By focusing on the things that are most important and seeing them as life principles – not goals – provides an overwhelmingly greater amount of joy and satisfaction in life. Instead of thinking in terms of our entire life, we are better served by thinking in terms of segments, eras or days. Not tomorrow – today! Viewing life in this way causes us to invest in our relationships now – not just to see them as a long term investment that can be forgotten and gone back to later. Living life daily gives us the incentive to see our education as something that continues long after college with each day filled with opportunities to discover new truths. Careers and other interests are no longer “jobs” or “hobbies; instead they are passions which we engage and nurture.

Life on autopilot is repetitive and numbing. Engaging each new day and intentionally living out our beliefs and passions is a much, much, much better way to live. Try this: write down the three most important things in your life. Each morning when you awake, ask yourself what you are going to do to enrich those interests. Think of your life as a garden and these three life priorities are most important plants. How are you going to nurture those plants? What will you do today to help them grow? What weeds need to be removed so they can thrive? It isn't yet time for harvest...there is much growing to do.

To What Do You Cling?

In the book The Great Crash 1929, John Kenneth Galbraith writes, “When people are least sure they are often the most dogmatic.” Faced with uncertainty – or even fear – people will hold even more rigidly to their beliefs. (This is, I believe, part of what President Obama had in mind with his “bitter clingers” comment.) When dealing with unknowns, it is natural to return to what is known.

One of the great theologians in history was Karl Barth. In the course of his life he wrote prolifically, including a several volume collection entitled Church Dogmatics. His thought and theology have shaped literally hundreds of thousands of lives. J.M. Boice records the following story about Karl Barth,

"Several years before his death the Swiss theologian Karl Barth came to the United States for a series of lectures. At one of these, after a very impressive lecture, a student asked a typically American question. He said, 'Dr. Barth, what is the greatest thought that has ever passed through your mind?' The aging professor paused for a long time as he obviously thought about his answer. Then he said with great simplicity: ‘Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so'"

What are the basic truths of your life? What are your foundational beliefs?

Post Christian United States

It is obvious that the Christian religion is on the decline in the United States. On April 4th of this year, Newsweek magazine published an article by Jon Meacham entitled “The End of Christian America.” President Obama visiting Turkey this week said "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation…." The influence of Evangelicals in politics is waning and church attendance continues to decline. We are on the verge of entering – if we have not already entered – a Post-Christian era in the United States. For many, this is more than a little depressing.

The teachings of Jesus were never meant to be the foundation for a religion. In fact, Jesus is one of the most antireligious voices in history. From the beginning, his words were meant to be lived, not simply studied and memorized. The “church” was intended to be a fellowship of strugglers whose intention was to walk as Jesus did – not a place for club members to gather weekly. Religion is humanity’s attempt to redeem itself. Jesus reveals a Heavenly Father who reaches to us.

The call of Jesus in 2009 is the same as it was when he proclaimed it. "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Decline in a religion does not change our responsibility to our commitment.