reblog: Confessing Temptation

Originally posted May 12, 2009

Some of the deepest and most meaningful conversations happen for me online through iChat.  I won’t go into what some may assume is an aversion to “real” connectedness and the reasons for choosing indirect interaction as opposed to face-to-face.  Get over it.  It’s real.

Anyway, I was having a conversation a couple weeks ago with a friend and we were talking about life and struggles and sin and church and blogs and whatever.  We were talking about temptations and here’s what I wrote…

I’m finding I have to be up front before [I stumble]
like I was always ashamed of the temptation
and so I’d wait
then confess the sin
it’s much harder for me to confess the temptation
but that’s where the safety is
and that’s the part of american church I guess I’ve been rebelling against
we don’t confess our temptations enough because we want people to think we’re above it
but there’s so much freedom and safety in confessing beforehand
even when it’s like… my heart isn’t in the right place
and to be able to admit that before you act on it
I don’t always get that right for sure but I’m learning

I’m reminded of a statement by Tozer that goes something like this: As humans we try and transcend our humanity and become like God; while God steps down from Heaven and embraces humanity and clothes himself in it through the man, Jesus Christ.

Why are we so afraid to admit our failures?  And why, when we haven’t even sinned yet, are we so afraid to admit our frailties in the form of common temptation?

It’s pretty simple… the Church should be a safe place to confess our temptations.  Maybe then, we wouldn’t be so consumed with creating forced accountability groups where we all sit in a chair and have to confess our sins.

I Am Right and You Are Wrong I came across this photo a couple weeks ago as part of The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011. The caption reads: Christians protect Muslims during prayer in Cairo, Egypt. As I paused to reflect on the image and all it means, I was reminded of something else.  Sadly, there are those in my own faith and a certain brand of Christianity that would take issue with the thought of protecting Muslims.  Because, after all, we are “right” and they are “wrong”.   It seems some people can’t move beyond this lowest level of thinking.  It consumes them.  They are always out to prove their “rightness.” Our political party is right and yours is wrong, on all accounts.  And, because of our self-convinced and overwhelming “rightness” we certainly won’t budge on any issue. Our method of “doing church” is right and yours is wrong.  Our tradition, song, worship style, discipleship model… all of the above. Our theological position on (insert just about any issue here) is right and therefore yours is wrong.  We have Scripture on our side to prove it. We throw down the gauntlet with a chip on our shoulder, daring anyone to challenge us.  Well, maybe it’s not that bad but all of us are guilty of this unloving attitude on some level. How many times has a mere disagreement between spouses escalated to full-blown argument as it moves beyond the issue at hand into the territory of who is right and who is wrong?  All my childish efforts to prove I’m right usually require someone else to be wrong.  But at what expense?  A deep cost in relationship and much much more. It’s ironic that the overarching narrative of the Bible is that God wants relationship with his people and they with each other.  In light of this truth, “being right” is of relative little importance.  It’s easy to miss the heart of God as we trumpet our position on the various issues. Are we so insecure in our beliefs that we must clamor (most of the time very loudly) for validation?  That is usually what is at the core.  The need for someone else to affirm us.  When we’ve been affirmed by Christ and have truly embraced it, there’s no need to go about attacking or defending. The older I get, the less concerned I am with being right.  I don’t have to defend anything.  It just is what it is.  I don’t feel the need to correct all the time.  I can disagree with others and still be in relationship.   Of course, I’ve not arrived.  I just have a growing disdain for this attitude in the political arena and especially amongst my own brothers and sisters.  I hate it most of all in me.  With love, temperance, and grace I hope to grow out of it completely.  If that’s not possible (I’m not sure it is), at least I want to recognize it way in the distance so I can abandon it before too much harm is done.
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I Am Right and You Are Wrong

I came across this photo a couple weeks ago as part of The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011. The caption reads:

Christians protect Muslims during prayer in Cairo, Egypt.

As I paused to reflect on the image and all it means, I was reminded of something else.  Sadly, there are those in my own faith and a certain brand of Christianity that would take issue with the thought of protecting Muslims.  Because, after all, we are “right” and they are “wrong”.  

It seems some people can’t move beyond this lowest level of thinking.  It consumes them.  They are always out to prove their “rightness.”

  • Our political party is right and yours is wrong, on all accounts.  And, because of our self-convinced and overwhelming “rightness” we certainly won’t budge on any issue.
  • Our method of “doing church” is right and yours is wrong.  Our tradition, song, worship style, discipleship model… all of the above.
  • Our theological position on (insert just about any issue here) is right and therefore yours is wrong.  We have Scripture on our side to prove it.

We throw down the gauntlet with a chip on our shoulder, daring anyone to challenge us.  Well, maybe it’s not that bad but all of us are guilty of this unloving attitude on some level.

How many times has a mere disagreement between spouses escalated to full-blown argument as it moves beyond the issue at hand into the territory of who is right and who is wrong?  All my childish efforts to prove I’m right usually require someone else to be wrong.  But at what expense?  A deep cost in relationship and much much more.

It’s ironic that the overarching narrative of the Bible is that God wants relationship with his people and they with each other.  In light of this truth, “being right” is of relative little importance.  It’s easy to miss the heart of God as we trumpet our position on the various issues.

Are we so insecure in our beliefs that we must clamor (most of the time very loudly) for validation?  That is usually what is at the core.  The need for someone else to affirm us.  When we’ve been affirmed by Christ and have truly embraced it, there’s no need to go about attacking or defending.

The older I get, the less concerned I am with being right.  I don’t have to defend anything.  It just is what it is.  I don’t feel the need to correct all the time.  I can disagree with others and still be in relationship.  

Of course, I’ve not arrived.  I just have a growing disdain for this attitude in the political arena and especially amongst my own brothers and sisters.  I hate it most of all in me.  With love, temperance, and grace I hope to grow out of it completely.  If that’s not possible (I’m not sure it is), at least I want to recognize it way in the distance so I can abandon it before too much harm is done.

reblog: I don’t want to do anything big for God…

Originally posted July 1, 2009

I know my blogging is sporadic at best and I still sometime wonder if it’s worth it or why even bother.  But, here I am… unfiltered, uncensored and certainly unpolished.

The statement above (the title not the one about sporadic blogging) is so in contrast from the way I lived my life for years.  Most of my life, I was told to “dream a big dream.”  Dream a big dream of doing something great… something big… something awesome for God.  And, make sure your dream is bigger than anything you can accomplish on your own or else it’s probably not God which is code for you are doing it all in the flesh and without faith and… you get the point.  You’ve probably heard it too.  Heck… I even preached a couple of these in my day.

And, like most things in life, I’m evaluating everything.  It’s just where I am these days and at this point in my journey.  So, I’ve been thinking about these statements and more importantly these concepts that we throw off on people in the Western church.  And, I’ve been looking to the Word (there’s a novel idea) and comparing this line of thinking to the examples we find in there.

By and large, I don’t see this as the line of thinking in the examples the Holy Spirit, in His limitless wisdom, decided to hand down for all generation to benefit.  Most of the men of faith had a measure of contentment rarely seen in church leaders in America.  You don’t see the pressured “build it as big as you can, as fast as you can” stressed out, “why isn’t this working, so let’s try the next thing” frenzy that a lot of church leaders exist in.

I don’t see the “big dreams” beginning with man at all.  It’s always been initiated by God.

  • God comes and taps Noah on the shoulder and somehow this drunkard of a man saves the planet and repopulates the earth.
  • God comes to Gideon and his response is, “Certainly, not me.”
  • God comes and hits Moses up and Moses argues for three chapters why God got it wrong and he’s not the guy.
  • God chooses mere fisherman who are content at working the family business to launch a global movement.

The only figure I can identify with a lot of ambition and “big dreams” to do “great things” for God is Saul… before God knocked him off his horse and he became Paul.  He was killing Christians in the name of God and in the name of doing “great things” for God.

So, somewhere along the line, we have to stop the madness of it all and stop the frenzy of it all and just walk.  Struggle if need be.  And focus on what’s most important.  And if somehow God taps us on the shoulder for something extraordinary then fine.  And if not, that’s fine too.

We all have our part to do in raising our families.  Doing the simple work of caring for others.  Loving… truly loving our neighbors.  Being generous and humble.  Expressing devotion to God in simple service.  And, I think in those things, God may just be more pleased than us getting all worked up about fulfilling the “big dreams” and building it as big as we can, as fast as we can.

Some may say, “that’s a cop out” but honestly I pity those that still live in that completely unbiblical, stressed out, fear-filled world of Amercian church leadership.

I for one, am living the dream and it may not be big to others but it is big to those closest to me.  And I’ve never been more content.