Nothing Really Matters

Sunday morning, sitting back in a Sunday School room, I heard something that really got my gears spinning. One sentence said offhandedly (I think) had me thinking the rest of the day, and this one little sentence is the inspiration for this post. The fact that this was Easter morning meant that I got to see this lesson put in to practice immediately, which made it all the more poignant to me.

On Easter morning, we sang, we worshiped, we praised and we felt the Spirit move in the church. We heard the words that were said, read the Bible, raised our hands, prayed and did all the other things that go into a church service. As I sat there in my seat I realized that none of this meant anything at all.

Since it was Easter, of course there was a mention of the resurrection of Christ. The depths of the love of God that He would send His Son to die for us was spoken of and was a prominent theme in the songs that we sang. The foundations of Christianity were put on display for all to see and still as I sat thinking it would not leave me that none of this mattered.

Yes, you are reading correctly. I am saying that the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ are totally and completely meaningless. That is until...

"Until Jesus is alive in your heart, that fact that He is alive doesn't mean anything to you."

I may have not got the quote exactly right, but it's close enough and there is so much truth in it. On Easter Sunday there was a clear division of those present and I could see that towards the back of the church sat many people who didn't see the meaning in the singing or in the praise or in the worship. When the pastor spoke, or when the Bible was read or when we prayed, they could hear only words. When we raised our hands and the Spirit moved, all they could see was people acting foolishly. To these people the resurrection is nothing more than just some mythical event to be given no more credence than any fairy tale, the love of God is an antiquated concept germane only to their poor, old, deluded mother, certainly not to them, and Jesus Christ Himself is nothing more than a questionable footnote in the annals of history. None of what was happening bore any significance to them nor held any meaning at all. Jesus doesn't live in their hearts and because of it, none of what was happening really mattered.

There is a chorus that we used to sing that starts "There's been a change in me, a change in me. I'm not the one I used to be." This song speaks of the change that happens when you are saved and Christ inhabits your person, but it just doesn't go far enough, not nearly. The truth about Christian conversion is that more than just you changes. Yes you have become a new creature when you put off the old man, but there are further implications inherent in that statement. I can simplify what really happens into two words: Everything changes.

Those exact same words spoken over the pulpit on Easter morning are filled with a life that they didn't have before. Worship and praise gain a meaning that is impossible to conceive of before you know the Lord. The Bible becomes more than just a book, morphing into the living Word of God and furthermore you realize that He is speaking to you through it. Even the simple action of raising your hands ceases to be a motion to go through and becomes an act of surrender to God.

At the same time, things that mattered so much to us at one time "grow strangely dim" as the song so eloquently puts it. The true significance of what we cared so much about becomes evident and those very things that held sway over our lives lose their grip and are replaced by new things whose value is real. We see life through different eyes and it's only when you've reached this point that you realize the truth in the simple statement, everything changes.

While I'm sure that most of the people who sat in the back of church last Sunday morning were just there to please someone they are related to or perhaps out of some misguided attempt to curry favor with God by showing up to church once a year, I'd bet that there was at least one person who wished that everything made sense so that they would have a reason to believe. There will always be those among us of nominal faith or who really have no interest and that's fine with me, but it is those waiting for something to happen before they take the plunge that make me sad.

While I mean this post to be for everyone, really it is addressed to those who wait. If all you ever do is wait you will never find yourself in any other place than where you are right now. Don't wait instead make a decision. Either decided to ask Jesus to forgive you or don't and then move forward. One way or another discover for yourself the truth that either nothing really matters or that everything changes.

Put Five Dollars Worth In

Everyone has their own reasons for the different actions that they take, but there is one thing that I've seen more than a few people do that has always confuses me. What I'm referring to is when someone goes to the gas station and puts a very small amount of gas in their gas tank. When I see this I really wonder why and for some reason five dollars seems to be the small amount I hear most often so I'm going to stick with that for the rest of this post, but I've seen people put a dollar or less in their tank which really blows my mind. Now I understand that if you can't afford more than a few dollars then that's what you have to use, but in many of the cases I've seen this is just not the case. Often putting small amounts of gas in the tank isn't a result of people not driving far, it's just a habit of bad money management that means they stop at gas stations more often. Why they don't just fill up their tank has always been one of life's little mysteries to me.

In today's prices five dollars of gas would be almost enough for me to make the round trip from home to work and back. It wouldn't purchase a full two gallons, and if I made a habit of putting only five dollars worth in my car, I would be stopping every single day for gas, always running on or near empty and would probably find myself running out of gas quite frequently. Because of this, I fill my car up so that I can go the longest time without having to stop again and I don't wait until I'm running on fumes to fill up again (at least most of the time).

While the amount of gasoline that you put into your car is not really a significant aspect of life there is an underlying mentality that can surface in other areas of our lives and this mentality can have serious repercussions. Specifically, I'm thinking of how much effort we put into our Christian walk.

Do we attend church on a regular basis (Heb 10:25)? When we are there do we participate? Do we get everything out of church that we can? Do we commune with God regularly (1 Thess 5:17)? Do we praise Him? Do we read the Bible? Furthermore, have we meditated on the Bible and made it a part of our lives (Psa 1:2, Psa 119:11)? Even if we do all these, how do we do them? Do we do them heartily, or just enough to get by (Col 3:23)?

What is our attitude when it come to our Christian walk? Are we putting just enough to get us through the day into it, or are we doing more than that? Spiritually speaking, are we running on empty or is our tank full? I've heard a statement that is just good old common horse sense, but it applies here. Serving the Lord hard is easy, but serving the Lord easy is hard. If we are only putting in the minimum we have to, how can we ever expect to get more than the minimum out? How much of our spiritual gas tank do we leave empty on a permanent basis?

Hiatus

I realize that more than half a year has elapsed between my last post and the one before that, so I want to take a minute and address why I was silent for so long. Last August I decided that it would be in my best interest to take a step back and spend some time being introspective. In addition the comments to the last few posts that I wrote were spiraling out of control and as I read them through a couple of times I couldn't help wondering if I wasn't having a divisive influence that was not at all my intention. I want to be sure not only that my motives are pure but also that I'm aware of the implications of my actions, intended or not. This is really the reason that I've not written in so long.

Please understand that I took this action of self censure on my own and of my own accord. I've not been asked to quit writing by anyone, except maybe for whoever is pretending to be Bro. Dyal. A little bit of reassessment is never a bad thing and I would suggest that everyone does it once in a while like I have these last few months.

Even during this silent period though there have been a few subjects that have burdened my heart and I really feel that the Lord has been bringing these thing up over and over in my life as a call to speak the truth to anyone who will hear it (Matt 13:9). Simply put, last week's post won't be my last, although I don't know if I will be posting with near the regularity as I have in the past. It seems that if you have even a moment of down time life finds a way to fill it up, and I have many more responsibilities soaking up my time than I did a year ago, but I expect I will find the time to blog when I can. I hope you are looking forward to me writing again as much as I am.

Systems of Healthy Christianity

The human body is a stunningly complex and amazing machine (Ps 139:14). It is composed of many members but it operates as a unified whole. When we study the body we break it down into logical systems that we can isolate and observe in depth. Some of those systems are: Muscular, Skeletal, Cardiovascular, Nervous, Digestive, Endocrine, Lymphatic, and Reproductive.

Each of these various systems provides a different function to the body as a whole. For example our musculature allows us to move and do work while our skeleton provides us structural support and so on. All of these systems are necessary for the body to operate at it's peak proficiency, and when even just one of these systems isn't working properly, the body's overall function is in some way impaired. Depending on which system is impaired, the body may not function at all.

I'm not claiming that there exists some kind of scriptural one-to-one relationship between physiological systems of life and spiritual systems of new life, but I do believe that there are similarities between the workings of the body and the operations of the church, each being a complex, multi-faceted system. I also believe that much like a broken body where one or more systems are failing, when not every operation in the church is functional, then that church is broken as well.

Many different facets present themselves to those who are willing to look, yet doctrinal teaching seems to be the one everyone focuses on. Why is is that we place so much importance on doctrine that we are willing to split ourselves up into group which we define solely by their adherence to or agreement with a particular doctrinal bent? Doctrine is only one of these integral Christian systems but it is not the only element nor is it the most important. Prayer, praise, worship, charity, brotherly love and the operation of the Spirit are every part as important as doctrine, if not more so. Just to clarify I do not mean this to be an exclusive list, just a representative one.

What good is it to have a perfect doctrine in our group if our churches aren't reaching out and sharing the Gospel to those who would hear it and benefit by being taught that doctrine? What good is knowledge or understanding when we forget charity or brotherly love? What life is there in doctrine itself? The answer my friends is none. Better a man be saved and his understanding remain imperfect than that same man have all knowledge and yet he is dead. I'm not the first person to make this kind of point either (1 Cor. 13:1-3).

When any of these systems are lacking, so to is our overall Christian being; this new life that we have hasn't been realized in all fullness yet. Don't believe me? Stop praying, break that personal connection to your God and Savior and see if your life doesn't get just slightly dysfunctional (I Thess 5:17). Quit praising God and even if every other system of your Christian life were operating at capacity, what would it say about you when a rock takes your place (Luke 19:40)? We need all these facets of Christianity in order to operate in fullness, and it is my observation that there is a least one system of Christianity that has atrophied almost to the point of non-existence in some areas in our group. That area is reproduction.

When scientists classify life, there are a few standards that are set that must be met, not the least of which is the ability to reproduce. Without that simple ability to produce new life, can anything really be said to be alive itself? Oft times the toughest hardship that a married couple could possibly have to deal with is the inability to have children and yet in the church the lack of growth is swept under the rug and conveniently ignored. If the church is not generating new babes in Christ then that church my friend is barren. It is lacking, missing one of the fundamentals of the faith (Mark 16:15).

Furthermore, there are churches out there who understand this particular system of Christianity even if they are lacking in other facets. It seems to me that perhaps we have just as much of a lesson to learn from them as they have to learn from us. Show me in the scripture that there is a second elite church, one that isn't called to spread the good news. How can we not follow in the footsteps of Jesus in this respect (Matt 9:35)? I think we have woefully misrepresented this aspect of Christianity in our lives (Mark 8:35).

Just a clarification here: A generational church that manages to maintain it's numbers through the begetting of natural children fulfills neither the statement "those who should be added" nor the mandate to spread the good news everywhere (Acts 2:47). Children born into the church are a blessing, but there are fields all around us ready to be harvested so I ask you, why are we content to remain in our own backyards? Are we simply to ignore these fields, that mass of humanity that does not really know Jesus because of a barrier that men have put between themselves and God called religion?

A friend of mine once said something very wise. She said that there are only two kinds of people in this world, children of God and potential children of God. Will we who personally know the lovingkindness of God refuse to reach out and chance to extend hope to a fallen man or woman? We are all tools to be used by God, but is our anthem, "Jesus use me, surely there's a work that I can do," or instead, has it become, "Leave me in the toolbox, I think I kinda like it here"?

Every Christian my friend has a great mandate placed upon their lives to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to this world. I'm not saying it will be easy, in fact I believe that years and in some cases decades of neglect of evangelism will make getting back into this practice hard, but remember Jesus promised to be with you always and to fill your mouth with words when you need them. Be bold, be courageous, for you see, my Friend is building a kingdom and he has called you and me to build it along with Him. Lets get to work.