What It Costs to be a Disciple

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first." ~ Mark 10:29-31

It's a sobering footnote to the account of the rich young ruler - a less-than-comforting word of comfort at the climax of a crescendo of sobering declarations: that it's hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God ... that with man, it is impossible to be saved; but with God it is possible. It's the answer to Peter's desperate cry for affirmation: "We've left everything to follow you!"

It was true for them. Is it true for us?

Do we believe that it's still hard for the rich to enter God's kingdom? I don't know about you, but I sure don't live like I believe it. I have so much stuff that I've caught myself thinking about renting stuff so I can buy more stuff to stuff with all of my extra stuff.

Do we believe that with man - trying to direct his own steps; trying to weave his own robes of self-righteous white and ending up with only filthy rags - with man, it actually is impossible to please God? but that with God, all things are possible? I still find myself thinking from time to time that I can beat all the bad stuff, do all the good stuff, understand all the incomprehensible stuff, live all the tough stuff, believe all the incredible stuff, and be right about all the right stuff if I just try a little bit harder.

What a bunch of ... stuff.

Without God, it's impossible.

But does it always cost home, family and possessions to follow?

As nearly as I can tell, yes. In one way or the other: either you give everything over to God that you have - willingly, cheerfully, gladly - and be delighted to use whatever He lets you use for His glory; or He will eventually take it away from you. He'll do whatever it takes to help you fulfill your commitment to follow His Son and journey ever closer to Him.

At the Pepperdine Lectureship last week, Angi and I taught the chapter on kenosis - emptying one's self in order to be filled with the equipping Holy Spirit - from Darryl Tippens' book Pilgrim Heart as an example for leading small groups. One of the folks in our class was a dear lady who had been emptied by God, and she believed it was because He loved her so much and that she had never emptied herself of the kind of life she wanted to lead. It had cost her health, her job, and almost the life of a beloved daughter to a suicide attempt.

As many times as I have read Job before that moment, I had never really thought about God letting Satan empty that beloved old patriarch so that He could fill his child with blessing.

Expect persecutions, Jesus prophesies. And when they come, James adds:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." ~ James 1:2-4

Ouch. Giving up everything so that you will lack nothing. That's pretty much what Jesus expected of that rich young ruler, wasn't it?

No wonder there are so many of us Christians.

And so few of His disciples.

There Is A God

What a great discussion Wednesday night at Cascade College. We had 2 atheists, an agnostic philosophy professor, and myself discuss Antony Flew's book There is a God. The Rehearsal hall was packed (had to bring in extra chairs). This session the Cascade students were surprisingly absent (except the ones required to come for my class). Kevin Reed from Cascade moderated. We had students from Portland State, Mt. Hood Community College, a youth group, and many other visitors. This year the agnostic students took issue with the atheist's comment that we would be better off without religion. During the Q and A they had some pretty strong words to say. It was neat and the discussion drew everyone in and helped to prove that we can have conversations out of respect.

The book by Flew is an easy read. The panel was required to read the book, ask a question from the book (we also had a question submitted by the author of the book), and answer the questions from the panel and audience. I think we had a good healthy discussion. Chris Jackson, as usual, can be counted on getting the group to laugh often and still be an aggressive arguer. Jerry is his old smile but be grouchy self and continues to provoke people to get their hackles up and ask him questions. One of the men who attended emailed me Thursday and said that he and his 3 high school daughters had a great discussion about the debate all the way home. This is what we wanted. We also have open doors to talk further with the United State's Atheists, PSU's group, and at Mt. Hood. God is always good and obviously loves conversation.

What did I learn from this? I had finished Dawkin's book The God Delusion and was very much in tune to the language used by the atheists concerning Christians and people of faith.

1. Dawkins suggests that higher intellect people do not make up many of the members of the faith communities. He also suggests that faith is belief without evidence. However, Antony Flew's shift from atheist to believing in a supreme being proves that believing in God can be rational and intellectual. Flew was converted on many of the basic teliological arguments and suggests to us that they are valid reasons to believe in God.

2. We need intellectuals in the faith. I see many ministry majors that have the mind but not the passion for ministry. I see others that have the passion and have neglected the mind. We need both. Some of the Bible majors worry me--since our churches will hire them thinking that this is the best there is. They lack the discipline and courage to expand their mind. They act as if learning Greek, theology, and church history is the hardest part of ministry--yet little do they know that the hardest part is yet to come. We do need bright young minds to enter ministry and not only fight Satan in the areas of social justice--but fight him in the intellectual arena. We need young bright minds (male and female) who will smile at the challenges of modern culture and ask the questions people are afraid to ask. We need to remember that the statement, "Paul, your great learning has made you crazy," was not an inspired statement--it was made by a pagan.

3. Flew spent many years debating Christian theologians and developed a respect for them. Relationship may have played a part in his shift. Likewise, relationship plays an important part in our outreach and encouragement to others. We need intellectuals in the church but they must also be relational. People will be open if they are our friends.

4. We need to respect all people and listen. Nancy, one of the atheists, made the comment to the group that I had helped her to see that morals can be faith based. This has happend through years of discussions, friendship, and arguments based in respect.

5. People need to quit basing their views of religion on the Fundamentalist TV preachers that they see. There are many more people who have rational and logical answers to Bible questions. We want to find opportunities to talk with people and answer their questions and help them see that God is a loving caring God.

I'm looking forward to our next discussion.

Restoring the New Testament Church

You know, maybe that's not such a bad idea.

But there's really only one way to do it. And it has nothing to do with trying to re-create the way church was "done" in century one; analyzing structures and customs and laws and hermeneutics and praxes of a day long since past, then trying to imitate them and adapting them and staying within them and never straying outside them and shaking our fingers or fists at those who don't "do" church as well as we think we think they should be "doing" it.

Restoring the New Testament Church is the natural result of restoring souls to the God they have either never known or have wandered away from - through His Son, gifted by His Spirit, penitent and confessional and washed clean of sin and dedicated to drawing ever closer to their Lord.

If we really gave our hearts away to God and to the desperate needs of others, it would happen. And it would happen in the same ways that it did more than nineteen hundred years ago.

Those unreached by God's love would be turned to worshipers by the generosity we would show. They would open their own hearts to the Story of the Christ by our answer to their question "Why do you do this for us?": "Because Jesus loves all."

We've made a terrible mistake in thinking that restoring the church is the means by which we can bring people to Christ.

Bringing people closer to Christ is how His church is restored.

And while it's true that sometimes we learn by doing, most of the time we love by doing.

Not by talking about it. Not by analyzing it. Not by meeting in our distinctive church buildings and worshiping our distinctive way and maintaining our distinctive air of piety.

All we have to do, really, is focus our lives on Christ; being like Him and loving like Him and serving like Him. Because, in a bizarre Moebius loop of cause-and-effect, when we serve others we serve Him. When we care for others, we care for His needs. When we feed and heal and clothe others, we feed and heal and clothe His body; His church.

There was an early time - before greed and racial tension and hierarchical jealousy and other selfishness set in - when the church was a group of people restored to God:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

They did it because they loved unreservedly, just as Jesus prophesied and promised them:

Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

They did it because that's exactly what He did:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

If you love, you give.

If you love, you give up self.

That's His idea of restoring the church.

How does it compare to ours?

_{(originally posted at Blog in My Own Eye)}

Sexual Violence: The Unmentionable Sin

Chat here about the article by Dr. Marie Fortune.

Domestic Abuse and the Family of God

Chat here about this issue and the introductory article by Ron Clark (known to you here as KMiV!).

Holy Hush or Shattered Silence?

Chat here about this article by Nancy Nason Clark.

The Dilemma of Anger, Aggression, and Intimate Partner Violence

Chat here about this article by Ron Clark (known to you here as KMiV!).

Real Men Don't Kiss?

I kiss all my boys. My boys don't hesitate to kiss me--well, Nathan not so much now. I guess that is OK. But I've never been ashamed to show affection to them.

I grew up with a dad who didn't show affection. He never kissed us, that I can remember (although he did kiss my mom a lot--at least before they were divorced). I can't remember him ever hugging us. My brother is divorced and is not affectionate.

I chose not to be. I don't blame my dad. It wasn't because he was an athiest--he got beat as a kid and did well for how his parents mistreated him. My brother has done the best he could for how he was raised. My dad told him he had hated him since he was 5 (he said this when Geoff was 14). My only fist fight with my dad was when he hit my brother with a rake. I told him I was going to kick his *** and I just about did.

So I started this fatherhood thing with some baggage--and I still struggle with it. However, I always said I wouldn't be afraid to show affection. Jesus brought forgiveness and healing to my life and my father wound. God has been my role model as a father (and sometimes mother). Seems to be working so far. I think our kids can easily forgive us if they know they can hug us safely.

Led By God Under a Bridge Part 2

So we went to lunch together at Louie's Chinese Restaurant in Chinatown. We had a good meal and it was hot.

He had been in and out of rehab and was now 9 days clean from heroin and crack. He was wanting to get off the streets and we talked about options. I feel that it is better to give options and empower people to choose, rather than choose for them and tell them what to do. It was obvious that something was bothering him. As he talked about his past and how he self medicated, I kept probing as to why he chose the path he had. He kept stating that he had pain and it was hard to accept himself. I understood.

"So, you really believe that God led you to me," he said.
"Sure," I said, "I have learned that God works that way."
"What if I would not have been there?" he asked.

I shared with him that I would be sitting with someone else, somewhere else, eating lunch. However, I suggested to him that there are so many people (I used the term so many you can shake a stick at) like him that God sends us to who we meet. Unfortunately there are not many who will go so there are plenty who need but few who will go. Therefore, I would have met someone.

He was silent. "But," I mentioned, "I listened to God and that is why I met you. God has always tried to reach you--sometimes you closed your eyes, other times people God sent bailed before they got to you."

"So people make choices," he said.
"Yes," I replied, "sometimes people make good choices, other times they make bad choices. God offers the choice, people either choose to do or choose to ignore. Yet most of the times God chooses not to intervene."

He understood. "But there have been times when I thought God was leading, but it ended in disaster. I have lived the last few years believing that God punished me and did that to me. I have been angry with him."

I understood. I mentioned that people make choices. If I had walked to him, as God had led me, and some guys met me, robbed me, and beat me up (before I got to him) would God have still been to blame? It was clear that God had led me to the bridge, but did God put the guys in my way to hurt me?

He shook his head.