Slander, Judgment and Lollipops

Two Sunday’s ago, when Pastor Stacey introduced the beginning of James 4, he emphasized that for the first time in the letter, James moves off what we do for one another and finally mentioned the importance of our relationship with God. At first glance it seems that in verses 11 and 12, James jumped suddenly back from talking about our relationship with God to talking
about our relationship with each other. It may seem that James is switching topics, but I’m
convinced this is very much the same topic. We will never be able to draw near to God until we
draw near to each other. How can we buddy up to God while holding our brothers and sisters
at arm’s length? As we discovered to be “law-abiding” is to keep the “Royal Law” of loving God
and our neighbor.

I am reminded of a time that I participated in encouraging the slander and judgment of
someone I didn’t even know. It happened when I toured with Continental Singers years ago.
I was having lunch with a couple friends with whom I had toured in the previous year but who
were now with a different group. One of them was slandering a person in their current group
whom I didn’t know but I was highly entertained by their comments. Wanting to stimulate
this conversation further, I made a comment about the unknown person to my other friend at
the table and she responded soberly “I don’t really want to comment on this, it would just be
gossip.” I immediately felt conviction and shame. What part of me was so broken that I took
enjoyment in the slander and judgment of someone I didn’t even know? All I could say was,
“your right, I’m sorry.”

I have heard from several who stated that in response to the time of reflection, God has
reminded them of someone they have slandered and judged and they have been compelled to
do something about it. I am aware some who were quick to obey and sought out an individual
they had judged and slandered and quickly pursued reconciliation. What an example of loving
God and loving your neighbor!!

In the “Pursue” section of the Mission Briefing, we encouraged everyone to purchase a lollipop
(in reference the soccer illustration) and keep it as a reminder that we should not slander or
judge. Later on Sunday, it occurred to me that I could have given a benediction with few words
by taking the lollipop I had in the pulpit and unwrapping it and putting in my mouth and saying
“go and do likewise.”

Blessings!

Pastor Kurt Kincanon

Life WITH God

In his book, With, Skye Jethani, managing editor of Leadership Journal, writes about the different ways human beings seek to relate to God.  He argues that the basis for all human religion is fear and control.  We live in a scary world, he says, one marked by chaos, ugliness, injustice and scarcity.  We fear what might happen to us and, therefore, seek to find ways to control our world, protect ourselves from danger and alleviate our fears.  Enter religion.

Jethani then uses the first half of the book to describe for us four flawed ways we try to use religion to control our world: Life Under God, Life Over God, Life From God and Life for God.  The book is worth a read, but let me briefly define each of these ways religion seeks to relate to God and control the world.

Life Under God “seeks to control the world by securing God’s blessings via rituals and/or morality.”  We try to please God by living rightly and he rewards us by protecting and blessing us.

Life Over God “employs natural laws or divine principles extracted from the Bible to help us through life’s challenges.”  This view tends to see the Bible as a book made up of mostly (or entirely) principles for life that, if obeyed, will bring us blessing and control over our world and lives.

Life From God is about seeking to get things from God – material wealth, popularity, success, health – because in doing so we insulate ourselves from the potential dangers of the world.  In this view, God is a sort of cosmic vending machine.

Life For God “tries to extract God’s favor through faithful service for God.”  It believes that if we do enough for God, he will bless and protect us.  If we go to enough Bible studies, volunteer enough of our time, give enough of our money, we will be blessed.

Each of these approaches, though different, seeks the same thing: to control the world and alleviate our fears.   But each of them fails to do what we hope they will do.  Jethani then goes on to tell us that there is another way, Life With God.  This approach is not about seeking control, but surrendering control and trusting that God is with us and will be with us if we fall or find ourselves facing dangers that threaten to harm us or undo us.  

To borrow from our passages from James 4 on Sunday, if we are going to draw near to God, and have him draw near to us, we must do so in a life lived not over, under, from or for God, but with God.  That is, we must put into place in our lives the practices that foster the withness of God's daily presence.  He is there, of course - always.  But we need help in learning to commune with him in prayer, the reading of Scripture, attention to the Holy Spirit and the life-affirming presence of authentic community.  

Which way of life most describes your way of life (over, under, from, for or with)?  How might you move more into the surrendering trust in God Jethani talks about?  What practices most enable you to draw near to God?

A Faithful God

The prophet Isaiah is speaking to the people of God in Israel who had made some very bad choices at just the wrong time and were facing exile from their promised land.  Their neglect of God’s law and calling has led them to this displacement.  Even before the call to raise the foundations in the dark lands in Isaiah 58, God makes a promise to his people in Isaiah 43:1-3---

But now, this is what the Lord says— 

he who created you, Jacob, 

he who formed you, Israel: 

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 

I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 

² When you pass through the waters, 

I will be with you; 

and when you pass through the rivers, 

they will not sweep over you. 

When you walk through the fire, 

you will not be burned; 

the flames will not set you ablaze. 

³ For I am the Lord your God, 

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  

As we step out in faith to live a wise life and seek to make the right choice at the right time, God is faithful and will come alongside us.  The God who created us (verse 1) knows us intimately, and calls us by our name to GO!  And as we go he will sustain us through the difficulties and challenges of ministering in these broken places (verse 2) because he is God our Savior (verse 3).

It’s never too late to start making the right choice at the right time; to acquire wisdom.  Step out faithfully in volunteering, helping and seeking opportunities to be a light in the places of darkness.  

Simple Isn't Easy

I am told that from the beginning Steve Jobs was insistent that the iPhone have only one button for operation.  Designers pushed back and tried different designs, but Jobs held fast to his original vision: one button only.  Eventually, of course (as was always the case with Jobs), his vision won out.  Why was this so important?  Simplicity.  If people were going to want what he was selling, it needed to be straightforward, simple and streamlined.

On Easter Sunday we discovered the Apostle Paul's affinity for simplicity as well.  He boiled the entirety of the gospel down to one phrase we must believe and confess with our mouths: Jesus is Lord!  Like the iPhone, however, it may be a one-button operation, but there is a lot of complex technology behind that one simple button.  Pushing the button gets you into the iPhone and gives you access to all sorts of wonderful apps, but there is more to experiencing all God has for us than simply seeing all the apps on the home screen.  If we are to enjoy it all, we must open the applications available to us and engage them.

Behind this all-important (one-button) confession is faith in who Jesus is, that God raised him from the dead and that his work on our behalf was enough.  This confession is not merely a statement of faith; it is a statement of a life that is transformed and is being transformed by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  To name Jesus as Lord is to walk differently, live differently, talk differently, relate different, spend money, spend time and steward our lives differently than we did before.  Suddenly, "applications" we never dreamed of are available to us, at our fingertips and ready to be explored.

Naming Jesus as Lord, believing in our hearts that God raised him from the dead means something profound.  It changes us.  Suddenly we do not live only for ourselves.  We live for God and our faith contains works of compassion, mercy and justice as well.  As I said on Sunday, truly confessing Jesus as Lord necessitates a radical reorientation of the whole of our lives for the kingdom of God.  That's what Resurrection means, friends.  Once we have met Jesus and submitted to his lordship, we can never be the same.  Simply put, in Christ we become Easter People.

How has the resurrection of Jesus changed the way you live your life, how you relate to and speak to others, how you rank your priorities and spend your time?  Where has the resurrection yet to make the kind of difference in life it ought to make in your life?