Stand in Awe of God

Ecclesiastes 5
5 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. 2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. 3 As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words. 4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. 5 It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. 6 Do not let your mouth lead you into sin. And do not protest to the temple messenger, “My vow was a mistake.” Why should God be angry at what you say and destroy the work of your hands? 7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ec 5:1-7). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Have we lost the idea that we should be in awe of God? Reading this passage, I am thinking about what we are doing with Christianity today. I have written previously about the dangers of legalism and my personal struggles with what we / I have made Christianity, but there is a danger in making God our buddy. He is God. To loose the awsomeness of that idea is to miss a big part of who and what He is. It becomes easy to forget His majesty and His power when we stop seeing God as The one true God of the Universe, both a personal savior and a majestic being, worthy of all honor, praise and glory.

It can be a tough balance to keep this perspective sometimes. We are able to have communion with God, He destroyed the barrier between us and He gave us grace, but it did not diminish who and what He is. We are told to take seriously what we say to Him. How many of us sing our sunday morning worship songs by rote? How many of us really consider the promises we are echoing to God? I know that I do not always live true to this passage.

Who are we modeling?

What have we collectively made Christianity into that we have strayed so far from our model? Jesus gave us an example in Himself that we can follow. It is not a complex book of rules, rather a very basic directive to love others as yourself. What have we done that the words of Gandhi ring so true?

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ - Mahatma Gandhi

I would posit that we have lost the simple message because we can't accept the idea that it is not of ourselves that we attain heaven. We make it about the doing, rather than the being. In making it about the doing, we loose the real message of love. It is easier to check items off a list than it is to live a life dedicated to showing a Christ-like love.

Galatians 5:14 (NIV)
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

I am challenged by this thought, because to live a life based on demonstrating Christ's love is a far greater challenge than any set of rules.

The balance of faith producing works

I have come back to this idea repeatedly, looking at what it means to live the Christian life, and what being a Christian is all about. Knowing that faith without works is dead, and knowing that we are justified through faith and not works, there is this competition of ideas at times. I would like to say that I don't struggle with this simple idea, but it causes me undue angst at times as I try to figure out what my life should look like. I know I am not the only one who has pondered this, but at times it feels a lonely road.

Walking the Walk

While looking for encouragement and examples of courage, I ran across a little bit of wisdom is Philippians as well. Basically, what really hit me the most about it was the idea of what it means to "walk the walk". What does it mean to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel ?

Philippians 1:27-29
(27) Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel
(28) without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved--and that by God.
(29) For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him,

To get a little more insight into this, I suppose looking at some examples of what the Gospels say about conduct would be a good starter. In Galations 5, I found a pretty concise summary of this idea. In one word, it can all be summed up as Love.

Galatians 5:13-26
(13) You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
(14) The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
(15) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
(16) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
(17) For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
(18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
(19) The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
(20) idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
(21) and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
(24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
(25) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
(26) Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Reading through this passage, clearly the predominate thought is that love is the foundation of it all. All the other other things can be considered manifestations of that love. One of the real dangers that the previous passage represents is the interpretation of what it means to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel

Looking at the passage in Galations, we get an idea - the trick is to not then create our own law structure around these ideas.

The story of life

I recently read a book titled Epic, suggested by a friend of mine. The book was written by John Eldredge and was a very quick read with an interesting message. The basic idea of the book is that life is a story that God is telling and the story of creation and the universe is imprinted in every person. The essential elements of hero, struggle and redemption are being reflected in popular culture and stories.

After reflecting on the ideas for a while, I like the image that it provides me. The question of, is there something more? is answered in the story. We have to identify our part in the story and what role we play. I had another friend recently ask me what my role was in life. He had watched the movie, "The Lady in the Water" and was caught up in the idea of the story and roles we play. I think the ideas are directly related and worth working through.

What is your role?

What is mine?

The wisdom of Veggie Tales

This morning, my 3 month old daughter and I were watching Veggie Tales on television and I was reminded of the simplicity of the real message. I think we often over complicate things for one reason or another when the truth is, it is simple enough for a child to understand - probably better than most of us adults.

We came into the episode underway. There was this little creature who climbed a large mountain to get away from others who were not being nice. He encountered a wise and gentle man who turned out to be the creator. They had some dialog that built the message of love and tolerance, and ultimately, the little character asked the age old question we have probably all wondered about at one time or another. "If You created everyone, why didn't you make them all obey you all the time and be nice?".

The answer was so simple - essentially, "If I made them love me, it would not be love. Love can never be forced, it has to come of free will". Some of the elegance of the response is lost in my retelling, but you get the idea I hope.

A changed life

In a recent series at the church we are attending the focus has been in 2 Peter. I have been bumping these verses around in my head, trying to figure out what they mean. I think in the end, I have had a pretty good idea the whole time; I just have been hesitant in picking up on it. My fear of being a part of the “old guard” has built a resistance to frameworks of rules. I believe that the key is in balance and understanding the basis for the directives outlined in this passage. If we follow the first and greatest command - to love - we will desire a changed life. These guildlines / directives are simple a manifestation of this changed life growing out of the new creation.

Slipping on the bannana peel of life

I find that in the desire to find the truth, I have started to slip a bit on the banana peel of life. I find myself unwittingly being defined (at least in my own mind) by what I am not, or do not want to be, rather than being defined by what I am. I need to invest time in firmly establishing what I am, just as I have spent so much time determining what I am not.

where's the tipping point?

The issue with Don Imus serves to illustrate a good point. We tend to turn a blind eye to divisive issues until they hit critical mass, and then we express "outrage!" over the straw that served to break the camels back.

"From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent," said CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves, in announcing the decision.

What about all the other comments made over the years? What about the comments made by Rush L. on a regular basis? Why does it have to come to this before we express our outrage. At this point, it seems a little false and frankly, a little silly. When it is common place for "shock jocks" to make a living insulting and demeaning others, why do we have to wait until someone finally says - Hey, it's not right, before we take action? And why, when it finally happens, do we act so surprised that it happened? Really, you do not have to look far to hear this same kind of vitriolic diatribe. It is commonplace on drivetime radio in the big markets.

I am all about freedom of speech, don't get me wrong. And I know where the dial is on my radio and I control (to some degree) what I listen to. What I am really pointing out more than anything is the absurdity of the advertisers response on this. They watch the ratings and public response, and when and if they deem it a PR issue, they suddenly become aghast. How silly does that sound when said that way? But that is exactly what is happening in front of our eyes on this very issue. If it was so very bad, they would have come out against it immediately and the firing would have been over and done by now. They would not have to wait until they see the economic effect. But then, that's what it's really about, isn't it?

I wonder why it's ok to do that

Looking at the headlines every day, sometimes I can't help but wonder, why do they (insert your headline source here) feel that it's ok to do that.

Here is one that I really struggle with. Why did the captors of a US news reporter feel it was ok to kidnap, torture, and then behead someone, but then the same people who cheered at that caused a huge uproar over a cartoon that could be considered disrespectful to Islam?

What about the rights of the man kidnapped?

Measure the response of the world to the kidnapping and beheading (pick your instance, there have been many), then think for a bit about the response of the radical Islamic world to a simple cartoon. It seems a little out of balance, does it not? Especially when other religions are parodied on a regular basis.

Since the response of the radical Islam world was so violent over a cartoon, would not it be appropriate in their book to have a similar, if appropriately escalated, response to their actions? Why is it that the world seems in such a hurry to apologize when cities are being torn apart in the violence of the response? What about the response? Is that not something to be upset over? Where does it end?

Why is it ok to act like that?

Please note: I am Not advocating a violent response on any course. I am questioning the logic, or extreme lack thereof, that has been demonstrated here, and time and time again. I do not believe that violence is the answer to this. I do not profess to have the answer, hence, the question Why?

How, I wonder, do all the millions of followers of Islam who are not radical fundamentalists, but rather peace loving people who respect their fellow persons feel about this? I suppose a little like I feel when I hear about some Christian Fundamentalist doing something crazy in the name of God... What God do they serve I wonder?