Idolatry, part 5: The Self

Jesus told us in Mark 12:29-31 that the two great commands are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That means of course we have to love ourselves. Some of us do that okay, but it’s not always easy to get it right — some not enough, and some too much! Either extreme — insisting on loving ourselves

Idolatry, Part 3: Hubris

The Greeks who wrote their famous tragedies tended to put ‘hubris' as the cause of the main character’s downfall. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes it this way: “Typically, overconfidence led the hero to attempt to overstep the boundaries of

Idolatry (Part 2): Self-Importance

In the first post, we looked at how idolatry is described to Israel as having something before God, and/or worshipping a created thing instead of the Creator. But if we remove the limitation of the focus on some ancient local deity, or an actual carved idol, we can see more clearly how this might still be an issue in our lives. And if

Out of Focus?

"Mindfulness" is getting a lot of press today. Basically it means "paying attention to what you're paying attention to." The idea, they say, is that you can be more productive, positive, and nearly every other good thing you can imagine, by being mindful. But of course, the real question is not just whether we're paying enough attention but what

The Opposite of Sin Is...

Last time I wrote, I speculated that the root cause of sin is selfishness:  putting ourselves and our own self-interest, as we perceive it, before everything else. I could be wrong, of course, and you're free to give me another view of it, but that's how it seems to me. We watch constantly for some threat

Sin Is...

Sin gets a lot of 'air time' in some churches, and sometimes in the debate between church and society. Quite often the subject gets reduced to a few sins that somebody is irritated about or thinks are the worst ones in society right now (and conveniently, sins of which they don't believe they're guilty, so they can feel better about themselves). Preaching about sin is popular with some, but will preaching about it reduce

Doing it for Him

My niece is a Registered Nurse. Her career is all about taking care of the sick and the dying, and for her it's a very rewarding career. But she can tell you, the

Follow Jesus and Die (to Self)

Jesus told his followers something really shocking: "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." (Luke (9:23). And in Luke 14:27, the saying is in reverse: "And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you

The King Is Coming!

(Note:  For serial readers of this blog, we're taking a brief break from "Understanding God" in order to address themes found in what's commonly called the Easter season.  We'll resume the series in two weeks.)

It's no secret in any of the four Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) that Jesus knew he was the Son of God and Son of Man.  And he knew he was going to be rejected and then killed by his own people -- like Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, had been betrayed and sold into slavery by his brothers (Genesis 37 tells that story).  Jesus' focus on Jerusalem for that final conflict begins in chapter 9 (of 24 chapters) in Luke's Gospel, and Luke selected and recorded each of the events, parables and sayings from chapter 9 to chapter 22 to create that context.  (Try reading those chapters in that light, and see what you learn.)

Many different themes are inter-woven here.  One is the political climate of a Jewish nation conquered by a foreign power and hungry for freedom, so they look for a political savior to set them free.  Another is the climate of major groups (Pharisees and Saducees, primarily) teaching the populace how to obey the word of God but largely missing the point, and polluting their teaching by their hypocrisy.  A third is the poverty and discouragement of the general populace, oppressed by both the Roman overlords and the religious establishment, and hoping for the long-promised Messiah will come and provide food, healing and freedom for them. A fourth theme is how Jesus responds to each of these realities and how the people react to him in return. 

In Luke 19:28-48, the story of Jesus' "Triumphal Entry" as it's called, shows several of these themes.  The people showed they were expecting a king (verse 38, taken from Psalm 118:26).  But rather than entering as a conquering political king on a big war horse with trumpets and heralds, he rode in on a young donkey, humbly, accepting the praise of the people even though they were mistaken in why they acclaimed him.  Jesus tells the Pharisees not to be jealous (verses 39-40) and then weeps over the condition of Jerusalem, expressing his sorrow over their spiritual blindness and stubbornness (verses 41-44).  Finally, he faces the hypocrisy of the temple rulers who put barriers in front of the worshippers for their own benefit, and clears the place out, symbolically making way for his own perfect sacrifice to come in a few days. 

Today, let's ask ourselves, in humility:  which of these people do we most resemble?  Are we political Christians who want to take over our country with a religious agenda and throw unbelievers from power?  Do we think we have all the spiritual answers, and look down our noses at those who disagree with us?  Do we think that Christianity is a way to get ahead financially, and that being a member of a church will solve our problems (or that the church is supposed to provide for us)? 

Or, do we more closely resemble Jesus?  He came to die so we can have life, and our response to him is that we should "live for him and not for (our)selves" (2 Cor. 5:14-15).  His humility and self-sacrifice show us the way to follow him by serving him and others.  Today, let's resolve to consciously follow Jesus by looking at the needs of others above our own, thinking of others more than ourselves, and instead of speaking only of our own wants, humbly asking him for his words of comfort and peace to others.  Which will you do today?

Weeds

I just pulled a few weeds from the cracks in the driveway. That reminded me of the sins -- ideas, habits and reactions -- that creep into our lives when we're not looking.

Yes, our sins are forgiven by Jesus' sacrifice, and we are brought into the loving communion of the Trinity through his work (not ours!). But that's never an excuse to allow sin to come back into our lives and injure us -- and others. It's important for us to keep our eyes open to those things that threaten our relationship with God and with each other.

Hebrews 12:1 says (right after the list of the people of faith in chapter 11) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." The Greek adjective translated 'trips us up' means anything that would slow us down and take our energy. The metaphor here for Christian life is an endurance race, not a sprint; so it's important not to let sin creep in and take away even a little energy, as that will have serious consequences over 'the long run.'

Later on in Hebrews 12, verse 15 says "Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many." Now, that's interesting: the writer tells us two things -- to not let bitterness come in and poison the relationships between us; also the command to "look after each other." I think one of the most serious 'weeds' that gets into our lives is offense and unforgiveness -- bitterness -- between us.

If we're considering where to find sin our lives -- and we should -- then looking carefully for conflict, or the leftovers of conflict like resentment against someone else, is vital. Too often (really, once is too often) Christians simply withdraw from each other, cutting off contact and communication, rather than working things out. That weed always grows, never dying by itself, and it spreads seeds that also grow, "corrupting many." We have to go after that sin and pull it out by the roots before it affects our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Like weeds, sin is serious stuff. We need to surrender it to God and ask him for the help we need to get rid of it. How about searching your life this week for those 'weeds' that hurt you and those close to you? And how about forgiving -- really, deeply letting go -- of someone else's sin against you?