Cogitate

Shipwrecked

2010-04-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

You learn a few things being stranded on an island.

Okay, really we weren't completely marooned, but it felt like it. Nine of my best college friends and I had just been arrived on the beach of Little St. George Island, an uninhabited estuary preserve. The fisherman gave us the kind of smile that says, "I'll probably return to find these guys dead," wished us good luck, and pulled off in his boat.

So there we sat: 10 guys, four kayaks, 25 gallons of water, food for the five days, and all our camping gear.

The plan had sounded great- four of us would kayak to this uninhabited island, and the fish charter tour would drop off the rest of us and our supplies. However, when we arrived on the island, instead of the palm trees and sandy beaches we expected, we found a forest that looked like it had been napalmed in Vietnam.

Apparently, a fire had swept over the island the year before, wiping out the lush paradise we hoped for. So there we sat, not knowing exactly what to do. Behind us was water, in front of us a burnt forest. After discussing our predicament, we decided the best option was to hike down the beach in search of the tropical paradise we hoped for.

The only problem was we had not expected to hike with any of our gear, food, water, kayaks, a cooler, or a guitar. We argued for several minutes about the best way to transport everything down the beach, and when no one found a good solution, we decided to "work harder, not smarter," and just carry as much as we could, leaving the kayaks behind. We could return later and retrieve them.

What started out as a show of manliness and determination turned into a "death march" about half a mile down the beach. The 90 or 100 pounds of food, gear, and water each of us carried became immense burdens. I had a backpack loaded with gear and carried a 40 pound container full of water.

As we plodded down the beach, each foot sinking into the sand, I couldn't help but feel this is the closest I'll ever be to being ship-wrecked. Our group looked like a rag-tag, exhausted group of sailors on an uncharted island. This was an adventure.

Soon our so-called adventure wore into an exhausting hike. I would look about 100 yards ahead to a tree or stump, and tell myself I could make it. Once I reached my way point, I fell down in a heap of heavy equipment.
Slowly, surely, we continued down the beach. Each member of our group faced the mental question of whether or not he could continue. And yet, when he looked up and saw his brothers next to him, he found strength. We were in this together.

I often think about community and friendship. So often it can be a selfish notion. We have friends because they make us feel better, or are at least entertainment. But what do we give to our friends? I usually feel I have so little to offer.

At that moment, though, we had everything to give each other, precisely because we had nothing left. The simple fact that we were in this mess together was a bond of strength. As the sun reddened our bodies, as our heavy loads cranked into our muscles, as our feet blistered with each laborious step, I felt strangely lightened. The looks of determination, of pain masked by words of encouragement, told me I could keep going.

In the end, the trip turned out to be all we hoped for- we kayaked with dolphins, we had a huge bonfire on the beach, we saw a shark, we met two mysterious coyote trappers, but most of all, we learned to live together. The individual spirit of each melted into a love for one another.

Salvation is here

2009-12-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

It can be popular in Christian circles to emphasize that Jesus message does not stop at merely salvation and emphasize a redemption of culture.

In many ways, I agree with this and applaud it- Christians need to be fighting injustice, working to end poverty, and caring for the downtrodden, but this cannot come at the expense of watering down the Gospel.

Christ’s salvation and the implications of that are the heart of the Christian message. Anything good we do, any love we share, must come out of a full realization of salvation and the relationship with God we enjoy because of this. Salvation- Jesus’ death on a cross and resurrection three days later- is the watershed of history and humanity- the single most important event ever.

In order to fully operate with the power of Jesus Christ- to complete his ministry on earth- we must bring love and redemption in one hand and the hope of salvation in the other. They are not complete without each other. But salvation and relationship with God must be the nourishment that the Christian depends on in order to minister in love and redemption.

Romans 3:25-26 comes to mind: “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

The justice of Jesus Christ (love and compassion) only comes through his salvation.

An offensive Gospel

2009-12-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

Mohandas Ghandi once said of Christianity, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Most people have a positive view of the teachings of Jesus- “Love, forgiveness, hope, giving, real faith.” But they have a real problem with Christians. What is so offensive about Christians?
Christians are offensive in one of two ways- in a negative way as judgmental and hypocritical, or in a positive way because their lives are so filled with the message of the Gospel that it makes people sick.

First, I'll address the negative. Christians, especially in our culture, are known for their hypocrisy and arrogance. If you think of the typical church, its probably filled with white, upper-class people who go to church to feel good about themselves. What is lacking is love- love for one another and love for the lost.

A real relationship with God procreates into a love that seeps out of us in everything we do. We should first be known by our love. Yet, where this starts is living in the reality that Jesus has called us to life of prayer and devotion to him. If we make this the central pillar of our lives, we are filled with love for everyone around us.

So if Christians want others to look at them in a more positive light, they should first look within and ask if the message and salvation of Jesus Christ is real in their life.

Now for the second kind of offensiveness- a positive one. I firmly believe that in some situations, the Gospel, in its purest form, is offensive.

Look at Jesus Christ- he offended a lot of people- so much so that they killed him. If we are living out the Gospel, daily loving others with a real heart, people will be offended.
I am certainly not advocating that Christians make signs, stand on a street corner, and yell at people that they are sinners destined for hell. But I am saying we need to tell the truth in love.
John 4:23 says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.”

We must have both truth and love in our message to people. This may be offensive to people simply because they are resisting, trying to shut themselves off from the truth of the Gospel, so much that they will be offended.
Christians are called to live the message of Jesus Christ- we must be known for our love, but also equally so for the truth.

Adam and Eve II

2009-11-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

The idea of Adam and Eve, and the whole question of what earth would be like if they hadn't sinned got me thinking.

Was Adam and Eve's sin inevitable?

In Ephesians 1:4-5 Paul says, “Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children – this was his pleasure and purpose.” (Good news translation)

This verse clearly points out that it was part of God's plan, part of his “pleasure and purpose” to save us from sin through Jesus Christ (which implies his sacrifice of his own life). What implications does this have?

For one, I think it says that the question of what the world would be like if Adam and Eve had sinned would be a mute question. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin before he even created the world. He gave them free choice in their lives, free choice to love him, and a choice to disobey him. Yet he knew that if he gave them free choice, they would eat from the fruit and fracture their relationship. It was impossible for Adam and Eve to have free choice and also keep from sinning.

But wait, if God knew that Adam and Eve would sin, if he knew he would have to sacrifice his own son to get us back, if he knew that we would cause him so much heartache and pain (as only a parent can know), why did he create us in the first place?

I think he created us because he knew that all the pain we would cause ourselves and him would be worth it. When our relationship is restored, when we live in perfect love with him, that is worth every ounce of pain God endures.

God's love is greater than sin. His love for us surpasses the evil of sin.

Walks with God (Adam and Eve)

2009-11-17T18:50:00.001-08:00

In order to understand the story of Jesus saving us from our sin, you have to go back to the beginning, to the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. If you do not know the story, you can look it up in the first book of the Bible Genesis. But basically, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, thereby disobeying God, declaring their independence from him, and falling into sin, making all of their progeny (us) also subject to this sinful world.

Its often tempting to consider what things would be like today if it were not for Adam and Eve's sin. We would all be innocent, having a perfect relationship with God. In Genesis 3:8, after Adam and Eve have taken the fruit and their eyes have been opened to the concept of sin (because they themselves have engaged in it), it says, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

God was palpable to Adam and Eve. He walked with them in the cool of the day. He spoke, he moved and they heard him audibly.

Eden (the garden Adam and Eve lived) was perfect in many ways. They didn't have to work the land, kill animals, have disease, or die, but the most remarkable thing was that they had a perfect relationship with God.

They walked with him.

This is something amazing. And as heaven will in many ways be a second Eden, something I am looking forward to immensely. To walk with and talk to God. The idea, the concept give me shivers.

divorce

2009-11-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

Divorce is bad. I think everyone would agree on that subject. It ruins lives, families, tears people apart.

However, is it ever alright for Christians to be divorced? I think the Bible is pretty clear on this. Some pharisees, or religious leaders, once asked Jesus if divorce was alright since in ancient Jewish law, given by Moses, provisions were made for divorce. Jesus' answer was pretty profound. “But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Mark 10:6-9 NIV).

To me, this is pretty clear. We should not be divorced.

Yet, what do you say to the woman who is in an abusive relationship? How about verbal or emotional abuse? When someone is in danger from their spouse, common sense is to separate. A woman who is being abused needs to get out of that situation.

Therefore, I would say that people who are being physically abused do have a reason for divorce. In many ways, when there is abuse, the function and protection of marriage is destroyed. The divorce papers are merely documentation of that destruction.

Can reconciliation happen, and people be re-united? Yes, I think so. People can be healed and set free from the lives they used to lead. That is the work God is doing in all of our lives- renewing us. Therefore, I think any marriage can be redeemed. It may take one person leaving in order to protect themselves, but we should always have faith in God to heal that which is broken.

Earning salvation

2009-10-28T20:15:00.001-07:00

Is it possible to earn our salvation? In many ways, this question is redundant. If we look at salvation, it has the basic notion that someone is being saved. So, the salvation story, Jesus saving us from our sins, and eternal damnation through his death on the cross and resurrection three days later, is basically a story of a rescue.

A couple key points of a rescue:
You don't save someone if they were able to get out of the situation by themselves.
A rescue requires the cooperation of the person being saved. They must reach out their arms and trust themselves into the arms of the rescuer.

So here's how the story works. Everyone has sinned, or broken their relationship with God. This includes everyone in the world- everyone has lied, cheated, stolen, treated someone with less respect than they deserved, or any other of a host of sins I find myself falling into everyday. It is simply human to do this. However, this means we are separated from God and cannot be with him, even after we die.

Therefore, we need a hero, Jesus Christ who was and is God, who became a man so that he could take on the weight of the sins of the world and become a perfect sacrifice. He was crucified, and amazingly rose again three days later to demonstrate his victory over sin and the hope that is open to anyone who receives Jesus Christ as his savior.

Holy robbery: tithing

2009-10-24T19:52:00.000-07:00

The topic of tithe makes me uncomfortable. I always imagine some preacher, usually dressed in a greasy white suit, and for some reason with a southern accent, imploring his congregation to give on faith as he passes the tithe baskets around one more time. Maybe its from the tele-evangelists.

Anyway, tithing doesn't seem to be a popular topic. Probably because it makes most of us feel bad. A 2007 survey by the Barna Group found that 24% of evangelicals tithed. In the most affluent society in the history of the world, only a quarter of us find ourselves able to shell out 10% of our income to do God's work. I don't believe tithing is usually a problem of ability, but rather a problem of attitude.

In 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Paul explains, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

So what does this mean? I don't believe we should necessarily focus on the 10% mark as what we should give. To me, this is holding to law. Instead, we should practice this principle of giving cheerfully from what we have. If everyone committed to giving what he felt called by God to give, and did so with a cheerful heart, I think giving would increase. People would eventually give over 10% because they would see that the more they gave, the more they “reaped.” We must trust God to be faithful, and not give out of compulsion, but out of love.

On marriage and race

2009-10-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands (Revelation 7:9).”

Its a beautiful picture. People of every background, skin color, dress, and culture worshiping God in amazing ways. Yet, shouldn't this be our vision for the church on earth?
If God will have a beautiful picture of people around him, shouldn't our churches and families reflect this?

In that light, if I brought home a girl who was a different ethnicity or from a different culture than me, I believe my parents would be over-joyed. In fact, I think they would have a special excitement if she were from a different ethnicity. This is because of the fact that God has given them a special love for the vast peoples of the earth, and they embrace those people.

That is not to say, however, that they may warn me of some of the challenges of marrying and living with someone of another culture. Because cultures have such different ways of communicating and doing every-day life, this can bring unique challenges. But I believe these challenges could actually be beneficial as they can expose more of our own preconceived notions of the norm. A challenge is a beautiful thing, something God may put in our lives so that we may grow as people.

Another challenge that could come from marrying someone of another ethnicity is the fact your children will be of mixed heritage. This could bring about confusion of cultures, as well as be a source of harassment from people who are bigots.

However, I believe correct parenting and love can overcome these problems. If you teach your children to embrace both heritages, they will have a strong identity.

With people harassing them, I don't think this is a legitimate excuse not to marry someone of another ethnicity. Just because the world tells us to give in to evil, we should not do it. Just because the world tells us not to love, we need to love even more. This is no exception with our children.

God calls us to spread His love to all ethnicities and cultures. There should be no difference in our marriages, which are supposed to be the epitome of real love.

Heaven and Hell

2009-10-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

Is there a heaven and a hell? The topic is a bit sticky for Christian.

It just doesn't feel right to condemn people to hell, and say that because they didn't pray a prayer and have the belief that I did, that they will have to spend eternity in the most agonizing pain imaginable (and unimaginable).

I do have serious problems and doubts with saying there is a literal hell. It doesn't seem logical to punish people for eternity for a non-eternal sin. What about the people who never heard the name of Jesus? Isn't Jesus' victory over sin powerful enough for everyone, living and dead?
However, the more I play out these questions, the more I make judgments on God. I simply cannot do that. To try to look into His eternal plan is like an ant trying to imagine the vastness of the universe. All I know is the minute world I am living in. At times, God's perspectives and reasons are outside the realm of human comprehension.

That being said, my philosophy for this whole business of hell goes back to the mountaineer's (sorry to keep up the mountain-climbing analogies) saying, “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.”

I sincerely hope there is a way everyone will be saved. Maybe hell won't will be a more of a “separation from God” sort of thing. Maybe it'll be just a darkness or something like that.
However, I must believe and act based on the assumption that hell will be just that- more terrible than our worst fears.

The avowed atheist Penn (of the magician show Penn & Teller) relates a story of after one of his shows, a man came up to him, talked to him a bit, handed him a Bible, and told him he was praying for him. Penn's reaction was remarkable. A few days later, he put up a video post on youtube talking about how if what Christians believe is true, if we are going to hell if we don't accept Jesus' message, and if we truly love others, we should be doing anything we can to tell people about Jesus.

This resonates with me. Our message should be urgent. We need to live our life in continual fear of hell.

I'm not advocating going on a street corner and yelling at people to repent, but I am advocating that we take every opportunity, every chance to sincerely share the Gospel.

sanctification is hard

2009-09-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up question to “sanctification,” my web writing professor asked me, basically, “why don't we see more sanctified people?"

I have to agree with him that this world is conspicuously lacking in those who could be called sanctified. However, In John 17:16-17, Jesus prays, “They [meaning us whom have accepted Jesus as our Savior] are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

This has powerful implications. It means that in fact we are sanctified. We are set apart. We are free from sin's power. Yet, we can still make the choice to fall into sin. We still choose to live apart from truth, which is God's word. This is life's great struggle.

So why do we see so many people who appear to be living in denial of their sanctification?

Personally, I think its because this world is hard! We live in a place that chews you up and spits you out. This week on campus, there was a sort of time of “revival” in which people spontaneously started sharing their sins with one another, and gathering around each other in love. What struck me the most about this time was not the things people confessed, but the terrible suffering they had gone through.

People are broken. They have been abused, kicked down, laughed at, and spit on.

In many ways, we are continually struggling with sin as a result of our environment. To go back to the mountain-climbing analogy, climbing Mount Everest is terrible. It blows my mind why people like to do that sort of thing. It is not fun. It is freezing. The oxygen debilitates their bodies. The wind shoves them on their face. Each step is an exercise in agony. If it were possible to observe these climbers without seeing the gruesome conditions of their environment, we might say, “Why are they moving so slow? These people are pitiful.” However, when we see the mountains of snow, impossible inclines, and imagine the cold, our response is, “These people are heroes.”

Another great illustration I heard from Cy Rogers is that when we observe people in their efforts to be sanctified, it appears they are continually going in a circle: they seem to be making progress, but then come back again to the same sin.

However, this perspective is limited. If we are able to see the entire picture, as God sees it, we would see that in fact these people are spiraling upward. They may come back to the sin and struggle with it, but they are moving upward toward a holier life. Sanctification is possible. In fact, we have been freed from sin and are sanctified by God's sacrifice. Yet, we still must struggle against the elements, brave the cold, and make the decision to press onward. To take the next agonizing step forward. To ignore the world that clings its icy fingers to our feet, desperately grasping to pull us back down, and instead steady our focus upward, on God, and trust fully in Him.

sanctification

2009-09-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

Sanctification is a lot like climbing a mountain. Not just a small hike of a few hours, but a huge mountain, like Mt. Everest. I read that in order to climb Mt. Everest, the climbers will slowly ascend to higher and higher "camps" and spend a night or two up there, and then descend to a lower elevation, just to adjust to the altitude. They slowly work their way up the mountain in this way, until they are able to reach the top.

At the beginning of their climb, they could never survive at the top. The lack of oxygen would kill them. But slowly, they work their way higher, getting more and more used to the rare conditions on top of the mountain. This is how we are sanctified. We do not merely go from a "sea-level" Christian to ascending the highest mountain in the world, but we slowly make our way up, sometimes ascending, at times descending, but continually pushing onward. There will be high peaks and there will be valleys. God takes us through these. We are conditioning to be sanctified.

Yet, who is it leading us or pushing us up this "mountain?" Sanctification can only come from God. As Romans 4:5 says, "However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." We by ourselves cannot be sanctified. Imagine someone dropping you off at the bottom of Mt. Everest and saying, "go climb it." It would never happen. We need the guides, the equipment, the maps, and the routes. God acts as these things, guiding and preparing us.

However, somewhere along the climb, the climbers have to dig deep into their souls ask themselves if getting to the top of the mountain is really worth it. Their brains are wheezing from the altitude, their bodies are numbed by the cold, and it all seems pointless. They have to decide if their journey is worth risking their lives, giving it all up, and pushing for the summit.

We too must make this decision. God has equipped us with all the right gear. He's our guide, pushing us into every step. But somewhere along the path, we must choose. Will we respond to the highs and lows God is taking us through? Will we risk our very lives for the summit?