I Am Your Neighbor

In Matthew 22, an expert in the law is trying to trick Jesus, so he asks him which is the greatest commandment in the Law.

Jesus replies, “Love the Lord your GOD with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

In Matthew 19, a man approaches Jesus to ask him what he has to do to get eternal life.  Jesus tells him that he has to obey the commandments, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

The young man says that he has done all these things, but he wants to know what he is lacking.

Jesus then tells him that if he wants to be complete, he has to sell his stuff and give to the poor and then follow Him.

The man then goes away sad.

Both of these stories remind me of the importance of loving my neighbor, but I feel as if I need to be reminded from time to time what that looks like.  Who are my neighbors?

When Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan, he says that my neighbor is not necessarily the person I think it would or should be.  The neighbor in the story is the one that has mercy on the man who is beaten and left for dead.  The man who was robbed knows his neighbor as the one that cared for him when no one else did.  His neighbor is the one that loves him.  His neighbor is the one that is looked down on by the rest of society.

I am good at loving some of my neighbors.  I love my family.  I love my friends.  I love those that are most like me.  I say that I love everyone, but my actions do not always reflect that.

I love the community that I live in, but I invest most of my time with people that are similar to me.  I spend little time with people in my city that live under the bridges or struggle to find food. 

"we sometimes scream as soft as we can (do not wake the neighbors.) i will love you if you will listen."

This is a quote from the Murfreesboro Post found in black permanent marker under a bridge in Murfreesboro, TN. 

The author is presumably homeless.

The author is my neighbor.

Accountable vs. Judgmental

According to studies done regarding negative perceptions that people outside the church have about Christianity, the top three complaints are that Christians are Antihomosexual, Hypocritical, and Judgmental. I get it. I understand why people can think that Christians are judgmental. I am not going to argue that point. I am going to complain about something else, though.

If you are a Christian you cannot just assume another Christian is being “judgmental” when they call you out on sin. It is not being judgmental. It is called accountability. Many times the reason people feel as if they are being judged in this circumstance, it is because they know they are missing the mark.

As Christians, we are held to a high standard of living, and we fall short a lot. We all do. Thank GOD that He is full of grace and mercy. Thank GOD that I can move on with life knowing that I am forgiven and my shortcomings are purified through the sacrifice on the cross. At the same time, we need to be able to approach each other in a loving way when it comes to sin. We cannot go at this thing alone, but we need others to rely on.

So, instead of getting defensive when another brother or sister approaches you, try to understand that they might really just be concerned with your wellbeing.

Just a thought.

Who Am I?

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

1 Corinthians 12:12-14

I work with college students, and I love to see the transformations that these students make over the period of academia. It brings me great pleasure when a student makes the decision to move beyond the faith of his/her parents and develop a new identity. It excites me when someone realizes his/her role in the church. This brings up my challenge for you: When you realize your role, you should own it.

In the section from 1 Corinthians 12 following the verses listed above, Paul encourages the people of the church to understand how their roles fit into the larger picture of the church. We all have different roles, and that is a good thing. We all need each other to function as the body should. GOD has put the body together, so we can take great comfort in knowing that we are the way we are for a reason.

It is also comforting to know that even though my part in the Kingdom does not look exactly like your part, it is still important. We all have a part in the Kingdom…everyone. If we do not grasp this reality, we will not be able to function at our full potential. It is like having a body with four arms instead of two legs and two arms. We need the different parts. Praise GOD for diversity!

Feathers and Toes

I was recently watching an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and there was a character on the show that did not like Raymond. It ate him up inside to the point where he had to go talk to this guy. He approached the guy, but he denied his disdain. Raymond would not let it drop, and finally the guy admitted that he did not like Raymond. Raymond then defended himself by telling him what a great guy he is if only he had a chance to show it.

I am the same way. I am a people pleaser. I hate it when people do not like me, and I rarely dislike other people. If I know that someone has a problem with me, I feel the need to defend myself. This is a problem, because it causes me to live in fear.

Jesus said, “I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of GOD in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only GOD?” Good question.

So, whom am I trying to please? Do I avoid ruffling feathers and stepping on toes in order to avoid conflict with people in my sphere of influence, or do I seek to please GOD? It sounds like such a simple question, but the answer is not always so easy to follow through.

Lord, give me strength to please you without the fear of what others might think about me.

What's Important?

I am currently reading a book called UnChristian by David Kinnaman, where he talks about the more common negative perceptions that people have about Christianity like being hypocritical, judgmental, anti-homosexual, out of touch, and so on. He spends a chapter on each view, and I am currently on the chapter about hypocrisy. I wanted to share some of my thoughts, because I think there are some good things to learn from the research done through this book and through the barna group.

The Barna Group conducted a survey where they asked adult Christians (those that are committed to a life of following the teachings of Christ) to list the priorities of the Christian faith. The most popular response had to do with lifestyle such as being good, doing the right thing, not sinning, and the like. Lifestyle was higher on the list than discipleship, learning about the Bible and Christ, evangelism, worship, relationships, serving others, and pretty much everything else.

Christians believe that the main reason people are not followers of Christ is because they cannot handle the rigorous standards of following Christ. Research shows, however, that about a quarter of young people that do not follow Christ are concerned with Christianity limiting their lifestyle. In fact, the main reasons that people say they are not Christian are they never thought about it, they are not interested in spirituality, they are committed to another faith, or they are repelled by Christians.

The crazy thing that Kinnaman discovered is that young people are not overly bothered by Christians being hypocritical as many of us might think. Hypocricy is everywhere, so we have come to expect it in all areas of our lives. Why would Christianity be any different? The problem is not that we are hypocrites, and we are hypocrites. The problem, I think, is that we put too much emphasis on the rules and regulations and the things that we do or don’t do. If people think that Christianity is solely based on being a good person, doesn’t it make sense that there is a sense of disappointment in what they see in the representatives?

Christ is of the utmost importance of Christianity. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? What about putting the emphasis on our need for Christ in our lives? Kinnaman says, “Our passion for Jesus should result in God-honoring, moral lifestyles, not the other way around.” Our lifestyles are important, but we cannot change ourselves. It is the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us that results in our behavioral changes.

The Debate

I guess this is kind of Part 2 to my previous blog about relationships. I hope I do not sound too negative towards the people in my story, but my prayer is that we will remember that “no one has ever seen GOD; but if we love one another, GOD lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:12)

I do not remember the exact year in school, but I think it was seventh or eighth grade. A small debate had erupted before class, as they did on most days, between a couple of hard-headed youth (myself included). The topic for the day? Salvation. In our youth, we were sure that we were right about most topics of discussion, so theology was no exception. I was a Catholic from the North while my counterpart was a conservative evangelical from the South that would have felt victorious in the debate if he could have baptized me through full immersion right then and there. Instead, he settled for telling me that I was going to Hell, because my belief system did not fully match his. Wow.

Now, I do not want to share this story to show how wrong this other kid was, because I was just as involved in the debate as he. I was also just as judgmental towards him as he was to me. I am just saddened by the fact that several years later I am seeing the same "conversation" happening among people well older than seventh graders. How did we get to the point where we felt the need to fight with others to get them to believe in what we believe? Maybe a better question to ask: Do we really think that verbally fighting with others is the best way to invite others to investigate a possible relationship with Jesus? Are you kidding me?

It was my Junior(ish) year in college when I decided to really take my faith in God seriously. My dear friend and mentor, Mike, had described it as putting on my walking shoes. I had always believed in God, and I had heard and believed that Jesus was the Son of God, but I had not attempted to live out my faith up to this point in my life. I went to church for the most part, but I had not gone in 3 or 4 years. I tried to read the Bible at times, but I mostly found it boring and difficult to relate.

So why did I decide to “put on my walking shoes” and allow God to transform me? It was because of relationships. It was late night conversations with roommates who were genuinely concerned for my life, here and now. It was people that had truly befriended me, because we shared common interest and enjoyed spending time together. Spiritual conversations came out of already established foundations of companionship. It was not because of people that were only concerned with converting me as if I was a trophy to be won.

As GOD loves us, let that love flow through us in such a way that all people can see the Father.

Easy “Christianity”

My wife and I were recently sitting in our living room with the new campus minister at Murray State University and his soon-to-be wife when we heard a knock at the door. I jumped up and ran to the door to find two people standing on the porch with some door knocking paraphernalia. The older lady with a clipboard inquired as to whether or not she could ask me a few questions to which I agreed. The first couple of inquiries were demographic questions, but they led to more personal questions.

“Do you attend a church?”

“Yes.”

“How often do you attend a worship service? A. Once a week; B. Once a month; C. Once a year”

“Multiple times a week. I am a full time minister.”

(Ironically enough, after I answered this question, the front door began to close on me. I had invited them into the house, but they ignored my gesture to begin the questions, so I had been standing in the doorway. Our front door is black, and the sun had been beating down on it for hours at this point. When it closed, it burned my leg and caught me off guard. Typically, I do not swear, but my initial reaction was to let loose from the pain. Thank GOD I only screamed.)

“Do you know if you are saved?”

I fought my temptation to engage her in a conversation as to what it means to be saved in order to get back with our friends and just answered with a simple “yes.”

She continued to read from the clipboard without making eye contact until there were no more questions. After she had finished, she handed me a piece of paper with the “steps of salvation” to read at a later time and then the two left to head to another house in my neighborhood.

They knew nothing about me other than where I lived, the fact that I am a vocational minister, and that I can sometimes keep from swearing when I am confronted with unexpected pain.

Is this what we have reduced Christianity to? I do not mean to pick on this group of people trying to share their faith the best they know how, but why have we made it so impersonal? Sharing the good news of the resurrected Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is meant to be done through relational conversation…notice I said through a conversation and not a monologue.

I have to be honest. If I ever receive an impersonal tract or brochure to read on my own time concerning GOD, it makes me angry and a little sick. In my experience, people are willing to talk about GOD. In fact, people are open to talk about Jesus. According to a survey from Lifeway, 73% of 20-29 year olds consider themselves spiritual and want to learn more about “GOD or a highly supreme being,” and 89% said they would be open to a conversation about Christianity. It is the people that represent Christ that are not as popular, though.

Back in my college days, I did an informal survey where I asked other students on campus two simple questions. What do you think about Jesus? What do you think about Christians? In response to the first question, people’s eyes would light up, and they would say nothing but positive things about Christ. “He loves people. He cares for people no matter who they are. He is a peacemaker.” When they described Christians, their mannerisms changed. “They are judgmental. They are hypocrites. They hate homosexuals.”

I believe people want to know Christ. Why wouldn’t they? He is amazing! He is all the things that those students described Him to be during the survey and so much more. John tells us in 1 John that people see God through us and our love for one another. The world needs to meet Christ, but it has to happen through personal relationships. That means Christianity is not going to be easy. In fact, it will be messy.