Every Church Has 'Em...

We've heard it before.  And if you're a Christian, you've probably heard it often.  Christians are hypocrites.  Well, I'm going set the record straight once and for all.  Yes, we are.  Christians are hypocrites because Christians are people.  I've been able to spend some time with some individuals who believe that we Christians don't walk the talk and because of that have chosen more rational paths, like Buddhism and Hinduism as more non-hypocritical religious choices.  The problem is that they are just people too.  Which means that those who claim Christianity is full of hypocrites are at the same time hypocritical in their own lives.

Let's face it, we are all hypocritical.  Not all the time, but sometimes.  I will get after my wife because she sometimes shows a lack of will power.  She's got to have that diet Pepsi.  And then I blow off going to the gym.  It's difficult to live out everything you say you believe all the time.  We all (that means everybody) struggle at times and don't do something we know we should or do something we know we shouldn't.  Doesn't matter whether you're a Christian, Mormon, Atheist, Buddhist, Hindu or Sikh, we all have moments when we don't live up to our own talk.  I think it's because the one thing we have in common is our humanity and humanity is messy.

So here's the answer to the question of hypocrisy.  Do not look at a single individual, in any walk of life and from any religious or irreligious stance, and base your understanding of their position solely on their actions alone.  Instead, look at their religion, their belief system and determine if it is sound from the core and if it truly has merit regardless of the individuals ability to follow it 100% of the time.

Here's what I'm saying.  I'm a Christian.  I believe what the Bible says about the person of Jesus.  I believe in His perfect life, His atoning death and His literal resurrection.  Now, the Bible tells me the way I am supposed to life (I don't always live that way - in case you were wondering if I were super-human or something).  The Bible is different from any other religion or faith for several reasons but here's my opinion on a few.

The Bible pushes peace and living in peace and at peace with those around you.  We are told to "turn the other cheek."  But God doesn't forbid war or the protection of property, family or country.  When the Apostle Paul was asked by a couple soldiers what their lives should look like as believers in Jesus his response was that they refrain from extortion (a common practice of the military in that day), not that they give up their jobs as soldiers.  So we have the hope of peace in the reality of war.  It is a beautiful balance that takes into consideration not only the protection of the individual but the salvation of the enemy.  We are told in the Bible that if someone forces us to give them our jacket we should give them a shirt too.  Not for the sake of being a pacifist but so that this undeserved generosity might open the door for repentance and salvation.

The Bible tells us how we ought to live, while leaving room for our inevitable failure.  We are too live like Christ but God recognizes that we will not always live up to that standard.  There is an abundance of grace for the sinner and mercy for the saint.  However, the Bible points to the truth that our behavior (though not always perfect) is exactly what non-believers will be looking at before they make a decision to follow Christ themselves.  So once again there is this beautiful balance an incredibly high standard in Jesus, a recognition that we will not always be able to live up to it (though that is why He sent us His Spirit) and the reality that our behavior is exactly what others will look at when making a personal determination about Jesus.

The Bible is not a book of rules and regulations - yes, there are some - but it's really a book about freedom. See, true freedom comes when you are able to experience all that life has to offer and are not tied down and limited by the consequences for your actions.  For instance, true freedom comes from not having to be afraid every time you see a police officers on the highway because you know you're not breaking any laws.  Those who break the laws of the road live in fear of being caught and anger when they are instead of peace.  Freedom means living with your spouse as the only person you've ever been sexually intimate with.  No fear of disease, not having to take a pill every day to control breakouts, not having to be emotionally tied to others who you loved and left.  Being able to give yourself completely to one person is freedom - not control.  Are you living a free life if you can't enjoy a movie because mid-way through you start craving another cigarette?  Is freedom being so strung out you can't function?  You're always sick and can't hold down a job?  Which means you don't have money to enjoy life and do the things you really want to do because you're tied to something that now has you captive.  That is not freedom, it's captivity.

God wants us to live full lives, to experience real life that's why you find rules and guidelines in the Bible, not to keep you captive, but to help you enjoy freedom!  Whether every believer lives out their faith or not God should not be held responsible for the failures of His people, only their successes.  Horrible things done in the Name of God are not God's fault, they are the manipulations of misguided and at times evil men seeking their own benefit and glory over His.  Experience God for yourself, then make a decision.

A Revelation About What Needs to be Revealed

On Halloween day I was reading in James 1 and wrote this note from verses 2-4, Tests and challenges  reveal what my faith life is really like...

Consider that for a minute.  When you face trials in your life, setbacks, cars that won't start, overdue bills, relationship struggles, problems with your children or parents, temptations and maybe even sin, how you respond to each of these challenges reveals what your faith life is really like.

I remember having a discussion in an Elder's meeting years ago.  There was a gentleman who disagreed with a stance that I took in regards to a biblical issue.  This particular issue had been longstanding in the independent Christian Church so I knew I was on solid ground in my interpretation and the stance I took.  I was not dogmatic or a push-over just firm in my position.  It took only a few minutes into the meeting where this gentleman presented lots of seemingly strong arguments for his case but none of them held water.  Less than 10 minutes into the discussion he pounded the table and yelled at me and everyone else at the table who would allow me to continue to preach there as though we were ignorant and even sinful.  He loudly shouted his resignation and stormed out of the meeting.  Not one other person there - about 10 of us - ever even raised our voice.

Now let me get personal.  A few weeks ago I was in a spiritual black-hole.  It seemed like every car my family owns was broken down and we were really struggling to get everyone where they needed to be when they needed to be there.  And in between those times I was frantically working on one vehicle after another.  Our newest car would not start.  My daughters first car she'd driven about 3 or 4 weeks sat with major engine trouble.  And the one vehicle left drive-able got the worst gas mileage and would not always start.  I was mad at God for putting me in this place and not taking care of me and my family like I thought He should.

Then I read James 1 - Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Under pressure your faith-life is forced into the open and shows it's true colors.

Wow.  I have to say that my faith life was not any better than the man who yelled at me.  We each were lacking in our spiritual connection and how we faced and dealt with challenges in our lives.  What I saw in me was a bit of a whiner who had to have his way.  I spent considerable time seeking forgiveness from my Father.

What I began to see was that these challenges come into our lives to reveal and strengthen.  Like tearing down a muscle so it will rebuild stronger.  When we try to avoid these difficult situations or as James put it, "get out of [them] prematurely" we loose the opportunity for growth.  We must let these challenges do their work.  Their work is not to harm us or tear us down or destroy us but instead to benefit us spiritually, to build us up in the Spirit and make us strong.

Difficulties, challenges and struggles reveal where we're at spiritually so that we can recognize where we need to grow.  Job's trials revealed that he was faithful and mature in many areas, but that He had begun to see himself as better than he actually was.  God used the trials to reveal those last few areas in his life that might prove to be his downfall later.  And because Job didn't try to get out of it he was blessed beyond measure for it.  In my reading today from 1 Peter 4:13 I read that when things get difficult we should be glad because we are in the thick of this life with Jesus and what we face "is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner."

Let the Holy Spirit reveal what is lacking in you through challenges because that is the only way you and I will grow and no matter how difficult things get glory is just around the corner.

Why I Don't Run From Halloween

First let me say that if you're a believer in Jesus and reading this you've probably heard all the reasons why Christians and certainly churches should not celebrate or recognize Halloween.  You've heard horror stories about Satanic rituals and virgin sacrifices many times before.  So please remember that the title isn't Why I Run from Halloween, but Why I Don't Run From Halloween.  If you want another lesson in the reasons to avoid Halloween there is plenty of information on the inter-web for you.

Do you remember a time in your life when you met someone that said they didn't celebrate Halloween?  Do you remember how you responded?  My guess is you did NOT look at them with a sense of reverence for their spiritual superiority.  You didn't gaze at their glowing face in awe of their giant faith.  No, my guess is that you asked a very sarcastic "why?" with a this guys a nut look on your face... or you simply shrugged your shoulders and kept eating your mountain of candy.  My father was a pastor for 35 years and every one of those years we dressed up and begged candy from our neighbors.  But I never remember Halloween being mentioned in church.

Church seems to have a bit of a double standard in this area.  Churches have resigned themselves to the fact that 98.7% of their people will celebrate Halloween but you still can't talk about it.  Drive down the street and look at churches around Halloween and you'll see that we've done everything we can to try and cover up the fact that what we're celebrating is Halloween.  In the last few weeks I've seen big signs in church yards for Fall Festivals and Neewollah parties (this one really gets me) and Harvest parties but not one has dared mention the word Halloween.

Just for fun, set up a little on camera interview with the little costumed creatures on the street next year and ask one question of each child, "Why do you celebrate Halloween?"  I guarantee every child's answer will have something to do with candy.  You won't find a single kid who will go into the dark history of the Holiday.  The fact is, any child raised in a home that recognizes the opportunity for evil in the day will not be going door to door for candy but will be out in a field somewhere with their family dancing under the moon or whatever they do.

To the vast majority of the people in our country Halloween is an excuse to dress up and eat way too much candy.  So instead of running away from Halloween, I acknowledge it (notice I didn't say, "embrace" or "love") and try to leverage it for a Godly purpose.  See, I'm sick of Satan undermining every "Christian" holiday; He's materialized Christmas and made Easter about eggs and fluffy bunnies.  So why not take a day that is supposed to be Satan's and turn it into an opportunity to engage the disconnected with Jesus?

So this year at Real Life we leveraged Halloween like never before.  There was a flash-mob doing Michael Jackson's Thriller Dance to tease the October message series, Walking Dead (capitalizing on the popularity of the AMC television show by the same name).  The first week of the series we took pictures of our people and "zombified" them for use on social media sites like Facebook.   We saw some great conversations start as friends of friends asked questions about the pictures and our people got to tell them - not about Halloween, but about Jesus and what He was doing in their lives at Real Life.   During this series leading up to Halloween we addressed the spiritual issues of those without Christ headed to a literal place called Hell and how in-Christ we believers are to die to ourselves and to sin - become walking dead in order to live for God in Christ.  And we capped it off by handing out 1100 invitations to church, included in stuffed treat bags, that some decorated volunteers handed out during Trick-or-Treat down Main Street on the 31st.  Around 6000 pieces of candy were given out and nearly each one came with an invitation to connect with Jesus.

Here is my opinion.  We in the Christian community are not fooling a single non-believer with our Halloween hypocrisy.  They know that, whatever we call it, we're celebrating Halloween.  If we were really against Halloween we'd pretend it didn't exist.  We wouldn't let our kids dress up.  We'd preach against it and we certainly wouldn't do trunk-or-treats or invite people to our harvest parties or fall festivals and we wouldn't do these large-events on or near Halloween at all!  Instead, by calling it something other than Halloween,  two things occur.  First, we make ourselves "feel" spiritually superior, because we're not calling what we do a Halloween event.  And second we further alienate the very people we claim we're trying to reach with the Gospel.

So I use Halloween and the month of October to express spiritual truths and share the Gospel in a way that might connect with non-believers.  Instead of standing on the corner telling everyone they are going to Hell (don't remember Jesus doing this to anyone...except the religious leaders).  We have fun with it knowing that it simply provides us with an opportunity to have a conversation about Jesus instead of a discussion on the spiritual implications of Halloween. I don't run from Halloween because I see it as too valuable an opportunity to share the light of Christ Jesus with a dark world - and like Paul said, if we tried to get away from the darkness we'd have to leave this world.  Instead, Paul tells us to avoid those who claim to live in the light but walk in darkness, so that we can find a way to connect with those who truly are in the dark about the light and love of Jesus (see 1 Corinthians 5:9-11).

By the way, October 2013's series will be called The Other Side and we'll deal with the often left alone subjects of Satan and how he works, demons, angels, Hell, etc.  I'm sure we'll do it up big and try to once again leverage this opportunity for the glory of Jesus Christ.  And God willing we'll see the light of Christ shine on those in the darkness.