Sometimes, we can't relate.....and they know it

She was a pretty girl, (I don't remember her name, but let's call her Joan) walking down the street on a hot Texas afternoon in the town's poorest neighborhood.  I got out of the car to talk to her about Christ and invite her to church.  Joan was SO receptive and so kind!  She said that she'd be glad to come to church and we gave her a ride to her home so she could get out of the heat for a few minutes.  It wasn't much of a home.   She lived in a tiny converted gas station with the abandoned pumps right outside her front door.  We dropped her off and told her we looked forward to seeing her the following morning at such and such time.

Well, Joan didn't answer her door the next morning and never came to church.  I followed up on her a few other times after that; but the closest I got to speaking with her was another Saturday afternoon when I knocked on her open door and was "greeted" by a room full of people.  The only thing I remember seeing in the room, as I stood in the open doorway with people spilling out onto the stoop,  was a bed to my left and people sitting everywhere.  Some on folding chairs and some on the bed.  They were all just hanging out and weren't a bit rude but not necessarily friendly either.  I told them I was looking for Joan and a large older woman pointed to a figure on the bed.  Joan was sprawled out on the bed sleeping in the middle of the day in front of all these rowdy people!  She roused slightly and when I asked her if she wanted to go to church the next day, she mumbled something incoherently and then dropped her head back down.  The heavy woman laughed bawdily and said, "Honey, she ain't in any condition to go ANYwhere!"  And everyone laughed knowingly with her.  It was like a private joke had been told that I wasn't privy to.

I looked for her a couple of times after that, but never found her.  But here's what kept going through my mind.  She and I were from two different worlds.  Me?  I was white bread America and I was going back to my white bread home with my husband and four kids.  Everything in my world was "set up" for me to live a "holy" life.  To be separated.  To shun "works of the flesh".  And here I come in my skirt and comfortable shoes thinking that inviting Joan to church is going to change her hell hole life.  When I drop her off back home, I'm still dropping her off to her converted gas station.  To the men who would use her.  To those who probably sell her drugs, and possibly sell her FOR drugs.  In my mind I could imagine her saying to me, "What?!  Ok....yeah!  I'll go to church with you, but guess what?  I'm coming back to this mess.  I'm having to deal with these people.   You can't even relate to my life and I sure as hell can't relate to yours!  Is going to church with you Sunday going to change all THIS for me?"  And she would have been right.  I couldn't relate and going to church with me may even cause her more grief than help.

I'm in AWE of people who give up their lives to go and be a PART of the lives of the poor.  The needy.  The homeless.  The helpless.  Mother Teresa, who gave up physical comforts so that she could show love and relate to those poverty stricken in India.  I've wondered what it looks like to really minister to people in these seemingly hopeless situations.  It seems to me, we can't minister from a distance.  It's got to be personal and up close.  But that often means giving up what we CAN have top help others get what they CAN'T.

This isn't preaching.  I'm not there yet......

Woman caught in adultery....what if she did it again?

Most of us have heard the story of the woman caught in adultery.

8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ² Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]] (emphasis mine)  (John 8:2 - 11)

What if she did it again?

Seriously.  What if two weeks later, Jesus is at the same place teaching and she is brought before Him again.  Would His answer be any different?  One would think that after narrowly escaping being stoned to death that she'd become the earliest version of Mother Teresa!  But what if she didn't.....what if she messed up again.  How many times would she have to be brought before Jesus before He'd say, "You know what?  I'm done!  Give me a stone!  I didn't condemn you....I let you off the hook and you just totally took advantage of my kindness!  I've had it!  You deserve this!  Start throwing!!"?

I can't even picture Christ saying ANYTHING like this to her!  He showed her mercy when she didn't even ask for it.  Is there anything that He taught that would lead us to believe that He can get fed up with us?  That we can run out of chances to "get it right"?

  27“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6: 27 - 28)

It seems here that Jesus is instructing us on His own character.  He loves those who hate Him.  He forgives.  He doesn't hold grudges.  He doesn't get fed up with us.  In fact, even with the last bit of physical strength He had in Him, He asked forgiveness on those who were mocking, torturing and killing Him.

When we just keep sinning

But what about when we can't seem to get things right?  When we act just like the sheep we are?  Call it habitual sin (again, what is that??  ALL sin is habitual!), call it a big mess up, call it sins of omission.....of not doing what we know is right....not giving to those in need....not caring for the sick....not bearing each other's burdens....that stuff that we do every day.  When does He say, "You know what!  I'm done!  You're not taking advantage of my goodness any more!  You're just trying to make a fool out of me!"  I mean, that's what we would do, right?  We forgive someone a wrong they've done to us and they keep doing it, or they keep wronging us in some other way, how long are we going to put up with that?  But Jesus isn't us.  It's breathtaking how utterly and unabashedly good He is.  Peter wanted to know the same thing....

 21Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”22Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.(emphasis mine)  (Matthew 18: 21-22)

I picture Peter saying to  Jesus, "I mean REALLY!  How often do I have to put up with someone messing me over!?  I'll forgive him seven times and then I'm done.  Seriously Lord, at some point, shouldn't I stand up for myself?!"  And Jesus says, "No, I'm not saying that.  I'm saying seventy times that!"  Which, by my understanding, means infinity....always.  We forgive every time!  And interestingly, again, there's no mention of the offender ASKING forgiveness.  Apparently, they don't HAVE to ask our forgiveness for us to grant it.

So where the heck am I going with this?

It just seems to me that we're so quick to talk about what someone's life looks like after they've become a believer and if it doesn't look a certain way, then they just didn't get it.  But my point is, there is nothing about Christ's character or His actions that demonstrates that's the way He feels.  In fact, everything He teaches seems to teach the opposite.  

I realize that goes against everything that we believe about justice and fairness.  If we'd been in the company of Jesus when this woman was brought before Him, I've no doubt we would all have been humbled.  (Of course, we'd see ourselves as the pharisees, graciously condescending to show mercy (but you really HAVE to read this, by Jim McNeely....he's quickly becoming one of my favorite bloggers), but the reality is that we're the adulterous woman!)  However, if it kept happening, we'd start picking up stones.    But again, thank God that Jesus isn't us!

How does anyone ever grow to love God more if they constantly are afraid that they are running out of chances to prove that they really "got it"?  Is the gospel a certain amount of chances to get it right?  Or is it infinite mercy, forgiveness and GRACE?

Desperate to escape or desperate for God?

Some questions have been running through my brain lately regarding salvation.  "Salvation" is a key word in the Christian faith, but what does it actually mean?

Are we saved FROM something or FOR someone?

If there we no threat of hell, would that change God's love for us or how we feel about Him?

If the goodness of God leads to repentance, then why do we so often try to "scare the Hell out of people"....literally!?

Do I need the threat of Hell to be truly sorry for the selfishness inside me?

If I trust Christ, to escape Hell, am I really sincerely trusting Christ or am I just afraid of going to Hell?

If we get to Heaven and find out that there's no Hell (and never was), will we feel cheated?

If we get to Heaven and every human being that ever lived is there, will we be disappointed?

Are we so desperate to escape Hell, that it doesn't really matter to us if we spend eternity with God or not, as long as we don't spend eternity in fiery torment?

Does Hell matter at all?

Some of what has prompted these questions is my thinking on who God really is.  If God is Love (and I know He is) and the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha and Omega, the Great Physician, Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace....then isn't being His MORE than enough?  Isn't spending eternity with Him, starting today, the gift of ALL gifts?   How does the fear of Hell fit into that equation?  Does truly KNOWING this wonderful God of ours make His absence Hell?  If I love God with all my heart and soul and strength, then isn't His absence, isn't an eternity without Him more of a horror than literally burning forever?

If our greatest love is supposed to be God, then how can our greatest fear be our own suffering?  If I lost my husband tomorrow, I would grieve for his presence, his touch, his smell, his voice, his kisses, his laugh, his words.  I wouldn't grieve for the fact that I don't have his income, or that my standard of living just took a hit, or that maybe I don't get to live in the same home I've grown accustomed to.  My fear of losing him comes from my love for his presence.

If anyone out there has any thoughts on these questions (or questions of your own), I'd love to hear them.  I find that I've find God more in my questions than I do in MY answers......

Why did God set the price so high?

I've heard all kinds of theories on why Jesus died for us.  Because He is so holy that only the holiest of sacrifices would be acceptable.  Because perfect blood is the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins.  I've even heard a pastor remark that the only thing greater than God's love is His justice.  A remark that I have come to vehemently disagree with.

But the fact remains that God is under no one's authority.  He answers to no one.  There is no force in the universe that sets rules for Him to follow.  So the fact that a perfect sacrifice was required to pay for our sins, was completely HIS doing and HIS decision.

I have always wondered, then WHY did He create a demand that only HE could fill?  And the only conclusion I can ever come up with is to show us how much He loves us.  And that, for me, changes everything.  He's holding no grudges toward me or you.  He set the rules, he took the punishment and he planned it that way.  We are the object of his love.  And when I think about what He put Himself through, so that I could GET how much He loves me, well, it colors my life in a completely different palette.

He didn't HAVE to set the price so high.   At the cost of Himself, humiliation, pain and intense suffering. He could have just given us a set of rules to follow or hoops to jump through.   But the fact that He DID set a cost and then pay it, tells me that He wants me to KNOW beyond a doubt, that I am more than His creation.  I'm His truly beloved child.   I can only love Him because He loved me first.  And weren't we created to love and be loved?

What if I'm wrong OR And Unwasted Life

Everybody has doubts.  Even the most steadfast believers have doubts.  I almost distrust people who are unequivocally certain (about ANYTHING).   But for me, the doubts don't come about wondering about whether I'll get to Heaven. If the Bible is correct, I'm forgiven; and my ticket to Heaven doesn't hinge on how good I can be.  Because if that's the case, I'm done!

No, my doubts are much broader than that.  Every now and then it will cross my mind, "What if I'm wrong about the whole thing?"  What if my "religion" is wrong?  What if Jesus was fiction?  What if what I believe isn't the right way?  What if there is no "right way"?  What if everyone is right in their own way?  What if there's no hell?  Heck, what if there's no heaven?  What if all that I've clung to as a believer is pure imagination?

Muslims completely believe in their theology.  Buddhists sincerely follow the teachings of the man who inspired that belief system.  Hindus hold so firmly to their belief that they form their diet around it.  Jews KNOW that the messiah hasn't come.  They really don't seem confused about this.   Atheists, being pretty religious about what they believe, look at all of us who hold to  anything other than science as foolish and weak.  All these other "believers" are just as committed to the tenets of their faith as I am to mine.

Even among Christians, there are so many different takes on our God and how we are to follow Him.  Believers in Christ often have extremely opposed view points.  Theologians, who have devoted their entire lives to studying God's word, often disagree so acutely that it's hard to believe they were reading the same book!    But where everyone seems to completely agree, is the individual notion that their way is right and everyone else has been duped.

Sometimes I'm struck by this arrogance, MY arrogance.   What makes me so sure I'm right and everyone else is wrong?  What makes my faith in Christ any more precious than those who worship Allah or Buddha?  I'm so quick to see them as believing a lie, buy why can't it be me that's believed a lie?

These doubts can be dizzying, and so I try to steady my brain by asking myself, "Okay, so let's say you're wrong, Serene.  Then, at the end of the day, did your wrong cause hurt to others?"   Seriously,  did my being wrong about my beliefs cause pain to others? Make them feel judged?  Unloved?  Stupid?

If believing that my Creator loves me so much that He took human form to sacrifice Himself for me so that I could hopefully GET how much He loves me; makes me love others, then have I believed badly?  If understanding that Christ's love for me frees me from looking to every other unsatisfying thing on this planet for love and acceptance, in turn, makes me want to love others, then is that an awful thing?  If feeling accepted and cherished by God makes me want to accept and cherish others, then even if I turn out to be wrong; will my life have been wasted?  If God's patience with me causes me to be patient with others, did that patience hurt anyone?  Because I really believe that to die to myself, my wants, my desires and treasure God's love for his creation, is that making me hurtful?  I truly believe that every time I do something foolish, say something hurtful, look the other way at a need I can fill, God forgives me and reminds me He loves me. And because of the faith I have in this, it prompts me to be a little kinder, a little more understanding and hopefully more forgiving when I see those same human faults play out in the lives of others, whether they are "Christians" or not.

If what I believe in my heart is a lie, but that belief brought love, joy, kindness, acceptance, generosity and forgiveness to my life and the lives of people around me, then what harm has come from it?    The only harm that could come would be if I elevated the DESIRE to be RIGHT over being loving.  When I'm so fixated on convincing others that my way is right, then it's easy to forget that, if my way really is right, then I can trust my sweet God to show them.  And all I need to do is love.

If my life is spent loving because of my belief that God loves me and ALL His creation, then what does it matter if I'm wrong.  Yes, this is what I believe.  And yes, there are doubts.  But I've come to the conclusion, "So what?".    It's kind of hard to consider a life spent loving a wasted life.  So if  reincarnation is true and I come back as a turtle, I'll just be one happy (hopefully loving!) turtle!

The biggest candy bar from God ever!

I came across this post in a round about way.  While listing items on eBay this morning, I listened to the sermon by Dr. Rosenbladt and was in tears half way through.  I wanted to scream and yell, "YES!  THAT'S something to get excited about!!  Unbridled, Unconditional, Unrestrained LOVE!  THAT'S how God loves us!"

And while the sermon was incredible, the comments were pretty incredible as well!  In an answer to one commenters fear of "drowning in grace" (what better way to go?!?!)

"If anything we are far from being ‘immersed in the law’ today, and are drowning in the grace message. You can’t have one without the other, and a quick look at the times around us and I think our time would be better spent exposing the cheap grace message and what the evidence is of a truly saved person."

Commenter Ted wrote

kate, let me ask you this. When was the last time you cried yourself to sleep at night because you feared for your eternal soul that you did not believe nearly enough to be saved? Or that your third baptism didn’t take and you may need a fourth? Or that your seventh time at the altar call might not have been enough because you continue to see sin in your life and you don’t desire Jesus enough, because if you did your sinful behavior would change?

After studying, praying, consulting with pastors and teachers and reading essays and books, and no matter what you do or how much you study and try to “come to Jesus”, you continue to live in sin and just fail, fail, fail. So you lie in bed at 3:00am in the morning, curled up in a fetal position, shaking and weeping in the most horrific terror, certain that you are hell-bound no matter how much you try to reach out to Christ because you just can’t “get it right”?

That's it!  The frustration!  The fear!  The rules!  The righteous mask.

I came away from this wondering if those who would consider themselves "fallen away" have really fallen away from their initial belief that it's Christ alone who saves them for Himself OR are they fallen away from the constant demands for "holy living", for "separation".  Demands made by fellow believers that they tow a certain line.

Commenter Ted finished up with

"I would recommend you spend less time evaluating other people’s faith and joyfully go about your daily vocation in the knowledge that not only was Christ’s blood sufficient to cover the sins of the despairing people I just described, but also yours as well. I just hope that proper teaching and preaching of the sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection finally reach these poor folks’ ears before they walk away from the faith entirely." 

Nothing left to add to that!

 

Proud to be Modest?

Among fashion bloggers, there are numerous subsets.  There are the vintage lovers, the retro pinup set, the high fashion high dollar bloggers.  And there's also a set of modesty bloggers, showcasing their love of fashion married to their religious conviction on modesty in dress.  I've even come across several Muslim bloggers who highlight their fashion while adhering to strict "hijab" rules of dress.  (I hope I've said that correctly.  My intent is not to offend.)  

Elaine, a modest fashion blogger of Clothed Much posted this article from Jezebel on Twitter.  Apparently there is a website that asks the question, "Is this modest?" and then proceeds to answer said question.  This is how Jezebel describes the site.

"Is This Modest" is a website that claims to promote an open and practical dialog about modesty, but it's actually a male-gazey compendium of creepshots of high schoolers and misogynist rants about too-tight t-shirts. Is it possible to have a sane discussion about modesty? Not if modesty means, as it does on this site, that it's a woman's responsibility to prevent men from thinking impure thoughts. 

I tried to check it out for myself, but the site is now displaying a "under construction" sign.  But it does get me thinking about the modesty discussion and the thing I keep coming back to is that modesty is an attitude.  An attitude that is expressed in our demeanor, dress, conversation, etc....  So it seems paradoxical to take pride in one's modesty.  

There's a verse in the New Testament that seems to be on repeat in my head.

and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. (1 Thess. 4:  11-12)

 Mind my own affairs.   Wow!  That's not something I've spent a lot of my opinionated life doing.  But this is what plays in my head when I find my thoughts ever focused on what SOMEONE ELSE is doing.  Tending to myself and my own issues and trying to HELP not FIX someone else is more than a full time job.

I get it.  Both sides think that they are helping.  Modesty proponents believe that they are helping women to stop relying on their sexual attributes.  They also, I'm sure, believe that they are helping men, because, Hey, if women would just stay covered, men wouldn't have sexual thoughts about them!  (There is just soooooo much wrong with this theory!)  Those who decry such modesty based websites as misogynistic, believe that they are liberating women from being viewed as sex objects.  Often overlooking, however, how even the most feminist of feminists will jump at the chance to be portrayed as lust worthy.

Look, we're all flawed.  We ALL need help.  But that help is never going to come by finger pointing, judging and ostracizing one another in the name of a self proclaimed mission.  Both sides offer valid view points, but at the end of the day, it's our OWN selves we are responsible for.