So, finally, the post I promised: what a real woman is. Titus 2 will also be the basis of this post, as it was in the "real man" post. Let's take a look at what Titus 2 says about women:
Titus 2:3-5 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
A. Reverent in behavior "Reverence" is "A feeling or attitude of deep respect mingled with awe; the outward manifestation of this feeling." Some definitions specifically define it as a deep respect for God. A true, godly woman has deep respect for God and it shows in her behavior.
B. Not malicious gossips You've probably heard it said that girls are cruel. Why does the female gender have this reputation? Well, let's face it: girls are pros when it comes to gossip. There is a reason that girls are stereotyped as malicious gossips: because they are! Even the Bible admits this! A true woman, on the other hand, works to make sure her words are edifying. This means getting rid of gossip.
C. Nor enslaved to much wine Pretty self-explanatory.
D. Teaching what is good True women are good examples to the younger women and girls.
E. Love their husbands, love their children This obviously only applies to those women whom God has chosen to give a husband and family. For those that God has decided to bless them with these, they should love their family. The family is God's way of showing the love between Christ and His Church, and of God for His children. A true woman recognizes this and, with the help of God, loves her family in such a way to show God's love.
F. Sensible All right, let's face the truth: girls have a tendency to view life through the glasses of romance. Ever heard the term "giddy, silly girls"? God wants us to view life sensibly. Sure, it's fun to daydream, but God has put us in the here and now, and we need to focus on pleasing God and living for Him in the here and now.
G. Pure There is not much more in this world that is beautiful than purity. The world will feed you all sorts of lies about love and physical relationships. But a real woman holds to the truth of the word of God: A physical relationship does not equal love, in fact there is nothing more loving than to abstain from physical contact until marriage. Once married, a woman shows her love through her purity in her fidelity.
H. Workers at home The world has made out the position of homemaker to be one that is looked down upon and scorned about, when in truth there is no greater calling in the world for most women. If God has give a woman a family, He has also called her to take care of that family.
I. Kind A true woman is known for her kindness.
J. Subject to their own husbands This goes along the lines of men being leaders. As men are meant to be leaders, women are meant to be followers. This is definitely not a hard and fast rule, that all women must be subject to all men, but it is a general principle, especially in opposite-sex relationships. Just like a dance is not as enjoyable if the man doesn't lead properly, it also doesn't work well if the woman tries to take over and lead.
Women have a tendency to want to be leaders. If their is ever a leadership vacuum, a woman is usually there ready to fill the vacuum. This not only goes against how God created things to work, but it also discourages men from trying to lead. Instead of always trying to be the leaders, the world needs true women who will instead learn to be good supporters. The best (female) dancers are not always those who know the steps perfectly-they are those who can follow the lead.
The world is in desperate need of true women.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Waiting, patiently trusting...or not
I said that this post was going to be about what a real woman is. I apologize, because that is not what this post is about. Rather, this post is about learning from waiting.
I just found out today that two people I know who graduated from high school last year are engaged. This is the sixth or seventh engagement I have heard about in the past year. While I am happy for them, I find myself growing more and more discontent with where God has me in life.
Up until my junior year, I had very feminist leanings. Anybody who knows me now will laugh at this, but I was determined to have a successful career and be the best in my chosen field. While I did want to get married, the plan was to have one or two kids and put them in private or public school. I was going to go to Yale, Georgetown, Columbia, Brown...some very prestigious college for undergrad, go to Harvard Law School, be a successful lawyer, get married after a couple years at the job, continue in my career, become a judge, and eventually work my way up to the US Supreme Court. Don't laugh. That was my plan.
Plan B was to go to medical school.
But my junior year, God changed my heart. Through a variety of different circumstances, God completely changed my outlook on life and my desire for the rest of my life. While I started out junior year wanting a successful career as a lawyer and judge, I finished the year wanting...to get married young, support my husband in whatever ministry God called him too, and have a large family. Large as in ten plus children. (Now you may laugh.)
Simply put, God stripped away my plan and showed me HIS plan. And by the end of the year, I tell you I was not the same person. I had completely given up my plan and was ready to follow God's with reckless abandon.
So now here I am, at the end of my senior year. And while I hear of many engagements, I have yet to even have someone in my life that I could label a "special someone" in any way, shape or form. I assumed that I would at least be beginning a relationship at this point in life...and instead, everything seems to be coming together as if my previous plan was in place. I've been accepted to a prestigious college, possibly even going into the honors program, and pursuing a program that could easily set me up for medical school.
I guess I assumed that if God was going to put the desire for marriage and family in my heart, than He was going to fulfill it not too long after putting that desire there. I assumed that I would marry young. NEVER ASSUME! Had you asked me anytime during this past year if I believed that God planned for me to marry young, my answer definitely wouldn't have been "I don't know, but I hope so..." Now I see that God is revealing to me that I did assume He would bring Mr. Right around this point in time. Why did I assume that? Perhaps if I didn't expect anything from God, maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed every time I hear of another engagement.
And as I think over the fact that I am disappointed, I have to ask myself-why? My God is an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, all-caring God, who knows me even better than I know myself and knows beyond a shadow of a doubt what's best for me. Why can't I learn to trust Him? Why can't I learn to let God be my fulfillment, and not be anxiously awaiting God to bring Mr. Right into my life?
When will God bring Mr. Right into my life? I'm not sure of the exact moment in time, but I do know this: Not until I learn to be content with where God has me right now.
I just found out today that two people I know who graduated from high school last year are engaged. This is the sixth or seventh engagement I have heard about in the past year. While I am happy for them, I find myself growing more and more discontent with where God has me in life.
Up until my junior year, I had very feminist leanings. Anybody who knows me now will laugh at this, but I was determined to have a successful career and be the best in my chosen field. While I did want to get married, the plan was to have one or two kids and put them in private or public school. I was going to go to Yale, Georgetown, Columbia, Brown...some very prestigious college for undergrad, go to Harvard Law School, be a successful lawyer, get married after a couple years at the job, continue in my career, become a judge, and eventually work my way up to the US Supreme Court. Don't laugh. That was my plan.
Plan B was to go to medical school.
But my junior year, God changed my heart. Through a variety of different circumstances, God completely changed my outlook on life and my desire for the rest of my life. While I started out junior year wanting a successful career as a lawyer and judge, I finished the year wanting...to get married young, support my husband in whatever ministry God called him too, and have a large family. Large as in ten plus children. (Now you may laugh.)
Simply put, God stripped away my plan and showed me HIS plan. And by the end of the year, I tell you I was not the same person. I had completely given up my plan and was ready to follow God's with reckless abandon.
So now here I am, at the end of my senior year. And while I hear of many engagements, I have yet to even have someone in my life that I could label a "special someone" in any way, shape or form. I assumed that I would at least be beginning a relationship at this point in life...and instead, everything seems to be coming together as if my previous plan was in place. I've been accepted to a prestigious college, possibly even going into the honors program, and pursuing a program that could easily set me up for medical school.
I guess I assumed that if God was going to put the desire for marriage and family in my heart, than He was going to fulfill it not too long after putting that desire there. I assumed that I would marry young. NEVER ASSUME! Had you asked me anytime during this past year if I believed that God planned for me to marry young, my answer definitely wouldn't have been "I don't know, but I hope so..." Now I see that God is revealing to me that I did assume He would bring Mr. Right around this point in time. Why did I assume that? Perhaps if I didn't expect anything from God, maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed every time I hear of another engagement.
And as I think over the fact that I am disappointed, I have to ask myself-why? My God is an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, all-caring God, who knows me even better than I know myself and knows beyond a shadow of a doubt what's best for me. Why can't I learn to trust Him? Why can't I learn to let God be my fulfillment, and not be anxiously awaiting God to bring Mr. Right into my life?
When will God bring Mr. Right into my life? I'm not sure of the exact moment in time, but I do know this: Not until I learn to be content with where God has me right now.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
A Real Man
I was listening to the radio as I was driving home from dance class on Tuesday. The DJ posed the question: "What should guys never do because it will detract from their manliness?" One woman called in and talked about how her husband decorated their home perfectly-much better than she ever could have. I wanted to cry right then. It was obvious that she had less respect for her husband, rather than more, because of his ability to decorate. I couldn't help but think that there is absolutely no reason someone should look at a male as any less of a man just because he can decorate, or can design clothes, or can cook, or enjoys watching Project Runway. Why do we have to stereotype "men's" and "women's" activities, and if you enjoy an activity in the other gender's "category" it detracts from who you are?
This whole thought process got me thinking about what it TRULY means to be a man or woman. Immediately, the passage of Titus 2 came to mind. In this post I'm going to talk about what it really means to be a man. In a following post I'm going to talk about what it really means to be a woman.
(Disclaimer: In this post, I'm going to use the term "man" to refer to a male who has achieved or is striving to achieve the spiritual characteristics discussed in this post. "Guy" refers to a male who is an adult but has not achieved these characteristics. "Boy", of course, is a male who is neither spiritually nor physically mature. )
Titus 2:2, 6-8Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
1. Temperate A real man is able to control his emotions. He does not let anger, frustration, or any other emotion get the best of him. He controls his emotions, his emotions do not control him. Let it be noted that this does not by any stretch of the imagination mean a man should be emotion-LESS. It simply means that a man's emotions should not control how he acts.
2. Worthy of respect Simply put, a real man should show Christlike character. People should look at him as someone of good character and reputation.
3. Self-controlled This goes hand in hand with temperance. While temperance means that a man controls his emotions, self-control simply means that a man controls his actions.
4. Sound in faith A real man knows what he believes and does not compromise that. A real man has a firm foundation in God and His Word.
5. Sound in love A real man knows what love is, and how to show it to others. This is not the mushy-gushy feeling kind of love. This is Christlike love.
6. Sound in endurance A real man does not give up easily. His character is able to endure even when tested.
7. Seriousness This does not mean that a man cannot be funny. Rather, a man knows the proper time to be funny, but also knows when the time is not proper and is serious when he needs to be.
8. Soundness of speech A man guards his mouth. He uses his words to edify and exhort others, never to tear them down.
9. Set...an example I left this one until last because this is the one that I really want to expound upon. A man is a leader. This does not necessarily mean that he is in a position of leadership, but he always sets a good examples for those who watch him. Although not explicitly stated in Titus 2, a man also needs to be a leader with women. (Not necessarily all women in all circumstances, but as a general rule.)
I know some will disagree with me on this point, but in my study of Scripture I have come to the firm conclusion that God meant for men to be the leaders. Obviously there will be some areas when women are better suited to be leaders (a women's Bible study, for example). But as a general rule, God designed men to lead and women to follow.
This does not mean that men should "rule over" women. But men need to step up to the plate, to be the initiators and leaders, especially in relational and spiritual matters. This really is the best way, because it is the way God designed things to be.
As I have taken dance classes for the past few weeks, God has used them as an object lesson for me as to how He meant for men and women to relate to each other. See, in today's society and culture, guys do not know how to lead. In dance class, most of the guys don't know how to lead. Sometimes guys try to "rule over" women, and make things rough for them. If a guy is too rough with the girl in dance, he will hurt her. Other guys are timid and don't really want to lead. When this happens in dance, the results are disastrous. If the guy doesn't lead, the girl doesn't know what to do and the dance becomes a complete mess. Some guys try to lead but simply don't know how. Their lack of experience shows. Sometimes they give girls the wrong signals (and as the teacher says "Don't tell her something you don't mean!") Their shoulders are tense, and it is difficult to follow them even though they are really trying. The more they lead, the more they relax and the easier it is to follow.
Then you get the guys who have done it. They're no longer guys trying to be men. They've learned how to lead. They've become men. In dance, these guys make the best partners. In life, they make the best people.
And it's so refreshing when you finally come across a real man. Last Tuesday I danced with several guys in a row who either didn't lead, or were really tense. As much as I enjoy dancing, I wasn't able to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible with these guys as my partners. But after dancing with several inexperienced partners in a row, I got paired with Jordan, who has obviously danced a lot before. The difference was astounding. The first thing I noticed and mentioned when I placed my hand on his shoulder was "Your shoulders aren't tense!" And for the brief two minutes that I got to dance with him, I probably had more fun than in the rest of the class combined. He knew what he was doing, and he led me perfectly. He wasn't rough at all, in fact he was the most gentle of all the guys I danced with, but I always knew exactly what he wanted me to do. The fact that he led well made things so much easier for me. This is the way it is in life as well. When men lead, it makes things so much easier for women. Not easier because the women are getting out of leading-rather, it makes it easier because it frees up the women to do what they were meant to do (something I will be discussing in my next post).
The world, the church, and many wonderful Christian women are looking for men. Men who will step up and lead the church, men who will step up and lead their families, men who will step up and lead in their relationships. Have you ever ended up in a situation with a guy where you weren't sure where the relationship stood? A man steps up to the plate and guides the relationship. A guy will play around with girls' hearts. A real man realizes how precious a woman's heart really is, and will treat the heart, and consequently the woman, with care and respect.
Someone made a comment tonight about how God is sexist because He's male. While the comment was made in jest and not meant to be taken seriously, it made me wonder "What if God was female?" And I realized that the thought of God as a woman truly scared me. God made men to be the leaders and protectors of women because that's what God does for all of us! God leads us and protects us. Loves us and cares for us. That is what men need to do. Be leaders, especially in church and family. Always be ready to defend and protect the weaker (women, children, elderly, sick, etc.). Love and care for all. This is what a real man does.
God bless men.
This whole thought process got me thinking about what it TRULY means to be a man or woman. Immediately, the passage of Titus 2 came to mind. In this post I'm going to talk about what it really means to be a man. In a following post I'm going to talk about what it really means to be a woman.
(Disclaimer: In this post, I'm going to use the term "man" to refer to a male who has achieved or is striving to achieve the spiritual characteristics discussed in this post. "Guy" refers to a male who is an adult but has not achieved these characteristics. "Boy", of course, is a male who is neither spiritually nor physically mature. )
Titus 2:2, 6-8Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
So, according to these verses, what characteristics should a man possess?1. Temperate A real man is able to control his emotions. He does not let anger, frustration, or any other emotion get the best of him. He controls his emotions, his emotions do not control him. Let it be noted that this does not by any stretch of the imagination mean a man should be emotion-LESS. It simply means that a man's emotions should not control how he acts.
2. Worthy of respect Simply put, a real man should show Christlike character. People should look at him as someone of good character and reputation.
3. Self-controlled This goes hand in hand with temperance. While temperance means that a man controls his emotions, self-control simply means that a man controls his actions.
4. Sound in faith A real man knows what he believes and does not compromise that. A real man has a firm foundation in God and His Word.
5. Sound in love A real man knows what love is, and how to show it to others. This is not the mushy-gushy feeling kind of love. This is Christlike love.
6. Sound in endurance A real man does not give up easily. His character is able to endure even when tested.
7. Seriousness This does not mean that a man cannot be funny. Rather, a man knows the proper time to be funny, but also knows when the time is not proper and is serious when he needs to be.
8. Soundness of speech A man guards his mouth. He uses his words to edify and exhort others, never to tear them down.
9. Set...an example I left this one until last because this is the one that I really want to expound upon. A man is a leader. This does not necessarily mean that he is in a position of leadership, but he always sets a good examples for those who watch him. Although not explicitly stated in Titus 2, a man also needs to be a leader with women. (Not necessarily all women in all circumstances, but as a general rule.)
I know some will disagree with me on this point, but in my study of Scripture I have come to the firm conclusion that God meant for men to be the leaders. Obviously there will be some areas when women are better suited to be leaders (a women's Bible study, for example). But as a general rule, God designed men to lead and women to follow.
This does not mean that men should "rule over" women. But men need to step up to the plate, to be the initiators and leaders, especially in relational and spiritual matters. This really is the best way, because it is the way God designed things to be.
As I have taken dance classes for the past few weeks, God has used them as an object lesson for me as to how He meant for men and women to relate to each other. See, in today's society and culture, guys do not know how to lead. In dance class, most of the guys don't know how to lead. Sometimes guys try to "rule over" women, and make things rough for them. If a guy is too rough with the girl in dance, he will hurt her. Other guys are timid and don't really want to lead. When this happens in dance, the results are disastrous. If the guy doesn't lead, the girl doesn't know what to do and the dance becomes a complete mess. Some guys try to lead but simply don't know how. Their lack of experience shows. Sometimes they give girls the wrong signals (and as the teacher says "Don't tell her something you don't mean!") Their shoulders are tense, and it is difficult to follow them even though they are really trying. The more they lead, the more they relax and the easier it is to follow.
Then you get the guys who have done it. They're no longer guys trying to be men. They've learned how to lead. They've become men. In dance, these guys make the best partners. In life, they make the best people.
And it's so refreshing when you finally come across a real man. Last Tuesday I danced with several guys in a row who either didn't lead, or were really tense. As much as I enjoy dancing, I wasn't able to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible with these guys as my partners. But after dancing with several inexperienced partners in a row, I got paired with Jordan, who has obviously danced a lot before. The difference was astounding. The first thing I noticed and mentioned when I placed my hand on his shoulder was "Your shoulders aren't tense!" And for the brief two minutes that I got to dance with him, I probably had more fun than in the rest of the class combined. He knew what he was doing, and he led me perfectly. He wasn't rough at all, in fact he was the most gentle of all the guys I danced with, but I always knew exactly what he wanted me to do. The fact that he led well made things so much easier for me. This is the way it is in life as well. When men lead, it makes things so much easier for women. Not easier because the women are getting out of leading-rather, it makes it easier because it frees up the women to do what they were meant to do (something I will be discussing in my next post).
The world, the church, and many wonderful Christian women are looking for men. Men who will step up and lead the church, men who will step up and lead their families, men who will step up and lead in their relationships. Have you ever ended up in a situation with a guy where you weren't sure where the relationship stood? A man steps up to the plate and guides the relationship. A guy will play around with girls' hearts. A real man realizes how precious a woman's heart really is, and will treat the heart, and consequently the woman, with care and respect.
Someone made a comment tonight about how God is sexist because He's male. While the comment was made in jest and not meant to be taken seriously, it made me wonder "What if God was female?" And I realized that the thought of God as a woman truly scared me. God made men to be the leaders and protectors of women because that's what God does for all of us! God leads us and protects us. Loves us and cares for us. That is what men need to do. Be leaders, especially in church and family. Always be ready to defend and protect the weaker (women, children, elderly, sick, etc.). Love and care for all. This is what a real man does.
God bless men.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
God's Plan
God's plan is not only different from mine.
It is better.
No, it's more than better.
It is the best.
It is better.
No, it's more than better.
It is the best.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
God Does NOT Care About Your Happiness-Part 2
My friend Marcelo just wrote a note called "Bringing Down Babylon" which goes on a similar line of thought as I had when I wrote "God Does NOT Care About Your Happiness"
I suggest you go read the note (let me know if the link doesn't work, it might not if you're not friends with him on facebook):
http://hs.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=8085387598
I suggest you go read the note (let me know if the link doesn't work, it might not if you're not friends with him on facebook):
http://hs.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=8085387598
Brian Kersch Note 2: True Love
Also written by the man blessed with an amazing blend of intelligence, knowledge, and teaching/preaching ability, Brian Kersch.
Similar (read: identical) to last time this will once again be about a song, also similarly I would ask atheists to stray from this note as once again this does not concern you and trolling will be in no way appreciated. As you could probably tell at this point the song title is True Love. However for this note I will be taking little to no credit for anything "profound" as most of the ideas are represented in the song, I'm just expanding upon them. Also note that this note is actually more humorous than the last one, marginally. (Well at least I'm hoping it's humorous because if not then I failed with this note and probably should deter myself from being a stand-up.) This is also not as highly directed towards adults as I intended the last one to be as well, except for the fact that every adult I wish to read this (and I'm friends with on facebook) interacts with teenagers on a daily basis in some way, shape, form or fashion. The message still holds true for you at the end, it's just the process that you (as the adult) might find somewhat elusive to draw the connection to, although I believe if everyone wasn't blinded by self-righteoussness (wow, that seemed really harsh but I couldn't think of another way to word it, I apologize for the nature of that statement) everyone would realize that method to which we reach the thesis remains true regardless of age.
The song can be listened to here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9CGpHZvqVs
"Blood and water hit the ground
walls we couldn't move came crashing down
we were free and made alive
the day that True Love died, the day that True Love died"
While I find this mildly amusing that it takes something like this (or the song) to get a lot of Christians to notice this I also find it mildly depressing at the same time because it is true that oftentimes our thoughts are nowhere near the realm of Him.
Part 1: No one has any idea what I'm talking about (A.K.A. A Thousand Tangents)
This song makes a simple yet very true message, that Christ died for us because He has true love for us. Wait a minute... that's not what the song says at all, maybe I just suck at reading. No, it says that Christ is True Love. The purest form of love, the embodiment of love, the completion of love, and that without Him love is flawed in its most primitive form. What could compel you to take upon yourself the thing that you despise the most?
If you were like me this would probably be something like ignorance or stupidity. If given the choice to become ignorant or one marginally lacking of intelligence I think the response to the choice given would be both swift and with fear that it was ever presented in the first place. For a lot of teenagers these days some things that you might detest without knowing it would be:
Loss of attractiveness or even becoming unattractive
Societal ridicule
Being ostracized
Becoming a prep (just kidding, no really though...)
Ridicule from parents
Arrogance
Being an atheist *gasp* (if your answer is anything but this, you are wrong.)
Not being accepted (note that this is different from societal ridicule because even those who are accepted get ridiculed at times, some people don't care if they're accepted as long as no one gets on their case for it)
_________________
etc.
we all know what we don't like, we all know what we make fun of, and even the more "preachery" or "churchy" of us have our vices when it comes to a perfect personality.
Now think about what in the world could ever get you to accept that choice? Wait, what? To become the thing I have always hated (other than yourself, that's almost inevitable). What would it take for you to say "yes?"
This is where I digress from the song, and this is where the thesis of this note becomes evident.
Christ made many sacrifices for us:
He became human
He separated himself from the Father momentarily
and the duh, he died on the cross.
But the one I would like to point out today that is often overlooked when it comes to analysis is that he took our sins upon Himself. I mean everyone says it, and it has the very nature of not meaning anything due to the repetition. I mean everyone notices the whole "wow, he died on the cross!" thing, but it goes unnoticed why He died on the cross and how big of a sacrifice that was for Him.
Christ was, is holy, perfectly perfect, righteous, without flaw, holy. Read Isiah sometime, it's amazing how he depicted God's holiness. In Jewish culture if something was repeated three times it was considered to be of utmost importance, this is something you DO NOT forget. This is like someone telling you the 5 digit code to stopping the world from blowing itself up, you DO NOT forget this (12345, 12345, 12345). It is important, in case you didn't get the message, this matters A LOT. And obviously God is talked a lot about in the Bible, I mean isn't the whole dang thing about Him (and look how huge it is! There must be something about him we're supposed to get from it, I mean seriously people that thing could keep a house from blowing over in a tornado). Well since God is talked about so much in the Bible wouldn't it be worthy to note which of his attributes are mentioned. Yeah we got the ones that everyone knows about:
loving
omnipotent
omnipresent
just
omniscient (I felt lame putting the three 'omni's together)
jealous
almighty
holy
holy
holy.
Three times holy boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, principalities and powers, angels and demons (what a horrible book, well literality speaking it was a nice read but I digress). It is the only attribute of God mentioned three times in the same breath. The Cheribum fly around God and cry "holy holy holy is the Lord almighty the whole earth is full of His glory"
Hey guys remember that 5 digit code, I hope you haven't forgotten it because you're in trouble if you have! Man this is something you're supposed to get, He wants to make sure that if you know only one thing about God that you sure as hell (ed note: Brian sucks at puns, please ignore the rest of them for the remainder of the message) better know that He is holy. But what is holy, again I digress (ed note: Brian does this a lot but everything ties itself together in the end in a neat little bow, notice how we're not talking about love here?[Brian note: the editor sure does love to talk a lot immediately following himself]) I digress to further understand what this term means. (ed note: saying it twice was intentional [Brian note: shut up])
Now since I know that almost all of you have heard the "sin" spiel I am going to regurgitate it for you because I'm like that. Sin, in the greek form, was a term for archery, anything that wasn't a perfect bullseye was considered "sin". This means if you're one atom off of the dead center of the nucleus of the atom that's in the direct center of the bullseye you screwed up, sounds easy right? Well to be perfectly perfect you have to be better than that. You have to be the perfect center of the proton that is the perfect center of the atom that is the perfect center of the bullseye that is the perfect center from the target and you have to shoot your arrow over the back of the target and have it come backwards and hit it. THAT is the meaning of holy. Not only can God do this but he does do this and if I were to say "without trying" I would be lying because that would imply that God has to try at something. So if God is the perfect center... blah blah blah, that means that sin must be anything that isn't God or God's will. To do anything that contradicts God is a sin. So God is holy holy holy, 12345, 12345, 12345, He is without sin, He is so without sin that sin is the opposite of Him.
Part 2: A neat little bow.
So what does ANYTHING I've said have ANYTHING to do with True Love? Actually I chuckled right there because of how simple it is, I feel special (ed note: his mommy says he is too [Brian note: I told you to shut up, you're fired] ed note: I'm telling mom)
Now I remember asking you what it would take to get you to say "yes" to becoming the thing that you hate most, well have you come up with an answer?
"If it saved my mom's life" (We all love our mommas)
"If my boyfriend asked me to" (yeah right, liar)
"If my girlfriend asked me to" (closer, but that's like saying a boy threw a rock closer to the moon than a girl.)
"If my spouse asked me to" (yeah... that was farther off than the boyfriend/girlfriend suggestions, fail)
"If God asked me to" (well aren't you Ms. Perfect Do Goody, now why are you reading this note?)
"If it saved my life" (probably the most honest response)
"Because I love Christ" (this is a phenomenal answer and I commend all of those who have done it in the past, right now I'm thinking of Columbine... However I also ask you to be honest because no one is going to know this answer except for you. As Michael W. Smith puts it "it was a test we could all hope to pass, but none of us would want to take" so if you "chose" this answer per se I really hope that it is an honest choice.)
what about "just cause"?
what about "because I love the people that do the thing I hate the most"?
what about "oh hey, that's exactly what Christ did on the cross"
Christ, being holy holy holy, but completely and utterlyTrue Love took our sin on the cross and took the punishment for it. CAPS LOCK GOD took the very thing that is the complete opposite of Him and accepted the punishment for it "just cause" yeah, just cause He is love and He loves us. I was thinking of not leaving you hanging and actually writing a conclusion to this note considering that right there is the thesis but I couldn't come up with anything (other than what's coming next of course) and I sort of feel like this interrupts the note so I will close with this:
Christ, being holy holy holy, but completely and utterlyTrue Love took our sin on the cross and took the punishment for it. CAPS LOCK GOD took the very thing that is the complete opposite of Him and accepted the punishment for it "just cause" yeah, just cause He is love and He loves us.
WOW
Similar (read: identical) to last time this will once again be about a song, also similarly I would ask atheists to stray from this note as once again this does not concern you and trolling will be in no way appreciated. As you could probably tell at this point the song title is True Love. However for this note I will be taking little to no credit for anything "profound" as most of the ideas are represented in the song, I'm just expanding upon them. Also note that this note is actually more humorous than the last one, marginally. (Well at least I'm hoping it's humorous because if not then I failed with this note and probably should deter myself from being a stand-up.) This is also not as highly directed towards adults as I intended the last one to be as well, except for the fact that every adult I wish to read this (and I'm friends with on facebook) interacts with teenagers on a daily basis in some way, shape, form or fashion. The message still holds true for you at the end, it's just the process that you (as the adult) might find somewhat elusive to draw the connection to, although I believe if everyone wasn't blinded by self-righteoussness (wow, that seemed really harsh but I couldn't think of another way to word it, I apologize for the nature of that statement) everyone would realize that method to which we reach the thesis remains true regardless of age.
The song can be listened to here: http://www.youtube.com/wat
"Blood and water hit the ground
walls we couldn't move came crashing down
we were free and made alive
the day that True Love died, the day that True Love died"
While I find this mildly amusing that it takes something like this (or the song) to get a lot of Christians to notice this I also find it mildly depressing at the same time because it is true that oftentimes our thoughts are nowhere near the realm of Him.
Part 1: No one has any idea what I'm talking about (A.K.A. A Thousand Tangents)
This song makes a simple yet very true message, that Christ died for us because He has true love for us. Wait a minute... that's not what the song says at all, maybe I just suck at reading. No, it says that Christ is True Love. The purest form of love, the embodiment of love, the completion of love, and that without Him love is flawed in its most primitive form. What could compel you to take upon yourself the thing that you despise the most?
If you were like me this would probably be something like ignorance or stupidity. If given the choice to become ignorant or one marginally lacking of intelligence I think the response to the choice given would be both swift and with fear that it was ever presented in the first place. For a lot of teenagers these days some things that you might detest without knowing it would be:
Loss of attractiveness or even becoming unattractive
Societal ridicule
Being ostracized
Becoming a prep (just kidding, no really though...)
Ridicule from parents
Arrogance
Being an atheist *gasp* (if your answer is anything but this, you are wrong.)
Not being accepted (note that this is different from societal ridicule because even those who are accepted get ridiculed at times, some people don't care if they're accepted as long as no one gets on their case for it)
_________________
etc.
we all know what we don't like, we all know what we make fun of, and even the more "preachery" or "churchy" of us have our vices when it comes to a perfect personality.
Now think about what in the world could ever get you to accept that choice? Wait, what? To become the thing I have always hated (other than yourself, that's almost inevitable). What would it take for you to say "yes?"
This is where I digress from the song, and this is where the thesis of this note becomes evident.
Christ made many sacrifices for us:
He became human
He separated himself from the Father momentarily
and the duh, he died on the cross.
But the one I would like to point out today that is often overlooked when it comes to analysis is that he took our sins upon Himself. I mean everyone says it, and it has the very nature of not meaning anything due to the repetition. I mean everyone notices the whole "wow, he died on the cross!" thing, but it goes unnoticed why He died on the cross and how big of a sacrifice that was for Him.
Christ was, is holy, perfectly perfect, righteous, without flaw, holy. Read Isiah sometime, it's amazing how he depicted God's holiness. In Jewish culture if something was repeated three times it was considered to be of utmost importance, this is something you DO NOT forget. This is like someone telling you the 5 digit code to stopping the world from blowing itself up, you DO NOT forget this (12345, 12345, 12345). It is important, in case you didn't get the message, this matters A LOT. And obviously God is talked a lot about in the Bible, I mean isn't the whole dang thing about Him (and look how huge it is! There must be something about him we're supposed to get from it, I mean seriously people that thing could keep a house from blowing over in a tornado). Well since God is talked about so much in the Bible wouldn't it be worthy to note which of his attributes are mentioned. Yeah we got the ones that everyone knows about:
loving
omnipotent
omnipresent
just
omniscient (I felt lame putting the three 'omni's together)
jealous
almighty
holy
holy
holy.
Three times holy boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, principalities and powers, angels and demons (what a horrible book, well literality speaking it was a nice read but I digress). It is the only attribute of God mentioned three times in the same breath. The Cheribum fly around God and cry "holy holy holy is the Lord almighty the whole earth is full of His glory"
Hey guys remember that 5 digit code, I hope you haven't forgotten it because you're in trouble if you have! Man this is something you're supposed to get, He wants to make sure that if you know only one thing about God that you sure as hell (ed note: Brian sucks at puns, please ignore the rest of them for the remainder of the message) better know that He is holy. But what is holy, again I digress (ed note: Brian does this a lot but everything ties itself together in the end in a neat little bow, notice how we're not talking about love here?[Brian note: the editor sure does love to talk a lot immediately following himself]) I digress to further understand what this term means. (ed note: saying it twice was intentional [Brian note: shut up])
Now since I know that almost all of you have heard the "sin" spiel I am going to regurgitate it for you because I'm like that. Sin, in the greek form, was a term for archery, anything that wasn't a perfect bullseye was considered "sin". This means if you're one atom off of the dead center of the nucleus of the atom that's in the direct center of the bullseye you screwed up, sounds easy right? Well to be perfectly perfect you have to be better than that. You have to be the perfect center of the proton that is the perfect center of the atom that is the perfect center of the bullseye that is the perfect center from the target and you have to shoot your arrow over the back of the target and have it come backwards and hit it. THAT is the meaning of holy. Not only can God do this but he does do this and if I were to say "without trying" I would be lying because that would imply that God has to try at something. So if God is the perfect center... blah blah blah, that means that sin must be anything that isn't God or God's will. To do anything that contradicts God is a sin. So God is holy holy holy, 12345, 12345, 12345, He is without sin, He is so without sin that sin is the opposite of Him.
Part 2: A neat little bow.
So what does ANYTHING I've said have ANYTHING to do with True Love? Actually I chuckled right there because of how simple it is, I feel special (ed note: his mommy says he is too [Brian note: I told you to shut up, you're fired] ed note: I'm telling mom)
Now I remember asking you what it would take to get you to say "yes" to becoming the thing that you hate most, well have you come up with an answer?
"If it saved my mom's life" (We all love our mommas)
"If my boyfriend asked me to" (yeah right, liar)
"If my girlfriend asked me to" (closer, but that's like saying a boy threw a rock closer to the moon than a girl.)
"If my spouse asked me to" (yeah... that was farther off than the boyfriend/girlfriend suggestions, fail)
"If God asked me to" (well aren't you Ms. Perfect Do Goody, now why are you reading this note?)
"If it saved my life" (probably the most honest response)
"Because I love Christ" (this is a phenomenal answer and I commend all of those who have done it in the past, right now I'm thinking of Columbine... However I also ask you to be honest because no one is going to know this answer except for you. As Michael W. Smith puts it "it was a test we could all hope to pass, but none of us would want to take" so if you "chose" this answer per se I really hope that it is an honest choice.)
what about "just cause"?
what about "because I love the people that do the thing I hate the most"?
what about "oh hey, that's exactly what Christ did on the cross"
Christ, being holy holy holy, but completely and utterlyTrue Love took our sin on the cross and took the punishment for it. CAPS LOCK GOD took the very thing that is the complete opposite of Him and accepted the punishment for it "just cause" yeah, just cause He is love and He loves us. I was thinking of not leaving you hanging and actually writing a conclusion to this note considering that right there is the thesis but I couldn't come up with anything (other than what's coming next of course) and I sort of feel like this interrupts the note so I will close with this:
Christ, being holy holy holy, but completely and utterlyTrue Love took our sin on the cross and took the punishment for it. CAPS LOCK GOD took the very thing that is the complete opposite of Him and accepted the punishment for it "just cause" yeah, just cause He is love and He loves us.
WOW
Brian Kersch Note 1: Ashes to Ashes...
This was written by someone whom I am immensely blessed to be able to call a friend. He's probably one of, if not the most intelligent person I know-but he has also been blessed with the ability to take really deep concepts (especially theological ones) and put them into words that *most* everybody can understand. He dreams of being a youth pastor, and I have no doubt that he will make one of the best ones there ever was. This post and the next one were both written by Brian Kersch. I hope you will take the time to read it slowly and thoroughly. The truths in these posts are too important to just skim over.
Ashes to Ashes...We all fall down *buzzer noise* half wrong. I promised a bunch of people that I would write this note and I finally have, that being said I think it to be one of most profound insights and would greatly appreciate the actual reading of it rather than skimming, also note that if you are one of my non-Christian friends I would recommend not reading this or holding your tongue if you do, this was not meant for you, if you read it I ask you to refrain from your criticisms of Christianity as that is note the purpose of this note.
Rather this note is a tribute, and subsequent analysis of a few things, mainly songs, all intertwined with mass amounts of theology.
Ashes to Ashes
-Burden of a Day
Let's begin with Ashes to Ashes considering it is the namesake of the note and the reason this note was thought of in the first place. This is where you are both right and wrong, the end of song does conclude with "ashes to ashes we all fall down" but the most important portion is contained in the bridge, more specifically
"Why do we cry such bitter tears for a life that is no longer ours?
With dirty faces and mudcaked shoes we dance to be different but we are all the same.
Take us to a place where envy ceases to be green and the color red covers all our sin and blacks out our eyes."
Did it strike you? Did that chill your spine and make you stop reading? If you were listening would you have to pause the song to contemplate that?
Why do we call ourselves Christians? Are we followers of Christ or have we wholly devoted ourselves to Him? How could you live otherwise? Have you committed to following Christ? Or are you willing to die for Him? Better yet would you LIVE for Him?
so let me ask you
Why do we cry such bitter tears for a life that is no longer ours?
All too often we see those weeping out for former memories, things their life once held, wishing for the blessings back, I myself am guilty of this, more often than not. And yet we cry? What? We committed our lives to Him we are no longer living our lives. "I have been crucified with Christ and it is I who no longer lives but Christ lives in me..." Galations 2:~20
Lord take us to that place, the color red, Your blood has payed the ultimate cost for our sin. This is our plea! We have died, You have died, You made the ultimate sacrifice, You took sin upon Yourself entirely undeserving. The opposite of what You are and You gave yourself for us... and we cry.
"With no, no regrets
Live today with no regrets
With a song in our hearts and breath in our lungs
Our eyes burn with vision.
Ashes to ashes
we all fall down"
Everyone hears that "live with no regrets" and it is strongly misinterpreted to mean "live life so that you won't regret things you do." Which is stupid beyond all measure. No mortal lived a perfect life, nor will it ever happen. It is the inevitable nature of man to mess up I'm sure you all know that, if not read Romans 3:23. I interpret it to mean that, yes you messed up, but don't dwell on it, you're running a race and you can't run a race backpedaling. Keep your eyes forward but never forget everything behind you lest you forget why you're running in the first place. You both can't dwell on your past nor can you disassociate yourself from it or you are consequently going to forget the purpose of this existence.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, hallelujah, amen, you are dismissed" -Englishman
-Ted Dekker
(Anyone who's read the book [e.g. Marcelo] will note that this is quoted grossly out of context but will also note that it still coincides with the analysis following it)
Our earthly existence is one of ashes to ashes, we come from the earth and to the earth we shall return. But that is where hallelujah comes into play "to live is Christ to die is gain."
I stop here and ask you
have you ever had a moment(s) in which you were so caught up in This that nothing else mattered. A moment so humbling that you couldn't take for fear of wrecking it, destroying the beauty of it? Do you not understand that His glory is our existence. Have you ever been so caught up singing "O Praise Him" that when it ended you sat in silence just... existing, not thinking, not acting but just. being. there. ?
Do you not get it? THIS oh This is why we live, This is why we breathe, apart from This there is nothing. No there is not even nothing, there is a complete void, absent of anything. Oh it is those moments that I would give anything and everything, willingly, for. Everytime a breath fills your lungs, vision burns in your eyes, a song stirs in your heart, This is it. CAPSLOCK BOLDED IT There is nothing more than just to be, it is the perfection of our existence. Him.
(perfection in the sense of wholly completed)
There is so much more to add to this and it will be done I promise at a later time.
Ashes to Ashes...We all fall down *buzzer noise* half wrong. I promised a bunch of people that I would write this note and I finally have, that being said I think it to be one of most profound insights and would greatly appreciate the actual reading of it rather than skimming, also note that if you are one of my non-Christian friends I would recommend not reading this or holding your tongue if you do, this was not meant for you, if you read it I ask you to refrain from your criticisms of Christianity as that is note the purpose of this note.
Rather this note is a tribute, and subsequent analysis of a few things, mainly songs, all intertwined with mass amounts of theology.
Ashes to Ashes
-Burden of a Day
Let's begin with Ashes to Ashes considering it is the namesake of the note and the reason this note was thought of in the first place. This is where you are both right and wrong, the end of song does conclude with "ashes to ashes we all fall down" but the most important portion is contained in the bridge, more specifically
"Why do we cry such bitter tears for a life that is no longer ours?
With dirty faces and mudcaked shoes we dance to be different but we are all the same.
Take us to a place where envy ceases to be green and the color red covers all our sin and blacks out our eyes."
Did it strike you? Did that chill your spine and make you stop reading? If you were listening would you have to pause the song to contemplate that?
Why do we call ourselves Christians? Are we followers of Christ or have we wholly devoted ourselves to Him? How could you live otherwise? Have you committed to following Christ? Or are you willing to die for Him? Better yet would you LIVE for Him?
so let me ask you
Why do we cry such bitter tears for a life that is no longer ours?
All too often we see those weeping out for former memories, things their life once held, wishing for the blessings back, I myself am guilty of this, more often than not. And yet we cry? What? We committed our lives to Him we are no longer living our lives. "I have been crucified with Christ and it is I who no longer lives but Christ lives in me..." Galations 2:~20
Lord take us to that place, the color red, Your blood has payed the ultimate cost for our sin. This is our plea! We have died, You have died, You made the ultimate sacrifice, You took sin upon Yourself entirely undeserving. The opposite of what You are and You gave yourself for us... and we cry.
"With no, no regrets
Live today with no regrets
With a song in our hearts and breath in our lungs
Our eyes burn with vision.
Ashes to ashes
we all fall down"
Everyone hears that "live with no regrets" and it is strongly misinterpreted to mean "live life so that you won't regret things you do." Which is stupid beyond all measure. No mortal lived a perfect life, nor will it ever happen. It is the inevitable nature of man to mess up I'm sure you all know that, if not read Romans 3:23. I interpret it to mean that, yes you messed up, but don't dwell on it, you're running a race and you can't run a race backpedaling. Keep your eyes forward but never forget everything behind you lest you forget why you're running in the first place. You both can't dwell on your past nor can you disassociate yourself from it or you are consequently going to forget the purpose of this existence.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, hallelujah, amen, you are dismissed" -Englishman
-Ted Dekker
(Anyone who's read the book [e.g. Marcelo] will note that this is quoted grossly out of context but will also note that it still coincides with the analysis following it)
Our earthly existence is one of ashes to ashes, we come from the earth and to the earth we shall return. But that is where hallelujah comes into play "to live is Christ to die is gain."
I stop here and ask you
have you ever had a moment(s) in which you were so caught up in This that nothing else mattered. A moment so humbling that you couldn't take for fear of wrecking it, destroying the beauty of it? Do you not understand that His glory is our existence. Have you ever been so caught up singing "O Praise Him" that when it ended you sat in silence just... existing, not thinking, not acting but just. being. there. ?
Do you not get it? THIS oh This is why we live, This is why we breathe, apart from This there is nothing. No there is not even nothing, there is a complete void, absent of anything. Oh it is those moments that I would give anything and everything, willingly, for. Everytime a breath fills your lungs, vision burns in your eyes, a song stirs in your heart, This is it. CAPSLOCK BOLDED IT There is nothing more than just to be, it is the perfection of our existence. Him.
(perfection in the sense of wholly completed)
There is so much more to add to this and it will be done I promise at a later time.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The Sky is Green
Have you ever had someone ask you, "What if God said the sky was green? Would you believe Him?"
A lot of Christians stumble over this question. However, the answer is incredibly simple.
God is God, we are not. So yes, if God said that the sky is green, it would be. But what does it really mean when we call the sky blue or green? See, words are nothing more than sounds put together to describe something. I could use several dozens words to describe the exact same thing. For example, I could tell you that the sky is blue, or that the sky is azul. Which is it? Do you ask. The answer is, it's both. Azul is just a different word for blue. But no matter how I describe it, you wouldn't suddenly start seeing a different colored sky.
My point is, God can use any words He wants to describe something. But that does not change the fact that the wavelengths of the light from the sky that hit your eyes and cause you to see the color you are seeing will not change.
In other words, that question is a silly argument over words, not a real scientific argument like some people seem to think it is.
Of course, God could change the wavelengths so that you see the color green...but that's a rabbit trail.
A lot of Christians stumble over this question. However, the answer is incredibly simple.
God is God, we are not. So yes, if God said that the sky is green, it would be. But what does it really mean when we call the sky blue or green? See, words are nothing more than sounds put together to describe something. I could use several dozens words to describe the exact same thing. For example, I could tell you that the sky is blue, or that the sky is azul. Which is it? Do you ask. The answer is, it's both. Azul is just a different word for blue. But no matter how I describe it, you wouldn't suddenly start seeing a different colored sky.
My point is, God can use any words He wants to describe something. But that does not change the fact that the wavelengths of the light from the sky that hit your eyes and cause you to see the color you are seeing will not change.
In other words, that question is a silly argument over words, not a real scientific argument like some people seem to think it is.
Of course, God could change the wavelengths so that you see the color green...but that's a rabbit trail.
Friday, January 11, 2008
The Church as Burger King
Disclaimer: I personally feel that this note is kind of a "stream of consciousness" and doesn't really follow a logical train of thought. I hope y'all can still understand what I'm saying.
I know this is a blanket statement and is therefore inherently false, but it is so true in general that I am going to make it anyway.
People today, especially teenagers, have no clue what the real purpose of church is.
(Notice I use "church" with a lower-case "c", so I mean the local assemblies and services, not the Body of Christ in general)
Case in point:
The majority of the youth in my youth group don't go to the main service. They go to youth group and that's it. Despite the fact that Don highly encourages everyone to go to the main service, a lot of them don't. I'm not trying to judge, but I see a lot less youth in service than I do in youth group.
Recently, the seniors of the youth group have been trying to set up a time to get together and pray together for our youth group ("The Attic"). One of the suggestions has been to skip main service and pray during that time instead. The people who support the idea have been saying things that go along the lines of "Well, I don't usually go to service anyways, so..."
Personally, I find this attitude horrifying. They probably don't realize it, but what they are really saying is, "I don't want to go to main service and now I have a "Christian" excuse to skip" I know that this post will get imported to facebook and someone will read it there and probably think I am being harsh and judgemental. I will be the first to admit that yes, I am struggling with a "holier than thou" attitude. Please, pray for me. And then please listen to what I have to say.
In the early days of the church, age groups were not separated. In fact, for most of church history, age groups have not been separated. I am not an expert on church history, so it could be that there were some age group separations, but if they were, they were very large and very general, i.e. children and adults. It is not until recently that churches have become so split up by age groups. At our church alone we have preschool, grade school, middle and high school, college/young adults, young couples, young families, "older" families, seniors, and I'm sure I missed something in there somewhere.
I don't doubt that each of these groups have specific needs that the Sunday School classes are tailored to, and thus are a great resource. However, if we only focus on the Sunday School classes, we miss the amazing blessing of getting to worship with, learn with, and grow with, multiple generations of Christians. That's what the main service is for. I firmly believe that one's church experience is sorely lacking if one is only fellowshipping with Christians in his/her own age group. In Hebrews, it is clearly stated that the purpose of the church is for the mutual edification of believers: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Notice, the purpose is mutual edification. In order for edification to be mutual, all the people in the relationship need to be GIVING edification as well as RECEIVING edification. The major problem with what people are doing with the church today is that they are on receiving, they are not giving. This is why you will see a lot of youth in youth group but not in main service. Youth group gives to them. Can they give to other believers in youth group? Absolutely. But giving and receiving only in one's age group will give one an incomplete experience. An older Christian adult with much more life experience can give something one's peers cannot. Likewise, there is an energetic dynamic that I have found often comes from the youth that, when added to the main service, gives it a renewed energy and different dynamic.
But, as I stated at the beginning, people in general do not understand what the purpose of the church is. They think the church is for THEM. The church has become the equivalent of a spiritual Burger King, where we can have it our own way. THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE!
We probably all know the quote, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Well, we need to start applying this to the church. We need to quit being church consumers and focus on what we can give to the church.
Now, as I said before, you can definitely serve your peers and your age group. However, there is a certain level of comfort when you are around your peers. Serving your peers, to be completely honest, is not that difficult. You're all in it together, you understand each other. What needs to happen, and what I'm praying to see happen, is people stepping out of their comfort zones and serving people of all age groups.
In summary, there is a problem in our churches. The one I described in my youth group is only one of many numerous examples throughout the nation. These problems arise from 1) A "burger king" mentality where the church is there to serve us (kind of similar to my last post), and 2) A lack of understanding of the need to fellowship with other age groups. Never before in history have our churches been so segregated according to age.
I know this is a blanket statement and is therefore inherently false, but it is so true in general that I am going to make it anyway.
People today, especially teenagers, have no clue what the real purpose of church is.
(Notice I use "church" with a lower-case "c", so I mean the local assemblies and services, not the Body of Christ in general)
Case in point:
The majority of the youth in my youth group don't go to the main service. They go to youth group and that's it. Despite the fact that Don highly encourages everyone to go to the main service, a lot of them don't. I'm not trying to judge, but I see a lot less youth in service than I do in youth group.
Recently, the seniors of the youth group have been trying to set up a time to get together and pray together for our youth group ("The Attic"). One of the suggestions has been to skip main service and pray during that time instead. The people who support the idea have been saying things that go along the lines of "Well, I don't usually go to service anyways, so..."
Personally, I find this attitude horrifying. They probably don't realize it, but what they are really saying is, "I don't want to go to main service and now I have a "Christian" excuse to skip" I know that this post will get imported to facebook and someone will read it there and probably think I am being harsh and judgemental. I will be the first to admit that yes, I am struggling with a "holier than thou" attitude. Please, pray for me. And then please listen to what I have to say.
In the early days of the church, age groups were not separated. In fact, for most of church history, age groups have not been separated. I am not an expert on church history, so it could be that there were some age group separations, but if they were, they were very large and very general, i.e. children and adults. It is not until recently that churches have become so split up by age groups. At our church alone we have preschool, grade school, middle and high school, college/young adults, young couples, young families, "older" families, seniors, and I'm sure I missed something in there somewhere.
I don't doubt that each of these groups have specific needs that the Sunday School classes are tailored to, and thus are a great resource. However, if we only focus on the Sunday School classes, we miss the amazing blessing of getting to worship with, learn with, and grow with, multiple generations of Christians. That's what the main service is for. I firmly believe that one's church experience is sorely lacking if one is only fellowshipping with Christians in his/her own age group. In Hebrews, it is clearly stated that the purpose of the church is for the mutual edification of believers: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25)
Notice, the purpose is mutual edification. In order for edification to be mutual, all the people in the relationship need to be GIVING edification as well as RECEIVING edification. The major problem with what people are doing with the church today is that they are on receiving, they are not giving. This is why you will see a lot of youth in youth group but not in main service. Youth group gives to them. Can they give to other believers in youth group? Absolutely. But giving and receiving only in one's age group will give one an incomplete experience. An older Christian adult with much more life experience can give something one's peers cannot. Likewise, there is an energetic dynamic that I have found often comes from the youth that, when added to the main service, gives it a renewed energy and different dynamic.
But, as I stated at the beginning, people in general do not understand what the purpose of the church is. They think the church is for THEM. The church has become the equivalent of a spiritual Burger King, where we can have it our own way. THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE!
We probably all know the quote, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Well, we need to start applying this to the church. We need to quit being church consumers and focus on what we can give to the church.
Now, as I said before, you can definitely serve your peers and your age group. However, there is a certain level of comfort when you are around your peers. Serving your peers, to be completely honest, is not that difficult. You're all in it together, you understand each other. What needs to happen, and what I'm praying to see happen, is people stepping out of their comfort zones and serving people of all age groups.
In summary, there is a problem in our churches. The one I described in my youth group is only one of many numerous examples throughout the nation. These problems arise from 1) A "burger king" mentality where the church is there to serve us (kind of similar to my last post), and 2) A lack of understanding of the need to fellowship with other age groups. Never before in history have our churches been so segregated according to age.
God Does NOT Care About Your Happiness
One of my friends was having a struggle once. When she described her struggle to me, she described what she considered her two "choices" to me. The first one satisfied her desires, but it would mean disobeying God. The second one obeyed God but would leave her miserable (as she described it). When I asked her if she believed God's Word was true, she said yes. I gently pointed out that since she believed that, she really only had one choice. Her response was that she did believe that God's Word is true, but she also firmly believed that God would not want her to make a choice that would make her unhappy.
I wanted to scream at that point.
Beyond the fact that her unhappiness was being caused by wrong choices and attitudes she was already making, I don't see anywhere in the Bible where it says that God cares one iota about your happiness. I know that sounds like a harsh statement, so allow me to clarify a little bit. By "not caring", I mean that when God (who is all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful) decides how He is going to arrange the circumstances in your life, your happiness is not a factor in His decisions. God's goal is not for you to be happy. Nor should it be our goal either.
"Happiness" is a pretty vague word. Often, "happiness" is used interchangeably with "joy", although the two mean very different things. Happiness is an emotion, while joy is a character quality. Anything can give us happiness, but only pursuing God can give us true joy.
When God arranges circumstances in our lives, what does He take into account? To answer that, we must ask, what is His goal?
Christians today, especially American Christians, have gotten the wrong view that God's goal is to make humans happy. That God is some sort of "genie in a bottle" to grant us our wishes and make us comfortable. Nothing could be further from the truth.
God's goal is, simply put, to bring glory to Himself. He is the true center of the universe.
Now, what does that mean for us? What is God's goal for us? (Us=Christians). The answer is found in Romans 8:29:
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Do you see it? God's plan for us is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. God gives us opportunities to develop Christlike character qualities. Sometimes (dare I say, oftentimes), that means that God arranges circumstances that will actually make us unhappy and uncomfortable.
However, if we take those opportunities to develop Christlike character, we will develop joy, which is superior to happiness. As I said, happiness is an emotion. Thus it is fleeting. Joy, on the other hand, is a character quality, and thus is constant.
I firmly believe that we should not pursue happiness. Instead, we should obey God and seek to glorify Him, and in the process we will develop joy.
We also should not expect God to care about our happiness. When we realize that God's goal for us is not our happiness, but our conformity to Christ, making the right choice in situations like the one my friend was going through suddently become a whole lot easier.
I wanted to scream at that point.
Beyond the fact that her unhappiness was being caused by wrong choices and attitudes she was already making, I don't see anywhere in the Bible where it says that God cares one iota about your happiness. I know that sounds like a harsh statement, so allow me to clarify a little bit. By "not caring", I mean that when God (who is all-knowing, all-wise, and all-powerful) decides how He is going to arrange the circumstances in your life, your happiness is not a factor in His decisions. God's goal is not for you to be happy. Nor should it be our goal either.
"Happiness" is a pretty vague word. Often, "happiness" is used interchangeably with "joy", although the two mean very different things. Happiness is an emotion, while joy is a character quality. Anything can give us happiness, but only pursuing God can give us true joy.
When God arranges circumstances in our lives, what does He take into account? To answer that, we must ask, what is His goal?
Christians today, especially American Christians, have gotten the wrong view that God's goal is to make humans happy. That God is some sort of "genie in a bottle" to grant us our wishes and make us comfortable. Nothing could be further from the truth.
God's goal is, simply put, to bring glory to Himself. He is the true center of the universe.
Now, what does that mean for us? What is God's goal for us? (Us=Christians). The answer is found in Romans 8:29:
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Do you see it? God's plan for us is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. God gives us opportunities to develop Christlike character qualities. Sometimes (dare I say, oftentimes), that means that God arranges circumstances that will actually make us unhappy and uncomfortable.
However, if we take those opportunities to develop Christlike character, we will develop joy, which is superior to happiness. As I said, happiness is an emotion. Thus it is fleeting. Joy, on the other hand, is a character quality, and thus is constant.
I firmly believe that we should not pursue happiness. Instead, we should obey God and seek to glorify Him, and in the process we will develop joy.
We also should not expect God to care about our happiness. When we realize that God's goal for us is not our happiness, but our conformity to Christ, making the right choice in situations like the one my friend was going through suddently become a whole lot easier.
A few words
I have questioned for awhile whether or not I should make this blog. See, I have an issue with pride, and putting my writings up in a public place where people may praise them may only feed my pride if they do.
However, at the same time, I can't keep the lessons that God is teaching me to myself anymore.
This blog is simply my thoughts. This is not a journal of my life, nor is this a collection of essays. These are simply thoughts that I have that express what God is teaching me, and who I am and who I am becoming.
Some posts may be long, full-blown essays. Others may not be more than a sentence or two. But hopefully, all of them will communicate something God has shown me.
A note about the title: The reason I call it "God Said It Best" is because anything I write on here that is true, you can find it in the Bible (although maybe not expounded upon to the extent that I tent to expound...). If it's not true, however, I want you to challenge me and show me where I went wrong, and what the Bible actually says.
(And y'all can ignore the "About Me" section, I wrote that for my other blog, Journey to Jacksonville)
However, at the same time, I can't keep the lessons that God is teaching me to myself anymore.
This blog is simply my thoughts. This is not a journal of my life, nor is this a collection of essays. These are simply thoughts that I have that express what God is teaching me, and who I am and who I am becoming.
Some posts may be long, full-blown essays. Others may not be more than a sentence or two. But hopefully, all of them will communicate something God has shown me.
A note about the title: The reason I call it "God Said It Best" is because anything I write on here that is true, you can find it in the Bible (although maybe not expounded upon to the extent that I tent to expound...). If it's not true, however, I want you to challenge me and show me where I went wrong, and what the Bible actually says.
(And y'all can ignore the "About Me" section, I wrote that for my other blog, Journey to Jacksonville)
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