Dave Burchett's Blog, page 68

Hump Day Hope: Keep Digging and You Will Find Something to be Grateful For

Even though the Christmas decorations have been out for a month in many stores I refuse to acknowledge their existence until Santa arrives at the Macy Thanksgiving Day parade. I am a hopeless romantic when it comes to holidays. I love this season.

One of my favorite Christmas movie moments is White Christmas with Bing Crosby. There is a song that applies for all of us as we approach a Thanksgiving that may hold pain and trials mixed in with joy and blessings. When the character played by Rosemary Clooney frets and has trouble sleeping she is serenaded by Bing Crosby with this song.

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep

I count my blessings instead of sheep

And I fall asleep counting my blessings



When my bankroll is getting small

I think of when I had none at all

And I fall asleep counting my blessings

That is really excellent advice and pretty good theology. Even in adversity I have so many blessings I can count. Perhaps the following story is a bit indelicate but it always makes me smile. Ronald Reagan had a favorite joke that he told so often that the story itself became a joke with staff members. The joke was told about twin boys who were six years old. Worried that the boys had developed extreme personalities — one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist — their parents took them to a psychiatrist.

First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears. “What’s the matter?” the psychiatrist asked, baffled. “Don’t you want to play with any of the toys?” “Yes,” the little boy bawled, “but if I did I’d only break them.”

Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his out look, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted just the yelp of delight the psychiatrist had been hoping to hear from his brother, the pessimist. Then he clambered to the top of the pile, dropped to his knees, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. “What do you think you’re doing?” the psychiatrist asked, just as baffled by the optimist as he had been by the pessimist. “With all this manure,” the little boy replied, beaming, “there must be a pony in here somewhere!”

Reagan’s friend Edwin Meese relayed the story. “Reagan told the joke so often that it got to be kind of a joke with the rest of us. Whenever something would go wrong, somebody on the staff would be sure to say, “There must be a pony in here somewhere.'”

Things may be a bit difficult for you this Thanksgiving but I am trusting God that you will find a pony in there somewhere. You don’t get that kind of spiritual insight often! Paul wrote to the Philippian Church that he had learned to be content in whatever circumstance he faced. Learned. It didn’t come naturally to Paul either. Then he wrapped up the lesson with these words.

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Count your blessings. Receive God’s love today and ask Him to love others through you. Perhaps this Holiday Season will be one of the best ever if we can lean on those simple actions and we can really believe that we can do everything through Christ who gives us strength. Keep digging for those blessings! Happy Thanksgiving.

Monday Musings: Thanksgiving Thoughts

I love watching the giant balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade floating through New York as wide-eyed children watch. I love the traditional football games. The official start of the Christmas season. The post feast nap. I love Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving Song by Mary Chapin Carpenter captures the intimacy of this wonderful holiday.

Grateful for each hand we hold

Gathered round this table.

From far and near we travel home,

Blessed that we are able.

I have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for another year with my best friend and bride Joni. I am grateful for three wonderful sons, two amazing daughter-in-laws, and three heart stealing grandchildren. I am blessed that our family will be able to be together this Thanksgiving. I am grateful for good friends. I am grateful for the abundant blessings of this country.

Grateful for this sheltered place

With light in every window,

Saying “welcome, welcome, share this feast

Come in away from sorrow.”

Every year brings sorrow. Friends and family have suffered illness this year. Some have gone through deep trials. Some have passed away. Sorrow is a part of this journey. But there is something healing about counting blessings and feeling gratitude. Taking that time provides a sheltered place from sorrow. For me the light in the window of my soul is my trust in a God that is faithful, loving and good in blessings and in sorrow.

Grateful for what’s understood,

And all that is forgiven;

Jesus is the light that said welcome when I felt anything but welcome. He invited me to the feast that I did not deserve to attend because of His grace. Jesus said I was forgiven. How can I be anything but grateful if I understand the magnitude of that undeserved love?

We try so hard to be good,

To lead a life worth living.

I might add a little personal clarification to Carpenter’s lyric. I understand the desire to live a life of significance. I get trying to be good. I believe we have a reason for being here. But my experience with the grace of the Lord Jesus has taught me that it is not trying so hard to lead a life worth living that brings peace and joy. It is following Jesus each day. It is allowing God to love me and asking Him to help me give away that love to others. It is trusting God to provide opportunities to serve. It is believing that God is faithful even through sorrow. It is trusting that what God says about me is true. That I have been changed and I have a new identity in Christ. I am deeply loved and cherished by God. I am declared righteous because of Jesus and that righteousness has nothing to do with how hard I work to be “good”. It is because of Christ. I am so grateful for grace. So very grateful.

Paul’s words to the Colossian Church make a fitting devotional thought for this holiday.

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:12-17, NLT)

I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Weekend Wildcard: Blessings Are Not Always Obvious

A very dear friend is going through a deep trial. This faithful follower prays for wisdom, guidence, assurance and peace. The result so far is confusing. When they pray to hear the voice of God they hear spiritual crickets. Nothing. The frustration is real. I want to do something to help and all I can offer is prayer and presence.

But when we study how God works in our lives should we be surprised with the process? A song by Laura Story resonated with my soul on a recent walk. The song is called “Blessings” and the words are profound.

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

There is nothing inherently wrong with praying for those things. But my attempt to maneuver God to grant my wishes is wrong. Laying out my will and praying for God’s notary seal is not what He desires. Blessings are not just receiving good things from God and that truth is beautifully captured by Story’s lyrics.

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

Her lyrics come out of learning to trust the object of her worship even through the trials. Her website bio describes her journey.

But amidst that success a brain tumor hospitalized her husband in 2006. The faith Story sang about was put through the unexpected fires of fear and loneliness; most young newlyweds don’t imagine being kept alive at one point by breathing machines or having to find their way through significant post-operative vision and memory loss. Could grace notes resound from such a life-altering struggle?

We know that pain reminds this heart

That this is not our home

Story relates the question she faced during the health crisis she faced with her husband.

“But there’s a decision that I find God is asking us to make: whether we are going to choose to interpret our circumstances based on what we hold to be true about God, or whether we’re going to judge what we hold to be true about God based on our circumstances.”

Our faith is not based on feelings or circumstances or checking off items on the prayer list. Our faith is based on the object of our faith. God is faithful. He hears our cries. But sometimes the answer is not what we desire. Paul learned the same thing and he wrote about it to the church in Corinth. You likely know the passage. Paul was given “a thorn in the flesh” that he begged three different times to be removed. Paul had a pretty strong signal on the Faith-o-meter. Five bars. But God said no. I like the translation from The Message.

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

   My grace is enough; it’s all you need.

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.  (2 Corinthians 12, The Message)

The gift of a handicap? Are you kidding me? But as I look back on the deep valleys and trials of my journey I see God’s hand and my growth through those events. Blessings from the pain? Without question. And I am learning the truth of Laura Story’s experience.

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are your mercies in disguise?

More and more I am realizing that they are.

Hump Day Hope: Welcome to Stupid Week!

One of my ministries as a “bad Christian” is to make you feel better about yourself as a Christian. Today my sacrificial gift is to make you feel better about yourself as a human being.

I am going through a stretch of amazing stupidity. I am serious. I am talking Guinness Book of Records stupid. However, I have adopted the philosophy that if you will laugh about something a year from now you might as well start today. So here is my stupid week in review. In one calendar week I lost my drivers license. Twice. That is not a mistype. Recovered both times thanks to honest citizens. I went to retrieve a toy from the pool for canine friend Maggie. You guessed it. I slipped and fell head over heels into the water. I surfaced to the curious looks of my Labrador who had decided the pool was too cold for swimming. Oh yeah, I hurt my back in that seven day stretch and I wish I had a better story. Saving a widow crossing a street? Rescuing a puppy on the highway? Nope. A violent sneeze did me in.

It was not a good week on the self-image meter.

 

 

But in the midst of stupid week I realized that a simple truth is slowly changing my once paralyzing fear of looking or feeling stupid. I realized that Jesus loves me on my stupidest day. I thought of another cut from the new MercyMe album “Welcome to the New”. Here is the chorus for a song called “Wishful Thinking”.

Could it be that on my worst day

How you love me simply will not change

What if it’s really not about what I do but what You did

Oh what if

This ain’t wishful thinking it’s just how it is

That’s just how it is. Nothing changes in how Jesus loves me on my worst, stupidest day. And it is not the Southern “bless your heart” kind of love. It is love that sacrificed, pursued and was completed at the Cross.

How differently we would live if we really comprehended how much we are loved by God and that even in our failure Jesus loves us anyway.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:9-10, NLT)

Brilliant thinker/theologian Karl Barth was once asked if he could summarize his volumes of works on life and faith. His reply was simple.

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

So even in the midst of stupid week I could smile and remind myself that Jesus loves me even when I am not too crazy about myself. That ain’t wishful thinking it’s just how it is.

 

Monday Musing – Live Like You Are Loved

Regular readers of the humble ramblings (you both know who you are) know that I often confess how my brain was not wired to factory specs. There is no other explanation for the dizzying turns my mind makes. For example, this weekend I heard a song from my ’70’s disc jockey days. The song was Tin Man from America and the normal brain would have heard the song, registered a like it or don’t like it vote and moved on. Not my brain. I fixated on a piece of the lyric and spent time linking it to a spiritual epiphany in my life.

You may recognize the lyric that started this Monday Musing.

But Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man

That he didn’t, didn’t already have

The lyricist double negatived his way to an important truth. The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz went on a long journey to try and find a real heart. But all the Wizard did was affirm what he already possessed. Sadly that confused search is what so many of us imitate as followers of Jesus. We go on a journey thinking if we can only find the right training or Bible study or church or friends or pastor that we will become more righteous and effective for God.

But if we could have followed the yellow stone road to meet Paul he would have told us we were wasting our time trying to find the perfect things to change our walk with Jesus. Paul would have (and did) simply affirm who we already are.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2nd Corinthians, 5:17, NLT)

Because of Christ you have a new identity. You are righteous because of Him and not because of trying to do more right “stuff”. You are a saint and there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. It is a liberating and joyous message. But there is a problem. Satan hates that message of hope and change. And so he goes about trying to “steal’ our identity in Christ. I am afraid we make it all too easy because we find it difficult to really trust that we are changed.

You are righteous because of Christ. Period. When you trust that and believe that all of the guilt and shame and sin that used to define you is no longer true. That old life is gone. New life has begun. All of those accusations that Satan (and others who are quite happy to help) hurl your way are no longer true about you.

My life was changed forty-five years ago (ouch) when I decided to trust Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It has just been in the past few years that I have begun to fully understand who I am in Christ and that I live my life daily desperately dependent on grace. I have often quoted from my friends at Truefaced. This statement rocked my world.

If you are a Christian God is not interested in changing you. That has already happened. You were changed when you trusted Christ. You were imputed with His righteousness. Your very spiritual DNA was rewritten and you became a new person. So the change happened right away. God is now interested in maturing you into what is already true about you.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  (Romans 3:22-23, NLT)

Remind yourself daily who you are. That you are a new person. Righteous because of Christ. A new life has begun. Live it joyfully and without condemnation. I am deeply loved by God today. I pray I will live like it.

Weekend Wildcard : Where Does Healing Begin?

I interact with a lot of wounded people. My books and a big hunk of my writing have been directed toward those who are beaten up by life, religion and too often by other people in the church. There is a better way. A song titled “Where The Healing Begins” by one of my favorite groups, Tenth Avenue North, describes that way.

So you thought you had to keep this up

All the work that you do

So we think that you’re good

And you can’t believe it’s not enough

All the walls you built up

Are just glass on the outside

All of those years of working hard (and then harder) to be Godly and I found out to my great sadness that it wasn’t enough.  Not only was self-effort not enough it was counterproductive to my desire to experience God’s presence and love. The walls so carefully constructed were, in fact, see-through to those who really knew me well. I picture that in my sadness and tiredness God smiled. He didn’t smile because I was suffering or sad. He smiled because I was finally ready for grace. At the point of brokenness I was ready for the healing to begin.



So let ‘em fall down

There’s freedom waiting in the sound

When you let your walls fall to the ground

We’re here now

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you’re broken within

The light meets the dark

Coming to the point where I was broken and realizing my own inability to walk this journey of faith is where the healing began for me. Letting the walls down and trusting God and others with who I really am is where the healing continued. Understanding and trusting that I am completely forgiven and my past is completely forgotten is where the healing became real. Knowing that Jesus loves me desperately on my worst day is where the healing began to translate to the daily walk.

Afraid to let your secrets out

Everything that you hide

Can come crashing through the door now

But too scared to face all your fear

So you hide but you find

That the shame won’t disappear



For too many years I danced that awkward and ugly dance of hiddenness and shame.  For so many anguished years I thought that if I was a better Christian this wouldn’t, this couldn’t, be happening. If I prayed/studied/fasted/read/attended more church events I would be more Godly. I was depending on the wrong source.

When you come to where you’re broken within

The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides

With the dark inside of us

So please don’t fight

This coming light

Let this blood come cover us

His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins

I love the image of grace invading the darkness and sparks of healing flying as the truth about me was set free. I am a child of God who is deeply loved. For decades I lived with a God who I suspected had a contractual obligation to love me because of Jesus but who was generally disgusted with me. I fought grace because it seemed too easy. Not spiritual. Not enough sacrifice. Not enough obedience. Not enough…me. Paul wrote this to the Church at Ephesus.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.   Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2, NLT)

My fear of punishment led to strained and inconsistent compliance with a law I couldn’t possibly keep. Grace and forgiveness have led to joyful obedience nourished by gratitude and love. That is the product of the healing power of grace and I second my brother from Taursus. I can take NO credit for this.

Wildcard Weekend : Where Does Healing Begin?

I interact with a lot of wounded people. My books and a big hunk of my writing have been directed toward those who are beaten up by life, religion and too often by other people in the church. There is a better way. A song titled “Where The Healing Begins” by one of my favorite groups, Tenth Avenue North, describes that way.

So you thought you had to keep this up

All the work that you do

So we think that you’re good

And you can’t believe it’s not enough

All the walls you built up

Are just glass on the outside

All of those years of working hard (and then harder) to be Godly and I found out to my great sadness that it wasn’t enough.  Not only was self-effort not enough it was counterproductive to my desire to experience God’s presence and love. The walls so carefully constructed were, in fact, see-through to those who really knew me well. I picture that in my sadness and tiredness God smiled. He didn’t smile because I was suffering or sad. He smiled because I was finally ready for grace. At the point of brokenness I was ready for the healing to begin.



So let ‘em fall down

There’s freedom waiting in the sound

When you let your walls fall to the ground

We’re here now

This is where the healing starts

When you come to where you’re broken within

The light meets the dark

Coming to the point where I was broken and realizing my own inability to walk this journey of faith is where the healing began for me. Letting the walls down and trusting God and others with who I really am is where the healing continued. Understanding and trusting that I am completely forgiven and my past is completely forgotten is where the healing became real. Knowing that Jesus loves me desperately on my worst day is where the healing began to translate to the daily walk.

Afraid to let your secrets out

Everything that you hide

Can come crashing through the door now

But too scared to face all your fear

So you hide but you find

That the shame won’t disappear



For too many years I danced that awkward and ugly dance of hiddenness and shame.  For so many anguished years I thought that if I was a better Christian this wouldn’t, this couldn’t, be happening. If I prayed/studied/fasted/read/attended more church events I would be more Godly. I was depending on the wrong source.

When you come to where you’re broken within

The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides

With the dark inside of us

So please don’t fight

This coming light

Let this blood come cover us

His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins

I love the image of grace invading the darkness and sparks of healing flying as the truth about me was set free. I am a child of God who is deeply loved. For decades I lived with a God who I suspected had a contractual obligation to love me because of Jesus but who was generally disgusted with me. I fought grace because it seemed too easy. Not spiritual. Not enough sacrifice. Not enough obedience. Not enough…me. Paul wrote this to the Church at Ephesus.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.   Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2, NLT)

My fear of punishment led to strained and inconsistent compliance with a law I couldn’t possibly keep. Grace and forgiveness have led to joyful obedience nourished by gratitude and love. That is the product of the healing power of grace and I second my brother from Taursus. I can take NO credit for this.

Hump Day Hope : Come on. Say it! Say it!

The use of Hump Day to describe the midweek turning point has been around for awhile. It became a bigger part of the national lexicon thanks to a commercial and a camel.

 

I wish I was mature enough to say I was only mildly amused by the Geico commercial featuring the overbearing camel wandering through an office. I can’t. I stopped whatever I was doing every time it came on.

The hope of this humble rambling each Wednesday is to provide a little hope to get you to the weekend. This is how hope is defined as a verb by dictionary.com.

…to feel that something desired may happen.

Example: I hope that the Cleveland Browns will play in a Super Bowl before I die. It is interesting that the next meaning of the verb hope is noted as archaic.



…Archaic. to place trust; rely (usually followed by in)

Call me archaic (my sons and workmates often do) but that definition is what I need this Hump Day. In a world gone crazy I need some place to put my trust that is trustworthy.


Billy Graham summarized it beautifully.

“God’s mercy and grace give me hope – for myself, and for our world.“

Well played. I believe that ultimately God’s sovereign plan will be completed in this world. What I need on Hump Day is hope for myself to be able to deal with the cards that life is dealing. Pastor/writer Rick Warren has a helpful reminder.

“What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.”

So instead of trying to figure out why I am going through a trial with something or someone I should turn to the One who offers hope that I can persevere. Paul talks about hope in his amazing letter to the church at Rome.

For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance. (Romans 8:24-25, NET)

And what is that hope?

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. (Colossians 1:4-5, NLT)

I have wasted a lot of time trying to figure out why. That is a waste of precious time. My hope and my trust is in Jesus. Together we have this. Or as Paul more eloquently wrote.

Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. (Romans 12:12, NLT)

It is okay to be archaic. You can be old school if that makes you feel better. But remember where your hope is today. I give the last word to my friend the camel. “Awww, come on! I know you can hear me!”

Monday Musings : Reminder. It is just a game. It is just a game.

I have been known to be a bad sports fan in addition to being a bad Christian. I suspect those confessions could be related. I grew up a rabid Cleveland Brown’s fan and that is, unfortunately, a lifetime condition. You try and manage your Brown’s addiction while hoping to lead a somewhat productive life. I completely related to a story about a Brown’s fan who passed away last year. Scott Entsminger placed this request in the Columbus Dispatch obituary. 

He respectfully requests six Cleveland Browns pall bearers so the Browns can let him down one last time.

I became a Baylor Bears fan (thanks to my boys) much later in life. Incredibly, the Brazos Baptists have become a national football power. So I geared up for a big game last Saturday against forever power Oklahoma. During the game I agonized over missed opportunities. Fumed over momentum changing penalties. Expressed frustration when a defender missed a tackle. Baylor overcame a tough first quarter and played well to gain a big win.

But a fourth quarter incident reminded both my bad sports fan and bad Christian sides that this is just a game played by non-professional young men. Outstanding Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was sacked and hit hard. He did not get up. Concerned medical personal gathered around as a medical cart pulled up. And then the TV cameras caught a scene that has stayed in my mind since Saturday afternoon.

Knight’s twin brother and fellow Sooner player Connor Knight watched his brother with obvious concern. Baylor star QB Bryce Petty and linemen Spencer Drango and Tyler Edwards approached Connor Knight. A few words were exchanged and then the Baylor players and their Oklahoma foe knelt together to pray for Trevor Knight. Moments earlier the two teams had competed ferociously. In a moment of crisis they put that aside to join in prayer for an injured brother.

                                                           


It was a sobering reminder that sports is a good thing but far from an ultimate thing. Four young men forgot that they were competitors and remembered they were first and foremost followers of Christ.

Thankfully, Trevor Knight gave a thumbs up and pointed heavenward as he was carted off the field. After the game he was walking around and Sunday received a favorable MRI result. Knight posted this on Twitter.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who prayed for me! Thankful for good results and a God who is completely in control!,” Knight posted.

A couple of thoughts from Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church fit in here.

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.  (Ephesians 4:2-4, NLT)

And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:30-32, NLT)

This morning I am humbled by twenty-something (or younger) athletes that put aside differences to pray together. And I am challenged by an athlete who believes his God is in control even during a trial. Good reminders for those of us who may be more experienced in our faith but perhaps not always as mature.

Weekend Wildcard – Who Are You Serving?

Bob Dylan wrote some powerful songs about his faith journey in the late 70’s. One song he composed popped up on the iPod recently. “Gotta Serve Somebody” simply says that no matter how independent, self-sufficient or in control we might try to be we still serve something or somebody.

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You’re gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

That lyric struck a spiritual chord because it reminded me of some seriously head and heart messing stuff I have been reading from Tim Keller. Keller wrote a thought provoking definition of idolatry and how we can substitute even good things for God.

“Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry.” (Tim Keller, “Talking About Idolatry in a Postmodern Age,” www.thegospelcoalition.org)

That is disturbing for a guy who was taught from childhood that sin is a list that included but was not limited to movies, liquor, cigarettes, dancing, long hair and rock and roll.

Tim Keller’s definition of sin takes all of the fun out of self-righteous comparison and judging. As I read Keller’s examples of idolatry I saw how these subtle traps have played out with my family, friends, and colleagues. Most convicting of all I saw how chasing good things more than God has caused pain and brokenness in my own life. Here are Keller’s thoughts from his book, “The Reason for God”.

If you center your life and identity on your spouse or partner, you will be emotionally dependent, jealous, and controlling. The other person’s problems will be overwhelming to you.

If you center your life and identity on your family and children, you will try to live your life through your children until they resent you or have no self of their own. At worst, you may abuse them when they displease you.

If you center your life and identity on your work and career, you will be a driven workaholic and a boring, shallow person. At worst you will lose family and friends and, if your career goes poorly, develop deep depression.

If you center your life and identity on money and possessions, you’ll be eaten up by worry or jealousy about money. You’ll be willing to do unethical things to maintain your lifestyle, which will eventually blow up your life.

If you center your life and identity on pleasure, gratification, and comfort, you will find yourself getting addicted to something. You will become chained to the “escape strategies” by which you avoid the hardness of life.

If you center your life and identity on relationships and approval, you will be constantly overly hurt by criticism and thus always losing friends. You will fear confronting others and therefore will be a useless friend.

If you center your life and identity on a “noble cause,” you will divide the world into “good” and “bad” and demonize your opponents. Ironically, you will be controlled by your enemies. Without them, you have no purpose.

If you center your life and identity on religion and morality, you will, if you are living up to your moral standards, be proud, self-righteous, and cruel. If you don’t live up to your moral standards, your guilt will be utterly devastating. (Tim Keller, The Reason for God (Dutton, 2008), pp. 275-276)

Ouch. I mean seriously. Ouch.

Paul wrote these words to the Church at Colossae on the topic of idolatry.

“Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.” (Colossians 3, NLT)

It is a hard truth to admit that we often worship the things of this world because they really can be good things. God in His loving grace does not desire for us to be deprived of good and pleasurable things. He simply wants us to place them in proper order. Later in the passage Paul gives one key to avoiding idolatry.

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us. (Colossians 3:10-11, NLT…take a moment to read verses 12-17 to see what the results of this action might look like)

Another key is to remember a campfire song from the Jesus movement that was, to borrow the approach of Law and Order, “ripped” from the Gospel of Matthew. (Matthew 6:33)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;

and all these things shall be added unto you.

Allelu, alleluia

Everybody is going to serve somebody or something. Who (or what) are you centering your life on today? If it is anything other than Jesus you are off center.