Joe Fontenot's Blog, page 22

Jesus and the GOP

A lot of people confuse the conservative party of America with Christianity. But the two things are fundamentally different.

Following a political party is about finding a group that aligns with your values. And that’s good. There is power in numbers.

But following Jesus is about giving up your values to get new ones.

The first one serves you, while the second one is served by you.

When our politicians do something we disagree agree with, we fight them and filibuster. But when Jesus does something we disagree with, we follow him.

It’s an election year. And lots of labels get thrown around. But Christianity stands apart. It’s a label many claim but only a few live by (Jesus said that, Matthew 7:13-14).

So what is it? What’s the thing that actually makes Christianity different?

Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison–your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters–yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

Of course hate is hyperbole. He’s not telling us to literally hate (Matthew 5:44). But he is making a point about priorities. He must be first. That’s the definition of a Christian: God first. And because God loves the world, Christians love the world.

At the risk of sounding like a commercial, here’s what I mean. Last Sunday, hours after the worst mass-shooting in US history, Chick-fil-a opened their closed-on-Sundays doors to donate food to the blood donors and law enforcement in Orlando. (You can read more about it here on the Huffington Post.)

Chick-fil-a takes all kinds of media beatings for their stance on traditional marriage. So…why do this for victims of a gay club?

Because those are the kinds of things Jesus did.

We don’t love because we’re in league.

We love because the stakes are that high.

 

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Was Jesus a Politician?

For most of us politician is a dirty word. Or at least, it’s a necessary evil.

But I think those feelings are a hijacking of the true meaning of politics. They’re more a reflection of who our politicians have become than the function of politics itself.

At its essence politics is simply relationships on a mass-scale.

This is not the same as popularity. Popularity is a one-way street. Tom Cruise is massively popular and doesn’t do a thing for me.

But politics is a two-way street. The late Huey Long, Louisiana’s famous (or infamous) Governor gave the people schools and roads. And for that the people kept electing him.

The Landscape

In this political season, it’s easy to sink our hopes in a candidate. But, strangely, it seems just as easy to flush it all and tune it out. The latter is the cynical route.

But the bigger question is: what should we as Christians be doing?

Where does Jesus want his followers in all of this?

Was Jesus a Politician?

Relationships are the essence of politics.

If a politician is one who fosters relationships on a mass scale, then yes: Jesus was a politician. He was complete, honest, and pure (and maybe the only true politician that ever lived).

But his entire ministry was about re-creating that two-way street between us and him. Between us and God.

He did this by becoming a servant and first building the road. But it’s not automatic. We have to get up and walk down that road.

And for Politics?

While we do not share the same core values as the world (John 17:16), Jesus has left us here with a simple message and a clear task: be the light (Matthew 28:18-20 and 5:14-16).

So should we engage in politics? Absolutely.

Why? Because how else are the people going to know about the truth?

 

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The Silent Middle of Leadership

Last night, a friend of mine was honored for twenty years of leadership. I say friend, but I’m hardly his equal. Nowhere near, in fact.

Before the event was over Kristin and I snuck in a few minutes with him to congratulate him.

But here’s the thing. In those brief minutes, he focused his time on me. And not superficially–he wanted to hear the latest news with me.

Me…

This is just one of the thousands of examples. From this friend, I have learned the essence of a good leader. And that is this: a good leader is one who can take the reigns without knocking everyone off of the wagon in the process.

As I see it, the real path to leadership isn’t in title. It’s in serving.

Anyone who’s either brave or stupid can grab the reigns. But it’s a special kind of person who can move us forward without losing us all in the process.

That last part–the without-losing-us-all bit–is talking about service.

A leader focused on himself is going to miss this. But a leader focused on the mission, and the well-being of those he’s leading, will keep his eye here continually.

If you’re careful, you can spot these people, because, even though they’re the leader, they’re never pulling the spotlight toward them. Usually, they’re the one pushing it away.

The great thing for the rest of us, is that it can be learned. Jesus said it this way, somewhat paradoxically “the first will be last and the last will be first” (Matthew 20:16).

The key to true leadership is not to focus inward, but outward.

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Submarined

Money is good. It’s what we trade for the necessities and comforts of life. But it’s a means.

Relationships are good, too. They’re how we know and live in the world around us. Better, but not there yet.

I am learning, God’s presence is the only thing that brings completeness.

Other things—good things—bring satisfaction to a certain point. I love my family more than I can describe. But if that’s all I had, there would still be something missing.

It’s only God’s presence that can keep us moving through the “valley of the shadow” and still, somehow, keep us from losing hope.

I have come to think of the time I spend with God each morning as a submarine. No matter how rough the waves, I can always dive deeper.

It’s not escapism. I’m not forgetting what’s going on on the surface. It’s more I’m remembering how deep and wide God is.

And in that, there is true comfort.

This, I think, it much like the prayer Elisha prayed for his servant in 2 Kings 6. One morning, his servant goes out early to find their little city surrounded by an army. An army who, just so happens, is calling their name.

Scared, the servant ran back to tell Elisha. But Elisha wasn’t worried. Instead, he asked God that he would open the eyes of his servant, so that he could see things as they really were. A moment later, his young servant looked around, and everywhere, filling all the surrounding mountains, there was a fiery army—vastly outnumbering this human army. It was God.

Life is all about perspective.

But not all perspectives are created equally.

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The thing we Need but don’t always See.

The other night after bath time, Hadley (my one-year-old), ran around the living room naked for a bit. If you’re not a parent, naked-kids is totally normal.

At one point she stopped, sat down next to her blanket, and laid her little head down on it.

Kristin and I must have made a comment about it being cute, because Graham (my three-year-old) started imitating her. And then it became a game for everyone.

(Except the naked part.)

But something about this little episode stuck with me. Why does the older one imitate the younger one?

I think it’s because he wants our attention. He wasn’t throwing a fit. He was just copying his sister.

It strikes me how much these little ones need us.

They don’t just need us to give them food or a place to live, but they need us on a much deeper level. They need to know they are valuable to us. And they need to feel that.

As a grown-up, I’ve been learning a lesson that’s a lot like this.

We—each of us—need God in this same way. The vague notion that he’s out there somewhere isn’t good enough. We need to know him.

When I think about hard times, I sometimes wonder why God allows them. If he can stop the pain, if he knows the heart-ache’s coming, why let it happen?

I think part of it is because, just like my kids need my and Kristin’s attention and acceptance, we, too, need God’s. But because of certain things in our lives, we tend to forget this. Hard times help us see that again.

On an irritatingly uplifting note, here’s a poem I came across some time back. Fits, I think.

When God wants to drill a man,

And thrill a man

And skill a man

When God wants to mold a man

To play the noblest part;

When He yearns with all His heart

To create so great and bold a man

That all the world shall be amazed,

Watch His methods, watch His ways!

How He ruthlessly perfects

Whom He royally elects!

How He hammers him and hurts him,

And with mighty blows converts him

Into trial shapes of clay which

Only God understands;

While his tortured heart is crying

And he lifts beseeching hands!

How He bends but never breaks

When his good He undertakes;

How He uses

Whom He chooses,

And which every purpose fuses him;

By every act induces him

To try His splendor out-

God knows what He’s about.

– Anonymous

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Am I breaking the law right now?

In Jesus’ day there were lots who loved the law.

They loved it like a gun.

Jesus’ message was a bit different. He taught us that the whole point of the law was to help us better love God and better love each other.

Some have taken this to mean that there are now only two laws: love God and love each other–and however we end up doing that is okay.

But that’s not what Jesus was saying. He wasn’t doing away with anything, he was explaining the heart behind it all.

The Sabbath

I recently starting taking a Sabbath day. That’s a full day of not working.

And…what do I do all day? Answer: whatever is fun and relaxing.

Let me backup—this is kind of a big deal. I’m a workaholic by nature. AA says the first step is to admit you have a problem. Most of my life, my stance has been: what problem?

But recently I’ve been running into a brick wall. And I couldn’t even work my way out of it. Slowly but surely, busyness has become a mask. I’ve let myself get consumed with the to-do list details so that I don’t have to address the bigger, harder questions.

And so, now, every week, I take a full day off.

Through this, I’ve seen two big things emerge.

1. Priorities

Before, I used all seven days, and I still couldn’t get everything done. So you can imagine losing a whole day didn’t help. In my case, it made it so bad that I had no choice but to prioritize.

I heard someone say it like this. Make a top-10 or -20 list of everything you want to do. Put it in order of priority. And then draw a line under #3. Everything above the line needs to happen and everything below is just a bonus.

It’s surprising how freeing that is.

2. Re-think

Stopping for an entire day not only takes practice, but it requires you to fill up your day in a totally different way. Before, every day was a continuation of the one before it. I was getting ahead on the small level, but I didn’t have time to “be still and know” God. It’s that personal level I was missing.

So part of my time I fill with reflection and refocusing. Like, why am I alive? What am I doing here on earth? What is God doing? What would he like for me to be doing? These questions sound scary. But in reality, their answers bring comfort and direction.

The rest of the day I spend having guilt-free fun. Resting or reading or watching a movie or doing whatever.

There’s one catch to all of this.

When we take a Sabbath, we’re trusting God to come through for us. That’s really what all of the laws are about.

Peter Scazzero, in his book Emotionally Healthy Spirituality says, “We stop on Sabbaths because God is on the throne, assuring us the world will not fall apart if we cease our activities.”

Here’s the catch: if you don’t trust that God really will take care of things while you’re out, then the whole “rest” thing probably won’t work.

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