You are currently browsing the Bruce Smith weblog archives for September, 2009.
29. September 2009 by BruceSmith.
They’re Watching You
Riding in the car while taking my daughter to ballet today, and enduring my daughter’s new fixation with country music, I was intrigued by a “story song” we heard which told of a father coming to the vivid realization that his child was watching his life very closely. As the song begins the father tells of driving with his son in the truck (as country music fans are accustomed to driving), being forced to hit the brakes, having the son’s drive-through dinner hit the dash and spill everywhere, and then hearing his son shout out a four letter word descriptive of poop. The dad, horrified by his four year old’s language, asks, “Where did you learn to talk like that?!” To which the son, grinning, replied, “I learned that word from you dad. I want to talk like you…I want to be just like you.”
As the song develops, the son goes on to tell of more ways he wants to be like his dad, some admirable and heart-warming. The song, simple and yet profound, is a clear reminder that “they are watching us”. And its not just our kids. They are all watching us.
If you read Acts 2:42-48 you will notice that the life of the Church is depicted as an intentional, generous, worship focused, service oriented, and inspiring reality. Moreover, if you look closely, and read carefully, you will notice something very powerful. Those characterized as the unchurched in the passage are termed “onlookers”. That is to say, those in the surrounding community, were watching, closely watching, the lives of those in the church. Like the son in the country music song, people watch the lives of those who are supposed to demonstrate leadership and character. The passage in Acts actually goes on to say that those looking in, “watched with awe” as the Church went about doing life in the real world. The Church had a wow factor because of the way believers lived in the early Church. As a result, the last verse reads, “…and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved”.
Some people shudder at the fact that their lives are on display. Others enjoy being seen. But the reality of every life is clear; people see us, like it or not. Our lives, our speech, our way of living, our interactions with others…they all speak of what our lives are about and what defines us. Like it or lump it (as my country style grandma used to say)…its true. What we do is noticed. Who we are is seen. It matters.
I have heard some interesting things from the mouths of babes. Not too long ago, I was a bit taken aback when a very smallish young lady told me, “Cursing is fun!” Another little one I encountered recently seemed to be thrilled with the ability to say, “What the hell?” And not too long ago, while hanging out with a group of teens, I was amazed at the ease with which they dropped F bombs and other vulgarities while in the company of adults. Who have these teenagers been watching, I have often thought to myself. Some months ago while standing in line at the movies I overheard a teen in line speaking like he had no moral compass whatsoever and on top of that was showing off to the hotties around him by bashing on “those stupid christians kids” at his school. I was shocked to note it was a christian leaders son! I thought two things, “Did someone model this kind of human interaction for him?” and “Who would want to associate with that kind of mouth and character display, does he really think he is impressing these girls?” On a better note, I have spent time with young ones who have demonstrated such intelligence, grace, and social poise that I just knew someone was modeling a quality life for them. And recently, I have been encouraged by the surprising depth and insight of my own little ten year old who regularly surprises me with her wisdom and perception. She seems to be catching the values we aspire to in the home, at her Christian school, and at church. Its a joy to watch.
Its not only the little people who watch us, however. We all have spheres of influence where our lives are on display. At work, on the tennis court, in the gym, at parties, at dinners, company functions, …everywhere we are we have an audience. The call for the Christian, in light of this reality, is to recognize, rejoice in, and fully accept the call to lead others to “see” Christ in us as we live our daily lives. As we live fully for our Audience of One, we show off the grace, generosity, and life-giving power of Christ. To the extent we demonstrate His character in our lives others are drawn to Him more and more. Its not an option, and its not avoidable. Our lives do count, one way or another.
I have often wondered if my life is having any effect for good on those I come into contact with. I fully admit, I want my life to count for something, something good. We all do I think. I want my life to leave a mark on those I encounter. I desire for people to see Christ in me because I know His life is the only hope for any of us. But, as a fallen, broken, and imperfect man, I know I rarely live up to His ideal for me. That being so, I am always thrilled when, by God’s grace, something I write, say, do, or share actually impacts the life of another person. Those moments make it all worth while. Conversely, I am painfully aware when my example causes someone else to misinterpret who Christ is and what the Christian life is all about. Seems like those are the moments I am all too aware people are watching.
Recently, I have had the sheer joy of being reminded of what effect the good I demonstrate, only by His grace, brings about. Someone who I have spent a good deal of time around, and who has had some hard times, recently thanked me for living a “good life” in front of them and raising the bar high for them. What a sense of absolute contentment it is to know that despite my imperfections, God in me, has seen fit to make Himself known through what little good I am able to accomplish. Knowing that the grace He gives enables me to live a consistent and godly life (to whatever extent I do this), that occasionally enriches the lives of others, is as good as it gets. Any accolades, awards, prizes, titles, gains of any sort, absolutely fade away in light of this reality. To know that your life speaks of the love and grace of God to others is an utterly fulfilling reality.
So here is the question for each of us, in light of the fact that our lives do matter, “What are they seeing?” When people see our lives, do they see people who are all about the fun, the next party, the next chance to get smashed, the next promotion, the next thrill, the next accomplishment, the new car, the bigger house…? What do they hear us talking about? Do they hear conversations filled with news of God at work in our lives? Or do they hear coarse talking, cursing, crude joking, gossip, back-biting, character demolition, and other meaningless jibberish which, besides demonstrating a lack of intelligence, a lack of verbal creativity, and a lazy use of the English language, also fails to demonstrate what the scripture calls us to in thought, word and deed, “If anything is good, noble, pure, excellent, or praiseworthy… thing on (and talk about) these things”.
We have the privilege of knowing that God calls each of us to leadership and inspirational living in the places He has put us in. Our lives count! We all desire to know that we are not here just taking up space. In God’s economy, in the Kingdom of God, His kids have a destiny and a purpose built into every breath. Yes, every breath. Every interaction. Every response. Every attitude. It all speaks of who we are, and whose we are. Lets live in such a way that our lives call others to take note of Him. Lets live in such a way that when the going gets tough for those we do life with, they know who to turn to and where to find answers. Lets so enjoy the life He has blessed us with that our passion for Him is undeniable. May God in us be so visible that what was true of the early church is also true of our lives, “…many signs and miraculous works were being done by the apostles, and all those in the community looked on with awe…the church had favor with all the people…and He added daily to those being saved.” That is our calling and our privilege.
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
soulstormsite.com
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21. September 2009 by BruceSmith.
Bullfrogs and Butterflies…Real stories of change
Jesus was once asked, “What must a person do to inherit eternal life? His response was, and is, intriguing. “He must be born again”. Literally, a person must be remade, redefined, made new in every way, from the inside out. This was the essence of His response. We must have change in the most fundamental senses if eternal life is to be a reality for us. But do people really change?, one might ask. Ask the woman Jesus encountered at the well. She, a woman who had had several marriages in the past, and was living with a man out of wedlock when Jesus “found” her, was utterly remade, and went about telling her entire village of the transformative experience she underwent. She changed. Again, “Do people really change?” you ask. And how! Let’s take a look.
I have always been intrigued with the idea and process of transformation. As a young kid one of the songs which captured my attention the most, at church, was “Bullfrogs and Butterflies”. If you have not heard the song, its basically about the journey of change those two creatures go through in becoming something altogether “different”. What begins as an unassuming start for each, winds up in a totally transformed state of being. In the case of the bullfrog, the journey is from tiny legless water dweller to a much larger, louder, interesting and adventurous land jumper. For the butterfly, the beginning is, of course, a bit prickly. The little ground crawler with a less than appealing “coat” is utterly morphed into a highly skilled and beautiful flier. Where they started was nothing like where they wound up. As the song suggests, “Bullfrogs and butterflies, they both been born again…” Things do change.
Tim Keller, in his inspiring book, The Prodigal God, writes of a similar tale of transformation which is played out in the film Three Seasons. In the film, Hai, a cyclo driver, falls for a beautiful prostitute named Lan. Lan, who lives the life of a highly paid prostitute, spending her time in hotels and luxurious settings while working, is out of reach for Hai. Though Lan spends her professional life in the lap of luxury, she cannot live there and goes home each night to a much less glorified existence. The life she thought she was buying for herself amidst her profession, she comes to find, leaves her empty, enslaved and brutalized. She is far from happy.
Hai, watching her from afar, longing to be with her, enters a bicycle race, wins, and uses the winnings to pursue Lan on her lavish turf. He uses his money for a night, pays her price, and the unexpected transformation of a life begins. As the relationship unfolds, the drama is different from every other encounter she had ever had. Hai, unlike the others who wanted her for her body and pleasures, just wanted to watch her sleep. Rather than purchase a night of demeaning and short-lived ecstasy, Hai, actually purchases her heart. He cared for her, he had no desire to use her. This is foreign and strange to Lan, and she struggles to get her mind around it.
For the first time ever, Lan had begun to see a glimpse of the kind of protection, security, and belonging she had wanted all those years while searching for it in all the wrong ways. As Keller points out in his book, Lan, untrusting of Hai initially, and thinking he was seeking only to control her in some way, eventually comes to see the heart-captivating power of his desire to serve her rather than use her. His love reveals itself so strong and pure than she cannot return to the cheap life of sexual enslavement she once knew. Once her heart was freed by the pure love of another, she had to live differently. Her heart drove her so, as love won the day. She was compelled to pursue a new way of living.
Such is the love of God in our lives. This story is played out time and again in the pages of the bible. Moses, a stuttering coward, was transformed into God’s man for an Exodus of unprecedented scale. David, a little ruddy faced shepherd boy, became giant killer, king, poet, and man after God’s own heart. Paul, formerly Saul the murderer of God’s people, became a “fool for Christ”, and a hero in the Church. Zaccheus, hungry for God at any expense, was totally transformed. The disciples, unassuming movement starters by any measurement, set the world on fire and changed world history, literally. Such is the change God is able to rend in the hearts of humans. It is still happening.
Speaking for myself, I can tell you that it was the riveting love of God in the hearts of authentic Christian people and families, over a period of years, which won me over to Him. Watching men who invested their lives in me, my mother’s unconditional love, and the love of my grandmother, totally transformed my heart in concrete and life-altering ways. His love for me, a broken, hungry, and needy teenager, was so real and convincing that I could not turn away. Who, in their right mind, running headlong into the love of God again and again, would turn their back on the greatest lover and friend ever?
As the prodigal son in Luke 15 came to realize, and many still today, leaving the house of God for the false promises of this world, always leaves us wanting. Further, it is the ridiculous and abundant love of God which offers to us the meaning and belonging we are searching for while wallowing in the slop and muddiness of this world’s fleeting pleasures and deceptive sales pitches.
As the lives of bullfrogs and butterflies, Hai and Lan, the prodigal son, Moses, David, Paul, and so many others demonstrates, that place of being we are all searching for is to be found only in the calling of God for our lives. It is here we learn to live and to love in a way that fulfills us and leads others to that place of hope. It is the story of Redeeming love that transforms wounded hearts. It is the reality of undeserved favor which ignites a longing for God and a desire to know, love and serve Him. He is able to transform us in the most true sense. He can rework our minds, hearts, personalities, and all that we are.
So the question becomes then, not, “Do people change?”, but rather, “How is a heart and life transformed?” The answer is in the story, the greatest story ever told. A God, holy and complete and without any need whatsoever, motivated by love, created beings in order that they might experience Him and live in a deep and abiding relationship with Him. Seeing those very beings turn from Him, wreck the relationship offered, and bringing death of soul upon themselves, this very God, reached down, physically came down, lived and walked among them, loved them, died for them, opened a way for the relationship to be restored, and continues to win them over one by one. It is in the midst of this drama, this unfolding reality, that transformation takes place. It is here that the heart leaps toward him, and it is here that the soul takes flight as never before. Its a beautiful thing to behold.
May we all, like bullfrogs and butterflies, …be born again into this new reality.
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
soulstormsite.com
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16. September 2009 by BruceSmith.
After watching the news and excerpts from the last two days featuring the thoughtless, and wacky pronouncements and actions of celebs during the VMAs I went to bed pondering the reality of TRUTH tonight. Seems to me the biblical version of reality is a bit different from the “reality” espoused by our cultural and entertainment elites, and more than a little more refreshing than the vomitous spewing of our cultural icons. Here is a short version of what, in my opinion, deserves an entire book.
Ignorance is not bliss, and reason and faith are not at odds. The scriptures, afterall, call us, “Come now, let us reason together”. The truth is, despite the pitch of modernity, that Goodness is always the better way, the more fulfilling route, the only journey blessed by God. In a world far too atune to the false promises of hollywood, self actualization, pleasure, and the abandonment of absolutes, and many other senseless distortions of reality, the refrain of Philippians 4:8 is a clarion call to goodness and deep pleasure of the soul:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”
Wow. If we could all think, and live, like that… it would redefine our speech, thought, entertainment, relationships, focus, emotions, drives, pursuits…everything. hmm
What do you think about? What do you pursue? Does your entertainment lead you to ponder the “goodness” of God? Is your musical diet one which fills you with emotions, thoughts, drives for the excellent and praiseworthy realities of a life of faith? I am one who enjoys many genres of music, so this is not some soap box preacher calling down venomous strikes against anything not called “christian”. But much of what is out there is in stark contrast to the reality of life defined by and prescribed in scripture, and could hardly be ignored by any thinking person of faith. We have forgotten to think, or in many cases, have decided not to think through the lens of faith.
Think on these things, Philippians tells us. The list is pristine and covers all aspects of our lives. Is our reading intake filled with ideas which lead us into greater intimacy with God? Do we seek advice and answers to perplexing issues from sources of biblical wisdom or from the pop icons and talk show hosts of our day? Do we seek scriptural insight into our doubts and questions or do we sort of embrace a spiritual gumbo approach to life and pick a little from this ism, and a little from that teaching, and a little from that book, and a little from that friend, never really thinking and seeing the contradictions? Are our relationships an image of the kind of human interactions exemplified by Christ? Do we seek the wisdom of the New Testament with regard to our romantic affairs? Are we looking for people of character, patience, godliness, or are we just following the crowd and thirsting for that “sexy” mate or date? Again, are we THINKING?
Contrary to the call of a reckless world, the “high life” is not found in abandoning thought and intention. Rather, life lived in search of goodness and moral excellence, motivated by a hunger and love for God, is what makes for the life we all crave.
The USA Today led its front page with the following headline yesterday, “What happened to Civility?” It ran in response to Kanye West’s antics at the VMAs, which in my view, were only trumped by Madonna’s comments which reflected our culture’s moral emptiness, distortion, and thoughtlessness. Essentially, we praise the ugliest, or at least the most trivial of things among us, we desire no restraints, we crave pleasure without boundaries or penalty, and we worship ourselves. Our god has become our happiness and the lusts of a culture gone mad for fun and frivolity.
Have we forgotten how to think? Are we too lazy to think? Do we just not want to think? We seem to think that living for the moment, quenching the current feeling or craving, will bring us to a more fulfilling life. It never does.
Philippians 4:8, I humbly submit, is our route to a bigger life. Think about it.
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
soulstormsite.com
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11. September 2009 by BruceSmith.
On this, the date that shall forever remain in our minds and hearts, Bruce offers a look back at his reflections on 9/11 as recorded in his book, Soul Storm: finding God amidst disaster. How do we make sense of the messiness of life? How do we find God’s love amidst tragedy? Does God speak to us in the difficult places?
PART TWO: DISASTER RECOVERY-REBUILDING THE SOUL
What do we make of this mess?
“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!
Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as me dedicated one,
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?
So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.” (Isaiah 42:18-25)
Early on in this book I suggested that if we are to make progress in dealing with the disasters in our lives we must start by gaining a proper perspective on life as a whole. That is to say, if we are to find any credible answers to our dilemma we must ask the right questions. This idea of right questions preceding meaningful answers is not only the subject of much philosophical inquiry, it is, I believe, supported in scripture. In this passage from Isaiah, we find a very interesting scenario unfolding as we read. The spokesman of God, in this case, does not, at this moment, comfort his hearers with delightful pronouncements of blessing, abundance, success, and good fortune. Rather, the word of God to the listener is one of questioning, intense, direct, and corrective questioning. We will find comfort, covering, hope, and a future as we continue with God’s word to His people, but we must begin by evaluating what this message of discipline is intended to address. Where is God in the middle of this “natural” disaster? This is an important question, and the answer may be more unsettling than we are willing to admit. In order to gain some perspective on God’s presence in this disaster and what He may be saying, doing, and accomplishing, we must rewind the tape a bit.
September 11, 2001 was a very dark day in our national history. I recall vividly where I was, who I was with, and how people around me responded to the events as they unfolded. I was making my daily forty mile commute from the suburbs of New Orleans into the downtown central business district. Just as I was nearing the end of the Causeway bridge, (the largest in the world, spanning some twenty-four miles) NPR broke in with a sudden announcement, “A plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City”. At that moment they suspected what most listeners suspected, something has gone wrong with a routine commercial airliner and a sad, though somewhat readily explainable event had just transpired”. My initials thoughts were that in the days ahead we would hear of how an engine failed, the search for the black box, and other typical crash information. Reality set in not too many minutes later, when as I was making my way into the skyscraper where I work, I heard everyone talking about the event and the unfolding drama. As I got off the elevator and walked through the doors of my office everyone had gathered in a room where we typically have our morning meetings. On this day, no such meeting was to take place. Our technology staff had quickly gotten a television signal up and running in the meeting room and our company gathered to see what was happening. Just as many of us were arriving, we witnessed the second plane make its fated and unthinkable descent into the second tower. That moment, for all of us, was a defining one, one that changed all of our lives. Or was it?
As we, and others, all across the country realized the magnitude of this event unfolding before our eyes, pain, horror, shock, numbness, and fear set in. I looked around that room that day and watched carefully and thoughtfully as many of my peers wept. Just like those in the towers that day, we were a company populated, largely, with well-to-do brokers and employees. With all the security of substantial incomes, travel, big houses, and the benefits that the “American Dream” offered, few of us were really considering the ultimate issues in life. That changed in an instant on 9/11. On that day, Americans became a more thoughtful, spiritually minded, and sober people. Even away from New York City, as Americans, we found it hard to focus, work, or play. The tales of those who lived in the Big Apple at the time of the disaster speak of the world’s most vibrant city coming to a stand still. Entertainment, ball games, dining-it all came to a screeching halt. What seemed so crucial to our lives beforehand just lost its brilliance amidst the darkness of that day. News stories around the country told of Americans renewed concern over spiritual matters and ultimate issues. Pulpits across the country suggested that our attentions, amidst the pain, would be turned back to God and an American revival of the soul would make us better, stronger, more God-centered.
Shortly after the tragic befalling of our national monuments, monuments to our superiority economically, democratically, and militarily, I led a prayer service in our office building. The President had just called for a national day of prayer, and I was asked to lead a service for people in our office. As the preparations were being made the event extended beyond our office and eventually became an event for our entire building. Some 200 people showed up for that service. During the service I and several others read prayers we had prepared or shared some thoughts we thought we important in light of the occasion. We showed slides with images, stills of the unfolding of the disaster. The images were vivid and still remain in my heart and soul to this day. There were images of a city in ruins, people falling or jumping from windows, the latter just making a decision on the better most expedient way to die in that moment of terror. We left that service in silence. We left with a prayer in our hearts for God to turn our hearts toward Him in the midst of such unfathomable tragedy. And I honestly think many left that service with a prayer to God that He would cause them to live a different, a better life.
In 9/11 we saw just how desperate life on this planet can become amidst seemingly mindless evil. But it was not our first glimpse of that reality, and it was not our last. The American psyche dealt with this kind of thing at Pearl Harbor, and more recently we have dealt with it at Columbine, and Oklahoma City. Each time we are dealt a blow of this magnitude we see and hear reports, studies, and pronouncements that America will grieve, but she will come back more thoughtful, spiritual, and resilient. And each time, I think, we all hope that is indeed the case. But is it? Is it true that after the initial pain, shock, horror, grieving and processing of these events that we come back better people? And if not, how do we accomplish this? If we fail to become a more God-minded people, are there consequences? Does God intend to speak to us amidst these disasters and the disasters of our lives? If so, what is he saying? Is God, in keeping with His loving character as a good Heavenly Father, determined to teach His children to follow hard after Him even if that requires an increased form of discipline for those hard of hearing? These questions, I believe, are critical for our future as people and as a country. These questions, and the answers to them, I suggest, determine where we will end up and what our future will look like.
At the outset, I suggested that I am not another of those “hell, fire and brimstone” preacher types. I maintain the position that I am not one of the dreaded, much maligned, and “stereotypical” doomsday pulpit shouters. Parenthetically, however, I must remind the reader that in scripture we do find God sending spokespersons to be trumpeters of divine wrath. A word of clarification as to what I am suggesting and what I am not suggesting should be given here. What I am offering is the possibility that many events in our nations recent past, and most recently hurricane Katrina, are intended by God to wake us up from our habitual neglect of pursuing life lived under the direct gaze of a holy, loving, and life sustaining Creator. What I am not suggesting is that I know for sure, or that “God has told me directly” that hurricane Katrina has been sent directly by Him, at this moment, for the specific cause of bringing judgment upon America for its lack of holiness and all of its offenses. America is indeed lacking in its degree of passion for a holy national life, and as Americans we certainly are guilty of many breeches of God’s directives. The depths of our transgressions as a nation are readily apparent, and should not be taken lightly. The reality is that God is always calling us to a more committed life, and when His message is not getting through, He turns up the volume. The reality, I fear, despite the numerous opportunities for America to “hear” God’s call to a better way, is that we are not hearing, we are not seeing with spiritual eyes what God is attempting to show us. In the days since 9/11 we have drifted back to our idolatrous ways. Desperate House Wives is our favorite television program, racial tensions continue to mount, our thirst remains for pleasure, and our devoted rage against any form of absolute truth continues. We aspire to promote the tolerance of all things without any regard for the destruction that certain tolerations bring to families and souls. The murdering of the unborn and the abandonment of any credible definition of family leaves us a nation on the verge of ever increasing societal disaster. Might God be speaking to us in these days through the events we see unfolding before us, personally and as a country? May we have ears to hear the Spirit of God upon the winds coming our way. At a minimum, in this disaster and any disaster we may face personally, is it not true that God wishes to teach us something about ourselves? Pain, suffering, and loss always bring us to a place of reevaluation, questioning, and consideration of ultimate reality. Has God intended it so? Let’s get back to Isaiah.
Listen Up!
In the passage from Isaiah, we find a God who has immense love for His chosen people. The nation Israel, as history and scripture proclaim, was, in God’s plan for the world, the people through whom God chose to establish His plan for all of humanity. History is replete with the dialogue, controversy, and horror stemming from this proposition. In order to avoid going into a book length exposition of Israel’s place in the divine plan and in history, we must assume here, for the sake of argument that this nation does indeed fit into God’s redemptive plan as a crucial hinge-point. Assuming then that Israel is under the blessing and obligation of this reality, it is important to know what God expects of His people with regard to how they follow the plan. The passage from Isaiah clearly reveals that somewhere along the road God’s chosen nation had independently decided to take a detour. This nation, promised great blessing by a loving God, made the conscious decision to create a new map, one in direct conflict with the one given to them by their leader. Apparently, like the huge neon orange and white striped signs we see on the road at major road repair construction sites, God had sent warning after warning. At every turning point God had placed caution signs that were repeatedly ignored by His people. God’s call to His people was not being heard. His warnings were not registering with a people more concerned with the trappings around them. His people had grown confident in their own plans, desires, pursuits, and ideologies. God decided it was time to send a call loud and clear. By God’s design, the emergency horn would sound louder and louder until heard. God’s love, in discipline, would make an attempt to get His children back on the road to recovery. But, one might ask, “Is that truly loving”?
It would seem to make sense that just as any financial counselor who truly has a client’s interests in mind would lay out a clear game plan for success, so too would a caring parent who wants the best for a child, lay out a plan for healthy growth and development. Any good doctor, aware of an individual’s reckless behavior, would go to lengths to warn his patient of the risk involved in chemical abuse of any kind; drugs, alcohol, steroids, nicotine, and the like. Likewise, a good judge, probation officer or counselor would warn a paroled defendant of the future peril awaiting should one go back to a former way of life. Common sense would inform us that, if indeed, God loved His people He would want to present to them a plan for life that could be followed and which offered them the opportunity for blessing. Further, any good financial planner, coach, boss, or parent would want to point out the pitfalls along the way to prevent major disaster. We see just how committed we are to this idea in the stories we read about Enron, World-Com, and so many other business scams. No one would think it sensible or morally defensible for a person in leadership to intentionally lead those under their care astray. Why would we then expect anything less of God? Any good parent, we would contend, would discipline a child that was in danger of causing harm to themselves or others through willful disobedience. Unloving parents are those who abandon their children, leaving them without means for provision, care, love and direction. Worse, are those parents that would intentionally mislead their children, knowing full well, that destruction would be the result for following the path put in place. Moreover, any good parent or leader would provide a means to follow the plan, reinforce the plan with the promise of blessings that derive form following the blueprint, and provide warnings and discipline for deviation from the plan. The warnings and discipline, of course, are intended to “bring us to our senses” and get us back on track. Could God be speaking to America? Does He use “natural” disasters to reveal a sickness of soul to those He cares about? Is there something we are missing? Why do we fail to see God’s hand at work?
The problem we find ourselves in as citizens of the world’s one remaining super-power, is that we no longer want to embrace a common sense view of morality, let alone spiritual sense, unless it fits into our own pursuit of pleasure and comfort. Our view of spirituality, even within some churches, has grown so decidedly contrary to God’s plan that He has no choice but to raise the volume on His call to us. God’s own “church” in America has come so closely to resemble the culture at large that in many settings the church is not discernable from the culture in which it operates. That culture, given a rich heritage of blessing and providence by God, has for some time, been turning a deaf ear to the warnings of God.
Just as God had warned Israel of the folly in turning away from Him to the worship of false Gods, so we in America have turned to the idols of sensuality, the false security of riches, addiction to pleasure, and the astonishing craving for the renouncement of absolute truth. As Americans we want desperately, against all common sense, to suggest that all truths are equal even when they contradict one another. This kind of moral, intellectual, and spiritual suicide, like the doctrine of assisted suicide, is beginning to show its consequences. The outcome of such thinking, indeed belief, is a society in moral and civil decay before our very eyes. “In God we trust”, a now debated doctrine in our halls of justice, is on the verge of becoming extinct. We cry out for God’s help amidst disaster, yet, we have systematically removed Him from our schools and public forums. The “right” of women to choose has trumped the doing of the “right”. We should be aware that the worship of the right to choose will reap, perhaps, a morbid consequence down the line when those who choose the termination of the unborn early in life are eventually called upon to choose whether or not to care for the elderly when they are frail, economic, and emotional burdens. A trampling of the sanctity of life now very well may end in the trampling of an entire generation of people. When created beings hold their “right” to be supreme, all sensible moral restraint is at risk. The whim of individuals to choose and the retreat from absolute truth is a war raged against reason.
The struggle to live rightly has been replaced by a battle against the “right” side of the political spectrum.
When is it ever right to choose wrong, I must ask? What happens if my desire for choosing contradicts all rational and moral judgment? What if rational and moral judgment itself is defined a thousand or a million different ways? Who is right when no one wants to say that right exists? The proliferation of the “truth” that no absolute truth exists is, literally, non-sense. One cannot absolutely pronounce that no truth exists. The very suggestion is contradictory and without logical basis. Yet, here we are in America, a “Christian” nation, and we find, even in the finest of our academic institutions, this whole hearted embrace of intellectual, moral, and spiritual bankruptcy. This kind of “free” thinking is the very curriculum for our developing leaders and has been for far too long. Is it any wonder we see, in moments of great pain and desolation, looters abandoning all moral restraint, while their city lies in waste? Rather than looking for a way to help those drowning in the rising waters, the “Americans” were taking all they could get at an opportune moment. But it was their choice, was it not? Who is to say it was right or wrong? Who draws the lines? Where are the boundaries?
That brings us back to Isaiah. The message from this spokesman of God was simple and direct. According to God, His people had moved beyond the boundaries of the Kingdom. In doing so, God’s people opened themselves up to a world of difficulty and decay. This decay showed up in the nation Israel in the form of war, murder, adultery, idolatry, sexual immorality, harlotry, homosexuality, neglect of the poor and spiritual distortion. These among other less than desirable qualities came to define those chosen by God to live lives of blessing, goodness and peace. Could it be, that God in His love for us as a people, a city, and a nation, has allowed, sent, or is intending to use this most recent disaster, to call us, a people similar in too many ways to the nation Israel represented in this passage from Isaiah, to a life more in line with His calling for us? Not only is it possible, but it is exactly how He has worked throughout biblical history. When people He is calling to Himself act in ways not in keeping with family life in His Kingdom, the Father extends His loving hand of discipline to bring the kids back in line and protect them from greater danger. God knows what life beyond the boundaries looks like. The farther from home we get the worse life becomes. At times the Father will increase the pressure, and sharpen the discipline to get our attention. When His children turn a deaf ear to His wisdom, He finds a way to be heard. Rather than this being a sign of His prudish inclination, it is a sign of His marvelous love and hunger for our good. Just as He assured the nation Israel that they were the “apple of His eye” so he assures us, as His people today, He is for us and not against us. He uses all things, we are told in the book of Romans, to work out His good plan for us. All things-even disaster! He will use, send, allow, mold, and make all things turn out for the good of His children! Life beyond the boundary, as the Prodigal Son found out, is no life worth pursuing. The quest for pleasure at every hand, as Solomon found out, is not enough to quench the soul. The thirst for sexuality outside of the plan of God ends in confusion, disease, psychological disarray, and broken families. In His plan, as is revealed in scripture, our sexuality finds its most exhilarating and soul inspiring fulfillment. Life on the other side of the fence, God knows, only provides different grass. Inside the boundaries of God’s playground, life and life abundantly unfolds bigger and better than any fantasy displayed on the grandest of silver screens. Inside the boundaries of God are found the boundless heights of love, joy, peace, and life everlasting! America, we must come back to God’s playground.
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9. September 2009 by BruceSmith.
Prodigal People, Prodigal God
Luke 15 has for me been one of the most important passages in all of scripture in terms of its influence in my life. Its the story, told by Jesus, to religious listeners, in order to communicate, clearly, the essential message of the Gospel. Typically, the focus is upon the “wayward” son who has broken the heart of his father, squandered family wealth, and ruined his own life. Yet, a close look at the story reveals much more.
The passage, one of three “lost” passages offered in succession, is the culmination, the punch line, the climax of Jesus’ teaching on the theme of lostness and searching. The three passages together, taken as one teaching unit, offer a profound look at the message of God for lost things, lost people. He is on an all out search for us. Even when we are ignoring Him and looking for life in all the wrong places, He fixes His gaze in our direction, just waiting for us to turn His way and take a step toward Him. Let’s take a look at the passage.
First off, the passage is indeed about the son who has gone astray. The message of God about this kind of life, a life of loose living, partying without boundaries, and a no rules approach, is quite clear: God is saying, clearly, life lived on our terms is hopeless. Fun will not be enough. Money will not be enough. Sex will not be enough. Travel will not be enough. Life lived for the moment is not gonna work. All of this and more, apart from God…will NOT be enough. It never has been, and it never will be. Further, the teaching of Jesus here demonstrates the nature of “prodigal” living. Life lived disconnected from sold out unreserved intimacy with God is viewed by God as an extravagant waste, an excessive dismissal of reality which never ends well. There are boundaries. He defines them. Anything else will leave us spiritually broke and battered.
Secondly, this passage, spoken to an audience with many religious people within earshot, and many religious leaders actually, is a message about the heart of the father. As extravagantly sinful and dismissive of God’s truth and calling as the son (all of us) in the story is, the Father’s love (God’s) is all that much more excessive and ridiculously extravagant. Where sin abounds, Grace abounds all the more. The heart of God runs toward those who have squandered their lives and have woken up among the pigs, repented, and turned back in the direction of home. Sin is real. His truth can be denied. However, His love remains open and able to heal the heart that will turn to Him and walk back in His direction. He stands looking for us, waiting to see our shape in the distance, longing to run toward us and take us back.
Third, the passage is about the nature of religious duty and its inability to produce true Godliness and joy. The older brother in the passage, enraged by the Father’s acceptance of the wayward and reckless son, is a picture of those religious figures who have lived life doing and saying all the right things, but with all the wrong motives and desire. The life of faith, real faith, is one of joy, it a passionate pursuit of God for who He is. Fullness of life comes not from religious duty or ritualistic religion, but from a continual enjoyment and intimacy with God. Worship, is not part of a service on Sunday morning, its a moment by moment posture of submission and joyful servanthood before God. The true worshipper can break out in song at any moment. The lover of God finds bliss in the most mundane moments of life. The people of God can even endure hardship with a peace that passes understanding, and are not always looking for health and wealth promised by TV preachers of the day. What the older son, the “good” son missed in his life of duty to the father, was the restful and joyful reality of authentic relationship with his dad. Duty had killed intimacy. He lived up to the rules but somehow missed the love. Without love, Jesus suggests, the relationship is grossly hindered, misconstrued. God wants our heart first. Once He has that our lives will become what He desires for us. We cannot get the cart before the horse on this one. First God, then Godly living. The latter is always, always, a byproduct of the former, but we cannot force the former by duty to the latter.
Luke 15, finally, is a picture of our calling. The call of every human heart is to find oneself in Him. There alone is our bliss, our home, our hope, and our inspiration. Our most basic calling, as revealed in this passage, is a counter-cultural, and a counter-religious approach to living. We are called to find our place in Him, and to rejoice as others find their way home. Our calling, despite all we may do to define ourselves or to make a living, is to lead others to the reality of this truth. This was Jesus’ motive for sharing the story. He was showing the heart of God for us, and calling all hearers, and readers, to recognize the truth and to share it with others. We, Jesus suggests, are called to be searchers for lost sons and daughters. This is our mission as we go about daily life. We never lock eyes with anyone who does not matter to God. Every glance, word, reaction, every movement we make is pregnant with the the love of God as we live for an audience of One.
As the passage suggests, there is nothing in life more worthy of celebration than that moment when a heart is awoken to the reality of God’s wooing. In returning to Him, in giving Him our entire lives to the Father, the true party begins. The extravagant celebration highlighted in the passage conveys the the joy of God at our coming home to Him, and also the astounding joy for those present at the party. The heart, transformed by God, and inspired by Grace, is a heart fully alive. It is in fellowship with God and others who know Him that we find our purpose, passion, and place.
We are all, indeed, extravagant and reckless sinners, loved by an enthusiastically extravagant God of grace. He woos us home because He knows without Him we are lost on a sea of emptiness and confusion. He desires to lift us out of the pig sty and bring us back into His estate. May we, along with the sons in this story, find our way back to Him, and begin to truly enjoy the celebration of grace. This is true living.
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
soulstormsite.com
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1. September 2009 by BruceSmith.
Loving God
I was recently asked by a young person the following question, “Why do you listen to that kind of music so much?” By “that kind of music” the little person meant Contemporary Christian music. My response, which came as something strange and entirely new to this little one apparently, was simply, “Because my favorite thing to do in life is to worship God, and that’s what this music is about”. I could see the wheels turning in that little mind in the moments following my comment. “That’s a new one!” is what appeared to be playing in that little cranium.
What is memorable about the brief exchange for me is the overarching reality behind the question and the surprise at my answer. We live in “Christian America”, and yet, so few in our culture have a deep sense of how Christ followership actually works itself out in our daily life. This is certainly not just true of little people, and is a reality for not only the secular mind, but sadly, for far too many grown ups in our churches. We seem to have missed, somewhere, somehow, that the Gospel is the good news of a changed, redeemed, and love ignited heart. Its about transformative living, and loving, on every level.
But what does it mean to love God? Is it not possible to “love” God and still determine on our own how we live, what we like, what we do, what drives us? First off, we must be aware that it is the love of God which draws us to Himself. The bible is clear that God’s love is the driving force behind any of us coming to a relationship with Him. We don’t establish, nor do we keep a vibrant relationship with Him by pursuing rules of morality which make us a “better person”, thereby earning our standing with Him. Rather, the Gospel is the news, the amazing news, that amidst our own failure, sin, and corrupt nature, God reached out to us and offered us forgiveness, change, renewal, and intimacy with Him. The love of God, the love of a holy, pure, brilliant, and perfect God is what woos us to hunger for and pursue Him. In seeing His beauty, and love, we crave more of Him. We want to know Him more, love Him more, please Him more, and reflect Him more. This is the biblical model. More of Him, less of us. Moreover, more of His ways in us, defining us, and showing up in us.
The hope of the gospel shows up in our lives like a lightning bolt striking our hearts and electrifying our souls, making us aware of a totally transformative way of living. The energizing effect of God’s truth is so strong that it has the power and the purpose of driving all our thoughts, actions, desires, hopes, and dreams. It stands above culture, social norms, individual opinion, group think, setting, political correctness, “isms” of all kind, and above all other assertions of “truth”. The biblical reality of Jesus’ teaching is not open to polling, the impulse of majority, nor the acceptance of an “educated elite”. The teaching of Jesus stands on its own and calls all other suggestions of reality to find true north in Him.
We live in a world where “love” is so undefined that it has lost any meaning. One person’s definition of love can vary so greatly from another’s that two polar opposites are touted as one reality. If we are to know the love of God, experience it, and walk in it, we must understand love as defined by Him. If our life is to be truly ablaze with the joy, meaning, direction, and purpose we crave, we must find God’s heart in this matter. If what the bible says about God is true, “God is love.”, then we must know Him, and what He desires for us. If we are to truly know Love as it exists we must seek it out in the scriptures. Quite plainly, know God, Know love. There is no other way. If we are to love Him and others, really love them, and really live loving lives, there can be no other way to do it than to search out God’s truth.
With this in mind, and toward that end, today, I offer the starting point for the Love series. It comes to us from the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, often referred to as “The Love Chapter”. No that’s not a Barry White song!
In this chapter we find a description of love so clear and so remarkable, and so rare, that its hard to really comprehend. Yet, its a picture of God’s love, its a call for us to walk in true love, and its our calling for all human interaction. It calls into question all of our motives, longings, actions, and the very nature of our love. Its also an inspirational look at just how beautiful our lives and every human interaction can be. So, let’s look at the verses, and then make an attempt to unfold a few verses from this amazing passage.
1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The entire pasage is, of course, a call to view love as the chief end of all our motivations and actions. But its not a fuzzy, undefined, opinion centered love. Rather, if we note verses 4-7, we find that this biblical model of love has some clear characteristics. If we claim to walk in love, we must ask ourselves if our “love” looks like this description given to us by God.
Love is patient. Patience is not conditional. Its not determined, biblically speaking, by our mood, our situation, or those we are interacting with. Simply put: love is patient. Are we?
Love is kind. Kindness is operative, in the biblical model, even when those we are engaged with are less than kind. Is our response God-centered or me-centered? Is our love kind? Love is kind. If we are to refer to ourselves as loving, we must be walking in kindness. Kindness manifests itself at all times, not just when others are giving us all we want from them. Kindness has been referred to as a gentle purposeful direction and touch.
Love does not envy or boast, and it is not proud. Is our desire for others for their utmost good? Do we get jealous when others do well? Do we seek to lift others up and give them opportunity? Or are we always looking for our moment to bask in the spotlight? Do we realize, in humility, just how weak and inept we are apart from God’s love in our lives? Do we highlight this? Do we make others aware that it is God in us that is responsible for all our good?
Love is not rude. Rudeness here addresses a spectrum of activities. What is our speech like? Here and in other places the bible places a huge premium on our tongue and its activity. What do we talk about? Do we pursue the biblical model for purity in speech and behavior? Or, are our actions too often full of vulgarity, cursing, callousness, sharpness with others, and a general lack of self control? The bible is clear, “Whatever is pure, good, wholesome…think on these things”… “From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” There is no rudeness in God.
Love is not self-seeking, easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. Here is a love principle which can transforms all of your relationships, romantic, business, family, and otherwise. If its always about you love is not in the picture. If you are a quick trigger, you have missed something about grace. If you number, catalog, and remind people of all the wrongs committed you are operating from a loveless posture. Biblical love seeks the good of others, endures patiently, and forgives continually. Thank God He is not like us! What if He were self-seeking, easily angered, and kept a record of all our wrongs!! Thanks be to God. May He give us His love in this area.
Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. Here is a big one we miss in our culture. In this Hollywood driven, sex crazed, fun without limits society, we are far too willing to embrace any and all things as good. Evil does have a face biblically speaking. That face has some clear characteristics. The lists are long and vivid in the scriptures. Yet, in our pursuit of entertainment, fun, and frivolity, we all too often rejoice in, find humor in, place ourselves in settings where the fun we are enjoying is the very thing God calls evil. We have called boring and mundane what God calls life, and we have replaced God’s standards with the cultural pursuit of individual entitlement. Lust, pleasure, and a craving for fun drives our actions rather than love. We find all the wrong things delightful and follow the crowds to those arenas where God’s truth is abandoned and even mocked. Where is the love in that? A Godward love hungers for much more.
Love always protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres…it never fails. And here is the summary of love’s characteristics. It always protects. Always. That means love is always longing for the best in everyone. Love’s aim is to see everyone we are in contact with live in the light of God’s truth and grace. We seek to protect people from the trap of ignoring God’s calling. We seek to point people to goodness because we know it results in a fuller and more Godly life. We seek to protect people from settings, activities, and pursuits which hinder intimacy with God. Godly love aims to protect. It aims to establish trust in God’s truth, it aims to show forth the hope in God’s plan, it perseveres through rough spots in relationships. True, Godly love, wins over and over again. It does not fail in bringing people to a greater sense of passion, purpose, and joy. Love, as defined by God, does not fail in igniting a hunger for more of God, and for more of His plan to be unfolded in every area of our lives. Godly love knows, pursues, hungers for, and craves the ability to walk in the Spirit at all times. Love realizes that every breath, setting, and human interaction is pregnant with eternal realities.
May we all know that kind of love.
Bruce Smith
optimuslife.org
soulstormsite.com
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