Notes from a sermon delivered at LifeQuest Church on Feb 14, 2010

I have written a couple of non-fiction books but I always toyed with writing fiction – which is really to say just a good long story. As I have thought about this I have wondered how the elements of story relate to us in everyday life – the life we could have and whether there is something there to help us find a better story.

Most everybody loves a good story. We watch stories on TV. We pay money to buy and read books. We pay money to go see movies and then even more money at the concession stand to make it a better experience.

When we were kids we would beg our parents or grand parents to tell us a bedtime story. There is something deeply ingrained in us as humans that craves a story.

Take a look at some of the stories in the Bible.

Judges 4:20 – Sisera was exhausted and soon fell fast asleep. Jael took a hammer and drove a tent-peg through his head into the ground, and he died. – That is a death worthy of a scene in any horror movie you might see.

1 Samuel 18:25-27 (New Living Translation)

he told them, “Tell David that all I want for the bride price is 100 Philistine foreskins! Vengeance on my enemies is all I really want.” But what Saul had in mind was that David would be killed in the fight.

David was delighted to accept the offer. Before the time limit expired, he and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. Then David fulfilled the king’s requirement by presenting all their foreskins to him. – David had to really want this girl to readily agree to give the King 100 foreskins for her!

There is the story of Tamar and when she pretends to be a prostitute to expose her father-in-laws deception to himself. David having an affair with Bathsheba and having her husband killed.

There are stories fit for disaster movies – a worldwide flood, the 10 plagues of Egypt – all the water turning to blood, frogs. Lice, flies, dying animals, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the first-born die.

There are a lot more stories, you should read it sometime.

But lets look at our stories-

Every story needs a main character – 1^st we will assume that the main character of our stories is us. If the main character of your story is someone else then that’s a problem right there. I’m not saying that other characters in your story aren’t important – you can influence the direction of other characters if they let you, but your most influence is over your own direction.

There is another element of character that you have a great degree of control over and this is characteristics of a person – these include you mannerisms, how you carry yourself and think about yourself and how you react to other people and circumstances.

Setting – this is place and time – the place of your story takes place where you are and you mostly have control over this during the course of your story. You will make choices that determine where the place of your story occurs. So unless you are like the survivors of a plane crash like with Oceanic flight 815 in Lost or some other major event where control of this element is forcefully removed from you – then you have a lot of control over this.

Before we move on – lets talk about scenes – we spend much of our days in ordinary settings in ordinary places – but think about movies you have seen. How many times have you seen the scene of the movie where the ordinary conversation takes place in something just a little more unusual like the roof of a building. Or why do people go to fancy restaurants or something else scenic for something like a proposal – they are trying to make something memorable – something that helps us make memories of our stories as we live them. Go do things in your life as you live your story that make them more memorable.

Time – You may think you have little control over this but you have more than you think – you can’t control that time happens during your lifetime but you do have a degree of control over when certain things happen. Let’s say that you know that there is something you are supposed to do – something like confronting a friend about something. You have control over when and if you confront the friend. Doing that when you are supposed to has the potential to influence both of your stories and has all kinds of implications – does the confrontation affect both of your friendships – do you put it off so that what you are confronting them about occurs again and it causes something disastrous to happen in your, their or other people’s stories – or do you do it when you should so that it has the best effect.

To recap so far we have looked at the basic elements of setting and character of story.

So we have a character you in the setting of here and now …..

Is anyone here totally happy with your story so far – I hope not!

Think for a minute – what do you as the main character in your story want??????

Next, the character must want something – In story the character may or may not know what that is when the story starts. This is where ignition incident occurs. Something must happen to us that propels us along. If you are happy with your story so far you aren’t going to be happy when the ignition incident comes along – If you aren’t happy with your story – look for the incident or create an ignition incident yourself.

Let’s say that you are overweight and want to lose weight (I can relate to that) and you aren’t inspired to do so. Create an ignition incident to inspire you – go look in the mirror without any clothes on for a while and really pay attention to how your body looks or go to the doctor and see what he tells you about your weight and what it will do to your lifespan.

Do you feel called to minister to a certain group of people – then do something that puts you in contact with that group of people. If you feel called to speak then volunteer to speak. Do you want to minister to the homeless – well you won’t do it sitting in your living room wishing – light a fire under your butt, get up and do something that causes you to contact them.

If you think you want to be a Doctor – get the grades you need in school to get into Medical school – it won’t happen wishing and watching House every Monday night.

Many ignition incidents happen beyond our own control.

There is a local charity called Jay’s Hope that exists to improve the quality of life of children battling cancer and their families. It was started by a woman that lost her child to cancer – that was her ignition incident though – what started her on her mission to help other children and families.

There can be health issues, family issues, job or financial issues, friend issues – all or any that can serve to start an ignition incident in your story.

And this is where the meat of the story comes in – the conflict – the struggle as we reach to overcome what our goal or what stands in our way.

Here is the story today as many see it:

1. A Character: You.

2. That wants something: To be fulfilled.

3. And overcomes conflict: Jesus came to fulfill you, either to make you happy, or to provide the things that will make you happy on earth. But you have to be good, you can’t sin. You have to get up and have your quiet time so you can be the person God designed you to be.

1. To get it: You should be happy, and if you’re not happy, you aren’t doing religion right, or you aren’t a good enough person.

But there is a problem with this story. First, it is a very selfish and it is a search for something that can never happen. Sure, you can have short-term fulfillment and I hope you do at times, but fulfillment as a feeling is temporary. We aren’t made for long-term fulfillment. We are made for satisfaction as we reach our goals through the struggle.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (Joh 10:10)

Too many times we look at this verse as though abundant life is one in which there is an absence of struggle, an absence of conflict and one in which God is a gigantic wishing machine that gives us the desires of our heart.

But that is not how it really is – the Bible itself is a story – sure it has 66 books from various authors – but overall there is a consistent theme and a point –

Here is the story from God’s view

1. A Character: God

2. That wants something: To be reunited with humanity, for their sake.

3. And overcomes Conflict: Sends his son to invite people (not force them) into a relationship through which mankind can be reunited with God.

1. To get it: And this will happen partially here and fully at a wedding in heaven.

We play a part of this story – the Bible may have stopped being written but the narrative story continues – we are part of the Part 2 there that God wants – the humanity He wants to be reunited with. We are the invitees – the ones being welcomed into a relationship with God.

And this is our real story…..

1. A Character: You

2. That Wants something: Was designed to be in relationship with God and others.

3. And Overcomes Conflict: Trusts Jesus, and walks in faith that he is going to fully reunite us with God. Shares that hope and faith with others.

1. To get it: This will fully happen in heaven. And until then we are able to account for the hope that rests within us and carry out the mission of God.

Our stories are meant to intersect with Gods and to intersect with the stories of others. Our stories aren’t just about us – the other characters in our story – me and you and everyone we interact with – they aren’t just bit players in our story – they are living their own story – and all of us are characters in the continuing story and narrative of God.

Image via Wikipedia

One thing that has been almost a constant with me over the past few years is the search. I went and looked at some old blogs of mine and they had a topic that appeared over and over which is that something different is coming and speaking of a search.

I thought maybe the search was over when we started LifeQuest last year but instead it was just put on hold for a little while and has been coming back out again lately. It’s not a desire to leave and start something different – LifeQuest is to be something different. Suite200 is a start to us being different but it isn’t the end. God is calling us to be different – to reach people in a different way – to show God to people in a different way- to come to know God ourselves in a different way.

Go to Mark 8:28

When I was searching this week for what message God wanted me to pass on this week several things came to mind. First – this was a week straight from hell. Secondly I had a whirlwind of thoughts and ideas racing through my head and could get no clarity because of the way the rest of the week was going. It wasn’t till Saturday that I could receive a consistent word from God on what I should say.

And He said to them, But who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said to Him, You are the Christ. (Mar 8:29)

Christianity has a multitude of denominations – each with their own belief about doctrine. There are false beliefs about what the Bible says that are thought of as common knowledge. There are conservative Christians, liberal Christians, middle-of-the-road Christians. If you really look at it – it is almost like we have a personal pet Jesus that we have molded to fit our circumstances.

Jesus is probably one of the most repeated names in the world. When John Lennon tried to explain how bog the Beatles were by comparing them to someone he picked Jesus. Nobody has had their message more repeated than Jesus – though how accurately is debate-able. He is quoted and talked about by more people – many people claim to love Jesus message even though they can’t stand Christians.

Some churches have the get-out-of hell-free Jesus. There have been millions and millions of people come to a church, a christian event or conference where they say the prayer then go on living a life totally without any presence of Jesus in it. That’s okay though – we had 14 salvations this week – we just don’t know where they went.

In the early ’70’s there was Hippie Jesus – a Jesus that didn’t mind the drugs and the orgies because he was our un-questioning friend and would never harsh our vibe.

In the ’80’s through today ATM Jesus came on the scene – this Jesus primary concern was that we should be rich. Sow and reap – that is all you have to do.

There is the blonde-haired blue-eyed Jesus from the pictures that hung in our grandparents or great-grandparents house. I have seen pictures of black Jesus, Asian Jesus, Mexiacan Jesus and so on.

There is the Great example Jesus – that serves as role model on how we should live our lives – that is when it is convenient – but when we are more confident in our surroundings we don’t need to lean on him so much and he is out of our minds.

There is the Cultural thanks Jesus – the Jesus that gets thanked at awards shows and sporting events. The one that gets thanked by the artist whose music is full of pornographic imagery, objectification of women and obscenity. Bono referred to these people at an award show one night when he said “God is looking down and saying “Don’t thank me for that””

There is also invisible Jesus – the Jesus that some Churches fail to talk about. They can have worship services and messages without ever mentioning his name or his word.

There is NRA Jesus that carries a .45 on his hip while directing wars.

There is left-wing bleeding heart Jesus that has only a concern for caring for the social ills of society.

With so many Jesus’s being portrayed the world is surely confused about who he is.

But do we really know? Have we found out for ourselves? Who do we say he is? Do we know what the Bible really says about Jesus or many of the other events or have we just taken common knowledge that is wrong and gone on from there?

Turn to Jeremiah 10:2

At Christmas time do we think that there were 3 wise men (actually we have no idea how many there were), we think that how ever many wise men there were showed up at the manger in Bethlehem ( nope, they most likely didn’t get there from following the star till Jesus was 1 or 2 years old ), we think that December 25^th is Jesus Birthday which in all likelihood it isn’t.

Many Christmas customs come from pagan rituals – take for example the Christmas tree.

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. (Jer 10:2)

For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. (Jer 10:3)

They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. (Jer 10:4)

I’m not here to tell you not to have a Christmas tree – what I am saying is that some things that it can’t be Christmas without, actually come from pagan rituals and we don’t even know it. The tree comes from them, the date comes from them…

We believe the common story that Jesus was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday and try to align it with Jesus own words that contradict it – For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Mat 12:40)

Go to John 19:31

We don’t dig deep enough to discover that even though Jesus was crucified the day before the Sabbath – the day before the Sabbath is usually a Friday, that is if it is a regular sabbath. Look in – The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. (John 19:31) It was passover week and the special feast days or high days were also referred to as Sabbaths and Jesus was crucified the day before that sabbath – not the regular sabbath – letting what he said about being in the earth for 3 days and 3 nights also be true.

Noah didn’t have just 2 of each animal on the ark .

The forbidden fruit Adam and Ave ate probably wasn’t an apple.

Jesus spoke in parables not to help people understand what he was saying but to keep people from understanding.

Mar 4:10-12 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. (11) And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: (12) That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

I have said all I have said so far to reach this – we need to open our minds to finding the truth. If we lean on all we think we know already – if we pick up our theology from the culture whether it be what the world thinks about Jesus, what you learned in Sunday school, what we sung in praise and worship songs – instead of being a searcher – then we are sure to miss the truth of Jesus – the whole view of who Jesus is and what he wants for each of us individually, and corporately as LifeQuest to achieve. Because if all we see is a distorted and incorrect view then the decisions we make as a result are sure to be wrong.

I recently finished reading  Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” which got me to thinking about some things.  There were some things I really like about parts of the philosophies she espouses but she goes over the top and takes it too far.  The part that really got me thinking though was the 50 page or so speech by the John Galt character in which he attacks two types of people as being the cause of major problems of man.  The two types are the mystics of muscle and the mystics of the spiritual – both of which he accuses of seeking to enslave the mind of man.

This has set me to thinking about what he refers to as the mystics of the spiritual and what the truth really is.  There is no doubt that there have been so-called spiritual leaders through the years and today that do what they do for personal financial gain or power – yet this is still not what my search is for.

What I really want to look at is what is man created to be.  What did God have in mind when he created us and what is our current nature – the nature of the saved and the unsaved man?  What if anything does a man owe other men because of their common humanity?

If I really want to know the answer I need to dig into the Bible without preconceived notions of the outcome to really see what the answer is.

Before I start I wonder if any of you have any input on what you think I will find.

Image via Wikipedia

What is Holiness?  The first instance of holy in the Bible is this:

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.  (Exo 3:5)

And all the variations of Holy in the Old Testament derive from this Hebrew word.

H6942
????
qa?dash
kaw-dash’
A primitive root; to be (causatively make, pronounce or observe as) clean (ceremonially or morally): – appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, (be, keep) holy (-er, place), keep, prepare, proclaim, purify, sanctify (-ied one, self), X wholly.

In the New Testament they are derived from:

G40
???????
hagios
hag’-ee-os
From ?????? hagos (an awful thing) compare G53, [H2282]; sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated): – (most) holy (one, thing), saint.

So, like I said when I started this, what exactly is it to be Holy or to model Holiness?  Some people would think that to dedicate themselves to their church – to go when the doors are open and to volunteer in the nursery and sing in the choir and do whatever else their church needs puts them on a road to holiness.  But I don’t think this makes them holy – the Pharisees were at least as dedicated as that and there was something in them that with all the rules and dedication and ceremony still kept them from being holy.

Some people would say that to separate themselves from the world will make them holy.  They can be separated from the world with all appearance of holiness while having none.  Jesus was holy, yet he had a lot of interaction with the world.

What I get from the Hebrew and Greek words from the Bible is that we are to be “clean” and morally blameless.  That sounds all well and good and we are probably a bit further along in figuring this out than we were when we started but now we need to figure out what it means to be “clean” and morally blameless.

…to be continued…

Image by Giara via Flickr

I was reading a blog at Out of Ur about Virtual Church – you know, the trend to put church services online.  And I do agree that while the main problem with a virtual church is the inability to relate to others, which is very difficult in an online church service, the discussion about it got me thinking. In particular this sentence got my attention – “And while internet campuses provide a great sermon delivery vehicle, and even allow you to virtually raise your hand in response, what they don’t do is allow you to be known and missed”

The problem I have unfortunately seen is people not being “known and missed” in a physical church – with real walls and real people.  The larger the church the easier it becomes for people to fall through the cracks. Real people with real feelings and real needs – their absence becomes unnoticed among the throng and when they may need some people from their church the most, their church fails them in their need.  It’s not on purpose or by any plan – it just happens.

Think back – see if there is someone that you have lost track of. Someone that used to be in your life every Sunday. You know what to do.

Steve

Image via Wikipedia

Our new motto for LifeQuest Church is “Where the past doesn’t determine your future”.

So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  (2Co 5:17)

So many times we look at others and instead of seeing the new creation we still see what the person used to be.  We see the alcoholic, the druggie, the sex addict, the addictions they had, the liar, etc…    Even when we look at ourselves we do this – we think about how we can’t do something because of our imagined limitations or we worry about what others will think of us.

But God doesn’t care about any of that, the past that is. I think he does care that we still see ourselves and others as we used to be.  God doesn’t care about our past – I don’t think that God even remembers what we were,not that he can’t remember but he chooses to remember and see us as he has made us to be and not to see us as we were.

Our future is a blank page that we can write. Our past decisions don’t decide what goes on that page. our old addictions don’t decide, the dependencies we had don’t decide.  Our walk with Jesus will help us write what goes on that page and it may contain a future that you can’t even imagine right now.

Steve

One thing we want to do at LifeQuest Church is reach out to the younger people in our community.  The list at the end of this article is interesting in how the class of 2013’s mindset is partially shaped by the world they have grown up in.

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2013

Most students entering college for the first time this fall were born in 1991.

1. For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead.

2. Dan Rostenkowski, Jack Kevorkian, and Mike Tyson have always been felons.

3. The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.

4. They have never used a card catalog to find a book.

5. Margaret Thatcher has always been a former prime minister.

6. Salsa has always outsold ketchup.

7. Earvin “Magic” Johnson has always been HIV-positive.

8. Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.

9. They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.

10. Rap music has always been main stream.

11. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice.

12. Someone has always been building something taller than the Willis (née Sears) Tower in Chicago.

13. The KGB has never officially existed.

14. Text has always been hyper.

15. They never saw the “Scud Stud” (but there have always been electromagnetic stud finders.)

16. Babies have always had a Social Security Number.

17. They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.

18. Bungee jumping has always been socially acceptable.

19. They have never understood the meaning of R.S.V.P.

20. American students have always lived anxiously with high-stakes educational testing.

21. Except for the present incumbent, the President has never inhaled.

22. State abbreviations in addresses have never had periods.

23. The European Union has always existed.

24. McDonald’s has always been serving Happy Meals in China.

25. Condoms have always been advertised on television.

26. Cable television systems have always offered telephone service and vice versa.

27. Christopher Columbus has always been getting a bad rap.

28. The American health care system has always been in critical condition.

29. Bobby Cox has always managed the Atlanta Braves.

30. Desperate smokers have always been able to turn to Nicoderm skin patches.

31. There has always been a Cartoon Network.

32. The nation’s key economic indicator has always been the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

33. Their folks could always reach for a Zoloft.

34. They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.

35. Women have always outnumbered men in college.

36. We have always watched wars, coups, and police arrests unfold on television in real time.

37. Amateur radio operators have never needed to know Morse code.

38. Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Latvia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Estonia have always been independent nations.

39. It’s always been official: President Zachary Taylor did not die of arsenic poisoning.

40. Madonna’s perspective on Sex has always been well documented.

41. Phil Jackson has always been coaching championship basketball.

42. Ozzy Osbourne has always been coming back.

43. Kevin Costner has always been Dancing with Wolves, especially on cable.

44. There have always been flat screen televisions.

45. They have always eaten Berry Berry Kix.

46. Disney’s Fantasia has always been available on video, and It’s a Wonderful Life has always been on Moscow television.

47. Smokers have never been promoted as an economic force that deserves respect.

48. Elite American colleges have never been able to fix the price of tuition.

49. Nobody has been able to make a deposit in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI).

50. Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on.

51. Britney Spears has always been heard on classic rock stations.

52. They have never been Saved by the Bell

53. Someone has always been asking: “Was Iraq worth a war?”

54. Most communities have always had a mega-church.

55. Natalie Cole has always been singing with her father.

56. The status of gays in the military has always been a topic of political debate.

57. Elizabeth Taylor has always reeked of White Diamonds.

58. There has always been a Planet Hollywood.

59. For one reason or another, California’s future has always been in doubt.

60. Agent Starling has always feared the Silence of the Lambs.

61. “Womyn” and “waitperson” have always been in the dictionary.

62. Members of Congress have always had to keep their checkbooks balanced since the closing of the House Bank.

63. There has always been a computer in the Oval Office.

64. CDs have never been sold in cardboard packaging.

65. Avon has always been “calling” in a catalog.

66. NATO has always been looking for a role.

67. Two Koreas have always been members of the UN.

68. Official racial classifications in South Africa have always been outlawed.

69. The NBC Today Show has always been seen on weekends.

70. Vice presidents of the United States have always had real power.

71. Conflict in Northern Ireland has always been slowly winding down.

72. Migration of once independent media like radio, TV, videos and compact discs to the computer has never amazed them.

73. Nobody has ever responded to “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

74. Congress could never give itself a mid-term raise.

75. There has always been blue Jell-O.

via The Class of 2013 – EdStetzer.com.

Steve

That was one of the subjects on twitter the other day – What do you think when you hear the word #Church (Ignore the # – it’s a twitter thing).  I didn’t see many of the responses but I was mulling over possible responses in my head.  As a partner in LifeQuest Church in Macon, I thought it was something that I should consider.

Personally for me it is something to look forward to.  Of course there are some exceptions, making sure that the media is ready to go is part of my responsibility and I have been up at 2AM early Sunday morning trying to get things right for Sunday morning.  But like other Christians I think that sometimes it becomes a responsibility; something that is expected of us rather than something we look forward to.  If we as Christians maybe sometimes cringe when we hear the word Church what is possibly running through the minds of others.

Is this possibly what may be running through the minds of certain people groups?

Teenager – Is church a place that is relevant to me. It seems like we learn about all those ancient guys- almost as bad as school but at least we don’t have tests.  Not my type of music. I can’t wait till I’m an adult and I can decide where I go and where I go probably won’t be to Church on Sunday mornings.

College Student -  Church, yeah I sometimes go with Mom and Dad when I’m home for the weekend. When I’m away at school I just never have the time for that. Church isn’t that important in my life right now.

Young Couple with small children – I was raised in Church.  I also believe my kids should be brought up in Church too – I want them to be exposed to religion even though I don’t always agree with the Church’s stand on certain issues.

Alcoholic, Drug User, etc – I have messed up too bad for God to want to have anything to do with me – and those Church people – they may come around sometimes like they want to help, bring a meal or something like that – but what I really feel from them is that this dirty filthy sinner better not get not to close to them. I think they come here to us sometimes so they can feel better about themselves without the likes of me dimming the door of one of their buildings on a Sunday morning.  Pretty much lets me know I was right in the first place – I’ve done too many awful things for God to forgive me.

Homosexual – Yeah – like I would go there. I have heard hate the sin but love the sinner enough. Hope that makes them feel better – I don’t think there is a church around here that I could walk into without sneers and snickers behind my back.  Such love of God these people exemplify.

What thoughts do you think of when you hear the word CHURCH??

I hate gnats.  For a while I lived in Statesboro which is well into the gnat zone.  They aren’t like they are in Macon where you get a few sometimes – down there they travel in clouds and as they pass your head they try to crawl through your tear ducts, in your nose and fly into your ears.  There isn’t much that can stop them (other than moving to nice gnat-free areas of the country).  Thus, I hate gnats.

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.  (Mat 23:24)

Today Churchianity looks at externals and has all their rules to make you appear to be a good little Christian.  Don’t doubt that there is a hierarchy of rules that would make any Pharisee proud.  It is more important to not drink, smoke, or be rude than many other things – thus we allow the gnats to obfuscate the real problems.

God has been dealing with me about superficiality since we have been preparing LifeQuest Church.  We have taken part of a building that hasn’t been used for several years and made it look pretty good.  There is all new ceiling tiles, new paint, and other things to help fulfill some modern Church expectations.  Granted, everything we have done has been necessary and God has blessed us in doing so, but just as trying to make sure we act right and look like presentable little Christians on Sunday morning……but something is wrong. When the rains come some of our pretty little ceiling tiles start showing big nasty water stains.  Everything looks good, but our building has some hidden faults that are exposed under the right circumstances.

Churchianity wants to make sure we look like good little Christians and tries to pretend that there aren’t any faults – that everything is ok under our perfect veneers.  Jesus wants to fix the hidden faults and let it show through to the outside.  Jesus cares that we are caught up in sexual sin whether it be sexual relationships outside of marriage, lust, pornography, homosexuality and wants to free us from desires that enslave us.   Jesus cares about our addictions – our dependences – nicotine, alcohol, drugs, activities, relationships and he wants to free us from those that ensnare us.

Maybe we should be Jesus rather than a pharisee on Sunday Morning (and other times too) and care less about the outside – those annoying little gnat issues that block us from seeing the camels – the issues that Jesus is really trying to fix.  We become distracted by how people look, act, dress, smell and how they act rather than seeing beyond  – seeing the person inside that is coming to us looking for a relationship with the Living God of The Universe – looking to us that say we know him and can introduce them to him – looking to us that sometimes decide that the person looking is unworthy in our eyes to be introduced to that God.

maybe I shouldn’t be as bothered by the gnats………..