If you compare Christians to secular humanists there are differences……..but not the ones that we often believe.

If you ask the average Christian what makes them different from the crowd, you might get some kind of statement about righteousness.

If you ask the average secular humanist what makes the Christian different, you will get replies that are all over the map………naive, judgemental, misled, superstitious, etc.

But , the truth is………that in terms of kindness, compassion, love, generosity, etc………the traits that we associate with being a “good person”, the average Christian and the average secular humanist…….really are not very different.

And yet, we butt heads constantly……..why?

It comes down to how we define right and wrong……..good and bad. The chasm between us is so very wide because it is based on a disagreement that is so fundamental.

We operate on fundamentally different moral codes.

Christianity………when done well…….uses the teaching of Jesus, as recorded in the Bible, as its moral code. This is a fairly rigid code of conduct. It doesn’t give the Christian very much “wiggle room”. The Bible even describes it as a “narrow gate”. In fact, it is likely that the average person who identifies as Christian violates this code every day. No wonder that we get called hypocrits. This code is summed up…….by Jesus……..Love God….Love man. And this is a surprisingly high bar……..considering human nature. Think about what you did yesterday. Did you give a dollar to the guy with the little cardboard sign on the exit ramp? Did you get angry at a politician? Did you mutter something unkind about a bad driver? The unfortunate truth is that human nature causes the average Christian to fail……..as a Christian…….every day. Human nature causes me to fail……as a Christian…….every day.

Secular humanism is largely based on science. It really does not have a rigidly defined moral code. It tends to rely on each person’s conscience……..that is……each individual’s idea of right and wrong. The first problem is that our society has millions of different moral codes in use at the same time…….a formula for conflict…….and we have the internet telling each of us that we are right……and that the other guy is an idiot. The second problem…….just as with Christianity…..is human nature. We are extremely gifted at figuring out why the thing that we really want to do……..is “right”. If you are a secular humanist, think about the ten things that you want the most……..write them down. Now go down the list and write “good” or “bad” beside each. They are probably all “good”. The result of human nature acting on secular humanism is that we find a way to define the things that we really want……..as good. The current term is “identify”. If you were born as a male and you feel better as a female, then you redefine yourself as a female……..you “identify” as a female……..and this is good.

So…….what it comes down to is this:

The difference between Christianity and secular humanism is far more basic than being good or bad. It is in how we define good and bad…….right and wrong. The Christian uses an external definition…..Jesus. The secular humanist uses an internal definition. The Christian fails to live up to his moral code……every day. Because of our failure, we need forgiveness. Because of my failure…….I need forgiveness……..every day. And, fortunately, Christianity provides it. For the secular humanist, there is no forgiveness. The secular humanist defines his way out of failure. If he really wants something…….he defines it as good…….or at least OK……….think abortion.

As a Christian, I know that I am flawed……bad…….and that I need redemption. The secular humanist does not have access to redemption. He must solve this internally……..either admit that he is bad and live with it……..or, more often, define his wayout of it. And I think that this must take a lot of work.

There is another side to this. The Christian fails every day……and, if we are being honest, we know it. We cannot be confident in our own nature. Our confidence comes from our creator. The secular humanist has essentially defined himself as “right”. He is confident…..in himself. He has no need for external redemption.

And that is why we fight.

“What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness. I have nobody to forgive me.”

Laski, a secular humanist

“We must obey God rather than men.”

Peter, ESV

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

James, ESV

“you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Jesus, defining Christianity, ESV

Most Christians have never read the bible. At best they have a cursory understanding of a few verses. Many Christians believe and quote things that aren’t even in the bible. Many Christians accept only the parts of the Bible that agree with their politics.

“God helps those who help themselves”

Poor Richard’s Almanac……..not the Bible.

In all fairness, the Bible is a big and complicated book. It is intimidating…….especially the old testament. So…….I am going to take the liberty of simplifying it. We have the old testament and the new testament. They are very different…….so much so that they seem like two different religions. I used to think of the old testament as plan A…….which failed and the new testament as God trying something new…….plan B. The problem is that this implies that God screwed up. This is hard to reconcile with a God who is independent of time……..who sees both past and future.

What was God thinking?

The Old Testament

I’ll start by cooking the old testament down to its essence. It contains a lot of history……looking back. It contains a lot of prophesy…….looking forward. In terms of how we should live…….it contains detailed instructions…….mind numbingly detailed instructions. Rule after rule after rule. And it says, bluntly, in black and white, that we can’t live up to them. So…..in terms of living our lives………what is the old testament saying?

The Cliff notes version:

You walked away from me, your God, and you are not capable of making your way back.

This is a critical lesson for us today. We cannot solve the big problem. Fact is, we cannot even solve most of the little problems.

The New Testament

Our only purpose is relationship……..specifically, relationship with God, our creator. That is the reason why we were created………the only reason. And the old testament spends over 1,000 pages telling us that we can’t pull it off. This is disheartening to say the least. So what does the new testament add? I used to think that it was a continuation of the same story…..a patch…….plan B. But now I see it as a contrasting plan………an entirely different plan. In the old testament, God showed us a plan……..a plan that was futile………and he knew it. I believe that he set the old testament up as a stark contrast to prepare us for the new testament. He gave us a good long hard look at failure…….our failure…….so that we would appreciate the success that was coming……his success.

The Cliff notes version:

You can do this……..accept me…….love me……and I will bring you home…….to me…….where you have always belonged.

The old testament…………you can’t.

The new testament………..God can.

So……..let him.

“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”

Paul, ESV

I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul, ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Paul, ESV

I find that I am watching Facebook less and less. There are so many political posts. What is alarming is that the posts from the left and those from the right are so different that it is impossible to reconcile them. It’s like listening to two of your children describe a fight. Each tells you the facts that make them look good and the other guy look bad. You wind up with two stories that are so different that they sound like different events.

This behavior is normal………..for children.

But, in our political conversation, we see adults doing it……..all day, every day. This is particularly destructive in the media.

What is going on here?

I think that the problem is that, as a society, we have starting asking the wrong questions. We focus on the question, “what do I want, what will make me happy?” We have come untethered from the idea of “truth”. I’ll go one step further……as a society, we reject the concept of absolute truth. We do this because the truth has a way of interfering with our attempts to get what we want. We pick through the facts. We pick through the truths. We latch on to the truths that tell us that what we want is good…….and we discard the rest……just like the child in the fight.

Al Gore said it well……..some truths are inconvenient.

I am deeply concerned for our society and for our nation. I don’t see how we can function, when the left and the right operate on different sets of facts……. on different sets of truths.

One side sees peaceful protests over police brutality.
One side sees criminals attacking our cities.

One side sees a woman’s freedom of self determination.
One side sees the killing of a child.

“Alternate truths”

So much for politics……..but, what about Christianity?

I sense that Christianity is falling out of favor in our society. I hope I’m wrong………but a see a lot of churches with a lot of empty seats and a few old people. I recently read a book, “The God Delusion”. In it the author went to great lengths to explain why he objects to God and to the Bible.

Narrow minded
Judgemental
Misogynist
Homophobic

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

To sum it up, he basically says that he cannot accept a God who disagrees with him…….a God who denies his appetites. And he presents a series of solid arguments as to why his position is valid and the Bible is not. So far so good…….for the author.

In a word, the author of “The God Delusion” tells us that he is wiser than the Bible. In essence, he says that he can do a better job of running the world than God.

The trouble is that he is making the same mistake that we make in our political conversation. He is asking the wrong questions.

He is asking, “Do I approve of God?”
He is asking, “Do I like what the Bible says?”
He is asking, “Do I agree with the Bible?”……or, perhaps more to the point…….. “Does the Bible agree with me?”

He should be asking, “Is it true?”

Because, if the Bible is true, if God is real, then the fact that he……or you…… doesn’t approve is irrelevant.

If the Bible is true, then the truths……..the rules…..the standards apply to us all……….and the consequences await us all.

These truths, rules, standards……..and consequences will be applied to all of us………. individually. The fact that the majority of Americans might agree with you will be meaningless. The fact that the media elites might support your position will be meaningless. The fact that Jim Acosta or Sean Hannity might agree with you will be meaningless.

“Is the Bible true?”

This is the most important question that you will face during your lifetime.

Listen to the scientists, listen to the philosophers, listen to the clerics………..then listen to your heart, because the truth is in there………..the truth was put there……..by your creator.

Love God, Love your neighbor.
You have an eternal spirit, a soul.
You are going somewhere…….after you die.
There is good in this world and it will be rewarded.
There is evil in this world and it will be punished.
God will make things right………in the end.

There is forgiveness and reconciliation and you can have it for a song.

These things are true.

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

John, NIV

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John, NIV

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

John, NIV

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Paul, NIV

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free .”

Jesus, NIV

A pretty open ended question.

Using only one noun, no qualifiers…….describe yourself.

Don’t think about it too hard…….don’t try to come up with the “correct” answer. Your first thought will be the most honest……and the most accurate. And in this exercise…….being honest with yourself is essential. What the other guy thinks……..what the other guy approves of……is meaningless.

This is an unusual exercise……..but it will tell you a great deal about yourself. On top of everything else, the answer will be correct……..because the answer will be how you define yourself……..and that is the only definition that really counts.

So…….fill in the blank.

I AM A ____________.

Liberal
Progressive
Conservative
Republican
Democrat
Heterosexual
Gay
Doctor
Teacher
Husband
Wife
Father

The list goes on……and on.

The answer will tell you where you spend more of your emotional energy than anywhere else. It will tell you what the most important thing in your life is. It will tell you where your heart is. And where your heart is…….will direct your destiny.

There is nothing more important in this world for you to know. Surprisingly……….most of us have never given it any thought.

There is one more entry to the list………Christian. I saved it for last because I didnt want to prejudice you………to give you my answer.

I believe that this is the most consequential of the choices. It is the most consequential…….because it reaches into every corner of your life. It shades every decision and action that you choose.

It is the most consequential……….because it is the only item on the list with eternal implications. If you answered “Conservative”……..Donald Trump is not going to save you. If you answered “Liberal”………Nancy Pelosi is not going to save you.

So…….what is a Christian……..how do you know?

A Christian:

Humbles himself………not before men…….but before his creator……..he puts God before self.

Acknowledges the reality of the living Trinity…..Father, Son, Spirit…….not simply as ideas…..but as living beings.

Follows the teaching of Jesus……love God…..love man.

Honors the crucifiction and accepts Jesus’s free, unearned, gift………..of paradise.

And there is one more thing……..a Christian is not ashamed of her faith.

That’s it.

So………if someone asks you……”What are you?”

Tell the truth.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

God, ESV

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus, ESV

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God”

Jesus, ESV

I have a friend who is not a Christian. He is a nice guy…..by any measure, a good man. Once, in our conversation, the topic of Christianity came up. I asked if he was a Christian. His reply was something to the effect of:

“Never have been……besides, if I became one now…….it would cause all kinds of confusion up there……..they wouldn’t know what to do with me”

I think that what he meant was that it would be hypocritical to ask for forgiveness from Jesus after a lifetime of denying him, ignoring him, and marginalizing him.

By human standards, this is a very reasonable position. Intellectually……..it is consistent……..even honorable. Internally, what my friend was saying was, “I’ve lived my entire life as a secular humanist……..it’s too late for me”.

I hear this a lot. I think that many people use this argument as a foil so that they don’t have to put up with my “preaching”. But, the fear of hypocrisy is also at play for many of these people. They don’t want someone to say at their baptism……..”isn’t that the guy who once had a “God is Dead” bumper sticker?”

First off, let me make something clear. If getting to paradise requires me to be a hypocrit…….sign me up.

There it is……..I am a card carrying hypocrit. Along the way, I have broken about every rule there is at least once……and some of them many times. But, along the way, I have also accepted Jesus……….and his way of living…….love God…….love your neighbor. And though I often fall short, I am trying to be a better man.

So, I tell you that you shouldn’t steal, though I have.

I tell you that you shouldn’t lie, though I have.

I tell you that you shouldn’t covet, though I have.

You get the point…….BTW, the list above is nowhere close to a comprehensive account of my depradations.

And this brings us to the central question of this post:

Who cares if I messed up?………Who cares if you messed up?……….or more to the point….Does God care that we have messed up?

God must care about sin………he spents a lot of ink on the topic in the “users manual”. But, does he care enough to deny us paradise because we messed up?

It depends………

It depends on how you finish.

You can humble yourself and submit to your creator.

Or

You can claw your way up onto the highest ground that you can find…….and scream……”I’m in charge here!”

In the final analysis…….there is only one thing that you can screw up that will exclude you from paradise…….only one:

Denying the existence of God, his son Jesus, and the holy spirit.

Denying the Trinity……….will exclude you from paradise.

But, you can fix that, even with your last breath.

So…….is it too late for me?

Is it too late for you?

Not if you are breathing.

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Luke, a conversation between Jesus and the thief Dismas during their crucifixion, ESV

It happens every day.

Someone tells me something and it’s just not true.

Often this comes in the form of a “robocall”…….sometimes it happens in a face to face conversation. This is so common that we are reaching the point where we treat everything that we are told with skepticism. Then, we scour the internet to find someone who tells us that we are right and the other guy is wrong.

The trouble with this is that no matter what crazy idea you believe……..in 10 minutes, you can find 10 web sites that will tell you that you are right. The result is that we become extremely confident that we are right and that the people who disagree with us are idiots. We are highly confident…………..whether we are right or wrong.

We live in a culture of untruth. Often, a well crafted lie is seen as a mark of industry. Some businesses even seek out skilled liars. Politicians are notorious for this………and we repeatedly re-elect them. In a way, we hire them for their effectiveness in selling a good lie……..a lie that serves our appetites………our lie.

The planet is not getting warmer.

An unborn child is not a human being.

And many more.

So……..what can we learn about untruth?

It turns out that untruth comes in two flavors:

The untruth told by someone who knows it is untrue…….the straight up lie.

The untruth told by a good person………who sincerely believes it………or at least has convinced himself that it has value. This is typically an untruth that serves the appetites of the one who believes it.

The first of these is common.

But, it is the second flavor of untruth that is the most dangerous. This second flavor of untruth is very common in our political conversation. The hallmark of this flavor of untruth is that it is self serving. We believe in something…….primarily because it serves our interests……whether it is true or not is a secondary consideration. In effect, we bend the truth until it conforms to our appetites.

We believe that the planet is not getting warmer because we don’t want to sacrifice our standard of living to deal with it.

We believe that an 8 week fetus is not a human being because we want access to abortion on demand.

In our modern culture, the facts……the truth…..have become subservient to our appetites. We make decisions on what to believe based first on what we want……..and only then, if ever, do we ask if it is true.

I used to think that this second flavor of untruth was not a lie. But, I have come to realize that it too…..is a lie. I used to tell my sons that the most dangerous lie that you will ever tell……….is the lie that you tell yourself. Our culture is being torn apart by people……..good people…….who have convinced themselves that an idea is valid……..not because the facts support it……not because it is true……but because it supports their appetites.

So…….the challenge this week is that we all need to take a long, hard, jaundiced look at the ideas that we hold dear……..and ask the question, “is it true?”.

We must make our appetites, our politics, our culture subservient to the truth…….not the other way around.

If you are looking for a reference point…….an anchor to the truth………the Bible is a great place to start……begin with the words of Jesus. Then…..when the Bible is in conflict with your appetites……..discard your appetites…….not the Bible.

This will not be easy. You will have to discard some things that are a big part of your identity. This may change how you see yourself………it may even change who you are. And it is going to cost you……..in the short run. It will cost you time. It will cost you money. It might even cost you a friendship or two.

But, it will be a good warm up exercise for paradise………because there will be no untruth there.

So…..you might as well start getting used to the truth now.

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

Mark Twain

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus, ESV

This post is aimed at a group of people who believe in 4 things:

Life after death.
Heaven
Hell
Eternity

If you do not believe in these things, this post will mean little to you…………but……..you had better be right…….because if you are wrong…….you are headed for disaster.

If you believe in an afterlife that you have dreamed up yourself……..that you have created…….to suit your appetites……….then you have nothing to worry about. You are God. Again, if you are wrong……if, in fact, you are not God……..then you too are headed for disaster.

The final stanza of Invictus, a poem by William Henley

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

Henley was a committed atheist. He suffered from tuberculosis of the bone for his entire life and died from it at age 53.

I have always viewed this masterful poem as an exercise in hubris……….the work of a fool whistling past the graveyard.

I was wrong.

Invictus is the definitive description of the human condition……whether you are a Christian……..or not. It dovetails beautifully with the Bible and the teaching of Jesus.

The old Testament teaches:

Eternity
Life after death
Free will

The New Testament teaches:

Paradise
Hell
Redemption

To summarize the Bible:

The natural fate of man after the fall………is hell.
Man’s default destination……….unfortunately….is hell.
Man has absolute free will.
God invites us to paradise…….on two and only two conditions……..that you recognize the Trinity as divine and that you accept Jesus’s gift of redemption.

The key to Christianity and the Bible……from the human side…….is free will.

And that also is the crux of Invictus.

The lesson of Invictus is that you are in absolute control. You, and only you, determine your destiny.

You will experience a brief period of triumph and tragedy during your time in this world. But…….you will spend eternity…….the vast majority of your existence……in paradise……..or in hell.

Which of these eternal destinies you will experience…….is entirely up to you…….courtesy of God’s gift of free will. By active choice…….or by default……..you will choose……you are choosing……. your destiny.

The great irony here…….is that one of the greatest truths of Christianity was beautifully taught……..by a committed atheist.

You truly are……..”the master of your fate”.

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob…..”

Moses, ESV

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Paul, ESV

Fear God.

That simple command is plastered all over the Bible and it is hard teaching.

As with other things that are repeated over and over……it must be important……….terribly important.

And yet, we tend to ignore it. We dismiss it. We tone it down. One writer whom I really respect says that it really means to respect or revere God.

But that is not what it says……..the Bible clearly says “fear God”………over and over.

And we really don’t like that…….in fact, we don’t approve.

We don’t approve because we want God to be the kind, loving, soft focus guy who comforts us, blesses us, and protects us.

We don’t approve because we don’t want God to be the stern disciplinarian who punishes us when we mess up. We love the carrot……..but we hate the stick.

The thing is………that God is both. He created paradise……….but he also created hell.

God can invite you into paradise for eternity……..but he can also damn you to hell……..for eternity.

We don’t approve because we don’t want to be punished when we mess up. So…….we ignore hell……..we gloss over hell………many Christians even deny its existence completely. It is a whole lot more comfortable living however you please when there is no consequence for your misbehavior.

So…….we pick through the Bible and memorize and quote the parts that make us feel safe and loved. My favorite is the 23rd psalm………”and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”. But, how often do you hear a Christian quote this……..”fear God”?

Here are the cold hard facts:

God created you.
God loves you more than you can know.
God blesses you…….every day.
God wants you to spend eternity with him in paradise.

But

He will send you to a burning eternal hell if he has to.

How do we reconcile this?

More to the point……..how does God reconcile this?

Enter Jesus.

Jesus is God’s “GET OUT OF HELL FREE CARD”.

The result of Jesus’s ministry is this simple point.

God does send people to hell…….he can send you to hell……or me…….and we should fear that…..we should fear him.

BUT

God will only send you to hell if you consciously decide to reject Jesus and his “get out of hell free card”.

God will only send you to hell…….if you consciously choose to go there.

This changes the landscape completely.

Yes…….God will send you to hell……you can count on it……..but only if you decide to go there by rejecting him……by denying him. And ignoring hell, refusing to “fear God” is…..by default…..a decision to go there.

Ironically………the result of Jesus’s ministry is this:

You really are “the master of your fate……..the captain of your soul”.

Fearing God is like the being the captain of a ship…..he fears the rock……but whether he wrecks on it is entirely his decision.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus, Henley

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.

Jesus, ESV

For most of my life I have misunderstood this verse. I always thought that it was about Satan. But Satan, while he wants you in hell…….while he will lure you into hell…….does not have the authority or the power to send you to hell. If he did……we would all be in big trouble. Only God has the power and authority to send you to hell. This verse is a warning that God may send you to a burning eternal hell……..BUT………only if you are determined to go there.

So…….it is entirely appropriate to fear God……..to fear him enough to accept his grace……..his gift of forgiveness……..his parental love.

Very few people are leaders. Leadership is a complex and little understood skill. The most common metaphor for leadership in the Bible is the shepherd. A shepherd lives with his people, protects his people, and serves his people. His primary goal is the well being of his people……often to his own detriment. It is said that a good shepherd smells of his sheep. You probably haven’t spent time with a herd of sheep……..but, I can tell you from experience……..the odor is impressive.

We like to think of ourselves as leaders……..but, the reality is that we are all following someone. Truly original thought is extremely rare. The key to good living is not to figure out……to create….. some new paradigm. The key to good living is to choose and follow the right leader……..a leader who looks…..acts………and smells…….like a shepherd.

There are many levels of leadership…….parent, mayor, governor, president, etc. But, in our modern society, the two top levels are God…….and the culture. Each has its set of rules……norms. You pretty much follow one of these two sets of rules……or the other……one of these two leaders or the other. You can try to split the difference, but, ultimately, in times of conflict, you will choose one or the other.

It is very important that you know which leader you are following……….and where your leader is going. Because that will tell you where you are going.

So, let’s have a look at the choices.

God…..and the Bible. God created you. He gives you a set of guidelines to live by. He loves you with a parental love and wants you to join him in paradise……forever. His norms are simple…..love him and love your fellow man. After this come the ten commandments: Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t murder, honor your parents, don’t covet, sex is for husbands and wives, rest on Sunday. God’s norms are basic, they are universal, and they never change. They are not there to ruin your fun. They are there to lead you into a full, satisfying, and happy life.

The culture is a bit harder to nail down. It is largely driven by the popular media and by trend setters, largely in big metropolitan centers on the coasts. The culture’s norms change over time. Every year there is a new expectation, a new rule of behavior, a new idea that we are expected to adopt. Some of these ideas are noble…….others……not so much. They have a term for this. It is called being “woke”. I won’t go into a long historical list of these woke ideas. The latest is that a man can declare himself to be a woman, enter women’s sports competitions, and dominate them……to the detriment of the women who preceded him. Each of these new, “woke” ideas builds on last year’s new idea. It’s a little like the frog peacefully sitting in a pan of water that is slowly heated to boiling. If you accept the new “idea du jour”….. fine. But, if you resist…….the media and the trend setters will attack you. They will silence you. They will censor you. They will try to destroy your business…..or your political career.

They will call you names:

Racist
Hater
Intolerant
Bigot
Unwoke
Non-progressive
Troglodite
Homophobe
Misogynist

These names hurt……..and that is entirely the point. The names are intended to intimidate you…..to shut you up…..to prepare you for next year’s new…….woke…… idea.

So you have a choice.

You can follow a leader who loves you and expects you to love him and love your fellow man……..a leader who calls you son or daughter…….a leader who has prepared a place for you.

Or

You can follow leaders who give you new rules every year…….who demand that you to follow them……or else…….who require you to discard a little bit more of the Bible and God every year………..leaders who will call you intolerant, a hater, a racist, or worse if you disagree with them. They hope to take you to a better world that they…….not God…….are building.

You must ask yourself…….which of these leaders loves me? Which of these leaders has my best long term interests at heart?

Which of these leaders acts like a shepherd.

Which of these leaders………….smells like a shepherd?

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Jesus, ESV

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus, ESV

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

Jesus, ESV

Ok……..so…….the coolest part of my first day in paradise will be meeting Jesus. There will probably be a sudden flash of insight. I will suddenly understand all of the things that went on in this world that never made any sense to me.

But, my great hope is that the second coolest part of my first day in paradise will be when somebody whom I don’t recognize, somebody whom I have never met walks up to me, gives me a smile and a hug and says: “I want to thank you……….I’m here because of you”.

It would be so cool……….if someone is in paradise because of something that I said, or did, or wrote…….or perhaps because of something that I didn’t say, or didn’t do, or didn’t write.

This is my dream.

When I was a boy, I was in the Boy Scouts. It is a fabulous organization. To a large degree, it shaped my character. If you have a son, you couldn’t do much better than to get him into scouting. My membership included a subscription to the magazine “Boy’s Life”. Each month I read it cover to cover. Every issue had a story of a scout who did something heroic……..it usually involved saving someone’s life. It was my favorite part of the magazine. I have always……..even to this day……..dreamed that I would be that guy……..the guy who steps up, puts it on the line, and saves a stranger’s life.

This dream has driven most of the big decisions of my life.I think that this dream is the driving force behind this blog. If this blog changes someone’s mind about Christianity……….it saves a life……..an eternal life. How cool is that?

I recently attended a breakfast meeting at my church. The topic was discipleship. I had never given discipleship much thought. But, if you study Jesus and his life. His ministry was almost purely about discipleship. Teach 12 guys……and they will teach 12 guys and so on………until you change the world.

I think that the main goal of the church…….and the main goal of the individual Christian……. must be discipleship. Many churches today miss this point. They focus on “self actualization”…….on strengthening the individual member of the flock…….or worse……on entertaining them. But, improving the individual Christian, while a good thing, is really only a means to an end. The church improves you as a Christian so that you can go out and improve someone else…….and so on……..until you change the world.

I don’t want to oversell this; but……..It is your job……..and mine…….to change the world.

I’m not naive. This is really hard to do. You will not improve a stranger by annoying them, by attacking them, by criticising them. You will turn their head…..bend their path by using the most devastating weapon in the Christian arsenal………….you will turn them with love.

So……..the challenge this week…….is to have a hard look at your walk in life as a Christian. You are, no doubt, trying to be a good person, as well you should. But, are you doing anything to draw your neighbor to Jesus…….to strengthen him or her? Even better……are you doing something to bend the path of one committed secular humanist in your world.

Are you setting yourself up……….for the second coolest part of your first day in paradise?

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus, sending out the apostles, ESV

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.

Jesus, sending out the apostles, ESV

‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

’Jesus, a parable about successfully serving your master, ESV