Acting vs. Being

Tuesday I posted something I had written on Facebook about a situation I ran into recently in rush-hour traffic. Here's something I posted the next day referring to that earlier discussion. 

---

Thinking about my traffic "rant" from yesterday morning. I'm wondering if I might have come off as saying that you have to act right to be a Christian. That is absolutely NOT the case. Our actions are not what makes us Christians. Well, actually, there is ONE action that does make us a Christian: accepting/confessing Jesus as Lord. After that, other actions are irrelevant to our standing with God, although if we live a life of sin we may FEEL far from God. The blood of Jesus washes all of that clean, once and for all. Which, as the apostle Paul would (and did) say, is no license to sin, but our sin or lack of sin does not make or break our relationship as sons and daughters of God.

That said, our actions before others DO reflect on Christ. Our goal should be to let God transform us into something we can't make of ourselves. It's not a matter of white-knuckling it every time we want to sin and "being good" instead; it's a matter of letting go of our sin and letting our actions reflect what we already are. When I am tempted to sin, I have the option of either giving in and doing what I know I shouldn't do, or letting go of that worthless stuff and being the child of God that Jesus has transformed me into. I'm not sure those who have not accepted Jesus always have that option; the Bible seems to say that they are enslaved to sin and can't escape it. Followers of Jesus are free from sin; we can refuse to do it, or we can go ahead and make those mistakes. We have the choice; that's our freedom in Christ.

So, back to the highway thing. Let's say I'm the guy in the car who sees another driver do something that makes me upset. My first impulse might be to honk my horn, flip the middle finger, or even follow that person to wherever they're going and have angry words with them. But I have another option: I can put down that anger like putting down a rock I was going to use to stone someone. I can take off that "old man" reaction to the situation, and put on the "new man" reaction. I can look on that person with love and forgive them.

Don't try to "be good". You can't do it. It's not a matter of adding goodness to the situation; your goodness comes from God. God's reaction to the situation is already there. It's a matter of letting go of the bad to reveal the good that God has given you. The old hymns talk about being "stained with sin" which is "washed away" by the blood of Jesus; the stain has been removed, so it's only a matter of getting rid of the muck and stuff that might be clinging to you and revealing the cleansed person that was always there underneath. That's the example of Christ that others need to see. That's the person that reflects well on the church whose logo is in the back window of your car and the God whose Bible verse is on your T-shirt. Show others the person God has made you, not the shadow of the person you would be without Him.

Is it important to "act right" to be a Christian? Should we just plan on following Jesus and hope our actions will fall into line, or do we need to put some effort into it? Sound off by clicking the "Comments" link below this post!

Traffic Witness

Recently I posted this to Facebook... the resulting discussion was so interesting that I thought I would share it here as well.

---

Driving in rush-hour traffic this morning. Saw that a big tanker truck had pulled partially out into the road, blocking one lane on a 2-lane stretch with no shoulder. My instinct was to move over into the left lane to avoid the chance of getting into a mess, but I started to zig without looking first. I saw the white BMW before I pulled out in front of it and zagged back into my lane. I freely admit that this was my bad, starting to make a lane change without looking out for traffic first.

The person in the Beamer wanted to make sure I knew how bad I was. As he or she flew past (apparently without touching his or her brake pedal at all), he or she blew his or her horn at me. The incident was over; this was not to warn me that I was making a mistake. This was a punitive horn honk; censure, not alarm. I was being yelled at.

Turns out we were headed along the same route. We got off the highway at the same place, and I pulled up behind Beeping Beamer at the stop light. Guess what I saw in the back window of the car?

A church logo sticker.

If I had not been a Christian but knew what the sticker was, this would have reinforced several stereotypes for me, the most important being "Being a Christian doesn't make any change in a person." Another would be "Wealthy Christians are jerks, just like other wealthy people." There might even be an element of "that person isn't really a Christian, they just use the church to get more money" in there, which would be totally ungrounded in reality, but people think these kinds of things. If you have a sticker advertising your church, or your faith, or even a Christian radio station on your car, do you want to give out that kind of message? To broaden the question: if people know you are a Christian, whether you're wearing your WWJD t-shirt or not, what kind of message are you broadcasting with your actions?

I know tons of wonderful Christians who can testify that God HAS made a change in their hearts. Some of them are financially comfortable; some maybe not as much. Wealthy or not, having Jesus in your life DOES make a change, or at least He will if you let Him. But none of us are perfect. We do get cranky in rush-hour traffic. We do have the impulse to honk our horns in anger. But I think it's worth it to remember that people are watching. The things we do reflect on the Christ inside of us. Let's make our actions match up with the gift of life we've been given.

Have a thought about our actions reflecting our beliefs as Christians? Having stickers advertising your church on your car? Looking before you switch lanes? Sound off by clicking the "Comments" link below this post!

The Imposter (movie review)

I just finished watching a movie called The Imposter which stars Kevin Max of DC Talk/Newsboys fame, Kerry Livgren of Kansas fame, and Jeff Deyo of Sonicflood fame. I actually liked it quite a bit more than I thought I would! I wrote a pretty detailed review of it for Flixster, and I thought I would reproduce it here. If you are interested in finding out more about the movie, you can visit the official Web site at TheImposterMovie.com, buy it on Amazon.com, or just watch it on Netflix like I did.

Here's my Flixster review:

For a movie that telegraphs its ending almost from the first lines, this movie is TOTALLY unexpected. A Christian rock star who takes the "rock star" much more seriously than the "Christian" winds up losing everything he has - and DOESN'T get it back at the end. It's not a candy-coated ending, but it smacks of reality. To live the oh-so-perfect Christian-movie ending would be unhealthy for all involved, so the characters choose a wiser route. It's a strategy that more Christians need to be aware of. As the character named "Prof" says in the movie, "You can pull out the nails, but you've still got to deal with the holes."

This is an indie movie, and it feels like an indie movie. Not like a BAD indie movie... just like a film shot on a small budget with a lot of imagination and love. That said, it does not look cheaply done; it's well-executed technically. The acting is surprisingly good, especially considering that the three male leads (Kevin Max, Kerry Livgren, and Jeff Deyo) are not professional actors but are actual Christian rock stars. Each of them is totally believable in his role. The music video segments look great, even though as a non-movie-musical-fan I do think they can tend to distract from the story a little bit. I wasn't that enthusiastic about them, but admittedly, they fit the story and they fit the movie genre, so I can't complain too much.

A great deal of thought was put into the story. I do think the first half (the rock star spirals down into a mess of his own making) feels a little bit trite, kind of "already seen this movie" -ish, but once Johnny (the rock star, played by Max) hits rock bottom (or at least he thinks he has), suddenly the whole film begins to feel more real. Or maybe it's just that Johnny is coming back to reality, so his whole world begins to come into focus. There are lots of twists and turns along the way; for example, there is a conversation between Johnny C. and a pastor, who turns out to be a more important person to Johnny than we think, and who reveals some secrets about himself that partially explain Johnny's behavior. The conversation starts out seeming like a counseling session, but winds up being something completely different. There is someone who starts out seeming like a weird background character, a hobo complete with stolen shopping cart and duct-taped bug zapper, who winds up being central to Johnny's realization that he needs to make a serious change.

So there are a lot of surprises, and the biggest surprise may be this: although there is a scene where the message of Christian salvation is discussed, there is no "Johnny at the altar" scene. In fact, we never specifically see Johnny have a traditional "salvation experience", even when the closing credits roll. It's left ambiguous, and maybe that's because we never actually do know the condition of someone's heart. Even someone who publicly proclaims the Faith, like a pastor or a Christian rock star. So how can we really know what's in Johnny C.'s heart? We can't! But we can see the fruit of it by watching his actions, and his actions at the end imply that he truly has experienced a real change.

Life is ambiguous sometimes, and so is this movie. If you like films that have satisfying endings but do not feel the need to wrap up all of the threads (Johnny actually mentions some of the dangling plot lines in his narration at the end), this one is for you. If you would be devastated to find out that Christian rock stars are sometimes a mess in their personal lives, maybe this movie isn't for you... or maybe it is. Because rock stars of any stripe are still human beings, and they can hurt others and they can make mistakes. That's what this movie is about: when you've hurt others and messed everything up, there's still Jesus. He might not make everything perfect in one fell swoop, but He will be there with you through the process of healing what you've hurt and fixing what you've broken.

Accepted, Part 2

To follow up this week's post about knowing that you are not only saved by God, but accepted by God... here's a great older song by legendary Christian rock band DeGarmo & Key. Enjoy!

Accepted

I love this video. This is what every church youth group meeting should feel like:


The thing I really like about the video is that all of the "different" kids find a group where, even though they are still different, they are accepted and loved. Every kid who walks into a youth meeting at a church should feel this way. After all, we're all "different" kids, aren't we?

And in fact, that's the whole essence of the Gospel. When we were damaged goods, different and messed up, hopeless and friendless, God loved us. God loves us. But He doesn't just love us.

God accepts us.

Think about what it means that God looks at you, cleansed from sin by the blood of Jesus, and says, "Hey there! You! Yeah, you! You know what? I like the looks of you! Why don't you come hang out with me and my gang for a while?" It's so important for people to understand that God doesn't just "put up with" us. God doesn't just "rescue" us, like someone might rescue a stranger who was drowning just because we value human life, not because we know and care about that individual. God knows us and loves us. He loves us, even though He knows us.

But He doesn't just "love" us. God likes us. He accepts us. He wants to have us around. He picked us for His dodgeball team. He invited us to His birthday party. In fact, he asked us to move into His house with Him!

Listen... people who don't know God yet often think that God doesn't like them. They think that God is looking for a reason to keep them out of Heaven. They think God wants to send them straight to Hell if He gets a chance. They think they are essentially worthless to God. What could He possibly see of value in me? I'm nothing. God wouldn't give me the time of day, except to knock me down and squish me with one thumb.

You know what? There is NOTHING further from the truth. When you realize that you are special, you are desired and treasured and accepted by God, then you are able to understand that you're not some annoying insect buzzing in the ear of the Almighty God. You're not junk that needs to be hauled out to the dump. You're not something that needs to be swept, scraped, scrubbed, or flushed away.

To God, you are Gold.

Know The Author

In my last post I mentioned a new book written by a couple named Danny & Darci Cahill. Danny is best known as the winner of Season 8 of the United States edition of TVs The Biggest Loser. But Danny's story doesn't end, or even start there... like everyone else, Danny has a back-story that begins in childhood; his explains why he wound up so obese he could barely walk. And there are of course others in his life whose stories intersect with his, one of the most important being his wife Darci. Their book Losing Big is a double autobiography, a kind of team effort where their childhood narratives are told up until the time that they meet, and then their two stories are weaved together from that point throughout their marriage to the present. It's a very interesting way to write a book, laying out the whole tale in the third person so you never know who actually wrote the specific part you are reading. It almost has a voyeuristic flavor to it, as though you are looking at them through a window instead of having their story told to you by them personally, but it retains the flavor of having been written by the couple themselves. It is at times exciting, at times heartbreaking, and at times joyful... just like real life.

But for me, the book is a little different than it might be for you, because I am actually acquainted with Danny and Darci. And not via emails, phone calls, or interviewing them for a Web site... my wife and I know them personally, and have for several years (even before Danny went on The Biggest Loser). We sang on a church worship team with Danny playing bass. My wife taught Vacation Bible School with their daughter; my son and their son are friends. We've had a chance to interact with them socially. We already have an idea of what they are like, so when we read the book, we see it a little differently. Because we know the authors.

As a Christian, I know a lot of people who read the Bible, or at least who are familiar with parts of it. I've discussed it with people, and I've read other books discussing parts of the Bible. I've blogged about it here, of course. But there is a problem with reading the Bible: you can't truly understand what it is trying to say unless you know the author. Okay, okay, I know that pen was put to paper by Moses, David, Solomon, Paul, various disciples, and maybe a couple dozen prophets and other people, but as a Christian, I believe that the whole of the Bible was inspired by one single author, God Himself. The Bible is one one level an anthology of writings by many writers, but the whole thing is a narrative about God's redemption of humankind. That bigger story cannot be fully appreciated, or maybe even comprehended, until you become acquainted with God Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ.

I perceive Losing Big differently because I know Danny and Darci (by the way, Danny does speaking engagements quite frequently, so check his calendar and you may get a chance to meet him too!). I'd like to think that I understand their book a little better because I know them, and maybe I understand them a little better because I've read the book. The Bible is the same way, and this is why prayer and personal worship times are so critical: when you know Jesus, you can understand God's Word better, and when you know the Bible, you can understand God a little better. Either without the other gives you an incomplete picture. Experience without knowledge only goes so far, and scholarship without intimacy only goes so far. Both are critical to live a balanced and successful Christian life.


Have something to say about knowing "the author" of the Bible? Do you think personal communion with God is more important than Bible study, or vice versa? Have I been name-dropping Danny too much? (I probably should tell him I've been blogging about him!) Sound off by clicking the "Comments" link below this post!

Faithlife Study Bible FREE - and win even more!

There will be a new full-fledged post tomorrow morning, but I wanted to share something I just ran across in my emails. Logos is running a contest to give away a digital Bible study prize package containing almost 2,000 Bible study books! They say it's $100,000 worth - that's a LOT of materials! And just for entering, you get the chance to download the Faithlife Study Bible for free... it's a pretty cool concept in electronic Study Bibles which I mentioned in a previous blog post. To enter the contest and download the Faithlife Study Bible, visit http://win.logos.com. I know I entered!

Actually, the Faithlife Study Bible is currently free anyway, at least on the Android platform... I haven't checked the others. I do understand they plan on charging for it eventually, and it's a pretty amazing resource, so get it while you can!