A Challenge

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
(Luke 10:33)

It was a brutally hot Atlanta day when we knocked on the door of the apartment building in the projects. It was only ten o’clock but I was already covered in sweat when the young mother answered the door. Unlike many of the other doors we had knocked on, this woman seemed happy to see us and gladly accepted our meager food supplies that we offered her. Much like at many of the other homes we asked if there was anything that we could do for her. She asked for me to pray for her that day and I had compassion on her.

We entered her tiny apartment and were immediately struck by the odor of rotting meat. The heat outside paled in comparison to the stifling, stale apartment. I saw her small children in their dirty clothes and unwashed faces. I saw the dirt and trash that littered her floor. I also saw in her face expectancy- a hope that did not belong there and a tear in her eye. I began to pray for her and I had compassion on her.

We completed our rounds through the other buildings and spent some time playing with the neighborhood kids prior to heading home that day. My favorite part was always playing with the children. They are easy to love and they return the love without question. One of the kids had part of a pop tart stuck in his shirt and grape juice stains on his face. As he extended his arms for me to pick him up I could not help but have compassion for him.

Today I am still troubled by that day. What has become of us that we can keep this clean and send a check to someone overseas and call it compassion? Should we sleep comfortable at night because we know there is a 6 year old in Uganda that has it better than her peers because we sacrificed a few pennies? Is this really what Jesus meant when he talked about loving our neighbor?

If we look at the text that leads up to the Parable of the Good Samaritan we see that the question being asked of Jesus is pretty straight forward:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."
(Luke 10:25-28)

This seems to me to be a fairly important question and answer session with very simple answers. Love God and your neighbor and you shall live. The only real question I have is how do I know if I love God and how do I know if I love my neighbor? Fortunately we have the answers in scripture so we do not need to guess. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our love of theology that we can miss some very simple concepts. Jesus tells us that if we love him then we will do what he commands. This is a stumbling block for many- for our pride does not want to submit to the authority of God in our lives. However if we first examine what Jesus has commanded us to do, perhaps our pride will not get in the way.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
(John 15:10-14)

Now if you have read up to this point you may have come to the conclusion that all you really need to do is love your neighbor in a sacrificial way to fulfill the commandment of Christ. Could it really be that simple? Paul seems to think so:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
(Galatians 5:14)

So now we have come to the point in the story where we all find ourselves at some point. We are like the lawyer before Jesus looking for some way out of loving our neighbor. Even when the law is simplified to this degree we look for a way out. We wish to redefine it so it need not be messy and dirty. We wish to remove the compassion from the equation and replace it with legal requirements met on paper. Jesus did not really leave us that as an option though did he? The definition of love has not really changed as much as some people would like to have you think. So, back to our Samaritan…

As he journeyed
The Samaritan did not even need to go out of his way to love his neighbor. The opportunity will present itself as we journey. There will be occasions where we come to where people are in need and we will have a choice. We can meet them in judgment as did the Levite and the priest or we can meet them in compassion as the one who was praised by Jesus did. Seems like a pretty simple choice to me but yet I still choose to be like the priest and the Levite more often than not. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can be more like the Samaritan this year.

He had compassion
There was recently an opportunity at my church to meet a need of someone who had been left for dead by the side of the road. A request was made by the pastor and the people had compassion and responded like the Samaritan. There was a physical need that we could meet or we could choose to judge. This day we chose to meet the need and it was met with enough left over to meet the need of another couple who had also been left for dead. To have compassion for someone means to suffer with them. We all have opportunities every day where we can choose to suffer with someone or we can choose to let them suffer alone. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can be more compassionate this year.

The one who showed him mercy
There is a tendency today to redefine love in such a way so that it removes mercy from the equation. It tends to sterilize the word and make it mean something that it does not. There has been much backlash against any type of social gospel where the goal is to meet the physical needs of the people. This runs contrary to what Jesus taught. In this passage there is no conversation to convict the poor beaten man of his sins. There is no gospel tract left to make sure that the man knows he is deserving of the punishment he received. Instead there is a man that meets the physical needs of someone that is in need and as a result he is lifted up as an example of how we should act. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can show mercy to others.

You go, and do likewise
So there it is in red letters for you. The words of our master commanding our obedience. Do you love him? Scripture is pretty clear that if we do love him then we will do as he commands us. His commands are not burdensome although they may lead us to sweat or to get dirty. As I was swinging my pop tart young friend around in circles I was not thinking about how hot it was or how hard it was. I was not concerned with how dirty he was or what a fool I might look like. Instead, I was sharing the love of God with him. The challenge before me is to go and do likewise more frequently.

"With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:6-8)

My Non-Resolution for the New Year

So 2011 is now here and with it comes all kinds of resolutions. I have a few but I have become more realistic as I have aged. Rather than resolving, I have downgraded these to "hopes" for the new year. A lot of these are the same typical ones that most people have. I hope to spend more time with family. I hope to lose a few pounds and get in better shape. I hope to visit friends that I have not seen in a while. Perhaps I will look back at the end of the year and see how I did, but probably not. I will probably have the same resolutions again next year and the same disappointment at the end of the year. That is- I will not have lost as much weight or spent enough time or visited enough friends. Perhaps you can relate for maybe you have been through the same thing.

I have also at various times in the past made the commitment to grow closer to God and to "do" more for Him. I am not going to make this commitment this year. It seems that in the past any time I have made such commitments that I have had one of two results. If I managed to be successful, then my pride got the best of me as I proudly puffed my chest and said "look at me". Pride is not the best attribute for those that are pursuing God so I do not think that outcome is desirable.

So if success leads to pride, where does failure lead to? What happens to me if I do not live up to my "commitments"? Guilt. Fear. Condemnation. This does not seem like the proper result either for one who is walking with God (or at least trying to). Guilt and fear are the things that drive people away from God and the goal is to grow closer. So if success leads to exalting myself and failure leads to avoiding God, I do not think that I should be making a resolution this year to grow closer to God.

So what should I do if that is actually my desired goal? If I want to grow closer to God, is there anything that I can do to give that possibility a better chance?

Surrender. I think that in America this is indeed a large problem. we love our independence and our self reliance. I think that plays a large part in our New Year's resolutions. Resolutions are all about us and what we can do to make ourselves better. We do not like to submit to others yet this is where the key lies. You see our relationship with God is less dependent upon our abilities and our commitments and much more dependent upon our submission. It is about submitting our will to His so how can we possibly think that we can impose our will and grow closer to God?

Surrender is an act that leads to our following the direction of another. If someone were to pull a gun on you in a dark alley, you would not ramble on about how you are committed to raising your hands or how you resolve to give him your wallet. No, instead you would simply submit to what he says. This is how we should act in our relationship with God. So in actuality there are some things you can do to help the situation.

First we can learn what it is that God would have us do. I would suggest that if you desire to know what God would have you do that you start by examining His word and how His son fulfilled it. However, it may be a tad too difficult to follow directly in the steps of Jesus so maybe you should start small and work your way up. A good place to start is by loving God and loving your neighbor. Some of the other commandments seem to have a way of tempting us into disobedience. However, loving God and others seems to come with a built in reward system that allows us to sometimes come close to following the command. So to put it simple, find out what you are supposed to be doing and do it. That is what surrender is about really.

So this year I do not resolve to grow closer to God. I am not going to commit to doing anything for Him. Instead I hope to humbly submit and pray that He helps me when I fail. Happy New Year and may God bless you, keep you, and direct you.

Drawn to the Father

So I have still been reflecting upon the parable of the prodigal son. Recently I have been contemplating what led the son to return to his father. What about the father's character drew the lost son back home? Am I growing more into the type of person who draws people to God as the father in the parable did, or am I still more like the other brother? I can not help but think as well about two references to drawing in the New Testament that come to mind.

The first is in John 6:44. Jesus is speaking with the crowds after feeding the five thousand and they are asking for a sign. It always confounds me how the crowds could be so enthralled with Jesus one minute and so stupid the next minute. They are quick to point out that manna had been provided for the Israelites while they wandered in the desert. Yet, being just as blind to the works of God as their fathers, they fail to recognise what had been done already. Their fathers had rejected the manna and they would all too soon reject the real bread of heaven.

There seems to be a general presumption here of pride and entitlement. Show me and I will believe. Do something for me and I will follow. Yet in both cases of the Jews in the desert and the crowd present with Christ, they fail to see that something has already been done. The provision has been made.

It is interesting at this point to return to the parable of the prodigal son and see what it was that drew the son back.

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!"
Luke 15:17

Here we have Jesus telling us once again that the provision of bread is sufficient. The prodigal son was drawn back because the father had provided. Notice that the son did not have any grand thoughts of himself or any sense of entitlement. Maybe my father will allow me to be treated as a lowly servant. This is quite the humble approach compared to "show me a sign".

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."
(John 12:32)

Here we have the second occurrence of the term drawing that I wanted to look at. Here it is Jesus, as an extension of the will of the Father, that is doing the drawing. What amazes me about this passage is the simplicity and the depth of it at the same time. One can easily relate this passage to John 3:14. Jesus must be lifted up. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert (Numbers 21:8-9) and in doing so provided a way for the sting of death to be removed, so the Son of Man would place Himself on the pole to remove the sting permanently for those that would turn and look upon Him.

Why was the bronze snake necessary? The Jews had rejected the manna and because of their rejection (of God ultimately), judgment had fallen upon them. Even while they had rejected Him, God had provided a way. So it was then, so it is now. God has provided a way.

For many, they will still look to the heavens and say "show me a sign". This is not the way. The way is found in humbling yourself and trusting in the one who has provided. Much like the son on the road, we must turn and come to our senses and see what has already been provided and trust that the Father will allow us to serve in His household. Perhaps He will even meet us partway on the road and clothe us in the best robe.

It is here that I must look at what I am doing to be more like the father in the parable. Am I providing for others? Am I showing mercy even when none is deserved? I am afraid when I look at my own life I see more accuser than Father. This needs to change.

What love is this?

I have been reflecting on two passages in the Book of Luke recently. I would like to share some reflections from one of these passages with you today. First the passage:

And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate. "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
(Luke 15:11-32)

In this passage there are three central characters. It is often said that we are moving toward being one of these characters at any point in our lives. I am not sure how true that is but I do see that there would be some great improvement in my general character if I emulated the father more.

The common belief about this parable is that the father represents God the Father. Why is it that so many of us are more like the other brother? For ourselves we want mercy, but for others we desire nothing but justice. We are quick to point out our brother’s flaws and slow to notice the mercy we have already been given and the feast and joy that is available to us. We resent those that are not like “us” and are quick to label them as lost. Yet, we remain ungrateful for the treasure we already have and do not even take the time to enjoy it.

There is a passage in scripture that has often given me pause for I do not know how I can do what it says. It is during the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus tells us to “be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” I have often thought that this means that I must “do” more. I need to pray more, read more, study more, etc. I have to follow the Law better, I need to witness better, and I need to give more. But maybe I have been reading this verse wrong and out of context, after all Paul tells us “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations(?)”(Col 2:20)


Let me give you the preceding verse in Matthew so you will have the general context of being perfect:
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:43-48)

When I look at this passage after reading the parable of the prodigal son, it reads a little different. Maybe I have been going about this wrong. Maybe instead of beating my brother down, I should be helping him up. Of course true love for my brother cannot allow me to look the other way while he steps in front of a truck, but maybe it would be better if I took the time to attempt to pull him back from the traffic. After all- no greater love has a man than this, that he be willing to lay down his life for his friends.

Memories of Katrina

5 Years ago Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast causing the deaths of many people. I remember it well. We did some mission work here in Acworth collecting clothes and passing them out to refugees. But I wanted to be more involved. I wanted to help those that were hit the hardest. Those in New Orleans. My work offered a program where you could take a week off to work with any of the non-profit groups that were working in New Orleans. I was about to approach my boss about getting the time off when he called me into his office. He wanted me to go to New Orleans to get the trains back moving. I wanted to make a difference and use what I considered my gifts to reach people personally and instead I got to help thousands that I would never see by simply doing my job. What a strange feeling it was.

I have many memories from the days that I spent there. I remember the debris piled 20 feet high lining the streets of Slidell. I remember boats in trees and beside interstate. I remember returning to New Orleans just before Rita when the city had been evacuated again. We were the only cars on the road and I saw ducks in the middle of interstate along with a Rottweiler that was going the wrong way. I remember the warning given to me by the National Guard that we could go in but if we got stuck then we were on our own. I remember crossing back over the 11 bridge while a tornado was hitting the North Shore and being slightly terrified by not being able to see 20 feet in front of me.

I remember the 98 degree days with no relief except to get in my vehicle. I remember working 18 hours a day only to return to a camp that did not have a place for me to sit down and being thankful that I had a place to sleep. I remember being escorted into the city the first time by NS police and wondering if we were truly in danger. I remember getting stuck in the city one night past curfew and having to sleep at Oliver Yard.

However, among all these memories there is one that stands out above them. I remember the first house that I saw that did not have a zero in the fatalities part of the circle and x that marked the search efforts. In that house someone had died. I wondered if they had contemplated their death ahead of time and I wondered if they were surprised by it. I am guessing the latter. It is odd that we are all going to die- nobody gets out alive- and yet none of us really think about it.

So many of us ignore the warnings thinking that we will be the exceptions. We will live forever. We will not be affected by disease. We will never be in an accident that will claim our lives. It only happens to other people right? I am afraid to tell you that like it or not sooner or later death will claim you. Have you planned for this event?

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame."

(Rom 10:9-11)

Radical Review- Chapter 9 (Conclusion)

I am concluding my review of David Platt’s new book Radical today with my review of the final chapter. The last chapter is entitled “The Radical Experiment”. One could make a good argument that the entire book is building the case for the final chapter. The experiment is summed up in five separate challenges.

The Radical Experiment

The first challenge is to pray for the entire world. This seems simple enough at first, but interestingly Dr. Platt chose a title for this section that does not really match with what he is suggesting. What he really wants is for you to pray that God will send workers to the harvest. This is not praying for the lost, but praying for the ones that are already saved to get out there and share the gospel. I found this to be a most effective challenge and who knows, the Lord of the harvest may even send me. Of course it would not hurt to pray for the lost as well, but let’s face it when the Word of God is preached people get saved. So what we really need is more people preaching the Word of God.

The second challenge is to read through the entire Bible in a year. I have done this challenge several times in the past and it is definitely a way to become more familiar with what the Bible actually teaches. Too many of us have substituted reading what others have written about the word for the actual word. As Dr. Platt notes, we are content for our Sunday sermon or a daily two minute devotional when we should be hungering to be filled with His word every day. Set time aside to do this. It will make a difference in your life and have an effect on those around you.

The third challenge is to sacrifice a portion of your income for a specific purpose. This is not simple giving but going beyond what you can part with into actual sacrifice. This is a hard one for Americans to swallow. We typically do not want to make any sacrifices and money may be the most difficult sacrifice for us to make. I am honest enough to say that I am not there yet on this one. I have specific needs that I give to with faces attached to them, so it means more than a deduction on my income tax statement, but it does not hurt. I do actually make sacrifices of my money that do hurt but they have only been for my family. Perhaps that tells me something.

The fourth challenge is to serve in another context. As Dr. Platt states, it is even more important for us to be radical in our going. I do not necessarily agree with him that we have to go somewhere far away in order for this to make a difference in our lives. I have been serving in downtown Atlanta recently and I can drive down there in 30 minutes and it has made a difference. The more important thing is to get off your chair and go. Serve in a different capacity than you have before. Feed the hungry, or help clothe the poor- and share the Gospel with them as you do. I had the great joy a couple of weeks ago of being invited into a young lady’s house to pray for her after I helped deliver food to her. I pray that Angela has trusted my savior and His grace. It can be uncomfortable at times but at the end of the day you have a good feeling inside that God maybe used you for something outside of taking up space for a day.

The fifth challenge is to commit your life to a multiplying community. The important thing here is to remember how this was defined earlier in the book. This is not just committing to attend some mega-church but instead finding a body of believers where disciples are being made. This is the fount from which the other four challenges will flow. If you are not currently plugged into a local church you will have a difficult time meeting the challenges alone. Find a place where you can serve and get yourself plugged in.

I enjoyed this chapter very much and I hope to complete all of the challenges within a year. Not because it is some new thing or because Dr. Platt says that I should but because these are all things that we as Christians should be doing already. I will also say that overall I enjoyed this book both the first time and the second. I am sorry it took me so long to write a review but I wanted to be thorough. I will say that I do not agree with everything Dr. Platt says in the book but I definitely found some things in it that were of benefit to me. I hope that you do the same if you read it. If anyone would like to read my copy, let me know and I will get it to you.

Blessings, Bruce

Radical Review- Chapter 8

I am slowly moving toward the conclusion of my review of David Platt’s new book Radical. Chapter 8 sees Dr. Platt attempting to motivate us to go to the nations. This was not my favorite chapter in the book but it did have some nice points in it.

Living When Dying is Gain

The first suggestion in this chapter is to go where there is need. This is an excellent suggestion and I could not agree more. A great example of this locally is in downtown Atlanta. There are many needs and there are not enough workers. So many times we overlook what we can do right where we in favor of something more exotic or appealing. Knocking on doors and passing out food in the projects does not sound quite as appealing as going on a mission trip overseas and yet the need is right there. We should be going, but we should also be looking for needs to be met where we are as well. I do not have to focus my entire year on a one week trip 3000 miles away when I can focus 40 weeks locally at 1/10 the cost.

The second suggestion is that we should go into danger. I believe this is a bit misguided in its representation of scripture here. Dr. Platt is right to question that safety is exactly where God wants us, but suggesting that we intentionally seek out danger is flat out wrong. In fact later in the next section Dr. Platt quotes Jesus as saying “when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another”. Yet here he is suggesting that we intentionally seek out danger. Perhaps it could be better stated that our “going” could very well lead us into danger.

Dr. Platt is correct again in stating that we will not be loved for being radical followers of Christ. I have heard many people state that if more people were like Jesus then more people would come to Christ. Please remember that the 1st century Jews liked Jesus so much that they plotted to kill Him. There is a balance somewhere here and I am not sure where it is. The message of the cross is offensive but that does not mean that we must be as well. Truth in love requires tact that many of us are lacking and I am not immune to being tactless at times. Perhaps it is best stated that we should not be surprised to be persecuted but we should not intentionally be seeking out persecution either.

This chapter concludes with stories of heroes of the faith. People that have gone and paid heavy prices for their faith (Paton, Elliot, Studd) to make sure that some who had not heard of Christ would have the opportunity. Dr. Platt then relates the story of a modern martyr who died while she was in the mission field. This section is inspirational and leaves me questioning how much I would willingly lay down for Him. It is a good question to ask.

I have to be honest and say that I was a bit disappointed in this chapter overall although there were some high points that were worth reading. Most of this stemmed from the section “Go to Danger” and the reasons for this were mentioned above.