One Pump BB Guns

Gifts are wonderful.

Given at just the right time to an individual who least expects it and it could make a deep impact on one's life. A tangible expression of love which conveys, without provocation, the sentiments of the giver to the recipient. In fact, the very definition of gift communicates this very clearly: a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present. 
 
When I was a young boy there was a particular Christmas I will never forget. I wanted a BB Gun so bad I could taste it - those pesky pigeons and barn swallows were about to meet their fate. The gifts were wrapped under the tree; and I thought, "What harm could there possibly be in just 'bumping' the edge of the gift marked with my name in order to find out if I had gotten what I wanted."

Raising a large number of children is called parenting. It also doubles as law enforcement training 101 for would-be detectives and my father was a decorated veteran of the program. He spotted the tear in the wrapping paper caused "by accident" and I was not awarded the gift for two weeks following Christmas.   

A funny thing happened internally in the days that followed as the punishment was enacted. Though my parents were under no compulsion to provide for me the gift I now was upset with them for having taken it away. Their tangible expression of love, simply because I was their son, was met with juvenile anger and a real sense of entitlement that simply had to be addressed. 

We do this with God, don't we? We can so easily fixate on His gifts to us that we forget THE GIVER. This is the Life From God posture. We are totally interested in what God has to offer, just not so much God Himself. 

Author Skye Jethani says it this way, 

Everything that lives draws its life from God, and he is the “Father of lights” from whom comes “every good gift and every perfect gift. (see James 1:17)" And Jesus calls us to ask God for what we need. But the life from God posture has a tendency to overemphasize this single aspect of the divine-human relationship. It makes receiving God’s gifts the entirety of our religious lives.

He's absolutely right.

In His kindness, God has lavished His love on us (see Eph. 1). This past week, in his sermon, Don Stuber had the opportunity to draw attention to that (listen here). In the message he drew upon his own experience with his father. Telling a story that captivates the imagination and awe a young boy can sometimes feel for his father; he shared how he climbed into the farm truck at a young age eager for the presence of his dad.   

NOT HIS PRESENTS

His dad said, "Where we going son?" Don, filled with a wonder not yet stained by the world replied...

"Anywhere dad, as long as its with you."

This week as you consider the all-encompassing, failure-swallowing, entitlement-obliterating, and totally undeserved LOVE of God in Christ - here are some questions for around the dinner table or in your personal time with Jesus:

1. What are you most looking forward to when you think about eternal life WITH God? (if answer is your lack of sickness, a gold mansion, or any other benefit that's not the presence of God then He may be addressing the gift vs. GIVER reality in your heart)
2. How does faith remain strong (or even grow) when life continually throws you curves? 
3. What things or relationships have I overemphasized? How do they (things or relationships) illustrate God's lavish love for me?  

 

Life Over God

The Enlightenment (period of history in the 17,1800's marked by dramatic advances in science, philosophy, society and politics) has often been described as the "age of reason." This age of reason, as one can well imagine, has had equally dramatic, if not damning, influences on the Christian faith. It has created two evils; one, we'll mention and the other we will park on.

The first evil is that The Enlightenment has made a false dichotomy between faith and science. This is another conversation for another day. The second evil created, is that our faith must be founded on proven principles with predicable and measurable outcomes.  

No where is this more clear than when John Locke (an Enlightenment philosopher) says:

You may be saying, "How does this work itself out to be a damning influence on the Christian faith?" Glad you are still reading and therefore asking that question. Last Sunday Eric Rahn approached an answer to that question by proposing that our approach to the Bible says something about our relationship with God. In a stimulating and convicting quote, he says: 

"Our relationship with Jesus trumps our relationship with the Bible. However, our approach to the Bible has everything to do with our relationship with Jesus."

Curiously, this is not a new problem. Jesus dealt with a group of leaders who were constantly returning to predictable, measurable, and reason-based thinking with regard to faith. He confronts them with a statement in John 5:39, "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me!" They were trusting in the scriptures, not the God of them...This is essentially the problem with Life Over God.


To get you thinking and to continue the application from Sunday's sermon by Eric Rahn (listen to it here) here are some questions he gave us and I encourage you to share them around a meal or in conversation...

    •    What do you your actions show about what you believe about the Bible?
    •    Where, if you were honest, are you trusting in proven principles rather than trusting the Spirit to lead you?
    •    What’s one area in your life you can give up control so that you can rely on the amazing work of Christ in your life?


Feel free to post thoughts or start a conversation...

With God

Recently Oliver, Pierce (my two sons 7 and 5) and I have been reading Hank the Cowdog together.

This classic literature, keeps the boys giggling, me stumbling over words spoken with a southern draw, and in general tells the story of Hank, a dog who is the self-proclaimed "head of ranch security" on a Texas ranch.

This will all make sense in a brief moment, but context is important, so hang with me. A few nights ago Hank found himself trying to rescue his owner's oldest son of (4 yrs old) from the "dark unchanted forest" after he wandered from the backyard. He had nearly talked himself out of going in to the slightly wooded area to search for him but had a deep sense of obligation toward the boy.

He went in anyway.

Hank payed careful attention landmarks so as to find his way back out again. Eventually, the inevitable happened. Hank recounts: 

"Why didn't I leave the forest? There's a very simple explanation for that. A guy can't leave what he doesn't like unless he knows where to find something better. And I didn't."

Identification emerges as we consider the fate of the poor mutt. We find ourselves at times less than enthusiastic concerning our faith. If the truth were really told of many Christians, they would even say, "Man, I'm flat-lining here."

We want more, we long for more... but the reality is we don't know where to look. 

We need help.

Last week at NCF (church were I have the privilege of being a pastor) we began a new series entitled "With." It is based in large part on a book with the same title by Skye Jethani. In the series we explore postures of relating to God that have developed as a result of: believers through the years not engaging the whole narrative of Scripture AND a desire for self-rule.

Genesis 1:27 and all of chapter 2 God displays His intent to live WITH and rule WITH His people. Adam and Eve rejected that and opted instead for self-rule... to be like God. Through the years then different ways (postures) of relating to God have come to prominence. Jethani notes four primary postures:

1. Life Under God - in this category we see God in cause-and-effect terms. We obey His commands and he blesses our lives, our families and our nation. We try to determine what He wants and work to stay within it.
2. Life Over God - the focus here is on organizational principle rather than prayer. The wonder and mystery of God has been exchanged for predictable or controllable outcomes.
3. Life From God - in this category we desire the gifts and are less concerned with the Giver. This is the health, wealth and prosperity Gospel.
4. Life For God - this posture emphasizes what one accomplishes for God. High emphasis is placed on what one is doing FOR God. 

Each week as we explore another posture I hope to summarize it in a post here and provide a link to listen OR watch the message. So I invite you to follow along to discover God's intent to relate WITH you!

On Sunday we looked closely at life UNDER God. Essentially we discovered that what we do (our rituals) and how we live (our morality) were really control exerted to secure a blessing. A few critical questions were asked in order for us to consider life WITH God! You can listen to the sermon here. Or you can watch the sermon here (scroll to the 32 min mark). 

1. How do I respond when I am not in control of a situation or relationship?
2. When am I most tempted to hide? Why? Who or what draws me out of hiding? 

Feel free to post your thoughts.