So, what is this with “people of faith’? When it is used in today’s culture, most often it refers to people who believe in God, the Creator. The people who are immersed in our post modern culture looks down on such people because supposedly they are so much more “enlightened” and have a better perspective on life. It is high time we started to use words correctly and to hold others responsible for doing so too. The next time someone looks down their nose at you and says, “You say that because you are a person of faith” – or some such silly “put ‘em in their place” argument – simply smile and respond, “You, too, are a person of faith.” It’s time to reclaim our language – and our culture.

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Knowing my friend and his desire to honor God I knew that the original question is a rhetorical one.  So in my first response I summed it up as follows:  In other words, if you want a special someone for a wife (or husband) – be a special someone. God takes sexual purity seriously, so should we.

What follows are the rest of my contribution to this thread as well as further amplification and clarification of the theme.

In our ministry we run into a lot of people who are going through marital problems, most of which can be traced back to inappropriate pre-marital practices. And yes, pre-marital sex often leads to susceptibility to extra-marital sex. We are seeking ways to help kids to understand the concept of Christian dating. NO physical interaction (hugging, cuddling, kissing, etc) until marriage. Get to know the person’s mind and heart before the hormones kick in. Once physical intimacy begins then the thought process clouds and mistakes are made. If a couple learns to talk and pray together as friends then it is much easier to weather life’s storms. The physical aspect is natural to learn together AFTER marriage. But it’s an uphill, upstream fight against popular culture which glorifies that which tends to destroy marriage and long term relationships.

There are hugs and then there are hugs. There are kisses and then there are kisses. I’m a hugger, myself. My wife is not. But we get along very well, because I meet her needs the best I can and she meets mine the best she can. The problems don’t come from mismatches in the love language area (if you’ve not read the book, I highly recommend it – “The 5 Love Languages”), the problems come when needs are not being met and when an attitude of selfishness creeps into the marriage (or is there from the start).

Look at where we’ve come from and where we are. It used to be that folks expected to arrive at the wedding night as a virgin and to marry a virgin (speaking of folks with a Christian outlook on life here) and yet today all to often folks allow the culture around them to tell them what a pre-marital relationship should look like. And the world’s ideas of a premarital relationship are FAR different from God’s. When I state that single Christians who are seeking a mate should engage in “NO physical interaction (hugging, cuddling, kissing, etc) until marriage. Get to know the person’s mind and heart before the hormones kick in.” I’m referring to the change of mind that Paul refers to in Romans 12:1-2.  We should “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice” and we should “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.  In this context that means that when we deal with a person of the opposite sex we keep our thoughts pure concerning them.  We should “treat the younger women as sisters, with all purity”.  That mind set keeps us from thinking things we should not think about them and helps to keep the hormonal urges to a minimum.  By not engaging in inappropriate physical stimulation we make it much easier to prevent inappropriate mental stimulation.

When both man and woman come to the relationship determined to give 100% of themselves to the relationship (Christian marriage is NOT 50-50, it’s 100-100) then the differences in love languages get worked out in a healthy manner. But if one or both hold back and fight “for their rights” rather than for their relationship then there are problems. A correct attitude towards the relationship (what can I give, rather what can I get) allows for better communication in this area.  And since we are talking about pre-marital relationships here, this is the time to see if the other person is in tune with YOUR desire to build a strong marriage.  This is the time in which you can analyze and see if they are “in it for what they can get” or if they are also seeking a lifelong partnership in which both parties will invest their all into the mutual enterprise.  If you are physically involved during this time then it is very difficult to think clearly about the matters of greatest importance.  THIS is the time to think clearly and analytically, NOT after you have taken vows before man and God “until death do us part”.  After the vows is when too many people finally come to the realization that they “are with the wrong person” – because that person does not contribute to the relationship but rather seeks to drain every drop to their own perceived needs rather than thinking of what it takes to build the relationship by providing for bother partners’ needs.

The trouble with hugging and kissing (especially the kissing part) is that it is far to easy to go beyond what is a healthy, friendly hug and kiss and to slip into sensuality. That quick peck on the lips becomes a lingering kiss.  The lingering kiss becomes a probing kiss. And so it goes downhill from there. The same with hugging.  A quick, friendly hug becomes a longer, more intimate hug.  The more intimate hug becomes an opportunity for caressing.  And it goes downhill from there. There’s not a person in the church I’ve not hugged, but there’s only one I hug as a sex partner (my wife, in case you were wondering)- and the difference is very great in both the attitude and the results. The same with the kiss. Here in Latin America it is cultural to greet friends of the opposite sex with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. But there’s a lot of difference between the way I hug a person from my immediate family and the way I hug a person from my Christian family. There is a difference even in that relationship, although both my immediate family and my Christian family are important to me the necessity of seeking purity calls me to keep certain barriers up to prevent misunderstanding or temptation. There are many different relationships we all have and thus a need to ensure that we are not inappropriate in our actions towards others.  There’s a difference between the way I hug and kiss my kids or grandkids and the way I hug and kiss my wife.  By not hugging them the same way I do my wife I am not discriminating against them or saying “I don’t love you” – I’m differentiating between the types of love and showing healthy boundaries so that they can emulate them.

It is VERY healthy for a Christian couple who think about dating to be careful of the way they interact physically. The line of reasoning some have is that “I must find someone who is identical to me in the love languages they use”.  This is not necessarily true.  One participant in the discussion referenced above mentioned that they had been in a “mismatched marriage” in which their spouse did not fulfill their personal, physical needs.  Their spouse did not provide the physical nurturing that they felt a need for.  So this person’s idea was that they need to experiment until they find someone who fulfills that need.  This is a dangerous line of thought and takes the person in a dangerous direction.  Such lines of reasoning have  lead some folks to seek someone who is “compatible sexually”, believing that they must find someone who will interact with them in the same way they desire in the sexual area.  So they try different partners, seeking someone who can live up to their expectations.  This actually leads to incompatibility rather than compatibility because they learn what Jane, Judy, Mary and Bertha like – but end up married to Sarah. And it turns out that what turned on those others does NOT turn on Sarah but has the opposite effect. And the same holds true for those of the opposite sex. That is why we as Christians must be VERY careful of how we handle each other physically. We should not be so naive as to think that we are above being tempted. The Bible teaches us to flee temptation and to shun the very appearance of evil. That means we must constantly be on the alert to make sure we are not making excuses for flirting with temptation.  If we seek someone who is 100% committed to the relationship and to showing God’s love in the marriage then the sexual compatibility problem will not arise. By learning to talk about things BEFORE marriage and by learning to respect and to know the other person non-sexually, they actually prepare the way for sexual compatibility as they learn together about this vital part of a healthy marital relationship.

The Bible teaches us to greet each other with a holy kiss. The key word there is holy. If one finds oneself “holy kissing” the sexually attractive folks more than those who are not then one needs inquire of one’s self as to the motives behind the behavior. Yes, we should be friendly and open with each other in the church – but maintain always the purity that Jesus calls us to have towards each other.

When one does not receive the appropriate level of affection in marriage then one must be very careful to not seek to satisfy that need outside of marriage. I’m VERY careful about the affection I show to women who are not receiving the affection they should inside their marriage.  As a pastor it is all to frequent that one becomes aware of deep problems in a marriage.  It is far to easy to become a stumbling block to someone who has an unfulfilled need and thus we must be very careful.  That is why I always work with my wife when dealing with couples or women. Whole books have been written on this and similar subjects. It is impossible to do justice to the topic in such a limited venue as a Facebook comment or a blog post.  Still, I urge you to consider the idea of Christian dating. What should it really look like? I stand by my assertion that it looks very little like the dating scene of the world around us today.

Many talk about being careful in the sexual area because of the danger of STD’s and unwanted/unplanned pregnancies.  If it were just the STD’s and babies it would be bad enough. But the dangers go far deeper. With each person you have sexual relations with, even “just” heavy petting, necking, etc – you form a certain bond. That kind of intimacy was designed for marriage, not for sharing with every halfway attractive person who happened to stumble in your way. What folks don’t realize is that in each and every encounter you leave a little of yourself behind. The Bible calls it “becoming one flesh” and it’s not just a euphemism for sex. It is a spiritual reality. And that is where the greatest dangers lay – in forming inappropriate spiritual connections with numbers of people to whom you have no lasting link OTHER than that sexual one. Casual sex makes for great difficulties in forming strong bonds within marriage. It is hard to help folks overcome their poor choices, but that is what we seek to do. The apostle Paul wrote that a sexual encounter with a prostitute is the same as a sexual encounter with your wife as far as becoming one flesh goes. To a lot of folks “that doesn’t count because it was only a business transaction.” They are dead wrong. There is no such thing as “casual sex” in God’s eyes.  Each and every instance of sexual contact builds a bond between the couple.  That is why we need to help our young people to abstain from sexual encounters until marriage.  That is why we need to help them to learn appropriate ways of interacting with people of the opposite (and the same) sex.  We are not called sensuality, we are called to true freedom.  True freedom is being that for which you were created.  And God did not create us to be libertines in the sexual area.  He created us to form strong marital unions in which the children can be brought up with strong examples of what it means to be men and women committed to God and to each other.

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Over the years I’ve seen “revivals” and “crusades” and “rallies” performed with the intent of bringing growth to the church.  And over the years I’ve seen the same people flocking to the “altar call”, time after time after time.  Yes, there are some souls reached through mass means.  Yes there are some lives transformed.  But are they really effective?  The last figures I saw for a huge “Crusade” were something less than five percent (if I recall correctly it was less than one percent, but let’s be generous anyway) of the “decisions for Christ” actually resulted in  a person who joined in with a local congregation.

Over the years I’ve come to be skeptical of this type of operation.  When the same people go forward time after time to be prayed over by this, that or another “Pastor”, “Prophet”, “Bishop” or “Apostle” – what is really being accomplished?  When a new building is erected and dedicated and people from congregations around the city flock to it because of the “fresh anointing” – is that truly “Church Growth”?  When you siphon off members from other congregations that is not “Church Growth”, that is congregation expansion at the expense of others. The church grows when you live the gospel and bring people into the fold who had never before had a personal relationship with God. Focusing on numbers rather than individual souls is a common mistake.

Many folks look at specific events over the history of the church and try to emulate them.  They see three thousand people baptized in the name of Jesus the Christ on a single day and want to do the same – forgetting all the factors and happenings  that lead up to that landmark event.  When we see something of great magnitude happening we should ask ourselves, “What was the catalyst? What built up so that this could happen?”  It isn’t that God’s Holy Spirit does not work today – but He works in the same way that He did in centuries past.  For great history changing events to happen there must be ground work.

What was the ground work for the day of Pentecost?  God came down and lived amongst us (Emmanuel – God With Us). He lived and worked and taught and interacted with people.  He lived a human life as an example.  He Himself was baptized and He Himself was tempted for forty tortuous days.  He called to Himself twelve men, common men from all walks of life.  For three years He taught them.  For three years He showed His power to them and through them.  He fed multitudes. He healed multitudes.  And through it all He taught as none had taught before Him. He touched lives by touching their minds and appealing to their heart and focusing them on the Father.  But all that was as nothing to them the day that they stood before the Roman Governor and cried out as one man, “Crucify him!”  But as is common with mobs, once the heat of the moment was gone they came to themselves and started wondering “What have we done?”

And then the rumors started.  “The disciples carried off his body!” “But that can’t be, the guards are still living!” “I heard He is alive!!”  “I talked with Peter – the tomb was empty!” “Mary says an angel told her He is alive!” “I heard that He appeared right before them all!” “I, myself, have seen Him!” And this rolled around the city for weeks, until the next Feast Day.

From all over the known world they came, from fifteen countries or more. They came to celebrate the ancient feast as directed by the Law of Moses. The city of Jerusalem swelled and jostled with the teeming crowds.  Families welcomed relatives from afar.  Small houses were crowded with people.  And on the day of Pentecost they were celebrating before Jehovah when suddenly a sound as of a mighty, rushing wind was heard and every eye turned to see – twelve common men, betrayed by their provincial clothing as being from the scorned northern territory of Galilee, standing there, each with a tongue of fire over his head.  Now THAT was a sight to behold!  And then a hush fell on the crowd as one burly fisherman stood out from the rest and began to outline the events leading up to this day.  They heard the familiar history of their race and nation recited by these men – and then they realized “They are speaking MY native tongue!”  The familiar story was related in familiar accents, not the course country bumpkin dialect of Galilee!

But then the clincher – this common looking fisherman pointed his finger RIGHT in their collective face and said “YOU are responsible for taking the life of God’s Own Son!”  This man, who weeks before had been hiding from the authorities, quaking at the thought of cruel whips and a horrific  cross, was standing there today – facing them down.  And they KNEW he spoke true. Many of the same people were there who weeks before had yelled out “Crucify him!” and they knew that they had traded the life of a murderer for the death of God’s Son. The silence was broken by a voice asking “Brothers, what should we do?”

Now to put this in perspective there were likely at least a million people crammed together for this celebration.  Not everyone could hear the message, not all that did were convinced or convicted of their own sin on that day.  But from amongst the crowd streamed three thousand people to answer Peter’s call to “Repent and each of you be immersed by the authority of Jesus the Christ!  This is the way to be forgiven of your sins.  And you WILL receive God’s Holy Spirit! This promise holds true for YOU, for YOUR CHILDREN and for ALL who will hear the call of the Lord!”

Yes, an amazing event.  A history changing event.  But the ground had been prepared.  The seed had been sown.  And GOD brought forth the harvest on that day.

And today?  What are we doing to prepare the ground and plant the seed?  Many of us no longer live and work in a land where God’s Gospel has been proclaimed.  Most of us live and work amongst people to whom the historical accounts sound like fables and fairy tales.  No longer do most people build their lives around some semblance of Godly teaching like the jewish people did at that time.  So why do we expect to reap the same results as Peter and the Apostles did?

Our work for today is clear. Yes, there ARE some fields still ripe for harvest, but many more have yet to be sown.  And in each case we need to allow the Lord to work through us.  As in anything worth doing we must learn to get the fundamentals down.  If we allow God to help us build the foundations, He will build His church.

Of what good is a building full of worldly, carnal people who sing praises to God on Sunday but live like the rest of the world the rest of the week?  To be honest – it is of no good at all to God’s kingdom.  If we want real church growth then we must understand WHAT makes the church grow.  Swapping sheep or stealing sheep does not a flock build. How many christians drift from congregation to congregation, seeking a speaker who will tickle their ears?  That is not the path to building a church or causing true growth.

Here is what the Apostle Paul had to say about “church growth”:

¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:11-16

The work of the leaders of the church isn’t to “develop strategies” or “study market trends” or “be seeker friendly”.  The work of the church’s leaders is to “prepare God’s people for works of service”.  And what happens when we do that? “The body of Christ may be built up”. And THAT, my friends, is church growth.  REAL church growth.  For too long the church has been concerned with filling pews and buildings and programs.  But we have forgotten the true call of the church.  Note that the leaders are to prepare God’s people “for works of service”.  Serving the world around us is NOT a program – it is what God intended us to do.  Indeed it is also written that we are created in Christ Jesus “to do good works”.  A christian who is  not serving the community around him is a christian who is not fulfilling his purpose in God’s kingdom.  And if, as leaders in the church, we are not preparing God’s people to serve, if we are not allowing them the time and opportunity to serve, then we are failing – no matter HOW many people may come together each week to sing and feel good together.

If we want the church to grow, instead of just play musical pews, then we need to seek God’s leading in our lives.  Forget the studies and the “experts”.  Get back to God’s word.  Let HIM transform you and renew your mind.  Let Him give you hunger and thirst for His righteousness.  Let Him give you the power you need to serve the world around you.  And as you do – He will honor your faithfulness according to the ability you have to handle well that which is entrusted to your care.

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Back then, medical care was a private affair. You went to the doctor and paid your bill. He would diagnose and treat the illness according to his knowledge and skill. When we came upon a doctor who’s knowledge was inferior to ours – we didn’t go back. Even when the doctor wasn’t capable of treating a simple case of amoebas we never thought of suing him. We simply started taking medicine with us to the U.S. – just in case. And such has remained our practice over the years. Only now we will often visit a national doctor and obtain a prescription for the medicine so that we can satisfy the requirements of U.S. customs officials upon arrival there.

Now the U.S. is faced with a massive overhaul of the medical system. The problems with this are varied. People travel from all over the world to be treated in the U.S. – because the U.S. has one of the best health care systems in the world. The main problem is the cost associated with treatment there. And what drives the exhorbitant costs? Wages are a part – but not the larfest issue. The cost of litigation is one of the greatest problems. If someone is not happy with the results of their treatment, they sue for malpractice. That is why doctors will order all kinds of tests so that they can prove diligence in a court of law. A friend of mine recently underwent a long series of tests because his doctor noticed a spot on one of his lungs. Probable cause? Scar tissue from damage done years earlier. BUT there was a slight chanc of cancer so a long series of tests and procedures was undertaken to show that he had – scar tissue, the very thing his doctor’s experience and intuition indicated at the beginning. $40,000 dollars or so later and the doctor had prevented any chance of suing him IF by some fluke the scar tissue had proven to be a tumor instead.

The problem with the U.S. health system is the U.S. “justice” system.  We have become a nation that will sue at the drop of a hat, and drop the hat ourselves should we feel the need to sue. Gone are the days of personal responsibility.  Now it is always “someone else” who is to blame for anything that happens to us. The major problem is that we no longer have a strong judeo-christian foundation. That foundation laid for us by the Founding Fathers has been eroded by decades of concentrating on “Separation of Church and State”, castigating the Church and removing any base for moral and ethical teaching from our schools and society.  For decades we have been taught that there is “no absolute truth” – which is the only absolute that is allowed under modern education. We have instilled in our nation the idea that we have descended from apes and amoebas – and then wonder why folks act like animals.  The law of the jungle has overthrown the law of the land and the survival of the fittest means “looking out for number one” – to the extent of doing what ever it takes to “get one up” on the other guy.

Health care – does it need an overhaul?  People all over the world flock to the US when possible, because it is well known that we have the finest doctors and hospitals on God’s green earth.  If we truly want to improve the lot of the poor amongst us, we should work on overhauling our “justice system”, gutting current tort laws and returning common sense to the place it should have had all along.  People should once more be taught to take responsibility for their actions rather than taking it out on others when they goof up.  And YES that includes doctors, but we need to allow them the latitude necessary to exercise common sense when they treat us for illness and disease.

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If we walk in the light then we learn to abhor sin. But as humans we all harbor varying degrees of attraction to sin. The big problem is that we also tend to have blind spots. We may say “I don’t smoke and I don’t chew and I don’t date the girls that do.” – but what about less obvious sins? What about that which we allow our minds to dwell on, taking comfort in “well, at least I didn’t DO it!”.  And what about those thoughts and attitudes that do not reflect the mind of Christ?

People in the church tend to focus on a few pet sins and shun with a vengeance folks who commit them. The interesting thing is – many of those sins are not necessarily sins, but those who shun them act as if there is nothing worse in the world. Take bathing, for example. Indoor plumbing for the common man is a relatively new thing. In centuries past it was common for everyone to do their personal hygiene down at the local bath house. But under Roman rule the public baths were often centers for all kinds of sexual activity – outside the bonds of holy matrimony. It wasn’t long before christians quit going to the bath house – and quit bathing all together. They “threw out the baby (bathing) with the bath water (sexual immorality)”. To many minds, bathing was synonymous with immoral conduct.  Therefore, those who were filthy were considered to be very holy.  This trend (building fences around sin, so to speak) continues to this day. Wine is mentioned favorably through out scripture. Drunkenness is mentioned unfavorably throughout scripture. Many people today equate wine with drunkenness. They can not distinguish between proper and improper use of wine any more than those early Christians could think of building a Christ inspired bath house where folks could get physically clean while maintaining their sexual purity, thus allowing folks to be both physically and morally clean.

Throughout the centuries, dancing was a way of celebrating and even worshiping.  Dances were social affairs in which folks could interact with each other and in which the monotony of life could be broken by a special celebration.  Yet today many can not separate dancing from “dance halls” and prostitution. The stigma of sinful sexual stimulation clings (in their minds) to anything having to do with dancing.  They would no more think of dancing with their wife or before the LORD than they would think of murdering their own mother.

An even more interesting phenomenon occurs when people violate God’s law in order to keep their own. For example, God’s law states that a person should dress modestly. There are people who believe that means a woman can wear only a non-bifurcated garment, preferably one that covers her ankles. Now I, for one, would like to see more long skirts around. There is something special, something comely, about a long, flowing dress or skirt. But to force all women to always wear such a garment limits their freedom – or places them in the position of violating God’s law of modesty. Yet that is what legalists in certain sects do. Where we used to minister in Brazil, the main form of transportation was a cargo truck – a flatbed with a tarp lashed tightly to the load. To reach town one would flag down such a truck and clamber up the side to sit on top. There’s nothing modest about a woman in a skirt climbing up the side of a truck and bouncing down the road on top of a load. But that is what many women did in order to live up to the human law that their religion had foisted on them.  And many men were glad to “give ‘em a hand” to climb up, in the hope of getting a glimpse into private areas.  Because of their man made law they violated God’s law of modesty.  Jesus Himself accused the Pharisees of the same kind of mentality, unfortunately this way of thinking is still with us.

The main problem stems from an external “list based” religious outlook on life.  Folks count themselves and others as “OK” as long as they fill out the proper check list of “Do’s” and “Don’t’s” – all of which happen to be quite easy to check on and prove.  In the process, they forget that God looks much deeper.  He can read our heart – and that is what counts.  The fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in our life?  It’s not jacket and tie, long dress and non-smoking/non-drinking – it’s about attitudes and thought patterns – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” these are things that are hard to quantify for those who look only on the outside, and thus they are overlooked by the religiously legalistic.  Many times over the it has been our lot to observe someone who is outwardly “proper” in their dress, and yet their life reflects anything BUT joy, peace, patience, kindness or self-control, nor yet the other characteristics of God’s Holy fruit.  And in no way is saying so “judging” such people.  Jesus told us, “by their fruit you shall know them”.  To observe the lack of these characteristics is no more judging than to observe that a certain tree produces inedible fruit.  To cut it down and burn it – that is judgment.  And that is God’s place, not ours. In fact, in the parable of the tares we are taught that our duty is to grow and produce fruit, not try to rip out those who’s fruit doesn’t match up.  That will be done in the last day, when the Lord returns for His great Harvest Day.  Those who produce the wrong fruit in their lives will be gathered for punishment.  And those who produce the wheaten fruit God desires will be gathered up for reward.

As we look into our own life we should be, as I like to say, “brutally honest”.  We can not resort to “I did this so I’m OK.” nor yet “I DON’T do thus, so I’m OK”.  We must look into the mirror of God’s Word and see the faults reflected there in.  And this is not to be used to condemn ourselves, it is to be used as a tool to gauge where we need to improve.  Just like you look in the mirror, see your hair out of place and use brush or comb or fingers to straighten it up, not rip it out or destroy yourself because you don’t match up to your idea of what you should look like!  And God’s Spirit prompts us, it directs us and persuades us – if we listen – to be transformed, to renew our minds until we look and act as Jesus the Christ does.  A christian who does not heed the transformational call of God’s Spirit is one who is carnal and immature at best.

As Christ’s disciples we must be wary of satan’s misuse of God’s word.  Many christians live lives of defeat because they don’t match up to their own expectancies and they allow the enemy to dissuade them.  “You’ll never overcome this sin – so why try?” they hear.  “You are unworthy!” “God KNOWS who you are inside – He could never love such a filthy creature!” These lies and more are whispered in the christian’s ear – and too many times they are given more weight than they should have.  God calls us to a life of purity – but His grace pulls us from the mire and sets us on the road time after time as we grow and mature.  Sometimes it is one step forward and two back.  But this only lasts until we learn to get back on our feet and try again, rather than roll around in the muck feeling sorry for ourselves.

It is not for nothing that God calls us His children.  He longs to see each of us feed on the spiritual milk, gradually learning to chew and digest more “grown up” food and then learning to share His spiritual food with others.  Likewise He is thrilled when we learn to crawl and more so as we take our first toddling steps.  When we stumble He isn’t there to kick us for ineptness.  He is there to lift us up, to extend a finger or a hand to steady us as we toddle off again.  And even when we have grown and matured in the faith and in The Way – if we fall He is not there to ridicule us, He is there to dust us off and set us on the road to victory once more.  And often we run better the race for having stumbled and learned humility and grace than if we merely run cautiously through life, wary of trying too hard and perhaps falling short of our expectations.

Religiosity is a trap.  It concentrates on favorite sins, ignoring that which is considered “minor” or of no importance – to the religious mind.  But God calls us to relationship.  His goal is to see us grow in all things into the likeness of Jesus the Christ.  He loves us and extends to us grace and mercy – and calls us to the same attitude amongst ourselves.  So rather than concentrating on our own particular “favorite sins”, why not concentrate on our own inner thoughts and outward actions – allowing the Light of the Gospel to shine forth and bless those around us?

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So, what would be a good position for a Christian to hold?  Should we care about the earth around us?  Of COURSE Christians care – but the difference is that we worship the Creator – not His creation.

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:18-25

As followers of God, we are called to worship HIM, not the universe which He entrusted into our care. However, we ARE called to serve Him and to be stewards of His creation.  When He made Adam He placed him over the birds and the beasts and the fish and was told to take care of them. The creation account tells us:

²⁶Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

²⁸And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28

To “have dominion” implies stewardship.  The creation is not OURS, it has merely been placed in our care.  So we should use it wisely – because someday God will ask us to give an account of all our actions and an account of all that we have done with everything He has given us, our possessions, talents, gifts – all will have to be accounted for on that final day.  So we have even MORE reason to care for the earth – but not to worship it.  One of the greatest problems with the modern environmental movement is that it is backed by lies and schemes to gain control over others.  The whole “Climategate” scandal as well as the basically flawed “Inconvenient Truth” book and so many other areas  of the movement are based on grabs for power and attempts to manipulate people by twisting the truth.  If you look at the Kyoto agreement, the reduction in human generated CO2 is NOTHING in comparison to the sheer bulk of the world’s atmosphere.  But the grab for power over humankind is obvious.

As Christians we are taught to fight the battle for the mind.  First, to transform ourselves by the renewing of our minds. And then to appeal to others as well.  As we help people to understand and care for the world around them, we’ll start to see real improvements in the way people treat the planet and the resources God has given us.  And it won’t be by a grab for political power but by an appeal to the heart and mind of people everywhere to allow God to govern them according to His will.

And an interesting thing about all this is – good stewardship of the resources God has given us is good business sense.  By using wisely that which is at our disposal we can make it go further and accomplish more.

Let us worship God and care for the world He has placed under our care. But let us NOT be drawn into the eco-wacky schemes of foisting power grabs upon the world around us.

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When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. – Proverbs 21:15

Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. - Amos 5:15

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  – Zechariah 7:9

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. - Matthew 23:23

Why is it that now evil doers do not fear the government, but the righteous do?

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“This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:6-7)

This is a day in which millions of Americans will be sending in their tax forms.  There will also be a lot of groaning, muttering and complaining.  There will also be a lot of preaching on how it’s our “Loyal duty” to pay the taxes.  Few people I know would claim that we should pay NO tax.  MANY people I know believe we are over taxed – and for wasteful purposes. To be forced, via taxation, to participate in that which one considers abhorrent (federally funded abortion, for example) is unjust at the very best.  To be shouted down and called a racist for demurring from the call to foist upon our children’s children a bill for wasteful spending goes against the grain.

As I was meditating on the verse above today, other verses came to mind.  First, Samuel’s warning to the Children of Israel when they decided they’d rather have a human king “like everyone else” rather than allowing Jehovah to reign in their hearts and minds.  Here is what Samuel told the people.

¹¹ He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.” (I Samuel 8:11-18)

Interesting, the king would take TEN PERCENT of their wealth and income. How much more does our government take from us today?

Another passage that came to mind follows:

They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval.  With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.  (Hosea 8:4)

So here’s what I’ve been cogitating on.  Do you suppose that setting up a “king” or choosing a “prince” without asking for God Almighty to guide us would entail an even heavier penalty than that given to the Children of Israel?  Do you suppose that by ignoring God’s leading in our daily lives as a nation and turning our backs on Him has lead us to the point where these words have come true, “When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”? Indeed, be careful what you wish for – it may come true.  In 2008 many people wished for “Hope and Change” – never asking what the foundation for such would be nor what “change” entailed.  Chopping off your leg is change – but not necessarily a good one.

But there is another verse that says a lot to us today.

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Are there enough of God’s people left who are willing and able to both humble themselves and seek God’s face?  Will we?  Or will we continue to seek our own paths as a nation and dive deeper into the pit?

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To my way of thinking, it’s not about “the right form of religious ceremony” but about “the right way of living”.  Jesus the Christ was known as The Way.  Before Antioch the early disciples were simply known as “disciples of Jesus of Nazareth” or “followers of The Way” or something similar.  In Antioch the disciples were first called christians, probably as a deprecatory epithet.  Note the form, “were first called”, they did not call themselves such at first but rather were called by that name by those around them.  This epithet soon became their badge of identity and was worn proudly because it expressed the essence of their being – “christian” = “little christ”.  In modern times we see much of the same thing happening.  Barrack Obama referred to his opponents in Pensylvania  during the 2008 presidential race as people who “cling bitterly to their guns and their religion”.  Blogs and forums soon sprouted people proudly claiming to be “bitter clingers”. In much the same way, the early followers of The Way soon adopted the epithet “christians” as a badge of identity.  After all, they were being taught to “put off that which is worldly” and to “put on Christ” so to be identified by that which they were putting on was only natural.

The key to understanding The Way – the church of the New Testament – is to come to an understanding of the message preached by Jesus and His Apostles.  He came down hard on the most religious folks around – because they were so focused on religion that they could not focus on the changed life that God was seeking from them.  As Del Tackett puts it, “Just memorizing Bible verses won’t hack it. We must learn how to penetrate the heart.” And that is what Jesus’ teaching did – it sought to transform His hearers by penetrating into their hearts and minds to effect a change in behavior due to the change in attitude brought about by a complete surrender to God’s way of thinking.  We will continue to mull this subject in future posts.

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