Overcoming Division

What in the world is happening? As I drive past flags flying at half-staff, I try to remember why. Was it the massacre in Orlando? Since then, we have cringed as story after story reminds us of the brokenness of this world: Minneapolis, Baton Rouge, Nice, Dallas, Baton Rouge. When is the flag ever flying high any more?

Pundits and politicians seize on every new story to advance some political agenda. They try to manipulate public opinion for the sake of votes and power. They sow seeds of division to advance their side. The more one side fights, the more the other side responds in kind. People are labeled, defamed, ambushed, and murdered.

The masses want to fight fire with fire. Rhetoric ratchets up. People stop listening and dismiss everything they hear from those people in that camp. They stop thinking for themselves and listen to the loudest voices on their "side." These voices stir up hate and suspicion, calling out the worst in human nature. Clearly this pattern makes our problems worse.

This is an opportunity for the church to stand up and call people to conversation on a higher plane. We are all broken. My perspective is not the only perspective. It's not even the right perspective. No one but God has the right perspective.

Christ calls us to this kind of humility at the cross. We are broken. We need redemption from our

sinful natures. Jesus paid the price for this redemption on the cross, giving his life as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. This is good news, but it can only be received with humility, admitting that we need a Savior.

Everyone around us is broken, too. No wonder we don't trust people. No wonder people hurt others. No wonder people find groups of others to hate. No wonder crime escalates.

There is no law, no politician, no policy that can diffuse the hate and fear of the human heart. Only Jesus can do this.

That's why the church needs to stand up and stand together, across those barriers that divide us. Jesus has broken down the wall of hostility between people who are different. (Ephesians 2:11-22) Only Jesus can change the heart. He does that every day as people surrender to him.

We can't put our hope in politics. We need good government, but government can't give me the right perspective. Only God can do that.

Let's rise above the name calling and division. Jesus calls us together. He calls us to repent. He calls us to love. And he changes our hearts so that we can.

Celebrating Independence

Today we celebrate the 240th anniversary of the independence of the United States. We have much to celebrate.

Here's what I value about our country.

We are founded on timeless principles, as described in the Declaration of Independence.

• All persons are created equal, and therefore equally valuable.
• Our inalienable rights are given to us by our Creator.
• We have the right to create that government which can best preserve our freedom.

Further, in the Constitution, we have specific rights enumerated, including the following.

• We have freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and redress.
• We have the right to have guns, to protect freedom.
• We have the right to due process and equal protection under the law.
• We have a government limited in its ability to search and seize.
• We can be creative and reap the benefits of our new ideas.
• Leaders are subject to the consent of the governed.

Our country's principles declare that people matter, regardless of who they are. In a state of freedom, all people are allowed to pursue whatever endeavors they wish.

We have, unfortunately, found that living out these principles is quite difficult.

Europeans who claimed this continent failed to treat Native Americans fairly in many cases. The issues were certainly complex, and many whites tried to deal honorably with the Indians, but too often, brute force outweighed justice.

As the Constitution was hammered out, wording was included to allow slavery, at least for 20 years. Without these provisions, many states would have rejected the document. The most costly war in our country's history was fought to settle the issue. Even so, fallout from the institution of slavery remains to this day.

Government has grown far beyond the scope anticipated by the Founders. There are tens of thousands of federal laws, and hundreds of thousands of binding regulations. Someone has asserted that the average person breaks three federal laws every day.

The American system of justice seems to favor the powerful, the rich, the connected, and white people.

Our country's foreign policy mettles in the affairs of almost every other country in the world. In every war, every conflict, we take sides. We often try to manipulate the outcome in issues that are none of our business.

We create policies that lead to dependence on government. As a result, personal effort is too often replaced by a sense of entitlement. Rather than relying on God, we have come to rely on government.

In spite of these issues, our country has brought much good to this world. We can and should celebrate our country, coupling national pride with healthy humility. May we reclaim our founding principles and seek liberty and justice for all.

What Would You Protest?

I don't think I've ever waved a picket sign. I see the protesters on television and wonder why they

don't get a life. Some things are not worth protesting.

Right now I'm reading Richard Rohr's book, Simplicity: The Art of Letting Go. He speaks of his work organizing peace protests years ago. Shortly afterward, the Soviet Union began shaking up.

I had no idea that he was one of them.

Here's what I want to say to protesters: Why don't you stop complaining and do something? Live your life following the rules, work hard to make a living, and everything will work out fine. The world is what it is, and you just have to quit complaining and adapt. Yes, it's unfair. Get over it.

Here's what I need to hear from protesters: You don't see the problems, because it all works for you. There is a problem with the way society is structured. If you were not so privileged, you would see it. There is hunger, disease, poverty, abuse of power, injustice. The power brokers of the world ignore the situation and often make it worse. The truth needs to be told.

I'm so busy living my life that I can't take time to notice injustice. I wonder what matters to me enough to make me carry a picket sign. Surely there's something. I need to wake up.

What about you?

On Being Hated

Jesus said that the world would hate his disciples.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. --Jesus in John 15:18-19

The world hated Jesus so much that they crucified him. He challenged people's assumptions, exposed their abuse of power, and criticized their desire for wealth. The downtrodden and outcast really liked him; people in power despised him. Those for whom the system was not working flocked to his teaching. Those who benefited from the system resented his reckless disregard for a time-tested system of honor and reward.

This teaching about being hated really bothers me. I don't want to be hated. I go out of my way to avoid offending people. If the world recognizes Christians by their love for each other, who could hate that? If we forgive and give to the poor and love our neighbors, how could that offend?

That's my disconnect. Jesus says that we will be hated, and he gives us the ministry of reconciliation and love. If we follow him with abandon, why would anyone hate us?

Obviously Jesus followed his own teaching. He loved the unlovely. He gave himself willingly. He lived with humility.

But Jesus also pointed out the flaws in systems and individuals. He called out the abuse of power. He pointed out the hypocrisy of religious elites. He refused to buy into the system of his day. He exposed selfish motives. He debated theology, and challenged dogma. His pushback against the system made people hate him.

And in the modern, Western world, the followers of Jesus don't seem to be hated too much. We try to live out the love component, but don't want to rock the boat. We don't push back against the system. To a large degree, churches and Christians work quite well, thank you, within this system.

We market our causes, leverage social media, and show the world that there is no reason to hate Christians. Yes, I know that elsewhere in the world, believers are tortured and executed. They are experiencing the hate of the world. I also know that in America Christians are overlooked for promotions and marginalized in the media. Christians are often made the scapegoats for all the ills in our society.

But I don't feel hated. Being hated is not my goal. That would be foolish. But Jesus did say that his disciples would be hated by the world. Is that no longer true? Or am I failing to challenge the system like Jesus did?

I think I know the answer.

Enemy Love

A Vietnam veteran spoke to me on Sunday after I had preached about loving one's enemy. He had seen real enemies who wanted to take his life. This "love your enemy" talk seemed to require the impossible. How can one love a person who would kill them?

As I spoke on Sunday about that passage in Matthew 5, I failed to make an important clarification.

When we think of loving someone, we think of having a warm spirit of affection for them. Because of that spirit of affection, we express love through action.

Jesus is calling us to express love through action toward our enemies, but not calling us to generate warm feelings of affection toward them. Because of love, we should cooperate with the person making unreasonable requests, Jesus says. We refuse to retaliate when harmed. We freely lend to those who want to borrow.

Rather than treating people with hatred, we treat them with love. Clearly Jesus is not expecting us to love enemies as we love our own families.  While we may not have affection for our enemies, we can behave toward them in a loving way. This is love through action without a spirit of cursing toward them.

In Luke 6:28, Jesus puts it like this: "Bless those who curse you." Loving enemies is never easy. Jesus calls us to live and love through his power. Only through his power can we experience the kind of life he wants for us.

In Danger for the Gospel

Our mission team is pictured here scattered among the people of

Spanish Town Tabernacle in Spanish Town, Jamaica.

We did construction work on the church building, pictured left.

Two American missionaries were killed in Jamaica last weekend. Here is the link to a CNN report of the incident. This hits home to us at Crossroads, because in 2009 we sent a team of men to do some construction work in Spanish Town, Jamaica, not far from Kingston. I first learned of the murders through email with our mission contacts from Jamaica. Our contacts, who served as missionaries for years in Jamaica, now live back in the U.S., but they knew the men who died.

The victims had no known enemies, and reportedly felt safe in Jamaica. Their work included building homes for needy people. They were sharing the love of Jesus with abandon and enthusiasm.

Another friend told me about folks he had met in India years ago who recently lost their lives for the gospel.  In March a pastor, his wife and two children were murdered and burned. Many are concerned that Christians in India will suffer persecution again, as they did in the early 2000s. Tens of thousands of believers died as entire villages were purged. I don't remember any media reports about it.

Historically, Christians suffer persecution. Governments, cultures, and institutions tend to single out Christians for blame.

Today, Christians in America seem to be magnets for blame. They won't toe the party line. They think independently. They answer to a higher authority.

I wonder if we are ready for real persecution. Living the gospel is dangerous.

Pushups and Crunches, Risk and Reputation

In my typical workout, I will do some pushups and crunches among my other exercises. It seems like I dread the pushups more than any other exercise. I used to put them off until last.

Crunches, on the other hand, are not too bad. I feel like I could do varieties of crunches for an hour or more. Not that I actually have, of course.

Upon reflection, I have discovered why I prefer the ab exercise. When I do crunches and need a rest, I just lie on my back and catch my breath. I crank it back up when I'm ready. Even if I give out, mid-crunch, I just flop back. It's no big deal.

Pushups, however, require more effort. When you stop between reps, you are really in plank, an isometric exercise. When you are resting, you are not fully resting. And, if you give out while doing pushups, you fall flat on your face. That can hurt your pride as well as your nose.

A mid-stroke fail looks much worse in a pushup than a crunch. No wonder I prefer crunches. The pushup may provide more fitness payoff, but it provides far more humiliation when my muscles reach fatigue. No one wants to be seen falling flat on his face.

This same principle applies to risks and rewards. The riskier a plan, the greater the payoff may be. But, the riskier an endeavor, the worse it looks when one fails. This is also a principle of economics: the greater the risk, the greater the potential reward, and the greater the potential catastrophe.

When a risky ministry succeeds, the payoff for the kingdom is huge: changed lives, people trusting Jesus, a high profile picture of the power of God. And when a risky ministry fails, you fall flat on your face. It hurts. It's embarrassing. It's public.

The success of a low risk, crunch-type ministry doesn't pay off much. A few people are challenged. Some get a new perspective. Some people might even come to Christ. That's not bad. It's better than nothing. Then, when a low risk ministry fails, we just stop the ministry. No harm, no foul. We don't miss a beat. No one ever knows that we blew it, or it fell apart.

In ministry, it's easy to pick the crunch-type projects. Low risk, maybe some reward. But no embarrassment when it crashes. And so we see the low risk ministries prevail, and the kingdom of God looks like a controlled playground kingdom--very safe, not much action. Our reputations are kept intact.

But if God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) Why wouldn't we risk it all? Why wouldn't we go for it?

Risky ministry is dangerous. This is the kind of ministry God would have us embrace. These are the pushups of the spiritual world. They cost more, take longer, require more faith, and bring the kingdom with power.

I'm looking for some pushup, God-sized challenges. Just don't laugh at me when I fall on my face. And cheer for Jesus, if something goes right.