Lukewarm Special with a Side of Indifference

Dinner has always meant a lot to my family.  It is the one moment in the day where everyone comes together, sits at the table, giving thanks to the Lord and for at least thirty minutes we are all together as a family. With my family never knowing that at least five meals a week is a strategic, well thought out plan that took a better part of the day just so I could have those thirty minutes.  Because anyone that has prepared a meal knows that timing is everything.  You have to know when to start cooking what so that it is all done at the same time and if you are like me, you are timing everything to be ready to be pulled out of the oven as your spouse is pulling into the driveway.  I do this because I want everyone to have a hot plate of food so, they can enjoy that thirty minutes as much as I do.  I’m sure there are many families that are just like mine that put just as much effort into their family dinners.  But, as I look at the current state of this country and sadly enough, the church body, I can’t help but wonder why is it we put so much work into having a hot meal but the faith and obedience with which we serve Christ is lukewarm at best?

 

This country was founded on Biblical principles.  The Word of God was the guideline our founding fathers used for how our nation was to be governed.  Over the generations, however, we have picked over the Bible and as a country only keeping what we like.  Even non-believers are guilty of this.  Christmas and Easter are Christian holidays last time I checked but, how many celebrate those holidays?  Why in an era that the separation of Church and State is at an all-time high are those two days still considered national holidays?  The answer is simple; they are Biblical observances that are mutually non-offensive.  People can get things they want, the government gets the economic boost of people spending above their means and Christians get to celebrate the birth and resurrection of their Savior.  So we keep those Biblical institutions and everyone is okay with the mixing of Church and State for the moment.  But, what happens when a Biblical principle is found to be offensive?  The people rally against it, scream for separation from the Church and call it a civil rights issue.

 

Just as Christmas and Easter are Biblical observances, the sanctity of marriage is Biblical as well.  God’s law on marriage is clear. In Ephesians 5:21-33 He lays it out clear and simple.  Today, that Biblical institution is under attack.  It has been found to be unfair and offensive and there is a movement of millions fighting for marriage equality.  Now, I am by no means a Biblical scholar nor have I ever been to seminary school but from all my reading in the Word, I have yet to find a passage where God requires our approval for any commandment He has laid before us; He only requires obedience.  The truth of the matter is there maybe commandments that to some are unfair but that never negates the requirement to obey it.  If I was a talented public speaker (which I am not) and I wanted to pastor a church 1 Timothy 2:12 says that female pastors would go against God’s will and 1 Corinthians 11:3 just confirms God’s order in the Church.  So, if I wanted to be the head of a church I may find those verses unfair.  God is not asking me to agree with His plan but commanding that I obey it.  As parents we shouldn’t offer suggestions to our children on how to behave nor should they be given an option to disobey because they think we are unfair.  But instead, we should give them specific sets of rules with clear consequences when the rules are broken.  Our Heavenly Father has done the same.  Marriage is not a civil rights issue but a Biblical privilege and it should remain a union between a man and a woman brought together and blessed by God.

Now, having made my beliefs clear; I am not advocating Christians to practice condemnation either.  Jesus says in John 8:7 only those without sin can is qualified to throw the first stone and He made it clear again in Luke 6:37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven.  Even though we shouldn’t be throwing stones, we also shouldn’t be neutral in those issues that go against the Will of God.  We need to stand firm in our faith, without shame.  It is a very thin line between loving the sinner and supporting the sin.  When we let our foothold waiver and we become neutral, we in turn begin to support the sin.  In the eyes of the Lord, there is no gray area; only black and white, only hot or cold. Lukewarm is not acceptable.  Revelation 3:15-16 “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!  But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!”

 

So, my prayer for all of us as a nation and as a church body is to receive a fire from the Holy Spirit to stand firm in our faith, active in the Word, obedient in our service to Him and to do all things in love for our fellow man.  In Jesus name.

 May all we do in service to Christ be just as hot as the meal we place on the table.

Kickin' It Old School

For as long as I can remember, Little House on the Prairie has always been one of my favorite T.V. shows.  Which, if you knew me, you would know how odd that is considering what a science fiction nerd I am.  It’s true I can’t tell you the name of one single cast member of Glee but I can, however, list off Starfleet captains and the names of the ships they commanded.  One of my dreams is to learn to speak Klingon (hey, don’t judge you never know when that may come in handy).  And yet, when I flip through the channels I’m drawn to the 1880’s to spend an hour with the Ingalls’s family.  I never knew why I liked the show until recently it hit me that it’s because of the strong family values; something this generation severely lacks.

In this one hour show I could see men who knew how to be men.  They worked until their hands bled to support their family.  Sun up to sun down, six days a week doing whatever was necessary to put food on the table.  And no matter how tired they were, you could still see them taking their family to church early Sunday morning.  They also knew how to treat and love their wives, how to treat them like the lady God created them to be.  The women knew how to be women.  They worked just as hard in their responsibilities.  They knew how to be supportive to their husbands, to love and respect them.  They were willing to do whatever they could to take some burden off of their spouse.  Children were raised to have respect for their elders and for each other.  And when the family came on hard times, the children’s first thought wasn’t about themselves; it was about how they could help.  The family knew that when conflict reared his ugly head, they didn’t search for the nearest divorce attorney for a solution; they turned to the Word of God for answers.  Neighbors loved one another, they helped each other; they might have been a small town but they were a big family.  The one thing that always amazed me was no matter how little or how much they had, they knew how to be grateful and how to give thanks to God.

Now, I know that the show was fictionalized non-fiction and the real Ingalls family couldn’t have been perfect but I do believe it has been one of the closest representations of applying God’s plan for the family and the harmony that comes from letting Him run your house as well as your heart.  God’s plan is not “old fashioned” or outdated.  It was never meant to change with the times.  We are the ones meant to change. His Word is constant yesterday, today and tomorrow.  The breakdown in the family dynamic today is because we have removed Christ and replaced Him with chaos.  Everyone is trying to do the other’s God given role instead of fulfilling their own role.  

Truth is, it is not that hard to find husbands more concerned with their own desires than with the needs of the family.  The Bible was clear on the role of the husband.  In Ephesians 5:25-33 we can read that the husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church.  Even in verse 23 God’s plan shows he is to be the head of his house.  Men are to be the spiritual leaders in the home; making sure God’s will is being fulfilled.  Families everywhere are crying for their men to lead!  We also can find wives so consumed with asserting control over their husbands that they neglect the very roles they were designed for.  In verse 22 of Ephesians, we know God wants wives to submit to their husbands as to the Lord.  It seems to me that women get hung up on the word submit.  I am a woman and a wife and submission is not to be enslaved by or to be a doormat to your husband it simply means to willingly follow your husband’s leadership in Christ.  I’ve pointed out Matthew 26:39 before where Jesus, regardless of His own desires, knew the importance of submitting to the Father’s will.  He knew His role, His place in God’s plan.  I’ve said this before and will proudly say again that if Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, my Lord and Savior, can submit and know His place than I can know mine as well. 

We can look deeper and find that even our children don’t know their place in the family.  We see our kids trying all the time to assert authority in and out of the home; being outrageously disrespectful and parents, being so wrapped up in their own will, doing nothing about it.  We know that in Exodus 20:12 it says to honor your father and mother and in Ephesians 6:1 it says children, obey your parents but how are they to know that? The Bible has an answer for that too.  We teach them.  In Deuteronomy 6:6-7 it says we are to keep God’s word in our heart and repeat them again and again to our children.  In Proverbs 22:6 God promises that if we direct our children on the right path, they won’t stray from it as adults. 

So, if husbands lead, wives submit and children obey like the Bible says than the family should be a very cohesive unit, right? Well, in Little House’s time of the 1880’s, where God’s word was the foundation of most American families, the divorce rate was less than 5%.  Today, it is more like 45-50%, so you tell me.

God’s plan is not a set of random ideas that He put forth just because He had nothing better.  They are specific commands because He is our Heavenly Father.  He created us and He knows our needs before we even have them.  And if we follow His plan our needs will be fulfilled.  We shouldn’t just accept our roles, we should rejoice in them!  Know that whatever role He blessed you with is because that is where you can serve Him best.  If His plan seems too “old fashioned” or too outdated for our fast advancing society than I say, we need to stop looking ahead to the stars and head back to the prairie.

Not all that is beautiful, is pretty

I remember when I first felt the call to serve Jesus; I tried to ignore it at first.  You know, the way most of us have tried to ignore the bill collectors when they call (Caller I.D. was such a beautiful invention).  And, just like with the bill collectors, I knew what Jesus wanted when He called.  He wanted me, not just some of me and not just on Sundays.  He wanted all of me, all the time.  I knew this, so I tried to ignore the call.  I knew that like the bill collectors, He wanted more than I wanted to give.  But lucky for me, He can’t be easily ignored like they can.  I couldn’t just turn off the phone or change my number and I eventually answered that call.  I remember my body trembling, the tears falling and even being afraid of what I was feeling because I had never felt anything like that before.  I had so many emotions that my mind could not sort them out and I had no other choice but to surrender them to Christ.  The experience of turning my life over to Jesus was beautiful.  Thank You, Jesus for being more persistent for my soul than bill collectors were for my money!

Now, being born again will always be the most beautiful experience that could ever happen here on earth but, Jesus never promises that it will always be pretty.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul writes, “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”  He said everyone will; not some and not maybe.  I’m thinking Timothy gave an Amen when he read that.  I’m thinking all Christians can give Paul an Amen to that.  Sometimes, it seems that we have a “no money down and no payment until...” mindset on our salvation but, it seems the “until” part never comes.  When we first become born again the down payment is easy: confess and repent your sins and believe Christ is the Son of God and He is you Savior.  Confess, repent, believe; I can afford that.  Then we sport our transformation around like a brand new car, showing it off to anyone that wants to see.  We’re armed with all the specs and perks His grace has to offer.  Then, we turn into salesmen to let everyone know they can afford all this too.  But, then, the payments start becoming due and that shiny new car starts to look a little dull.

The question is not whether or not we can still afford His salvation but whether or not we want to pay for it.  Sometimes, it’s not pretty.  Even though, we could never pay what His gift is worth; we should strive daily to pay with our obedience, even if that means to sacrifice. Not only is not always going to be pretty but sometimes it is going to downright hurt.  It could cost us relationships or financial stability, the freedom to go out and party or even the bitter taste of some humble pie because you have to forgive someone you don’t want to.  In my case, I had to learn to love everyone, not just those who loved me or that I felt deserved my love.  When Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross; trust me, it hurt.  Just like when He was here on earth, He never asks anything of us that He isn’t willing to do Himself.  Even if He didn’t want to, even if it caused Him pain; He obeyed and paid the price that was ours to pay. Matthew 26:39 He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, "My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine."

Like I said before, He doesn’t want part of us, part of the time.  He wants all of us, all of the time.  When the call is answered and we give Him all we are and could ever hope to be; the reward will be great because we will stand before Him when He calls again to bring us home.  Even if the journey to get there comes with sacrifice or pain or isn’t pretty; it will be absolutely beautiful.