Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Encouragement in Matthew 5

If you're feeling down at all today, I encourage you to read Matthew 5 in the Message version of the Bible.

Click here to go to it.

Friday, March 25, 2011

A difference of responses

Have you ever wondered about the angel Gabriel? In Luke 1, he makes two visits: first to Zechariah, to promise the birth of John the Baptist; and second, to Mary, to foretell Jesus' birth. Though both Zechariah and Mary asked questions, Gabriel responded to Zechariah's questions by punishing Zechariah with nine months of muteness--while Gabriel gently answered Mary's questions. What was the difference?

Let's take a look at the first visit. Luke 1:5-22 tells the entire story, but we'll focus on verses 18 through 20. Gabriel has just announced that John the Baptist will be Zechariah's son, and this is Zechariah's answer (from the NCV):

"Zechariah said to the angel, 'How can I know what you say is true? I am an old man, and my wife is old, too.'
The angel answered him, 'I am Gabriel. I stand before God, who sent me to talk to you and to tell you this good news. Now, listen! You will not be able to speak until the day these things happen, ecause you did not believe what I told you. But they will really happen.'"

What do you see in this passage? Zechariah's question was not so much of a question as a challenge. He asked for a verification of the message, but followed up his question with an expression of his belief that the message could not really be verified at all. It's as if your parents came to you one day and said, "We're going to finally buy you a cell phone!"--and you responded (smirking) "Seriously? You've never even owned one yourself--I bet you don't even know how to set up a cell phone plan." How do you think your parents would respond?

Let's take a look at Mary's response next. Her story is told in Luke 1:26-38, but we'll focus on verses 34 through 38:

"Mary said to the angel, 'How will this happen since I am a virgin?'
The angel said to Mary, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you. For this reason the baby will be holy and will be called the Son of God. Now Elizabeth, your relative, is also pregnant with a son though she is very old. Everyone thought she could not have a baby, but she has been pregnant for six months. God can do anything!'
Mary said, 'I am the servant of the Lord. Let this happen to me as you say!' Then the angel went away."

Can you see the difference? Zechariah asked "How can I know what you say is true?" while Mary asked "How will this happen?" Mary didn't doubt that what the angel said was true. She knew it would happen; she just wanted to know how it would happen. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a large part of Mary's motivation for asking the angel this question was her desire to follow God--something like, "Okay, how's this going to work out? Do I need to do anything?" Mary had both faith in God's power and a willing spirit to follow Him. Going back to our cell phone illustration, this would be as if your response went something along the lines of "Cool. What service provider were you thinking of signing me up with? Can I help you out in getting my phone set up?"

We could take a lesson from Mary in our interactions with God, too. Next time your parents or teachers tell you about a project or situation, let your response be "Great! Tell me more. Is there anything I can do?"

And next time God tells you to do something....

...get to it :)

Friday, March 4, 2011

Cultural Context: How relavent is it, really?

From girls who almost always wear homemade dresses and headcoverings to girls who don't look different from the average teenage atheist, Christian girls come in all varieties. We all claim to follow the same God through reading the same Bible. Nevertheless, our applications of God's principles differ widely.

My question for the past few years has been "To what extent should I make a 'break' with popular culture to follow God?" The answer is not altogether clear...at first glance. Let's take a walk through some of the Bible verses dealt with on each side of the argument, so you can get a sense of where each position comes from: (note: "conservative" means a girl who believes in wearing dresses, headcoverings, etc; "liberal" means a girl who believes in blending with the culture)
  • Galatians 1:10: "Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
    • Conservative view: Modifying your behavior and dress to match the culture is an attempt to please people, which is clearly contrary to the Bible's teaching. This is why we want to stand out.
    • Liberal view: Our motivation in dressing like the culture is not to please others but to please God, who calls us to reach out to others.
  • 1 Corinthians 10:32-33: "Never do anything that might hurt others—Jews, Greeks, or God's church—just as I, also, try to please everybody in every way. I am not trying to do what is good for me but what is good for most people so they can be saved."
    • Conservative view: Dresses, worn for modesty, keep us from hurting boys. Wearing anything less modest may hurt boys by tempting those boys to lust.
    • Liberal view: This verse justifies blending in with the culture. Dressing in ways that are unusual or doing things that are unusual could hurt someone's impression of the gospel, making it more difficult for them to be saved. We want to please everybody as far as it avoids sin.
  • John 17:13-16: "I pray these things while I am still in the world so that these followers can have all of my joy in them. I have given them your teaching. And the world has hated them, because they don't belong to the world, just as I don't belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the Evil One. They don't belong to the world, just as I don't belong to the world."
    • Conservative view: We don't belong to the world. It's only natural that we don't fit in.
    • Liberal view: First off, just claiming that we're Christians makes it harder to "fit in." Second, even though we're not of this world, we're in it. Jesus didn't dress differently, and neither should we.
And the list goes on. 

It's a hard issue, but it's not impossible.

Let's look at the behavior of people in the Bible. We'll take two examples, both from influential "John"s who knew Jesus: John the Baptist and John the disciple. 

John the Baptist is the only New Testament character I can think of who is similar to the "conservative" movement. John the Baptist dressed much differently than the culture, ate much different foods than the culture, acted much differently than the culture. Yes, played a pivotal role in history by paving the way for Jesus. He was the last prophet--but also the last "Old Testament" Bible character, if you will. No, he isn't technically an Old Testament prophet, but most of his ministry was before Jesus' ministry, and he died before Jesus died.

John the disciple (with all of the other disciples) resembles the modern movement: he dressed the same as the culture, ate similar foods as the culture, and acted similar to the culture. He also played a pivotal role in history: he wrote books of the Bible and led many to Jesus. He was one of the first modern Christians.

John the disciple followed Jesus in modern times. Shouldn't we do the same?

That doesn't mean we obsess over what the culture is doing. Not at all! Being like our culture should come naturally, actually. (In doubt? Just Google "American culture" and take a look at the long list of things you thought were "normal." You already behave according to many cultural standards!) What is unnatural is finding ways that are not only counter-cultural but just plain unheard-of to follow God. It's possible to follow God within the culture.

And guess what? A good side effect of this is that this has the potential to change culture for the better. In my town, a little while back, our newspaper had a front page article about girls becoming more modest with their clothing choices--choosing outfits that would cover more than they show. That's a side effect of Christians growing in godliness while reaching out to the culture. You don't alienate anybody, but at the same time you don't look quite the same. And when people ask you why you are different, you can tell them about God's amazing love and His role in your life.

I was thinking of following up this post with a post on how to apply this lesson, but I decided not to. Know why? Because God doesn't call us to make human rules about what we should or shouldn't do in trivial areas like this. He calls us to follow Him. I'm pretty sure He wouldn't want me saying "everyone should wear skinny jeans" or "no one should wear v-neck t-shirts." In fact, modesty and cultural relevancy differs from culture to culture and from girl to girl. So here's your application: read your Bible. The heart is ultimately far, far, far more important than anything you wear; and if you read your Bible (and God has some clothing guidelines there, too, so don't worry!) your life will naturally reflect His words.

And that's beautiful. :)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Following God's leading

Up to this point in my life, I can think of three really major decisions I've faced:"Which American Girl doll should I ask my grandma to buy me for my birthday?" "What college should I go to?" and "Should I fly on a plane with the new TSA scanners and pat-down procedures in place?" I prayed over and labored over all three decisions. And, with the exclusion of that first one, my final decisions for were all based on Bible verses.

That's right. Not an audible voice from God. Not a "whisper in my heart." Not a dream. Yes, Bible verses.

I've been listening to a lot of John MacArthur sermons lately (if you haven't heard of him, you should check out his website: gty.org). He happened to write a little book I have on my bookshelf that deals with following God's will. MacArthur makes several theologically sound points, my favorite being this: (and I paraphrase)

The only place we can find God's actual words--
the only "God's will" we can be 100% certain of--
is in the Bible.

Now, you may be wondering why I centered that. After all, it's a point that many of us Christian kids learn and hear over and over. 

But let me ask you something: how often do you really apply that? 

How often have you been told (by Christians, mind you) to "listen to God's will" or to "pray and see what God says"? Or to just sit quietly and "listen"?

I used to be one of those people. Adamantly, too. 
Until I started "hearing" things that I knew weren't true. 
Until I started "hearing" multiple voices telling me contradicting things.

You have to be very careful when you're dealing with spiritual matters. The devil has been trying to trick Christians for at least 6,000 years, if not longer, and he's gotten really good at it (you would too, if you'd been working on something 24/7 for 6,000 years!). The Bible says that the devil disguises himself as an "angel of light." Spiritual stuff is way more complicated and dangerous than we sometimes realize!

Now, I don't know about you, but when I have a super-big decision to make (such as where to attend college), I don't want to just listen to a "whisper in my heart"--especially one that's been confusing me. I want God to telephone me, telling me exactly what to do! 

Although we don't have God's audible voice telling us what to do, we do have the words of God in the Bible. In both my decision to apply to the Master's College and my decision to avoid flying on planes because of the TSA, I didn't have God telling me "go here" or "do that." However, I read His words in the Bible and applied them to each situation.

Is God able to lead through a "whisper in your heart?" Of course! But whatever that "whisper" says must match up with His word.