Parables

Mark 3-4

What if you wanted to communicate a radically new concept to people, one that would challenge most of what they have beleived about God, themselves, and the world. How would you do it?

Jesus told little stories that compared spiritual truth to some common thing that everybody understood. Like planting a garden. Or turning on the lights. Or a tiny seed.

Of course, even with these helpful stories, not everybody got the point. Then or now.

How would you go about it? Without resorting to religious jargon, help me understand how God works in the world.

I Want to Be a Rock Star

Mark 1-2

Today we begin the Gospel of Mark, which is the shortest of the four gospels. It is one of the synoptic gospels, so called because it gives a synopsis of Jesus' life. Here are some other interesting things about this book.

The Gospel of Peter. Mark (probably John Mark, who shows up in the book of Acts) wrote this book, but the voice behind it is Peter. The theory is that Mark related the stories about Jesus that were handed on by Peter when in Rome. Mark also was an eyewitness to some events in Jesus' life.

First Gospel. Most people think Mark was the first gospel to be written and that Mark and Luke relied heavily on it when composing their accounts of Jesus. You'll notice that nearly all of the material in Mark appears also in either Matthew or Luke--or both.

The Gospel of Action. Everything happens bang-bang in Mark. His favorite word is immediately, which shows up 11 times in these 16 chapters. Mark emphasizes action, especially in the earlier chapters, so it contains fewer teachings by Jesus. This is good dramatic writing by the way--you're supposed to show not tell. Draw a picture of truth for your reader--don't beat them over the head with it.

Who Is Jesus? That's the big question that Mark wants the reader to answer. Notice the number of times that people either say who Jesus is or else ask "Who is this guy?"

Weird Ending. Most early copies of Mark do not include the last 11 verses, which, by the way, contain some very odd things. The "short ending" (16:1-8) leaves you with the question "What next?" ... which may be the point?

But on to our reading for today. Jesus was like a rock star back in those early days. Everybody wanted a piece of him. Do you think that popularity was an advantage in his ministry, or a liability? Or both?

Can you be a success in your ministry without becoming popular?

Just (Don't) Do It

James 3-5

I love the way James just puts it out there. Just do it, brother. That's all there is to it. You serve God, or you serve the devil. It's that simple.

Of course we do struggle against temptation, and of course there are "cravings at war within us," as James himself points out. Even so, it's refreshing to hear this Dr. Phil-type candor on the importance of right behavior.

So what about you? If James were writing to you (or to your church), on what subject might he tell you to "just do it," or "just knock it off"?

Walking It

James 1-2

Martin Luther, the great reformer of the church, hated the book of James. He called it an "epistle of straw."

Here's why: James emphasizes the need for Christians to put their faith into practice. He goes so far as to say that "works" (the things you do) are really an extention of faith, so that you can't really have one without the other. If you don't act saved, James would say, you're not saved.

Luther, reacting against the legalism of Medieval Catholocism, was convinced that "faith alone" is required for salvation. Sure, we all sin every day in thought, word, and deed, Luther would have said. So what? We believe in Jesus, so we're saved.

Well, the Reformation has been over for 500 years. And it could be that what our fat, lazy, self-centered church needs now is a little dose of brother James.

Actions speak louder than words, baby. Don't talk the talk if you ain't gonna walk the walk.

The Pursuit of Holiness

Hebrews 12-13

When you got "saved," you probably were intent on being forgiven. To most of us, that's what "saved" means. Forgiven.

When God saved you, he was intent on making you holy. To God, that's what "saved" means. Make into a new, holy person.

When, then, does it mean to "pursue holiness" (see 12:14)? And why do you think God is so adamant on this point?

Onward and Upward

Hebrews 6-11

Hebrews is the summa theologica for Jewish Christians just as Romans is for Gentile believers. Both books spend a great deal of time one the central problem of the Christian faith, born as it was out of the Jewish religion: How do you account for God's dealing with Israel? Did he change his mind? Is he unfair? Was the Law given for nothing?

As Paul did in Romans, this writer (maybe Paul again?) resorts to everything from biblical interpretation to legal argumentation to platonic philosophy to prove a single point: Jesus Christ is and always has been God's one answer to the problem of sin.

What I like about this book is the way it looks always to the future. Let's not go back and start all over agin in the faith--keep moving. Let's not piddle away our time--let's keep looking forward to "the Day." You stand on big shoulders here. Great men and women have gone before you. Don't think small. Don't cower. Don't backslide.

Get up and keep moving.

A Nation of Children

Hebrews 4-5

Nobody, except maybe James, makes a stronger case for obedience in the Christian life. Shoot, even Jesus learned obedience by what he suffered.

Having so recently emerged from the touchy-feely decades of the late 20th century, I'm not sure we're ready to hear about a God who treats us as children rather than as best buddies--meaning that he expects us to learn, change, and behave well, and that he disciplines us when we don't.

In regard to my own brood, I call that "growing up," and have never considered it a bad thing.

When my children say something to the effect of "It's not my fault I'm lazy; it's just the way I am," I generally take away the car keys for awhile.

Why do we expect different treatment from God?

Cool Book

Hebrews 1-3

Hebrews is probably the most underrated book in the Bible I can't remember the last time I heard a sermon based on Hebrews. And Bible studies based on the book don't sell well.

Here are some reasons why:

1. Heavy Theology. Hebrews is a heady book. There's a lot of theology here, everything from our concept of God to the Atonement to holiness to faith. These days, it's hard to get people to think seriously about important topics.

2. Unusual Writing. Hebrews is an odd form of literature. It's not a story, like Luke or Mark. It's not a letter, like Romans or James. It's not even apocalyptic literature, like Revelation. It's sort of an extended essay on the person and work of Jesus. It's also a rather elegantly written book. I guess all of that makes it harder to read.

3. Straight Talk. Hebrews undercuts pop theology. Most people want to believe that everybody who prays the "sinner's prayer" inevitably goes to heaven and that God blesses his children by giving them comfortable lives. Hebrews puts the lie to both, showing the need for us to persevere in the faith and the fact that we can expect to suffer, just as Jesus did. Those messages are a hard sell these days.

4. Jewish Context. Hebrews was originally written for a Jewish audience, and most Christians are not Jewish. Even so, we learn a lot about Jesus and what he did for us by understanding his work from a Jewish point of view.

This is a great book, and we'll see lots of cool passages in the next few days, including the famous Faith Chapter of the Bible--Hebrews 11.

But for today, think about this: Based on Hebrews 1-3, what one word would you use to answer the question "Who is Jesus?"

A Different Kind of Evangelism

Matthew 27-28

Jesus' Great Commandment is to make disciples. Lately, meaning for the last 100 years or so, we've been doing that by explaining to peple that they are separated from God by sin and saying that they need to repent. You're no doubt familiar with "the bridge" illustration, the Four Spiritual Laws booklet and the "sinner's prayer."

Jesus never used any of those devices, of course. He simply went around saying, "The time has come, the kingdom of Heaven is here, repent and believe the good news."

I wonder if it might not be time for us to rethink the way we introduce people to the Good News.

What do you think?

For My Next Number . . .

Matthew 25-25

A talent was an ancient Greek unit of measure equal to a cubic foot. Based on this parable, the word talent has come to mean an innate ability or skill. Either way, we are expected to use what God gave us in order to further his kingdom.

Fear of failure is what kept the useless servant from being effective. He had fewer talents than everybody else, and he knew it. Most of us one-talent people feel the same. I, too, can look around and see that nearly everyone has been given more talent. So for a long time, I did nothing rather than using the one talent that I have.

That was a mistake.

What is your "talent"? What are you doing with it?

No, You Get Out

Matthew 23-24

If Jesus was rejected by his own people, and he was, he certainly returned the favor here. I guess nobody can criticize you quite like a family member, and Jesus held nothing back in his assessment of the generation of people who had rejected his message.

You're a bunch of hypocrites, and you're going to hell.

That's harsh.

It is extremely difficult for people who already think they do everything right to see their need for God or for change. That explains why, in suburban America, it is much easier to build a religious mega-institution than to gather a band of people who are devoted to imitating Jesus Christ. When your teeth are white, your car is shiny, and there are no grubs in your lawn, you're perfect. Right?

"O Indianapolis, Indianapolis . . . "

Tough Room

Matthew 21-22

Jerusalem is a tough gig. Jesus has been quite the phenom out there in the provinces. But here in the big town, well, they're just not that easily impressed.

I get that these guys had lots of reasons to want Jesus to get lost. Poor people always like it when somebody talks smack about the establishment. Establishment people tend not to like it that much.

So are you one of the hoi polloi or one of the haute monde? That is, are you looking for a reaon to trust Jesus or a reason not to?

It's Not Fair

Matthew 19-20

God is not fair. Generosity isn't fair. Grace isn't fair. Love isn't fair. Fairness is where everyone gets exactly what they deserve. God doesn't do that. If God were fair, he would have paid the workers who came late in the day only a fraction of what the others received. But God gives people better than they deserve. That's not fair.

Any complaints?

He Who Has Ears

Matthew 17-18

I had always thought the transfiguration was recorded in the Bible to give us a gentle warning about getting too enamored of religious experience. Don't be like Peter, and stand there gaga over what God is doing. Enjoy the mountaintop and get on with real life.

And that's good advice. But it's not the point of this event. The point was that before completing the most difficult portion of his ministry, Jesus was steeled for the experience by the fellowship of the two greatest of all prophets, Moses and Elijah. Just as temptation prepared him for the pressures of the adoring crowd, so time with these great men of God prepared him for dealing with the enemies of truth. It was the mother of all mentoring sessions, and Peter was invited in the role of padawan. Ever the novice, Peter was too giddy to seize this opportunity to hear from the greatest of all oracles.

Jesus had sense enough to consult the great minds of history before undertaking his little jaunt into Jerusalem. To whom are you listening?

Weekend Blog

Hey Team ... I'll be offline for a few days, attening a big bookseller's convention in Orlando.

Here are the readings for the next few days. Throw in a comment, and I'll try to chime in too, between appointments.

Saturday: Romans 9-10
Sunday: Romans 11-12
Monday: Romans 13-14
Tuesday: Romans 15-16

Do As I Do

Matthew 7-8

Jesus never said "Repeat after me." He said, "Follow me." He didn't leave us with a series of rules or even a set of doctrines (though he did give commands and teach principles). What he gave us was a life. A lifestyle. A way of thinking and being in the world. A way of living.

So it's not the people who say the right thing who enter heaven. It's the people who act like God.

That's how I read Matthew 7:21. How do you read it?

Well It Sounds Nice

Matthew 5-6

My father has memorized the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, and he has often delivered it from memory as a sermon. I aspire to do the same, although I have done little to actually commit this incredible passage of Scripture to memory. I aspire to live this way also, and I regret that I have done so little to actually imitate the lifestyle that Jesus here describes.

That's the way it is with beautiful, masterful things. They inspire us to admiration but not necessarily to action. Do you agree that this way of life, the one Jesus describes here, is beautiful, admirable, good, and right?

And will you live this way?

Solitude

Matthew 3-4

The Judean wilderness is a barren, lonely place. Truly. Nobody lives there. Nothing lives there. It is a desert. A void.

Deserts are deeply spiritual places. They are a geographcial form of silence. With nothing else to occupy our attention, we are forced to deal with the spiritual world. We must face God, face ourselves, face the devil. Jesus did this, in preparation for his ministry.

We, however, assiduously avoid silence. We fill every space with sound and activity so that we are never required to engage the spirtiual world. We have a wilderness here in North America. A great desert. That's where we built Las Vegas.

What about you? Where do you go to be alone wtih God, alone with yourself, and to fight the devil?

Who Is Jesus

Matthew 1-2

The Christmas story in Luke gets all the press because it's so much fun to tell. Mary's compliant response to the angel, the journey to Bethlehem, the manger birth, angels, shepherds, the little drummer boy ... oops, we like to sneak that one in there, don't we? This is a very human story, almost American in its populist appeal--from humble beginnings come great things.

Matthew's is the oriental gospel. This is the tale of a true prince, descended from a long and stately line of kings, born in secret, hidden from the usurping regent. Joseph takes center stage here, not Mary, for its his bloodline that holds the pedigree. This is a tale of fortune tellers, intrigue, plots, and murder. How else are kings made?

This account, too, touches every benchmark of authenticity for the ancient God fearer. Jesus is born on Bethlehem, as was David. He soujourns in Egypt, as did Moses. His birth fulfills every prophecy of the Messiah. This is no ordinary person. This is the one born King of the Jews.

The More Things Change ...

2 Timothy 3-4

We think we're quite different, don't we? Living in these modern times. Postmodern times. Whatever. We know so much more about people now. About the world. About everything. We have the Internet, for pity's sake.

But we're not different.

Paul's final charge to Timothy could easily be given to any pastor serving anywhere in the world today. People don't want to be guided by truth. They much prefer to jabber about meaningless myths or else find false teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear. Paul has these birds nailed right down to their love of money and their predilection to prey upon lonely women.

Here's Paul's charge in a nutshell. "Convince, rebuke, and encourage."

Persuade people to accept the truth.
Smack 'em upside the head when they act stupid.
Then patiently assure them that they really can do this.

We still need all of that, even if we have been to the moon and back.

Nuh Uh

2 Timothy 1-2

There are two traps that churches are likely to fall into. I'm not talking about individual believers. It is in groups that people tend to be led down each of these two rabbit trails.

One is to become tolerant of sin. Individuals almost always know when they are doing something wrong, though they may deny it to others. But in groups, Christians sometimes genuinely convince themselves that wrong is right--or at least not so terribly wrong. So Paul constantly instructs his churches about right conduct.

The second pitfall, more pointedly seen in this letter, is the tendency among Christians to argue amongst themselves about theological matters that have absolutely no value. The Second Coming, as Paul notes here, is an incredibly powerful lure for our imaginations--and pure imagination accounts for nearly all that is said among us about the return of Jesus. ("Soon" and "Be ready" are the important points.)

What "meaningless controversies" have you seen debated among Christians? And what was the result?

Don't Knock the Church

1 Timothy 5-6

Anybody who wants to be a pastor should read Paul's pastoral letters closely. This is what the pastorate is mostly about--dealing with people and their problems. Great work, if you like that sort of thing.

I don't know of any set of human relationships that is more complex and difficult to maintain than the church. It is easier to be a family. Shoot, it's easier to be a blended family than to bring people from various backgrounds and points of view into the fellowship of faith and have them all agree, mind their own business, and generally get along.

But this is Jesus' plan. We shall meet together in his name. We shall be one in his Spirit. And he shall be among us.

Don't knock the church, man. It's what we got.

On today's Scripture: The love of money is no less prevalent among the poor than among the rich. Nearly everyone sees money as the cure for their problems, and some see even the church as a means to financial gain.

Paul has great insight there .... and he didn't even own a TV ;-)

To Drink or Not to Drink

1 Timothy 3-4

Team, let me get your input on an important question. It's prompted by today's passage, in which Paul lists requirements for various church officers. (In yesterday's reading, he talked about proper behavior for your average church goer.)

Clerarly, Paul has it in mind that there should be some behavioral standards for all Christians, and that there should be even higher standards for church leaders.

So what about the use of alcohol?

This is a hot issue right now in my denomination, where our current membership covenant allows those who use alcohol to be members of the church but requires total abstinence from alcohol (along with tobacco, gambling, witchcraft, and a few other things) for any members who want to be church leaders--such as board members or pastors.

Some say that's not biblical because, after all, Jesus drank wine.

Others say that alcohol is such a danger to our society that abstinence should be required of everybody, even ordinary members.

What do you think?

Modesty

1 Timothy 1-2

Most people want to argue about Paul's comments on women in ministry here and ignore the rest of what he says about women. Let's not skip over it quite so fast.

What about the whole modesty thing? Most people agree that the specific rules about braided hair and certain jewelry items are culturally bound directions. For example, even the people who argue against allowing women to preach have no problem with them wearing pearls (which is an odd contradiction, by the way).

So if we were to translate Paul's instructions for present-day women (or men, for that matter), what advice would we give about modesty? Would we list certain types of clothing that shouldn't be worn, as Paul did? Or would we simply say, "Dress modestly"? Or would we talk about it at all?

Is modesty much of a topic of conversation at your church? Should it be?

Rules and Regulations

Philemon, Titus 1-3

Discipline is an ugly word. We find it difficult to maintain in our personal lives. We inconsistently apply it to our children, and we ignore it altogether at church.

Yet this is the subject of both of Paul's letters today--church discipline, or the enforcement of correct teaching and decorum among church members.

Paul's letter to Philemon was mostly pastoral, but it did have an edge to it. I just know you'll do the right thing, Philemon, won't you? To Titus, Paul gave extrememly pointed instructions, including rules for ordination and guidelines for membership in the Christian community.

So. If you were starting a church from scratch, as Paul did, would you have any rules for members? What would they be?

If I've Told You Once

Colossians 3-4

Paul is like a broken record with this old life/new life routine. (For my younger readers, that's like a CD with a scratch on it. For the tragically hip, it's like an MP4 file stuck on repeat.)

This third chapter may be the clearest yet. Set your mind on things above. You used to live one way--selfishly, miserably--now you must live as Jesus did. Your life is tied to his.

If he's said it once, he's said it 1,000 times. "You must live a changed life--and you really can do it."

Why, then, do so many of us return to the old life? What's so great about sin?