Loving the "Unloveable"!

"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same...But love your enemies and do good..."

Luke 6:32-33, 35

We are called to love the "unlovable". But is there anyone who is truly "unlovable"? Difficult? Unruly? Belligerent? Mean? Sour? Scornful? Perhaps. But "unlovable"? I doubt it. Here's why: my love for them is not, in any way, supposed to be contingent upon their behavior towards me or another. Jesus makes that point very clear! So let's be careful not to label someone "unlovable". To do so is to attempt to negate the teaching of Christ and belittles the equipping power of the Spirit. I am simply called to love everyone, friend and enemy alike, for the sake of Jesus Christ and the witness of the gospel. No excuses. Think about it.

Innocent People?

"Suppose you were to ask me, 'What happens to the innocent guy in the middle of Africa who dies without ever hearing the gospel?' My confident answer to you, based on the authority of God's Word, would be, 'I believe he will undoubtedly go to heaven. There is no question in my mind.' Now, before some label me as a heretic (and others label me a hero), read back over that last paragraph. Look especially at the hypothetical question: 'What happens to the innocent guy in the middle of Africa who dies without ever hearing the gospel?' The reality is, the innocent guy in Africa will go to heaven because, if he is innocent, then he has no need for a savior to save him from his sin. As a result, he doesn't need the gospel. But there is a significant problem here. The innocent guy doesn't exist...in Africa or anywhere else. I am always amazed at how we bias this question concerning people who have never heard about Jesus...There are no innocent people in the world just waiting to hear the gospel. Instead there are people all over the world standing guilty before a holy God, and that is the very reason they need the gospel."

David Platt, Radical

The "Nones"...Nothing is Something!

This morning, thanks to the USA Today, I learned that the "Nones" have now become the second largest religious category after Catholics. That's after Catholics, so we do mean "Nones", not Nuns. The "Nones", those that claim no religious identity, now outnumber the nation's largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. While this demographic does include atheists and agnostics, consider that, among this group:

*68% believe somewhat in God or a higher power
*41% say that they pray
*23% think religion is at least somewhat important in their life

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, offered a warning, "This is a wake-up call. We have an incredible challenge ahead for committed Christians." I agree. But I am afraid that most of the Amercian church, while cringing at such statistics, will respond in its usual way. That means we will likely take our "let's-just-hope-it-goes-away" stance while trying to convinve ourselves that things are going just fine. But that's unacceptable. Jesus has not called us to be observers of His Kingdom work, but active participants. So for those who love Jesus and want others to love Him, too, what do we do? I don't have all the answers and I know that I need time to really process this latest information. But I do know this: the gospel is sufficient to meet this challenge! So let's pray for the lost. Let's take the Good News to them, where they live, work, and play. Let's tell them about Jesus. Let's show them Jesus in the way we live and interact with them. Let's love them and serve them with the heart of Christ. They may be called "Nones", but that doesn't mean they're nothing. They are made in the image of God; they are sinners that need a Savior. And that's something. A really big something.

Odds and Ends...

Wow! Time does fly. I haven't posted in over a month, so...allow me to catch up on some "odds & ends":

*We are in week 6 of our Radical Discipleship Study at our church. Here's a startling point from this past week. Consider: the American church spends $10 billion annually on buildings. In America alone the amount of real estate owned by institutional churches exceeds $230 billion. Should we discuss priorities? The conversation isn't as simple as you may think, but it is a conversation that needs to be had.

*The college football season is in full swing. My beloved Tennessee Vols need prayer. They're 3-2 but could easily be 3-5 by the end of the month. We need some help on ol' Rocky Top!

*I am beginning a short sermon series this week entitled The Church: God Gathers. God Sends. Let me clarify. The series will be short...the sermons will not be. Anyway, as I am preparing I am finding that our practices and definitions of "church" are, at times, remarkably unbiblical. I pray that our hearts will be recaptured by the scripture's picture of the church.

*"If God promises something, then faith must fight a long and bitter fight, for reason or the flesh judges that God's promises are impossible. Therefore, faith must battle against reason and its doubts."

Martin Luther

Radical Thinking 2

Tonight is the second session of the Radical study at our church. On the inside cover this David Platt book, Greg Matte, pastor of First Baptist Church of Houston, writes: "Radical will cause you to bounce on a spectrum between two words: ouch and amen. Tough truths do that." I couldn't agree more. In chapter two of Platt's book, the chapter being covered tonight, he addresses the practices of reciting the "sinner's prayer", walking forward to answer a public invitation, or simply "accepting" Jesus. Plenty of ouches here, especially when considering that many of the devices used today in evangelism leave out the essential explanation of the gospel. That's not to say that people can't be saved through such tools and methods. God saves us in spite of ourselves! But that doesn't give us an excuse to complicate and cloud the biblically obvious: we are called to repent and believe in Jesus. My faith isn't in a prayer. Or in the fact that I "went forward", whatever that's worth. My faith isn't in a methodology or persuasive tactic. I was called to faith in Christ Himself; and that's how I am to call others needing His grace. Just something to think about...

Praying for Sight

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.'"

John 3:1-2 ESV

Notice Nicodemus' use of the plural pronoun we. Although he is engaging Jesus in a personal conversation, he references the observations and beliefs of his brotherhood. Nicodemus states plainly that they know Jesus has come to them from God! Yet they do not relate to Jesus as such. They do not receive him as the fulfillment of God's covenant promises. How can they know what they know and believe what they believe and not open their lives to Jesus and receive him as Savior and Lord? Why can't they see? Because their hearts are hardened. They can't see Jesus for who he really is. What is the remedy? Being born again. That is why Jesus' declaration in verse 3 is crucial: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." God must supernaturally change the sinner's heart. As we consider the spiritual condition of those around us, we need to pray with absolute dependency on the Holy Spirit, recognizing that only God can cause a Pharisee to really see.

Radical Thinking!

"When someone asks, 'Where is your church?' we point them to a building or give them an address, and everything centers around what happens at that location. When we gather at the building, we learn to be good. Being good is defined by what we avoid in the world. We are holy because of what we don't participate in (and at this point we may be the only organization in the world defining success by what we don't do). We live decent lives in decent homes with decent jobs and decent families as decent citizens. We are decent church members with little more impact on the world than we had before we were saved. Though thousands may join us, ultimately we have turned a deaf ear to billions who have never even heard his name. Discipling is much different. Whereas disinfecting Christians involves isolating them and teaching them to be good, discipling Christians involves propelling Christians into the world to risk their lives for the sake of others. "

David Platt, Radical

We are beginning a new session of Discipleship Study at our church this month, using the book Radical by David Platt as our resource. Periodically, I will share a quote from his writing or a point from our lesson and discussion. While we may not agree with David's points on everything, his passion for Christ is evident in his writing and he does force us to think about things we would like to ignore. So let's tackle the hard things together, as brothers and sisters in Christ!