The Pain of Beauty

“It's so beautiful that it hurts me,' said Anne softly. 'Perfect things like that always did hurt me — I remember I called it "the queer ache" when I was a child. What is the reason that pain like this seems inseparable from perfection? Is it the pain of finality — when we realize that there can be nothing beyond but retrogression?'

'Perhaps,' said Owen dreamily, 'it is the prisoned infinite in us calling out to its kindred infinite as expressed in that visible perfection.”

― L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

   I’ll never forget reading the above quote in Montgomery’s book Anne’s House of Dreams, fifth in the Anne of Green Gables series.  The two characters are contemplating a beautiful sunset when Anne remarks that looking at really beautiful things hurt.  I remember this so clearly because I never knew anyone else had felt that way.  I thought it was some weird emotion in me that finds exquisite beauty painful.  Owen, the other character, expresses in words an idea that I had never before contemplated.  Perhaps our longing for beauty, for perfection, is in reality our own longing for God.  The part inside of us that was made for eternity yearns to meet with that visual expression of God’s perfection. 

   When I thought about that, it made sense then why we are all so drawn to beautiful things, to beautiful people.  The rightness, the sense of things fitting together speaks of God’s own wholeness.  And our so obvious brokenness cannot help but draw us towards that which is not broken. 

In our world, we can see the fruit of that longing.  We see it in amazing creations—impressive buildings, complicated works of art, sleek graphic designs, and, of course, in the pages of magazines.  The standard for beauty is high—so high, it’s impossible.  It’s not surprising that we would take one of God’s attributes and turn it into an idol. 

   Believers have responded to the allure of beauty in different ways.  The typical stereotype of conservative Christians portrays them rejecting beauty altogether.  We may envision the long-haired, dress-clad ladies with no makeup and garner the idea that unattractiveness is holy.  In our fear of beauty and its power over mankind, we have discouraged a focus on the external.  Young Christians chant the mantra, “It’s what’s on the inside that matters.” 

   Unfortunately, we cannot divorce the external from the internal.  Despite what gnostics tried to teach, the physical is not disdained by God.  A look at creation and its extravagant beauty shows us that the Earth still retains its splendor even while displaying the scars of fallenness. 

   What does this mean to believers?  It means we have to develop a healthy balance.  The desire for beauty will always be with us, and it makes no sense to pretend it doesn’t.  It does not need to be condemned, and it does not need to be given free license.  Instead, like all gifts from God, it needs to be tempered with love. 

   In our search for perfection either in our physical selves, our homes, or our work, we have to understand what the end result could be.  Anything too perfect creates a response in us that is hard to control.  We are moved to worship.  Time and time again, we’ve seen what happens when we encounter truly lovely things:  whatever it is becomes unreachable, a distance is created, an altar erected.  Either we will worship the God who created this, or we will worship the created.  On this side of heaven, perfection should only be a sign, but it is often a stumbling block.  We cannot ignore beauty or try to diminish it in order to hinder its worship effect—we can only gird it with humility. 

We can remind ourselves that beauty isn’t the end.  All the symmetry and balance of beauty (which is what it really is, isn’t it?) isn’t in itself valuable.  It is only valuable as much as it points to the One who is perfect in every way.  This mindset keeps us from becoming prideful. 

   This means that when we strive for a beautiful home with everything in its place, we realize the purpose isn’t to make others think we are amazing decorators, but to create a space of beauty where people can relax and hopefully connect with God.

   This means that when we ladies get ready in the morning and apply our makeup, the goal isn’t to communicate “Look at me!  I’m amazing!”  or even “Don’t look at me!  I’m hideous!”  We clothe ourselves in beauty to the best of our ability knowing that we are presenting an entire package. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, “Do not let your adornment be merely [italics mine] outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”  There isn’t a problem with making ourselves attractive, but we need to add to that a beauty of character that connects the internal with the external.

   There will always be a tension in the Christian world between the internal and external.  Between beauty and idolatry.  Between creation and the Creator.  While we are here on Earth, our responsibility as God-followers is to help bridge that gap as we rightly connect internal and external, beauty and humility, and the worship of the Creator instead of the creation.  

Whose House Is It?

Over the years, we've had lots of people come stay with us at our house for various reasons.  For the most part, these experiences have been enjoyable and rewarding.  There have been a few, however, that were downright difficult--sometimes because of their actions and sometimes because of ours.  Tracy and I know most emphatically that we are not perfect, and I can imagine there have been many times where living with us might have been difficult.  These times have helped me to see my own innate selfishness and controlling behavior.  I haven't enjoyed this, but I see how important it is for God to bring these things in to the light.  Therefore, I take responsibility for at least a portion of some of the challenges we've had with different "tenants."  However, there have been some times when the difficulty did not lay within my own sphere of responsibility, but it arose out of the choices of the person staying here.  

In our house, we have determined certain rules that must be followed.  We don't allow food upstairs, etc.  These rules are in place for various reasons which sometimes we explain and sometimes we don't.  You see, this house is ours and, because of that, we determine what happens in it (within reason, of course).  Recently, I told some of my students about an experience where one of the people who lived with us repeatedly broke our house rules and even lied to us about it.  Finally, it reached a point where they could no longer live with us.  This was a difficult decision, but it ultimately came down to the point that this person would not respect our authority in our own home.

When I told my students the specifics of the story, they were outraged with me at the lack of respect.  Of course, my husband and I could could make rules about what happens in our home and expect our guests to follow them.  But then I brought up the bigger question--whose house do we live in?  Ultimately, we live in God's house.  This is His world and He created it.  He has the right and authority to decide the rules.  He also has the right and authority to bring judgment when those rules are broken.  

The breakdown of the word authority reminds us what is truly at stake here.  The suffix -ity means "quality of conforming to."  Author literally means originator or creator.  Put together authority means conforming to the author/originator/creator.  Because He is the Creator, the Originator of all Life, and the Author of this story, He has all authority to lay down the rules.  This is a common understanding.  

Jesus told a parable illustrating this very point:

The Parable of the Tenants

"'Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.  When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants[a] to the tenants to get his fruit.  And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.  Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.  Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’  But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’  And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”  They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.'"

Matthew 21:33-41English Standard Version (ESV)

His audience could easily see how this story should end.  The owner had all right to return and be angry.  I'm reminded of a similar theme in the epic, The Odyssey.  While the great hero Odysseus struggles to return home from the Trojan war, suitors have camped out at his house pressuring his wife to remarry even though she is not interested.  Things escalate as they drain the resources of his home and plot to murder his only son.  Finally, at the end, Odysseus returns in disguise.  He sees what what is happening at home, is abused by the suitors, and then finally he reveals his true identity and kicks some butt.  As we read, we cheer Odysseus on, ready for the suitors to receive the punishment for their evil behavior.

However, we must ask ourselves if we have more in common with the wicked tenants or suitors than we would like to admit.  God has made it clear in His Word what His standards and expectations are.  Do we respect His authority to make these demands?  Or do we try to explain away those expectations that are most uncomfortable to us?

Recently, I've been reading a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life.  He was a German theologian who spoke against Hitler during the Nazi regime.  Eventually, he was a part of the group who attempted to assassinate Hitler and was executed as a result (the movie Valkyrie was based on this though they do not mention his name).  To the Christian community, he is well-known for his powerful book called The Cost of Discipleship (if you have not read it, you are missing out!).  He was only in his twenties when Hitler came into power, and from the beginning he was wary of this new leader.  It wasn't long after that the Nazi movement began to target the church: 

"Popular culture has ignored the persecution of German Christians during the Nazi period, leaving many to assume that National Socialism was enthusiastically embraced by all German churches.  The real story is more complex.  Some religious leaders clung to the hope that, by extending a hand in friendship, their churches would be spared.  Others felt that short-term survival was more important than protest.  

Some attempted to merge Nazi philosophy with Christian teaching.  This last group was known as the German Christian Movement.


The German Christian Movement was founded in 1932.  Nominally Protestant, it endorsed 'positive Christianity.'  Positive Christianity insisted that all Jewish influences should be removed from the Christian faith.  It discarded the Old Testament and portrayed Jesus as a tragic, Aryan figure." ("Deafening Silence").

One of the first moves of this German Christian movement and Nazi government was the Aryan paragraph which forbid any person of Jewish descent to serve in the church (or in any government post).  While Bonhoeffer was ready to speak out against this, many in the church weren't willing to cause trouble over a seemingly small infraction.  They could not or would not see where this would lead.  On this side of history, we know the cost of this compromise.  The good news was that the Confessing church (led by courageous men ) emerged as a voice declaring the authority of God's Word and the German Christian movement failed--the Nazi movement revealed itself as decidedly anti-Christian and the veil was lifted.  

Almost a hundred years later, the church is again under pressure to bow before the authority of man instead of God.  Presently, we see this in the matter of sexual orientation.  Our culture is demanding that the church accept the homosexual lifestyle even though the Bible is clear that this is not a part of God's original plan for humankind.  You don't have to look far in the news to read of churches and church organizations who are changing their policies to accept all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.   They are praised as true examples of God's love while conservatives are condemned as being homophobic and judgmental.  While it may seem a small issue, the effect of choosing man's authority over God's authority will be far reaching. 

We must look to the past to understand the future.  Time and time again it is recorded in biblical and extra-biblical texts the ongoing battle between God's rule and man's rule.  We should not be surprised that it is now our turn to stand firm.  Ben Carson recently spoke saying that this present generation must be courageous, and he is right.  We can be encouraged by the faith and bravery of the many, many who have gone before us who boldly proclaimed "We must obey God not man!" (Acts 5:29).

Choose This Day!

Lately the news has been a bit depressing.  I make a point to read about what is going on in the world because to me it's like pressing my finger on the pulse of our world.  It helps me to understand what people are thinking, what are the battles being faced so that I know how to pray more effectively and, sometimes, to write a blog.  I haven't written on this site for a while.  This summer has been pretty busy, but mostly I've found that I've started to write something, but then felt it just wasn't right.  It wasn't the right timing  or it wasn't the right message.  Something was off.

Then this morning, as I started to get ready for church, I read through some blogs and some news posts and things came to a head for me.  Mainly what I saw in the news are stories about fallen cops, a transgender boy who is arguing to use the same locker room as the girls, the anger of many over the Iranian nuclear deal, horrific descriptions of abortions, the after effects of the Ashley Madison scandal, and the devastating situation for the Syrian refugees (the image of the drowned child on the beach will haunt me forever).  Mainly what I noticed were the comments.  The typical Facebook arguments over these issues reach far and wide.  Behind these comments are intense emotions, and it seems that all this discussion doesn't resolve but embitters and divides.

Why?

The reason we can't agree on Facebook, or in real, daily life, comes down to a basic idea.  We are coming from completely different worldviews.  But even simpler than this is that fundamentally we don't agree on who or what gets to define things.  Therefore, sometimes (though not always) these virtual arguments are useless because we aren't starting from the same perspective.  We are arguing the peripherals while the foundational aspects of our discussion are never touched.  

It's basically this question:  Who or what as the authority to define reality (and by this define what's right or wrong)?

Many people on Facebook would argue that what's right or wrong depends on what you feel.  Follow your heart.

To those who are transgender, they might say: Go with what you feel.  No one can tell you different.

To those who hate cops, they might say:  Your feelings are justified.  Feel free to act out on them.

To those who want to have an affair or express your sexuality in a different way, they might say: Have fun! There's no point in restraining yourself.

However, Christians have a completely different starting point.  We start by saying that God alone has the right to define reality.  He who created us has the right to say what purpose we serve and what determines right from wrong.  As Christians, we go to the Bible to help us create a framework by which we interpret the events, the feelings, the actions of this world and ourselves.  

To those who are transgender, we might say: I understand you are confused.  This must be so challenging and difficult. You were created for a reason, and you have a purpose.  If you want to know what that is, let me introduce you to my Savior.

To those who hate cops, we might say: I am sorry for your suffering, but hatred is never the answer.  There is a true judge who will bring to light all that has happened, but He will also judge our actions.  If you know that your own heart could not stand under the scrutiny of perfect judgment, let me introduce you to my Savior.

To those who want to have an affair or express your sexuality in a different way, we might say:  Giving in to whatever your body demands will not bring freedom, but slavery.  Addiction to anything, including sex, will destroy you.  God created sex for His creation.  He meant it as a gift.  A means by which we connect lovingly to another human being.  In its proper context, it brings life, not death.  If you feel you cannot control this and that it is bigger than your ability to resist it, let me introduce you to my Savior.  

Christians--our message should be different from the rest of the world.  Is your message different?  Because when we get to the heart of the matter, if you are speaking the same message as the world, then that's the one you serve.

As Joshua said to the people of Israel so many years ago, "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”Joshua 24:14-15

We need to make a decision to serve either God or the ways of this world.  And we need to make sure that we make a point to not argue the points but to get to the heart of the matter.  

It's Complicated

We live in a country and time period that offers a lot of choices.  When I lived briefly in China, I would sometimes dream of grocery aisles filled with twenty varieties of peanut butter and jelly.  I would wake up sweating because I had forgotten what it was like to have that many choices.  

Having so many choices isn't necessarily a bad thing; however, if we aren't clear what we are all about, these choices can unnecessarily complicate our lives.  What we all need is a simple break down of what are the most important areas of our lives. What are our purposes and goals?
When we understand our mission, it becomes easier to make our choices because we want the consequences of our choices to line up with our vision for our lives.
The early church nailed this mindset. They knew they had one purpose---Christ made this clear before his ascension in Acts 1:8. Their job was primarily to share the Gospel and make disciples. This single-mindedness inspired many to give specifically and to reach out to those around them. This single-mindedness also strengthened them when the winds of persecution blew up on them. They didn't give up their faith, they didn't grow quiet because they knew that what they were doing was important.

So what is important to you?  What do you focus on as your primary goal in life? What about your children? What goals do you have for them?

Do our goals line up with Scripture? Are we focusing our time, energy, and money on things that really matter?

Psalm 86:11 "Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite [give me singleness of heart] my heart to fear Your name."

Lord, help us to focus on what is essential, so that we might be about Your business.  You know our hearts and how easily they are led astray.  Unite our hearts, give us a singleness of heart, to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.  Burden and inspire our hearts with what burdens and inspires Your heart.  Remove those distracting things from our lives that only serve to complicate and confuse.

Amen

True Liberty

As an English teacher of several years, there have been many times in class where we have discussed controversial topics and written persuasive essays or speeches arguing either for or against different stances.  One time in a college class, we discussed whether or not there should be a thing called fat tax.  This is basically a tax that the government imposes on those foods that are deemed unhealthy, so as to discourage people from eating them.  Around the time of this discussion, New York had decided to try to ban large sodas because they weren't healthy (which was fortunately rejected as outside of their jurisdiction).  My student argued that these things were actually good and should occur because unhealthy, overweight people became a burden on society.  And many in the class had no answer to this.  Ironically, it is this kind of thinking that truly sets us all back years and years into immaturity.  What is being said is that we are too stupid to make good choices for ourselves and must have the smarter people (ie government officials etc) to make these decisions for us.  And with this mindset, we kiss our freedom goodbye.  

I myself might not even have recognized this trend if God hadn't taken it upon Himself to start teaching me several years ago about the true meaning of freedom.  One of these ways was by having me become a mother.  It didn't take long into my mothering career that I realized how important it is for my children to understand the basic fact that their choices have consequences.  If they choose to obey--good consequences.  If they choose to disobey--negative consequences.    If they choose to go to sleep when Mommy puts them to bed, they awake in the morning refreshed and ready for the day.  If they keep getting out and playing, they get disciplined and find themselves feeling not so great the next day.  Very, very simple.

And, yet, with the trend in America to take away the consequences of choices (or sometimes the very choice itself), we find ourselves left with a group of people who no longer have the skills or even the inclination to make a choice while keeping in mind the consequences that might result from this.  This is so very dangerous on so many levels.  We will have a country of children who have never grown up or learned the basic truth that our choices affect our lives.  We become a group of people who always think that the problems in our lives are the result of other people (and never ourselves).  

And, as horrifying as this is in our current finite lives, the result of this kind of thinking is even more precarious as we consider our spiritual lives.  If we truly believe our choices don't have consequences, why would we ever consider how the choices we make now might affect what happens after this life has passed.  The Gospel is a choice.  A choice that can be rejected, but a choice that has consequences like all real things in our world.  Because God values our freedom, He will not make this choice for us.  No one will be forced into heaven and God's presence who does not want it and ask for it.  

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

Our job as Christians is absolutely simple:  we just have to explain the choice in the clearest way possible so that people (with all of the information) can accept or reject the Gospel.  We don't have to make it pretty or exciting.  We just have to make it clear.  

My prayer:
Lord, I do pray right now that you will help us all become mature in the understanding our great liberty.  We get to choose.  Even in the garden, you demonstrated your love of liberty by allowing Adam and Eve the choice to accept or reject you.  As parents, help us teach our kids that their choices have consequences, so that when they grow up, they know how to think for themselves and to make choices that are a blessing and not a curse.  And, finally, Lord empower us with your Holy Spirit to speak the truth so clearly that people can understand the message of the Gospel without the confusion of religious language.  
In Jesus' name, Amen.

Are We Ready?

Last night, my husband and I sat down to watch a new show together that we started watching earlier in the week.  It had an interesting story line even if some of the elements were a bit ridiculous.  However, it wasn't long into the show that we meet the town's minister.  An ugly, drug-addicted man who, with the other town leaders, is participating in some unknown (but surely diabolical) scheme.  To top it off, even while continuing in this, he often spouts little Christian phrases like "God bless you!"   After several episodes, he goes crazy (following a "repentance"), flailing his Bible around while screaming to the town that they are sinners and God will judge them.  Eventually this character is killed, and no one is sorry to see him go.  

This is how we're seen, folks.  Hypocritical.  Selfish.  Insane.  Locked in a fantasy land that has no bearing in reality.  Delusional.  Judgmental.  The list could go on.  

My first reaction to this caricature was anger.  It didn't seem fair.  What about all the Christians all over the world who give and give and give?  What about all the homeless shelters? Orphanages? Programs to rescue those in sex-trafficking?  What about all the money we send to stop hunger both here and abroad?

The thing is it doesn't matter.  The reason it doesn't matter is because we don't do these things to be seen.  We do these things because they are issues that matter deeply to God.  We do them because we are meant to love.  And we are meant to love even when we are being attacked.

Yikes.   It's absolutely frustrating to be misunderstood.  But this week as we study Jesus's life leading up to Resurrection Sunday, it's hard to miss that most of Jesus's ministry was misunderstood.   In fact, it was a steady stream of attacks and abuse culminating in his death.  They twisted what he said.  They mocked him.  They attacked him physically.  They tried to trick him.  

Now, unlike him, we bring some of this condemnation on ourselves.  Because--let's be honest with ourselves--we often are hypocritical, selfish, and judgmental (like ALL humans).  And when we are called to account there should only be one response--confession and repentance.  

However, what happens if we are attacked just because we are following Jesus?  What happens when we don't deserve the criticism? The hatred?  Here we must follow Jesus's example completely.

"When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." 1 Peter 2:23

It is becoming increasingly unpopular to be Christian (or any religion for that matter).  And our response to this change is an important part of our witness.  In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discusses this.

“'Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.


You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.'" Matthew 5:11-14

First,note that Jesus said that when we are attacked on His account (not because of our stupidity) that we are blessed.  This word (makarios) means happy, fortunate, to be envied (Strong's Concordance and Vine's Bible Dictionary).  Jesus basically said that if people say hateful things about us because we are imitating Christ that this is a great thing.  He then moves on to describe our purpose in this world: to be salt and to be light.  I don't think it was an accident that teaching about being a witness and an influence in our world comes on the heels of a passage describing our persecution.  

That's because being a witness and an influence aren't particularly popular things to be.   When you look throughout history at the people who made the greatest contributions to our world, they were often treated horribly and faced intense opposition.  But they didn't let that stop them.  I think of great men like John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and many more.  If we want to make this world a better place, if we want to stand up for life, for truth, for freedom--it will cost us. 

Coming back to the text, let's discuss what Jesus is saying here.  First, we are called to be salt.  Salt was used as a preserver during that time.  It kept things from spoiling.  We are also called to be preservers.  However, we must make sure that we are preserving is truly what needs preserving and not just our traditions.

Second, we are called to be light.  Our job is shine our lights (by our good works) so that God will be glorified.  There's a bit of a catch to this.  First, lights shine brightest in the darkness.  The darker our culture is the brighter our lights will shine.  Second, the brighter our lights shine, the more noticeable we will become.  And with that, we will attract attention we don't always want.  

Are we ready for this?  For a long time, the "Christian" culture of America didn't demand that we stand and be noticed for being different.  But that is changing.  In our country with broken families, with addictions to everything from technology to drugs, and with a mindset that there are no real consequences to choices, we must be different.  We must do our good works (and not just the churches, but each individual believer).  We must respond to criticism with love and patience.  We must fight to protect rights for all people.  

We need to be a people characterized by love, so that even when they criticize us (which they will) our own good works will speak as a testimony (1 Peter 2:12).  

For some great resources about how to do this, check out the following books:

David Platt's Radical (focus on how to be an American Christian--absolutely awesome book)

Nik Ripken's Insanity of God (speaks about the testimony of the persecuted church and how we can handle it)

Francis Chan's Crazy Love (challenges believers to really understand God's love and to align ourselves with biblical Christianity)

Is it Enough?

Recently as I cleaned my house, a million times I thought that I wished something was different. I need to replace those blinds. This closet needs to be reorganized. This carpet has a bump in it. I wish I was better at decorating. 

Then I'd catch myself and feel guilty for obsessing over such external things. I'd think of my Christian brothers and sisters in India who would look at my house and be amazed. I have to admit to myself that I really don't know how to live in an affluent country and keep my focus pure.
As I sat and talked to Jesus about this, He helped me see that at the bottom of all my worrying is a simple question: Am I enough?

This is a common problem for American Christians, I believe. The problem is that almost universally we answer that question incorrectly.  We decide our effectiveness, success, happiness by comparing ourselves to our neighbors.  This is exceedingly dangerous and an effective strategy of the enemy.  When we do this, we are rendered completely impotent.  We no longer look to our Creator and Lord for direction and clarity, but we look around and develop our values according to what we see around us.

I am just as guilty as the rest.  Recently in a conversation with my husband, I admitted how I have been challenged by the book I am reading called Revolution in World Missions.  In it, he talks about the huge need to support native missionaries in reaching their own people.  These missionaries, on fire for God, are risking great peril and suffering greatly in order to reach the world's most unreached people groups.  Many times they cannot adequately provide for their families as a result.  

I know such families.  In India, we have partnered with George and other pastors who work full time jobs and have families but also take in homeless children, support tribal pastors off of their small salaries, travel frequently to train and support these pastors, and many more things.  Time and time again, I have been humbled by their unwavering focus.  And I'm convicted.

As American Christians, we live in a totally different world.  One that encourages us to not be too extreme and definitely don't make our lives uncomfortable for the Gospel.  And I admitted to my husband that I could easily make most physical sacrifices (send money to these native missionaries, have less clothes, spend less on entertainment) if everyone else around me was also.  You see it's hard to be the one who is doing without especially when you see everyone around you having fun, going on trips, and having their kids do all these extracurricular activities.  When I see these things, I feel like I'm missing out.  I want to try harder to have have this kind of life.  And slowly I find myself aligning my goals and purposes, not with the vision God has given me, but with the vision the American church has embraced so readily--comfort.

I am telling you the absolute truth when I say that I am seriously struggling with this.  And I doubt I'm the only one.  

Recently, we've been studying the minor prophets in our Sunday school class.  Sometimes this message can be a bit repetitive, and I have been tempted to just gloss over the lesson and assume I already know what it's going to say.  This morning as I studied Zephaniah and looked over my notes from Nahum, I saw something that I have been missing. 

Over and over God was warning the people of Judah that a day of judgment was coming.  He warned, threatened, and pleaded with them to see that their empty religious activities were offensive to Him. They denied God's involvement in the world: "...and I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good or evil!" (Zephaniah 1:12).  They took advantage of their neighbors; they worshiped false gods.  They didn't really think God cared about what they were doing.  They thought they could get away with living the way they wanted with no consequences.  

God does all he could to warn them of this dangerous thinking.  He says over and over in the Bible that what you do matters.  God sees.  We will reap what we sow.

Yesterday at the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast, I was told that Phil Robertson issued a warning to the American church--I wasn't there so I can only summarize what I heard from others--saying that Isis (and many other serious problems) wasn't our main threat.  The true danger lies within us and our inability to recognize the spiritual implications.  

Judah eventually received the judgment that God warned them was coming.  The judgment came in the form of the Babylonian invasion.  Jerusalem was destroyed.  The nobility and a large portion of the population were exiled and made little more than slaves.  God used an outside force to bring the judgment that He said would come, but the power to stop Babylon was always there.  Humility.  Repentance.  Passion.

I believe this same message applies to us as a church.  It applies to me.  

"Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness, seek humility.  Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zephaniah 2:3)

To what are we looking to define our purpose and our ambitions?  

I cannot tell anyone what to do in this regards, but I say from with absolute sincerity that I fear that my selfish life will reap what I don't want to reap.  I have to actively work against my natural tendency to hoard and to protect.  I instead want to know that the life I've lived here on earth was done with the purpose of getting to know Christ better and of making Him known to others.  

For each of us, living this life will look differently (God loves diversity), but our passion and focus will be the same.  When the church unites under the common vision of reaching the world for Christ, the world will finally understand what unity means.  It doesn't mean that we all always agree with each other!  It means that we are willing to lay aside our personal preferences in order to work together towards a common goal!  This is how marriage represents this beautiful image.  You can't get more different creatures than a man and a woman.  On top of that, you have different personalities, different ways of processing information, different ways of relaxing, and the list goes on.  And yet it is possible for these two completely different people to work together for the common goal of making a home.  It means at times that one or the other will have to give up something that they want and sometimes something that they need.  But the final image is something that shines brighter than any light in our world.  Something our world yearns for.  

True love.

Zephaniah spends the first two chapters of the book warning of what is to come.  Pleading with the people to see the danger.  But it ends with some of the most beautiful passages of Scripture I've ever read.  A reminder of God's heart towards us, of His steadfast love.

"The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17