Words DO hurt you....

There is this false saying that is very popular among grade schoolers that goes something like this: "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

You are probably wondering why I am even mentioning this, and that is a fair question. I was looking at my friend Joe's blog this morning, and he had a video that got me to thinking about some things.

If you watched the video, it is a powerful story about how an African American man defeated the entire Ku Klux Klan with his mind. I thought Joe's title to this blog was great "Defeating Hate, with the Head and Heart not Fists."

This title (and video) got me to thinking of other ways in which we dispense hate towards others. For example, the term "that's gay" has for some reason become a popular way to say something is dumb, funny, stupid, bad, etc. People (and unfortunately a lot of Christians) us this phrase so flippantly without any thought of people that might actually be struggling with homosexuality. They don't understand that when they use this term around people that are struggling with it (most of the time it is an internal struggle precisely because of the use of this phrase) it alienates them even more, and causes them to bury the struggle even deeper.

We as Christians should not engage in such talk as this. And as a side note, there are other things in our speeches that I do not think would please Jesus (i.e. a lot of racial jokes about our new president) Jesus came as a way to reconcile the world with God and to one another. The church and Christians should be leading the way when it comes to reconcilliation.

Now a lot of people that I talk to will say that accepting a homosexual means accepting their lifestyle and I would completely disagree. The gospels are full of stories where Jesus accepted people but not their lifestyle. Yet the people who were living this lifestyle that was antithetical to the gospel were strangely attracted to Jesus.

If we are honest with ourselves, that isn't the case with Church these days. The church should be a place where people can tell of their struggles freely, and where we can all walk together supporting one another in brotherly (and sisterly) love. Yet sadly, this isn't the case.

I really believe one reason for this is the way we alienate people with our speech. I know that the video was about racism, and that is still pervasive in our day. But it got me to thinking about how we alienate people with phrases such as "that's gay."

The church has lost its relevance because we fail to see the world with the eyes of Jesus. We must start caring for the world again as Jesus did, and that needs to start with actions. And actions start with words. May our words no longer be divisive, may we only speak words of healing and reconcilliation and grace to all that hear us.

Alternative Solution

I was reading a blog this morning by a man name Efrem Smith. He had a post about healthcare reform in which he raised a good point. Basically it can be summed up with this: What is the church proposing for healthcare reform? Why is the government leading the charge? You can find his blog here.

I am not saying I TOTALLY agree with everything he said, but I do agree that the church should be involved in caring for the sick. So what should we as a church do about caring for the sick?

Bad Wording...

In my last post I wrote these words:

My heart broke for these people. My heart broke for the people of my church. My heart broke for Christians all over the United States who seem to have cast the poor off as unreachable and not worthy.

I didn't mean for it to sound like the church where I am currently serving has done this. The church where I am is probably one of the most loving churches I have been a part of. With that said, the statements above were meant to be three separate statements. Allow me to clarify...

"My heart broke for these people."

It broke my heart that there are people that are out there who feel like their life is not worth living. This is something that makes me cry more than anything. If you ask my wife she will tell you the story about me watching the movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," and crying when the girl in the movie said she was "unloveable." So that is what I meant when I said my heart broke for those people.

"My heart broke for the people of my church"

Now calling it "my church" is bad enough, but I am sure everyone knew what I meant--the church where I am serving. What I meant by this statement, however, is that my heart broke for the people of my church to have their hearts broken over the needs in our town. This doesn't mean that they don't care about people, or have cast anyone aside. There is always room for the Lord to break us more and to transform our hearts to see people the way Jesus sees people. The way the Father sees people (through the cross). I hope that I never stop being broken my God, and I hope that the people in the church where I am serving never stop being broken either. That is what I meant, so I hope that clears things up.

"My heart broke for Christians all over the United States who seem to have cast off the poor as unreachable and not worthy"

This statement is self explanatory I think. I pray that we who are part of the universal church in America would truly be broken over the way we have treated the poor as a whole, and repent, and start living like Jesus when it comes to loving the poor.

I hope that clears things up for anyone who stumbles across this blog (who may or may not attend the church where I serve).

Best Poker Face Ever

Last night I met with the pastor of Primera Iglesia, a mission church started by the church where I am a pastor. It was an eye opening night to say the least. When we first sat down I told him that I thought the partnership between our churches should be better because the Bible tells us that unity of believers will be our witness to the world (John 17). I told him I was sorry that it had taken me two weeks to call him, to which he replied: "I am glad you called, I was beginning to think no one cared about what was going on at the Mexican church." That in itself broke my heart. We spent the next 45 mins. discussing things we could do to have better community with one another. We decided to set a time to get together and pray. Not just him and me getting together to pray, but opening it up for everyone in the church to come and participate. The next thing we did was drive around town. I have to admit, I have been here two weeks and have barely gone one or two blocks in either direction. He wanted to show me this place called "Little Mexico." Little did I know that God would use this to show me just how much I need to learn about loving like he does.

The first place we came to was a small house with two families of 4 living together. Beside the house was a trailer that was in the construction "process." I say "process" because work had been stalled for a couple years. To get to this house we had to walk through a mine field of horse manure where it was impossible to not step in something. This is where I put on my greatest poker face. I acted like it didn't bother me, all the while in my mind thinking of how disgusting it was, and I was going to drag this stuff back through my house when I got home. As much as I tried to get rid of that thought, it was the only thing I could think of. It was the best poker face ever.

As we went into the trailer to see what work needed to be done, the pastor spoke to this guy telling him how great of a vision I had to reach Chilton (this was all in Spanish as the owner of the house didn't speak English). With every compliment I felt smaller and smaller. Yet I held the best poker face ever.

The thing that broke my heart the most though was the look the guy made when we told the guy that we wanted to help him finish his house. It needed no translation. It said, "I have heard that one before and mainly from you Christians."

On the way back to my house, the pastor said that this, "Little Mexico" formed because these people feel like no one cares about them so they withdrew from everyone and never venture on the other side of town. My heart broke for these people. My heart broke for the people of my church. My heart broke for Christians all over the United States who seem to have cast the poor off as unreachable and not worthy. Then my God broke my heart and I thought of how I was no different. On the outside I had the best poker face ever, on the inside though I just wanted to go home. May the Holy Spirit transform my heart to love like Jesus.

My prayer is that we become the church that makes people feel valuable again, that hugs the homeless, feeds the hungry, and share the love of Jesus by DOING what Jesus did. The last thing the pastor said to me last night, is what I leave you with: "People know all the stories about Jesus, they need to start seeing Christians helping them if something is ever going to happen with them spiritually."

Fresh Perspective

I am now a pastor at a small, rural church in Texas and I love it! It is so different from being in a classroom of seminary students where the main goal is defend the "right" position (theologically or otherwise). I am not saying that I regret my time at seminary. On the contrary, I value that experience in my life very much. After all it is where I met my wife, where I met friends that I hope will be lifelong friends, and where I grew deeper spiritually. I think seminary is a good thing, I really do. However, I have begun to see things with a fresh perspective. For example, now when I read my Bible, I am not looking to "prove" a position, rather I am reading it and letting God's word rush over me and it is exciting! I feel as though I am regaining an intimacy with Jesus that just wasn't there during my seminary years. It is something I struggled with all of seminary, and it was also a struggle that very few knew about. Now I am seeing things with a new perspective, it is not about defending HOW God distributes His grace, or HOW he sovereignly rules over all of creation, or HOW he does this or that. Now I am simply basking in the fact that he DOES expense grace and that He IS sovereign and not worrying about how to solve the mystery of the "how?" It is truly refreshing.

Yesterday I preached on prayer, and it was encouraging to my soul to look at prayer through a fresh perspective. Our church is going through Acts right now, and yesterday came out of Acts 1:12-26. The apostles are waiting for the Spirit and the Bible says, "they devoted themselves constantly to prayer."

As I began to study this passage and what prayer is really all about, I read this quote in Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster: "Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father." This got me to thinking (and incidently was the first point of my sermon :) ) that prayer should be a joyful act. As I was telling my friend Austin Evers about this new revelation, he said "we pray to God like we don't really like him, like its something we HAVE to get through." Little did he know that he was talking about me. That is how I viewed prayer, I hadn't enjoyed it in years, and honestly I had a hard time doing it recently. Then I thought about it...

We have the privilege of talking to the God who spoke creation into being, the God who parted the Red Sea and delivered Israel from oppression, the God that spoke to the prophets, and that God that is faithful to all His promises. WE GET TO TALK TO HIM! And as I began to get this fresh perspective prayer became exciting to me again, and my hope is that this excitement continues.

I am fasting this week and my prayer is that I will enjoy praying and communing with the Father, and that it increases as I know Him more.

It is refreshing rediscovering an intimacy with Christ that I haven't know in sometime, I hope that as I spend more and more time with Him, I will simply bask in His glory and fall deeper and deeper in love with the God of the ages.