A couple of days ago I asked some questions about alcohol and whether the bible condemns all consumption of it as sin.  On the face of this it seems pretty certain that it is not.  Any casual reader of the stories of Jesus would recognize the fact that His first recorded miracle was turning water into wine.  And there are other direct references of His very own consumption of it.  Yet I have read and heard many arguments about it being sin.

There are those that will use all kind of pretty far out excuses to say that this is not really saying what we think.  The scripture is not saying what it seems to say.  Grape juice?  Really?  Are we to believe that God is just trying His best to confuse us?

There are those that, in the past and probably still today, say that it is even wrong for a Christian to serve or sell alcohol.  Again, I point to Christ’s first miracle.  If I should not serve or sell it then why in the world would Jesus turn water into it?  We seem to still have tremendous problems with self-righteousness.

These thoughts and questions are not really the reason I raised this question though.  For some very thoughtful, adult insights about the consumption argument in general, please read Tuesdays post and comments.  Everyone who responded made points I not only believe to be correct but I hold to them myself.  And I especially think that when you vow or commit to something as Heath and Jason did as ministers, then you should adhere to those commitments like they pointed out that they did.

If the organization you join says you have to stand on one foot for 30 seconds and face east at 8:00 am every third Tuesday and you agree, then you must do it whether it makes sense or not, if you are a person of integrity.  The health and danger issues are also valid reasons why not drinking makes sense, and the witness in a culture that definitely glorifies alcohol as the means to get drunk is not one the Kingdom really needs.  I don’t drink myself for some of these reasons.

As I stated though, I brought it all up for the same reason I have brought up other things recently.  If we spent as much time as some do on defending these obviously unbiblical beliefs such as drinking being sin, with as much zeal and commitment, in reaching out to those outside the Kingdom, we could really glorify God. Instead we waste tremendous amounts of time on our own legalistic views and arguments.

Alcohol is only one small part of a whole host of things that some Christians seem to want to focus on in spite of the fact that they have a mission to do.  Appearances are important as some believe when talking about drinking, but what about the appearance of condemnation we portray that is not even biblically justified.  When the lost of this world see us bickering and fighting and even bringing the charge of heresy against a minister that obviously is not heretical, what do they think?  I will tell you what they think because it was not that long ago that I thought it.  They think that there is no God.  And if there is He is not that big, not that great, and not that powerful because His whole family is so hypocritical and unloving of even each other.

We must reach out in love to a lost and dying world and to do that we have got to stop adding our own lists of sins to Gods.  That is what Jesus condemned about the Pharisees and the bible even warns us about adding to His word, but we just don’t seem to get it.  This world of lost souls is not concerned about our petty arguments and disagreements about alcohol, about divorce, about creation, about (dare I say it) initial evidence.  What this worlds lost souls are concerned about, whether they even know it or not, is the eternal destination of their very being.  And even if they are not concerned, we must be.

As I said on my post about creation recently, let’s stop all the arguing about pet doctrines and interpretations in front of the kids, so to speak, and wait until we get behind closed doors.

Love you all

And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25

When God first created Adam and Eve He did not furnish clothing to them.  There was no need.  They were made in the image of God and walked in relationship with Him that you and I just can’t comprehend.  They had been created as adult beings but were actually children in the eyes of God.  They were innocent and they were good.

One of the things the Fall brought about was the loss of innocence.  This was an innocence that not only allowed them to have a perfect relationship with God; they actually perceived no difference between themselves and God.  They did not even realize they were naked.

The serpent exposed them to self-centeredness and one of the results was that loss of innocence that kept them from even realizing that they were different in ways that might need covering.

Just look at children.  All children start out with this same innocence I am talking about.  You can bathe most two year olds, whether the same sex or not, in the same bathtub and they will not notice any difference between them.  This changes in every kids life at a different age.  It changes when they are taught the differences.  A kid will ask certain questions and we give them certain answers.  Our answers will be based on our own notions about our differences.  Some kids can maintain a level of innocence longer than others because some parents are not as anxious about those differences themselves.

Another area where kids are innocent is race.  A small child can play with or have friends of different races and just never perceive any differences.  Again, this usually ends when questions are raised and the answers the adults give start a child along the path to what they think of their differences.  Innocence lost.

I heard a white evangelist say that if he could preach as well as T D Jakes, he would not mind having Jakes color of skin.  He also said at another time that he would not preach at a church that did not welcome blacks.  This actually happened to him and he followed this conviction.  My question is, why, if he does love people of color, doesn’t he see that his first statement is blatantly racist?  I know many “Christians” that are much more vocal in their racism also.

Don Imus went through a lot of strife for statements about “nappy headed” basketball players but insisted it was not meant as a racial slur.  And what about our presidents statement about a black being articulate.  He also said, or people said for him, that nothing was meant.  And even closer, I know white “Christians” that would have their children marry a white atheist rather than a black Christian.

Racism is alive and well in America in 2009.  It is not as bad as it was at another time, but it is far from gone.  And not only is this a white problem, it is also a black problem and a Hispanic problem and many others.  But what really saddens me and has to grieve the Holy Spirit is that the church is not exempt.

Even the best of us have to describe people like this.  “He was a very dynamic black preacher.”  Or, “She is a very beautiful black woman.”  Or many other racially charged descriptive.  What is wrong with just saying he was a dynamic preacher or she is a beautiful woman?  Why do we continue to see everyone as so very different than we are?  Aren’t we all God’s children with no differences between Jew and Greek, male or female, black or white?

I know that everyone that uses the divisive words for descriptions is not using them in a racially motivated way.  But we have to begin to see all people as the same, even with the obvious differences.  All people are worthy of our love because God loves us all.

We are going to inaugurate a man for president tomorrow.  It will be a historic moment because he will be the first “black” president.  Or at least it is being hailed that way.  Actually his racial identity is more along the lines that we all should be.  He has more than a few distinctive racial markers in his makeup.  But yet he is a man with one body.

The church is supposed to be one body.  We need to start acting like it.

Tomorrow will be a historic day and I for one am proud of this nation in this one thing.  This was not even thought possible just fifty years ago.  I doubt when Obama was conceived that any of his family foresaw this day.  Now we need to move on, tearing down more walls in our society, our culture, and our lives.  One day a “black man” will be elected president and we will just say that a “man” was elected president.  Or this is my prayer.

One day we are going to be with God.  I read that we will be clothed in white robes.  But I wonder if maybe we might just once again, be naked before God.  Innocence found.

Love you all

People come to church primarily for two reasons; for some kind of fellowship with people, or some kind of fellowship with God.  If they are coming seeking God, that is great, but it will not sustain them or keep them in “our” church because, whether they know it or not, they need people.  We all need fellowship.  And without it we ultimately move on.  A lot of people change churches for this very reason and may not even realize it.

If they are coming seeking to make relationships with people, that is actually better in a way.  If we reach out to them and include them then we can probably keep them coming for a while.  There are also potentially two problems with this also.  First, we never introduce them to Jesus, teach them about God, or feed the spiritual hunger in them and they, again, move on.  We can expect this because ultimately someone, maybe even me, will make them mad or hurt their feelings.  Second, we never introduce them to Jesus, teach them about God, or feed the spiritual hunger in them and they do stay, but never mature as Christ followers and may even be in danger of an eternal destination that does not include Him.  Neither of these situations help us grow a healthy church or bring people into the Kingdom.  The first won’t keep them and the second won’t save them.

What is our mission as a church?  It is simple.  It is to make disciples.  But what, exactly is a disciple?

A disciple is one who loves God, loves people, and serves them both.  It is that simple, but yet all too often we mess it all up.  So where are we messing up?  I believe we are dropping the ball right at the start.  We are not properly introducing our Father to them.  Sure, we have preaching, we have worship, we have programs, and we have fellowship; but are we teaching them about a Father in heaven that loved us so much that “He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life…” ( John 3:16)  When we speak out to others about our Father and all his love for us, we can help start them down a path of redemption that keeps going and growing.

But we must reach out to them first.  The same people who ask, “Why aren’t we keeping visitors,” are the very ones at fault all too often.  They either see the visitors and don’t care enough, or are too busy, to reach out to them.  We must not wait for the other person to go talk to that visitor.  If we don’t care enough, then we better get to work on our own spiritual health and if we are too busy, we better slow down.

Jesus told us that all we need to do is love God and love people.  The rest of the New Testament writers told us how to serve both.  The whole bible has this simple message at its core.  Yet we have made this whole business of church exactly that, a business.  One church growth program after another is put forward by some great church leader.  There are a wide variety of church marketing strategies that are pushed at any given time.  And they seem to be ever changing, just trying to keep up with perceived changes in seekers needs.  But seekers need only one thing; they need Jesus.  And we introduce them to Him by simply reaching out to them.

Have you welcomed and talked to that couple that has visited for the last month?

Did you truly rejoice and praise God for another brother added to the family when that guy got saved in church last week, or did you just praise God when the pastor quit talking about it so you could get out and miss the lines at a local restaurant?

Are you so busy that you do not even know about either the new couple or that guy getting saved?

All too often we are either too self centered or we have a wrong view of ministry, and we miss the simple fact that we are to reach out and embrace the other.  God created man for a relationship with us.  He sent His Son to show us the way back into that relationship after we abandoned Him.  And He lovingly showed us that we need each other, or we won’t make it.  We must realize that if we want to increase our church membership then we must reach out to people in love and stop trying to determine the best program or the newest strategy.  If we reach out in love, we not only may keep them in our church, we may bring them into the Kingdom and the family of God.

If we do not reach out, we won’t keep them in “our” church and worse, they may not ever be shown that God loves them and simply wants to start the adoption process.

Love you all

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Gal 5:22-23

On Tuesday’s discussion, right out of the gate, Doug made some comments about self-control.  Thanks Doug, for pushing this forward.  I have been pondering, jotting down some thoughts and praying about the fruits of the Spirit as listed in Galatians.  I was going to get a series together before I started posting, and then they might come along quicker.  I am so easily sidetracked it seems.  But Doug got me thinking again and I decided to start with the last in the list of fruit since he brought it up and I feel strongly about it also.

All of the fruit are things that should be naturally growing in and out of us as we grow in our relationship with Christ.  They are the visible attributes of truly walking the Christ centered walk.  We are first saved and then as we grow in sanctification these nine things listed as fruit should start to become apparent in our lives.

Self control is listed last but I don’t believe it is any less or more than the others with the exception of possibly love.  But if I stay in reverse order then love will be last.  Self control is a good starting point because it is needed so very much in the church today.  And it needs to be properly understood.

We live in a time and a place, if you are in America, where we are lost in our self-centeredness and materialistic view of life.  The war between the flesh and the spirit is raging in all of us to some degree.  It is so easy to look at everything we do with the attitude of ‘what’s in it for me.’  This is diametrically opposed to the servant attitude we should have.  It is why the world looks at us and sees no difference between us and them.

A well known speaker or preacher that demands a $10,000.00 ‘offering’ or they can’t come, a Christian writer who lifts one catchy scripture out of context and sets up a whole new revelatory way of making our lives richer to sell a million copies of a book, a perpetually smiling preacher telling us how great we all have it in the Kingdom of God while we live on less per year than he spends on his dental hygienics; is this self control?  Is this fruit of the spirit?  I believe I would file it under self-centered greed.

The above examples show people that really aren’t even trying to have their spirits win the war against the flesh.  But there are also those that try too hard in another wrong way.  These we sometimes call legalists, fundamentalists, extreme conservatives.  They try to find ways to make the Law of God, as listed in the Old Testament, or their own made up rules about many mundane parts of life, the methods of achieving and displaying self-control.

You may know a few of these people.  They look at things like tattoos, jewelry, makeup, and the length of both men and women’s hair, as ways of establishing or determining self-control.  There are many other things like alcohol consumption, smoking, dancing, card playing and others that make the list also.  And to many of these people these are not only self control issues, they are salvific issues.  A tattoo will send you to hell.

Then there are monks and other religious orders that simply take a person out of the world.  This is also an attempt at self-control or a method of mastering ourselves.  I even know of some people that declare that their own ‘personal convictions’ demand they do or don’t do certain things like watching TV or going to movies but that it is still okay for the rest of us.  How gracious on their part.  But do they have anymore self-control than I or are they just putting limits on their selves that keep them from actually growing this fruit called self-control.

God may not be honored in a lot of the things we do but we are living in a fallen world, occupied territory as it were, in a battle for our very lives.  Jesus set us free from the Law because He fulfilled the Law.  We are free in Christ but we must live in holiness, which is being separated from the world for service to Christ.  All while an angry enemy roars all around us.

A tattoo is not going to stop that service but self control will dictate that we set some limits.  Some jewelry or makeup will not send us screaming into hell because we had no self-control but the ability to know when we are making clowns of ourselves will display it to the world.  On and on I could go but I don’t want to lose you.

The very ones who practice all these things and many more and say “look at me, I have self-control”, are only living a life of rules and regulations that show no one but themselves any hint of self control.  True self-control is finding that line that separates self-centeredness from service-centeredness; and staying on the side of service.

We have to realize we do have to set limits.  But I believe those limits will be dictated to a certain degree on our place of service, our area of ministry.  A person might have just the right amount of tattoos, piercings,  or long hair to reach a group of lost bikers or youth.

Jesus ate and drank wine with miserable lowlife sinners and did not get drunk or sin in any way they did.  But He had a mission to go to them and tell them the good news.  We have that same mission so how are those that never associate with anyone but those of like-legalistic-mind, accomplishing their mission.

Jesus called a man to be a disciple named Matthew and he was a tax collector.  Jesus also called a man named Simon who was a Zealot.  As far as the Jews were concerned Matthew was an extreme, unpatriotic traitor and Simon was an extreme, patriotic loyalist.  They should have killed each other but instead they loved each other and became servants to Christ and to us all.

That is mastering one’s self.  That is self-control.

Love you all