I am a Pharisee

Be ready for some heavy sarcasm, but there is usually truth in jest. This is not directed at a particular church or a particular person, but the American church in general.  This list is quite convicting and pretty hard to swallow. I love the Church and understand the importance of being in community with a group of local believers, that’s why I feel the need expose the hypocrisy and pretentious things that are said and done. Although there is nothing wrong with saying these things, I believe we are less than sincere a lot of the time. I have said and thought many of these things at some point, and you may have been too, but remember for those of us that have trusted in Him, there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8).  Some of these things maybe harsh and make you feel uncomfortable, but they need to be said.

“I’ll pray for you.” Actually I won’t because I forgot or just don’t care enough because I am too busy, but I hope it made you feel better.

“We need to reach out to others.” I really can’t understand why our church is not growing, and why I don’t have any friends outside the church. All my Christian friends and I hang out together four nights a week, go to the same coffee shops (insert Sugar Browns for Lubbock, Lighthouse Café for San Antonio, and Mozart’s on a Saturday night for Austin). It’s all about encouragement and fellowship, right? We also listen to the same music that most people have never heard of and have read all the latest books by John Piper (for Baptists) or Max Lucado (for Church of Christ).  We use churchy words like sanctification, edification, glorification and redemption, and debate pressing issues of our day like the Trinity and predestination. I can’t understand why anyone would not want to be apart of this.

“God is going to bless you” or “He is in control” or “insert other random cliché Christian phrase of encouragement.”  In reality, I will do nothing to help this person’s situation, but I offered some encouraging words to them to make me feel good. That’s right, God worked through me and I “encouraged” someone, wow I am awesome.

“We need to love each other more.” This seems practical, I can do this (when I feel like it or remember too). Can you believe what he said to me? What is she wearing? How short is that skirt, what a whore. Did you hear so and so are dating, I heard she (fill in the blank). That girl has tattoos and piercings, how tacky. That guy is wearing a pink shirt, is he gay? A friend and I were “ministering” to some non-believing friends in the Depot district (or 6^th St. for Austin, or a random shopping center bar for San Antonio) and saw (blank person) from our church drinking, can you believe that?

To these of you outside the church that are reading this ridiculous list, I am sorry. I have failed you. We as a church have been hypocritical, legalistic and moralistic, much like the Pharisees of Jesus’ Day.  

In most cases, we have rejected you; you have not rejected us. I am sorry.  In most cases, we have treated you worse than the world. We acted like we cared, you trusted in us and then we judged you to cover our own insecurities. I am sorry.  

I know sorry isn’t good enough. The church has fallen short of what you expected the children of God to act like. We all have fallen short of the glory of God. If we believed half of what we said, the world would look drastically different. Many in the church have no clue as to who God is, so please try not to hold us to a higher standard, because we are inherently mess up like the rest of the world. That’s why we need God.

I promise to disappoint, but Christ will not. He is perfect and loves you unconditionally no matter what you have done. He can offer you a love deeper that you have ever known. Jesus is not the cheesy pop culture icon that small town America has made him out to be. He is not a happy go lucky nice guy, who listens to boring music and talks about baby bunnies, rainbows, flowers blooming, and the birds chirping. He was a radical. He flipped tables over. He turned brothers against fathers, he defied the culture he was in, and paid the ultimate price as our Savior. In the same way, He can radically change your life. He can and will fulfill you in every way if you trust Him.

There are mature Christians in the Church, who actually believe what they hear and teach. They will love you as a brother or sister like they have loved me. They won’t judge you for drinking, dancing, and not listening to the ‘right’ music. They understand you have made mistakes in the past and will make mistakes in the future. They will help you work through the guilt of those mistakes to find peace in Christ. They will share the abundant love that Christ has given them and be genuinely concern about you as a person. They will be there for the births, funerals, and everything in between because they are a true friend, unlike any friends you or I have ever had before.

About law school……

God had laid this situation on my heart for months. I have been struggling with many issues regarding the balance between my faith and what I thought at the time was God's will of me attending law school.  Well as the semester progressed, law school consumed me. It is what I did everyday, all day. I had little time to eat and sleep, much less have a quite time. Passing my first semester of law school was my purpose and passion. I successfully passed all my classes, but sacrificed everything for mediocre grades. I was becoming an impatient, money and goal driven elitist of my former self. I lost myself and respectfully had to step away. God works through a humble and broken spirit. I believe I would have been a great lawyer, but an absolutely horrible Christian.

God has since opened doors for me to go to business school. I will be starting the MBA program (my undergrad was in accounting). It won't be easy, but I will have time to spend with the Lord and not be so consumed in myself and my work. This is the first time I have had to surrender something this big to Him. This has been an expensive lesson, but is it better than wasting my life on something that I would have ended using for my own glory. He has given me peace about this whole situation and I am so thankful He has given me a clear answer.

Each of us that have trusted in Christ with a humble spirit has an unique spiritual gift to reach others. We have conquered the world and its desires through the blood of Christ. We have already won. Life is but a mist and we will be gone. I pray when others look back at our lives that they will not say we were good business people, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, church goers, employees, or friends. I pray they will first say we were men or women of God, and our lives providing such strong witnesses that even non-believers are convinced that we are with the Father. God has bigger plans for my life than law school.

Proverbs 19:21- Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

PRAISES (no particular order)

The Word

Supplemental books to the Bible

Salvation

Jesus/Father/Holy Spirit

Food

Water

Shelter

Clothes

Family

Friends

Brothers and Sisters in Christ

The Church

Freedom

Good Health

Love

Safety

Car

Purity

Humbleness

Wisdom

Integrity

Music

Sound-mind

Finances

Opportunity

Fun

Joy

Happiness

Kindness

Comfort

Brokenness

Technology

A/C

Plumping

Electricity

Medicine

Faith

Hope

Intelligence

Forgiveness

Deliverance

Grace

Mercy

Truth

Obedience

Entertainment

Discipline

Strength

Art

Nice weather

And many others I have forgotten…

Each day is a new life.

It begins in darkness much like the beginning of life. If it is God’s desire, he gives us light for another day in our life (and another life for each day). Each morning is like a resurrection. There is only a past if we chose to relive it.

Each night is like the end of life.

Some night we could go to sleep, and wake up the next morning in heaven.

---------------

James 4: ¹³Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." ¹⁴Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

I was reading John 13 (see below) the other day. Maybe I had totally missed this before, but something really stood out to me.

God in the Flesh, Creator of the Universe, Creator of You and I, takes a towel and wraps it around his waist to wash the feet of the man who betrayed him. Jesus served and loved Judas, fully knowing this man would help crucify him.  

That is love that only can be found in Christ.

(John 13:1-17)

     ¹It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

    ²The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

    ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

    ⁷Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

    ⁸"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
      Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

    ⁹"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

    ¹⁰Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." ¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

    ¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. ¹³"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.