The Kingdom, The Kids, & the Cowboys

“Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” ~John 2:16

If Jesus were to walk into your church building tonight would he praise God for what is happening there or would he start flipping over pews? If Jesus walked into my church building on Sunday would he see empty ritual and dead tradition or would he recognize a living and vibrant people being transformed by a genuine relationship with God? What if he wandered into your elders’ meeting? What if he showed up to watch you prepare a sermon? Would Jesus be pleased to go through all the church policies in the secretary’s file cabinet? Or would that cause him to wince in pain?

When Jesus disturbs things in the Jerusalem temple, he is acting out his prophetic message. It’s not the power of the whip that makes his message succeed. It is his moral power, the power of the truth, that strikes the hearts of the people and so captures Christian readers today. Those who confront Jesus after the episode appear to know that Jesus is right and that the temple has become something other than what God had always intended. The purpose of the holy temple has been compromised. Maybe they sense something of God’s divine and righteous anger at work in Jesus.

Jesus is pointing out the problems with the institution of the temple. He is confronting its misdirection and its brokenness. In the process, he points out very clearly that the real activity of God, the real temple, is Christ Jesus himself. In other words, the focal point of the people’s religion has to be replaced by something — no, someone! — new.

The local church — my local church, your local church — is a fallen institution. It’s filled with sinners, filled with people just like you and me. Yes, the church aspires to goodness. But, admittedly, sometimes we succomb to programs and agendas that have very little to do with the Kingdom of God. Sometimes life in our churches can be driven by petty financial interests or social comforts and desires. We sometimes play religious politics, church leaders acting as representatives of their particular constituents, when deciding church policy. We may give in to pressures to be more modern and contemporary. We may bow to petitions to defend empty traditions and dead habits.

If Jesus walked in for a visit would he be outraged over the things we argue about? Would he be appalled at the ways we sing? Or don’t sing? Would he question some of the lines we draw or challenge some of the rules we keep? Honestly, we have plenty of religious customs and practices — even doctrines — that have everything to do with tradition and habit but may have little to do with our risen Lord. We must be willing to allow Jesus to step into our church worlds and openly critique the things we do and the ways we do them. Could the things we cherish and defend stand up to Jesus’ prophetic viewpoint?

I truly believe that everything we do in our churches and in our individual lives as disciples of Christ must have as its foundation the very Gospel we preach and teach. The root of our words and deeds must be connected to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Our traditions and rituals must be born out of and give expression to the Lord who welcomes and forgives and loves and sacrifices. The One who invites all to his wedding feast, the One who gives in abundance the riches of heaven must be the informing and driving force behind every single thing that happens in church.

It’s OK to review and evaluate our habits. It’s allright to challenge our traditions. If they stand up to Christ’s critique, then affirm them. Teach them and practice them in all holiness and sincerity. But by all means be able to explain to your people and your community the hows and whys. If they can’t meet the Gospel standard, then discard them. Destroy them and abolish them in faith and trust in God. And be able to explain the hows and whys based on a true understanding of what Jesus came to this earth to do. And what he came to this earth to change.

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You’ve got to watch this 90-second video they’re showing at American Airlines Center to pump up the Mavs fans during these NBA Finals. The video features the most accomplished athletes in the history of DFW talking to Mavericks fans about what it means to win it all. An intense Emmitt Smith. A relaxed Daryl Johnston sitting in front of a couple of Super Bowl trophies. A no-nonsense Troy Aikman. An overly-animated Tony Dorsett with his Heisman Trophy. A blank-stare, monotone, can-we-just-get-this-over-with Nolan Ryan with the A.L. Championship hardware. Mike Modano. Gary Patterson with TCU’s Rose Bowl trophy. Roger Staubach in front of a portrait of downtown Dallas. And Ron Washington from the Rangers dugout in Arlington.

You must watch the video all the way through, all the way to the end.

Classic.

Peace,

Allan

The royal official in John 4 orders Jesus to do what he wants. He commands Jesus. This ruler has a sick son, a son who is dying in Capernaum, and he tells Jesus, “Come down before my child dies.” He’s ordering Jesus. He’s telling Jesus what to do.

And Jesus complies.

Ah, see, you didn’t think it was going this way, did you?

This royal official is a man of means and a man of power. This man is well connected. He’s got pull. This man spends most of every day ordering people around. And when he finds out there’s a healer out there who can take care of his boy, he rushes to command Jesus to do just that.

And Jesus agrees. He does it. Boom! Right there on the spot. The boy is healed immediately.

The royal official had no idea who Jesus really was. He didn’t know. He had completely misunderstood Jesus’ mission, his purpose for living on earth. Jesus was a man who could meet the ruler’s immediate and personal needs. This person was only thinking of himself and his family.

And it seems that Jesus was OK with that.

Please know that people are going to come to you, also, to command you and order you around to meet their own felt needs. People are going to misunderstand you and your mission. They’re not going to care a whole lot about your call to ministry or your obligations to our Lord and the big picture concerns of his Kingdom. Your Kingdom priorities and your Kingdom goals won’t matter to some of the people who will direct you to do what they want you to do no matter what. Sometimes people will approach you in order to use you; they will come to you intent on exploiting you so they can continue living their comfortable lives.

Our job, as I understand it, is to show them the love of Christ and share with them his compassion. We’re called by our Savior to give these people his blessings and his mercy and grace. We offer to them out of the abundance of what we’ve been given by God. Jesus loves people. And his greatest desire is to help them, to take care of them, even when they come to him to misuse him.

This is not a call to promote unhealthiness or immaturity in God’s Church. Sometimes the people who have been disciples of Jesus the longest are the very ones who will exploit you and your ministry in their own selfish interests and for their own self-serving purposes. Catering to them is not what I’m talking about.

The story at the end of John 4 is about compassion and the love of Jesus for those who don’t know any better. Jesus took orders from a guy who didn’t even know who he was. I suppose I can, too.

Peace,

Allan

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~John 16:33

Jesus tells us plainly — from the mountain, around the table, along the way — that this world is openly hostile to the things of God. For disciples to live in the world means we have to experience struggle and conflict and even battles. The world’s values and vision and morals and ethics are opposed to ours in Christ. And living here isn’t easy.

Not for Christians.

Living right here right now is hard.

I spent an hour with Quincy this morning in our prayer room, lifting up dozens of requests to our Father in Jesus’ name. The things my brothers and sisters have written on those requests tell me that we have struggles and battles. I’ve spent more than a few cumulative hours over the past four or five days in my study counseling with people, praying with people, crying and agonizing with people. There’s nothing easy about this.

Jesus never pretended that it would be. He knows it’s tough. He lived it, remember? And he reminds us that while we’re having this trouble, we can also be filled with courage and strength and hope because he has overcome all of it.

Jesus tells us, “I have faced your enemy and I have conquered him. I have fought your battles on the same fields of human experience where you fight, and I’ve won. I’ve already done it for you. And I’m doing it right now in you and for you.”

If we abide in him, if we stay connected to him, his eternal victory belongs to us.

Wow. That’s really good news.

Peace,

Allan

What does Christ want us to see in the Garden of Gethsemane? Why did he tell his disciples to watch and pray? Why did he take them with him that night? Why was it so important that they stay awake?

Jesus makes it very clear that night in the garden: he does not want to die. Jesus is sorrowful and troubled. He’s distressed. He’s in agony. He’s facing the most severe test of his life. God is handing him the cup of suffering and death and asking him to drink it. And Jesus doesn’t want to. He shudders in horror at the mission before him. He dreads all of it. His Father is in the process of making him who had no sin to be sin for us. Jesus is walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And he wants another way. And he asks for it.

What an amazing scene. Jesus is in great agony. He cries out to his God, “Deliver me!” He prays out loud to his Father, “Rescue me!” He begs, “Save me from this horrible assignment. Let’s do this another way.”

No dove descends. No thunderous voice from heaven assures, “This is my Son.” Only silence. Silence. God has already spoken. Now it’s up to the Son to obey.

And he does. “Not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus overcomes the silence, he fights off the temptation to do what he wants and, through open and honest prayer, he obeys his Father.

“Watch and pray.” “Stay here and keep watch with me.”

Jesus tells his disciples, “Do this with me. Experience this with me. Watch me. If you’re really going to follow me, you’re going to need to know how to do this.”

Jesus wants us to be awake and present and obedient to the way of the Son and the will of the Father. He wants us to accept trial. He wants us to undergo testing. He wants us to say “no” to the temptations to abandon the cross aspects of our calling. Afterall, it’s so much easier to turn our backs on the crown of thorns and just go to church. It’s so much easier to just settle into our pews and into the comforts of our status quo and potlucks and baby blessings.

If we’re going to follow Jesus as his loyal subjects — and we are! — then we’re going to follow him into the garden. It’s in the garden with Jesus, praying these agonizing prayers, where we really express our trust in God. We trust God in the darkness of our sufferings because God walked through the darkness himself.

God wants us to be in fellowship with the sufferings of his Son and the sufferings of his world. Fervent and faithful prayer is where God equips us and empowers us to do it. A stiff upper lip isn’t going to do it. A fierce resolve won’t cut it. New Year’s resolutions won’t work. It happens through open and honest prayer; raw, from the heart, transparent communication with the Father.

After a night of agonizing prayer, Jesus is ready. “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Watch and pray.

Peace,

Allan

My King is not like the rulers of this world. His Kingdom is not of this world. He tells us that. And he shows us that his ways and his methods and his forms are nothing like those of this world.

So why do we keep wanting to use the world’s ways and methods and forms?

Why do we think politics is the way to get things done for God’s Kingdom? Why do we think power and force and voting and petitions and boycotts and campaigns and rallies and protests are the way to accomplish our God’s plans for his creation?

All Christians have to vote Republican because Jesus is against the gay marriage position of the Democrats. No, all Christians have to vote Democrat because Jesus is against the war policies of the Republicans. No, the Church has to support the Republican party because of Jesus’ teachings against abortion. No, the Church has to support the Democratic party because of Jesus’ teachings against the gap between the rich and the poor.

If we’re going to think and talk and act this way, we might as well start waving palm branches like the crowds in Jerusalem who wanted Jesus to overthrow the Roman oppressors and establish an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem. Those people wanted to use Jesus for a political revolt. They wanted national and social and economic revolution in the name of the Messiah. They wanted Roman blood to flow in the streets. Gird your loins and grab your swords! God bless Israel!

If we think and talk and act this way, we’re forcing the children of God to choose and then pledge allegiance to the lesser of worldly evils. Jesus did not come so we could be a part of a refurbished and renewed version of the kingdom of the world. Jesus came so we could be a part of the all-new eternal Kingdom of God!

Jesus will never be President of the U.S.A.

One, because he’s not running. Two, because you wouldn’t vote for him if he were running.

Think about Jesus’ platform. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor! Love your enemies! If Jesus had bumper stickers on the back of the donkey he rode into Jerusalem they would say “Be Last!”

“Vote for Jesus! We’re Going to Die!”

Of course, our King doesn’t come with T-shirts and stickers and buttons and hundred million dollar campaigns. He doesn’t save the world with armies and markets and policies. He saves the world through sacrificial love and suffering and service and grace.

Yes, Jesus came to be King. But instead of being crowned with a gold-plated headdress of jewels, he was crowned with painful and penetrating thorns. He did not bear a warrior’s sword or a royal scepter; he was beaten with a whip and a rod. Instead of sitting on a cusioned throne and ruling, Jesus hung on a tree and died. Jesus willingly, deliberately, goes to his own suffering and death for the sake of the world.

If we follow this King as his subjects — and we do! — then we, too, will follow him into Jerusalem to the place of suffering and sacrifice and death. We will say ‘no’ to status and position and glory and wealth and say ‘yes’ to the giving of our own lives. We will reject power and violence and force and accept God’s will and God’s way even in the midst of terrible personal agony. We will refuse to consider our own needs and, instead, be much more concerned with the needs of those around us.

That’s what it means to follow Jesus. To watch him and imitate him. To determine to be right behind him no matter where he goes.

Peace,

Allan

The apostle Paul tells us in Romans four that Abraham never wavered in his faith regarding the promise of a son and countless descendents. He never wavered. Yet, I seem to recall a situation or two with laughter. And Hagar. And Ishmael. Never wavered?

Scripture makes it clear that King David was a man after God’s own heart. Really? What about Bathsheba? Didn’t David go out of his way to premeditate and plan to break six or seven of the ten commandments in one weekend? Didn’t he lie and cheat and steal with his band of strong men in the wilderness? A man after God’s own heart?

We tell our little kids the story of Samson. We use flannelgraph and puppets and color sheets to tell them all about this hero of the faith. But when’s the last time you really read his whole story? You don’t tell the kids about the women and the sex and the lying and the breaking of his holy vows and his selfish pride and lust for violence and revenge.

Why not?

Because that’s the bad stuff.

Exactly.

The heroes in the Bible are more like us than we think. In a lot of ways, they are exactly like you. And me. A mixture of good and evil. A mess of noble intentions and horrible choices. A fluid cocktail of loyalty and rebellion. A patchwork of ultimate highs and miserable lows.

Our God has always chosen to do his greatest work through people exactly like you. And me. People just like the ones in your church. “Elijah was a man just like us…” Yeah, he was. So was Peter and Jacob and John and Joshua and Mary and Ruth.

Just like us.

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For Legacy members only!!!

It’s crazy — absolutely crazy — that Carrie-Anne and I are the only ones from our congregation who make the trip north of the border to the Tulsa Workshop. Crazy! Next year, if I must, I’m planning our Legacy church trip to Tulsa. I’ll handle the hotel reservations, plan the caravan, and pick out all the restaurants. You’ll be encouraged, uplifted, inspired, equipped, empowered, enlightened, and educated. You’ll sing at the top of your lungs, you’ll ‘amen’ some of the greatest preachers in the faith, and you’ll be transformed. You’ll grow. God will change you.

And you will thank me.

Hold me to it.

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Check out this blog post from a theology professor at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology. The man’s name is Ted Campbell. He’s a Methodist — a “heart-core Methodist, — who recently attended a Sunday worship assembly at Preston Road Church of Christ in Dallas. And in his review of the experience , Campbell concludes that “the Churches of Christ were right after all.” It’s a good read from an outsider’s perspective. And I only mean “outsider” as not an official member of our little stream of the Christian faith. Click here to read his article.

Peace,

Allan