The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Discipleship (Page 1 of 29)

The Most Courageous Thing

June 18, 2025 / / 0 Comments

A good friend of mine at our church sent me a powerfully encouraging email this week related to last Sunday’s sermon. The sermon was about identity and belonging from the first part of Galatians 3. Our identity, like our salvation, is to be found in Christ alone. We struggle with this. We build our identities based on where we came from or where we live or how we vote or the size of our houses or the work we do. It’s even possible–easily–for a preacher to construct his identity around being a preacher.

The note from this friend very generously reminded me that I am doing what God created me to do: to inspire and encourage my brothers and sisters to give themselves fully to God in Christ. It was very nice. And timely. I get these kind cards and emails every now and then, and they always feel like they come directly from God. I’m so thankful to God for these Spirit-inspired encouragements. This time, the message came with a long quote from Richard Rohr, the author of several books on spiritual living.

I’m sharing the quote here in its entirety, but I want to emphasize the dynamic center of the whole thing: “The most courageous thing you will ever do is accept that you are just yourself.”

Great people do not need to concoct an identity for themselves; they merely try to discover, uncover, and enjoy the identity they already have. As Francis said to us right before he died in 1226, ‘I have done what was mine to do. Now you must do what is yours to do.’ Yet to just be yourself, who you really are, warts and all, feels like too little, a disappointment, a step backward into ordinariness.

It sounds much more exciting to pretend I am St. Francis than accepting that I am Richard and that that is all God expects me to be–and everything that God expects me to be. My destiny and his desire are already written in my genes, my upbringing, and my natural gifts. It is probably the most courageous thing you will ever do to accept that you are just yourself. It will take perfect faith, the blind ‘yes’ of Mary, because it is the ongoing and same incarnation. Just like the Word of God descending into one little whimpering child, in one small stable, in one moment, in one unimportant country, noticed by nobody. We call it the scandal of particularity. This, here, now, me always feels too small and specific to be a dwelling place for God! How could I be taken this seriously?”

I don’t know how you’re messing up your identity, where exactly you are misplacing the center of who you are, to whom you belong, and your ultimate purpose. But you might try the more courageous thing of leaning into who God created you to be and where he has placed you.

Peace,

Allan

Did Jesus Really Say?

February 26, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Before the main topic of this post, I want to set a pin here to acknowledge Luka Doncic’s first game as a Laker against the Dallas Mavericks last night and lament one more time the indescribably horrible trade that sent the NBA’s most exciting player to L.A. Luka exchanged ear-to-ear grins and extravagant handshakes and hugs with his former Dallas teammates in the moments before the tip and directed at least a couple of hard glares toward the visitors’ bench after hitting a big three and an impossible reverse layup. Luka wound up with a triple-double, of course (19 pts, 15 rbs, 12 assists), and said after the game “I didn’t play great.”

And he’s right. It was a very average game for Luka. Which only emphasizes how truly great he is. Triple-doubles are a given for Luka, the ho-hum result of a merely pedestrian performance.

The most regrettable part of this whole thing is the unforgivable incompetence or inept apathy or both that led to probably the worst trade in professional sports history. It was revealed again last night that Luka never had any intention of leaving Dallas and was completely blown away by the trade. It was obvious last night that he is still in shock, he’s still in a daze. He’s still sad about it.

When asked by reporters last night if the win over the Mavericks can provide some closure for him so he can move on with his career and his life, Luka answered, “No, not really. Closure is going to take a while. This is not ideal. There are lots of emotions. But I’m just taking it little by little. Every day is a little better.”

Luka was 19 when the Mavs drafted him. He just turned 26. In the words of Kyrie Irving, he’s just an innocent kid, a mega-talented innocent kid who is not an American. He’s not from this culture, he’s not grown up with an understanding of these expectations. Sometimes he responded to things that came at him in ways that felt awkward or weird. But that’s on NIco and Kidd and the Mavs. It’s almost like they didn’t try at all. The spin they’re putting out about Luka’s lack of conditioning is a cop-out. Some of it may be true, but you don’t trade a generational talent because he likes an occasional cheeseburger. It’s not like Luka hasn’t made All-NBA five times, had an MVP season last year, and led Dallas to the NBA Finals.

He’s still just a kid. His best years are still ahead of him. This would be like trading Dirk Nowitzki after his sixth year, only worse, because Luka is galaxies ahead of where Dirk was at this stage.

I’ll agree with Dirk who says, “I’ll never be a Lakers fan; but I’ll always be a Luka fan.”

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Sometimes I post things here that I had intended to preach on Sunday, but didn’t because of time–things that wound up on the cutting room floor. Here’s a paragraph or two from our sermon Sunday about Peter’s betrayal of Jesus.

In the Garden of Gethsemane on that last night, Peter drew his sword to protect Jesus from the crowd of guards and soldiers who had come to arrest him. Peter struck one of the officials, cutting off his ear. Peter was going for the kill. He wasn’t aiming at Malchus’ ear. He’s not Mike Tyson. He was going for the guy’s throat, he was trying to cut off his head. But Malchus ducked and Peter cut off his ear. And Jesus said, “No. Put your sword away. Violence doesn’t fix anything; it only leads to more violence. If my Kingdom were of this world, then we’d fight. I’d call down twelve thousand angels and we’d wipe these guys out. But we don’t fight. We never use violence. I’m showing you a different way.”

I preached that. I left this next part out because of time. Here it is, directly from my manuscript.

Here’s a sidebar: It’s interesting to me how we’ll argue and debate and get red in the face about the literal details of creation and the literal details of the ark and the flood and we’ll insist on the literal facts about Jonah and the fish and we’ll parse and dissect every syllable of the Greek words in Paul’s letters, but we’re very quick to dismiss the literal words of our Lord Jesus. Jesus gives very direct commands about violence or money or refugees or forgiveness, and we’re like, “He didn’t really mean that literally.” When we do that, we sound just like the devil. “Did Jesus really say…?” We’ll twist Jesus’ words so he doesn’t really mean half of what he says. That’s another sermon. For another day. Probably a guest speaker.

I should have said it. I’m sorry I didn’t. I cut it because the sermon was running long and I didn’t want to distract from or take away from the main points of the lesson. I called it a sidebar when I wrote it, but it started to feel more like a rabbit trail on Friday and Saturday night. So I cut it. I should have said it.

Peace,

Allan

As Long as Jesus is Flexible

February 21, 2025 / / 0 Comments

The apostle Peter proclaims that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Holy One of Israel sent from God. Jesus immediately tells Peter and the other disciples that he will soon suffer and die, at which point Peter takes the Lord aside and rebukes him. What a confusing confession. Jesus, you are the Christ, you are the Lord, you are in charge, as long as you can be flexible.

What was Peter expecting when he pulled Jesus aside? Had he really thought that through? What was Jesus going to say?

Oh, thank you, Peter! You’re right! I must have lost my head back there, I don’t know what I was thinking! You don’t have to die if you don’t want to. It’s your call. We can do this another way, an easier way. We can do it your way, Peter. Thank you! I am so blessed to have such a wise follower like you to help me see things more clearly. I don’t think I could be the Messiah without you!

Some churches are guilty of this confusing confession.

Jesus is Lord as long as he’s okay with us continuing to restrict women where the Bible never does.
Jesus is in charge as long he lets us keep showing favoritism to long-time members and rich people.

Is your confession confusing?

I know Jesus says turn the other cheek, but this is a different situation.
I know I’m supposed to forgive her, but she never said she was sorry.
I’ll follow Jesus as long as he looks past my sketchy behavior at work.
I’ll follow Jesus as long as he tolerates my addiction to pornography.

Following Jesus is not like watching TV. I can’t lay on the couch with the remote in my hand and change the channel every time something unpleasant or uncomfortable or demanding comes on the screen.

The Christian confession is not confusing. Jesus is Lord. Period. He is the Christ.

“If anyone would come behind me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.” ~Mark 8:34-35

Peace,

Allan

As Long as Jesus is Comfortable

February 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

At Caesarea Philippi, Peter declares Jesus as the Christ, Jesus immediately tells his followers that he is going to suffer and die, then Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. He tells the One he just proclaimed as the Christ that he is not going to die, that they’re going to change the world in other ways. It seems confusing, doesn’t it? Peter tells Jesus he is the Christ and then in the very next breath tells him that he’s not the one making the decisions.

In essence, Peter is telling Jesus, you are the Christ as long as it’s comfortable. As long as you don’t push me outside my comfort zone, as long as you don’t challenge me, as long as whatever you’re calling me to doesn’t stretch me or hurt me, we’re good. You are the Lord.

Jesus says, “I want you to give more.”
Give more? If I do that, I’m going to have to cut back on something!

Jesus says, “I need you to lead a small group.”
In my house?! I’ll be vacuuming every Sunday afternoon! When will I take my nap?!

Jesus says, “I’d like you to volunteer with the children’s ministry.”
Teach the little kids?! Hey, I did my time there! That’s somebody else’s job!

Churches do things like this, too. Some churches make the comfort of their members too big of a priority. In some churches, all anybody has to say is “I’m uncomfortable with that,” –whatever it is– “That makes me uncomfortable,” and the elders rush in and shut whatever it is down. That’s why we put big crosses in our Worship Centers, to remind Christians, and their elders and ministers, that the divine call to follow Christ has absolutely nothing to do with being comfortable!

Peter says Jesus is the Christ as long as he’s comfortable. Is your confession confusing like that?

Peace,

Allan

As Long as Jesus is Sensible

February 19, 2025 / / 0 Comments

“What about you? Who do you say I am?” ~Mark 8:29

I imagine the apostle Peter answers Jesus’ question immediately. Peter doesn’t do dead air. He’s going to speak first, think later. Ready-fire-aim! — that’s Peter. Always jumping in, always shooting off his mouth. But, here, he gives the exact right answer:

“You are the Christ!” ~Mark 8:29

You are the Anointed One, the Messiah. You are the Holy One of Israel. You’re the one who was prophesied about, the one we’ve been praying for our whole lives, the one we’ve been waiting for for generations. You’re the one, Jesus! You are the Christ! You are the Lord!

“He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this…” ~Mark 8:31-32

The other Gospel writers tell us this was the first time Jesus had mentioned to them that he was going to die. He spoke plainly about it.

“And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” ~Mark 8:32

Peter’s very first words in this story are, “You are the Christ.” But his very next actions say, “No, you’re really not.”

“You are the Christ” means “You are the boss.” You are Lord. You are the sovereign ruler over all the earth and you are the sovereign ruler over me. Whatever you say, goes. That’s what it means to say Jesus is the Christ. But Peter follows up his declaration by telling Jesus they were not going to do what he said needed to happen. He began to rebuke the one he called Christ. “Nobody is dying here, Jesus–not you, not me, not any of us.” It was a very confusing confession.

“‘Get behind me, Satan!’ Jesus said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of people!'” ~Mark 8:33

Peter, you are more worried about what people say than what God says. You’re trusting your own feelings and instincts more than you’re trusting the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Peter seems perfectly fine with Jesus being Lord as long as Jesus is sensible. Peter is good with declaring Jesus as the Christ, the Lord of his life. But as soon as Jesus steps out of sensible? Well, that’s when Peter takes over.

Turn the other cheek? Jesus, seriously? Give up my shirt and my coat? Refuse to retaliate? Jesus, if I do that, I’ll be taken advantage of. People are going to walk all over me. Give up wealth and power and force in exchange for love and mercy and grace? I know that’s what we talk about in church, but that’s not how the real world works, Jesus. You’re out of touch. Protect the outsiders? Give up my rights? Jesus, did I hear you right? Love my enemies? I don’t even like my friends! If you’re not sensible, you’re no longer my authority. You are not my Christ.

That’s a confusing confession.

Some churches do this.

Lord, we know you said give freedom to prisoners and release the captives from their bondage, but you want our church to pay off people’s debt? Their medical debt? Their school cafeteria debt? But we’ve never met these people! How will they know it’s us? How many of these people will come to our church? What kind of return are we getting on our money? It doesn’t make sense.

Jesus healed ten lepers and only one of them even said “Thank you.” But the Gospel point of that story is not that you’d better be extra cautious about how much of God’s grace you dole out to strangers.

You are the Christ as long as you’re sensible.

I wonder if that kind of behavior confuses Jesus.

What’s the deal, Peter? Have I lost my mind? Because you’re with me when I say love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. You’re with me when I say be faithful to your spouse and don’t forsake the assembly. But when I tell you to lend to those who ask, suddenly I’m not making sense? Your commitment, Peter, is not to my lordship, it’s to your own logic. Your obedience is to the values of the world instead of the values of the Kingdom of God.

There’s a difference between following Jesus because it makes sense and following Jesus because he is the Christ.

How confusing is your confession?

Peace,

Allan

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