Speak Out

Then Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

-       Luke 4:31-32

Throughout the Gospels people refer to Jesus as rabbi or teacher. Even as a 12-year old boy Jesus was teaching other people…people significantly older and more experienced than himself. People listened to Jesus. They listened to what he had to say and they were amazed by it. Why were they amazed? Why did they listen to Jesus? Did they listen to him because of how he looked? Did they listen to him because he told them what they wanted to hear? Absolutely not. Did they listen to him because he was funny? Absolutely not. The people listened to Jesus and were amazed at his teaching because his message had authority! Not only did the message itself speak to people, but they way that it was delivered blew people away. He didn’t teach like the other teachers did, with a sense of  coldness or indifference. Not only was Jesus preaching a new message, he was preaching with new authority. We are called to spread the Good News to the world, to our neighbors, and to our friends. We are not called to coldly condemn or indifferently ignore. We are not called to weakly and quietly blend in. Jesus’ message had authority. Go out and share the Gospel with authority! Share Jesus’ authoritative message with authority. Proclaim the truth with boldness, honesty, and love. 

Mystery

Christianity is a very mystical religion. Not in the traditional sense, simply in the sense that vast amounts of Christianity don’t really make sense and there will always about huge amounts of knowledge that we cannot and will not ever have. God is not meant to be understood and neither is Christianity. Holiness comes from striving after God in all areas of one’s life. Sometimes God our lives don’t make sense. Sometimes what God seems to be doing in our lives doesn’t make sense. He is the supreme ruler and creator of the universe and we are just tiny human beings. How could we possibly hope to understand what is really going on when we are such a tiny portion of the universe that God created with a single breath? This really hit home for me because I see myself trying to learn as much about Christianity and learn as much as I can about the bible in order that I might better understand God and better understand life when that is not even close to what life is really all about. God is a mystery and his plan for my life is a mystery, and that is why it takes faith to step out and tell God, “Here I am, use me.” 

Life and Death for Christ

What do you care about more than anything? Your car? Your dog? Your family? Your friends? Your significant other? How much do you really care about them? Do you actually love them? Do you care about them more than yourself? Do you care about them enough to die for them? To give your own life up so that theirs might be spared? Do you care about ANYONE that much? Do you love anyone enough to sacrifice your life for them? Do you love God enough to die for him? Do you love Him enough to give up your own life to follow him? To pursue him? These are tough questions but you have GOT to think about these.

Do you have any idea how many people have given up their lives to follow Jesus? Of the 12 disciples, 11 of them were martyred. John is said to be the only one who was not martyred, and yet he was tortured and exiled to Patmos where he eventually died. These were the men that knew Jesus best. They followed him more closely and more literally than anyone ever has. They gave their lives for him. They gave their lives to further His kingdom and to do his work. They gave their lives to follow Jesus. 

Steven was stoned. Phillip was whipped and crucified. James was beaten and clubbed to death. Matthias was stoned and beheaded. Mark was cut into pieces. Peter was crucified upside down, at his own request, because he said he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord. 

Even today, missionaries around the world are being killed for their work. Just this year I spoke with missionaries in Yemen who could be put to death for their work if they were discovered. There are missionaries who are not even allowed to tell their closest friends where they are…for their own safety. You may think that only bible characters or only old people from a long time ago are called to give up their lives, but they aren’t. Anyone might lose their life for Christ. Are you willing to lose yours for Jesus? Are you willing to die for the Christ? Are you willing to follow him until the end? Or will you forsake him when times get rough? If you do, when the day of judgment comes, he will say, “I never knew you, get away from me.” (Matthew 7:23) Be willing to live for Christ. Be willing to die for Christ. 

Make Them Wonder

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah – Luke 3:15

John earned his name by doing the work of God, by baptizing in the name of Jesus. John spent his life preparing the way for Jesus and proclaiming the Good News about the coming of the Messiah, the Savior. He preached the true Gospel, the repentance and the bearing of fruits are what lead to salvation. He preached justice and equality; that if one man has extra and one man has nothing, that the man with extra should share with the other man. He taught morality and a sense of right living. John was humble and denied any authority that the people wanted to give him. He gave all of the glory back to God. John was so obediently and diligently following God and proclaiming the Good news and making disciples that the people wondered if he was the Messiah. He lived, loved, and taught so Christ-like that the people wondered if he was their savior. This is an example of how we should live; not so that people wonder if we are the Messiah, but so that people wonder what we have. We ought to live and love so much that people will look at us and say to themselves, “I wonder what inspires them…” When people look at you do they see someone who is trying to blend in? Or do they see someone who is willing to die for Jesus and proclaim the truth so much that it makes them wonder what is inspiring you?

Move

He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.

Luke 19:3

Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. He was a tax collector, a sinner, and somewhat of an outcast, yet he wanted nothing more than to just catch a glimpse of Jesus. Every day we are surrounded by hundreds of people, maybe even thousands, who want to see who Jesus is. Every human being, whether they recognize it as this or not, has the burning desire to see Jesus, to know who Jesus is. “Short man” not only implies the small physical size of Zacchaeus, but it also implies that he was small in status. He was an outcast, a person who did not know Jesus. But he wanted to see Jesus now! He wanted more than anything to see this man! But he could not…because of the crowd. The crowd was all that was standing between him and Jesus. The people were the only thing preventing Zacchaeus from catching a glimpse of Jesus. He had the faith, he had the desire, he had the passion, but the crowd stood on the way. Are you part of the crowd? Are you keeping someone from seeing Jesus? Has something you have done or something you have said made you blend in and prevent someone else who is seeking God from seeing him? Move out of the way and show people Jesus. 

Righteous Anger

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

           -Ephesians 4:26-27.

Is it wrong to be angry? No. Paul is not suggesting anger. He is not requesting anger. He is not saying anger is always the appropriate response. He says to be angry, but not to sin. It can be stinking easy to let anger grow into sin. If you still think that anger is not acceptable then hear this: Remember when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19)? Remember when God told Moses to decapitate the people of Israel who worshipped another God (Numbers 25)? Remember when God’s wrath killed every firstborn Egyptian (Exodus 12)? Remember when God killed 50,000+ for looking into the Ark of the Covenant (1 Samuel 6)? Remember when God destroyed the entire earth except for Noah, his family, and the animals (Genesis 6)? Remember when God says that many will prophesy and do good works in his name and yet will be condemned to hell (Matthew 7)? Remember when Jesus walked into the table and freaked out on the people for buying and selling in the church and flipped the tables (Matthew 21)? Now that we are all on the same page, hear this. There is a fine line between personal anger and righteous anger. All of these examples of God’s anger are 100% righteous anger. Righteous anger is anger that is justified. Personal anger is not justified. The bible is clear about what to do when someone personally sins against you personally (see Matthew 18:15-19). The bible is also clear about what to do when someone sins against God. Or when someone worships something before God. Or are fake followers of Christ that talk by his name, but don’t live by his name. Be angry. Anger is not a sin. Righteous anger is not a sin. There are things in this world that should make you angry. There are people who should make you angry. There are people in most churches who should make you angry. There are people who worship idols that should make you angry. There are fake Christians who talk the talk but don't walk the walk that should make you angry. But don’t let your anger crumble into sin, and don’t let anger fester, leaving a foothold for the devil. Righteous anger is a Godly and Christ-like attribute. So be angry, but do not sin. 

Soldier On

When was the last time that you felt alone? I don’t mean “I spent Friday night at home alone”. I mean when was the last time that you felt completely and utterly alone. Abandoned. Separated. Detached. Isolated. Discarded. Forgotten. Empty. Rejected. Outcast. That is what I mean by alone. Maybe you have never felt that way before. I know that I have. And I would venture to guess that most people have felt this type of aloneness to some degree at some point in their life. If not, then you can just listen for a little.

Here’s the deal, if you haven’t felt that way then you’re kidding yourself. Even Jesus had his moments. “My God, My God, WHY have YOU forsaken me?” We’ve all been to the bottom. We’ve all felt abandoned and alone. All people need to love, be loved, and feel significant. Every single person needs all 3 of those things. Without those 3 things, you are going to feel alone, broken, and isolated.

So, if you are feeling broken and alone…which of these are you missing?

Do you not feel significant? If you are struggling with feeling significant then maybe it is because you aren’t. Tough words? Of course. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself. Whether or not you feel significant has nothing to do with anyone but you. If you don’t feel significant, it is most likely your fault. INVEST yourself in something! INVEST yourself in someone! My guess is that if you don’t feel significant it is most likely because you haven’t invested yourself in anything that is worth being invested in.

Are you not loving anyone? Again, this is a problem, since there are over 1100 verses in the bible about loving the poor and needy. That’s just the poor and needy! What about everyone else!? Again, my guess is that most of you don’t REALLY love that many people. Think about how many people who you care more about than yourself. Most likely a depressing thought. Learn to love. Read scriptures about love.

Do you not feel loved? This is the hardest one for most people. If you aren’t blessed enough to have a family that loves you, then you most likely have friends that love you. If you don’t have either, then you MUST know that GOD DOES. Pslam 27:10 says, “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” (NLT) The Lord loves everyone in a way that no one can understand. His type of love is beyond comprehension. If you don’t believe me, read the Psalms. By the way, if you’re reading this and you don’t feel loved, then I haven’t done my job. Neither has anyone in any of the youth groups or churches that you guys are from. Hopefully that is not the case.

My point is that if you feel alone, abandoned, separated, detached, isolated, discarded, forgotten, empty, rejected or outcast, the blame most likely falls on you. So pick yourself up out of the depths of despair and soldier on. 

The Love Factor

What comes to your mind when you think of the word “evangelism”? You probably think of that maniac on TV who is always yelling at people for no reason and making no sense whatsoever. Maybe you think of that guy on the corner of the street downtown who is yelling into his megaphone and throwing bibles at people. Some of you who have been on mission trips might have a better idea of evangelism than others. You probably see it is sharing the Gospel with people, no matter what method it is. Let me ask you a question? When do you think the last time YOU evangelized was? Think about it for a minute. 

Evangelism is simply defined as “proclaiming of the Gospel”. Nowhere in that definition do you see anything about megaphones, TV screamo pastors, or even uncomfortable situations. It is simply proclaiming the Gospel. Lets be honest, we all worry about and perhaps even dread bringing up Jesus or church or God with our non-Christian friends. It is NOT an easy thing to do for most people. You constantly look for ways to rapidly switch up the subject from sports to God. While there is a place for random God conversations and random Gospel sharing, I am going to suggest and much more simple and most likely more effective type of evangelism. 

Here is the most effective type of evangelism: LOVE PEOPLE!!!!! The greatest commandment is to love God and to love one another. LOVE ONE ANOTHER! LOVE PEOPLE! Love non-believers! The single most important need that human beings have is to love, be loved, and to be significant. If all you are doing is beating them over the head with a bible or pestering them about God, how is that loving them? The way you act and the way you treat people is evangelism. Treat people like Jesus treated people, act like Jesus acted, love like Jesus loved. We have the perfect model of evangelism in the New Testament and we straight up ignore it. We pass out John 3:16 tracks and focus on conversions instead of on loving people. Not everyone Jesus talked to chose to follow him, some people, even after encountering Jesus, chose to walk away from Him. Evangelizing is not about selling the Gospel in order to see how many conversions we can get. Evangelism is about living like Jesus and loving people to no end. 

Beating someone over the head with bible is not loving them at all. People desire to love and be loved more than anything else in the world. Jesus loved people. He loved EVERYONE, not just the people he liked or his close Christian friends. Here is my suggestion for how YOU should evangelize. Love people, and help them feel like they belong. In our generation, belonging leads to believing, not the other way around. When a new person shows up at church, don’t wait for them to believe until you decide to love them. You must love them into believing!!! 

So how are you supposed to minister to your friends? I am not saying that talking directly about the Gospel out of nowhere is a bad idea, because it is not, it is an awesome idea. I am just suggesting that maybe the best way to show Jesus to your lost friend is to simply love them, make them feel like they belong, and to act like Jesus. Get rid of your cynical self, get rid of your unloving self, get rid of your selfish, bubble filled world, and go love your friends like Jesus would have loved them. 

Speak of the Devil

The devil is constantly at work in the world and in your life. He and his minion demons never give up on you. They are deceivers, accusers, liars, disqualifiers, depressors, devourers, discouragers, dividers, and murderers. The devil tries to get you into lies and deceit. He tries to get you successful so that you will become distracted from Jesus. He gives you material things to keep your mind off of Jesus. He gets you too busy to think about the Jesus. He gets you so selfish and materialistic that you pray about yourself and not Jesus. The devil is real and he is powerful. Charles Baudelaire once said, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist”.  If people have no one to blame the bad things on, then they blame them on God.

We are all in constant battle with temptations of the devil. Martin Luther said, “For where God built a church, there the Devil would also build a chapel.” What does this say about the prominence of the devil? Perhaps a modern relevant way to view this quote is that sometimes the church is almost welcoming to the devil. Before you freak out, listen. Is the church often too materialistic, too immoral, too depressed, too successful, too divided? And even in the church, we like our things don’t we? We like our success. We like our iPods. We like our materials. We like our sin. Again, hear me out, these things are not evil, but if we love them more than we love God, it becomes idolatry. The church today is at risk of becoming a haven for the devil.

How do we fight back? The two obvious answers are prayer and scripture. When the disciples couldn’t heal a demon-possessed boy and they asked Jesus why they couldn’t, he responded by saying, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” There is nothing that can compete with prayer when it comes to spiritual warfare. Luther said, “The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn” Scripture is the other obvious answer. Luther also suggests laughing at and mocking the devil. I personally love this, other than prayer and scripture what can we do?? Laugh at the devil! Make fun of him! Make it a habit, for he cannot stand it.

One last thing to keep in mind, Jesus has already won. The devil is fighting nonetheless. CS Lewis said, “Redeemed humanity is to be something far more glorious than unfallen humanity.” Without evil and temptation, humanity could not have been redeemed by Christ’s saving death on the cross. Not only has Jesus already won, but he is using the devil’s evil works to make his grace and beauty even more known. Jesus has already won.  

Nothing But the Blood

James 1:2 says, “Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds.” I know we have all heard this a thousand times and we all understand that we are SUPPOSED to consider bad things happening to us as a good thing right? When our grandfather dies we’re supposed to find joy in that? When a close friend who we know isn’t a Christian dies, there’s joy in that? When we fail a class or a test, there’s joy in that? When we lose the playoff game, where is there joy? Seriously guys, think about it; how is there joy in any of those?

You might think that Jesus has promised us comfortable lives as Christians. And lets be honest, we often feel like we deserve comfortable lives because, after all, we’re the good people right? We’re the ones who have decided to follow Christ and be “good”? Well guess what. You deserve death. You deserve hell. You deserve pain. But God’s grace saved you from that. You deserve nothing “good” at all. Nothing. At all. 

Okay, so now that we can all accept that, lets move on. Did you know that the word “comfortable” is not mentioned in the Bible once? Not once. God has not promised us “comfortable” lives. He has promised us purposeful lives when we choose to live for Him. God’s idea of “good” things is far different than the worldly view of what is “good”. We see cars, houses, money, boats, and items as good things. If we don’t have any of that then we have nothing right? Wrong. God’s good things are peace of mind, righteousness, love, and joy. In order to understand how blessed we really are and how “fair” our lives should be, we must reevaluate our idea of “good”.

“God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.” – CS Lewis

God knows everything. Every deep, dark secret. Every hair on your head. Every trial that you will ever face. Is it not a comforting thought to know that He has “armed us” to go through it? He has prepared us to face everything that we will face. And, we will not face it alone. He never promises that we will not have pain, whether physical, emotional, or spiritually. Following Christ is painful, heartbreaking, and hard. It is also inspiring, loving, and the best decision you’ll ever make. We will get through it, not without pain, but without stain. What can wash away my sin and make me white as snow? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 

Saved By Grace

C.S. Lewis once said: “God is not merely mending, not simply restoring the status quo. Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity.”

Do you ever look around at the world and find it hard to believe that the battle has already been won by Jesus Christ? Death, poverty, murder, rape, war, sin. Surely these aren’t part of the combination for a God-ruled world. (And I can call you Shirley if I want to). How are we supposed to believe that Jesus has already won the battle when we turn on the news and all we see is a fallen world? Why would God allow the world to fall when he has already won? Am I the only one who thinks about this sort of thing? I know I’m not. 

Why would a loving God allow his most valuable creations, his priceless masterpieces, to be a part of a burning world? Let me suggest this. C.S Lewis knew exactly why. He knew something that has probably never crossed your mind before. Jesus Christ died to rescue a fallen world. He died to save humanity from eternal condemnation of hell. He died so that when we stand before our God on judgment day, He will be able to look at us and say, “You have sinned. But you have been saved.” 

Jesus is not simply trying to mend the wounds of humanity. He is not just trying to restore the status quo and make the world “a better place”. C.S. Lewis knew what He is trying to do. “Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity.” Saved people are more glorious than flawless people. Humanity has been saved. We are all fallen, but we have been saved by grace.