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Friday, March 30, 2012

There were only two options - disciple or not!

I have been wondering lately if, in the desire to bring people to faith in Jesus, the church has formed a condition where people fall short of becoming actual disciples of Jesus. Has a dichotomy been created that was never intended by Jesus or by the practices of the church?

It is not uncommon for followers of Jesus, when trying to determine whether someone else is also a follower or not, to ask questions to ask people questions such as:
“Are you a Christian?”
“Have you prayed to invite Jesus into your life?”
“Have you given your life to Jesus?”

The way someone responds to these questions is then an indicator of where they are at ‘spiritually.’ Does the response really indicate anything or not?

It is not uncommon to hear people say: “He’s a Christian but …” “I’m a Christian but …” The “but …” is followed by qualifiers as to some aspect of the life of the person being described.

Is it possible that people have been led to believe that they can be a ‘Christian’ and not be a disciple of Jesus? Is it possible that people in our society believe that the two ideas can be separated? Do people in our society and in the church believe that a person can be a ‘Christian’ and choose not to be a disciple? Is there now the view that being a disciple is an option that a ‘Christian’ can choose if they want to, but it is not necessary?

Jesus told the Apostles and first followers: “Go and make disciples…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matt. 28:19-20) It was never the case that people could be a ‘Christian’ and not a disciple. People were either disciples or they weren’t. There were only two options - disciple or not! Multiple choices did not exist among the early church.

The only question to be asked is: Are you a disciple of Jesus? How about it?

Friday, March 23, 2012

Facebook Depression

The Apostle Paul said: For we will not make comparison of ourselves with some of those who say good things about themselves: (2 Corinthians 10:12 BBE)

Google the term 'Facebook Depression' and 80 million results will appear. The links show sites regarding depression in teens and adults that can result from excessive use of Facebook and other social media sites. Some of the postings are the result of academic and medical studies. Other postings are anecdotal articles from those in the medical and mental health professions.

As with any academic study, research, polling and observations, there are differing opinions as to causes, factors and contributors to depression that at times accompany Facebook and social media usage. The discussion often centers on the question of cause and effect. Does excessive social media interaction cause depression or is the depression the outcome of people who are already prone to depression?

One of the common themes that comes through clearly is the downside of comparing lives to others. The comparing that happens in social media is not just one person comparing their life to their friend's life. The comparison is between image and reality. It is between avatar and reality.

The comparison is between one person's Facebook life to another person’s real life. There is constant "'in-your-face friends' tallies, status updates and photos of happy-looking people having great times'"

All too often the reader compares their life to the other person’s Facebook life and their actual life may not even come close to comparing. They look at another friend’s posting and the comparison is again not pretty. Over and over the comparison goes. Their actual life compared to a 'friend's' Facebook life seems shallow, uninteresting, even ‘depressing’. The comparison is not good.

Comparing life with the lives of another person usually has little benefit. Each person's journey is unique. No two lives are the same. There are people that will have a ‘better life’ and there will be people who have a ‘worse life.’ What good does that comparing do?

Comparing actual life to media-portrayed or social-media-image-portrayed life is never good. Most people in media and entertainment undergo silicone, Botox and plastic surgery in order to get the spit shined look that they have. Hollywood is not actual life. Hollywood is image- managed.

The same can be true of social media. Hardly anyone puts a bad picture of themselves on Facebook. There is very little honest confession about the trials of life. Even when the trials are shared, they are shined, polished and displayed in the way that the person posting the status wants people to see. Avatar to avatar is often what social media is.

We can’t get caught in the trap of comparing our life to the image that anyone else portrays in any setting. We are accountable to Jesus. He is the one who loves us and from whom we find our identity. Social media can connect us, but beware of avatar to avatar temptation that is inherent in connecting through social media.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

No One Even in the Same Stratosphere

Throughout the current teaching series, The Wonder of Jesus, we’ve been looking at the amazing impact that Jesus has had on world history. There is no one single individual who has had anywhere near the impact on the world that Jesus has. There could be a lot of debate on who the next most influential person would be, but there is no one even in the same stratosphere when it comes to leaving a lasting fingerprint on the human race.

One illustration of this is the number of languages that the New Testament, which is about Jesus, has been translated into. There are between 6,800 and 6,900 individual unique languages in the world. The Gospels and most of the New Testament have been translated and printed in 2,500 of those languages. Amazing!

Someone could argue, though, that the Gospels and New Testament have only been translated into less than one half of all the languages. That’s not so impressive.

Of all of the other books that have been written down through history, there is none that compare in the incredible number of languages that a book has been translated into. Not Shakespeare, Plato, Socrates, Mark Twain, the Harry Potter series, none of them come close.

The next closest book, when considering languages it has been translated into, is Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote published in 1600. Don Quixote has been translated into sixty languages. That’s it. Sixty. A measly sixty languages!

There is no person, and there is no story that is even a close second in impact on world history when compared to the amazing person and story of Jesus. Jesus’ life and story has lapped multiple times anyone who follows!

Jesus is amazing! The story of Jesus is amazing!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Following Jesus ... Like every other commitment?

Throughout life, we each make a variety of commitments. Starting fairly young we commit to Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, Little League, dance lessons, ballet and music lessons. As we get older we commit to a team, club or AP classes. Eventually most of us commit to a person in a marriage ceremony. Commitment in one way or another is a common aspect of life.

Some commitments have a time component of six months or a year. Some commitments are open-ended.

Not only do we make a variety of commitments we also break a variety of commitments. We decide that we don't really want to be in Scouts, or Little League or the AP class anymore. So we drop out and move on to our new found interest and make a new commitment.

The two extremes regarding commitments are: making commitments and never straying from the commitment and never making commitments of any sort.

You've probably heard people say: 'Why make a commitment that I can't keep or that I'm going to break? Isn't it better to not make a commitment than to make one and then change my mind and break the commitment?’

Learned attitudes and practices regarding commitment can migrate from one area of life to others. Depending on the area of life that the attitudes and practices migrate from and to; the migration can be positive or negative. Learned attitudes and practices can carry over into a person's faith journey.

Jesus' story of the soil is partially about commitment. Three of the four soil types are about commitment. Two of those three soil types are about making and breaking commitments. The other soil is the one that made a commitment and kept it.

How has your learned attitudes and practices towards commitment impacted your commitment to follow Jesus? Is following Jesus just like all of the other commitments?