Your Anger is a Demonstration of What You Love

Have you ever been so mad that you... ?

People do funny things when they are angry. They throw things and hit things and say things they will inevitably regret a short time later. I've known several "manly" men who have broken their hands, fingers and wrists because they punched a wall in anger.

Jesus once made a whip and attacked a group of store owners.

Does that mean it's okay to get angry?

In Ephesians, Paul wrote that we should be careful that in our anger we do not sin. We must never let our anger control us. Anger can be a very destructive force, and usually in the hands of humans it is a negative thing; yet Jesus' anger can actually tell us something about God's love.

Anger is often tied directly to love. If our dog Emily eats Liam's dinner while he's not watching he may or may not get angry. If dinner was my world famous spinach, hummus, and okra casserole; Liam will not get angry with the dog. He doesn't love that dish. But if dinner is bacon and tater tots, the dog better hide because the anger is coming. Liam loves bacon and he loves tater tots.

This can be a warning to us. Sometimes our anger reveals that we love the wrong things!

God's anger is directly tied to his love for us. Sin has nasty effects. Our sin and the sin of others ruins creation (notice that we are surrounded by disease, famine, natural disasters, death, etc.). More significantly, our sin separates us from God. Therefore God is angry about our sin, because He loves his creation (us) and He desires to be reconciled to us... That's why he sent Jesus!

And Jesus' anger in the temple (in John 2) was a demonstration of God's love for us. Jesus was not angry about the selling of animals for temple worship. This practice was necessary for travelers and the poor to be able to appropriately worship in the temple.

However, Jesus WAS angry about how and where the selling was happening. Instead of providing a service for worshipers, they were getting rich by exploiting the poor. Instead of enabling worship, they were creating a distraction for the Gentiles who hoped to worship in the outer courts.

Jesus was angry, because the Jews were abusing the Marginalized. (marginalized people are those who live in the "margins", separated in some way from the majority or the norm) It is often easy to take advantage of marginalized people because they are not protected.

Yet, Jesus cares about the marginalized. His anger in the temple was a demonstration of His love.

This raises two simple questions for you to consider today:

1. Do you love the marginalized? 

2. Do you realize that Jesus loves you?

American Pickers, Hoarders, and Water to Wine

Jesus makes all things new.

His VERY FIRST miracle (recorded in John 2) was turning the water to wine. This wasn't just any old water. It was the water used for ceremonial cleansing prior to celebrations and meals.

So think about this:
The water used to clean our exterior
was changed into
WINE, which when internalized brings joy!

Jesus was making things new. No longer did people need to strive to make themselves externally clean. That wasn't working anyway! Now, Jesus was going to miraculously change us from the inside out. Just as He miraculously changed the very nature of water, He also changes our nature.

It's tempting to hold on to the old. We are, by nature, people who relish the past. American Pickers, Hoarders, Storage Wars, and Auction Kings are just a few of the recent television shows which reflect this tendency of humans to place a high value on the old way.

We all have "old" things in our life which we like to hang on to. But it's IMPOSSIBLE to embrace the NEW LIFE Jesus offers if we are still holding on to the things we think we can offer ourselves (why would you cling to the cleaning water if you can have the best wine?). If you want to know which old things you are still clinging to, finish this statement:

"I need ... "

If you finished with anything other than Jesus... you need something new.

The Solution for All Relational Dysfunction

Jesus.

That was easy, right. Seriously, Jesus is the answer, or better yet, Jesus' attitude is the answer.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,but made himself nothing,taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfand became obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Just list-thinking out loud here; but, recognizing that we all take different lengths of time to assume the attitude of Christ,maybe the path to relational healing looks something like this:

Betrayal. Most relational dysfunction begins when one party feels betrayed by another. Whether it is a "behind the back" betrayal, or a breach of confidence, or the breaking of an unwritten code, betrayal hurts.

Anger. Our initial response is anger because our very first instinct is almost always to be severely aware that we have not received the treatment we were entitled to. A sense of entitlement, when not fulfilled almost always results in anger.

Hurt. As time passes, the anger fades into a hurt as we realize the betrayal was not just an injustice done to us, but a life-changing relational loss. Recognizing we can no longer trust or confide in someone we once did is painful.

Pity. When we are finally able to take the camera of our mind off ourselves, we begin to realize our "enemies" actions are a reflection of their own shortcomings, not ours. The betrayal we experienced was beyond our control. Since we are no longer obsessed with our own self entitlement, we are able to feel sympathy toward the person who wronged us.

Love. Love is a choice, not a feeling. When we are no longer concerned with our own needs, desires, expectations, etc. we are able to CHOOSE to concern ourselves with the needs of others. The truest, most Christlike love is to choose to be concerned with the needs, desires, and expectations of others; particularly our enemies.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Reconciliation. Having been reconciled to God, we are able to reconcile to our brother and our neighbor. In fact, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We cannot control who will or will not betray us. We can control whom we reconcile ourselves to. We must learn to aggressively pursue the right we can control and relentlessly forgives the wrongs we cannot control.

I Do Believe in a Woman's Right to Choose...

I'll be really honest. When it comes to the abortion discussion, I've never been a real fan of the "A woman has the right to choose what to do with her body" discussion. While I agree in theory with that statement, I don't find it particularly relevant to the discussion about abortion.

See, the way I see it (and I know this will identify me as one of "those"), once a woman is pregnant, she's already made her choice of what to do with her body. I try to keep this blog family-friendly, so I won't say more than that. But you see what I'm sayin'.

When Ole the Swede chooses to be a Lumberjack, he recognizes that a very possible result will be some type of chainsaw disfigurement at some time.

When Muskegon Mark chooses to work at the Paper Mill, he understands that he may well lose a finger in one of the paper machines.

When Jimmy Johnson climbs into one of his left-turn-only cars, he realizes that a fiery crash may be awaiting him.

When we make a choice, knowing the possible consequences, we really can't logically complain with the consequences befall us. Maybe the marital act should come with a waiver or something, but that would be hard to enforce.

Here's my point.

When a woman finds herself "with child", in most cases, she really has no one to blame but herself (I know there are exceptions and contributing factors). So it's a little disingenuous to try the ol' "I should be allowed to do what I want with my body." The truth is, she (and HE) already did.

Except for once.

If anyone, ever, in human history had a legitimate argument to say, "This is my body, and I don't want to be pregnant!" It was a young girl in Luke 1. We know her as Mary.

Her pregnancy had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with any choice she had ever made. In no way was it a consequence (either direct or indirect) of any action she had ever taken. And yet, she was pregnant. For Mary, this was likely a much greater inconvenience than it ever is now. After all, in those days, they still stoned young girls who got pregnant outside of marriage.

So, when the angel told her that she was going to pregnant, no one would have been surprised if she had said, "Can I not?"

But Mary didn't say, "No". Instead her response is shocking and insightful. She said first "I am the servant of the Lord." She saw this child (which she hadn't done anything to receive) as a responsibility she had been given from her master. Secondly, she said, "Let it be to me according to your word." She completely gave up control of her life and determined to righteously live out the hand God had dealt her.

I wouldn't ask someone who didn't believe in God to respond this way.

But I really wonder if those who claim a belief in God or the Scriptures or Jesus can look at the story or Mary and come away without at least a question of whether or not there's a better way than "It's my body, I can cry if I want to..."

There's definitely more to say and think about this, but I'll leave this one open-ended and trust that some of you will have more to add.

Three Stages of Pastoral Ministry

i don't remember where i first saw this, but i scribbled it down on a piece of paper when i did. i stumbled upon that piece of paper today. it made me chuckle (things are funny either because they are true, or because they are not; i'll leave it to you to decide which this one is).

There were three phases to Jesus' ministry which closely mirror the three stages most pastors go through at a church:

1. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"

2. "By whose authority do you do these things?"

3. "Crucify him!"

Go And Sin No More...Starting RIGHT NOW!

This weekend we examined the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. Last week, I wrote about what it DOESN'T mean, and Saturday night I tried to talk about what it does mean (although I went much longer than I wanted to and skipped a part I didn't want to skip). You can listen to the sermon here.

This morning I came across this blog that dovetails nicely with the idea of "Go and sin no more!" You can read the entire post here (there are some good illustrations as well as some helpful thoughts), but I've excerpted out some of the really good stuff below:

...I spend a fair amount of time talking to people who are simultaneously feeling convicted of their sins and yet not quite ready to give them up, either. Come to think of it, most of us probably fit into this category in one way or another, even if our sinful indulgences may outwardly appear to be "lesser" somehow than those of, say, a prostitute or a heroin addict.

On the one hand, sinful behavior has brought tremendous suffering into our lives, typically in multiple categories: spiritual, emotional, financial, physical and relational. And yet, it is more often true than not that we are actively maintaining "differing kingdom allegiances" and will try - against all reason and sanity - to maintain a "bridge" of sorts to our destructive, sometimes deadly "pleasures" while keeping one foot in God's kingdom...or so we think

Any willingness on our part to maintain roads, bridges or other safe passages to a preferred lifestyle of sin, folly and rebellion against the living God is the clearest-possible outward sign that we have not (as of yet) fully surrendered our lives to the lordship of Christ.

Battling back against longterm sin does not normally take place in moments of high drama and riveting action. True repentance, it turns out, most often shows up in those unremarkable moments when we choose to take a different route home from work, decline an invitation from an old friend or give up control of our Saturday evening to an accountability partner.

These are really good thoughts, particularly, I like the idea that our battle against sin happens in more in the moment to moment battles of daily life, rather than the emotional/spiritual highs of church camps and worship services. I need to regularly be reminded that Jesus has already purchased my freedom, but He still calls on me to live that freedom out. That happens as I make the right decisions from day to day!

Who's Up For a Good Old Fashioned Stoning?

John 8:1-11 is the story of Jesus, the religious leaders, and the woman caught in adultery. This passage is often considered one of the more "controversial" passages in the New Testament. It's controversial because of the content of the story, as well as because of the questionable nature of it's place in the gospel of John. It's one of those passages about which the footnotes say, "The earliest and manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11".

I'm not going to go into detail regarding the textual controversy. If you want to learn more about it, here are some sources:

• This guy thinks Luke actually wrote the story.
• A scholarly approach which affirms the validity of the passage.
• A Christianity Today article that casts some doubt on the passage. (not reflective of my view...)

The other aspect of controversy regarding this passage is the way it is often misinterpreted(some think the reason it wasn't included in the original manuscripts was because some church leaders were concerned about the possibility it might be used to excuse sin). This morning, I'm just jotting down a few thoughts about what this passage DOES NOT teach:

1. It does not teach that sin is okay. Jesus never excused or condoned the woman's sin.

2. It does not teach that the law is obsolete. Jesus never said the law didn't apply to this situation.

3. It does not teach that we should not point out sin. Jesus never condemned the Pharisees for accusing the woman of adultery.

4. It does not teach that sin does not have consequences. Jesus' mercy did not eliminate the relational and familial consequences of the woman's sin.

5. It does not teach that organized religion is bad. I wish I didn't even have to point that one out.

So... what does it teach? I suppose I'll address that another time...

The King Who Brings Freedom Deserves the Throne

(if you know nothing about Lord of the Rings, this post will likely not make any sense to you. Come back tomorrow. If you know a little about it, or have seen the movies, you’ll be okay.)

The final movie of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy is The Return of the King. The movie has about four endings (more if you get the DVD with extras). One of the moments that feels like it is the end of the movie is the coronation of Aragorn as King of Gondor. After three movies of seeing him lead the Men of the West in countless battles and skirmishes, it’s almost a relief to see him finally receive his crown.

Imagine, though, that the movie ended differently. How would you feel about the movie if after he led Rohan to victory at Helm’s Deep, and after he repulsed Sauron’s invading horde, and after he inspired the victory at the gates of Mordor; imagine if after all this, the people of Gondor just asked him to leave.

“Thanks for the work, Aragorn. We’ve decided to just continue being ruled by the house of Denethor.”

Aragorn was the rightful king of Gondor. He was the delivering king who had long been prophesied. He suffered mightily on their behalf, both in battle and in love. How disappointing would it have been, after all he endured to have been denied the throne of the people he had just saved?

That is what we do to Jesus every time we seize control of our lives.

He suffered and died to purchase our freedom. How can we not let him sit on the throne of our lives? How can we not submit our lives to His rule?

Understanding Spiritual Formation Conclusion: More You and Less of Me

(previous posts in this series)

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part One

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Two

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Three

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Four

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Five

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Six

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Seven

One of my favorite bands is a group of guys I met at a musical festival several years ago. They gave me one of their CDs out of the back of their trailer as they rolled out of time. I probably play that CD more than any other CD I own. I don’t even know if they’re still together, but Telecast’s song “More of You” is always a powerful reminder to me of the secret of life. The words of the chorus are simple:

More of You and less of me

Jesus come and be a light in me

Burn like the sun for the world to see

Be glorified

This is the secret of the fruitful life. The more Jesus shines through us, the more He will be glorified. The more Jesus is glorified, the more fruitful our lives will be.

Every time I hear this song, I think of a story about Jesus’ cousin John the Baptist. Many of John’s followers were leaving him to follow Jesus and some felt that maybe John should do something to keep his followers with him. John responded by reminding the people that he had only come to point the way to Jesus. He said, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Disciplining ourselves spiritually is necessary if we are going to allow our lives to be a channel for more of Jesus and less of us. Spiritual disciplines are regular activities which help us refocus our eyes on Christ and help enable the formative work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Virtually any activity (that isn’t inherently sinful) can serve as a spiritual discipline, if it is done to assist you in the process of focusing more on Jesus and less on yourself. As you consider how you can engage in spiritual disciplines, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, consider beginning with some of the disciplines which have been exercised throughout the history of the church.

One category of spiritual disciplines is disciplines for provision. These are additions to your lifestyle in order to promote more of Jesus in your life. Following are a few disciplines of provision:

• Disciplines of Scripture. God’s Word is to be a light to our path. It should illuminate the direction of our life. Adding Scripture to our daily routine is a powerful way to provide more of Jesus in our life. Ideas for engaging the Bible include reading, studying, meditating, memorizing, or even listening on CD or MP3. Whichever method or methods you choose, the key is consistency.
• Disciplines of Prayer. We never pray enough. Paul encouraged the early Christians to pray continuously. We always have room to pray more. Remembering the purpose of these disciplines is to bring more of Jesus into our lives, we should design our times of prayer to be more focused on Jesus’ agenda than on our own desires and requests.
• Disciplines of Service. When Jesus wanted to demonstrate to his disciples how to truly love one another, he washed their feet. He found a very practical need they had, a need most people wouldn’t have been willing to address; and he took action to meet the need. All around you are people with significant needs just waiting to be met. Being more like Jesus means learning to see others with Jesus’ eyes. Setting aside time on a daily basis to look for and meet other’s needs is a powerful way to have more of Jesus in your life.

A second category of disciplines is disciplines of denial. The first categories of disciplines addressed the need to have more of Jesus. These disciplines are designed to help you have less of yourself.

• Disciplines of Abstinence. The most common type of abstinence for Christians is fasting. Often we equate fasting with going hungry. Certainly, the majority of contexts for fasting are food related. Even hospitals use the term “fast” when they tell you not to eat before a procedure. However, abstaining for a Christian can entail much more than just food. Giving up something of value causes an emptiness and a longing. Sometimes the emptiness is momentary, other times it may be on-going. During these times when we are most acutely aware of the thing we have given up, we are reminded to turn our attention to God, remembering that He desires to have complete control over our lives and that He can fill the emptiness in our lives. Sometimes denying ourselves the pleasures of life can be a powerful reminder of our need for God.
• Disciplines of Silence. Some very devout Christians have taken long term vows of silence as a sign of their devotion to Christ. While their self-denial is certainly admirable, nowhere in the Bible are their suggestions we should never talk. However, I once saw on the side of a Starbucks cup the words, “It is impossible to listen while your mouth is open to talk”. Sometimes less of us means fewer words and more listening. Setting aside a time to simply be quiet and listen for God can be a great time of spiritual growth. These times can be five minutes or five hours, depending on who you are and what your life options provide.
• Disciplines of Sacrifice. Giving away something you love or need is never easy. However, when someone is willing to give away something they love or need for your sake, you are usually moved by their care for you. When we are willing to regularly give our things away so we can make ourselves less, we are opening ourselves to be filled by God. Sacrifice can be financial, material, and emotional. Sacrifice may even be the giving away of our time or our energy.

The fruitful life belongs to those who hear and understand Jesus’ teaching. Jesus taught that those who truly desire to follow him must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow.

Spiritual disciplines provide the opportunity to do just that, to make yourself less so that Jesus can be made more in your life. Remember, don’t discipline yourself for the sake of discipline. Such activity is meaningless repetition. Discover one, two, or three of the disciplines above and go for it with all your energy. Make a new habit which will help you be the new creation!

View All The Posts in This Series

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part One

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Two

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Three

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Four

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Five

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Six

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Seven

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Conclusion

Understanding Spiritual Formation 2: The Image of God

The term "spiritual formation" is not always understood. This is the second in a series of posts seeking to explain what I mean when I talk about "spiritual formation".

(previously in this series)

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part One

The concept "image of God" has had many different interpretations over the centuries. Some great, some horrific. I have at least two interpretations of that phrase which resonate with me.

The first is that humanity was created to be God's representatives to creation. God's command to be the caretakers of the earth is a part of being image of God. We were created to be the co-regents of God. In the fall (Genesis 3), we see Eve allowing the serpent to misrepresent God; then with her response she also misrepresents Him. This activity is the first time we see a person acting out of concert with their identity as image bearers.

The second is that the image of God consisted of both Adam and Eve. The genders are an equality with a distinction (similar to the Trinity). Again at the fall, it appears that both Adam and Eve acted selfishly instead of lovingly toward each other. The result was that the intimacy of Genesis 2 was lost, and their relationship became adversarial (God pointed that out to them in Genesis 3), and again the image of God was placed on the back burner as the image of man was elevated.

John 1 says that no one has seen God (implying then that it is impossible to know what he looks like unless it is revealed), thus no one can correctly image him. BUT, Jesus (the One and Only) has made him known to us.

Jesus incarnate is the perfect representation of God the Father.

The incarnation happened through the Holy Spirit...so, the same Spirit that formed Jesus in the womb of Mary, is the same Spirit that now forms us as we are "in Christ".

Christ represented the Father perfectly. He did this through the empowerment of the Spirit.

Therefore, when we look like Christ, we image God.

The Spirit empowers us to look like Christ, because the Spirit speaks for Christ and represents Christ and is a counselor like Christ (John 14-16)

Spiritual Formation, then, happens when we open ourselves to the formative work of the Spirit. My thoughts later on how we do that.

For now, though:

• we do it in community
• we do it through celebration
• we do it through discipline

View All The Posts in This Series

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part One

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Two

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Three

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Four

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Five

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Six

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Part Seven

Understanding Spiritual Formation: Conclusion