Lent

This Lent i really want to make it purposeful. I want to know why we do things as Christians, and i want to put meaning behind everything that i do for it. I want to see what the LORD can do in me during this season that is celebrated by most of the Church throughout the world. I've never done this before. It should be interesting.

Last night a friend and i were talking about why we give stuff up for Lent and what we should give up. It occurred to me then that I've never really given anything up for Lent for the purpose that it is intended for. If Lent is about dying to myself in preparation for the new life that Christ has for me in the Resurrection, then the fasting/giving stuff up for Lent is a way for me to cut out part of my old life that i'm supposed to be dying to. I suggested this to my friend, and suggested to him that we should probably give up whatever it was in our lives that, even though not inherently bad, keeps us from giving ourselves fully to the LORD.

So last night i decided that i'm going to be giving up Facebook for Lent. It's something that, although not inherently evil, i waste far too much time on--time that could be better spent devoted to the LORD or being productive for classes or something. Since i'm kind of a Facebook addict, this is going to be tough, but i think i can do it alright. So we'll see. I just want to make this Lent season count for what it's supposed to. All to the glory of God.

Joel Olsteen bothers me

That is an unfair title. Joel Olsteen is my brother in Christ, there's no doubt about that, and i do think that he is working for God's Kingdom, but there are numerous things that he preaches that i strongly disagree with. But these are mainly problems within the larger popular American Christianity that i am opposed to, so currently Joel Olsteen is a face to the problems that i can single out. So yes, unfair. But i'm sticking to it. Because i can.

Tonight i was passing by our lounge and some guys were watching Joel Olsteen on TV. Just for kicks and giggles, i'm assuming. But in the 30 seconds or so that i stopped for a listen, i heard Joel preaching passionately and with a big smile on his face about how the LORD is gonna come through for all those people in the dark times of singleness, and He is going to bring them the perfect person just for them. AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! WHY, JOEL, WHY?!?!? People act like singleness is such an affliction, a disease that is a result of the fall, and the only cure for it and the only hope for completeness as a human is marriage--as God intended, of course. People can't be completely fulfilled if they are single. People haven't "arrived" if they are still single. I think that this is legitimately the opinion, if only is less harsh terms, of the majority of Christians in America.

This drives me nuts. How is this preaching furthering the Kingdom of God? How is this teaching building disciples of Christ? How is this view supported by Scripture? IT'S NOT!! In fact, Scripture will give us the very opposite perspective! According to Scripture, the very Word of God, singleness is a GIFT! Singleness is something that some people are called to and blessed with in order to completely devote their lives to the LORD and to working for His Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 7 is the main chapter that talks about singleness as a call for some.

32But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; 33but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.35This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35

Those who are single have a greater freedom to work for the LORD. Their concerns are undivided, and they can devote all their time to serving the LORD, rather than worrying about a family.

Jesus had things to say about this too.

9"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery." 10The disciples said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry." 11But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it."
Matthew 19:9-12

Jesus said that this is for some, not for everyone. Singleness is a specific call from the LORD to live and to serve utterly devoted only to Him. It is not for everyone; it is not for most people.

The thing that drives me bonkers about Joel Olsteen and cohorts is that marriage is the ultimate expression of God's will for us. But that goes completely counter to what Jesus, our LORD, says to us! When the Sadducees try to trap Jesus with a question about the resurrection concerning marriage, Jesus doesn't give them any answer they expect, and responds with "At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven" (Matt. 22:30). Marriage is something TEMPORARY and INCOMPARABLE to the glory that we will receive at the resurrection at the last day!! So, if someone is called to live single for the LORD, it is prophetic sign to the world of the future glory that is to come. It is a way that God is telling the world that marriage is not the most important thing in this world--God is. In the new heaven and new earth, marriage will not exist--living single for the LORD will be THE reality. Shouldn't part of our job as Christians, as ambassadors to the world on the LORD's behalf, be bringing the reality of heaven down to earth?

In no way am i saying that marriage is a bad thing. It is a wonderful gift from the LORD, that i am sure of. But i think Christians need to consider the alternative, singleness, also as a wonderful gift from the LORD. The LORD will call some of His people to live this prophetic lifestyle completely devoted to Him. Most are not called to this. It is only one particular kind of radical discipleship. So as Christians trying to live as disciples, shouldn't we at least look into this as a possible option that the LORD might call us to? At least know that marriage is not the epitome of our existence. The LORD should be our end goal, and to serve Him fully. We can do that if we are married, but we can do that better if we are single. It just depends on what the LORD has called us to, and how serious we are about following.

Joel Olsteen and the Christian culture that is obsessed with marriage shows me a Christianity that doesn't take following Jesus Christ seriously. It shows me a culture that doesn't grasp the reality and the depth of our commitment to Jesus Christ. It shows me that the Church has a lot of work to do in getting back to Scripture as a whole being the authoritative Word of God. It shows me that i need to be out there working for the Kingdom within the Kingdom.

I Love Love

I saw these lyrics on a friend's away message on AIM today. It's from the song "Inches and Falling" by a band called The Format. I've never heard of the band or the song, but the lyrics caught my attention. Here's one of the choruses (chorus's? chorii?):

I love love
I love being in love
I don't care what it does to me
These pills are fine to pass the time
'til I find my new drug
Then
We'll take our chances
we'll last a month
we'll never speak again

I thought that was a very interesting commentary on love and dating in our society. People are more in love with love, or the idea of love, than they are with their significant others. Part of the blame is probably to go to Hollywood, but most of it just lies with us, because we fantasize about the perfect relationship, and are disappointed when it doesn't come around. Love has become a drug. People have to get their fix, or else they won't be complete. In a cruel twist of irony, love--intended as a selfless denial and focus on others--has become an idol for our self-indulgence.

Now I've never really been in love, so I'm probably not the best person to comment on this, but I've struggled through this before, as have many other people, I think. I've been in love with the idea of love, and all I know about it is that it causes problems. What happened to love being about commitment? When did love become a feeling to satisfy ourselves rather than an act of the will to pour out ourselves for other's sake?

Unfortunately, I don't think the song above actually resolved anything, but it did point out the problem. I think the solution (if you can call it that) is to go back to Christ, the source of all love. He is the supreme example of love for us. God is love (1 John 4:8). And we need to learn what an idol our society has made of love. We worship it, rather than its Source. We need to get back to love as a commitment, not just a feeling.

I'll end with words from my dear friend Trey, who I think is spot on in this: "I believe that real love is a thing of the will and of reason, and that emotions follow a decision to like or to love someone. I don’t just mean this in terms of romantic relationships, but in all relationships. Try it sometime: choose to care about someone, then act like it, and then feel it."

Friendship Quote of the Day

“For though they cling together, no friends are true friends unless you, my God, bind them fast to one another through that love which is sown in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us.”

--St. Augustine, Confessions, Book IV.IV, pg. 75


















I don't know how to add more pictures than this, so there's a lot of friends that I couldn't fit in. Sorry.

3 Things

Here are 3 things that i believe that God has put on my heart recently to teach others. It's possible that i'll blog about each of these, but possibly not.

1. Fear of the LORD
This is one that has really impacted the way i view the LORD. I don't think it means a "healthy respect," pseudo Sunday school answer. I think it has huge implications on how we view the LORD, which in turn has the potential to impact everything we do.

2. Idolatry
This one is everywhere. And we don't even see it. We like to focus on the much more visible sins, like sex, drugs, rock n' roll, etc. But i really think that there are many greater problems in our society than these, especially for Christians. An idol is anything we place in a position before the LORD. It is a killer when you really sit down and think about all that this entails.

3. Singleness
I've blogged about this a lot in the past, and been blessed enough to have it generate conversation about the topic. But after living for the two weeks of J-term with men who have devoted their lives to living single for the LORD, i think i've gained a lot more clarity on the issue. Over J-term, something that Mike Kramer told us (and has stuck with me ever since) is that if you are serious about being a real disciple of Christ, singleness is something that you should definitely look into. Mainly from Paul's exhortations in 1 Cor. 7, living single is something that is a gift that the LORD gives to some of his disciples, in order to serve Him better. In our society, this completely rocks the boat. It's not what we've been taught at all. But it needs to be. I'm still not sure where God is calling me on this, but lately i've been thinking that maybe God does want me to get married. I almost do wish that He were calling me to live single, so that my life would be a testimony to this great gift to those disciples of His who may not have ever considered this before. But as always, it is His purpose that prevails.

May the LORD grant me the courage and the determination to reach out to His people with the things He has given me to say. Amen.

Plans

So I always thought that right after college here at Huntington, I would go directly to seminary, wherever that might be. That's just always been my assumption as the logical thing to do. I still feel very strongly of my call into ministry and the need to go to seminary, but lately I've been thinking that maybe I want to take a few years off after college and have adventures before seminary and the real world. First off, I would want to go live in Ireland with the monks of the Servants of the Word (the same guys we stayed with in Michigan over J-term) for a year or two as a guest, and work to pay off loans. I need to look into this with them. Then, just the other night, I had the inspiration that I think it would be super awesome to be a truck driver. So maybe I'll want to do that after I get back from Ireland. Traveling the country, meeting all sorts of people, lots of alone time with just me and the LORD...I could deal with that. I just have this sense that I want to have adventures--not the Indiana Jones type necessarily, but to go exploring new places, to see new things, to experience the world. And after college when I'm still not settled down or held back by anything would be the perfect time to do it.

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."
Proverbs 19:21

LORD, do with me as you will. Amen.