Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

James

Awareness of God

by

There are times when I amaze myself with my own idiocy. I am passionately in love with Jesus Christ, and I am intimately aware of his sacrifice and love for me. My deepest desire is to live a life that looks like the life He lived, the life He intended me to live. Yet I find it so easy to lose track of what I’m doing or where I’m going. I have a relationship with the Creator of the Universe and I fail to seek Him or even recognize Him in every moment of my life. Between you and me, we can probably come up with a dozen theological or “churchy” terms for this, but I can’t escape from the knowledge that at its core, it is plain stupidity. I remember reading James 1:23-24 in the past, where the man looks at his face in the mirror and then immediately forgets what he looks like; my immediate thought was, “well, that’s pretty stupid”. I now recognize that I am that man. I am vividly aware of who I am in Christ one moment, and totally forget about Him the next. No matter how hard I try to keep Him consciously in sight, it seems inevitable that I will eventually lose focus and fall again. It is a paradox I could live without.

I have written before about Greg Boyd’s book, “Present Perfect”, and how it deals with being intentionally aware of Jesus in each moment of our lives. This is where we need to be. I realize I need to stop trying to see God in every moment and instead relax in His presence each moment, being fully aware that He is indeed with me. There is power in letting go, power in ceasing to strive, power in simply releasing ourselves from our futile attempts to know Him more. We cannot know more of Him by our own efforts, but only by allowing Him to reveal more of Himself to us. Jesus is beside us – literally – in every moment of our lives. Each moment you are tempted to fall away, each time you have a thought that is not worthy of God, remind yourself that Jesus is with you, right here, and right now.

The only way we can become the person we were created to be is if we acknowledge His presence in our lives on a moment by moment basis. I know from my brief encounters of success in this endeavor that doing this will be hard work. As with most difficult achievements, however, the reward is intensely sweet. Being awake, or aware, of God’s presence in each moment will lead to our awareness of Him in each day, in each week and in each year. Slowly, purposefully, we will build a life that is spent in the utter peace of the presence of Christ. Then we will truly be able to say that we ran a good race. Nothing else we accomplish in life will compare to staying awake to the presence of our Lord. From this, a life lived well for Him will flow. As we remain in His presence and allow His love to shine through us, we will do great things for Him. They may or may not be noteworthy acts by the world’s measure, but they will be acts of great love, kindness, and compassion. Our lives will reflect the will of Jesus, and there is nothing more beautiful or satisfying than a life that looks like His.

We were not created to be idiots; we were not created to fail. Jesus put his unique stamp on every one of us, and He has placed a desire within us to follow Him. We can never succeed on our own. It is only by the grace and love of God that we can become who He created us to be. The only way to get from where we are to where He waits is to let go, relinquish control, and stop striving for that which we already possess. He is already in this moment; we need only recognize it and open our eyes. As we allow ourselves to see the reality of His presence in each second of our lives, we will begin to change. We will reflect His love and we will be transformed. Lord, save us from our idiocy; open our eyes to the reality of Your presence, and let us walk each moment in total awareness that You are with us every step of the way. You surround us with Your love. Let us ache to reflect Your glory to a world desperate and thirsty for You.

Finding Your Calcutta

by

I write a lot about poverty around the world, and our duty as followers of Christ to do all that we can to eliminate it. To be certain, it is vitally important to support the ministries doing the work in far away countries, so please do not misinterpret what I’m about to say. It’s easy to write a check to send around the world. It’s clean, it doesn’t affect our own life too much, and it’s a very safe thing to do. To actually go to one of these places on a short term mission’s trip is a little more difficult; it’s dirty, it smells bad and it’s inconvenient. You might even find yourself in a little danger. But it’s all very temporary. Soon you will be back in your warm bed, sleeping soundly in your safe neighborhood. You may be changed forever, or you may soon forget the things you saw there. Those who live and work in those countries and environments are true heroes of the faith. They have taken the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus to its full extent, forsaking their own comfort and safety in order to shine the love of Jesus on those less fortunate than them. The mistake we often make is in not realizing that we have the opportunity to live the same kind of life without ever leaving our own cities.

I live in Indianapolis, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. Within twenty-five minutes I can drive from one of the most affluent counties in America onto streets that are lined on both sides with broken down houses occupied by worn out people. If I drive just a few more minutes, I can see underpasses that serve as shelter for those who have no homes. On the streets of my well to do city I see the hollow eyes and hopeless stares of those with no job, no food, no housing and no hope. When asked by others how they might be able to work alongside her, Mother Theresa was often known to respond, “Find your own Calcutta”. Many of us will never travel to another country, and perhaps others will never have the funds to support an overseas ministry. But we can all find our own Calcutta. It’s in the streets of our downtowns, it’s on the rural farms on the outskirts of our counties, and it’s quite possibly in the very neighborhood where we live.

Our current economy has turned the world upside down for a lot of people. Those who owned beautiful homes just two years ago find themselves out of work, foreclosed on and wondering where they will find the money for their next meal. Still others have long ago become disenfranchised and now see life on the street as their only means of survival. These are human beings, exactly like you and me. The homeless are not lazy, ignorant or of a lower class. The poor are not poor because they choose to be. If you hold any of these stereotypes, I highly encourage you to study the subject of homelessness and poverty in America. Read books like “Same Kind of Different as Me”, “Under the Overpass”, and “Street Lives”. Take the time to engage someone less fortunate than yourself in conversation; get to know them and understand their life. Poverty is a vicious cycle, often handed down from generation to generation. It destroys the self image and can become its own self-fulfilling prophecy. Those in need are not different from you and me – they are you and me.

Jesus chose to spend the majority of His time with the poor and the sick. Most of us who claim to be His followers spend almost no time with people in these circumstances. While Jesus claimed it was not the healthy but the sick that needed the doctor, we instead choose to only cater to those with little need. James, the brother of Jesus said that true religion, religion approved by God, was to look after the orphans, the widows and those that are in need. Are you a true follower of Jesus or are you simply seeking a ticket to keep you out of Hell? A true follower of Jesus will serve those He served, and live the life He commands us to live. The single mother who cannot make ends meet is our modern day widow. The homeless person, who has no one to whom he can turn and no place to go, is our orphan. The poor, the hungry and the sick are those in need and it is they whom we must serve. Where is your Calcutta? Find it; it’s right down your street.

Note: This article is a part of the first edition of Here’s Life Inner City’s (www.hlic.org) iHope Blog Carnival. For more information and to read other entries that focus on homelessness and poverty, click here!

Be an Action Hero

by

Who doesn’t love an action hero? I grew up a huge fan of Spider Man. When I was quite young, I even wanted to be Spider Man when I grew up. It really didn’t take too long to realize that probably was not going to be in the cards for me, given the shortage of radioactive spiders and such! Yet still, there remains a certain fascination with action heroes. We spend billions of dollars each year to watch movies and read books about these inspiring characters. We vicariously revel in the triumph of good over evil, and in seeing wrongs righted by the hero or the heroine. As we mature, most of us release the dream of becoming an action hero. I think this is a huge mistake. As followers of Jesus, we have the opportunity to be action heroes (or heroines) every day of our lives.

Jesus calls us to right the wrongs of society and to bring justice to those in need. Just as the Bible is full of stories of action heroes (think Noah, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul for starters), the world is still full of action heroes. Richard Stearns (president of World Vision), Bono, Tom White (President of the Voice of the Martyrs), Brad Phillips (President of Persecution Project) and many, many others are still doing the work of true religion: caring for the orphans and widows, breaking the chains of injustice, freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and caring for the poor. (James 1:27; Isaiah 58:6-7). Mother Theresa, William Wilberforce, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. were all action heroes. They were heroic because they took action to share God’s love with the world and to call us all to a deeper walk with Jesus Christ.

To be an action hero, you must do more than simply talk a good game. We must embody the things we say; we must demonstrate our commitment to Jesus. No matter how good we are at communicating our message or encouraging others to follow Christ, what ultimately matters is if we perform the very actions that we talk about. Do we take action or merely talk about doing so? This is what separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. The extraordinary put action behind their words; they became action heroes because of their passion for Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

We must live up to the words we say. We must deliver on our commitment to following Jesus. Action heroes do not become so by providing only lip service. They are passionate about their beliefs and in bringing justice to the world. If you would be an action hero, practice the behaviors you espouse before opening your mouth. Become known for what you do and not what you say. Nothing is ever accomplished without action of some sort. Redemption is available to us because Christ performed the action of dying on the cross. In that same spirit, we must now take action to make that redemption known to everyone around us. The road to Hell is lined with good intentions and dreams, and with those who failed to act upon them.

When it’s all said and done, when are lives are over and we must give an account to our Creator for how we lived the life He entrusted to us, all that will ultimately matter will be the actions we took. Did we trust Him, did we love Him and did we share that love with others? Did we feed the hungry, care for the poor and come to the aid of the widows, the single moms, the orphans and the homeless? Did we care more for others than we did ourselves, and did our checkbooks reflect that concern? It’s not hard to be a hero for God. It’s simply a matter of taking action for His kingdom; it’s being the hands and feet of Jesus. Are you an action hero? You know you want to be, and now you know you can be. Be extraordinary for Jesus; put your faith into action. Become an action hero.

Changing the World

by

The world is full of heartbreaking challenges. There is a high probability that if you have the ability to be reading this blog, your life is at least somewhat insulated from these very same challenges. Two-thirds of the women, and 17% of all people, in the world could not read this blog if they had the technological capability to do so; they are illiterate. This is not just an educational handicap or a societal disadvantage. Illiteracy is intimately linked with poverty. So while one might ignore the issue of illiteracy and deem it to be someone else’s problem, we simply cannot ignore the call of Jesus to care for the poor. In this way the illiterate are very much “our problem”; to say it better, they are our mission.

Nearly half the world earns less than $2 (US) per day. Many own only the clothes on their back and nothing more. Many others have no shoes. Jesus admonished us to clothe the naked. As Richard Stearns notes in his excellent book, “The Hole in Our Gospel”, ones such as these are our modern day “naked”. While they may not be literally naked, they have no means to buy clothing or to provide adequate shelter for their families. They are exposed to the elements and are vulnerable to the hostilities of the world around them. They are indeed naked in a very real, if not literal, sense. These too are part of our mission.

While slavery may have been eradicated long ago in the country where you live, make no mistake in knowing that it continues to thrive around the world. Children as young as five (and younger still by some reports) are subjected to the horror that is human trafficking, forced to exchange the innocence of their youth for a life that no human should ever have to endure. Those lucky enough to escape the sex trade are often sold by their own families into lives of indentured servant hood, forced to work eighteen hour days under horrid conditions and with little food. The terms of their purchase are structured in such a way so as their families can never afford to redeem them, or “buy them back.” We know this is happening; we can never claim that we didn’t have any idea. The injustices inflicted upon the weakest and most vulnerable among us, our children, are atrocious and must be abolished. Since we are called to put an end to injustice, those in slavery are also part of our mission.

The number of single mothers in the world is growing at a staggering rate. Women seeking love at any cost, widows of war time casualties, and those who have conceived children at the abusive hands of others all have one thing in common: the need for love, stability and hope. These women often work tirelessly to provide for their children only to have all their efforts wiped out by a single illness or layoff. Many of these families are simply one misfortune away from being homeless, hungry or destitute. James said that part of true religion was to look after the widows. They, and the single mom’s among us, are our mission as well.

I could sadly go on for hours discussing the tragedies in our world that break the heart of God. This is not what He had in mind at creation. He desired a world of beauty and purity, a world where the created were intimately acquainted with their Creator. Jesus came to earth to begin the mission of restoring our world to its original state. He came to begin the process of making His kingdom a reality on earth. We are heirs to His kingdom, and heirs to His mission. We are called to feed the poor, to clothe the naked, to right the wrongs of injustice, and to care for the widows. The extent of the problems facing us is staggering; the depth of depravity we must wade into is overwhelming. There is so much heartache, where do we possibly begin?

We begin with one. Each one of us possesses the ability to change the world for one person. By many estimates there are two billion Christians in the world. Even if those estimates are half wrong, that still leaves one billion Christians on earth. If each Christian would simply change the world for one person, and then each of those now two billion Christians would in turn change the world for just one other person, we could eradicate poverty, hunger, nakedness and slavery in relatively short order. This is where the rubber hits the road; each of us must actually be willing to sacrifice and follow the lead of Jesus in order to change the world for someone else. Are you up to the task? Will you follow Christ regardless of the sacrifice? Will you love someone for the simple reason that Christ loves them? We can truly change the world one person at a time. The mission is clear, the challenge is large. The solution is known and the solution is you.

Depart From Me

by

One of the most haunting passages in the Bible has to be Matthew 7:20-23, where Jesus tells a group of people to depart from Him because He never knew them. These people are claiming that they believed in Him and did great works for Him, yet Jesus doesn’t recognize them because they never did the things He told them to do. The actions Christ expects us to take are clearly outlined in His teaching on ‘The Sheep and the Goats” in Matthew 25:31-46, a passage I discussed in some length in a three part post on this passage (see parts 1, 2, 3, and 4). Jesus plainly lays out the actions He expects of those who would call Him ‘Lord’. Whether or not we choose to do these things determines if we will be welcomed into His arms or turned away as a stranger when our lives are over and we are judged by the King of the Universe. It takes faith to believe Jesus is who He claimed to be; it takes obedience to live out our faith. Both the faith and obedience elements are required for entrance into eternal life with God.

Having said this, I was told a very troubling story this week. A woman I know has recently taken a poor single mom under her wing. The relationship has been difficult at times as trust is developed and lives from two different worlds are melded together. The woman I know is part of a small group comprised of seasoned Christians from various churches. She related some of the challenges she faced in dealing with the single mom to the group, and asked that they pray for wisdom for this single mom. Instead, she received several judgmental responses. One said “Is she black?” Another responded, “She’s probably working the system.” And still another, “She’s more than likely addicted to drugs.” When the woman I know related the story above to me, I was crushed. God forgive us. Where do these attitudes come from, and how do they inhabit the heart of those who claim to be followers of Christ? More troublesome still, two of the members of that small group happen to be elders at my church. While I was grateful that neither of them were the sources of the comments above, I was disappointed that they did not speak up and defend the cause of the single mother and provide leadership and correction to the group.

While it may sound as if I am being judgmental of some in this small group, it is not my intention. Rather, my goal here is to point out how easy it is for even seasoned Christians to act in ways that are anything but what Christ told us to do. Instead of showing compassion for the single mother or even support for a fellow believer, they chose instead to pass judgment on the very one Christ commanded them to serve. We don’t need more Pharisees in our world, we need more people who will follow Jesus and do what He said to do. For too long, those of us in so-called evangelical circles have swallowed the lie that all we need to do is say the right prayer and we are guaranteed eternity in Heaven. This is not what the Bible teaches and I believe will lead to scores of disappointed and horrified “Christians” when they stand before God and are judged, indeed, by their works. Believing in Jesus gains us entrance to the throne room; obeying His commands, doing the things He told us to do, allows us to take up permanent residence there.

Are you a follower of Jesus or simply a believer? Do you do the things He told you to do or are you content with a fraudulent fire insurance policy? Believing in Jesus is not enough; as James said, even the demons believe in Him… and they shudder! (James 2:18,19). Don’t find yourself shuddering and shut out from God’s presence when it is your time to stand before Him. Instead, show compassion and mercy on everyone in need, love your neighbor, and devote your life to the service of the one you call ‘Lord’. Love God, and obediently do the work He has given to you; then you will be welcomed into His arms and never hear those awful words, “Depart from Me; I never knew you.”