Even If i Walk Alone

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

James

Negativity

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It has always struck me as curious when I run into a follower of Christ who has a negative attitude. We of all people should always be positive because of the hope in Jesus to which we cling so tightly. Indeed, as followers of Christ, we are called to hope (Ephesians 4:4). How is it then that so many Christians live their lives in a state of negativity, finding fault with everyone and reasons why every idea will fail? The answers may be as varied as the people who posses such a quality, but I believe the cure and the prevention is universal.

There is great truth to the statement that we become what we think about. If we focus on the negative aspects of what is happening around us we will, in time, become negative people. If we look upon the positive side of things we will, in the same way, become a positive person. It’s truly just a matter of mindset. In some ways I am tempted to believe that there should be no such thing as a Christian pessimist. While I don’t intend to imply that we should walk through life wearing rose colored glasses as we must be shrewd and perspicacious in our dealings with others, but we can choose to always believe the best and see the best in others and in every situation.

Another curious law is the fact that negative people tend to attract negative things into their lives; positive people tend to draw positive things to them. I had a friend who used to constantly tell me that the number 43 was the most common number in the world. He would say it over and over again. Guess what happened? Everywhere we went, we kept seeing the number 43. It was on signs, parking lots, radio, and television; it was everywhere! Does the number 43 really occur more often in nature than any other number? Of course not! The fact was I was now thinking about the number a lot, and so I was finding it everywhere. The same law applies in turn such that if we think negative thoughts, we will find negativity all around us. Think positively, and you will draw positive experiences to you. Hope is positive, and Jesus is the King of hope. Think about Jesus, and He will come near to you (James 4:8). How can you think of Him and put out negative thoughts into the world?

If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts, you must practice the habit of capturing them as soon as they creep into your mind. Grab the thought and force yourself to find something positive in the situation. A great rule is to never permit yourself or any of your acquaintances to say something negative before they have said something positive in any given situation. In this way you will learn to be positive-first thinkers. Thinking positively is easily accomplished by looking at every situation as Christ would look at it. Take a step back and look again with love and empathy. How can you shine Christ’s love onto the scene rather than making it worse with some acidic comment?

Finally, I’ve noticed that negativity is often an excuse for fear. People are afraid of saying something positive because it might require something of them. For example, I’ve heard people criticize the relief efforts in the recent earthquakes. They say negative things like, “they are probably all dead already”, “they’ll never find anyone alive” or “what good will those two people from my church do amongst all that rubble?” Deep inside, I believe these people fear that if they don’t criticize the effort, they may be compelled to go themselves. And that would be uncomfortable; that would be inconvenient. Easier to throw water on someone else’s fire than to fan the flames of your own calling.

Don’t be a negative person; you have Christ within you. You will become what you think about, so think only of Christ and things of beauty (Philippians 4:8). Practice being positive-first people, and throwing out negative thoughts. Approach every situation with love and empathy. Above all, don’t quench the spirit of others because you are simply too afraid to do what they do. We are people of love and hope. There is no negativity in Christ. Live His love loudly.


The Delicate Balance of Faith and Works

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Faith without works is no faith at all. Works without faith are ultimately worthless. Faith demonstrated by works, work driven by faith, is the most beautiful display in all of humanity. Therein lays the delicate balance.

Over the past century, there has been much said about the controversial balance between works and faith. Some denominations pursue a salvation through works theology; others preach a grace only doctrine, while still others endlessly seek the balance between the two. Everyone has scriptures to supposedly validate their particular point of view. As with many issues in the church today, it becomes increasingly difficult to block out the noise and determine what the true answer actually is. And as with many issues facing the church today, we are overcomplicating the issue.

In Ephesians 2:8-9, we are told that our salvation is a result of the grace of God. In Ephesians 2:10 we are commanded to demonstrate our salvation by doing the works Christ commands us to do. In James 2:14-17, we see that if we are not demonstrating our faith by doing the things that Jesus did, and by doing the things that Jesus told us to do, then our faith is not valid! You can not be a true disciple of Christ, a true follower, and not do the things He told us to do. As we have covered many times in the past, the things Jesus told us to do were to care for the orphans, the homeless, the widows, the single mothers and those in poverty. We’re to give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, visit those in prison, clothe the ones in need and look after the sick. And lest we forget, we are told to tell everyone about Jesus.

Are you demonstrating your faith by engaging in the activities above? If not, what exactly is the faith you claim to have? James says it’s dead; Jesus sends people away from His presence if they do not engage in the work He gave them to do. It’s not enough to simply know the name of Christ; demons know the name of Christ (James 2:19), proving simply knowing Jesus, simply believing in who He is, is not enough. If you believe that simply knowing Him and believing in His message will guarantee you a place in Heaven, you are very sadly mistaken. Scripture does not support this idea; in fact it warns against it. By the same measure, doing the things Christ told us to do without truly believing He is who said He was will also leave you on the outside looking in.

The only way to Heaven is by accepting the grace of God through His son Jesus and then to go out and live the life Christ intended for us. We must have this balance if we expect to see Him again. He has given us much, and He asks for the same. Follow Him and you will have eternal life. Following someone is not a passive activity. To follow is to pursue. To pursue requires a choice to do so, and focus. So where are you? Do you have faith in God but are doing nothing to demonstrate that fact? Are you doing everything that Christ told His followers to do, but doing it because you think He was simply a fine teacher and man of peace? Or have you found the delicate balance between faith and works? Do you love Him and follow that up with service to Him because of your love for Him? Prayerfully determine to which camp you belong. Don’t wait until it’s too late to be about your mission. The grace of God has redeemed you to do incredible things for the kingdom. Bask in God’s grace as you cheerfully and humbly do the work He has for you. Discover the delicate balance and live.

What Breaks Your Heart?

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Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision used to regularly pray “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God”. What an amazing attitude to seek to achieve. When we see people less fortunate than we are, what is our attitude toward them? Are you thankful that you are blessed and don’t have to live in those circumstances? Do you quickly look away before they catch your gaze and in some way obligate you to do something about their plight? Or do you perhaps say a quick prayer for them and then carry on with your day? I must admit that, at one time or another throughout my life, I have experienced all of the above reactions. On occasion, thankfully more often than not these days, I am deeply moved by their condition. I sincerely want to help, yet often find my hands and feet are slow to move and reach out to them. How different would it be if we truly saw them the way God sees them? We know from Scripture that poverty breaks the heart of our God. We know that Christ loves with the deepest of passion and that He weeps with a soul-aching sorrow. I believe His heart is broken and He weeps whenever He sees one of His creations in poverty, struggling just to get through each day. How I want my heart to break in the same way. When I see those in need, I don’t want to pass by or just be thankful that I am not in that condition; I don’t want to stop at a quick prayer or with a burdened heart. I want my heart to break apart in agony as I see one who is loved by God, and yet is hurting in our broken down world. I want to ache so badly for that person that I will give them a smile and a kind word, wrap my heart around them and discover ways I might help them. I want my heart to break for the things that break the heart of Jesus.

How about you? What is it that breaks your heart? Do you find yourself aching for those in need or is it easier to avoid those people? In James 1:27, we are told that true religion is found in caring for the widows and the orphans. In Isaiah 58:7 we are told that true fasting is to share food with the hungry, give the homeless a place to stay and clothe those who are in need. These are the things that we must do if we are to be true followers of Jesus. Look again at the things that break the heart of God: widows (as I’ve pointed out before, I believe this includes the single mothers that are so numerous in society today), orphans, those who don’t have enough to eat, the homeless and those who live in poverty. These things all break the heart of God! Do these same things break your heart? What are you doing today to help those in need? What are you going to do tomorrow? Will we continue to walk by the very ones that God is aching for us to help? We are the hands and feet of God. We are the called. We are the servants of Christ. There is no one else to do this job. How will we respond? Let us pray that our hearts would be broken by the things that break the heart of God.

Are You Making a Difference?

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What if we’re not making a difference at all? What if we sit behind our desks all day, every day, for twenty years or more and never make a difference? We weren’t called to this. Indeed, we weren’t made for this.

Increasingly this is becoming the age of the knowledge worker. Many don’t even go into an office at all, and those that do are cordoned off from each other in 5×5 cells we call cubicles. Community and interaction are left in favor of self-achievement and autonomy. Along the way we have lost our mission and I dare say a piece of our humanity. The past couple of generations have been raised in an environment of individualism at the sacrifice of teamwork. Self ambition has blinded us to the beauty of working together and helping each other. When my grandparents were my age, everyone looked out for one another and lent a hand as needed. Now many of us have never even met the neighbor two doors down from us.

God help us. What have we become? It’s no wonder there is a waning interest in Christianity in this country. Those of us who profess to know Christ live identical lives to those who don’t. We’ve been sucked in by the lies of society. We’ve bought into Madison Avenue and it may very well be costing us our soul. We must turn back and repent. We must rediscover our mission in life, and we must refocus our lives on Jesus Christ.

True religion is this, that we care for the orphans and the widows and keep ourselves untainted by the world. (James 1:27) Are we doing it? Do we take the time to mentor kids from a single parent home or to buy a sack of groceries for a single mother? Do we spend time with the elderly and the homeless? Do we give hope to anyone? When was the last time you unconditionally loved someone, the last time you loved someone without expecting anything in return? We are sick, we are selfish and we have lost our way.

There’s no happy moral today, no silver bullet of encouragement. There is only this: take an honest look at your life. Are you living a life worthy to be associated with Jesus? Are you living a life that displays grace, mercy and love to everyone around you? Are there areas of your life that remain closed to God, areas that you will not surrender? When was the last time you told someone about the love and redemption found only in Jesus Christ? We are sick and we need to get well. Repent today. Turn away from the life you’ve bought into and start fresh living the life God planned for you. We must make a difference or there is no point in any of this. We can’t keep doing what we’re doing and hope to make a difference. Modern Christianity is failing and we must change. We must repent of Christianity and turn instead to a life of following Christ. Replace your selfishness with selflessness, your greed with generosity and your bitterness with love. Repent with me today and walk in the way of Jesus.

What Holds You Back? Part I

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What holds you back from serving Christ the way you want to, from serving Him the way you know you should? Life has a way of throwing multiple obstacles in our path as we endeavor to live like Jesus. I would say satan throws these obstacles into our path, but I believe many of the obstacles are of our own creation. I previously wrote about the dangers of allowing ourselves to become too busy. Satan does not make us too busy – we do. Some of the things we fill our life with might indeed come from a subtle, evil place, but it is we who choose to indulge in such activity. I think it is important that we take full responsibility for not leading the life Christ instructs us to live.

For me, the things that hold me back can be broken down into three universal categories: time, money and selfishness. The encouraging part about this is that we can easily improve in each of these areas; there is no magic or rocket science required. Time and money are forever intertwined; we have to work to earn money to live, and that work takes time. As I have lamented in previous posts, I give away the best ten hours of my day to a job that does nothing to further the kingdom of God. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends 36% of their waking hours on the job (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090621/BUSINESS/906210317/1003/BUSINESS). It makes me realize how much better the New Testament model of the Church was, where everyone came together and shared their possessions for the good of the community. In our modern age, there is little community and even less pooling of resources. Instead, each of us soldier on alone; some earn more, some earn less, but all earn for self. While we give – sometimes even generously – to various ministries around the world, we miss the point and joy of communal living. Pooling our resources would mean more time for everyone to be doing Kingdom work. I think what Shane Claiborne is doing with the “Simple Way” community in Philadelphia is amazing (http://www.thesimpleway.org/index2.html). We would do well to follow suit.

If work is holding you back from fully serving Christ, perhaps it’s time to find another job. I know this is not the best economic climate to be seeking employment, but perhaps you at least need to try. We cling to our jobs and our paychecks as if they are the most important thing in the world. I don’t know about your Bible, but mine calls that idolatry. How many of us are guilty of making an idol out of our job? If work is interfering with you being able to serve God effectively and fully, then the job needs to go; you need to find a way to make money that is more conducive to fulfilling your call to serve Christ. That call is simple: love God to the very depths of your soul, and love your neighbors (that’s everyone who’s not you!) in the same way.

Help those in need; care for the single mom’s in your community – they are the widows of our generation and they need someone to come along side of them with the love of Christ. Care for the outcasts in our society, for they are the orphans of our time; they are alone, homeless and desperate for love. James (Jesus’ brother) told us that doing these things is what true religion looks like (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=66&chapter=1&verse=27&version=77&context=verse). What’s holding you back from loving others in this way? What holds you back from giving your entire life to the service of Jesus? How have we gotten so off mission in our modern culture? We claim to be followers of Christ, but our lives look nothing like His. Determine what holds you back and eradicate it from your life. Whatever it is, cut it out, stop doing it immediately. Replace that time with time spent in prayer, study and loving others. This is the key to happiness; this is the life Christ calls us to live.