The Narrow Gate

Focus.

"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration." - John 4:23-24

There's obviously so much packed into this chapter of John, but I think the Message translation really nails it when translating the more traditional "worship in sprit and in truth" verses here.

The foundational understanding before you unpack these verses is to understand that no matter where you stand with Christ, no matter what your theology, no matter if you even believe in God or not...you are a worshiper.  We all worship something...it's how we were created.

We all venerate...we all assign importance and value...we all sacrifice other people, things, and time to chase after whatever we put at the top of our lists.

But Jesus' words here are an incredible encouragement to those who cannot help but to put God at the top of that list.  It's not about being a good person or doing good things or having to "clean-up" beforehand...it's getting caught up in the hugeness of God and responding honestly and authentically in that moment of getting swept up into him.

God knows our motives.  If we raise our hands during a song at church, he knows whether it's because we're trying to be seen as "holy" or if we're just caught up in adoring him in that moment.  He knows why we go to church... what we're thinking about when we're reading his word...what we're really after when serving others.  

Man looks at outward appearances...God looks at the heart.

So here's a call and prayer for pure motives in our worship.  And a realization that the refining fire that burns away anything selfish or improper is simply an intense focus on God alone. 

Wrestling.

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night..." - John 3:1-2

Sometimes, I think Nicodemus gets a bad rap.  I've heard this section of Scripture taught and preached a majority of ways, and yet every time I read through and study it, my heart just keeps spinning it back to a place of grace and patient understanding.

Being not only a Pharisee, but a member of the Jewish ruling council, Nicodemus was obviously in the soul-wrenching position of hearing the judgment and condemnation being thrown at Jesus, and yet being compelled to seek him out.  

Yes, it's under the cover of night. Yes, it's in secret.  And yes, I know well the verses in Mark 8 where Jesus talks about the problem of being ashamed of him.  But I don't think Nicodemus is ashamed.  I think he's desperately trying to reconcile the fact that he knows Jesus is from God, and yet has turned his entire belief system upside-down.

Imagine for a moment that Jesus came back today instead of 2000 years ago and preached that everything we thought to be true and right - our entire cultural heritage -was completely off.  It might take some time to process that.  

And I think that's what's happening here.  I don't see Nicodemus as a coward here...I see a man who takes a huge risk given his position in the church, to seek Jesus out and ask him for answers and explanations to questions he just doesn't understand.

In fact, later on in John, Nicodemus does eventually take a more public stand by being the one who stands up for Jesus' rights in the middle of a mob scene (7:50), and helping to anoint and bury his body (19:39-40).  

I would even go out on a limb to say that there could be less faith in a decision to jump into belief without asking and wrestling with the important questions.

The practical relevance for me is this...we as a church, as leaders, as pastors and teachers, as friends and family, need to be operating on a razor's edge of being patient with those who are asking questions and wrestling with the veracity of the gospel, while not watering down the message in an attempt to "sell" Jesus to someone.  

To those compelled to seek out Jesus at night: your questions are good and and indication of a desire for truth and clarity...but don't create a situation where you harden your heart and hide behind them forever, for He will eventually ask you to believe in faith.

And to those sharing the gospel: have a loving patience and sensitivity to the questions, for they are a representation of a heart earnestly seeking Christ.  They are a fruit of the desire for truth; not an attack on you.  But take great care not to add to or take anything away from the message.  Engage using Jesus' example.  The word of God will not return void.

Images.

When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.

Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, "Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father's house into a shopping mall!" That's when his disciples remembered the Scripture, "Zeal for your house consumes me."  - John 2:13-17

Here's a confession.  All of those famous pictures of Jesus...the airbrushed, softened and effeminate renditions...make me laugh.  I believe these portrayals are not only totally off-base, but I also believe they end up becoming a stumbling block when they come up against verses like this.

Really?  This guy with tiny little soft white hands, crimped 1980s Michael Bolton hair and a halo trashed the temple?  I can't buy it.  

We often forget that Jesus was a man with masculine tendencies and features.  Why these qualities all of a sudden disappeared, I have no clue.  But I do know two things: 1.  Jesus was a carpenter or carpenter's apprentice for about 20 years; and 2. Isaiah 53:2 talks specifically about what Jesus looked like. It says this:

The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look.

Hmmm...so Jesus wasn't a pretty boy...

It's not important what Jesus looked like (except I continue to prepare myself for that moment when I do see him face to face.  I have a feeling I might bust out with an incredibly joyful, "Seriously?  No way!"), but rather to remember that he was a man, who at times like this, was capable of being filled with righteous indignation.

The religious leaders were taking advantage of this Jewish holiday.  Knowing that throngs of people would be making a long trip to the temple to worship, they allowed all of these vendors in to sell animals for the peoples' required sacrifice.  The salesmen were most likely gouging the people with high prices (knowing that they could not bring their own animals due to the length of the trip), and the money changers were doing the same with astronomical exchange rates.  A perfect Catch-22.  And this was happening all under the approval and watchful eye of the Temple leaders, who were most likely taking a cut.

Jesus' reaction here makes him a man worth following.  A passive, laissez-faire attitude would show a lack of passion and zeal for holy things.  But to see the "zeal for [God's] house" consume him, makes me want to chase after God's kingdom even harder.  Because the integrity of God's places means so much to Jesus, it in turn, means that much to me. 

The tough thing here, though, is trying to figure out what the appropriate response is for us when confronted with similar situations.  The same indignation wells up inside of us when we see God being bought and sold like a commodity, but I also realize that Jesus, as God, has authority that I don't have, and gave us specific commands on how to respond.  He knew how quickly we can start a holy war over stuff like this.  Paul tells us not to sin in our anger...but it's hard because as fallen people, that emotion can carry us away so quickly.  Jesus could do it, but I have a tough time when I head down that road.  

Father, give us wisdom...

Motivations.

"The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.  When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, 'Look, the Lamb of God!'  When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.  Turning around, Jesus saw them and asked, 'What do you want?'"  - John 1:35-38

What a poignant question.  What a direct assault on our intentions. Jesus' words continue to reverb 2000 years later, cutting right to the core of our motivations to follow him.  What do we want as we chase after him?  Why are we following him?  Is it for selfish reasons, an outward appearance, or simply because we are compelled to?  Because we truly desire to be discipled by him - to become more like him - no matter how painful it will be? 

As uncomfortable as it is, I think we need to open ourselves up in prayer and let Jesus ask us this question from time to time.  Our hearts need to be set on following him for the right reasons...everything else needs to fall away, including our prideful desires to look good in our little church circles.  We're all guilty of picking him up and putting him on sometimes like a trendy "Jesus is my Homeboy" t-shirt...we wear him when it's convenient, and we toss him on the floor when it's not.  Unknowingly, we make it all about us.  

The interesting thing here is when Jesus asks Andrew and the other guy, "What do you want?" they stammer out a response...asking him where he's staying.  Clumsy, yes...but very telling in the sense that they were so wrapped up in Jesus, that they would say anything to extend the exchange and be able to spend some more time with him.  They didn't ask him to join their cause, or come to a town hall meeting to side with them on the latest issue or referendum...they allowed him to dictate the next step.  They deferred to his direction.  They let him set the agenda.  Their response made it all about him...which is how it should be.

More of you...less of me.  

  

Yeast.

It occurs to me that more and more, a large portion of the Christian church is becoming Pharisaic.  Whether it's teaching a doctrine of sin-management, preaching a prosperity gospel, or tailoring every single message on Sunday mornings to solve all your pain and hurt in "three easy steps!", we can see this everywhere.  How many non-Christians rail against the hypocrisy of our lives?  Do you ever wonder why that happens?  Because we've set ourselves up to be saved by how clean we can look on the outside, while rotting away from the inside out.  The gospel isn't always being preached and who Jesus really is and what he really taught are getting very misunderstood.

Some people today posit that if Jesus were to come back today, he'd most likely get kicked out of any one of our megachurches.  That he would be lambasted for the people he would associate with.  Ripped apart by the moral majority for the message he preached.  That his church would be smaller than most of the "successful" evangelical churches of today.  The funny thing is that it would be, like it was back then, the religious people taking the most offense to what he said and did.  

Jesus said that the Pharisees seemingly knew so much about God but got so caught up in their rules and religion that they totally missed the Messiah when he was literally walking among them.  I wonder if we've gotten so caught up in our so-called Christian causes and issues that the very same thing wouldn't happen to us today.

Here's my two cents on the reason why...we don't take the time to get to know Jesus.  We live in a time and place where subside on sound bites, snapshots and YouTube videos.  We devour a constant crossfire of opinions and rhetoric and call that "learning."  And whoever has the sexier argument in 2 minutes, whoever comes across as more honest, whoever has the smoothest delivery - we believe.  And we draw a line, form an opinion, and take a side.

That kind of superficialness, by the way, gets us into big trouble.  The Bible nails it when it says that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.  God sees intention - no matter how clumsily it comes across on the outside.  We, in turn, let some body-language expert, news anchor, or first impressions dictate what is and is not truth in our minds.

But back to my main point...we don't take the time to get to know Jesus.  We all think we know what he's all about.  We all rattle off the classic prattle about how he died for our sins and when we're feeling really confronted by someone who's called out a sin in our life, we can quickly recall that he said something like "Judge not, lest ye be judged."  (Which by the way...don't you love it how we revert back to the King James version when we try to get all high and mighty on people?  What's up with that?)

But in the same way that you can't really know somebody without spending time with them, you can't really start quoting Jesus in your defense until you take the time to sit with him.  A while.  An uncomfortably long while.  

And what usually happens is, what you think you knew about him was very wrong.  

After some actual sacrificed time with him in the word, you realize that he's not at all like the crazy fanatic on the street spewing hatred and vitriol at the people who walk by.  Nor is he the soft-spoken and emasculated pacifist that no real man in his right mind would ever follow.

You start to realize that he said and did some pretty radical and subversive things...especially when you begin learning about the culture in which he lived and spoke.  You start to see his courage and fearlessness.  His confidence.  His passionate and sacrificial love.  You start to realize that there's way more to him then what you once knew to be truth in its entirety.

And a funny thing happens when you start spending time chasing after Jesus in the word...you start becoming like him.  Just as with life, the more you hang out with someone, the more you begin to talk like them, act like them, think like them, see things like them.  And the same is true of Jesus.  The more time we spend running after the tassels on his robe, the more Christlike we find ourselves becoming.  We find ourselves living life from his perspective.  We start believing in the tremendous potential of people when they have the Spirit of God alive in them.  Suddenly and all at once, we love his church immensely, but at the same time grow frustrated because we see what it can be, but is not yet.  We expect way more out of it in the way that it relates to and serves the world around us.  We begin to actually believe that Jesus was who he said he was and will do what he said he will do.  We find ourselves becoming disciples.

The challenge is, of course, not taking anyone else's word for who Jesus really is.  We need to get past what the world is telling us about who he is and what he's all about, go to our rooms, close the door, open the Bible and have the guts to see for ourselves. Wash, rinse, repeat.

 

Sin.

I ran across this earlier tonight...it's an excerpt from an interview with Derek Webb and I remember how much it impacted me when I first read it, so I thought it would be worth sharing.  (Especially in light of the fact that I think I'm still dealing with crazy jet-lag and can't seem to form a coherent and unique thought no matter how hard I try.  So, tonight, I'll let someone else speak for me...)

"A great hero of mine, Jack Miller, once said, ‘For every one look you take at your sin, you take ten looks at the cross.’ One of the problems with American Christians is that we aren’t looking at the cross. That’s why we’re so obsessed with keeping a law that cannot justify us as a means of micromanaging both our sin and God and calling that “the Christian life.” 

I don’t think you can overemphasize sin, because sin only emphasizes our need and continued need for Jesus which, on the contrary, is what the Christian life is all about. It’s about recognizing our great need for Jesus. That’s what glory will be all about as well. 

I also believe that as a community of Christians in this country we must be modeling repentance for each other. What we model instead are methods by which we can better hide our sin from each other and convince ourselves and others that we are “good Christian people” who in turn deserve something. It’s no wonder we’re so judgmental. It’s no wonder we’re so arrogant. We’re not looking at our sin, so we’re not forcing the issue of having to look at the cross. 

Art that is marketed as “Christian” but does nothing to help break this cycle of flattery and self-righteousness, and in the worst instances encourages it, is potentially much more harmful than what some would call “secular” art because it does nothing more than put warm clothes on corpses. I for one would rather make art that is honest about sin and run the risk of seeming morbid than the alternative."

Conflicted II.

I feel compelled to follow-up to my post-Memorial Day post, which may have left too many issues kind of hanging out there.  It's amazing how timely God can be with these things - answering those nagging questions of actual significance smoldering deep in your heart.  

Well, maybe "answering" isn't the right word...perhaps he just twists the perspective enough for you to keep working through it, caring enough to allow you to mature where a simple and direct answer would only serve as sugar for the soul - instantly gratifying, but without any nutritional value.

Anyway, I came across this passage in a book I'm absolutely loving right now by Shane Claiborne called "The Irresistible Revolution."  The book is a full-on sucker punch to the gut in so many ways, so unless you want to be challenged to the point of losing sleep (literally), I wouldn't recommend reading it.  Of course, if somewhere deep inside, you think there should be more to the church than you currently see, crack it open.  You won't be disappointed.

Here's the context...Claiborne took a trip to Baghdad in March 2003 with the Iraq Peace Team.  The reasons for going were numerous, but at one point, he hooked up with a huge group of Christians from all over the Middle East, and spanning across all denominations.  They had a big church service which included lots of singing in lots of different languages and reading a statement to the Muslim community declaring that they love them and believe that they were created in the image of God. While all this was going on, hundreds of others who couldn't fit inside the tent gathered outside by candlelight, having a church service of their own.  It was an incredibly holy event. Afterwards, Claiborne was talking with one of the bishops who had organized the gathering.  This excerpt from his journal said it all:

"The bishop went on to tell me that the church in the Middle East was deeply concerned about the church in the United States.  He said, 'Many Americans are for this war.'  

I nodded.  

And he asked, 'But what are the Christians saying?'  

My heart sank.  I tried to explain to him that many Christians in the US are confused and hope that this is a way God could liberate the Iraqi people.  

He shook his head and said, very humbly, 'But we Christians do not believe that.  We believe "blessed are the peacemakers." We believe if you pick up the sword, you die by the sword.  We believe in the cross.'  

Tears welled up in my eyes as he said, 'We will be praying for you.  We will be praying for the church in the US...to be the church.'"

Sometimes, I have to defer to those who have walked, talked and breathed inside moments like these.  Those who are not making broad, sweeping statements about what side God is on, and similarly, what side the church should be on.  How easy it is to take a position on something so massive while being so insulated from the consequences of that position...

These words carry weight with me, not only because they are biblical, but because they convict me deeply.  They are disturbing and unsettling.  Truth usually is.