preaching to myself

One of my pet peeves about myself is that I tend to get preachy. It is, as you would guess, a hazard of my trade- since I am in fact a preacher. This is the part of my self that I really don't like to admit to or look at seriously, but I can really launch into sermons about the most trivial issues. I know you are shocked by this (tongue is firmly in cheek right now), but sometimes I launch into sermons involuntarily even when no one is around. It is really sick, I know. I can't help it.

Which raises the philosophical question "if a preacher preaches a sermon in the woods and there is no one there to hear it, is it a real sermon?"

But I digress. What I mean to tell you is that I preached a sermon to myself while driving down the Broadway Extension this week.

I was listening to talk radio when a woman who claimed to be a lifetime evangelical Christian called in to defend Christianity to an antagonistic talk show host. He challenged her faith by asking her to answer one simple question about the creation account in Genesis. He wanted to know how is it that eeevanJELical (that word spoken with particular scorn) Christians could claim their little corner of the truth when ALL these other religions have their own creation account.

I stared at the radio waiting for this woman to come back with SOMETHING half way thoughtful or informative in retort. I knew the odds were not in evangelicalism's favor, as one recent study found that a majority of teenage evangelicals believe that MOSES was one of the 12 disciples (If you are wondering why that is disturbing, you are hereby banned from my blog site). Anyway, the woman was speechless. She had nothing to say.

Nothing.

She just said she didn't know how to respond.

That is when I started preaching my sermon. The sermon was about our responsibility as Christians to know our faith. And in fact to know how to answer people when they ask us for the REASON for the hope we have, but to be able to do it with such knowledge and forethought, that our answer is gentle and respectful (1 Peter 3:15).

It was about our responsibility not just to know our religious belief, but in a multicultural multi-religious context within which ALL OF US now live, it is important that we even know what other religions believe and teach.

It was about how in order to truly love someone with you whole heart, you have to KNOW them. I waxed eloquent to myself about how true Christianity is not just experiential knowledge, it is also informational knowledge and to truly know the Lord you have to know doctrine. You have to love doctrine and love His Word.

And how if this woman really was who she said she was (a lifetime evangelical Christian) and was being asked in front of the entire national talk radio audience to give a reason for the hope she had, and if she truly had through her love for the Lord and for her love for others and her love for the gospel had taken the initiative to learn about these things, she would have been able to very simply, very powerfully answer his question.

In my sermon, I went on to explain that the talk show host had framed the question in the wrong way. She should have just asked him what he knows about what other world religions teach about creation? If she had done that she would have changed the focus of his scorn and a very good point about truth could have been made. Because in fact while most of the world religions do not agree about the most important truth issues, it just so happens that creation is NOT one of them. All the major monotheistic religions in the world agree in essence on the creation account. In fact the major religions all read and claim belief in the same text- the Genesis account is agreed upon by Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Mormonism and only disagree in their interpretation of it. Eastern religions believe that the material world is an allusion so their ideas of creation are not even in the same context- they wouldn't agree to the question in the way he framed it, it seems to me.

I went on in my sermon to myself to talk about how all of us are given the responsibility to engage our culture, to love our culture, to understand our culture and to not be intimidated by the questions of culture. I talked about how all truth, by it's very nature, is narrow and that even the talk show host would have to agree to that.

I pointed out that if one says that there is no such thing as absolute truth then he is making an absolute statement and therefore we can't even believe that assertion, making it irrelevant and empty. As C.S. Lewis correctly pointed out, "you can't go on seeing through things forever, if you can see through everything, then what you see is nothing".

Man, that was a good sermon.

Too bad I was the only one who heard it. The only thing worse than me preaching to myself is when I amen myself.

(And by the way- this is a good time to remind you that the next "Explore the Journey" Course on the doctrines of our faith begins Wednesday night October 17 in room 200)

if you run with the dogs, you will catch fleas

Let me begin this entry into my blog by stating the painfully obvious- there is something wrong with the American psyche and it goes much deeper than a professional athlete who has his own dog fight gambling ring. The summation of the depth of the problem is not encompassed by the tragic story of Michael Dwayne Vick.

But it is the latest most obvious illustration of it.

Sports, cable and major news outlets are obsessing over this modern version of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup. We shake our heads in awe that an athlete with the potential and future of Vick could kiss it all good-bye for the "thrill" of gambling on which dog can tear the other dog's throat out. I have never really understood the gambling addiction, but I suppose it is the result of the adrenalin one feels as he sits on the razor edge between ruin and fortune. The edge ran out last week for this one time sports hero, who was once revered as a role model for struggling urban youth.

Last week he went from hero to zero. but it didn't happen overnight. Michael Vick, like the rest of us, is the product of his choices.

This story has already been hashed and rehashed from every possible angle and I don't intend to go very far down that road, but do want to reflect on the issue from a spiritual perspective by asking what are deeper macro issues involved here?

1. Just because a man has fortune it doesn't mean he has wealth. There is much more to wealth than just money or fame. The word "wealth" in scripture is related to the word "weight" or "worth". A man of weight is a man of substance. A man's weightiness is related to the value he carries not in his bling but in the substance of his character. The lesson to kids who look up to athletes like Vick is that there are many things money can't buy, and character is not something you can buy back with multi million dollar contracts.

Character is earned. But it is never too late to start earning it.

One only has to contrast the inspiring speech of another football hero named Michael on the same week the Vick story broke. Michael Irvin, the one time bad boy of the Dallas Cowboys who in the early 90's battled drug abuse and arrest, delivered an inspiring speech at the Hall of Fame ceremony, giving thanks to God, his pastor and even leading the crowd in a brief prayer. My favorite part was when he turned to his wife:

For better or for worse, those are the vows we take before God in marriage. It's easy to live with the for better, but rarely can you find someone who sticks around and endures the for worse. Sandy, my beautiful wife, I have worked tirelessly, baby, to give you the for better. But I also gave you the for worse, and you didn't deserve it. You didn't deserve it. But through it all I experienced the depth of your love and I thank God for you. I love you for the mother that you are, the wife that you are, I love the way that you take care of our family, our daughters Myesha and Chelsea, and our sons Michael and Elijah. I thank you from a place that I can't mention, I can't even express, baby, for keeping our family together. I love you so much.

It is said that Henry Ford once sat at a table with his boyhood hero, Thomas Edison. He asked him, "what is the secret to success?"

Edison's simple answer was "good choices."

Ford thought about those words for a moment and then asked, "How does one learn to make good choices?"

"Bad choices" Edison answered.

The substance of a man's character is seen in his ability to learn from life. The Bible says

"Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Ephesians 5:15-17)

Wisdom is making the most of every opportunity, it is asking yourself what is the VERY BEST thing for me to do in this decision, at this moment. Not "what is the easiest" or "what is the most thrilling" or "what can I get away with" but "What is the VERY BEST thing for me to do".

That is what a real man asks. That is how a real man lives. It is a man that makes those kinds of choices that becomes a man of substance, a man of wealth.

2. A second and very important lesson here from a macro perspective is that our lives will often take the shape of what we project them to be. My dad used to say "If you hang with the dogs, you will catch the fleas". That statement seems particularly poignant in light of the Michael Vick story.

There is a scene in the movie "Rocky Balboa" which particularly intrigues me. Rocky has taken a street kid under his wing and for whatever reason, wants him to go with him to pick out a dog. In what now on reflection seems like a very symbolic statement about the disenfranchised and disconnected urban teen, he asked him what dog he would pick out. The boy immediately picked out a pit bull.

Rocky, being the great student of human behavior and social philosophy that he is, points the boy to a down and out mangy old used up mutt. Together they take the dog home and give it a second chance, even as they both find their own way through the challenges of despair and fear and change. At the time it seemed random, but I now see that trip to the dog pound as central to the theme of the movie.

Rocky, as a kind of father figure and a symbol of new hope for the boy who was struggling in his relationship with his single mom, was pointing the teen away from an image he had picked up on the street. He was turning his eyes and his heart away from the powerful lure of gang culture that so many young urban teens who grow up with single moms gravitate toward, and toward the image of real manhood. It seems like such a simple, even insignificant scene in the movie- but how striking it was now that I have had time to think about it. It was as if this fomer heavy weight champion boxer who the boy revered was saying to him, "you don't have to have a pit bull to prove yourself! Your character is measured in other ways- a real man can take care of an old dog that nobody wants. A real man will take responsibility for things that no one else will take responsibility for!"

If you can see yourself as one who doesn't NEED the pit bull image, but as one who can bring an old dog to life, as one who can be just as self assured and even more so by rejecting the projected image of the negative culture around you, then maybe, just maybe, other more substantive changes can take shape. It all starts with a choice. And then other choices.

We should never forget that every man at any given time has a choice between two Adams. The first Adam was passive and irresponsible and would not lead his family and expected his own reward, not God's reward.

The second Adam by contrast, Jesus Christ, took responsibility for those things that were not his fault and rejected passivity and lead courageously and expected eternal rewards, not material, physical ones.

That is the difference. To truly "man up" is to follow the example of the second Adam, not the first.

To put it another way- a real man isn't measured by the weight of his bling or the fight in his bulldog... but by the weight of his character and the substance of his choices.

intruder in the house

We were all shocked and sickened to hear the story this week of the Connecticut doctor and his family who were brutally attacked inside their own home. Dr. William Petit Jr. and his wife Jennifer and their two daughters Hayley (17) and Michaela (11) were enjoying a night together in the peace and calm of their own home, when two men broke into the house, knocked out Dr. Petit with a baseball bat, tied him up and threw him in the basement, and then for several hours terrified and brutally tortured his wife and daughters before finally setting the house on fire, killing everyone except for Dr. Petit, who managed to break out of the basement just as the police and fire department arrived.

This is the kind of story that strikes horror into the heart of every man. It is absolutely the worst nightmare any of us could imagine. I am praying for Dr. Petit and asking for God's continued grace and strength- my heart goes out to this man. I cannot even begin to imagine how a man can survive such sorrow. It will be only by the grace of God.

A home is sacred- a place of refuge and peace and protection. A home is a families "shalom" where children should always feel the love and peace and joy of the Lord. It is a place where spiritual maturity should be nourished and encouraged and the family should thrive in an environment of growth and learning.

As a husband and father and the head of my home, I feel a heightened sense of responsibility for the welfare of my family. I see that God has given me stewardship over them and that I am to stand in the gap for them in prayer and to hold the vanguard against the work of the enemy.

When I first read this terrible account of the attack on this Connecticut family, I immediately thought of this teaching of Jesus found in Matthew 12:29:

"Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house."

In context Jesus is addressing the issue of spiritual battle- by implication He reveals here a very specific tactic of the enemy in destroying a home. He is saying that the way the enemy comes into a home and destroys everything of value in that home is by first tying up the strong man. The "strong man" is the head of the house- the man who is given responsibility to stand in the gap for his wife and kids. If the enemy can take the man out, he can have his way in the home.

The details of the abhorrent crime in this quiet community in Connecticut have sent shock waves across the world, but this teaching of Jesus highlights a more subtle and yet incredibly destructive spiritual parallel that I see happening in homes today at an alarming rate.

I see the remains of shattered lives and homes under attack almost weekly. I see men who have been bound up by pornography or workaholism or drug or alcohol abuse. I see men lured away from their wives and children and the responsibility that God has given them as the "strong man" in the home. I see good men, Christian men often, who know better and who have understood clearly the consequences of their behavior, throw it all to the wind and leave their families for greener grass or better promise or the attraction and thrill of an adulterous relationship.

The affect of this is no less dramatic than an intruder taking a baseball bat and smashing him in the face and tying him up and rendering him completely defenseless while the evil one goes into his home and robs everything precious to him. I have seen wives and children's lives forever altered because of the work of the intruder. I have spent hours begging men not to do it, not to buy into the lie of the enemy. I have watched as men who at one time in their lives had said that it could never happen to them essentially welcome the enemy in to destroy all that they have ever cared about. My wife and I have spent many hours with broken hearted wives who try to find some sense out of behavior they never dreamed they would encounter in their husbands.

I tell you very honestly- today more than ever I fear for every young man I sit with in premarital counseling. My counseling has changed dramatically since I was a young minister. I spend a lot more time today addressing the need for godly men in the home who understand the principles of manhood of rejecting passivity, accepting responsibility, leading courageously and expecting God's reward.

I spend more time talking about the work of the enemy in attacking the strong man first. I look young men in the eye and tell them, "you will be under attack- the enemy WILL come after you. It is not a matter of if it is a matter of when." It is a tactic that Jesus has taught us about and it is in play in very powerful and effective ways. You must know it, understand it and guard against it. When you think you are invulnerable to it, you are as good as dead. Just as every man locked his house a little tighter after hearing about the Petit family, every man should guard his heart and muster all his strength and discipline once he understands the work of the intruder!

I am praying today for William Petit Jr. And as I think of his horrible pain and sorrow, I think also of the horror that awaits every home in which the strong man has been bound up.

I would say to every husband and father who is reading this- there is nothing the enemy would like more than to steal everything you have, but how can the robber come into your home and take everything you have unless he first comes in and ties you up?

I would remind all of us of the words of Jesus to Simon Peter in Luke 22:31-32:

"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."