Words from WW Blog

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

I took an armload of books to the public library yesterday. They have a place where donated books can be left. So…with tears…and a prayer as if I was standing at a grave site, I left them for future unknown readers. If I had a handful of dirt in my hand, I would have thrown it on the covers.

Books are my chocolate, my weakness. Amazon makes it too easy. Garage sales are like going on a hunt for buried treasure. Of course, I haven’t read all the books that I have. Many of them have been a part of my library since Moby Dick was a minnow. They make creaking sounds as I open their covers. The pages have yellowed. Dangling threads reveal a time when book covers were made differently.

Giving up books is like giving up my tickets to a Colorado Rockies game. No, just kidding on that one. It would be more like giving up my first-class seat on a transatlantic flight and having me sit between two toddlers who persist in synchronized bawling. So…understand that taking that armload of literature to the library is a step toward maturity.

Honestly, if I passed away in the next few days, Carol would box up almost all of the books and donate them to the library. They wouldn’t survive past the viewing! So…I’m the one who is obsessed. Carol would be ready to turn the page, so to speak.

Each of us has something that could be labeled as our kryptonite, the thing that we treasure to excess. The thing we envision being a part of heaven’s mansion. For some, it might be a pantry of cookies and baked goods. For others, it’s a vault filled with cash and bonds. For still others, it’s family pictures that tell of past journeys and blessings.

What is it that gets stored up? What is it that I think twice about parting with? What is it that would not survive a catastrophe? The harsh, honest truth is that most of our treasures will end up on the curb, at Goodwill, or given to someone who will end up putting them in a box and dumping them in the far corner of the basement. Although our treasures have value to us, in the eyes of others they are junk or, at best, a bother.

What does have value is our relationship with Jesus? Although others may not comprehend its priceless significance, our relationship with Jesus will neither rust nor tatter. Thieves can’t take it. Judgmental people can’t render a verdict against it. Pessimists can’t peck away at it. It’s a treasure that retains its value…for eternity.

It’s painful, but I’m on a mission to lessen the number of books on my shelves and increase the volume of my intensity with Jesus.

“Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.“

 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:16-18)

Working with young people (middle school and high school) has exposed me to numerous interesting situations and personalities. Kids can be the most caring people on the face of the earth and, in a different situation, can also be the most insensitive, cruel creatures.On one day you can witness an outpouring the collections for the local food pantry, as well as someone stealing a classmate’s bag of Cheetos. One middle school teacher I was substitute teaching for would describe her students as “awesome and on task” one day and “feral” the next.

Why is it that a group of adolescents has such a hard time finding harmony? Why is it so difficult for them to “live at peace with everyone?” My answer, although I have no research to support it, is that they simply mimic what they see adults doing. The circumstances might be different but the roots are the same. When fights breakout between adults at graduation ceremonies (From kindergarten to high school), you have to shake your head and ask yourself if the video is AI or real?

Answer: It’s real.

Was the Apostle Paul so clueless as to suggest that we should be about seeking peace and harmony in how we relate to one another and treat each other? Were his words as absurd as someone believing the Washington Wizards will win the NBA Championship in 2027?

It seems that Paul believes it. Not the Wizards being champions, but rather that followers of Jesus are able to live in harmony and peace. In his podcast to the Romans, he mentions things for them to NOT do. Conceit is not to take root, not even to make a brief appearance. Pride needs to be surrendered. It leads to an attitude that won’t admit being wrong. Put two prideful people together and you have the plot line for an afternoon TV soap opera. And how about repaying evil for evil? That’s just another way of saying “seek revenge.” Getting even with someone is the attitude that will lead to another Hatfields and McCoys battle that will escalate and continue until people can’t even remember what they’re at odds about.

And Paul says to do what is right. Not what feels good and gets some press in the paper, but rather what is the God-honoring, Christ-reflecting thing to do. Be willing to associate with people who are different than you. That is, establish a culture that is committed to equality and mutual respect for everyone. For a sarcastic example, instead of the Baptists beating the Methodists to the restaurants after church on Sunday morning, rub elbows with one another in the same cafe booth. Harmony often gets pushed to the side when we become more focused on our differences instead of remembering the sacredness of our core similarities.

I know, I know…Paul is talking to people of a different time, culture, and circumstances. We raise our hands to make that excuse out of our determination to feel right, instead of a need to feel togetherness and…harmony! I’m afraid there will always be those folks to, figuratively speaking, can’t carry a tune but can easily destroy a soothing melody.

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Evaluations from businesses, organizations, and even the hospitals we grudgingly were admitted to seem to be the new thing. Soon after a stay at a hotel, the overnight guest is sure to receive an email asking how his stay was, followed by an evaluation that seeks a “numbered score” between 1 and 10. A “10” means your stay was perfect. It means that your stay, hotel or hospital, was without a blemish. Disregard the tasteless food and the crowded elevators. It means we are to consider the good parts of the stay and hit the 10 that rings the bell.

The bar for perfection has been lowered. to where a good performance is viewed as award-winning. When I write a blog that I think is awesome, worthy of national attention, Grammarly shows me all the mistakes I’ve made, and all the sentences that could be made better with a little reordering of the words.

In fact, AI is seen as the new perfect. No one seems to question artificial intelligence. It straightens out the mistakes of losers and the idiocy of mere mortals. If it could only make the artificial eggs on the Comfort Inn breakfast buffet taste better!

When the dinner server asks how our meal was, and I reply that the mashed potatoes were a bit lumpy and the coffee too bitter, I expect a reaction of “I’m so sorry,” while the inner voice is saying, “Another complainer! Someone who is always whining about something!”

Perfection is expected by the perfection-less even though it’s not perfect. In other words, we view perfection as an easy target, like a rigged contest where winning is easier than putting my shoes on the right feet.

Perhaps our distorted view of what is perfect is more about keeping us from seeing the imperfections of our lives, our actions, and our attitudes. If I can convince myself that I’m the best thing since sliced bread, then I can avoid seeing the pimples that dot my existence.

Our focus on our awesomeness has the potential to keep us from seeing our fallenness. As the Apostle Paul told us in Romans 3:23, “All of us have fallen short of the glory of God.” Like an elderly man (me) who jumps to touch the lowest threads of the net attached to the basketball hoop, the elevation isn’t quite there. I fall short.

The good news is that God knows of my earthbound nature and through the giving (and perfection) of His Son, I have been lifted up. In His eyes, my failings have been cast to the side, and even though I’m about as perfect as a baked birthday cake that failed to rise, He has taken the “less” off of my perfection.

And I know it’s because he loves me!

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26)

The hymn “More Precious Than Silver” includes the line “…nothing I desire compares to You.” Nice words to sing, but frequently forgotten in the daily cravings of our lives. Paul David Tripp in his devotional, New Morning Mercies, writes that sin “…causes us to look horizontally for what can only be found vertically.” (New Morning Mercies, January 6 devotional thought)

In many ways, our culture tells us what we should be craving. It’s been that way for a while. Remember “Big Mac Attacks” that McDonald’s assured us was natural? And how about the automobile commercials that feature starry-eyed consumers who are suddenly living their dream in a shiny new vehicle (complete with a cringing monthly car loan amount)?

Recently, I bought a pair of slip-on shoes. I like them. They’re comfortable. But guess what? I get a daily email or social media ad from the company trying to convince me that my feet will not be satisfied until I buy another pair. If they had their way, my closet would look like a shoe store.

The professional sports leagues have been trying to convince me that the NBA All-Star Game and NFL Pro Bowl are essential to my viewing pleasure. They aren’t, and I haven’t.

Unless it is fulfilling relationships and helping others in need, there isn’t much horizontal meaning. If someone or some group is trying to convince you that it is essential for your happiness, that’s a red flag of its non-essentialness. Like the story of the prodigal son, life away from the father (and the Father) looks enticing, exciting, and enthralling. And like the prodigal son, realizing how unfulfilling those ventures are brings us to the place of “void” that is bewildering.

I mean, be honest! Do the real housewives of Beverly Hills ever seem happy? With all of their makeovers, Botox treatments, and cocktail parties, they seem to be miserable human beings who are always complaining about someone or something.

I can;t remember a time when someone complained about the fact that God loves them and is always available for a talk. It doesn’t seem like there has ever been someone who gossips to their friends about God is all uppity! And yet, we spend most of our time trying to make life meaningful that has no connection to the Lord.

More precious than silver. Where do you look for value?

^“ Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery,  idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,  envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)

Paul empties the cupboard of all the ingredients that tend to foul up the soup. Many of them are locks for being on the list, but there are others that we curl in our eyebrows in dismay. We can easily convict sexual immorality, sorcery, dissensions, carousing, and things like that, but…

Anger? How can an emotion that is part of our DNA be so bad that it’s put in the same mixture as carousing? After all, Jesus got angry at the moneychangers in the temple. Was he displaying one of the works of the flesh? That can’t be! He was without sin.

The truth is… these are angry times, populated by angry people who seem to jump into the pool of irrational behavior frequently. We leap before we look, speak before we think, and react before we pray. Jesus’s anger came as a result of religious shysters who were profiting from the pilgrims’ obedience to the religious laws of their day. Our anger comes as a result of things not going our way. There’s a difference between the two, but deaf ears to hearing the truth.

It seems that anger is now a core value of our political system. It shows its red-faced displeasure in revenge, non-sensical actions, and pouting. What most Americans would love to see is the ability to compromise and have a shared belief that seeks the good of the people. Anger sweeps those hopes into the dustpan and out for the trash. And it seems that when anger gets deployed (Please! I’m not talking about ICE agents when I use that word!) there is a personal sense of gratification that gets the angered person all goosebumpy.

Anger is an outward sign of our need to feel superior. Maybe even more than that, anger is the indicative emotion of our need for the other person, party, or group to feel inferior, to feel the heel of our boot squarely in their personhood. I’d be interested in knowing how much of our charitable giving or contributions to a cause is driven by our anger.

I wish I could say that followers of Jesus are distinctly different, but we aren’t. We are guilty of politicizing our religion according to our flavor and assuming that we are being Christ-like. We get irritated at our neighbors who mow their lawns on Sunday afternoon, but scroll through our cell phones as the pastor’s unheard words ask what message God is trying to get through to us. We get ticked off at the pastor going long in the sermon because it means the Methodists are going to beat us to Cracker Barrel.

Angry spirits drown out the whisperings of the Holy. Peace, on the other hand, is punctuated with moments of silence and comprehension that comes from listening.

You probably know this already, so take this as a refresher reminder. Immediately after the Apostle Paul defined the works of the flesh, he gave us another list. It’s a list of indicators of the Holy Spirit’s activity in a person’s life. They get referred to as the fruit of the Spirit. Here they are again, and I love his lead-in to them.

“By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

It seems that the first list is all about what I can get, or my group can get, but the second list is all about having Christlike behavior towards all and seeking to do what is beneficial for all.

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

Mike Woodruff in “The Friday Update” writes that the Platinum Rule is now getting playing time. The Platinum Rule takes Jesus’s Golden Rule (“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.“) and rewords it to make it all about the person. It says to “treat ourselves the way we want others to treat us.”

In a culture obsessed with selfies, the emphasis is now on grabbing the last piece of the pie before anyone else gets it. More to the point, grab it instead of asking someone else if they’d like it. After all, you are the queen, or king, of your own make-believe kingdom.

Jesus approached it differently. He astounded his own disciples when he said, “… the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) Not only did Jesus not take that last piece of pie (or probably bread), he served it to the one who was considered by others to be the least.

Serving others and making them feel they are worth serving is a valuable commodity, despite the increasing trend toward the Platinum Rule. Chick-Fil-A has elevated it to a core value. Although we sometimes chuckle at the person bringing the tray to your pleasure with their reply of “My pleasure!” to our thank you, I have never left a Chick-Fil-A feeling unappreciated or undervalued. The company wants you to know that you are important and valued.

Jesus applauded selflessness and self-sacrifice, drawing attention to the widow’s mite, which was a stretch for her to give up, although it didn’t even compare with the large amounts of coins others brought to the temple, which made loud sounds when dropped into the offering containers. And Jesus demonstrated servanthood when he grabbed the water and the cloth and washed his disciples’ feet. It was the prelude to his sacrificial servanthood displayed on the cross.

The Platinum Rule treats servanthood as if it were one of those kindergarten lessons meant to keep the students from pushing and punching one another when they get in line to go down the playground slide. To avoid chaos and broken arms, give the kids a few lessons on kindness and courtesy. According to the Platinum Rule, personal injury lawyers are where it’s at. Mother Teresa is a person from the past, outdated and old-fashioned. Social influencers wearing an exorbitant amount of bling is where it’s at now.

The thing is, we’re never satisfied. Paul David Tripp, in his devotional, New Morning Mercies, writes that sin “…causes us to look horizontally for what can only be found vertically.” The mindset “it’s all about me” never reaches a point of peace and satisfaction, and yet it’s the bill of goods we’ve bought into.

Serving others brings us to the heart of Jesus.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (1 Corinthians 4:18)

I loved watching my grand-nephew, Chase Allen, play basketball. He had vision. He could see what hadn’t happened yet, as well as the possibilities of what could happen. He knew when to slow it down and set up the offense that was having a few minutes of chaos, and he knew when his team had the advantage and needed to speed the game up.

Court sense and game understanding. Seeing the not-yet and what such foresight could mean for his team.

In our walk with God, wouldn’t it be great to see what has not yet happened? We have some of that in that we know where our eternal destination will be. We know that the love of God will always be there. We know His presence never disappears.

However, we see what is seen so much that fixing our eyes on what is unseen is like knowing what is in the midst of the morning fog we’re walking into. We see the fog, but not what is positioned within the fog.

In our lives, we see what is the immediate. We see what is on the agenda for the day. We see the person in front of us that we’re talking to, and we hear what they’re saying. However, we fail to see the presence of God in the moment or in the details. We so often fail to see the heart of the person we’re talking to or the innner struggles that are being fought. We are a “see what’s in front of your face” kind of people.

In recent months, I’ve had several of my youth-years friends pass away. Three of them were in the same church youth group I was in. They’re my age! Their passing causes me to pause and consider the eternal matters of this life and the next. I can not see what is to come, and yet I am confident in the promises of the unseen. It isn’t that I am no longer concerned or interested in the events and moments of this life, but rather that I’m investing more of my pondering on the life I will experience in the eternal.

Like my grand-nephew’s basketball court sense, I’m sensing the presence of the Unseen and the “what is to come.”

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)

In general, the church has struggled to define its relevance to current culture. It has battled with two questions: Why do we do the things that we do, and why shouldn’t we do what the culture is doing? A subtitled question for the second would be “What are the limits to the push to be culturally relevant?”

In some cases, the drive to be culturally “with it” has resulted in producing churches that have thrown Jesus into the backseat. He’s not even riding shotgun anymore. In other situations, churches have asked the risky question, “Why not try this? Would Jesus be upset by it, or is it just different than what has always been the tradition?”

Jesus’s teaching about the house built on the rock versus the house built on sand brings us, literally, to the foundation of the issue. I mean, “who builds on sand?” is the logical question. In recent years, we’ve seen many crumbling houses built exactly there. Some in sinkholes, others on hillsides where erosion has deemed the structure unsafe to live in. In some of the situations, the “bad” foundation isn’t discovered until later on when it’s too late to change anything.

It makes me wonder if, in the beginning, the sifting sand looked solid? Did the decision to build seem like a great idea, a creative project that was going to connect with those seeking the truth? Did it look rock solid? When did the foundation become more about cultural leanings and less about Christ?

Regarding the church, there is a certain mindset that holds firmly to the idea that rock-hard resistance to the winds of change is the way of the faithful, while others argue that such rigidity eliminates the freedom the gospel brings.

In addition, the church and its members have a habit of trivializing what it means to have a solid faith by putting disqualifiers into the question. Can you be anchored to the Rock and still drink a margarita? Does being Rock-Solid mean that playing the lottery is an indicator of a lack of faith? Can I stay close to Christ and still cuss?

Going back to my opening question, it has been difficult for the church to define its relevance to culture, and also what being set free by the gospel means and what it looks like.

The vitalness of being anchored to the Rock is evident in the cultural antagonisms that pull in various directions. “WWJD”- what would Jesus do gets verbalized in vastly different ways by different people and groups. What is a sign of waywardness to one group is a sign of devotion to another. Changing the world for Christ will always meet resistance from those who want the world to change in another way. It seems that Christ-followers too often have to battle against culture and other Christians. In reading the epistles of the New Testament, the struggle was evident back then as well. Pressures from those outside and tensions and warped beliefs from some of those on the inside made for lengthy letter correspondence. Of course, that was the early church in various locations and hostile cultures. They were communities of believes trying to figure faith out.

I’m not sure what our excuses are. Staying close to Jesus always seems to attract sand and wind.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

I was scrolling through a Google Search looking for information on Artificial Intelligence and the gospel. My scroll kept scrolling…and scrolling…and scrolling. Some of the articles and/or posts were hysteria and paranoia gone crazy. Christians have a way of taking new technology and turning it into an indication that the end times are just around the corner. Or, making the jump to how culture is making the church worldly. (Think back to the worship wars of the 80s and drum sets on the sanctuary platform causing a few deacons’ meetings to go late into the night!)

And just like other things, like “The Cannabis Church” (Yes, it’s real…or was real! Far out, dude!), there become extremist elements that seek to stretch the elasticity of the body of believers. It’s our way of trying to look relevant or hip.

AI is a conundrum for believers and the church. It has its advantages and helps, but some folk are confusing it with the real thing. It reminds me of when Carol and I went with friends to an Elvis Impersonator concert a couple of years ago. From our balcony seats, it seemed like Elvis had risen from the dead and was gyrating on the stage in his white sequined pantsuit. Elderly women would stroll up to the edge of the stage in order to put a string of beads or a scarf around his neck and kiss him on his cheek. I had to remind myself that Elvis had died back in 1977.

A new app, Text With Jesus, was recently featured on NBC’s TODAY SHOW. Text With Jesus allows a person to ask Jesus questions and receive His response. Whereas, I use a website called “Biblegateway.com” to find the location of a verse, as well as how that verse is worded in different translations and paraphrases, Text With Jesus sometimes gives direct quotes that Jesus says in one or more of the gospels, but also what Jesus MIGHT say.

The fear (There is always fear!) is that some will use the app as a replacement for the Real Jesus. It’s a fear, with some merit, that the church had about streaming worship services. Would some folk stay at home and watch, still in their pajamas and slippers, instead of being in the REAL sanctuary? COVID forced the issue, making the point that people could still be part of the church without actually being seen.

So…now we have access to a Jesus with artificial intelligence. Will he help or hinder? Will the gospel take on a warped form, or become more relevant to some people trying to figure out their relationship with God? Just as the sanctuary drum set behind a protective shield did not signal the arrival of the prophetic end times, I’m confident that AI (with a Jesus voice) will not be an indication of the dawning of a religious Terminator with a Schwarzenegger accent.