Are you right where you're called to be?

God didn't call you to be right.

It pains me to say it, because being right is something that I value highly. Some of my ugliest moments are when I'm fighting to be the one who is right, and one of the worst feelings for me is realizing when I'm not right. I want to be right, and I want all of you to be right. When I see something that is wrong or hear something that is untrue, I am incurably compelled to correct it.

And yet, I still conclude that God didn't call you to be right (or me, either).

In our drive to be right, we can get into arguments, either friendly or otherwise. The debate can be about anything at all, such as theology, politics, sports, or history. I'm not against debates, even impassioned ones. Perhaps we can eventually let go of many of these arguments before we enter ugly mode, but theology is one that we rarely let go of.

Theology deals with universal truth, the nature of God, and the eternal fate of people. These are the most important issues we can imagine, and we certainly don't want to be at all casual about them. Untruth can lead someone astray about God and their eternal life. There's a lot a stake!

But you were not called to be right, not even about theology. Does that sound wrong? God wants us to know truth and cling to it, and He wants the church to be the "pillar and support of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Yet, I challenge you to find the command that says, "Above all, be right."

God did call you, on more than one occasion, to bring people more under the influence of Christ. Not you, not your argument, not the church, not a pastor, but Christ.

If you're still balking at what I said about being right, compare the two: Would Christ prefer that you were seen by others to be right or that because of you, someone becomes more under His influence? Is it better for people to know you are right and be no closer to Christ or for them to think you're wrong but end up more open to Him? It's no contest. Being right is not the your greatest purpose. Even Paul said he'd rather be accursed than to see one of his countrymen perish without Christ (Romans 9:3).

God wants you to be right, of course, but it's not your calling. It's not the thing we cling to and defend. He never calls us to be that self-focused. Your call has to do with how others are influenced by Christ.

Therefore, we need to give up our demandingness to be right, our persistance to go to the wall when we believe someone else is wrong.  What we do need to go to the wall for is to see others more influenced by Jesus. Our hearts should beat for one another and for those far outside the influence of Christ, so that they may take one step closer to being swayed by Christ in their daily lives.

I think I'm right about this. But I don't care if you think so, especially if the result is you more moved by Him daily.

Translators

A fisherman named Andrew and his friend followed a teacher named John. Suddenly, John points to another man named Jesus and calls him the "Lamb of God." They left John and starting following Jesus (to John's delight!). After spending time with Jesus, Andrew decided his brother needed to listen to Him, too. We read in John 1:40-41:

40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed him. 41 This one first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is translated “Christ”). 

There's a mine full of riches in this passage, but I want to focus on one phrase that is often ignored because it is surrounded by such phenomenal ideas. I want to dwell on just this: which is translated “Christ”.

The author of this Gospel, the Apostle John (not the same John who Andrew followed), is doing the reader a favor. Andrew told his brother Simon Peter that he thinks they found the Messiah, which John dutifully reports. The word Messiah was highly loaded with religious meaning for these Jewish men. In brought into the conversation all of the Old Testament hope, it opened up the possibility of a righteous and enduring kingdom, and it portended a great future. The Messiah was going to come and be the greatest king ever. The word Messiah means "anointed," referring to God's special designation and blessing on this one king.

John the author takes this word that has been transliterated from Hebrew and tells the reader the equivalent Greek word, Christ. Therefore, the Greek reader who may not have been familiar with a word based in Hebrew would still be able to follow along.

This, my friends, is our job. Our basic job is to translate Jesus to those around us. Jesus means so much to us, including a great deal of history that others may or may not be familiar with. Our job is to take the truth about this Jesus and translate it in ways that people can understand, but from within their context. How do we find ways to communicate the richness of Jesus so that people with a different history can know something amazing about Him?

This does not mean that we change Jesus, change His story, or change His Gospel. Nor does it mean that "being relevant" means that we say anything other than what Jesus says about Himself. We translate Messiah into Christ, not Messiah into Great and Kind Philosopher.

It does mean that we need to translate for those around us, and translate accurately, but in ways that are easy for them to understand.

We can translate with words, of course. But we can also translate effectively with our lives, by reflecting His character and values. That's kind of like using hand gestures when you're in a culture where you don't speak their language - we can still communicate.

Which is translated "Christ." See yourself as a translator, sent here for the rest of your life to translate, showing the same concern for those around you that John showed for his readers.

Innercity and Innercity

Yesterday, I had lunch with Pastor Luther Eatman of Bridge of Hope Church in downtown KCK. Next week, I'm having lunch with Pastor Bill Gorman of Christ Community Downtown Church in KCMO. Both men are good friends to have; both are serving in downtown churches; both are building churches from the ground up. But their experiences are quite different. (And the difference is not related to which side of the state line they are on, but "Go Tigers!" nonetheless.)

Bridge of Hope is in a rough, older neighborhood. This congregation is comprised primarily of lower-income folks, many of whom will freely tell you of their pasts in drug addiction, crime, incarceration, prostitution, and violence. In fact, Pastor Luther will tell you about many of those same things in his own past. The congregation cannot afford to support a pastor, and many cannot afford rent, utilities, and three meals a day. Many are brand new believers, and are pouring their lives into getting their lives on a good, strong path.

Christ Community Downtown is in the revitalized North end, where new lofts have been going in. This congregation is mostly comprised of middle- to upper-income professionals. There may still be histories of drug abuse, crime, or promiscuity, but from a worldly perspective, their external lives are well put together. The congregation can afford their pastor (they are small in numbers now, but as they grow, a pastor's salary will not be their problem). They pay high rents and have disposable income for travel and entertainment. Although there are brand new believers, Pastor Bill has a core group of believers to help him get this congregation launched.

They have different situations, and the types of problems they face will have a lot of differences on the surface. But most of what they will be facing is exactly the same: getting a congregation started and achieving momentum, broken lives that have been empty without Christ, anxiety, insecurity, false pursuits, priorities out of alignment, doubts, pressure to go along with the world's way of thinking, marital stress, and so on.

They have the same basic solutions, too: pursuing the Kingdom of God first, trusting while in the midst of adversity, drawing strength from the community of believers, and drawing strength from God's Spirit and from His Word.

Both ministries are hard. They have different situations, but both are hard. Ministry here in the 'burbs is hard, too. The money is tighter in the urban core, but people are also much more willing to acknowledge their brokenness. Which is harder to minister to - people without many resources or people who are less likely to admit they don't have it all put together? Ministry is just hard, no matter the circumstances.

Both churches are part of our denomination, the Evangelical Free Church of America. Both have the same core doctrine. Both need your prayer and support. Both would welcome any assistance you'd like to provide. Both pastors have my utmost respect. Please add both churches to your prayer list.

The Gospel from 35,000 Feet

The most common way that we look at the Gospel is from the ground up. Man is a sinner, sinners are unfit for the presence of God, Jesus came to earth to pay for our sin, and we can have his eternal righteousness and fellowship by faith. It's not a bad way to look at the Gospel - it's clear, accurate, and something we easily identify with. But ... I was wondering today what the Gospel looks like from the top-down. There are many ways to answer that, but one way that struck me as curious centers on the idea of the image of God.

In the beginning, God created man (man and woman, but "man" to refer to the whole lot of us). God had created many other things already - angels, stars, planets, plants, and critters. But He created man to be different that the rest. He created man in the image of God (Gen 1:27). Man is the "image bearer" - he uniquely has this thing called "God's image" imprinted on his being. That image is a reflection of God's glory.

Then, man sinned. Adam and Eve disobeyed God's design and God's clear word. When this occurred, that image of God was not lost, but it was "vandalized." We still bear God's image, but that image in us has been severely distorted, mangled, and disfigured. It can become so distorted that it becomes very difficult to recognize that image at all in someone. This, of course, is grievous to God - not only for our loss, but also for what has happened to a reflection of His own glory! He had image bearers that reflected His great glory, but now after the vandalization, instead of a glorious reflection, it is a tarnished, blasphemous semblance of His glory.

The Old Testament teaches us the futility of man trying to restore that image on his own. How can an inglorious reflection repair itself? It's not possible.

Then Jesus came. Jesus was unique in that first, He bore the image of God perfectly. That's something no one had done since Adam and Eve before the Fall. Second, He is the God whose image we bear! He's both fully God (the glorious One) and fully man (the perfect image bearer). He alone bore the image perfectly on behalf of the entire human race.

When He died on the cross and rose again on the third day, he defeated sin and death - the very things that marred the image of God in man. In other words, the mission of Jesus was to restore the image of God in us. That image can be perfected in us. It begins with salvation (putting our faith in Christ). It continues through sanctification (the process of becoming more like Christ). It is complete in glorification (when Jesus returns and completes the image of God in us).

The Gospel from 35,000 feet is that Jesus came to make us perfect image bearers again, fully glorifying God as we were intended. We can become perfect image bearers only by faith in Jesus Christ, the glorious One and perfect image bearer.

Scripture shows the Gospel from 35,000 feet in a couple of places:

Romans 8:29:  Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.


1 John 3:2:  Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.


Perhaps this can be a fresh way for you to share the Gospel with others who do not respond to the Gospel from the ground up.