Month: September 2010

“Be the kind of physician that you would want to have if you were sick.” With these words, Dr. Arnold P. Gold welcomed the incoming class of medical students at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons last month. As thrilled parents looked on, 168 young men and women sat expectantly in the school’s auditorium, their white coats folded over their arms, each waiting to be called to the front of the room and “cloaked” by a senior physician. This marked the 18th annual White Coat Ceremony at Columbia.”

Dr.Sally Satel wrote those words in the Wall Street Journal as she observed a growing tradition in America’s medical schools. The “cloaking” is a symbolic way to remind the physicians going forth to serve their patients and do no harm. Dr. Satel continued her piece.

Dr. Gold, a white-haired and avuncular pediatric neurologist, popularized the practice years ago because, he said, “medical students were becoming enamored of technology and were losing the important aspects of human relationships with patients.” Columbia’s chaplain referred to the coats as “cloaks of compassion.”

I am sure that some are skeptical or even mocking of the gesture. But I believe in the power of symbolism and I am sure I would be moved by that ceremony. I am also sure I could never get through med school. The article led me to consider a similar ceremony that might have some power for followers of Jesus. A “cloaking” ceremony might be a powerful way to illustrate to new believers in Christ what happens when they are delivered by faith.

Many (if not most) of us come to the Cross because we desperately feel the need for a Savior. We have lived a life of selfishness and sin. Some of us have made terrible decisions with consequences that painfully hurt ourselves and others. We cry out for hope. We realize how completely we have failed to live a life that could be acceptable to a Holy God. We fall at the feet of grace and gratefully accept the free gift of salvation.

And this is where the “cloaking” idea could have symbolic power. What if every new believer were brought forward and “cloaked” with a robe of righteousness? Most would protest that they did not deserve to wear such a luxurious garment. Most would point out that they had done nothing to earn being wrapped in this beautiful robe that represented justification and forgiveness. And that would be the very point of being cloaked in this symbolic robe of righteousness. They had done absolutely nothing to deserve this gift of grace other than surrendering their control and self to Christ. All of those objections would be true yet they had been clothed in this beautiful robe. You wear the robe because of grace.  

Jesus gave us an amazing picture of justification by faith in the story of the prodigal son. The son rebelled, sinned, and suffered the horrible consequences of his actions. The son realized his sin and in humble desperation decided to throw himself at the mercy of his father. The imagery is compelling. The father runs to him. His act was a gesture of love and forgiveness but also to protect his precious child from the judgment of others. 

And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. (Luke 15, NLT)

The Father placed the finest robe on his wayward son who deserved nothing after his selfish and sinful actions. In the cultural context readers would have surmised that the “finest robe” was the father’s own robe that he placed on his son. The robe that was worn on the most special of occasions. The custom would have been for the son to bathe, put on clean clothes and then put on the robe. But in a stunning gesture of compassion, the father placed his robe over the filthy garments. By “cloaking” his wayward son, the father gave him a covering of acceptance and salvation. And the father also let everyone know that the son was forgiven, accepted and no longer to be condemned by others who had judged his behavior.

The story is the same today. The Father ran to forgive you when you acknowledged your sin and need. While you were still dirty and clothed in filthy garments you were forgiven, accepted, justified and wrapped in the robe of righteousness. You were declared a saint because of Christ. And you were no longer condemned. Satan would have you forget that the robe of righteousness is wrapped lovingly around you. The author of lies would remind you that you still wear dirty clothing. He would suggest that you need to set aside the robe until you clean up yourself and your garments. That is the power of this story. The robe of righteousness is never earned. It is a gift of grace. On my worst day the Father wraps me up in this precious garment because of His Son Jesus.

How differently we would live if we remembered that truth every day. I am a saint. I am wrapped in the robe of righteousness. Christian “cloaking” would be a great ceremony to teach new believers their identity in Christ. But maybe it is more important to remind us old saints that we are also new creatures who are forgiven, accepted, and wrapped in this incomprehensible gift of grace.

Maybe if trusted that truth we could also model the last part of verse twenty-four in Luke’s passage.

So…the party began.

The Wendy’s restaurant chain has been running an ad campaign that shows the difference between real and fake. Using a clever series of visuals the commercial illustrates that sometimes things that appear real are anything but real. A man precariously climbing a tall building slips and only then do you  realize that he is actually on the ground. A green screen background created the illusion that he was in danger. Another shot shows two men with a full head of hair. One brushes his real hair while the other embarrassingly watches a gust of wind blow his fake “do” off his head. The catchy tune is designed to demonstrate that things aren’t always as they appear and, ultimately, you know when it is real. Wendy’s tries to make the point that they use real and fresh ingredients in their menu.

I pondered if the same catchy slogan can be applied to those who wear the title of Christian. Can you know when faith is real in the life of a Christian? What does it look like to be real? And do you really know for sure? I have been following Christ for about forty years and that number of years is sadly appropriate. There has been a fair amount of wandering around in the desert during that time. I seem to have cornered the unfortunate franchise on observing “bad Christians” after my first book (When Bad Christians Happen to Good People) was published. I feel I have a pretty good handle on what it looks like when faith is not real. But I have been blessed to walk with some men and women who lived out the truths of the Gospel authentically and powerfully. I wish the number was higher. But here is the good news. Each one has had a powerful impact far beyond what you could reasonably expect based on their fame and fortune. And they were usually not the ones you would pick out of a lineup to be used in amazing ways by God.

For the past few days I have been remembering the men and women who influenced my life in a positive way for Christ. Why did they have such an impact in my life? Why did I trust that faith was “real” in their lives. There seemed to be a few common denominators in all of the those followers of Jesus.

• Humility. Each one of them was uniquely gifted but they never called attention to their talents and gifts. They modeled humility and simply lived out of their giftedness. There was never a “look at me” mentality. Nor did their demeanor take on the “I am a worthless banana slug sinner” tact. These influencers were grateful for their gifts, they acknowledged freely the source of their gifts and they shared their gifts selflessly. They rejoiced in the talent God had graciously given them without being jealous of others’ gifts. They all got what Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. (I Corinthians 12, NLT)

• Grace. Every person who impacted my journey for Christ demonstrated the grace that they themselves had freely received. I see so many followers of Jesus who want to receive grace but not dispense it. I think of a couple of dear Christian men who challenged me with truth but it was so lovingly wrapped in grace that the message pierced my heart instead of wounding it. Truth and grace mixed together do not cause shame and hiddeness but lead inexorably to light and transformation. I feel confident that this is the right way to communicate. I have my sources to confirm my theory.

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1, NIV)

I don’t think word placement in Scripture is an accident. Notice that grace comes first. Most of us can dole out truth but to combine that truth with grace does not come as easily.

• Perseverance. Each person that God used in my life had been refined by fire. You do not know the depth of a person’s faith until they have been tested. I am naturally drawn to people who are witty, knowledgeable and good looking. But I have learned the hard way that snappy retorts, vast knowledge and shiny white teeth do not get Christians through tragedy and trials. Trust that God is faithful gets you through those times. And you find that people who may not be the most impressive looking at the covered dish gathering might be the ones who most completely trust God in a crisis. Those are the people who can walk with you through tough times because they have been there already. These are the saints that understand that this life is preparation for the next.

And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. (Romans 8, NLT)

• Selflessness. The people who have impacted my faith journey shared another unusual trait for this culture. Selflessness. They always were concerned about others and not themselves. They made you feel like the most important person on the planet when you were with them. There was no shifty eye syndrome (eyes darting around to find a more interesting or important person) when you met with a person who is a discipler and servant to others.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (Philippians 2, NLT)

• Love. No surprise that the other distinguishing quality of the Christians who impacted my walk was love. The kind of love that allowed me to be me. The kind of love that offered grace when condemnation would have been natural. The kind of love that refused to judge when others already had. The kind of love that offered support instead of shoveling shame. That is the kind of love that transforms. That is discipleship in a nutshell. Trusting God to love you and love others as you walk through life with your brothers and sisters.

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (John 13, NLT)

This musing is not about who is a Christian and who is not. That is well above my pay grade to judge that relationship. But my experience is that you know someone is real when you see those five traits. Humility. Grace. Selflessness. Perseverance. Love.

The cool thing is that you don’t have to have amazing intellectual or physical gifts to have those traits. The really cool thing is how God will use you when you trust Him to grow those traits in your own journey.

Jeffrey Zaslow wrote an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal detailing how the younger generation places less value on the advice of their elders. 

When Amy Turek informed her parents that she wanted to have a destination wedding—on the beach in South Carolina—they gave her their best advice.

“They told me, Don’t do it. It’s too inconvenient for guests, too ‘vacationy,’ too selfish.”

Her parents and other older relatives “were actually horrified,” says Ms. Turek, who is 28 years old and lives in Wheaton, Ill. Ms. Turek disregarded her elders’ advice and is getting married later this month by the ocean.

“The older generations totally mean well,” she says, “but they’re giving advice based on things they did in the past, when times were different.”

We do totally mean well you young whippersnappers! Totally! I have to admit that I was amused as I read this article. Serves us right since my generation was the generation of don’t trust anyone over thirty. We rocked with The Who and sang these lyrics.

Things they do look awful cold (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (Talkin’ ’bout my generation)

Sadly, like every generation since the Garden we did, in fact, get old. Zaslow continues.

Older people have always offered advice to younger people, with words of wisdom culled from their memories of youth. And, of course, in every era, young people have found advice from elders to be outdated and ineffectual. These days, however, given how fast the world is changing, there’s been a clear widening of the advice gap.

It’s rooted in a devaluation of accumulated wisdom, a leveling of the relationships between old and young. On many fronts, people from Generation Y—now ages 16 to 32—assume their peers know best. They doubt those of us who are older can truly understand their needs and concerns.

Zaslow reminds us geezers and geezerettes not to get our feelings hurt.

As for those of us who are older, we should resist feeling offended if young people shrug off our advice.

I am not offended at all if you youngins think advice from my generation is outdated and ineffectual. We were right there with you just a few decades back. I have read Ecclesiastes so I know there really is nothing new under the sun. Technology and culture change but human nature remains sadly consistent. So I don’t care if you don’t seek my advice on clothes, cars and jobs. No worries if you could care less what I believe about politics or investments. Paul had some words to Titus about how we older folks could and should influence younger men and women.

Your job is to speak out on the things that make for solid doctrine. Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy faith, love, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don’t want anyone looking down on God’s Message because of their behavior. Also, guide the young men to live disciplined lives.

But mostly, show them all this by doing it yourself, incorruptible in your teaching, your words solid and sane. Then anyone who is dead set against us, when he finds nothing weird or misguided, might eventually come around. (Titus 2, The Message)

So if we follow Paul’s advice the onus falls on us (and me) to demonstrate and model the truths of God’s Word. If we demonstrate dignity, wisdom, healthy faith, love and endurance then the young men and women might be inclined to listen now and then.

My words to a young Christian man or woman would be simple.

• Your identity is not your job. Your job is the way you pay bills. Your identity is in Christ. You are a saint because you have been declared righteous as a gift of grace. Remind yourself of that every day.
• Living out of faith pleases God. Your actions don’t gain any favor with Him apart from faith.
• Love your spouse. There is no better testimony in this culture.
• Love your family and show it by making time for them. I have to confess that this advice comes out of regret.
• Treasure your friends. They are the ones who provide community to live out this journey and that is how God designed it to work.
• Live in the moment. Satan loves to have us regretting the past or fearing the future. God desires to be with us in the moment.
• Model grace and truth. That balance will gain an audience with all ages.

So I am resigned to not being the guru for Generation Y. My advice may not be in great demand. But if my teaching is incorruptible and my words solid and sane (tall order) then God can use even an old fossil like me. I am trusting Him for the strength and grace to live out these truths knowing that God will do the rest. I am confident that living out these truths in grace is never outdated and never ineffectual.