Author: Dave Burchett

For the record, I have been quite willing to admit that we Christians are often flawed in how we live out our faith. The title of my first book (When Bad Christians Happen to Good People) might be a clue that I understand that Christians often miss the mark. Trying to communicate a message as complex as the need for justification and salvation is tough within a two hour movie.

I saw the movie Fireproof before I read a single review. Only after seeing the movie did I read what is being said about the movie. To say the least, I found some of the comments puzzling. Here is a brief synopsis of the plot. Kirk Cameron plays the role of firefighter Caleb Holt. He is successful and respected at work but not at home and his anger bubbles over at the smallest slight. Wife Catherine has grown distant from her self-centered husband. Caleb obsesses over buying a boat and has an internet pornography problem. Catherine begins to find the kindness and conversation missing at home from a doctor at the hospital where she works as public relations director. She seeks a divorce. Caleb finally goes to his dad who suggests faith was the reason his own marriage was saved and also following a forty day program called the “love dare”. Caleb refuses faith at first but does begrudgingly agree to try the “love dare” program. The rest of the movie deals with Caleb’s search for faith and saving his marriage.

Here is a sampling of some critics with my comments following. Boston Globe writer Michael Hardy wrote this.

At the last minute, Caleb’s father steps in with a 40-day marriage recovery guide, which he’s written and guaranteed to work. 

Caleb’s dad did not make any sort of “guarantee” that the love dare would work. He did say it worked for his own marriage. And that is the point of this movie. Faith works for the writer. Faith works for the actors and production volunteers. Faith works for this humble blogger. But faith is never a guarantee that everything will work as you wish. That is clear throughout the Bible. And faith cannot and should not be forced. Mr.Hardy continues.

With the production values of a straight-to-video cheapie and the script of a mediocre soap opera, “Fireproof” is good for just about one thing: dousing whatever flames might be left in your marriage. 

Ouch. And unfair. My wife of thirty-two years and I both thought the movie had a great message. Perhaps that is because we lived this movie. I did not have an anger problem but I did have a self-absorbed problem and a work-a-holic problem. She reached the end of her rope and was thinking about separation. My rededication to my Christian faith changed me. It changed how I treated my wife and reordered my priorities. Her faith allowed her to forgive me and eventually trust me again. If I put that story to paper it might sound like a mediocre soap opera. But it was life saving for us.

The comments about the production values are fair game but must be placed in context. I would suggest that the production values are remarkable considering the budget. The $500,000 budget is ridiculously low for a movie. I found the full budget for the movie “The Village” that was produced in 2004. That movie budgeted nearly twice as much for makeup ($982,000) as director Alex Kendrick spent on his entire movie. Their previous film (Facing the Giants) was produced for $100,000 and generated over 10 million dollars. That profit has built an 82 acre youth sports program in Georgia. You might disrespect the quality of the production but the quality of the people behind the films is demonstrated by that gesture.

Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly made these comments.

You probably can’t blame pastors moonlighting as moviemakers for wanting to pack their film with multiple messages, but the conversion subplot feels shoehorned into the more crucial marital doings, as if coming to Jesus might be just one of a long checklist of steps to restore sizzle to your marriage, right between buying roses and preparing a candlelit dinner.

That just makes followers of Jesus chuckle. The question of salvation is hardly a “shoehorned” subplot for believers. It is the key plot element to life for Christians.

Neil Genzlinger had a fair and thoughtful review in the NY Times.

“Fireproof” may not be the most profound movie ever made, but it does have its commendable elements, including that rarest of creatures on the big (or small) screen: characters with a strong, conservative Christian faith who don’t sound crazy. 

That is actually a very real compliment. Look at how conservative Christians are generally portrayed on television and in movies. Whooo-eeee…. a Christian who doesn’t sound crazy! Baby steps.

And maybe with other folks as well: among those caring-for-marriage tips are some that anyone could use to improve any type of relationship, with or without the God part.

That is one of my takeaways from the movie. The relationship was worth saving but communication had died. The “love dare” allowed communication to begin to slowly take place. I would suggest the “God part” is a very big deal in the equation. Since my faith saved my marriage is it wrong to desire that others have that same option to consider?

I thought this comment from writer Ken Hanke of the Asheville Mountain Express was thought provoking.

Co-critic Justin Souther, who watched most of Fireproof with me, pegged it when he remarked, “The problem with movies like this, with people like you and me, is that they drive us further away from accepting Christianity.” That neatly sums up the central drawback. Fireproof isn’t merely preaching to the already converted; it’s helping to further alienate the unconverted and the skeptical. I doubt that was the intention, but it pretty much is the result with films such as these. The simplistic and often self-righteous tone is off-putting.

That just makes me sad. I can see how the aggressive message of the movie would be off-putting to those not interested in hearing it. That was Hankes response. But I think others are touched and moved to faith by efforts like this. I would agree that the script made the lead character’s conversion a bit too simplistic and predictable. I would suggest that in this case self-righteous is in the ear and eye of the beholder. My personal prayer is that I will never come across as self-righteous or off-putting. Jesus changed my life. I naturally want to share that with others. But always with grace. I pray that I will never drive anyone further away from accepting Christ. Here is snippet from an article I wrote about proselytizing.

If I care about you I will naturally want to share the most important thing in my life. But I think you have some rights as the hearer of that message. I wrote the following in my book When Bad Christians Happen to Good Christians.

• The Unbelievers Bill of Rights…
  
  I have the right to never have faith forced on me.
  I have the right to never be treated in a condescending manner.
  I have the right to always hear the truth.
  I have the right for you to patiently hear my concerns and doubts.
  I have the right to seek answers to those questions and doubts that you can’t answer.
  I have the right to be steered to resources for my own study and investigation.
  I have the right to be loved no matter how I respond to the gospel message.

I hope that I honor you by following the list above. I hope you will understand that my wanting to let you know about the most important thing in my life honors you as well. My desire is for you to experience the peace, joy and contentment that Christ has given to me. God only comes into lives when invited. You have every right to reject my message and the invitation. But I want to let you know that invitation changed my life completely. I hope you believe that I feel no superiority, judgment or impatience with you. I just wanted you to know. The rest is up to you.

My buddy Ed Underwood has a blog that you may want to check out. His weekly post is called Tipping Points and he offers the same intermittent wisdom that you have come to expect from this site. The bonus is that Ed offers wisdom with fewer words than your humble rambler. After posting my article this week I opened up Ed’s offering and found that great minds (and minds like ours) think alike. Here is Ed’s take on the current political scene. Because of ego and a lack of self-confidence I rarely give my space away. I am proud to give this space to my friend Ed Underwood.

Belief You Can Change In!

Change seems to be the issue of this presidential election. One party promises to bring change we can believe in and the other warns that we need change we can depend on.
 
This tells me a couple of things about our country.
 
First, everyday people want change because of a deep dissatisfaction with life.
 
Second, politicians and most of those voting for them really think that changing the circumstances of life will somehow help—that finally Americans will say, “Now, I’m satisfied. Now that the economy is better and I feel safer in the war on terror.”
 
In my younger years I was a political animal. I even majored in political science.
 
But here’s what I’ve noticed as elections and presidents come and go: Not much changes.
 
My friends marched to a war in Vietnam ; I stood on the frontier of freedom as an Army officer during the cold war, and I’ve said goodbye to my son two times on his way to Iraq with his Army units.
 
The ghetto’s still hopeless; gas still feels like it costs too much; a lot of people still want to kill us; and the cultures still godless…only a little more godless than it was back then.
 
Changing power in Washington might help for a while, but it won’t last.
 
Why? The problem’s not on the outside; it’s on the inside.
 
What we really need isn’t change we can believe in that just rearranges the patio furniture on a crumbling cement slab. What we really need is belief we can change in!
 
Only Jesus Christ offers that type of change. When we believe in Him, we become a new creation. When we believe what He says about us—that we’re not who we use to be and we don’t have to live the way we use to live—the resurrection life within us begins to transform us.
 
When I believe what Jesus says about me—that His life within me is this world’s only hope—I become a better man. When I become a better man and encourage my family to believe in that hope that is within us—we become a better family. When my family becomes a better family and encourages other families in our neighborhood, church, and city to become better families—we become a better neighborhood, a better church, and a better city.
 
Now there’s a change that offers lasting hope…but it all begins with belief.
 
To them [those who receive His life by believing in Him] God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. —Colossians 1:27

By the way, Ed has a great new book (that I proudly endorsed) called When God Breaks Your Heart: Choosing Hope in the Midst of Faith-Shattering Circumstances . The forward is written by Joni Eareckson Tada. If you or anyone you know is suffering this is a book you must read.  

The word of the day/week/month/year is hope. If you vote correctly you will have hope and if you vote in the next ten minutes (Ohio voters only) we will throw in change and free shipping. I am not bashing a particular party here. I have lost hope in both parties after the events of the past two weeks. Hope as defined at dictionary.com is to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence. Reasonable confidence. I wish I had marginal confidence in the political leaders.

But if I sound depressed let me to assure you that I am not. I am a little sad that that so many people really seem to be placing their hope for happiness on a political candidate. I do believe that leaders make a difference. I care deeply about making an informed and prayerful choice. I always research and vote. But I never place my hope or desire for change on a politician. The word hope is used about 80 times in the New Testament. But hope in a Biblical sense is not used to portray “reasonable confidence”. I am not a ancient language scholar but I did drive by a Holiday Inn Express this morning. Here is what I know about the Biblical hope. In Scripture, the Hebrew and Greek words translated by the word “hope” is an indication of certainty. The first appearance of the word in the NIV translation pretty much lays out my belief.

“In his name (Jesus) the nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12, NIV)

Paul wrote about the hope that I have in his letter to the Romans.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Colossians we read this praise from Paul as he relates how hope based on the eternal God should make a difference.

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

That is a hope that I know will not disappoint. As for change, I would be pleasantly surprised if our leaders in Washington would work together for us. But I will not be surprised if they do not. Especially after the events of the past several days. The important change for me has already happened.

When I placed my trust in Jesus a change happened in me. I have written this many times before. It is never more needed or important than today.

I am a sinner saved by grace and faith alone. But what I am now beginning to understand is who I am in Christ. That is changing my life. I have referenced the book TrueFaced as an incredible volume of practical theology.

God is not interested in changing the Christian. He has already changed us when we believed in Jesus for salvation. At that point our spiritual DNA was rewritten and we became a new person in Christ. God wants us to believe that He has already changed us so that He can get on with the process of maturing us.

Grace changes our life focus from struggling with sin issues to trusting who God says I already am. I am a saint who occasionally sins, not a sinner who is striving to become a saint.

I have hope that is real. I am changed because of Christ. Because of those two facts I can deal with the rest of life. I believe that no matter what happens in November I know the following statement is true.

God is in control. I have hope that is true. And I am changed because of it.

One of my favorite comic strips is the usually funny and occasionally disturbing Pearls Before Swine. Yesterday the resident bad guy (aptly named Rat) is singing the John Denver song “Country Roads”. When asked what he is doing Rat answers that he is planting “earworms”. An earworm is a term for a portion of a song that becomes “stuck” in your head and you cannot get it out of your mind. Soon you are literally out of your mind. A survey of several hundred students came up with a list of the most insidious earworms.

Chili’s “Baby Back Ribs” jingle (“I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…”)

Who Let the Dogs Out (“Who let the dogs out…woof, woof, woof, woof…Who let the dogs out…woof, woof, woof, woof…”)

Kit-Kat candy-bar jingle (“Gimme a Break …”)

The Lion Sleeps Tonight (“We-de-de-de, de-de-de-de-de de, we-um-um-a-way – drum fill – We-de-de-de, de-de-de-de-de de, we-um-um-a-way…A wimoweh, a-wimoweh a-wimoweh, a wimoweh”) Note: That also makes your spell check go nuts.

“It’s a Small World After All” (“It’s a small world after all…it’s a small world after all…it’s a small, small world…”)

From the Disney earworm file I would add the Pirates of the Caribbean (“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me…”)

I have to confess to a really bad Christian moment. I have been known to hum The Chicken Dance in a crowded office space and then listen for the earworm to take root. Someone will start humming the song and catch themselves. Depending on the setting it will be followed by cursing  or perhaps by Christian cursing.

“Dadgummit you skalawag!”

I know. I am a sinner. But it is pretty funny to watch.

 

There are lots of other songs that you absolutely hate to hear because you know the “earworm” will bury deep in your brain for the rest of the day. But musical earworms are generally just annoying but not really dangerous. There are other earworms that damage our relationships and even our walk with Jesus. These are the portions of our life history that get stuck in our heads. You know what I mean. Those old tapes get played and the spiritual battle earworm takes hold.

“You will never change.”

“Why even try? You will just fail again.”

“You are not enough.”

“You are faking and everyone knows.”

“Everyone is doing fine except you.”

“You are not smart enough…pretty enough…tough enough…whatever enough”

“God is tired of your failures and He is tired of you.”

Satan is even meaner than me humming the Chicken Dance. He will plant those damaging earworms in your heart and mind. And if we don’t have a defense plan they will rob us of our peace, joy and relationships. I will defer again to my friends at TrueFaced. Their book and principles have helped me to recognize and repel Satan’s earworms. When I hear those old tapes start playing I simply think or say out loud this simple statement of fact.

“That is not who I am anymore.”

Because of Christ I am a new person. I have been changed. And my mission is to allow God to love me and mature me into what is already true about me. I am a saint who sometimes sins, not a sinner trying to become a saint. So when the earworms of deceit and destruction start in your mind you can shut them down by simply stating the truth.

That is not who I am anymore.

Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. (I Corinthians 5, NLT)

By the way…it is okay to let that passage get stuck in your head. In fact, I recommend it.

 

 

 

 

“

The group Casting Crowns is a consistent favorite of mine. One of my favorites from the group is a song is called “Stained Glass Masquerade”. The title says it all. This song speaks powerfully to the all too human desire to be phony at church so that the others (who are also acting phony) will not think less of us. To have an impact in this culture we have to be genuine, real, authentic. Young men and women have a phony detector that is tuned to pick up the smallest deceit. I am tired of the phoniness. I am tired of the masks we wear. Just reading the lyrics will not give you the total power of this song but it will give you a taste. 

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Chorus

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Wow. Thank you to “Casting Crowns” for writing and performing such an honest and transparent song. The message strikes straight to my heart. The body of Christ (the church) must be real to work as it was designed. It is up to you and to me to drop the stained glass masquerades and have the courage to be transparent. The Apostle John outlined a strategy that could go a long way to stopping the destructive masquerade.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. (1 John  4, NLT)

To love one another like John describes mean giving grace to others when they fall short and being willing to receive grace and quit covering up for your own weaknesses. Carly Simon sang “We Haven’t Got Time for the Pain” in 1974. Thirty-four-years later we haven’t got time for the pain of trying to be happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples. I am committed to dropping the stained glass masquerades. Can you trust God and others with who you really are? Until you do it is just a sad and destructive masquerade.

The morning walk with dog friend Hannah and my trusty iPod generated some thoughts. A tune by Kenny Chesney is chock full of catchy rhythms and bad theology. The song is called Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven but the underlying theme is that nobody wants to go there right now. I think that is true for most of us. As long as God allows I want to live and serve here while I enjoy family and friends.

But what caught my ear was the theology. I am aware that Kenny Chesney is not a theologian so I am not throwing him under his tour bus. I found it interesting because the song reflects the theology of many people and churches in this nation. It used to be mine.

Preacher told me last Sunday mornin`
Son, you better start livin` right
You need to quit the women and whiskey
And carrying on all night

My issues might not have been whiskey and carrying on all night but I had plenty of my own. And that was my church upbringing. Preachers telling me I had to do better, shape up, quit sinning and live right. It was always mixed with a large dose of what if. If you don’t live right you won’t go to heaven. If you sin you will lose your salvation and you won’t go to heaven. If you don’t believe the doctrine of this church you won’t go to heaven. So getting to heaven meant conforming my behavior to earn God’s favor.

The problem in the message of this song and my upbringing is that the onus falls on the sinner to shape up and quit sinning. Good luck. Can’t do it. The next verse also suggests that we can do something to manage our sin debt.

Said preacher maybe you didn`t see me
Throw an extra twenty in the plate
There`s one for everything I did last night
And one to get me through today
Here`s a ten to help you remember
Next time you got the good Lord`s ear

Donations for past or future sins won’t get it done. The problem is not a list of bad behaviors. The problem is sin. No word as powerfully communicates any behavior that separates me from a Holy God. The law did not convict me of blunders, slip-ups and shortcomings. The law convicted me of sin. When we reduce the power of the concept of sin we negate the awesome gift of grace. You don’t need grace to rescue you from idiosyncrasies. I haven’t been moved by a hymn that says…

Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound,
That empowered a dysfunctional but spiritually seeking and fundamentally good person like me.

Somehow John Newton’s original line about saving a wretch like me hits a little closer to my story. I am not talking about self-bashing and looking for fault. I am not talking about the potential false humility of spiritual groveling. I am talking about the mind boggling prospect of facing a holy and sinless God with the resume that I would have to present. Am I a good person? Yeah, I think so. Am I up to that appointment without the redemptive endorsement of Jesus? No way. The classic hymn He Took My Sins Away by Margaret Harris would lose some luster if many in our current culture were writing it today. Here is the refrain as she wrote it in 1901.

He took my sins away, He took my sins away,
And keeps me singing every day!
I’m so glad He took my sins away,
He took my sins away.

One hundred and seven years later it might go something like this…

He recognized my dysfunctional past, He helped me find my inner voice
And showed me it was not my fault
I’m so glad He understood my syndrome
He took away my responsibility.

Same verse…everybody sing along now.

Sin breaks the covenant between a Holy God and myself. God doesn’t have scales to weigh our sins versus our good deeds. Sin separates me from relationship with God. I had a sin problem and I needed that fixed. Jesus came to fix it. That gift of forgiveness is incomprehensible. Jesus called sin by it’s name. And He said if we believe in faith that He came to deal with that sin debt then He will call us by another name. His child. All it takes is accepting the gift of salvation. That is how you get to heaven.

Don`t you wanna hear him call your name
When you`re standin` at the pearly gates
I told the preacher, “Yes I do”
But I hope they don`t call today
I ain`t ready

No matter when the call comes you can be ready. Trust Jesus. Let Him help you change your habits. It is a whole lot easier that way.

A buddy sent me a link to an interesting site. You enter your birthdate and you find out what the number one song was on the day you were born. While my top rated tune was not exactly a song for the ages I do think it might have had some influence in my life. The number one song on April 6 in 1953 was….drumroll please….

“How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?” by Patti Page.

Hmmmmm.

The lyrics are an amazing study in banality.

How much is that doggie in the window? [Arf, arf]
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window? [Arf, arf]
I do hope that doggie’s for sale

I actually remember the fine contribution of the backup barkers that added the “arf, arf” to the chorus.

“The one with the waggly tale” is one of the great lyrical moments in history. Right up there with the rock group America’s insights about the desert as they sang about a horse in the witness protection program.

“There were plants
And birds
And rocks
And things”

Not gonna lie to you. That is genius. That lyric stands right alongside the classic line from Macarthur Park as a tortured Richard Harris seems completely unhinged that someone left the cake out in the rain. Perhaps he left his meds out in the rain as well.

As we go back to the number one song on my birthday we get a thoughtful lyrical explanation for the pursuit of the doggie in the window.

I don’t want a bunny or a kitty
I don’t want a parrot that talks
I don’t want a bowl of little fishies
You can’t take a goldfish for a walk

Actually you can take a goldfish for a walk but it won’t enjoy it very much. So that was the number one song playing on the Philco radio when I arrived home. I never understood my love of doggies over bunnies and kitties and fishies until I realized just today that I was brainwashed with this song. Who knew?

Perhaps because of that subliminal musical influence I have been enjoying companionship and gleaning spiritual insight from my canine family members ever since. This excerpt from “Bring’em Back Alive” documents an experience I had with our now deceased Golden Retriever Charlie.  It gave me a little insight into how my relationship with Jesus should work.

Charlie developed a large benign tumor under his front leg that made walking difficult. We took him in for what would be a rather serious surgery at the ripe old canine age of twelve. The vet did a masterful job in removing the growth and taking care of Charlie. We were called to the animal hospital to pick up the old guy. We waited as they brought him out. He shuffled slowly out and I was taken aback by his appearance. Charlie was trembling, frightened and appeared to be in some pain. His head was down and his perpetual motion tail was strangely stilled. He seemed confused and disoriented. Then I walked over to Charlie and simply touched him. Almost immediately he quit trembling and he made a valiant attempt to wag his tail. We carefully got him into the car and took him home to heal.

As I reflected on that scene it struck me that Charlie’s reaction to my touch and mere presence was a wonderful illustration of how Jesus comforts (or desires to comfort) me. When I (his master) touched Charlie he was comforted. His pain was not gone. He was still frightened. He was still a bit disoriented and unsure. Charlie’s circumstances hadn’t really changed at all. But he knew that his master was there and that made it better. He trusted me and knew I would take care of him. What a picture that is of how the touch of Jesus enables us to respond when we are frightened, in pain, disoriented and confused. We need to remind ourselves that Jesus never promised that all trouble would vanish when we believe in Him. Jesus did promise that He would be there and that would be enough. But the tough question arises…do we truly believe that?

I recently quoted  my friends at Leadership Catalyst. and their definition of the abundant life.

“The abundant life is comparing God’s character, faithfulness and ability with my particular circumstances and believing that God’s character trumps my circumstance.”

As we face uncertain times I am leaning more and more on that truth. God has proven trustworthy in my life over and over. I remember hearing the verse about how the yoke will be easy and the burden light when we believe in Jesus. I used to wonder how that could be true or what was wrong with me that I hadn’t experienced that to be true. I missed the first part of the verse…

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Jesus is saying to bond in relationship with Him and trust that His character, faithfulness and ability will trump my circumstance. And then I will find the burden is light and I will find rest for my soul. Like our frightened Golden Retriever I can learn to seek the touch and reassurance of the master and my spirit will improve.

My prayer for myself and for you today is that we will seek, realize, and be comforted by the touch of the Master. As I learned with Charlie, it doesn’t really matter what the circumstance might be, it is the knowledge that the master is there that makes all the difference.