Author: Dave Burchett

I am dismayed and disgusted with Democrats, Republicans, campaign spokespersons and spinpersons, the media and countless others in the current political race. I suspect I am not alone. The tone makes it nearly impossible to stay engaged. I wish I could hire Dr.Evil (played by Mike Myers) from the Austin Power movies. Whenever he was tired of the conversation he would employ this technique.

Scott Evil: It’s no hassle…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: But…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: I’m…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: All I’m say…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: There gonna get a…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: I’m…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: I’m just…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: Would…
Dr. Evil: Sh!… Knock-knock.
Scott Evil: Who’s there?
Dr. Evil: Sh!

To both campaigns that are engaged in attacks and half-truths and complete untruths I would love to be able to say to all of you.

SH!

I have had it. When you examine the candidate’s ads at factcheck.org you will see how comments and facts are taken out of context to create a partisan message by both campaigns.

I am tired of it and I suspect most of the nation is tired of it. I wish both campaigns would care enough about America to stop the political and partisan nonsense and discuss how they will help this great nation navigate the difficult waters ahead. Even as I write this piece the news commentator is saying the Obama campaign feels that it needs to respond with more ferocity to the McCain attacks.

Sigh.

I want to know the following things.

What do you plan to do to combat terrorism?
What do you plan to do to get the economy moving forward?
What do you plan to do to increase our domestic energy resources?
What is your foreign relations approach toward countries like Iran, North Korea, Russia and the like?
What is your position on the sanctity of life?
How do you plan to control spending in the government?
Will you raise taxes?
How will you change the maddening partisan tone of Washington?
How will you lead our representatives to care about the nation instead of their party and phony baloney jobs?

I don’t care anything about these things.

Computer skills.
Celebrity endorsements.
Mistakes or mispeaks by spouses or other family members.

The list of what I don’t care about could go on and on but you get the point. The deeper this campaign goes the more I want to focus on where hope and change have come from in my life.

Trusting and following Jesus changed my life and gives me hope. Both candidates have given a political thumbs up to Jesus but they “approve” messages far from His teachings.

What makes me most sad is 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. 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. 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 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. The important change for me has already happened.

I have hope that is real. I am changed because of Christ. Because of those two facts I can deal with whatever happens in this election. I learned my lesson in previous elections. I thought our country was doomed because my candidate did not win. Yet God’s plan did not cease. People continued to come to faith, grow in faith and serve Him in ways that gave real hope and change to others.

I wish the candidates could focus on what matters. Thank God the rest of us still have the freedom to do just that.

 

 

 

The current state of discourse in this nation makes me want to put on the Bose headsets and resurface in mid-November. The internet can be a wonderful tool but too many writers have chosen to use the tool only as a chainsaw or hammer. I wrote a piece pleading for grace in the debate. After grace my next biggest gripe is the lack of accuracy in the debate.

This quote from George Eliot is not in the Beatitudes but Jesus might have thought about including it.

“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.”

Might I add blessed is the man or woman who takes a moment to confirm as fact what they forward as fact. May I suggest that forwarded e-mails are not the greatest source of truth available to mankind. The automatic forwarding of e-mail warnings is a real pet peeve of mine. About every other week I have to send an e-mail to a wonderfully well intentioned friend to let them know that they are forwarding a half-truth or flat out lie. I feel a little uncomfortable when I do that because I know it is embarrassing to them. And I have to be honest that once you have wasted my time by forwarding a untrue e-mail I am likely to send your next effort to cyber purgatory.

For Christians this is an important issue. When we forward false information it can (and often does) do damage to the image of Christianity and to the very name of Christ. It makes Christians appear lazy and uninformed (restraint Dave…easy). How about the poor receptionist who fields thousands of irate calls for something that is not even valid like the FCC hoax mentioned below? By the way, you would be amazed at the less than godly content of some of these calls.

Here are just a few of the hoaxes that crossed my inbox in recent months.

ACLU objects to Marines Praying –  False. The ACLU causes enough problems without making stuff up.
Al Gore calls Christians blight on environment – False. The quote is fabricated.
Harry Potter was written to recruit children to witchcraft – False.
James Dobson is pleading for our help because of a petition to stop the reading of the gospel over public broadcasting outlets – False.
This has been dead since 1975 but continually gets repackaged and reforwarded. And when it does the Federal Communications Commission must field thousands of calls and e-mails (at taxpayers expense).

The political campaign has caused an explosion in Compulsive Forwarding Syndrome. I am begging you to check the facts at a site like factcheck.org or truthorfiction.com to see if the content is true.

A couple of recent political forwards that concerned citizens sent without checking:

Obama shunned U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan-Fiction!
Senator Barack Obama is a Moslem-Fiction!

And on the other side of the aisle:

Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin Banned Books-Fiction!
Sarah Palin NRA Poster Girl?-Fiction! (no link on this one…it is too tacky)

Here are my requests and suggestions (forward these to five friends and you might win something from somebody)

1) Be naturally suspicious. Your credibility is at stake.
2) Verify the story. Check before you forward. Please.
3) Be gracious.
5) Apply Proverbs 2:11 to your cyber-ministry. Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you.

James has a nice little take on wisdom.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.  (James 3, NIV)

I could go on but I just received a personal note from a doctor in Nigeria. He needs my help and he promised me 5 million dollars. Don’t worry, I’ll tithe!

 

A fitness challenged film producer said that Hurricane Gustav disrupting the Republican Convention was “proof that God has a sense of humor”. At that point we did not know how devastating the storm might become. I thought the remark was tasteless given the timing but I didn’t get too exorcised over the comment.

Both sides of the aisle seem to try to enlist God’s judgment when it is appropriate to support their positions. But the question that always comes up when disaster strikes is a tough one.

Is God judging America?

I have a definite and authoritative biblical position on this issue.

I don’t know.

When Jesus was asked about some tragedies that occurred He did not establish blame…

About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die.”   (Luke 13, The Message)

If Jesus had a chance to establish blame and did not do it then I am going to be extremely careful about deciding whether God judged New Orleans with Katrina or the Southeastern USA with recent storms. Some followers of Jesus want God to validate their goodness by punishing those who revel in actions that are not godly. The reaction is not new.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. (Luke 9, NLT)

That should be the template for how we respond. Let God decide on judgment in His timing. We should never be surprised when sinners sin! Jesus wasn’t. He reserved His condemnation for the religious. Would God be more inclined to take out New Orleans because of it’s hedonism or would He be more likely to judge my city of Dallas for it’s materialism and greed and lack of caring for the disadvantaged? How can I know? Perhaps a Holy God is more upset in how we have squandered great wealth than in how some behave in New Orleans. Is neglecting the widows and the poor less egregious to God than drunken Mardi Gras partying? I am not smart enough to know. But Scripture seems pretty clear we should be taking care of those in need both physically and spiritually.

There was another time when Jesus could have let us know how judgment is dispensed here on earth.

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”  Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.   (John 9, The Message)

I would suggest it is time we stop looking for someone to blame. I am not going to try to figure out if God is judging New Orleans or any other city or state. According to Scripture God sends rain on the red states and the blue states. Okay…that is a bit of a paraphrase from Matthew 5 but you get the point. Instead we should look for what God can do. What God can do is use the tragedy of natural disasters to show His love through His people. We are His hands and feet on this planet. If we are the body that is what we should be doing. What I can do is ask the question what can I do? We are too often asking the wrong question when we look to find blame. God can decide who deserves to be judged without my help or yours or a portly film maker. Our biblical response is to pray and put action to those prayers.

 

Few movies have generated more mainstream quotes than the silly movie Airplane and that movie is, of course, one of my favorites. Having claimed intellectual high ground I offer this dialogue with very anxious flyer Ted Striker and a fellow passenger.

Passenger: Nervous?
Ted Striker: Yes.
Passenger: First time?
Ted Striker: No, I’ve been nervous lots of times.

I sometimes think of that line when I write these humble ramblings. I have certainly been nervous a number of times because I attempt to communicate truth with grace and represent Jesus humbly even as I tackle tough topics. Nothing makes me more nervous than writing about faith and politics. I wrote a piece with the tongue-in-cheek title “Will Democrats Go To Heaven?”. Here is an excerpt from that article.

“Christians are not to seek “power over” others – by controlling governments, passing legislation or fighting wars. Christians should seek to have “power under” others – winning others hearts by sacrificing for those in need.” –  Dr.Gregory Boyd, Pastor of Woodland Hills Church in Minnesota

That is indeed what Jesus did. That is EXACTLY how a group of men and women in the first century with NO political power turned the world upside down.

Dr.Boyd also noted that “America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”

Hard to argue with that. American has been blessed beyond measure. But I fear we are in danger of forfeiting the blessings God has bestowed by becoming self-absorbed and not generous. I have written often about the lack of giving in the evangelical community. We (protestants) give a paltry 2% on average. Evangelicals are only slightly better at 4%. If we simply tithed we would have enough resources to feed every hungry person AND have enough left over to fund outreaches to tell the world about Jesus. But we choose to buy a better car, a bigger screen TV, and demand that the government make a difference in the needs of others. The fact is that laws and government can only restrain. Jesus can change the heart and change behavior from the inside out.

I am not smart enough to decide what God has called people to do. If He has placed a desire for people to impact the culture through political action I am not about to question their motives. But I do agree that His house (the church) should be a house of worship and not a house of political promotion. Political outreaches should, in my opinion, find venues outside of the sacred space that is God’s sanctuary.

I am active politically. I study issues and candidates and I always vote. I give to causes that I believe in and I would be willing to work for a candidate that shared my goals for our country. But Sunday should be about Jesus. I agree with Dr.Gregory Boyd. I might argue with him about some of his views (I know a Yale Divinity and Princeton Seminary grad would be terrified of me). But I believe his heart is right on this one.

His series on the Cross and Sword resonates with me. I think the church (on Sundays) should steer clear of politics. God’s Word taught effectively will mold followers of Jesus that will view social issues wisely and vote accordingly. My goal is to introduce people to Jesus, disciple them into a real relationship with Him and then watch as the Holy Spirit changes what my sermonizing cannot.

The body of Christ is about Jesus. About being a good citizen that respects authority. And about demonstrating His amazing grace to a desperately needy world. The message should be grace, redemption and the forgiveness available to everyone. All parties are welcome at the foot of the cross. We need to spend more time there…for the good of America.

That sets the stage for today’s gentle plea. May I challenge my fellow followers of Jesus to show grace in the debates ahead? I confess that I get angry when I witness the personal attacks on Sarah Palin. I know that my friends who are Democrats (yep, I have a bunch of them) get angry when people of faith blindly forward untrue emails about Mr.Obama. We must do better with the dialogue. The style of dialogue demonstrated by Gloria Steinem in the LA Times rallies the zealots but does nothing to further the debate. Here is a bit of her op-ed piece.

Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton’s candidacy stood for — and that Barack Obama’s still does.

I would suggest that Sarah Palin shares much more than a chromosome with Mrs.Clinton. Both have shared the difficult battle of succeeding in what is still a man’s world. Both are loving mothers. Both want to make America better. Both are smart, tough and successful. They have very different beliefs about how to accomplish their goals. Demonizing Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton because you disagree with their beliefs is polarizing and counterproductive.

I was guilty of that sin with President Clinton. I said ugly things about him. I did not pray for him. I did not trust God consistently to accomplish His plan and I thought that my politics had to prevail for God’s plan to prevail. How arrogant on my part. I was obsessed with politics and it was dangerously close to idolatry. I am sure I crossed that line at times. As we head into some spirited debate I am begging my fellow followers of Christ to be graceful in your debate. Things will be said that are maddening, unfair and mean. Responding in kind damages the name of Jesus. Solomon wrote these words that are so timely today.

A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing,
      but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness. (Proverbs 15, NLT)

And later this wisdom is written.

Patient persistence pierces through indifference; gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses. (Proverbs 25:15, NLT)

You cannot change the minds and hearts of others by strident arguing. You cannot change the minds of some with a 2 by 4 up the side of the head. You can change a few by demonstrating the grace and good news of the Gospel of Jesus. I love the United States deeply. But I do not believe that the hope of the world is democracy even though I believe there is no better system of government. The hope of the world is Jesus. That is my message. I want to be a good citizen but I must be a grace filled representative for Christ.

 

 

Sarah Palin had a lot of lines that brought huge applause in her speech to the RNC. One of my favorite moments did not make a lot of the post speech highlights on the news. Her remarks about Trig and about advocacy for special needs children touched my heart. My wife devotes her career to helping special needs kids. And Palin’s remarks reminded me of an earlier post written in response to an email from our youngest son.

Brett had a big sister that he never knew. Katie was born with a terminal birth defect and died when Brett was just a baby. Yet he is aware of  the amazing impact of Katie’s short life. She would have been twenty-three in March. Her story is detailed in When Bad Christians Happen to Good People . Here is Brett’s note.

P.S.  Katie’s life affected a lot of people tonight when I shared her story after a guy was struggling with seeing God’s purpose for everything.  It also made me realize how valuable her life has been in sharing God’s word.  Think about the speeches you have given about her and the amount of people that have read about her in your books.  God works in amazing ways.

As I reflected on Brett’s note I remembered an article I had written about a man who has a very different view of lives like Katie’s and lives like Trip Palin. A couple of years ago the Dallas Morning News ran an op-ed feature called ‘10 ideas on the way out’. Here are excerpts from that post.

The subtitle of ’10 ideas on the way out’ confidently proclaimed that by 2040 many of the things we take for granted will no longer exist. I quickly scanned the list to see if major league baseball’s designated hitter would be an idea that would not endure. Sadly, that did not make the list. The list was a mixture of intriguing and frightening. According to these experts monogamy will be a quaint ideal from a less enlightened era and it will no longer be the norm. I am glad I will be dead before my wife finds that out. Another predicts the demise of the British Monarchy. But the one that rocked my world was seeing the number one item on the list was an article on the sanctity of life penned by a man named Peter Singer. I believe he is one of the most dangerous people on the planet. That seems like a pretty bold statement because he is a rather average looking academician at Princeton University. He is ironically the Chairman of the Ethics Department at Princeton and his ideas are widely accepted by those with bigger brains than you and me.

Let me quote some of Mr. Singer’s predictions for the future about the sanctity of life. My thoughts are italicized.

“During the next 35 years, the traditional view of the sanctity of human life will collapse under pressure from scientific, technological and demographic developments. By 2040, (here comes a good part) it may be may be that only a rump of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists will defend the view that every human life, from conception to death, is sacrosanct.”

Since there is a good chance I will have checked out by 2040 I am considering forming a secret organization to maintain the “rump” of hard-core, know-nothing religious fundamentalists. Let me know if you would like to be a charter member of the “Rumps of the Know-Nothings”. For Monty Python fans we will be the knights who say no, not ni. But in all seriousness, it is dismaying for Mr.Singer to dismiss all who believe in the sanctity of life as know nothings. I believe that Peter Singer knows a lot. He is a very smart man. I just believe he is wrong. Could he not extend at least that much courtesy to me and the other rumps? Continuing with Mr. Singer’s piece…

“When the traditional ethic of the sanctity of human life is proved indefensible at both the beginning and end of life, a new ethic will replace it. It will recognize that the concept of a person is distinct from that of a member of the species Homo sapiens, and that it is personhood, not species membership, that is most significant in determining when it is wrong to end a life.”

Who determines “personhood”? If it is always in the hands of the family you can get very different views. If it is in the hands of the government I shudder. Does a doctor determine “personhood”? I have had a very personal stake in this debate. Surprisingly, so does Peter Singer. More on that in a moment. Singer makes an interesting concession that may be the future argument about the beginning of life.

“We will understand that even if the life of a human organism (note the terminology) begins at conception, the life of a person – that is, at minimum, a being with some level of self-awareness – does not begin so early.”

My cynical side reacts that if we took out everyone without a level of self-awareness we would thin the herd significantly. But the tacit admission (sort of) that there is no other logical point except conception for the beginning of life is interesting. The argument now becomes the elusive point at which the “organism” achieves “personhood”. And that is a frightening judgment to make apart from some standard and the standard of personhood cannot be a shifting standard. (Know noting religious rump warning) I believe that personhood is not tied to utilitarian value to the culture. I believe personhood is a divinely ordained. Paul wrote this to the Galatians.

But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah wrote these words.

I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.

Twenty three years ago a daughter was born into our family. We did not know that anything was wrong with her before the delivery. Katie was born with a birth defect that caused an absence of brain development. By Mr.Singer’s standards she was not a “person” because she could not achieve any level of self-awareness. According to Mr.Singer, Katie would have been a candidate to be aborted or euthanized after birth (yes, he has advocated that) because she had no potential for personhood. But the fourteen month life of Katie was an amazing blessing for our family. In retrospect I shudder at the prospect of aborting her life. Yet it might have seemed the right thing to do in the emotion of the moment. But my reaction to Katie’s life is just the emotional response of a religious rump…right? Let’s see what happens when Mr.Singer had to apply his theories to real life.

Peter Singer’s mother suffered from Alzeiheimers. By his own definition she did not have the measure of self-awareness that defines personhood. So how did Mr.Singer respond? Like a person who deep in his being believes in the dignity of life. He poured thousands of dollars into her care when there could be no return for the greater good of society. That money would be far better spent on those who have societal value and not just, as Mr. Singer described, possessing species membership. That is money wasted in Singer’s ultilitarian worldview.

Peter Singer addressed the dilemma. “I think this has made me see how the issues of someone with these kinds of problems are really very difficult. Perhaps it is more difficult than I thought before, because it’s different when it’s your mother.” When it became personal Singer’s ideas didn’t work so cleanly. Peter Singer’s mother had value and deserved to be cared for until her last natural breath. Our daughter had value and deserved the same. She was precious in our sight and in God’s sight. It is the same with Trig Palin. That is my worldview. I can live with mine consistently.

Note: Dear friend Angie has created a facebook group called “Rump of Hard-Core Know Nothings”. If you would like to join this very elite group you can click here.

There is a little saying that I have heard all of my life.

If you can’t say something nice about someone…then don’t say anything.

Had I practiced that very wise advice I would have had many more “quiet times” in my life. I have not always practiced that simple principle even though I have read and nodded solemnly in agreement as I read James and Paul warn of the dangers of gossip and an uncontrolled tongue.  Whether you call it venting or sharing it is always perilously close to gossiping. That is one of those “fine line” challenges. Like Dave Barry’s quote that “there’s a fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness’.” I would submit that there is a fine line between venting/sharing and gossip. Gossip is one of the favorite tools that Satan has in his toolbox.

Brooklyn Tabernacle takes gossip very seriously. New members hear this charge as they become members of the church. 

And now, I charge you, as pastor of this church, that if you ever hear another member speak an unkind word of criticism or slander against anyone—myself, another pastor, an usher, a choir member, or anyone else—you have authority to stop that person in mid sentence and say, ?Excuse me—who hurt you? Who ignored you? Who slighted you? Was it Pastor Cymbala? Let’s go to his office right now. He will get on his knees and apologize to you, and then we will pray together, so God can restore peace and unity to this body. But we will not let you talk critically about people who are not present to defend themselves. New members, please understand that I am entirely serious about this. I want to help resolve this kind of thing immediately. And meanwhile, know this: If YOU are ever the one doing the loose talking, we will confront you.

If every church practiced this I suspect we have far less division in the church. An interesting thought about gossip comes from Frank A. Clark. “Gossip needn’t be false to be evil – there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around.”

Ouch. That convicted me. I have vented and shared things that were true. Somehow that made me feel better that I was venting truth. But I later realized that my venting was not edifying to the body of Christ. I may have been right but I was not righteous. One of the biggest lessons I am learning about the spiritual dangers of gossip is the Piranha Syndrome.

The Piranha is an interesting fish. I wrote about visiting the National Aquarium in New Orleans several years ago in my book When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. The potentially deadly fish swam peacefully and quietly in the tank. I read the sign about the behavior of the fish. Piranha are peaceful when they are fed, water levels are normal and food sources are readily available. But when the water gets low they feel crowded and threatened. When you add hunger to that situation the entire personality of the Piranha change. They get angry, aggressive and prone to feeding frenzies. They begin to attack anything in the water, including one another.  

I have seen too many churchgoers become emotionally frenzied like these Piranha. When we (Christians) are well fed and happy we swim happily about the sanctuary. But if the environment changes you had best watch out. When the Pew Piranha feels threatened or change is instituted the frenzy can begin. Just like our fish counterparts, a feeding frenzy is never a solo act. Others get caught up and join in. And before long the blood of division is in the water. And it is a tragedy for the church, the body of Christ and for those who get involved.

I have witnessed emotional feeding frenzies in many churches. It is truly amazing the emotional power that is generated by a group of passionate people (often very good people) sharing their frustration and anger apart from prayer, repentance, and forgiveness.

King Solomon wrote that “a perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.” How tragic. But that is happening every single day in the church. Later he notes that “without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.”

So my challenge to you and to me (as I look uncomfortably into the mirror) is to not add any fuel to the gossip fire. I have too often added kerosene instead of kindness. I want to be tender and not tinder. I cannot use the lyric from the old Billy Joel song as an excuse that “we didn’t start the fire”. Jesus is asking us to not spread the fire and, whenever and wherever we can, to extinguish it with grace.

Recently I opted to watch the in-flight movie to help pass the time. The movie being offered was called The Bucket List and it featured two of my favorite actors, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. The storyline is that two men of very different financial stratas are both dying within months. The create a “bucket list” of things that they decide to cross off as a team.  Things they wanted to accomplish before they “kick the bucket”. One of those things was to visit the Pyramids and that scene was of particular interest. Morgan Freeman’s character Carter tells Jack Nicholson’s character Edward about a belief of the Egyptian people.

“You know, the ancient Egyptians had a beautiful belief about death.  When their souls got to the entrance to heaven, the guards asked two questions.  Their answers determined whether they were able to enter or not.  ‘Have you found joy in your life?’  ‘Has your life brought joy to others?’”

I don’t know enough about the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians to verify the truth of that dialogue. But I thought the questions were fascinating. It also amused me that perhaps the ancient Egyptians had their own version of “a guy dies and he meets Saint Peter at the pearly gates” jokes. For example…

Recently a teacher, a garbage collector, and a lawyer wound up together at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter informed them that in order to get into Heaven, they would each have to answer one question.

St. Peter addressed the teacher and asked, “What was the name of the ship that crashed into the iceberg?
They just made a movie about it.”
The teacher answered quickly, “That would be the Titanic.”
St. Peter let him through the gate.

St. Peter turned to the garbage man and, figuring Heaven didn’t *really* need
all the odors that this guy would bring with him, decided to make the question
a little harder: “How many people died on the ship?”

Fortunately for him, the trash man had just seen the movie.
“1,228,” he answered.
“That’s right! You may enter.”

St. Peter turned to the lawyer. “Name them.”

I thought about what the real question is to be admitted into heaven. For me it is pretty simple. Oddly the real question is the one that Saint Peter himself had to answer to reach those “pearly gates”. The questioner was Jesus and the answer was the truth.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. (Matthew 16, NLT)

That is the real question. Who do I say that Jesus is? I have confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The Gospel is the good news that, in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God has redeemed me.

So that is the real question. Who do you say Jesus is?

The answer to that question has framed my answer to the two questions posed in the movie.

Have I found joy in my life? Yeah buddy. I have found joy because of Jesus. I have found joy because of my beloved wife Joni. I have found joy because of three wonderful sons, Matt, Scott and Brett and two awesome family additions in daughter-in-law Holly and Caroline. I have found joy in my extended family and my bride’s family. I have found joy in great friends. I have found joy in His creation and in simply enjoying the journey.

The second question is a little tougher. Has my life brought joy to others? I think so. But here is one thing I am sure of as I ponder that question. If I have brought joy to others a very large part of what I have contributed is because of the big question. Who do I say Jesus is? Because of Him I am learning to live out of His grace and share that with you. And I pray that brings you joy.