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My ministry of making other Christians feel superior continues unabated. Last week I promised the conclusion to the hypocrite series and then I failed to deliver. So I was a hypocrite while writing about hypocrites. Thanks to faithful reader Wilma for pointing out my omission. This is bonus material that I did not have time to address with Pastor Jeff but I did post at the World Magazine site.

I have written a lot about how people in the church do considerable damage with actions and words that do not reflect Jesus. I have been frustrated by Christians who receive grace willingly and deny it to others. I see division in the body of Christ where we should see unity. It occurred to me that the church does not understand a few key principles that winning baseball teams understand. The first thing that winning teams understand is that every teammate brings strengths and weaknesses to the team. A great team celebrates the strengths of each player and works together to offset the weaknesses. I pondered this as I read about the career of Joe Gordon. In 1942 Gordon led the American League in strikeouts. He made more errors that year than any other second baseman. He hit into more double plays than anyone in the league. By dwelling on those stats we could surmise that the New York Yankees were looking for a new second baseman for the following year. But there was one mitigating factor.

Gordon won the American League Most Valuable Player for that season.

In spite of the flaws mentioned above Joe Gordon had a great season. He batted .322, fourth in the AL, with 18 homers and 103 runs batted in. Gordon teamed with Phil Rizzuto to lead the league in double plays turned defensively. In 1942 Joe Gordon was deemed to be the MVP of the league despite some obvious weaknesses in his game. Great managers and good teammates know that every player has strengths and every player has weaknesses.

And that is the lesson I was thinking about for the church. Too often we dwell on the weakness and not the gifts that God has given others. Or we acknowledge the gifts but make sure to note the weaknesses. All of us are a mix of gifts and flaws. All of us could be accused of being hypocrites now and then.

I am sure Joe Gordon often struck out when his team needed a hit. I suspect he sometimes made an error when the pitcher threw a good pitch and should have gotten an out. But his teammates (and the rest of the league) saw his gifts. That is what made him valuable to a winning team. His strengths were vital to the team winning. His flaws were compensated by the team working in unity toward the goal of the World Series.
Do we do that in the church? Or do we choose to focus on the flaws of others? The World Series is a wonderful goal (it is especially mystical to this Texas Ranger’s fan) but it pales in comparison to the goal that Jesus challenged us to pursue.  Do we understand what it means to be unified for the common goal expressed so succinctly in the Gospel of Matthew?

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

That is the game plan. Each of us has been given gifts to contribute. Each of us has flaws. Can we pray that we will be mature enough to focus on Who unites us instead of what divides us? Even the MVP of the American League had shortcomings. So will the pastor, elder, ministry leader, and children’s worker  as we pursue the Great Commission of Christ. Another thing that winning teams understand. You don’t have to be best friends with everyone on the team but you do have to be united for the common goal of the team. My prayer is simple.

God give us the grace to be unified as a team for your glory. Teach us to use our gifts to strengthen one another and glorify you. Give us the strength to be a good teammate and the humility to believe that it cannot be about me for the team to succeed. Give me the desire to be a good teammate in the body of Christ. Teach me to see and exalt the gifts of my brothers and sisters even if they compete with my own talents. And especially teach me to be graceful with the flaws of others. We are all gifted and we are all flawed. A team understands that truth. Help us to do the same for the sake of the body of Christ.

Good buddy Scott approached me recently at the activity I laughingly call “work”.

“Can I ask you a question?” He asked.

I always default to apprehensive when I get that query. I want to start defending myself before I even know the question. “No, in spite of this physique I am NOT using steroids!” Okay…maybe that is a defense that will never happen but I do tend to be wary.

“Sure,” I responded.

“Does Christianity get easier or harder as you get older?” 

I laughed because I knew my answer right away.

“Yes.”

He laughed in return and said this. “Everything else in life that you do over and over tends to get easier as you get more experience.”

In that comment is the key. We get in trouble when we view maturing in Christ as a human endeavor like maturing in your job skills. My faith journey gets harder if I attempt to follow Christ like I attempt to improve in my job or hobbies. If I work harder and learn more about my job it will likely become easier. If I study techniques about my hobby I can be more proficient. But if I take that approach into my Christian journey it will not necessarily make my faith easier over time. It seems counterintuitive to Americans that trying harder and learning more is not the answer. Quick aside to the spiritual hall monitors. I am not saying that learning doctrine and studying God’s Word is not important. It is. But as I often quote from my friends at Truefaced.com. Knowing truth does not transform you. Trusting truth transforms you. Learning to trust truth has been my journey in recent months.

I spent three decades of roller coaster faith. When I hit a dry spell I would try harder, read more books, buck up and beat myself up because I felt so distant from God. Lots of helpful Christian friends would faithfully remind me that God hadn’t moved so it had to be me. So I disliked myself more and tried harder and God seemed even more distant. And I got tired. I was discouraged. I got wounded again by the church. I had reached the end of my spiritual rope. I cried out to Jesus something along these lines.

“I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE!”

God does not get insulted by all-caps. In fact, I imagine that Jesus smiled at that point because I was finally ready to trust Him and not myself. I had reached the point of brokenness that allowed me turn over the keys to Christ. I reached the point where I no longer had to be right. I had reached the point where I didn’t want to wear a phony mask of holiness. I had reached the point where I was willing to trust God completely with everything about me. I had reached the point where I was ready for grace. I had reached the point where I was willing to believe what God says is true about me. That I am completely forgiven. I am completely loved. I am completely changed because of Christ. I am completely empowered with the Holy Spirit to mature into all of those things that true about me. At that point the journey began to be easier. And it has remained so.

So my answer to the question depends on who you trust. If you trust in your own abilities and effort the journey will get harder. If you trust God it will get easier. I hope that my friend Scott gets there sooner than I did. But I am confident that God’s timing will be perfect.

Few movies have generated more mainstream quotes than the silly movie Airplane and that movie is, of course, one of my favorites. Having claimed the 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. They sacrificially served others.

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.  The fact is that government and laws can only restrain. Paul had a lot of thoughts on that in his letter to the Romans. Jesus can change the heart and change behavior from the inside out. I am saddened when I see good, well-intentioned people thinking that more education and regulation will solve our problems. I am certainly not against education but I would point out that it has been the brightest and best that have gotten us into such a mess on Wall Street. The problem is not lack of knowledge but a lack of understanding of the hearts of men and women. We all have a nature that needs to be changed. We deny that at our own peril and the peril of our culture.

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 believe that those of us who claim the name of Jesus need to communicate our views with grace and compassion.

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 I get nervous about using the church as a political base. God’s Word taught effectively will mold followers of Jesus that will view social issues wisely. 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 current debate? I confess that I get angry when I witness the personal attacks on people who are simply trying to be heard. 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 President Obama. We must do better with the dialogue.

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 wrong. 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…as tempting as that may be. You can change a few hearts and minds 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.

Recently I had the pleasure of addressing this fun filled topic with Pastor Jeff Denton of Waterbrook Bible Fellowship in Wylie, Texas. I am posting a question per day from that discussion. Here is question number 7…

Pastor Jeff:

In my opinion, this gets to the Question Behind the Question. Because if an unbeliever says they believe the church is full of hypocrites, and they don’t want to hang out with people like that, I believe they’re really saying “The only Christians I know are hypocrites who don’t care about me and live only for themselves.”  I want to respond with, “Tell me about the Christians you know personally.”
 If you only know the public failures. People who condemned others, only to find out they were participating in the exact sins they were condemning others for – yeah, I’d want to get away from people like that too. What I want you to know is that real, transformed, Christians – saved and in a growing relationship with Christ – do mess up. Moreover, they can accept and love you because they know the depth of the forgiveness and love they’ve experienced by the grace of God through Christ. They’re “Christian life” isn’t about living up to a legalistic set of rule, but learning to live in the grace and power of God’s transforming love.
 AND If I’M the only Christian you know personally, and you think we’re all hypocrites, then I’m convicted that I better look at my own walk a little closer. Why isn’t the testimony of MY life demonstrating something different in your eyes?

Dave, what do you say to this unbeliever that really has an issue with Christian hypocrites?

Dave: 

I agree with them. I confess that the church does have hypocrites. I respond with a question like, “Is that something you’ve heard about or have you had a personal experience with someone in a church who hurt you?” Sometimes people just need for someone to know and acknowledge that they were hurt by a Christian and they would appreciate a compassionate response. That was the message of my second book. They need to hear “I am so sorry you had to experience that. And I would suggest that such an experience hurts the heart of Jesus too.”

You could respond to the accusation of hypocrisy like this: “I have a relationship with Christ not because I’m good but precisely because I am not good. He rescued me from myself and the ruin I was causing. But He’s changing me. I’m still a mess, but I’m God’s mess.”

Next…the exciting conclusion.

Recently I had the pleasure of addressing this fun filled topic with Pastor Jeff Denton of Waterbrook Bible Fellowship in Wylie, Texas. I am posting a question per day from that discussion. Here is question number 6.

Pastor Jeff:

What do you think of when you think of a genuinely righteous person – behaviors or character qualities?

Dave:

I am convinced it is character qualities that then manifest themselves in right behaviors.

For me that process encompasses a few things. I think a genuinely righteous person clearly understands that their righteousness is because of Christ. Period.  As I alluded earlier, we have made righteousness about right behavior and that definition dooms us to fail. We can’t always act righteously so we wear a mask to cover our sin and shortcomings. And then Satan does something insidious…he convinces us that people love the mask and not the person behind it. So we have to wear the mask all of the time to be loved.

I think part of maturing in our walk is trusting God and others with who you are. I can bring the junk in my life and dump it on the table with a few dear friends who are sitting here and I know I am okay. I trust these guys with who I am. A flawed, stumbling bumbling guy trying to follow Jesus. I can trust Joni with who I am. I know I can trust God with all of my baggage and junk. I need to trust at least few people with who I am because God designed this journey to be lived in community.

The book Truefaced notes that humility is the key that unlocks the door to the room of grace. God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior. Second, we need to verbalize what the blood of Christ has done for us: We are deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally accepted, and complete in Christ.

To be continued…

Recently I had the pleasure of addressing this fun filled topic with Pastor Jeff Denton of Waterbrook Bible Fellowship in Wylie, Texas. I am posting a question per day from that discussion. Here is question number 5.

Pastor Jeff: 

Don’t you think hypocrisy creeps up on us as we’re trying to “be” the best we can be? It can even have good motives at the beginning, yet turn into legalistic hypocrisy. How do we combat this?

Dave: 

This is my passion. I am a recovering legalist and as you pointed out I am a professed hypocrite. And I am happier and closer to Christ today than I have ever been. It is because of grace and finally understanding and trusting what God says is true about me.

I had been frustrated by my behavior and the behavior of other pew dwellers for many years. But what I have finally figured out is that the Bible churches of America are full of people who know a lot of truth. But knowing truth doesn’t transform you. Trusting truth transforms you. So that helps me to be patient and view others through the lens of grace. Others could have looked at me in the past with judgment and condemnation. They could have rightly said years ago that Dave is 15 or 20 years into this journey and he is still doing the same stuff. But that is not what God saw. He was working and patiently molding me in ways that most people could not see. I hope I am more Christ like in one year than I am now. I look back and see how far I have come and also how far I have to go.

Tim Keller has this provocative thought…The devil, if anything, prefers Pharisees—men and women who try to save themselves. They are more unhappy than either mature Christians or irreligious people, and they do a lot more spiritual damage. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (Timothy Keller)

My friend Ed Underwood says it well. You are in danger of hypocrisy if you answer to the wrong source of authority–your religious traditions, rather than the Word of God. And if you teach or imply the wrong definition of righteousness–from the outside in, rather than the inside-out.

To be continued…

Recently I had the pleasure of addressing this fun filled topic with Pastor Jeff Denton of Waterbrook Bible Fellowship in Wylie, Texas. I am posting a question per day from that discussion. Here is question number 4..  

Pastor Jeff:

Jesus had severe words for hypocrites. He took these betrayals seriously. Yet, in some sense there is always a hypocrite (or two) with us. Can’t we get rid of them?  Why does the church seem to attract hypocritical people?

Dave:
 

We are not like a private club that has a screening process. We let everyone in. So the church really can’t be anything but dysfunctional to some degree because we allow people in all states of belief, maturity and stability. I often joke that my family reunion would look a lot better if it were by invitation only. But it is not. My family has good folks, some bad, some smart, some not so smart, some impressive and some downright embarrassing.

Imagine an athletic team attempting to operate as a church must. You start with a couple of All-Conference and a few other pretty good players. But you also have several who just started playing and don’t even know the rules or terminology of the game. Add some dreadfully out-of-shape, middle-aged players who have been around for years, who never work out or train, but who expect to get playing time nonetheless. You have a few who just don’t care anymore and don’t want to practice, learn the plays, or listen to the coach. But you can’t cut them from the team or even bench them without causing big problems. There are some who try hard but are too weak or injury prone to be effective. A few regularly miss games and practices without notice and then reappear expecting to play and even start. Toss in some…um…“mature” players who remember the way the game was played back when it was good. You also have some players who think the coach and his assistants are total idiots. Some passionately believe that the offensive game plan is totally wrong and that all the other players need to change to comply with their personal team philosophy…now! And then you have some who try to run their own plays when they go in the game. Many of the players meet regularly at Denny’s immediately after each game to disparage the coach and staff after saying grace over a Grand Slam breakfast.

How do you think this team would perform? If they ever won a game, it would be a miracle. Yet we have a church team with many of those same dynamics, and we seem surprised by its dysfunction. Sure, we could fix the church just like you would go about fixing the football team. Hold spiritual tryouts for all Christians before you let them join the church. Cut most of the rookie Christians or send them to another church to get experience. Waive all the Christians with bad attitudes or a poor work ethic. Fine those Christians who are late to meetings. Make the elders run laps when they miss a row while passing the offering basket. Assign fifty push-ups to the pastor if the sermon goes into overtime. (I rather like that one.) With a little discipline you could shape up the church and make it look impressive on the surface, but it would cease to be the church of the New Testament.

Tim Keller wrote this in The Reason for God…

I realize that so many people’s main problem with Christianity has far more to do with the church than with Jesus. I will grant that, on the whole, churchgoers may be weaker psychologically and morally than non-churchgoers. That should be no more surprising than the fact that people sitting in a doctor’s office are on the whole sicker than those who are not there. Churches rightly draw a higher proportion of needy people.

And then he makes a great point that we often overlook.

They also have a great number of people whose lives have been completely turned around and filled by the joy of Christ. 

To be continued…