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Regular readers of my humble ramblings know that I love to link music of all types to spiritual thoughts. Recently a forgotten oldie caused the neurons to fire oddly in my noggin. The song “The Book of Love” was written and recorded by The Monotones in 1958. Here are some of the lyrics.

Oh, I wonder, wonder who, mmbadoo-ooh, who
Who wrote the Book Of Love

Chapter One says to love her
You love her with all your heart

Chapter Two you tell her you’re
Never, never, never, never, never gonna part

In Chapter Three remember the meaning of romance
In Chapter Four you break up
But you give her just one more chance

So there you have it. Before you get to Chapter Five you have already parted ways according to this version of the book of love. By the way, there is a little “boom” sound in the first lyric that is oddly translated “mmbadoo-ooh” above. The story goes that a kid was kicking a ball against the garage while the group was rehearsing and they thought it sounded cool. Inspiration can come for odd sources.

The part of the song that led to today’s devotional came in the first lyric. I had never noticed the reference before.

Tell me, tell me, tell me
Oh, who wrote the Book Of Love

I’ve got to know the answer
Was it someone from above?

That is a good question. I would suggest that the book of love was indeed from above. And not just from someone. The book of love is from God. It is called the Gospel. Speaker, co-author of The Cure and my friend John Lynch wrote a wonderfully creative piece called the New Testament Gamble.

John imagines Jesus wondering about how to tell followers about the outrageous offer of grace and God’s one way love.

“What if I tell them who they are?” What if I take away any element of fear in condemnation, judgment or rejection”?

“What if I tell them I love them, will always love them? That I love them right now, no matter what they’ve done, as much as I love my only Son? That there’s nothing they can do to make my love go away”?

“What if I tell them there are no lists? What if I tell them I don’t keep a log of past offenses, of how little they pray, how often they’ve let me down, made promises that they don’t keep?”

“What if I tell them they are righteous, with my righteousness, right now”?

“What if I tell them they can stop beating themselves up? That they can stop being so formal, stiff and jumpy around me?”

“What if I tell them I’m crazy about them? What if I tell them, even if they run to the ends of the earth and do the most horrible, unthinkable things, that when they come back, I’d receive them with tears and a party”?

“What if I tell them that I am their Savior, they’re going to heaven no matter what–it’s a done deal?

“What if I tell them they have a new nature–saints, not saved sinners who should now ‘buck up and be better’ if they were any kind of Christians, after all He’s done for you!”

“What if I tell them that I actually live in them now? That I’ve put my love, power, and nature inside of them, at their disposal?”

“What if I tell them that they don’t have to put on a mask? That it is OK to be who they are at this moment, with all their junk. That they don’t need to Pretend about how close we are, how much they pray or don’t, how much Bible they read or don’t?”

“What if they knew they don’t have to look over their shoulder for fear if things get to good, the other shoe’s gonna drop?”

“What if they knew I will never, ever use the word “punish” in relation to them?”

“What if they knew that when they mess up, I will never ‘get back at them’?”

“What if they were convinced that bad circumstances aren’t my way of evening the score for taking advantage of me?”

“What if they knew the basis of our friendship isn’t how little they sin, but how much they let me love them?”

“What if I tell them they can hurt my heart, but that I never hurt theirs?”

“What if I tell them I like U2’s music too?”

“What if I tell them I never really liked the Christmas hand bell deal with the white gloves?”

“What if I tell them they can open their eyes when they pray and still go to heaven?”

“What if I tell them there is no secret agenda, no trapdoor?”

“What if I tell them it isn’t about their self-effort, but about allowing me to live my life through them?”

John’s words summarize the miracle of grace that is the precious Gospel of Jesus. It was never really a “gamble” because God had planned this from the beginning of time. Jesus wrote the book of love on the Cross. Paul commented on that amazing story in Romans when he stated this startling truth.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  (Romans 5, ESV)

Could there be a more stunning book of love than that? While we were still sinners Christ died for us. I am grateful for the Gospel and for grace that makes the real book of love a reality in my life today.

Today you will see why I keep “Confessions of a Bad Christian” as my blog title. Recently the movie Bull Durham turned up on a cable channel. Hard to believe it has been over 25 years since it was released. In this article I am going to draw some spiritual applications from an R-rated movie. Gasp. In my early church experience real Christians didn’t watch any movie and most assuredly not an R-rated one. The really godly people did not drink or dance. The really, really godly people did not have televisions. They were a laugh a minute. If any of those folks were to read today’s post they would no doubt remove me from their fellowship that I used to call “The First Church Of Misery Loves Company But We Probably Won’t Love You”.

Despite that risk of censure I press on. No baseball movie that I have seen comes closer to capturing the unique culture of baseball like Bull Durham. It has some rough language and sexual content so you should proceed with caution. The main characters are a young pitching phenom (Nook LaLoosh) and a nearly washed up but knowledgeable catcher (Crash Davis) who is brought in to mentor the prize prospect. One of my favorite scenes is when Crash teaches the young pitcher how to handle interviews with the press.

Crash Davis: “It’s time to work on your interviews.”
Nuke LaLoosh: “My interviews? What do I gotta do?”
Crash Davis: “You’re gonna have to learn your clichés. You’re gonna have to study them, you’re gonna have to know them. They’re your friends. Write this down: “We gotta play it one day at a time.”
Nuke LaLoosh: “Got to play… it’s pretty boring.”
Crash Davis: “Course it’s boring, that’s the point. Write it down.”

I have learned that the journey with Jesus is simply living it one day at a time. Write it down. You can’t live in regret of the past. It is forgiven. You can’t live in fear of the future. It is in God’s Hands. You live in the moment, one day at a time, trusting Him for that day. That’s the point. Play it one day at a time.

My friend John Weber is in heaven. He had a saying that I love.

“God didn’t call me to be spectacular. He called me to be faithful.”

Write it down.

Another quote from the movie Bull Durham had spiritual application for me.

“This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”

In many ways Christianity is a very simple faith that we have made incredibly legalistic and difficult. To paraphrase the line above. “You love the Lord your God. You love your neighbor. Sometimes it is easy. sometimes it is hard. Sometimes life rains on you.”

Why do I want to make it so maddeningly complex? Jesus said that two things are the most important.

One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?”
Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”

Today I sit here and wonder why I ever tried to make it anything else? The scholar who heard the words of Jesus “got it”.

The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So lucid and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!” (Mark 12, The Message)

I wonder how the body of Christ would look differently if we concentrated on those two simple commands? Would we worry so much about the worship music style and the vestibule carpet color? Why do we get so exorcised about what other Christians are doing and other people are saying? Why do we care so much about being treated fairly and getting what we deserve? If we concentrated on those two commands we would be so much happier and effective for Christ. We would experience and give grace.

But do I get it? Or do I still get sidetracked by life and pride and worries? It is really very simple. Love the Lord your God with all of your heart. Read the Word daily. Love others as you love yourself. That is what Jesus told me to do. Nothing about programs or positions or curriculum or strategies.

Love God. Love others.

Write it down.

I have had a very mixed relationship with religious movies. I often find the acting or the story lines lacking compared to other movies. So I was a bit unsure how I would feel about the new movie Risen.

I wrote the following about the improbable rise of these early Jesus followers in my book “When Bad Christians Happen to Good People” a few years ago.

History records that several alleged messianic figures were running around during the time of Christ. It is possible that some of them had followers as impressive as the twelve selected by Jesus. Jesus took twelve guys of questionable attributes and built the largest faith in the world.

Not one of the other would-be messiahs’ influence made it into the second century, let alone the twenty-first. So our calendar is dated by the birth of Christ. Does it not pique your curiosity that such a band of men could have such a global impact? No other man in history has had a greater effect, yet His ministry lasted only three years and ended in betrayal and a criminal execution. His blue-collar band of disciples led a religion that turned the world upside down. His disciples scattered and, on the way out the door, denied Him. And yet something transformed them, and they later had the courage to stand against persecution and even death to proclaim His truth. Somehow these men were persuasive enough to influence people to spread His gospel all over the globe.

Does it not seem odd that the leaders of that day who possessed absolute power could not stamp out this modest little faith? Why did they not produce the body of Jesus and put an end to the craziness once and for all? It was certainly in the best interests of Rome and the comfortable “Religious Right” of the day to quell this peasant uprising. Or, if they couldn’t produce the body, why didn’t they simply discredit the Resurrection account in such a way that no one would believe it? The resurrection of Christ is a pretty outrageous claim, and it would seem easy to refute.

That was why the story line of  Risen was intriguing to me. Historically, there was a Nazarene who was crucified. There were two groups that had a tremendous interest in making sure that was the end of his story. The Romans wanted no movement to grow that would cause political unrest. The Jewish leaders wanted to stamp out the heresy that they believed this teacher was spreading and also keep their power intact. It was a win-win for the religious leaders and Rome to eliminate this messianic hope of the people.

The story is told through the eyes of Roman soldier and Tribune Clavius. He is tasked by Herod to make sure the crazy followers of this man did not steal the body. A myth had been circulating that the Nazarene would rise again in three days so Clavius makes sure the stone is rolled into place and the tomb is sealed. Roman guards are put in place knowing they will be killed if they fail to keep the body securely in the tomb.

Three days later the body is gone and Clavius begins a desperate hunt to find the body. The battle hardened soldier cannot accept that this Nazarene named Jesus could have somehow come back to life. That is a step of faith that people are still wrestling with 2,000 years later. But it is the most important question of all if you are to put your faith in Jesus. Pastor/Author Tim Keller sums it up.

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.”

The movie explores the imagined lengths that the Romans and religious leaders go to to quell the rumor that Jesus has risen. They try to find the body or any body that could be displayed to stop the rumors. They did not.

I struggled with these same questions forty years ago.

• How could the body disappear?
• How did a bunch of cowards like the Apostles become heroes of the faith and become willing to die a martyr’s death? Simply because they stole the body out of a tomb?That made no sense to me.
• And could they have kept a lie of such massive implications secret?

I love the honest evaluation of former Watergate principle Chuck Colson.

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”

Risen tells a familiar story with a new perspective. It is not a perfect movie. But the production values, acting and overall writing are worthy of the story. Joseph Fiennes is powerful and effective in the role of Clavius.

Honest people can view the same evidence and come up with completely different opinions. I wrestled with the claims of Jesus Christ for a long time before I decided to believe that He was who He claimed to be. And I remember feeling exactly what the fictional character Clavius felt when asked what he feared most.

“Being wrong. Wagering eternity on it.”

Today’s Monday Musing was inspired by Alison Krause and Union Station. Alison Krause has a voice like an angel. She is an artist that I can listen to no matter what my mood might be. Today my iTunes shuffle landed on a song titled Crazy as Me.

The lyrics are talking about a series of failed relationships. The lyric that Alison Krause sings that relates to me are these words.

Some folks seem to think I only got one problem
I can’t find nobody as crazy as me

There are some drive-by readers that are pretty sure I have more than one problem but let’s put them aside for awhile. I laughed when this song came up because I often feel that way in my journey with Jesus. Am I missing something here? Does my messy walk with Jesus make me a bad Christian? Or does my willingness to be honest about my weakness give me a chance not to be a bad Christian? I have found a handful of committed followers of Jesus who are as crazy as me. But the bottom line is a bit disturbing. Shouldn’t we all be a little crazy if we are really following the teachings of Jesus?

I don’t mean drooling and ranting crazy. I am talking about doing things that make no sense to the world.

• The world says to look out for number one. Jesus says to look out for the least of these.
• The world says to spend time with those who can help you advance. Jesus says to spend time with the poor who can do nothing to make you more successful or reach your goals.
• The world says that the one with the most toys wins. Jesus says the one with most treasures stored in heaven wins.
• The world says get even and exact revenge. Jesus says to love your enemies and (I hate this one) pray for those who persecute.
• The world is fearful of disease, the future, the economy. Jesus says to not worry about tomorrow.
• The world says to build your financial security and you will be happy. Jesus says to build on the solid rock or your happiness won’t sustain the storms of life.
• The world evaluates us by our title, power, and stuff. Jesus evaluates us by our fruit.

So I guess if we actually live this counter-cultural lifestyle that Jesus taught the world will think we are crazy.  Paul acknowledged that to the church at Corinth.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (I Cor 2, NIV)

Foolishness. I used to think exactly that about the crazy Jesus people. I laughed at them. Now I am as crazy as them. Who knew? And here is the exciting news. Everyday I am finding more followers of Jesus who want to be authentic and full of grace. That is the way I desire to represent Jesus to my world. And there is nothing crazy about that.

A tune and a tweet dominated the morning walk and worship time. The tune is from Casting Crowns. I am amazed at the power of music and lyric to move my heart and soul. One or two lyrical thoughts can have more impact than a beautifully written article or book. The song “Jesus, Friend of Sinners” has a number of those powerful lyrics.

Jesus Friend of sinners we have strayed so far away
We cut down people in your name but the sword was never ours to swing

Ouch. How much damage has been done in the name of Christ by well-meaning or by just mean churchgoers? The toll is heartbreaking. Truly that sword was never ours to wield. The next few lines are just as powerful.

Jesus friend of sinners the truth’s become so hard to see
The world is on their way to You but they’re tripping over me

Nothing breaks my heart more than the thought that seekers of truth are tripping over me. I fear that my need to look good and righteous will disguise my desperate need for grace. I write a lot about grace. I get criticized by some for my fixation (in their opinion) on grace. But I believe that the single most important distinctive of Christianity is grace. That the Gospel is not what I can do for God but what He has done for me.

Jackie DeShannon sang that what the world needs most is love sweet, love. That is true with an addendum. What the worlds needs most is love sweet love…and grace. I can never live a life that is so perfectly good that people will see Jesus. But I can live a life that is honest, full of grace, love and kindness and from that life they might see Him. The tweet that added to my meditation came from author Tim Keller. It perfectly summarized what God is doing in my heart.

The deeper the experience of the free grace of God, the more generous we must become.

So as I write about grace and begin to understand the miracle of grace I should begin to demonstrate what grace looks like to a hurting world. If I am receiving grace I must also give it. If I welcome the generous gift of grace I must become more generous. If I accept the gift of forgiveness I must forgive. If I marvel at God’s unfailing love I must also love others. That is what the doubting world is looking for from the church. Grace, forgiveness and love.

Instead we too often offer judgment, separation, division and even hate.

As Jesus faced the horror of the Cross He offered this command to His disciples.

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. (John 14, NLT)

I ask myself as I write these words. Does my love prove that I am a follower of Jesus? Does my heart reveal that I comprehend the magnitude of His grace? Living out of grace is not a tiring burden. It is a joyous response of gratitude.

Oh Jesus friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours

Praying that the Holy Spirit will break my heart for the things that breaks the heart of Jesus is a scary prayer. But that is the only honest response to God’s amazing grace.

Rich Mullins is one of my favorite Christian songwriters. It seems impossible that it has been 19 years since he was killed in a car accident. His music is still all over my iTunes and one of his songs is the subject of the Monday Musing.

“We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are” opens with this stanza.

Well, it took the hand of God Almighty
To part the waters of the sea
But it only took one little lie
To separate you and me
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are.

If only we could acknowledge that we are not as strong as we think we are and then live accordingly I believe we would see an amazing difference. We need God and community to be spiritually and emotionally healthy. Yet pride tells me that I am able to handle the situation. Fear tells me that telling the truth in love will only make it worse. So one little lie or misunderstanding dealt with in my own strength negates the strength of a God who could part the waters of the seas and could no doubt heal my pain. If I let Him.

I remember when a major food company recalled thousands of chili cans that were tainted with deadly toxins. A later follow-up to that story told about cans of chili exploding as the pressure built up inside the containers.
That is a messy and disgusting metaphor for how we deal with the internal toxins of gossip, slander and hurt. We seal them up and store them away hoping it will somehow be okay. But the toxins of gossip and slander have not been killed, only compartmentalized. The pain continues to grow, slowly and inexorably. Finally the pressure builds to the point of explosion. There is a better way.

James wrote these words to the early church:

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. (James 3:6, The Message)

James doesn’t pull any punches, does he? One good way to cling to unity is by not believing the gossip that is spread about our fellow Christians. And we certainly shouldn’t spread it any further. Gossip is a parasite that requires a host organism to survive; don’t give gossip a place to live. Think of how many times you have believed something to be true only to find out the information was mostly or even totally wrong. The threat of a libel or slander lawsuit causes some us to be cautious in our written remarks about others. But we’re not so careful about discussing our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to give them the grace that we would hope for if the roles were reversed.

God is serious about how we communicate about others in the flock. Peter writes:

Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9, The Message)

So there is an added bonus for your godly communication: a blessing at no extra charge. Rich Mullin’s wrote this in the chorus of the song.

We are frail
We are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are.

No, we are not as strong as we think we are. Rich Mullins wrote another song that you probably know.

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God.

We need to acknowledge that He is God and we are not. That He reigns with wisdom, power, and love. We need to leave our pride at the altar and depend on His grace and strength. And we need to not be deceived about this simple truth. We are not as strong as we THINK we are.

(There was no time to muse for this Monday so I am offering a gently read post from the past)

Some of the theologians I encountered did not seem like anyone I would actually want to be around on purpose. I made the crack that some theologians were to joy in Christ what nutritionists were to enjoying cheesecake. They both took something full of delight and made you feel mostly bad about it.

Yet something is changing in my life. I am really seeing the need for a solid theological basis for what I believe.

All of this came to mind when Sam Cooke’s classic Wonderful World popped up in my iTunes. You know the one where Sam builds a strong case for academic slacking actually being a strength.

Don’t know much about history
Don’t know much biology
Don’t know much about a science book
Don’t know much about the french I took

But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me too
What a wonderful world this would be

I wrote an ode (cross off “Bucket List” Item Number 87 –  use Ode in a sentence) using that classic tune to describe our lack of theological depth. This classic appears in my book  When Bad Christians Happen to Good People.

For the music director. A psalm of parody sung to Sam Cooke’s Wonderful World. All rise.

Don’t know much about theology,
Don’t know much Christology.
Don’t know much about Leviticus,
Don’t know why they had the Exodus.
But I do know that God loves you,
And I’m trying hard to be good too.
What a wonderful faith this would be.

Well, I don’t claim to be a good Christian,
But I’m trying to be.
For maybe by bein’ a good person, brother,
I can gain eternity.

(Everyone now…)

Don’t know much about the Pharisees,
Can’t explain the Trinity.
Don’t know much ecclesiology
Don’t know what a good tithe should be.
But I think that God forgives my quirks,
And I figure if I do good works,
What a wonderful faith this would be.

Humorous? I hope so. But the problem is not so funny. What do we believe? And why? I think one of the fundamental problems in many churches is that we do not effectively connect the theological dots of justification, imputed righteousness, propitiation, identity in Christ, sanctification and other assorted church words. Remember the connect the dots books you had as a kid? When you connect the theological dots the picture revealed is Jesus.

Now I find myself neck deep in theology. Trying to learn more to be able to make a defense of the Gospel of Jesus. I want to understand church history and doctrine. I want to understand grace and more importantly I want to live it. I have a long, long, long way to go but someday I hope that the scouting report on me will reflect the summary of Jesus written in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Jesus was beautifully described as being “full of grace and truth”. That would be a dramatic shift from what I have been described as being full of at other points in my journey. I am excited about continuing to refine my theological base but I want to always be mindful that truth preached without grace is not received nearly as well as the reverse approach. Connect the dots. The picture is beautiful.