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My generation (“Gen-X”) and those just a little younger (“Millennials”) are very moved by causes. This is true for those who follow Jesus, and those who don’t. Unfortunately, sometimes Believers get the idea that they can serve Christ without “organized religion” as though they can believe in Christ and ignore his Body.

Don’t get me wrong, we are called to be change-agents in the culture. Digging wells, caring for orphans, doing justice in this world, feeding the hungry, building homes, clothing the homeless etc… are all excellent results of the gospel in a believer’s life, but they are the least part of the gospel. It’s about Jesus and his work on the cross. It’s also about his church.

Listen to the words of the Apostle Peter:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace…

1Peter 4:8-10

So yes, serve the Lord by caring for his creation including all the people in it, but if you neglect the church, you’ve missed it.

The church isn’t perfect, far from it, but this is God’s plan for the world. Are you gifted? Why do you think you’re gifted? In some way, it’s gotta include the church.

Remember Jesus’ words:

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

Matt 25:40

What if you gave your life to feeding the hungry, clothing the sick, caring for the earth, and doing all kinds of justice in the world, but never did anything for Jesus’ brothers? Well, what Jesus will say to that one is “Depart from me…” (cf. v.41)

It’s just something to think about… don’t let your “cause” become your “christ.”

Do good, but do it as a part of the body of Christ, change the world, but do it through the church (and with all the accountability and encouragement that comes with belonging to a local church).

Besides, maybe it’s just that all these imperfect churches need people like you to help them 🙂

What is Value?

Webster’s Dictionary defines it:

1: a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged…

So, is God valuable to you? Do you get a “fair return” on your investment with God? The reality is, as the old song goes: “He paid a debt he didn’t owe, I owed a debt I could not pay… Christ Jesus paid the debt, that I could never pay.” and it’s absolutely right.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

-1Tim 2:5f

Jesus is not only our “broker” of this ROI, he is the payment itself. He have himself as a “ransom for all.” That means that his life was the price that paid my debt, and yours. This is far more than we could ever give.

You cannot look at your faith as a “tit for tat” kind of moral system. In a system like this, one does good things in order to receive protection or favors from God. That is not Christianity, that’s pagan idolatry. What we get as a result of our faith is Jesus. We don’t get favors, but we do become heirs. We don’t deserve it, or some how “pay for it” with our faith, but we get it, as a gift, freely given, to all who believe.

So God is of exceeding value to us, because we can NEVER even begin to pay back the debt that was paid on our behalf. But let’s think of this from the other side of the equation, do we have value to God?

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more

-Luke 12:6f

You do have value to God. Not only are you made in his image (cf. Gen. 1:27), but for those who have been “reconciled to God” (that is, our account settled with him, and our relationship restored with him) we are God’s righteousness, and that is highly valuable to him.

…We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

-2 Cor 5:21f

God’s righteousness is the most valuable thing in-and-of itself, but it was proven to be of great value because of the price that was paid for us to become God’s righteousness, that is, his son died for it.

Because we are of value to God, or, at least we can be if we will only accept the gift of salvation through his son, we can know that he hears our prayers, and listens to them. He comforts us when we pray and he directs our path through his word. In short, we can have a relationship with him, a real, enduring, close relationship with him through his son.

Is God valuable to you? You bet he is, whether you admit it or not, he is worth giving up EVERYTHING we have, even our own lives. But think about this today, as valuable as God is to you, you are valuable to him. As in everything, something is only worth the price someone is willing to pay, for believers, that price is Jesus Christ.

In him we become the righteousness of God…

It was an amazing revelation to Peter…

‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’

-Acts 11:9

He was in Joppa and seeking the Lord, and God shows Peter that all things are clean. This is, by the way, no new revelation. Jesus himself said:

And he [Jesus] called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” ( Thus he declared all foods clean.)

-Mark 7:14-19

This is the most explicit accounting of Jesus’ teaching that all foods are clean. It makes since because Mark is the gospel associated with the mission of the Apostle Peter, the same Peter who saw the vision of all things being clean.

But what God revealed to Peter in terms of food was a metaphor for what he was doing with people, no people are unclean because of there race.

When Peter recounts the story of going to Cornelius’ house, he recalls how this Gentile man, formerly thought to be ritually unclean, had an angel from God in his home. The angel commanded him to send men to Joppa to call for Peter (cf. Acts 11:13), and it was just at the time of Peter’s vision about food that they showed up… not a coincidence.

What if Peter had gone with tradition? What if Peter had “played it safe” and not gone to the places where “good people” don’t go? But he did!

God calls us to go to those on the “fringe” of society, those outside our circle of “acceptable” or “respectable.” We’re not charged to compromise in our walk (i.e. men, don’t go to strip-clubs to witness), but we are charged to go where God leads us, with no reservations. He will lead you, he will go before you, he will place his angels ahead of your trip to prepare the way, trust him.

Share the gospel wherever He leads… Dare to tred where angels go before you!

I began reading the book of Daniel with my wife and daughter today, we just made it through chapter one, but that’s a start…

One thing that is clear is that when Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and defeated king Jehoikim, God was right there. The text clearly states:

…the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his [Nebuchadnezzar’s] hands…

-Dan 1:2

Something else struck me, God didn’t just give the city over to this enemy of the people of God, he also gave up:

…some of the vessels of the house of God.

-ibid.

God was not only willing to allow this to happen to his people, he gave them over. He took action to ensure that their city and their temple would be destroyed.

God’s highest priority is that his will be done. We should never get to the place where we feel as though we have the “inside track” or the “privileged place” and God would never let harm come to us.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

-Col 2:6f

If you have received, you did so by grace through faith, and that’s how we continue to live the rest of our life, by God’s unearned favor, trusting in his Son alone. We must be rooted and developed in him and comfortable with the faith that we share.

When we realize that it’s not only by grace that we are saved, but it’s by grace that I live and breathe and open my eyes every morning, then you have a different perspective on life. I no longer feel like a child of privilege who deserves everything I have and even more, I am grateful, humble, and I can never stop saying “thank you, thank you, gracious Lord…”

Nothing that we have is guaranteed to remain with us long, and it’s all guaranteed to leave us at some point, live tomorrow by God’s grace, in full faith, praising him, sharing his Son, and thankful for all that he has done (and will do) for you…