Posts Tagged ‘hypocrisy’

Micah (part 5c: Faith)

Posted: August 13, 2010 in Bible, Christ, Christianity, community, culture, prophecy
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This is my third & final post answering the question, “What exactly does God want from me anyways?”

“…the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD

The third requirement is actually a challenge to live in humility, faith and fellowship with God.

Leslie Allen says it implies a dedicated lifestyle that is in constant remembrance of God’s “grace in the past and of His will for the present, and a readiness to be guided by Him in all life’s ventures.”*

It involves offering God the one thing He truly desires: your heart, its love and its obedience.

What exactly does God want from you?

#1 — He wants you to care about other people (social justice).
#2 — He wants you to love mercy.
#3 — He wants you to walk in humble faith.

Before you discount these as Old Testament concepts, consider Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees:

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things” Matthew 23:23 NLT (emphasis mine).

Any time your Christianity is encapsulated solely in religious practices (church attendance, tithing, volunteering at church, singing worship songs, attending Sunday School, etc.) you are missing the point. According to Jesus, you should continue in those things, but not neglect the more important matters of justice, mercy and faith.

Don’t be a hypocrite!

Extra credit: Read Matthew 7:12; Mark 12:29-31; Ephesians 5:15,17; James 1:27; Leviticus 19:11-18; 1 Samuel 12:24; Amos 5:14; Hosea 12:6; Isaiah 1:17.

Do you see a pattern? Can you find other verses that fit?

A Universe in Which God is Not Necessary

Posted: November 10, 2009 in Christ, church, community, culture
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Universe Without God?

“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the universe. That makes us something very special … What I have done is to show that it is possible for the way the universe began to be determined by the laws of science. In that case, it would not be necessary to appeal to God to decide how the universe began. This doesn’t prove that there is no God, only that God is not necessary.”
-Stephen Hawking

A universe in which God is not necessary?

As a Christian, Hawking’s polemic seems ridiculous. My worldview & Hawking’s are diametrically opposed. One of us is wrong. If I am wrong, God is not necessary and when I die I’ll be absorbed into the universe. If Hawking is wrong, well … let’s just say he’s in for a Big Surprise! 

With that being said, it’s not my intent to debate the origins of the universe with agnostics and atheists. I’ll save that work for people who are smarter than me.

I’m a preacher — not a physicist.

I’d like to talk to followers of Christ who believe in the existence of a personal God, yet live as if He is not necessary.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been guilty of this.    (more…)

Mixed Messages

Posted: October 20, 2009 in Christ, church
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KEEP RIGHTWe always say “Jesus can save anyone“… but I’m not sure we really believe it. What we say and what we signal are frequently at odds with each other.

I think we’re sending mixed messages.

We say, “Come as you are,” but we signal, “Get your act together first.”
We say, “Jesus loves the world,” but we signal, “Jesus loves the church.”
We say, “I care about you,” but we signal, “I am too busy to care about you.”
We say, “I’ll pray for you,” but we signal, “I’ll never think about this again.”

What’s the deal?

The essence of holiness is integrity. In other words, God is holy because what He says and what He signals match one another. He says what He means, means what He says, and does what He says He’ll do. His words and His actions are ONE.

God is holy.

As God’s representatives we are called to be holy, too (1 Cor 1:2; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Thes 3:13; 1 Thes 4:7; 2 Tim 1:9; Heb 3:1; Heb 12:14). We cannot fulfill our divine calling until we learn to practice what we preach.

It’s not enough to think serving Christ is a good idea. Ideas by themselves are worthless things. Only when an idea is transformed into an action does it provide any real value to the world.  (more…)