Christmas 2009

As Christmas approaches I can’t help but reflect on where we have been and where we are going. I am going to assume not all of you will finish reading this letter but my hope is that you do. These days when people hear the words “Christ” or “Jesus” they usually put their fists up. It makes sense when Christianity, particularly in America, is lately being stereotyped as: unforgiving, hypocritical, homophobic, consumerism, bigotry, paternalism and much more.

These words are quite different then the words used in scripture explaining a follower of Christ. Galatians says, “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) I think many are trying to figure out how this change happened. Why aren’t his “followers” today living the way Galatians says to live? I think one of the main problems is we really aren’t looking to the people who once turned this world upside down. We are more influenced by what’s going on around us and the traditions of our day.

Eberhard Arnold said, “The original witness of the church must lead us all, though still in very different camps, into the unity and purity of the clear light. The period of original revelation must be the point of departure for any dialogue between the many churches, sects and movements of our own day. The awakening and uniting of all who truly desire to follow Christ will be given the source, and nowhere else.”
Looking back to the time of the Apostles you see something very different then what you are seeing today.

“We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We are patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us. We are honest, but they call us imposters. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.” (2 Corinthians 6: 3-10)

Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed. Even now we go hungry and thirsty, and we don’t have enough clothes to keep warm. We are often beaten and have no home. We work wearily with our own hands to earn our living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. We appeal gently when evil things are said about us. Yet we are treated like the world’s garbage, like everybody’s trash—right up to the present moment. (1 Corinthians 4:10-13)

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
If you only love those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.
Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” (Luke 6:27-36)

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.” (Romans 12:2)

There was a century of Christians who lived life followed by the Holy Spirit and turned that world upside down. But then something happened. People conformed. The church conformed.
Between the years of 140-200 AD was when the New Testament was given its primary form. Eberhard Arnold said, “AD 180 marks the turning point in the social and political stance of the church. From now on, Christians exerted increasing power and influence in politics and public affairs; they were no longer criminals in the eyes of the State like the first Christians.”
“From AD 313 to 325, Christianity was no longer a struggling religion trying to survive the Roman government. It was basking in the sun of imperialism, loaded with money and status. To be a Christian under Constantine’s reign was no longer a handicap. It was an advantage. It was fashionable to become a part of the emperor’s religion.” (Pagan Christianity, 2008)
Sound familiar?

These days many people are turned off from Jesus. Not because of Jesus but because of the people who claim to follow him. They claim him with their lips but their lives show something completely different. But this isn’t surprising. Scripture said this was going to happen. And many were going to do it. Today we find mass conformity. Many Christians in the Black Friday mobs, Christmas trees filled with presents, expensive homes filled of stuff, expensive cars, expensive habits, abusive spouses, and people consumed with themselves while not even realizing it. Imagine the 1 billion or so “Christians” today living like the early Church; going against what society has to offer. Imagine them living a life that demanded an explanation. Imagine if the body of Christ in America spent $230 billion dollars on the world’s crises instead of church real estate.

Ghandi said, “I like your Christ. I don’t like your Christians. You’re Christians act nothing like your Christ.”
My friend put it another way, “I love our Christ but I am sick of our Christians. They are nothing like our Christ.”
I hope sooner than later we can realize what Ghandi was saying…
The way I live life has been questioned a lot. The funny part about it is that many people who have questioned it happen to be Christians. But for some reason they live a completely different way of life than me. Am I wrong? Are they wrong? I don’t know if anyone is. At the end will Jesus really ask me why I didn’t take more? Why I didn’t buy more and more things for myself? Even though he preached about money and possessions and he told us to not store our treasures here on earth. Will he really tell me I should have spent more time and money on myself? For some reason I don’t see him asking those questions. As followers of Jesus we are called to give up our lives and everything else and follow him. He never said it was going to be easy. He said it was going to be very hard and many people will give up. I see what he meant. I see it almost every day. I believe all the people who gave up everything for others will find true treasures in everything they have done.
Again, 2 Corinthians 6: 3-10 says, “We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God”

The greatest gift you can give this Christmas is accepting our apology. We are sorry for causing many to stumble. We are sorry for living a life which contradicts the faith we claim. We are sorry for not showing you the true Christ. We are sorry for not loving our neighbors as ourselves. We are sorry for not forgiving. We are sorry for not showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We are sorry for not acting like followers of Christ.

Relationships

Lately I have been thinking about the life of someone I barely knew. He had a short life on this earth. His going was sudden and confusing. I find myself wondering why I even think of someone I didn’t know and briefly encountered close to 15 years ago. With the thoughts of him roaming in my head I have also been pondering this quote:

"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" - Clarence Oddbody

Why do I feel like he has left an awful hole? I didn’t even know him. He touched my sister’s life more. I think I still feel the pain she suffered.

I can’t help but think of relationships and how people impact others. Relationships are the most important thing in life. But today we are becoming busier and busier. Why? For what? Are we becoming busier building relationships? Or busier making money? More and more we take people for granted. When they are in our presence we aren’t as thankful as when they are gone. Why do we pick up our phones when we are talking to someone face to face? Don’t we see that we are really saying, “Well, you’re not that important.” Society tells us to be busy. Work hard. Make money. Buy that house. Go for the newer car. Get your retirement set. Do anything it takes. Climb that ladder. A friend sent me this a while back:

"The things society says are important are not important. Your profession, your money, your looks. Loving people, having a deep connection with people, taking care of people, that is important."

What has made us become so concerned with our worldy lifestyle? We feel the need to tell the world what we’ve accomplished. What if we took more time to build relationships? Made less money. Watched less television. Spent less time on the internet. Spent less time at work. Reduced our style of material living. And used that time to make current relationships stronger and made new relationships with strangers. What if stopped to sit on that park bench and simply talked to people. What if we didn’t fear the unknown? What would happen if we didn’t fear change? What has caused us to become cold? Beauty comes from people, not from things. Imagine how much more beautiful life could be…

Once our time here is done nothing material comes with us. But the love we have shown to others does.

Why do we act as though we will live forever? We all know we are going to die. But we really don’t know when. It could be any second. But why do we act as though it won’t happen? What would happen to the world if we all loved more? Not just our families, but even strangers. Imagine fixing that broken relationship you neglect to address. Maybe opening your heart again and being humble instead of prideful. It’s never too late. What if we were slow to anger? Would it really hurt? What if we were happy to be interrupted in our busy lives. In this we have the opportunity to touch other lives and to be touched back. Think of how much more rich life would be.

I remember being told Askia was dead. My heart hurt. It still does. I can only imagine the hearts that still hurt after all these years. Thinking of him makes me think of the identical twin brothers from my high school. One morning one of them never woke up. Imagine the words his brother never got to say before his brother died.

We don’t know when our life might be over on this earth. Be grateful for the people in your life, even the strangers. Tell them how much they mean to you. Show love to all. It lasts forever.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

I love you all. Thank you for touching my life.