I get funny reactions from people when I say I'm old. Some of you look at me with disdain because you feel like I'm pointing out that you're older than me. This is never my intention. Actually, I value the wisdom that comes with age. I pretty much always have. Some of you laugh because I'm only 33. Todays blog entry is another admission that I'm old.
I just don't understand these social networking sites. OK, I understand that people like to keep in touch with each other. I'm all for that. I've had a MySpace page for several years and a Facebook page not quite as long. I love it when I get an email that I have a new friend request because it's usually someone I haven't seen in a long, long time. Then, my world is flooded with their pictures and thoughts, and on some level I get to connect with them again. That's great.
Our Ugly Insides
Here's what I don't understand. As a pastor I get to see some pretty ugly sides of people. You've probably noticed that people don't come talk to their pastor until life gets pretty out of hand. Over the past ten years I've had the disturbing opportunity to see what people are really made of. I've seen the clean-cut father come tell me he's struggling with alcoholism--only he can't really even admit it to himself. I've seen the straight A student sit in my office, her dreams falling down around her, because she just found out she's pregnant. I've had the young, successful musician losing hope because he can't get his drug habit under control. And, I've seen the loving husband tell me that even though his wife doesn't know about it, he can't get free from porn.
When people come share these kinds of problems with me, it doesn't usually surprise me. God's very clear about what we are made of at the deepest part of who we are:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
Even the Apostle Paul struggled with being who God wanted him to be:
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Romans 7:15 NIV
God's Beautiful News
We all have a dark side--even the most devoted believers. Sometimes we aren't very honest about it, but we all struggle (like Paul) with wanting and doing the right thing. Thankfully, God offers all of us grace. One time I asked one of the teenagers at our church what grace is. She said, "It's God's love even when we don't deserve it." Wow. That's right. Grace is God choosing to love us even though we rebel against him:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 NIV
God's grace is so amazing that God doesn't even choose to love us from across the street as we might express care for a homeless person we give a buck or two as we walk by as quickly as we can. God loves us in such a way that he makes us his sons and daughters. All he requires from us is that we believe in Jesus:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
John 1:12 NIV
And that's not the end of the good news. It only gets better. When we believe in Jesus, he forgives our sin--all of it. We are declared both completely forgiven and completely righteous before God. He no longer sees us as his enemies who deserve his wrath but righteous children he loves. He also begins to work on us. He begins to change us to be people who desire to follow him:
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13 NLT
The hard part is that we still struggle with that wicked deceitfulness at the deepest part of who we are. We still struggle with bad habits. We still have relationships that encourage us to do things that God is not happy with--things that shame the name of Christ.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Romans 7:24 NIV
(Paul is expressing his frustration with his own sinfulness in this life.)
The good news is that, once we have trusted in Christ, we await the completion of sharing in his resurrection. Then, we won't struggle with sin any longer. Every believer will receive a resurrected body that doesn't possess a deceitfully wicked heart any longer:
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV
The Facebook Delima
Here's what I don't understand. Why do so many people--even believers--put the deceitful wickedness of their hearts on display? You know what I'm talking about. Some might say, "Aren't we free in Christ?" Paul already answered this question:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.
Galatians 5:13 NIV
Some people think age is an excuse. Do we dare to look shake our fists at God and say: "Don't tell me what to do, old man!" Paul tells us that even in our youth God's expectations for his children are high:
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12 NIV
Brothers and sisters, let's set an example whether we are 14 or 94 because the King of Glory has died for us. He has changed us. All of us who have believed in him are his children. Now, by his grace, let's live like it!
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
I just don't understand these social networking sites. OK, I understand that people like to keep in touch with each other. I'm all for that. I've had a MySpace page for several years and a Facebook page not quite as long. I love it when I get an email that I have a new friend request because it's usually someone I haven't seen in a long, long time. Then, my world is flooded with their pictures and thoughts, and on some level I get to connect with them again. That's great.
Our Ugly Insides
Here's what I don't understand. As a pastor I get to see some pretty ugly sides of people. You've probably noticed that people don't come talk to their pastor until life gets pretty out of hand. Over the past ten years I've had the disturbing opportunity to see what people are really made of. I've seen the clean-cut father come tell me he's struggling with alcoholism--only he can't really even admit it to himself. I've seen the straight A student sit in my office, her dreams falling down around her, because she just found out she's pregnant. I've had the young, successful musician losing hope because he can't get his drug habit under control. And, I've seen the loving husband tell me that even though his wife doesn't know about it, he can't get free from porn.
When people come share these kinds of problems with me, it doesn't usually surprise me. God's very clear about what we are made of at the deepest part of who we are:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
Even the Apostle Paul struggled with being who God wanted him to be:
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Romans 7:15 NIV
God's Beautiful News
We all have a dark side--even the most devoted believers. Sometimes we aren't very honest about it, but we all struggle (like Paul) with wanting and doing the right thing. Thankfully, God offers all of us grace. One time I asked one of the teenagers at our church what grace is. She said, "It's God's love even when we don't deserve it." Wow. That's right. Grace is God choosing to love us even though we rebel against him:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 NIV
God's grace is so amazing that God doesn't even choose to love us from across the street as we might express care for a homeless person we give a buck or two as we walk by as quickly as we can. God loves us in such a way that he makes us his sons and daughters. All he requires from us is that we believe in Jesus:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
John 1:12 NIV
And that's not the end of the good news. It only gets better. When we believe in Jesus, he forgives our sin--all of it. We are declared both completely forgiven and completely righteous before God. He no longer sees us as his enemies who deserve his wrath but righteous children he loves. He also begins to work on us. He begins to change us to be people who desire to follow him:
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13 NLT
The hard part is that we still struggle with that wicked deceitfulness at the deepest part of who we are. We still struggle with bad habits. We still have relationships that encourage us to do things that God is not happy with--things that shame the name of Christ.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
Romans 7:24 NIV
(Paul is expressing his frustration with his own sinfulness in this life.)
The good news is that, once we have trusted in Christ, we await the completion of sharing in his resurrection. Then, we won't struggle with sin any longer. Every believer will receive a resurrected body that doesn't possess a deceitfully wicked heart any longer:
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV
The Facebook Delima
Here's what I don't understand. Why do so many people--even believers--put the deceitful wickedness of their hearts on display? You know what I'm talking about. Some might say, "Aren't we free in Christ?" Paul already answered this question:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.
Galatians 5:13 NIV
Some people think age is an excuse. Do we dare to look shake our fists at God and say: "Don't tell me what to do, old man!" Paul tells us that even in our youth God's expectations for his children are high:
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12 NIV
Brothers and sisters, let's set an example whether we are 14 or 94 because the King of Glory has died for us. He has changed us. All of us who have believed in him are his children. Now, by his grace, let's live like it!
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
