Uniquely Me

I struggle a lot with having people appreciate what I do as an artist.  My purpose in doing what I do is to express and communicate the life I've experienced in God, and my desire is to have people share in that life.  But the truth is that there will always be people who don't appreciate what I have to offer.  For every person who is touched or moved by something I do (whether through teaching, writing, or music), there will probably be one hundred people who aren't, and I'm beginning to understand the beauty behind that reality.

One body, many parts.  That's how Paul described being part of God's family (1 Corinthians 12:14).  It's part of the glory of God's design that not everyone finds something meaningful in what I do.  We each contribute in the ways we were intended to contribute.  Paul also said in Ephesians 2:10 that God prepared, ahead of time, good works for each of us to do, and those works will be uniquely us.

1 Corinthians 3:5-9
Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted.  Apollos watered.  But God gave the increase.  So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.  Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers.  You are God’s farming, God’s building.

Paul's argument isn't about personal humility, it's about the twisted thinking we engage in when we think one person's worth in the kingdom is somehow greater than another person's work, especially when we are judging that worth by the number of people that person seems to impact.

We really do live in a warped society, and I find it incredibly sad just how much of an influence our society has had on the church.  Some in the church think that if a teacher doesn't have an audience of thousands, God must not be blessing their ministry; or, if a musician doesn't sell CDs in the thousands, they must not really be making music for God.  For some reason, it seems that few stop to consider the idea that maybe--just maybe--the good works God prepared for that teacher or that musician don't include audiences and sales in the thousands.

And maybe--just maybe--one of the good works for that teacher or musician is finding a way to love and even appreciate those who don't care for what they have to offer because that would be reflecting their Creator.  The world's psychology says that the way to deal with such people is to kick them out of your life like so much toxic waste.  God declares that there's a better way.  It's not easy to keep exposing yourself through your art and receive little to no response, and it's crazy difficult to have someone actively reject your art.  Yet part of being God's true image-bearer means doing what He does, and He loves even those who reject Him.

So I'm going to keep putting myself out there and contributing what is uniquely me, and I hope you will, too.  We may not impact thousands or even dozens, but I guarantee that if we are doing the good works God has prepared for us, we are making a difference in someone's life...perhaps by loving and appreciating them when they reject what we've offered.

How About Not Faking It

We have a phrase that’s very popular and even if the exact words aren’t used in Christian circles, the idea is the same—fake it till you make it.  Well, here’s what I think.  Scripture speaks over and over again about how God desires honesty of heart and how He hates empty, vain ritual.  Am I saying we’ll feel like doing the things of God all the time?  Absolutely not.  But remember, honesty is prized by God.  There will be times when we just don’t feel like doing a thing.  But if we do it anyway out of duty and obligation, secretly resenting it in our hearts, that is a stinky thing to God.  If we do it because we are trying to be pious and “a good church member,” that is stinky to God.  BUT, if we do a thing even when we don’t feel like it and we say to Him, “God, nothing in me wants to do this right now, but I am doing it because I love You and I want to make Your heart happy”—that turns our actions into a sacrifice of worship. 

Sometimes we do things because we truly believe that if we don’t, no one else will.  Now, I’m not saying the motivation is wrong, but there is a more perfect way.  Ask God if He wants you to do it.  Here’s the thing—too often we operate our lives and our churches as if we are the ones who have to figure it out.  If we don’t come through, no one else will, so we’d better step up to the plate.  But what does that say?  It says we don’t believe God is up to the task.  Or, that we believe He set things into motion but it’s up to us to work out the details.  How many of you are doing things in your everyday lives or in service to the church that you thought were good ideas without asking God what He thought?

Yes, God gave us our brains and yes, He intends for us to use them, but that does not in any way mean that He created the world and said to mankind, “You’re on your own, now.”  Bear in mind, Jesus constantly said that He did nothing except what He saw the Father doing.  How do you think He saw what God was doing?  He was in constant communication with Him.  He was always talking with Him and aware of the presence of His Spirit.

NOTE:  He didn’t say He did what He saw that the Father did, He said He did what He saw the Father doing.  God is constantly working and moving.  I always thought Jesus was referring to what He experienced in heaven before He became human.  But He was talking about what He constantly saw God doing while He was a human on earth.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

For some time, now, it seems that I've been hearing the message that the stupider you are, the more you can be used by God.  Don't study, don't apply yourself, don't make any effort, don't even get educated--'cause God loves idiots and simpletons, and those are the kinds of people He wants and uses in His kingdom.

Maybe I'm overstating the case, but I honestly can't tell you how many teachers I've heard over the past few years talk proudly about how uneducated they are and yet God is using them, anyway.  The verse that usually accompanies these accounts of God using the uneducated is Acts 4:13.

I want to state up front that I completely understand where they're coming from and I grasp what they're communicating.  However, I wonder if maybe--just maybe--there is a more balanced way to say things.  Perhaps the point Luke was trying to convey in Acts 4:13 was not so much that they were uneducated as that they had spent time with the resurrected King Jesus.  Take a look at Acts 4:33.  The emphasis isn't on education or non-education, it's on the power of the resurrection of Jesus.

Does the Bible say anywhere "thou shalt not be educated"?  Does it say anywhere that if you are educated, you should become like the uneducated so God can use you?  I'm thinking not.  No, we shouldn't boast or take pride in our education or our intelligence because our brains are a gift from God.  But if we have been given the privilege and opportunity to learn and to be educated, should we pooh-pooh that because we think God will use us in better ways if our human intelligence doesn't get in the way?  I would like to have seen someone tell C.S. Lewis that he should have dumbed down his writing so it would be more accessible to the common man.  I would like for someone to have told Paul that he should have acted more like Peter since Peter was uneducated and God's power flowed through him so freely.

I have no problem with people sharing their life story and talking about how God has used them no matter what their circumstances or their level of education and intelligence.  I do have a problem, however, when the sharing becomes more of a polemic against education and using that God-given intelligence.  God truly does use us all.  He uses the uneducated, the educated, the simple, and the intelligent.  And that's the whole point--He uses us all.  No one is greater than or lesser than in His eyes.  You are not greater because of your intelligence, but you are also not greater and more Spirit-led if you have not received formal education (which, by the way, is all that is meant by the Peter and John being "uneducated"; they had no formal rabbinical training according to the Sanhedrin).

Let us all be the kind of people through whom the power of the Holy Spirit flows so that we can do those things God has prepared for us to do.

"This is the explanation:  God has made us what we are, God has created us in King Jesus for the good works that [H]e prepared, ahead of time, as the road we must travel."  Ephesians 2:10 (Wright translation)

It's Time for a Little Revolution

Revolution.  Blood.  Death.

New life.

The greatest revolution the world has ever witnessed came about as a result of the death of one man.

"There is one God, and also one mediator between God and humans, King Jesus, Himself a human being.  He gave Himself as a ransom for all,  and this was testified when the time was right."  1 Timothy 2:5-6

Some of you might be wondering why, if I'm quoting Bible verses, the title of my blog seems so sacrilegious.  Well, I'm glad you're wondering.  Grab some coffee or tea (or beverage of your choice) and relax while I tell you a little story.

Many years ago, while my husband was away for the day, a friend and I drove to a small Roman Catholic chapel near where we live.   What greeted us inside was an almost life-sized crucifix, which was not surprising since it was a Roman Catholic chapel.  We looked around for a few minutes, then my friend made the comment that Jesus looked like His knees had rug burn.  I looked up at Him, and sure enough, there was Jesus with red spots on His knees.  In all fairness, I'm sure that the artist was attempting to depict what might have happened to Jesus' knees when He fell from the weight of the cross.  My friend and I couldn't help but think that it looked more like Jesus had...well...skinned His knees.  Thus, He was dubbed "Skinned-Knee Jesus."  We were honestly not being disrespectful or anything like that, it simply struck us as an incredibly odd artistic choice.

I was trying to think of a name for this new blog, and the more I cogitated, the more I felt drawn to use the name my friend had created for the crucifix depiction of Jesus.  And the more I thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed to the purpose of my blog.  The name might be a wee bit jarring to some, but the church in the United States needs to be jarred.  Something is desperately wrong.  Thousands upon thousands of people are slipping through the cracks and very few people seem to know what to do about  it.  We've gotten so out of balance over the past couple of centuries, and it's time we emerge from the fog.  We need to start boldly proclaiming the truth about everything--about God, about Jesus, about life, about people, about relationships, about food, about art, about science, about philosophy, about religion.  We need to study the Word of God diligently and declare the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27).  We need a little revolution.

But maybe instead of starting a new revolution, we just need to continue the revolution that Jesus began.  The truth is, we who claim the name of Jesus are following a God who did, indeed, get His knees skinned.  He was human in every way, and that's the glory of it all.  The God of Israel emptied Himself and became human so that we could possess the life which is truly life.

So if you're interested in hearing about what it means to be truly alive and not just exist and wait to die so you can go to heaven, then stay tuned.  You're in for...a little revolution!