Christians Leap for Joy!

Jesus said that Christians are blessed when we are hated and insulted for our beliefs. In fact, Jesus makes a bold statement about the attitude we are to have toward being persecuted for our faith:

"Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven" (Luke 6:23).

Leaping for joy when we are persecuted, huh? Wow, how is that possible? It seems Jesus is going overboard...or is he?

Too many people let their happiness be dependant upon exterior circumstances. Jesus instructs that Christians are not to be this way. If I am able to detach myself from material things and physical circumstances, my happiness is no longer dependant upon those things. The Biblical teaching of self-denial is learning to find joy in God, not in situations and things.

C.S. Lewis gives a helpful analysis of how Christians can "leap for joy" even when difficult days come:

"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot image what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses. 1965).

The inner peace and joy that God offers pales in comparison to any joy that can be found in the externals of this life. Let us look for the "holiday at sea" that God offers us and stop finding joy in "mud pies."

Strong Feelings About a Lie

Jealous over the favoritism that their father showed toward Joseph, his brothers first conspired to murder him. Reuben, however, convinced the blood-thirsty brothers to throw their little brother in a pit. Judah then persuaded them to sell the boy to a band of traveling traders bound for Egypt (Genesis 37:28). These heartless brothers then devised a plan to cover up their sinfulness by taking Joseph's coat, dipping it in blood, and presenting it to their father (37:31-32). When their father saw the bloody coat, he jumped to the next conclusion, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!" (37:33). As a result Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and began a period of intense mourning for his son whom he believed to be dead (37:34). Jacob's grief was so intense, his emotions so ravaged, he refused any comfort that his family would offer (37:35).

A clear application from this story is that we can feel very strongly about a lie. In fact, we can feel just as strong about a lie as we can the truth. In truth Joseph was not dead, no matter how much it felt like it. Emotions are an important part of being human and should not be quickly dismissed. God does not want us to have a completely intellectual faith devoid of emotion. Jacob was certainly not wrong for feeling the way he did.

But the application that we can draw from this story is that truth is not based upon emotions. Truth is truth. Too many in the religious world today base their convictions and beliefs upon what "feels" right. Thankfully, what Jacob "felt" eventually was proved to be wrong--his son was really alive and well in Egypt. However, if we base our faith upon emotions we may find that we have been wrong all along--and at Judgment we may not find such a happy ending (cf. John 12:48). Biblical truth is based upon hearing God's word, not listening to the language of our emotions (Rom. 10:17). We may feel strongly about something, but if it is not based upon actual truth, we may find we have had strong feelings about a lie.

The Power of Jesus' Salvation

A friend sent me a link to this extremely moving video. As I began watching it, I thought it was weird and kind of "cheesie." But as I continued watching it, I was moved to tears. I almost did not post this link for fear that some people would think I am endorsing dramatic performance, dance, or instrumental music in worship. I stand opposed to these things because there is no Scriptural authority for them in our worship. But I felt compelled to share this with you because it is such a powerful ILLUSTRATION of what Jesus has done to save us! Please be patient and watch this entire video, you will be moved to tears because of what Jesus has done for you! (YouTube Link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FVJqRLU3J0I).

Oprah's False Teaching

God by inspiring the Apostle Paul warned Christians that the day would come when people would no longer be satisfied to listen to the simple message of the gospel. There would come a time when people no longer would desire to hear "sound doctrine" but wishing to have their ears tickled would gather teachers that would tell them what they desired to hear (2 Timothy 4:2-3). Among the new generation of people pushing dangerous false teaching is the pop-culture icon Oprah Winfrey. It is time that Christians everywhere awake out of our slumber and stand for truth in the age in which we live. Click above to watch this disturbing video. (YouTube Link:http://youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA).

A Plea for Consistency

I am currently taking a graduate class called "Contextualization." In this class we have discussed how that in evangelism sometimes former beliefs of a convert are never really rejected, but instead religious beliefs are blended together. What often happens in far eastern countries is that "converts" to Christianity end up accepting Jesus but simply adding him to their firm beliefs in other gods also. This blending together of beliefs is called "syncretism" and we see it taking place in our country today in the form of religious "pluralism." But before we point fingers at how people in other countries "blend" beliefs together, perhaps we should examine ourselves. I am amazed at how often I perceive that we in the churches of Christ take pride in "restoring the first century church" when many of our methods and practices have simply been adopted from denominationalism. For example, I have literally heard people say that we should always offer an invitation at the close of the sermon because it is Scriptural. Yet, in reality there is no biblical instruction about offering an invitation. This is simply our tradition. It seems likely to me that our tradition of offering an invitation following a sermon likely came from the denominational concept of an "alter call." There are traditionalists among us who claim that offering the invitation is the "Scriptural" thing to do (and you are "liberal" if you do not), when in reality we simply adopted it from the denominations. Yet, many of these same individuals claim that churches that raise hands in prayer are "trying to be like the denominations" when in reality we do have Scriptural instruction to do this very thing (read 1 Tim. 2:8)! What is my point? I simply desire that we study our Bibles and be consistent in our convictions!