No Strings Attached?

Most of us are leery of anything that says it's free.  We are suspicious and expect there to be a catch.  We expect that the ad from Unitrends above means we had better search the fine print.  No such thing as free, huh?

In one of my earlier appointments, there was a man (we'll call him Earl) who approached me about money!  The church was hurting for money--hardly making budget.  Yet we also deeply wanted to hire a youth pastor, feeling it was essential.

And so, Earl came into my office with what seemed to be a generous offer: "I want to pay for the youth pastor's salary for two years."  I had two conflicting thoughts immediately.  First--WOW, that's fantastic!  What an offer, we really need this gift.  Second--Hmm, we need that money in the budget, Earl knows it and apparently has the ability and desire to offer it...why hasn't he simply given the money to the church?
But before I could formulate and identify exactly what my response should be, Earl added a condition.  "But preacher, I expect to be the one who gets the final say on who we hire."

Jesus and Earl have nothing in common in my opinion, but too often in our theological discussions things are said about Jesus, and about Grace, that lend themselves to portraying Jesus as a master negotiator with a not-quite-so-free offer of salvation, so you have to read the small print--there are strings attached.

Here's how it generally goes.  Discussion about what is required of me (or you) to have salvation.  I contend that beyond faith--beyond accepting the free gift offered through the atonement offered by Jesus, there is nothing for us to do.  Salvation is a gift to be accepted or rejected or simply ignored.  To offer conditions in order to receive the gift or even to have conditions that must be met after receipt of said gift means that the gift is not free, it is conditional.

The counter to this (as I witnessed in an online discussion recently) goes like this: "No preacher.  You are suggesting people can do whatever they want and still get into heaven.  Grace is not free and it certainly isn't cheap!"

Agreed!  It isn't free or cheap, but I am not the one paying for it.

This simply analogy boils down to motives.  What are the motives of the giver and the receiver of this gift of Grace?  I remember taking Evangelism Explosion years ago--one of the essential parts of the outline for offering the Gospel went like this: We can't earn our way into heaven, it is a gift.  Our actions of good works are in response to the gift--a way of saying thank you to Jesus.

Another oft quoted thought about this topic:  One need not change anything in order to be saved.  God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you the way he found you.  In other words, God wants you to clean up your act because to stay as you are is unworthy of the gift.

I don't really disagree with either of those statements, but I disagree with the logic that too often follows.  There seems to be a thought that Jesus is offering a contract.  I'll die for you and extend eternal life.  (Hint, be sure you read the fine print before accepting?)  ®.  We don't act that way."  There is an insinuation--an implication, that Jesus is watching and revokes his offer the moment you stray from the path (or the list) as you have not lived up to his expectations.

In return, you will cease doing some things and start doing others.  And if we don't live up to our end?  Then a back-sided works theology ensues.  "Well, if you've seen the way she's acting, you would know she isn't a Real Christian

No, I just don't buy it.  There is no catch.  Free means free.  If we must fear the fine print when accepting a free gift from Jesus, it flies in the face of who I believe Jesus is.  Jesus' death on the cross--Jesus' motives--are more altruistic than that.  Jesus isn't simply here to use a giant eraser on our previous sins, only to have future sins count against us as if he never offered us Grace.  The "contract period" of the Older Testament Laws is null and void.  Instead the new covenant is written on our hearts.  Jesus' motives are based on love, not power.  He wants us to receive eternal life.  There are no strings attached.

Similarly, our own motives must be called into question.  Many, with or without salvation, simply want to do the right thing because it is the right thing. Helping others and living by a moral compass are not copyrighted by Christians.  So, one may have the same motives before and after salvation--we do the right thing because it is the right thing.

Some may simply see the world differently and thus change their life entirely.  Others may indeed feel a sense of gratitude that pushes us to do things differently, but that is still our choice and must not be confused with trying to offer restitution to Jesus for the free gift of salvation; if it cannot be earned, it cannot be a debt we settle--not possible.

If we are trying to settle the debt, earn a part of our way into heaven, we are suggesting that Jesus' death was not enough, that we have the obligation and even the ability to settle such a debt--and that, my friends, is blasphemy.

So, no.  Grace is not free, nor is it cheap.  But it is not something I have any means of paying for in whole or in part...so it is free for me.  Jesus is not a master manipulator or some shrewd negotiator buying followers to serve him and follow some interpretation of a Biblical list of rules in order to attempt to settle our debt for his grand investment.  He is not seeking power--he already has it, given by above, not below.

In short, there simply are no strings attached to his gift of salvation--freely given and freely accepted.  It is a selfless act of love.

So...go and serve Christ.  Go and serve others. But...follow the example of Christ and do it out of love with no strings attached, expecting nothing in return from others or from Christ--just do it because it is the right thing to do.

I Caught a Bitter, But I'm Better Now

Summer Colds are THE WORST (well, not quite)

You know those times when a cold is going around and no matter how hard you try, you still get it?  You still catch a cold as if it is passed to you.  At times, nothing we do will prevent it, but we can still to shorten its duration and work to not infect others.

Last week, I didn't catch a cold, I caught a bitter, which is far worse than a summer cold.  Bitterness was in the air.  Bitterness is like a cold.  It's contagious.  It wears you out, has outward side effects, and seeks a way to spread outward to those you love.  I tried hard to prevent it from contaminating me, but it was no use.  I caught it.  And despite thinking I was stronger than it was, it affected me and unfortunately I let it show.  Shame on me.

I saw a quote on Facebook the other day: Bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping someone else dies.

The Devil is in The Details

Maybe you've been there...I don't mind sharing the details to an extent.  Heck, too many of my friends already know the details.  Someone decided to go viral with her bitterness.  I knew her in a previous life, a different city, a different time.  But here I was naively believing that this was all in my past.  It's like the end of a horror movie when everyone is relaxing because the terror is defeated, but then suddenly, it makes a last ditch resurrection bid to scare everyone and leave everyone feeling they will never be safe as they walk out of the theater.  Last week, I found myself once again in her targets in some public comments (some opinion, some bald face lies) about me.

Now, in my line of work, one would think I'd be used to such nonsense and immune to its effects.  I sometimes think that to be the case, which is why I believe I caught the Bitter in the first place.  I thought myself above such things--and, in fact, I'm just not.  It bothered me that I was not in a position to defend myself.  (Now understand the issues over which I was once again attacked were mostly silly, minimal, nonsense stuff--I mean really nonsense little itty bitty issues...but those are the ones that find a way past your defenses.) She hurt my feelings is what it really boiled down to--silly me!  My friends, some of my family had to endure this as direct recipients of this public rant and I felt I had to remain silent.  It hurt, I sulked, pondered, read and re-read the silly comments directed at me, and well, in the absence of any clear way to respond, I fumed. And that's when the Bitter got in.

Bad Reaction

Before I realized it and dealt with it, a separate issue came up and really upset me.  I received a message apparently not intended for me that got under my skin in a big way.  Now is when I realized I was out of control and had not built up my defenses and had instead, become infected myself.  I took to an old form of therapy for myself.  I typed a response to this new issue that was exactly how I felt.  At that point, I had no intent of sending it.  However, I got distracted, walked away to deal with something else.  When I came back, I went to move my cursor to another line, I hit enter.  Well, silly me, I wasn't using Microsoft Word, I had penned this response in the GMAIL--and it SENT when I hit Enter.  OOPS.

While I cannot take back the feelings behind the message I sent, I would like to think with some reflection, I would have handled it better and used more gracious wording, more likely just stayed out of it.  I've tried to sincerely apologize for the tone of my message, but I think the damage is done.  I let the Bitter get the better of me and it hurt others.  For that I am sorry and repentant.

You Might Feed a Cold, But Please, Starve a Bitter

So...welll...what to do, what to do.  What's the point of this silly intrusion? A warning, be on guard.

Friends beware the Bitters.  It's in the air.  Love each other, forgive each other, but be prepared!  Keep your noses and your hands clean--best defense.  Be as aware as possible of your own susceptibility so you can protect others should you be infected, and eventually you will.  And what of those who are spreading a Bitter around?  Well, for the most part, be patient and loving with those who have caught a Bitter--you've been there too so don't be quick to judge.  For most, it passes quickly and with love, health is restored.  But, there are those who are chronic carriers and simply cause harm.  What of them?

Sometimes patience and love and forgiveness simply do not work.  Sometimes, for the good of the community, you must isolate the one spreading sickness among the people.  It's just common sense. If you stop feeding Bitterness, it will eventually die.  This means at times you must isolate yourself and I believe at times, you must isolate others.  I believe that forced isolation should be the last defense but there are certainly times that such a move is completely justified for the protection of all.  Still, even in this case, love should be paramount.

Achoo!  Be careful out there!  Bitterness is in the air.