Friendship

A new episode of our podcast is up! This time we discuss friendship. Friendship was clearly a big deal to Jesus. He even called his disciples friends. Today words like "family" and "friends" are constantly tossed around the body of Christ, yet sadly, many discover after belonging to a congregation for years they really don't have any true friends. Activities, programs, expectations, and performance end up proving not to be the building blocks for genuine friendship. Why is that the case? What can we do to make friends with others? This is what David and Loren discuss on this episode.

Results Oriented

We're back! Believers often measure their effectiveness in the Kingdom of God based on the results they see with their own eyes. People look for things they can measure to determine whether or not they are doing God's work. They look for large crowds, numerous books being sold, popularity, and so forth. But is this what Jesus was talking about when He said that His followers would bear fruit? This is what David and Loren discuss in this episode of Untangled.

Shame, Religion, and the American Dream

The kingdom of God and the American Dream are not one in the same. In fact they are in direct opposition to one another. The American Dream is actually a counterfeit religion that has sunk it’s talons into Christianity and polluted it, turning it into an extension of its self.  Just as the pagan religions of old were established to support the cultures in which they existed, so also has the majority of Christianity in the United States been mutated to undergird the empty philosophies and carnal desires of most Americans. This is predominately seen in the common thread of shame that runs through them.

It may come as a surprise to many reading this that both American Christianity and the American dream are shame based beliefs. When most people hear the word “shame” they usually think of folks beating themselves up and feeling like worms because of their awareness of their wrong behaviors. So the response to this by many Americans attending their nice, cozy, affirming church services and hanging out in their comfy homes is, “I don’t feel any shame!” Some are thinking, “My church makes me feel great! It doesn’t heap any shame on me!” and “What’s wrong with the American Dream?! Look at all I’ve accomplished!”  But what most don’t realize is shame isn’t only manifested by people walking around feeling like guilt ridden scum bags, it is also evident through our attempts to cope with it by masking it through our efforts to make ourselves feel better about ourselves.  To put it bluntly, most Americans, particularly Christians, deal with shame by elevating themselves so that they feel superior to most people around them. Through their efforts, hard work, and moral striving at church and on the job they earn bragging rights over their fellow man because of their achievements.  They push down their shame by comparing themselves to their neighbors and feeling a notch or two superior. 

The sad truth is, most American Christians have not truly embraced the finished work of Jesus on the cross.  They don’t know His incredible love for them and don’t live in the reality of what it is to have had their guilt and shame removed. Every smug look of a Christian at a sinner is evidence that shame is still dominating their lives. Every attitude of superiority toward those following other religions is proof they are still consumed by shame.  Every push to prove another’s politics is inferior to their own is a marker that shame still has a home in their hearts. Every push for more, bigger, better, to be recognized as the best and the most spiritual is powered by shame.  We are so used to being driven by shame in our culture that we’ve even declared such a drive to be a virtue.  Politicians have learned just how deep seated these ideals are in our culture that they even craft their speeches telling stories of how through their own efforts they went from a nothing to a powerful somebody.  Shame powers both American Christianity and the American Dream. They are mutually dependent upon one another and support each other. Both thrive on striving in your own efforts to be better than others.  They exist in securing the bragging rights over others. Whether those bragging rights are that you’ve got the biggest and best house on the block, you’re top dog at the box office, or your church is the most spiritual in the city, it makes no difference.  All are controlled by the same carnal drive and therefore all are of this world. 

American Christianity supports the shame based system of the American Dream because it is the dominating philosophy of our culture and so embracing it helps to fill church pews. If you give people a way to shed their shame (Jesus Christ) they will find liberty and cease their carnal striving. If instead, people keep their shame and you give people a way to mask it you'll secure a congregation, workers, and money.  Embracing the guilt masking competition of the American Dream causes people to labor and donate their financial rewards to your religion.  Religion is all too happy to make those who do so feel good about themselves and shame those who don’t.  This is why American Christianity often ties wealth to spiritual maturity. The American Dream supports its goals and purposes.  Congregations need people to accumulate more but remain under the thumb of their power.  This way they receive the large donations necessary to expand their kingdoms. It is even extremely common to give the wealthy church members important positions within congregations.  And the wealthy, more often than not, being materialistic and having their hearts far from God, want to have their shame appeased, so they gladly jump at the opportunity to feel more spiritual and godly than their fellow man.

There is a reason that Jesus said it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.  He wasn’t saying rich people won’t be able to enter heaven.  But he was saying that most rich people are not able to enter the joy and reality of the Kingdom of God now because their wealth and/or accomplishments create an illusion of security and superiority.  Their guilt is continually pacified by the constant “love,” respect, admiration, and attention of others so that the wealthy can’t see their desperate emptiness and misery.  Usually only those who by the grace of God are crushed have their eyes opened to their desperate need for Him, the REAL Jesus, not the pacifying false Jesus of religion.   

See, the real poison of religious Christianity is not in making people feel like failures, but rather in rewarding their successes. Wayne Jacobsen so brilliantly illustrated this in His book “So You Don’t Want to Go TO Church Anymore?” as he described a little girl racking up stars on her Sunday School chart for memorizing Bible verses every week. She was being taught well that God is the great score keeper who pours out His affection upon those who work the hardest.  The god of American Christianity pushes his people to compete with one another and labor hard to truly earn his affection, just as does his brother Uncle Sam.  They call out, “Come work for me and earn your bragging rights so you can mask your shame!”  While the living God, Jesus Christ, calls out, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest!”  The living God doesn’t mask shame, He completely removed at the cross, allowing you to rest from all your striving for significance, love and affection.  In American Christianity and the American Dream everything is earned and your value is based on what you possess.  In Jesus Christ everything pertaining to life and godliness has already been freely given to you and your value is based on who you are...the beloved son/daughter of God.

Worship

We're back!  A new Untangled Podcast is up!  What is worship? Is worship an event we attend? Is it something we do on Sundays to get our "God fix" so we can make it through another week? Is worship how we usher in God's presence? In this podcast Loren and David discuss the beauty and lies surrounding worship.

Worm or Wonderful

A new episode of my podcast "Untangled" is up! "You're just a worthless sinner!" is the way the gospel is often shared. Is that true? How does God view us? How much value does He place on us? And just how finished was Jesus work on the cross when He said, "It is finished!" David and Loren discuss in this podcast God's perspective of us and the only real labor that remains for us to do: to believe Him.  

Tainted Love

Have you ever been to a home and garden Show? They're basically massive sales and marketing events. Businesses set up booths and run all kinds of contests and specials with the hopes that you'll become a client. You're constantly approached by nice people asking you questions like, "How would you like a free vacation to Hawaii?" or "How would you like a patio roof installed for free?" My first thought when I'm approached is, "What are you trying to get from me?" These folks aren't offering these deals out of the goodness of their hearts, they have an agenda. They want me to join their vacation club for $3,000 a year or for me to purchase a $5000 patio roof. As much as I enjoy going to the occasional home and garden show, it's funny, not one time did I ever think to myself, "Wow! These people really love me!"

The sad thing is this is exactly what much of Christian activity done in the name of love looks like to the world. Christians will give away free turkeys for Thanksgiving, hand out free hot dogs and bottled water at parks, shovel snow off driveways and walkways in neighborhoods, and hand out candy and presents for Halloween and Christmas. These are all kind things to do. The problem is most of the time when these things are done it's for the purpose of getting people to visit and hopefully join one's congregation. Just like the merchants at the home and garden show, there is an agenda attached. The kind deed does not stand alone; the doer is after something from the recipient. When the free turkeys, hot dogs, and water bottles are handed out and when those driveways are shoveled you better believe a flyer is handed out with the name of the group responsible along with an address and meeting times. What appeared to be love suddenly just turned out to be nothing more than marketing. It was nothing but a PR campaign done using Jesus' name.  This is why many groups refuse to be a part of anything for which they will not receive the bulk of the credit.  Help another congregation with something they’re doing and receive no recognition? HA!  

See, real love, God's love, comes without an agenda. The moment a flyer or an attempt to get somebody to do something in return is attached to the act of kindness it ceases to be love. Now it's either marketing, or worse, manipulation. Sadly, many Christians are so stuck on following their own agendas and doing their own thing that they have substituted the Holy Spirit with manipulation. They have their thing they want to build, their name they want to get out there, or their organization they want to increase so they're already out of tune with God's heart. And being that God isn't in what they're doing they have to lean on the flesh, their own strength, to achieve their desired results. So they turn to marketing and call it love. But they're just another booth at the home and garden show and those who encounter them are left with a bad taste in their mouth.

Ever wonder why so much of the church in America is powerless? She stopped asking, "Father, what are you doing?" a long time ago. (I don’t think most ever were asking that.) Today, even when congregations do dare to ask Father what He is doing most have drawn up clear boundaries within which He must work. If He moves beyond those boundaries or moves contrary to our plans and agendas we immediately dismiss Him and return to our agendas. Few dare to actually do what He is doing in this hour. So, what do you do when you're not doing what God is doing? First, you make it look like you are. And second, you lean entirely on your own strength to get anything done. You hand out turkeys and hot dogs with flyers.

A true act of kindness is done without blowing a trumpet. Christians sound a trumpet every time they proclaim "Look what my group did for you!" "MY CHURCH gave you that water bottle!" "MY CHURCH shoveled your driveway!" They have their reward right there. The folks saying, "Oh, that's nice." is their reward. Sadly, competition is one of the main motives for kindness we see displayed by congregations today.  They want you to join their group, not that other one.  

Real love comes without a thought or the need to draw attention to one's self. Paul even wrote in 1Corinthians 13 that love does not boast. It doesn't say, "Look what I did!" "Quick! Call the TV station and tell them about the nice thing we're going to be doing this Saturday at 9 AM on Elm Street!" What a nightmare! Paul went on to say love is not self-seeking. It doesn't ponder, "How can we promote ourselves?" "How can we get people to do what we want them to do?" It doesn't use kindness to get something in return. See, genuine love is a reflection of God. But since most Christians think God is a big bragging showman who does stuff to get us to do what He wants, they act this way.

The truth is God is humble. How do I know? Jesus is the exact representation of God and look how He CHOSE to live while He walked among us. He wasn't "God in disguise." He was being who He is. He chose to be with the least in society because that's where He likes to be. He also never gave to get anything from anybody. How many times did Jesus follow up with the people He healed? "Hey Peter, did you get that centurion’s contact information? We’ll probably want to follow up and invite Him to walk around with us once a week after he realizes I healed his daughter." Jesus just gave of Himself and sought nothing in return. He didn't even want people to go around blabbing about the miracles He performed. This is the face of love. This is the love that changes the world.

Genuine love comes without a hook.  This is actually unfamiliar to many Christians because most live in a world built on expectations.  “I’ll do this for you so you’ll do that for me.”  I’ll call you up during the week to see how you’re doing so you’ll come to my Bible Study next Thursday.  I’ll be your friend as long as you keep going to my church.  I’ll volunteer to help with the children so you will make me a Sunday School Teacher next year.  I will be a committed hard worker and agree with everything so you will make me a leader.  Then we dare to turn around and say, “We’re family!”  “We love one another!”  That ain’t love folks!  That is nothing like Jesus. 

There are no hidden motives or angles behind real love.  Real love doesn’t look for anything from another or use others for one’s own advantage.  When we see Jesus for who He truly is and have a revelation of the affection Father has for us we begin to see agendas attached to love as the poisons they truly are.

ISIS, Christians, & America: A Clash of Kingdoms

A new and hard hitting episode of Untangled is up. What should be the Christian response to persecution such as that we've seen dealt out by ISIS? Should Christians take up the sword and fight back? Is America a Christian nation? Should Christians strive to gain political power in nations to steer them in a "Christian" direction? These hot topics are discussed by David and Loren in this timely podcast. You'll want to listen to this one all the way to the end, if you can handle it. We knock over a lot of sacred cows in this one, but not to stir up controversy. In order for the church to grow up, we must embrace the Kingdom of God, not this world.