Loving vs. Hating Your Life: Fast forward to the future

²³Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.  (John 12:23-26)

Imagine being able to fast forward to the end of your life.  At that point in time, what would it look like?  Where would you be?  What would you have accomplished in life?  To me, your life would most likely end up in one of two possible points on a wide spectrum based upon whether you "loved your life" or whether you "hated your life" for the sake of following and glorifying God.  If you spent your entire life loving it, all the choices you make will inevitably be in response to this goal -- choices in terms of how you spend your time, money, energy, how you make career decisions, etc -- and at the end of your life you find yourself in a certain place way over to one side of the spectrum.  Maybe you'd pursue a higher salary, comfortable living conditions, cool stuff, a nice house, etc.  On the other hand, if you "hate your life in the world" and make glorifying Jesus as your highest priority, then the way you spend your time, money, energy, etc. would also look completely different, and after a lifetime of living life in this way, you'll end up way on the other side of the spectrum.  After you follow either trajectory long term, the final destination point for each of the two goals aren't even remotely close to each other. 

For me, there are a lot of things that I want for my life.  I have strong desires to teach and find my work rewarding, to get married to a beautiful girl who loves God, to live out an exciting adventure for God, and to choose how I can serve Him.  I'd love for things to be comfortable, to have friends, and to have lots of fun with people.  I'd like to be productive and to feel like my life has impact.

But what if God's will for me is totally different?  What if my job is difficult and not rewarding? What if I'm meant to be single for the rest of my life?  What if my life isn't comfortable?  What if my friends gossip about me and turn against me?  What if I end up not being able to do the things I want to do?   No matter what it may cost, am I willing to say, "Not my will, but yours, Lord?"   Jesus asks for it all.  A life truly following Jesus means potentially giving up everything -- do you have prerequisites or non-negotiables for God?  Do you have a set plan in mind for God and ask Him to sign at the "X" at the bottom of the contract to "bless" your will and desires, or do you simply sign the blank contract that God presents to you and trust Him with your whole life?

(also posted at http://www.adventureswithjesus.com )

if Jesus came back this very moment, would you be disappointed?

On Idolatry: You and I were created to worship

Human beings were naturally created to worship something.  It’s in our very nature.  Worship means to ascribe worth to something, and it tends to manifest itself as how you prioritize your time, attention, thoughts, energy, talents, treasures, drive, and passion to a particular thing.  I heard a definition that worship is “setting our affection on something in such a way that it changes the way we live.”  Worship is placing something or someone as our source of fulfillment.  It’s placing value or reverence on something so much, that if we lose it, we despair, our world crumbles away, and we feel ruined or like failures.

All along, we were created to worship God the Creator of the universe, but when sin entered the world in Genesis 3, we began to worship things other than God.  This is what is known as idolatry — worshipping that which is created rather than the Creator (Romans 1:21-25).  The tricky thing is that idolatry is often hard to detect, especially for us as Americans.  It’s usually when we pursue something that is normally good — in and of itself — and make it a competing or higher priority than God.  The end goal of idol worship is a warped, perverted way of trying to attain a life worth living, being happy, and finding self-worth.

The following are important diagnostic questions (adopted from Schewyer, 2009) to ask yourself that can help you determine whether idols are present in your life.  Be honest and ask yourself these hard questions: 

• “If Jesus came back this very minute, would I be disappointed?” i.e., is there some unfulfilled goal or desire on this earth that you want more than simply glorifying and knowing Jesus?
• “What is the thing you want more than anything else in this world?”  e.g., success, to be married, to have a good job, a person, place, thing, etc.
• “What am I most afraid of in life?” e.g., failure, loneliness, not having something, etc.
• “What do I long for most passionately?” e.g., success, a relationship, children, vacation, cool stuff, house, job, sex, etc.
• “Where do I run for comfort?” e.g., food, sex, relationship, drugs, shopping, pills, video games, TV, etc.
• “What do I complain about most?” e.g., job, family, husband, kids, bills, weight, etc.
• “What angers me most?”  e.g., disrespect, not getting certain things, etc.
• “What one thing makes me happiest?” e.g., an achievement, a relationship, job, new clothes, etc.
• “How do I explain myself to other people?” e.g., what your identity is wrapped up in, titles, something you do, etc.
• “What has caused me to be angry/disappointed at God? Where is God ‘failing’ you by not giving you something?”
• “Who or what do I sacrifice the most for in my life?” e.g., boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, kids, job, vacation, etc.
• “If I could change one thing in my life what would that be?” e.g. if I were cooler, skinnier, prettier, or if I had  __(blank)__  then my problems would be solved.
• “Whose approval am I seeking?” e.g. my boss, spouse, significant other, children, friends, etc.
• “What comfort do I treasure the most (one thing you can’t live without)?”

I realized just how easy it is to put your hope and fulfillment in good things other than God.  It is easy for me to struggle with idolatry, because sometimes it happens in such subtle ways.  As Schweyer, lead pastor of a church in Ohio writes, “Good things, elevated to god things, become bad things.”  The fact is, idolatry is pretty much the exact opposite of the gospel.  It’s about you, your performance and efforts, and pursuing something to earn success and fulfillment (if I try harder, get success, get skinnier, get a boyfriend, get married, get cooler, get richer, etc. THEN I will be fulfilled!).  In contrast, the gospel is about Jesus — His grace, and the unconditional love, acceptance, worth, value, peace, contentment, and joy that He gives us.   God loves us not because of our works, effort or lovability — He loves us just because he is gracious, and that’s who He is. 

Idolatry always ends up leading us either to pride or despair — not lasting, joyful contentment.  Our idols cannot ultimately bless, help, save, deliver, or satisfy us — only Jesus can.

So what is the solution to idolatry? 

1. Recognize – Due to our fallen natures, idolatry is default mechanism of the heart to worship created things rather than the Creator.  This leads to a self-righteous, works-based religion that is frustrating and will never satisfy.
2. Repent – Confess to Jesus these idols and that they can’t deliver or give you joy, peace, or contentment that you seek.
3. Replace – We are wired to worship, so we must replace the idols with worshipping Jesus as your only Savior and Lord.  This leads to true joy, contentment, and peace.
4. Rejoice – When we have a proper perspective of who we are worshipping, then we can enjoy created things (food, drink, people) without having them rule over us.

(Note: I didn’t come up with these ideas.  Credit goes to J. Schweyer and J. Root for many of the diagnostic questions and much of this material.)

(also published at www.adventureswithjesus.com)

i love it.

How do you die to yourself?

(also published @ adventureswithjesus.com)

Question: What does it look like in practice to “die to self” and “take up your cross daily” to follow Jesus?

Luke 9:23-25: “Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

It's a daily battle of giving up selfish wants vs. following Jesus and His plans for me. For me, this means to give up my hopes, dreams, and plans. There’s a lot of things that I want, whether it’s more freedom, for life to make sense, adventure, to be loved, to be married, to be understood, etc. God asks for me to wait on His timing, to trust Him, and to be faithful and obedient to Him each day. After all, even Jesus submitted His will to the Father, saying: “If you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).  He was obedient all the way to death on the cross -- and because God is so good, salvation came to the world through this act of submission.  I believe that God's plans for us are always better than the ones we come up with by ourselves, even though it can be so hard to trust in that on a day to day basis.

What does it mean for you to die to self and take up your cross daily?