The Most Important Things

(*Note this post is intended for humor. Do not get offended.)

I still have this love/hate relationship with twitter. I just can’t seem to break out one way or t’other (t’other = hymnal for “the other”, kind of like o’er = hymnal for “over”). Some days I really enjoy reading nuggets of truth or anecdotal factoids about the people I follow. Then there are those other days. The days that are filled with people begging to be re-tweeted, lists of all the church services they are having and off-doctrine, deep, spiritual sayings (my favorite).

The problem with twitter really isn’t 140 characters. It’s the millions of characters who twitter. I have had to unfollow a number of well-known people due to the fact that what they were saying was just wrong. Either it was just a constant feed of service info (which I could get from their website) or it was really bad “revelation.” I don’t think that every spiritual tweet a person sends out needs to contain something like this: I don’t want to eat my lunch, I want to eat HIS lunch! (That’s not an actual tweet but it’s pretty close to some I have read. Also, I understand english grammar. When you capitalize “His,” in mid-sentence, you are referring to God. There’s no need to make it ALL CAPS.)

I found a great top 10 list that summarizes what I think about twitter: this guy www.leadingsmart.com says it better than I can.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from his top 10 list:

“Don’t tweet a message to one individual. That’s called email or text message. Tweets should be for the majority of those who follow you.”

Thank you for saying that!

The events of this past week in Haiti have been horrific and unbelievable. The numbers are staggering as to the assumed death toll (100,000 to 500,000) and to the amount effected (3 million people). Just about everyone on Earth is joining in to help out. Roughly $10 million has been texted to Red Cross in support. And hundreds of millions more pledged from countries all over. ($100 million from US alone, not sure I totally agree with that specific number considering we owe China BILLIONS, but there is great need nonetheless.)

In the midst of it all there have been some great misunderstandings. Specifically, this one: Pat Robertson’s now famous quote. However, if you listen to it, you will hear one thing that he didn’t say. He did NOT say, that this earthquake was a judgement from God. He did say that historically, Haiti made a pact with the devil. Which, if they did, would definitely lead to bad things. The problem I have with all of this is, that 1) the news media jumped all over it and misrepresented what he said, and 2) Christians jumped all over it and began to disown the man as if HE made a pact with the devil.

As far as the news media is concerned, who cares. When have they ever reported anything without bias? And, as long as Jesus hasn’t returned they never will. It’s an uncontrollable situation, so I am over it. As far as Christians disowning Pat Robertson… that annoys me to no end. I wonder how many people watched the video, before re-tweeting what somebody who watched CNN or The Daily Show said, and took what they said as the truth. I read numerous tweets from people I respect and admire who either directly or indirectly JUDGED Pat Robertson for “judging” Haiti. (I remember Paul saying something about that in Romans 2.)

What bothers me about this situation is that many Christians were trying to distance themselves from Pat Robertson and trying to look presentable to the world. Even the democratic party, in the midst of racial slurs within their party, did not do so much washing of their hands! (Here for more info) My question is when will we bother to get down to the truth and either choose to make no comment or make an educated comment. Regardless of whether Haiti made a pact or not is beside the fact. The real issue is whether or not we have made a pact to be a family, a church and a Kingdom. If this is how we treat family… well you get the point.

I think this whole situation can be summed up best by this quote: “They (Haiti) need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable.” Pat Robertson. By the way, Operation Blessing, Pat Robertson’s “social justice” arm, has been in Haiti for the last year. More info about that here.

Bottom line, we all need more of Jesus!

On every website, on every cell phone, on every computer and just about everything we encounter nowadays there is a subtle hidden feature. It’s the “my preferences” feature. On your laptop you can adjust everything from icons to screen saver to background image. The same goes for your cell phones as well. The same also applies to your favorite homepage on the internet. What’s wrong with that, you ask? Well, nothing really. Except that it does cause a reinforcement of one thing: self-centeredness. It’s subtle. You are always being asked, how do YOU want it? Whether “IT” is a cheeseburger or a computer or a ringtone. What is your preference?

The more things we prefer, the more we have to have it our way. The more things we have our way, the more self centered life becomes. Self-centeredness is the essence of sin. Jesus was constantly emptying Himself of His privileges (Phil. 2). Jesus gave up many rights that we, in our modern times, have no (or very little) concept of. For example, here are some rights Jesus gave up.

He gave up the right to:

eat (Mt. 4:1,2; 6:25),
sleep (Luke 6:12, 22:40-46; Mt. 14:13)
have privacy (Mark 8:2, Jn. 19:23)
have a home (Mt. 8:20, Jn. 14:1-8)
have an honorable reputation (according to the world) (Phil. 2:7, Gal. 3:13, Is. 53:3)
live (Phil. 2:8, Mt. 27:50, Is. 53:7,8)

Those are all “god-given” rights we have as Americans. Yet, in direct contrast, Jesus gave up ALL of those rights so that he could rescue our souls from eternal damnation. I think as Christians we need to start laying down our sense of entitlement. NOBODY OWES YOU ANYTHING. We all know what we really deserve, save for divine Grace. The next time you are demanding a “right”, think twice. It’s really time we stopped looking like the world, who demands entitlement, and it is time we began to trust in God to take care of our needs.

“After all these things, the gentiles seek. But you. You seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and then all these things will be added to you.” (paraphrase of Matt. 6;32,33) My preferences are your preferences, Lord. Let your preferences come on earth as they are in heaven. AKA nevertheless, not my will (or preference) but your will be done.

Poor St. Francis, so many people have blasted him for a comment he never made. Perhaps, you have heard the phrase: “preach the gospel, if necessary, use words”. A lot of people think St. Francis coined that phrase. (He didn’t, his real quote: In Chapter XVII of his Rule of 1221, Francis told the friars not to preach unless they had received the proper permission to do so. Then he added, “Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds.”) Regardless, that “deeds” theology has pervaded in Christianity. It’s wrong. It’s off-balance. In James’ epistle he covers faith and works, so I don’t need to here. But I do need to cover the truth that the gospel must be preached, not “worked”.

All throughout the bible, OT and NT, there are ample scriptures regarding the necessity of declaring truth with your mouth. It’s inescapable. But we have settled into a social justice/ works gospel, while in and of itself it’s not entirely wrong, it’s just not right. If all we had to do on Earth was build wells for clean water, feed the homeless and build shelters to get people saved; we’d be experts. However, God demands that we use our words to preach. Isaiah ponders the question of salvation, he writes: how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never HEARD about Him? And how can they HEAR about Him unless someone tells them?

In order to hear something, someone must say something. Take a look at Acts 8:26-39. Philip meets an Ethiopian Eunuch. He says to the eunuch, “do you understand what you are reading?” The Eunuch responds, “how can I unless someone instructs me?” Then it says, “Philip TOLD him the Good News about Jesus.” Notice it doesn’t say Philip dug him a well and the man got saved. Or that Philip gave him food for a year. (And all of those are necessities) It says, Philip told him the Good News. That is the REAL NECESSITY.

So why would we rather use words if necessary when it comes to preaching the gospel? Bottom line, social justice is easier. It’s not offensive or confrontational. We can perform social justice and the world will love us. It’s so hot right now, too. It’s also devoid of the power of God. For He says, “the Kingdom of God is not just in WORD, but in POWER.” God has built a throne of righteousness and justice. This world needs both. Not justice at the expense of righteousness. For with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

Preach the Gospel, with your mouth.