When (if) you get an image of God in your mind, how do you imagine Him?
Like this?
or this?
or even this?
While I’m a bit uncomfortable admitting it, my mind’s eye has pictured God in all of the above ways. (Not when I’m praying — when I pray I tend to see the face of Jesus, which is a subject best left to another blog post.) But until today, I have never pictured God looking like this:
That is, until I checked my email today and read a prayer request that was posted on a prayer chain. In the original, unedited version of this post, I simply cut and pasted the prayer request. But because I am feeling terribly convicted about sharing a prayer request that was not meant to become fodder for some cynical blog post, I’ll just give you the basics. The author of this prayer request began by stating, “There are things I want.” His wish list included: a great career, a great marriage to a wonderful woman, awesome martial art skills so that he could protect the woman God may give him, a great income and a great family. He asked that those reading his request would pray that these blessings be given to him so that he could experience said blessings.
My initial reaction was, “Are you kidding me?!” I even forwarded the request to a friend saying as much. But, as I mentioned, I felt convicted and incredibly uneasy about simply raking this guy over the coals without stopping to consider what the circumstances of his life might be. Who am I to judge what blessings God may choose to bestow on him or anyone else for that matter? I actually stopped typing, turned off my computer and prayed for forgiveness. While God may determine that this man’s heart needs to be changed, I realized that it is the condition of my own wretched heart that requires further examination. (*Smile* — I love that word “wretched”. Jake – if I ever write a book entitled “My Wretched Heart”, I intend to give you a portion of the proceeds. But I digress.) Why did I feel compelled to share this man’s prayer? Was it because it made me feel superior to him; miles ahead of him on the road of my Christian walk? Yes. I think that’s it. And if that’s the case, am I not missing Paul’s point when he writes in Philippians 2:
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Um…Ouch! So, with an attitude adjustment that only face time with God can achieve, I am grateful that God’s grace is extended to all of us, and I am reminded of Jesus’ instructions on how to pray:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
I am going to end this post and pray that the author of this prayer request finds comfort and peace in the arms of the Savior whose grace is sufficient; whose power is made perfect in our weakness. Also, I need to pray for God to remove this giant plank from my eye…
Since I’ve briefly touched on the evangelical movement and the emergent/emerging movement under this big ol’ tent of Christianity, I felt it would be not be fair and balanced to omit a post on the “prosperity”, aka “name it and claim it”, aka “wealth and health” doctrine. And because I strive to be an equal opportunity offender, I wanted to save the beast best for last.
For those of you who might be wondering what this prosperity doctrine is all about, here’s a brief summary from the ace staff of researchers over at Wikipedia:
Prosperity theology is the teaching that an authentic religious belief and behavior in a person will result in their material prosperity. That is, the doctrine holds that material prosperity, particularly financial prosperity and success in business and personal life, is to be expected as external evidence of God’s favor. This favor may be preordained, or granted in return for efficacious prayer, merit-making and/or appropriate faith.
Other terms have been used interchangeably with prosperity theology such as prosperity doctrine, health and wealth, etc. but it is perhaps most commonly referred to as the Prosperity Gospel.
It cannot easily be argued that the Prosperity Gospel is a part of the evangelical movement. Instead, prominent evangelicals reject the teaching as non-evangelical. Furthermore, it is worthy to note that none of the major Prosperity Gospel proponents belong to well-established evangelical organizations such as the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability or the National Association of Evangelicals
The Prosperity Gospel gained more prominence in the 1980s through the teaching of the so-called televangelists, but again, this was a movement separate from mainstream Christianity.
Prosperity theology proponents promote the idea that God wants Christians to be “abundantly” successful in every way, with special emphasis on financial prosperity.
Support for the Prosperity Gospel is believed to be found by proponents in specific Bible verses and in its narratives of the lives and lifestyles of biblical characters. Critics counter that all of the verses Prosperity Gospel proponents use are taken by them out of their textual, cultural, historical and/or literary context thus falsely supporting their claims.
Following are some Bible verses used by Prosperity teachers to support their theology:
Deuteronomy 8:18 – “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day” (New American Standard Bible)
Malachi 3:10 – “‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.'” (New American Standard Bible)
John 10:10 – “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (King James Version)
3 John 2-4 – “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers”
As I was doing research for this blog post, (Yes, I actually research stuff before I put it on my blog. Feel free to re-engage your jaw back to its proper alignment at anytime during this post.) Anyway…when I began researching, I’ll admit I have a bunch of preconceived notions about what these so called “health and wealth” preachers were all about. And while I was always concerned about the possibility of desperate people falling for some of their outrageous claims, I had made them intocaricatures in bad shiny suits, with too much make up and giant hairdos. In that way, I had become what I despise in others: a religious, elitist snob. In order to seek redemption, I sought to provide a fair and balanced piece about their theology. Now here’s the snag: the more research I did, the more I was filled with righteous anger at what is going on in mycountry, and now, it seems, across the globe. Whether the prefix of “self” should be placed before “righteous” is a matter of opinion and ultimately up to God to decide. When I was ignorant enough to think that the prosperity gospel was just an excuse for rich people to feel good about themselves and call themselves “good Christians”, I could simply laugh at the constant parade of televangelists splattered across the airwaves and ignore seeing hundreds of little Joel Olsteen’s smiling back at me from the cover of his latest book every time I went to Walmart. But the truth is far more sinister. When I first saw the following video by John Piper, I thought it was a little over the top. But he is spot on — I get it now.
What breaks my heart about this movement is that their target audience is not the rich; it’s not even the middle class. No, their target audience are the have-nots. The people who never seem to catch a break. Those who for one reason or another find themselves in want or need of a better life and a better paycheck. I’m not saying those are the only followers they have, but those are the people that have made these charlatans rich. I could go on about how they’ve misquoted scripture and taken it out of context to fit into their warped interpretations, but I’m not going to. Read your bible; it’s pretty clear. If more of us as Christians would read and study our Bibles for ourselves instead of being spoon fed bits and pieces on Sunday morning and relying on what someone else tells us to be the truth, I’m quite confident that the followers of this so-called prosperity gospel would be greatly diminished.
At the bottom of this post are a few links to some articles I found very enlightening. Since I believe that a picture really is worth a thousand words, I’ll close with a few…
Trinity Christian City International in Costa Mesa is just one of the network’s holdings. TBN owns 11 homes in the adjacent gated development as well as residences in Texas, Tennesse, and Ohio. (Don Kelsen/LAT)
John Wayne Airport: Private jet owned by TBN. (Mark Boster/LAT) Newport Beach: A TBN-owned mansion, foreground was on the market for $8 million. The network also owns one of the houses in the background. (Don Kelsen/LAT)
Among TBN’s faithful followers is Olivia Foster of Westminster, who sends the network $70 a month out of her $820 disability check. (Mark Boster/LAT)
31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
The following is the closing argument from the movie “A Time to Kill”. If you’ve seen the movie or read the book, you know how it ends. If you haven’t, please take a few minutes to view this scene.
Based upon personal experience, I would answer the question, “Are we inherently prejudiced?” in the affirmative. I consider myself very open and accepting of other nationalities, races and even people of faiths outside my own. I think I can honestly say that if one of my children fell in love with, and chose to marry someone of a different race or nationality, it truly would not bother me. However, born of a caucasian father and a Japanese mother, I believe my experiences and my viseral reactions are colored by my heritage.
We’ve all seen commercials asking us to help feed, clothe, save the children of the world. Based on your own heritage, is your reaction the same regardless of whether the children are filmed in Africa? South America? Asia? North America? If I’m being honest, my emotions are triggered more by seeing the starving Asian child than the other children in the same circumstances. It’s not intentional, I’m not unaffected by the other children. But something is stirred in me on a deeper level because I sense a connection.
What about the news story about the child that was abducted, missing and/or murdered?
Does your heart ache equally for this child:
As it does for this one?:
This is not intended to be a “Guilt” post. I’m honestly curious if you have similar experiences.
If man is made in God’s image, then what exactly does that mean? If Jesus were to return to earth tomorrow, would it matter what He looked like? I’m certainly not a biblical scholar, but I’d be willing to bet a dollar that the historical Jesus didn’t have blue eyes and sandy blond hair. I imagine he looked very much like someone you would think twice about sitting next to on an airplane.
I guess my point is, if we’re to love one another as we are commanded to do, perhaps we need to take the time to learn from each other’s cultural experiences. I will never truly know what it’s like to be discriminated against because I am black or latino, but I do understand what it feels like to be treated differently because of the color of my skin and the subtle differences in my facial features. Does this make me more sensitive and empathetic to the injustices inflicted on others around the world? I certainly hope so….
Okay, is it just me, or does anyone else see a resemblance? But I digress…
As promised, here is the rest of
“Christianity can save the world”:
One of the paradoxes of history is the relationship between the beliefs and the practices of the early Christians as compared to those of the culture around them.
The Greco-Roman world’s religious views were open and seemingly tolerant–everyone had his or her own God. The practices of the culture were quite brutal, however. The Greco-Roman world was highly stratified economically, with a huge distance between the rich and poor. By contrast, Christians insisted that there was only one true God, the dying Savior Jesus Christ. Their lives and practices were, however, remarkably welcoming to those that the culture marginalized. The early Christians mixed people from different races and classes in ways that seemed scandalous to those around them. The Greco-Roman world tended to despise the poor, but Christians gave generously not only to their own poor but to those of others faiths. In broader society, women had very low status, being subjected to high levels of female infanticide, forced marriages, and lack of economic equality. Christianity afforded women much greater security and equality than had previously existed in the ancient classical world. During the terrible urban plagues of the first two centuries, Christians cared for all the sick and dying in the city, often at the cost of their own lives.
Why would such an exclusive belief system lead to behavior that was so open to others? It was because Christians had within their belief system the strongest possible resource for practicing sacrificial service, generosity and peace-making. At the very heart of their view of reality was a man who died for his enemies, praying for their forgiveness. Reflection on this could only lead to a radically different way of dealing with those who were different from them. It meant they could not act in violence and oppression toward their opponents.
We cannot skip lightly over the fact that there have been injustices done by the church in the name of Christ, yet who can deny that the force of Christians’ most fundamental beliefs can be a powerful impetus for peace-making in our troubled world?
Compare the early church to where we are today. To say that we’ve strayed off point would be one of the biggest understatements of this century. Many of us are so focused on what we (and others) shouldn’t do that we lose focus on what we should do: “Jesus replied:‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”(Matthew 22:27-30)
If these are in fact the greatest commandments, then shouldn’t we strive to fulfill them? Should they not be a litmus test for everything else we do and say? And if “all the law and the prophets hang on these two”, are we not being obedient to all of God’s laws when we strive to follow these? As my friend and pastor is fond of saying, “Following Christ isn’t easy, but it’s not complicated.” We need to get back to the basics. We need to love God and each other, and because we love God and each other, we take care of each other. Not just our family and friends, but enemies and strangers as well.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.(John 3:16-21)
Gimme that old time religion…..It’s good enough for me.
I’m not really sure what this blog is going to be about. But I’ve found myself writing really long comments on other people’s blogs, so I figured I’d start my own and not subject anyone to my rambling commentaries unless they really want to read them.
Since my walk with Jesus is what’s on my heart and mind most of my waking moments, (okay, that’s what SHOULD be on my heart and mind most of my waking moments), I will probably blog about this often. But I’m also a painter and mural artist. So I’ll probably post some pictures of recent work and give some painting how to’s as well. And, oh yea, I’m also part of a core group that’s planting a church! I’m sure I’ll blog about that a bunch!
I guess my blog entries will be very much like my thoughts: A series of seemingly unrelated post-it notes of thoughts and commentaries from my overloaded ADD mind… “Hey look, a chicken!”
I am going to end this post and pray that the author of this prayer request finds comfort and peace in the arms of the Savior whose grace is sufficient; whose power is made perfect in our weakness. Also, I need to pray for God to remove this giant plank from my eye…
