Free from shame!

“Why did I act that way? I said some terrible things.”  He spoke with shame, regretting those moments.  Who hasn’t felt that way?  Shame is defined as “a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong behavior.” It can serve us well, moving us to seek change when we act in ways that are selfish, cruel, dishonest, or sinful.  That shame, the ache of guilt and regret – can overcome our reluctance to break out of habits with counsel and discipline. OR, we can choose to live in shame which is a terrible way to live that poisons us, inside out!

Not all shame comes from actual wrong-doing. People can feel true shame about their body that does not match an idealized cultural standard of beauty.  People can feel shame over sexual desire that is normal and make a choice to attempt to repress those thoughts, leading to even more compulsions fed by secrecy of shame. 

There are many adults who carry the scars of being raised by parents who misused shaming words as a primary corrective tool.  If a child is told she is stupid, incapable, or lazy enough times it becomes a defining part of their inner narrative, very hard to overcome.  If you tell a little person he is worthless long enough, he will learn to believe it and most likely will treat himself like a piece of junk! It is not ‘discipline’ to speak to a child in a way that makes him feel worthless!  People are valuable, behaviors can be changed!

Years ago I counseled a woman who hid herself in baggy clothing and felt shame if any thought of being attractive entered her mind.  Together we talked about what she was experiencing and, with tears, she told about her father’s awful words. As she entered adolescence and her body began to develop, she liked being pretty.  Her father responded to her beauty by telling her that they way she was dressing was fit for a whore, referring to her behavior as that of a “filthy tramp.”  Though I never knew that man, my guess was that he had his own complicated feelings of shame about his sexuality which got twisted into his awful words to his daughter.  It left deep emotional scars.

The Good News of Jesus is that because of His love, we can experience full release from shame! Christianity that is made into a source of shame and condemnation is a caricature. The heart of our faith teaches us that Jesus Christ came us when we were in darkness and sin, and became the Light of True Righteousness.  His death on the Cross is God’s act to liberate us from every shameful thing we have ever said or done. In confession and faith we lay down guilty feelings and shame and are free to serve Him and love others.

God’s grace speaks directly to my sin and yours, too!  There is no need to hide our sin, to pretend perfection, or to attempt to ‘make it better’ with incessant ‘good works.’  Jesus says - "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." (John 8:12, NLT)

The religious leaders that opposed Jesus were taught a shame-based religious system. He challenged that with loving grace. In this story we see the stark contrast.

"As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and Pharisees brought a woman they had caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 

Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”" (John 8:3-11, NLT)

This same Jesus loves you and me! He sees us not just for what we have done, but for who we can become in Him. He does not excuse our sins and failures, He forgives and grants us the possiblity of a wholly new life in the Spirit. The Cross is for us both a symbol of terrible shame and awesome glory, for there the worst of sin met the unfathomable grace of God. 

The Scripture tells us "You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross." (Colossians 2:13-15, NLT)

These words from the Word can change you. Meditate on them today.

-“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” (Psalm 34:5, NIV)

-“Instead of your shame, you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace, you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so, you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.” (Isaiah 61:7, NIV)   

-For in Scripture it says: -“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” (1 Peter 2:6, NIV)

Are you living in shame?  There is no need to stay there any longer.
The One who knows you best, loves you most!

(Video of this blog at this link)

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No Longer Slaves

You unravel me with a melody
You surround me with a song
Of deliverance from my enemies
Till all my fears are gone

I'm no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God
I'm no longer a slave to fear
I am a child of God

From my Mother's womb
You have chosen me
Love has called my name
I've been born again into Your family
Your blood flows through my veins

You split the sea so I could walk right through it
My fears were drowned in perfect love
You rescued me so I could stand and sing
I am a child of God

Brian Johnson | Joel Case | Jonathan David Helser © 2014 Bethel Music Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

Finishing the Job

I love teaching the Scripture’s truths to our middle school students at the church’s Christian Education program called Awana (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed -2 Timothy 2:15).  Last night our team met to prepare for the new year and we were reminded of the core reasons we do what we do every Sunday afternoon with our kids!  We work to create a place where children can Belong, Believe, and Become – belong to Christ, believe the Truth, and become His follower.

Moses reminded the people of Israel of the heart of their faith and of their responsibility in a passage called the Shema- "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." (Deuteronomy 6:4, NIV) "Shema Y'Israel" There are not many gods, there is One True God and He is “the Great I AM.”  He goes on to tell them that "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts." (Deuteronomy 6:5-6, NIV)  The Lord asks our engagement with Him, fully, every part of our life committed to Him as we carry His Word with us at the center of our being. 

Now, note the next directive which is my focus today. "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:7-9, NIV)  Make sure to hand off the faith to the next generation, not casually, but with real intent. How? By incorporating the Lord’s Word and Presence into everyday life – in our thoughts and in our way of life.

It is true that God has no grandchildren! Each generation must be introduced to Him and then, by the Spirit, be born into eternal life. That is not to say that we cannot pass the faith along. It is a sacred obligation to make certain that our children understand the ways of God!  Christians frequently quote a proverb which emphasizes the parental responsibility of passing the faith along - "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (Proverbs 22:6, NIV). It is true!  Tragically it often quoted by desperate parents who have watched their children wander from the Way, who are deeply concerned over the spiritual well-being of their children.  It is a misapplication of the verse to read it as a kind of magical statement - "if you do this, then this is the inevitable result."  In keeping with the pithy wisdom of the Proverbs, it should be read as common sense kind of knowledge. 

The Message catches the spirit of the passage - "Point your kids in the right direction— when they’re old they won’t be lost." (Proverbs 22:6, The Message)

Does your life, do your words, do your attitudes, do your values reflect a deep faith, anchored in Christ Jesus with hope that transcends time? A superficial Sunday faith will die quickly in our child’s life. A hypocritical presentation of Christianity that says one thing and does another will sour a child’s heart. Only a living faith that is as real on Monday as it is in church on Sunday is able to take root in the next generation. Kids have a wonderful hypocrisy detector that can sense the old 'do what I say, not what I do' nonsense at a very early age! Where they see that kind of gap between profession and possession, they will much more likely to conclude that faith in God is unnecessary baggage to be tossed away as soon as practically possible.

Ah, friend, do remember this -  You are not the Savior of your child! Jesus is. Only God, the Spirit, can transform a human heart! We present the Truth and, if we are wise, live it well so that they have powerful examples of the desirability of serving the Lord. But, then we must pray for the Spirit to take hold of the heart and mind of our child, so that they will kneel before the Cross and receive the love of God, so finding a soul-transforming experience of the Spirit. There is a folly in the land of the churched that believes that a good youth group or a solid Sunday School can replace parental example! A good community of faith is an important part of the spiritual development of any person - young or old. However, when it comes to passing the faith to the next generation there is no one who can have the influence of a godly Mom and Dad.

As we sat around those tables planning last night, my silent prayer was “Lord, help us to pass the faith along, with authenticity, with love, teaching the ways of a loving, living Savior to our little ones.”

Are you passing the faith along, laying the foundation of the knowledge of God, living a life that invites the next generation to join the community of the people of God?  
One author offers these practical suggestions to us.

-Acknowledge and reinforce spiritual realities!
    Do your children know, for example, that Jesus loves everyone?
    That God is personal, loving and will forgive us?
-Teach that God is a personal, caring Being who is to be loved and respected!
-Make spiritual activities a routine part of life!
-Clarify timeless truth — what’s right and wrong!
-Incorporate spiritual principles into everyday living!

Here is a word from the Word. "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands." (2 Timothy 1:5-6, NIV)  

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Be Glorified

Your love has captured me

Your grace has set me free

Your life the air I breathe

Be glorified in me

 

You set my feet to dancing

You set my heart on fire

In the presence of a thousand kings

You are my one desire

And I stand before You now

With trembling hands lifted high

Be glorified

 

Be glorified in me

Be glorified in me

Be glorified in me

Be glorified

 

Chris Tomlin | Jesse Reeves | Louie Giglio

© 1999 Rising Springs Music; Vamos Publishing; worshiptogether.com songs

CCLI License # 810055

Roll Down Like A River

Sixty years ago today, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the “I have a dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a voice for civil rights, a cry for justice.  He famously quoted the prophet Amos - "Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" (Amos 5:23-24, NIV)

While there has been much to celebrate in the intervening decades, there are miles to go to find “justice for all” in this great republic. Whatever your politics, whatever your views on economics, as Christians we should all be able to agree on the importance of justice in our society, justice in our legal system. But, it remains but a dream. Legal teams that examine cases find that about 1 in 20 cases result in wrongful conviction!  If you are a person of color or poor, the rate of wrongful conviction goes even higher in our system.

Justice starts with you and me!  Deeply rooted in the whole of the Bible as the will of God for us, a high calling as His own, we need to be concerned with justice, not only in our legal system, but in our day to day living. Justice, in the most basic sense, means to ‘make right,’ to bring about that which is good.

The Mosaic Law, which made the people of Israel distinctly different from the surrounding cultures, included repeated injunctions for the pursuit of just lives.  God’s people were commanded to do this - “Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right." (Leviticus 19:15, The Message)  "Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous." (Deuteronomy 16:19, NIV)

Our concept of ‘loving justice’ is often about the other guy. “But, Jerry, I love justice! I want the score settled, bad guys put in their place.”  Such justice is not really justice at all because it often colored by self-interest and/or fails to account for the context of the actions of another. It is retribution, or even vengeful, more about protecting our status than actually seeing justice done.

Jesus developed the idea that justice is shown by a refusal of pre-judgment. He did not see others for their race, sex, or religion. He saw people first.

The late Timothy Keller, pastor, wrote:  “Jesus shocked the social sensibilities of the day by receiving and treating all classes of people with equal love and respect. Samaritans were seen by the Jews as racial inferiors, yet twice Jesus places Samaritans on the same spiritual level as the Jews. (Luke 9:54; 17:16) Jesus touched off a riot when he declared that God loved Gentiles, such as the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian, (Luke 4:25-27) as much as Jews. Jesus reached out to lepers who were social outcasts, touching them and defying the contemporary social prohibitions (Luke 5:12-16; 17:11-19). He exhorted his disciples to not only be generous to the poor (Luke 11:41; 12:33; 19:8) but to welcome them into their homes and families. (Luke 14:13)”

James, the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, addressed the common (then and now!) practice of Christians, favoring those with greater resources or social influence. Christians in 2023, including this writer, need to humbly receive the inspired Word and pray for a life that is conformed to the will of God. "My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people more than others? For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor”—well, doesn’t this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives?" (James 2:1-4, NLT) "And yet, you insult the poor man! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?" (James 2:6, NLT)  Few things will make our testimony more counter-cultural than seeking to be people who treat all with the same respect, kindness, and acceptance.  This does not blind us to sin or wrong, nor does it rob our ability to call for change.

However, if we are just, we will not let stereotypical labels cause us to dismiss entire groups of people with whom we disagree or whose actions are reprehensible in the eyes of God. We will be like Jesus who challenged sin but with the desire to see persons changed by the love of His Father.  In our justice, love comes first. It is nearly impossible to seek another’s reconciliation with God if we hold them in contempt! Interestingly, the only people that were treated with contempt by the Lord Jesus were those who hid themselves in self-righteousness and claimed to have ‘insider status’ with God Himself. Their pride made them deaf to the Spirit, incapable of hearing His invitation to truly know God. I wonder if He might say the same of so many ‘Christians’ in our nation who are churched and outwardly socially acceptable, but who lack charity towards those who are different, who are without God or His love?

Keller writes these provocative thoughts. “The sinful human heart rejects God as Lord and Savior and seeks to justify itself (Romans 1:21-25; 9:32), and one of the ways we justify ourselves is by “looking down” on those who are different (Luke 18:9-14). One of the main ways humans do this is through differences of race and culture. We take mere cultural differences and preferences that–biblically speaking, are neither good or bad–and we view them as virtues.  We see cultures who lack those things as inferior. This is how we bolster our sense of self-worth.” (https://quarterly.gospelinlife.com/justice-in-the-bible/)  Read that again!  

It is not a wonder to me that a large percentage of Americans have abandoned the church and turned a deaf ear to preachers who proclaim their cultural preferences and values as the ‘Gospel of Christ.’  Jesus is not uniquely American!  If Jesus is wrapped up in our political rhetoric, our prosperity teaching, or our prejudice, He will become invisible to those who need to know Him as we do. He is the Savior of the World.  Oh that we would pray for a larger vision, for eyes that are like His eyes, as we look at others.

When we see them as persons, not problems; as equals not as inferiors; as those that God desires to reconcile to Himself – we will change.

Are you a person deeply committed to justice, praying that your attitudes, your words, and your actions will be generous, fair?

Here is a word from the Word. May the Spirit make it living Word for us today. "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8, NIV)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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We Will Stand

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand

Why we pull away from each other so easily

Even though we're all walking the same road

Yet we build dividing walls

Between our brothers and ourselves

 

But I I don't care what label you may wear

If you believe in Jesus you belong with me

The bond we share is all I care to see

And we'll change the world forever

If you will join with me

Join and sing sing

 

You're my brother you're my sister

So take me by the hand

Together we will work until He comes

There's no foe that can defeat us

When we're walking side by side

As long as there is love

We will stand

 

The day will come when we will be as one

And with a mighty voice

Together we will proclaim that Jesus

Jesus is King

It will echo through the earth

It will shake the nations

And the world will see see that

 

Take me by the hand

Join with me

Join and see yeah

James Hollihan | Russ Taff | Tori Taff

© 1983 Curb Word Music

CCLI License # 810055