Such a Worm as I

Hymnal editors have this tendency to edit hymns to make them more “theologically sound” (i.e. “politically correct”). Ellis Crum’s old Sacred Selections had dozens of examples.  "When We All Get to Heaven" became "When the Saved to Get Heaven" (we don't want people to think we are universalists). The line in "Amazing Grace" that originally read, "How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed" became "the hour I first obeyed" (There will be no  faith-only here). And "Doxology" became "Praise God" (we didn't want anyone to think we were a high church church… not much of a problem if you are singing from Scared Selections). 

Sometimes songs are edited evidently to protect our own shaky egos. One hymnal changes the line in "Amazing Grace" to read "that saved and set me free"  rather than "that saved a wretch like me."  We don't want our people to feel bad about themselves. Our current hymnal (yes, we have one; we just don't use it) does the same thing with "Alas and Did My Savior Bleed." We sing "would He devote that sacred head for such a one as I?" What Isaac Watts wrote was, "for such a worm as I?" Worm? We don't want to damage our sensitive self-images by referring to ourselves as "worms." I'm a bit surprised we didn't rewrite "I Need Thee Every Hour" to read "You Need Me Every Hour" and include a version of the Mac Davis’ classic, "Lord It’s Hard to Be Humble When You're Perfect in Every Way."

So David was wrong to lament that he was a worm (Psa 22:6). And Job was wrong to feel hopeless, like his mother was a worm (Job 17:14) and Bildad was wrong to agree with him (Job 25:6). And maybe Paul was being too hard on himself when he said, "What a wretched [or "miserable"] man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Rom 7:24). The only other time that this word “wretched” is used in the New Testament is in Jesus’ description of the proud Laodicean who were actually "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" (Rev 3:17). They could not repent and change until they recognized their true condition before God. Without God, we are all miserable worms without hope... beyond a place where worms don't die.

We do need to have a healthy self-image (a smart, good-looking guy like me recognizes that).  But that self-image needs to be healthy in the sense of accurate, not simply positive or inflated. Paul writes--

Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us,” (Romans 12:3, NLT). 

The beginning of a true and proper self-image is in seeing how desperately we need God.  We need to understand that our worth and our value depends on Him and not upon us. We are not basically good people who get can pretty close to heaven's entry requirements on our own and who only need God's help to get us over the top with the few things we can't do ourselves. We are all wretched and miserable worms who are transformed into the children of God only through His goodness and grace (1 John 3:1-3).

Lessons from a Shredder

Last night, I finally finished the overhaul of our home financial records that I began two weeks ago. To suggest that I’m not the most organized person is an understatement. We have a two-drawer fire file that was jam packed with receipts, canceled checks and paid bills from 2005 to the present that weren't so much "filed" as crammed crammed together waiting for someone to let loose the shredder.  And that's what I did. Along with the receipts and bank records that I needed to keep were all kinds of useless things that were there just because I hadn't taken the time to throw them out...

• Owner’s manuals for appliances we haven't owned in ten years. 
• CD-ROM’s of software that won't run on our computer 
• CD of classical music (I think it came with a copy of TurboTax). 
• A 3-year warranty on a dishwasher we just replaced (after 10 years) 
• Proof-of-Purchase info for things I had forgotten I ever owned 

Not everything I discovered was such junk. I did find (stuck in a old folder of computer documentation) the original 1977 copy of our wedding certificate! That one I kept. But much of the stuff discovered is so worthless that calling "junk" doesn't do it justice! All of those manuals, sales receipts and warranty cards represented purchases of things that at one time were sources of great joy or at least great relief. Buying the new microwave and dishwasher that allowed life as we knew it to continue. When did things that we at one time knew to be optional luxuries suddenly become absolute necessities?

What this exercise in my lack of the spiritual gift of organization reminded me-- we spend a lot of time accumulating things that don't really matter all that much... things that won't matter at all ten years down the road. Jesus words in the Sermon on Mount came back to me as I was sitting there in front of the shredder destroying all the old records that were at one time brand new—

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21) 

God expects us to be good stewards of the material things with which He blesses us.  And there is certainly nothing wrong with buying a new dishwasher or microwave. But we had better make sure that we are storing up much of our material stuff in a format that won't get old or shredded. Brand new shiny things always quickly become rubbish unless we use them to the glory of God. When we use our stuff to bless the lives of others, then we convert our material things into a format that will last forever, and we create a record that the shredder can never touch!

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Get Some Joy

When I was eleven or so, our family went to the state fair in Richmond. I really don't remember much about the trip, except riding a rickety roller-coaster that felt like it would fall over the whole time. And I remember is Dad dragging us to “The History of Coffee” exhibit. Now this would be fascinating to me today, but at the time it was much less interesting than the cotton candy vendor working the next tent down. I griped and complained just long enough (for Dad, that’s about 3 seconds) for him to to point at me and say, “Listen friend, you are going and you are going to like it.” Can you really do that? Can you command an an eleven year old to have a good time at the history of coffee exhibit? Well, I went.

The book of Philippians is the go-to New Testament book on the subject of joy. There are all kinds of refrigerator-magnet type statements to remind of the joy we have in Christ. However, I think there is something about these familiar lines that we can miss if all we do is read them as inspirational statements on joy.

• So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. (Phil 2:18) 
• Further, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! (Phil 3:1) 
• Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Phil 4:4) 

And there are other such statements.  But while Paul does talk about joy in this book, he never really accuses the Philippians of having any! These are all hortatory or command statements— he is commanding them to “get some joy.” In fact, Philippians 4:4 can be translated, “Get some joy in the Lord. I’ll say it again: Get some joy!” So Paul sounds just a bit like Dad telling me, “You will do it and you will like it.” We don’t think of it that way, but Paul commands joy the same way that he commands prayer and thankfulness (see 1 Thess. 5:16-18). OK, we might want to say, "But I'm not by nature one of those a happy, joyful people." Paul seems say, “That's OK…  REPENT and go out get some joy!”

If we find ourselves complaining about everything and being critical of everyone, then it just might be that we're missing something important about the kingdom of God. Rome was a church that was fussing and feuding over the critical issues of Christian faith and practice… like observing holy days and eating certain meats. Which is silly, of course. They should know have known that the really critical issues to argue over have to do with praise teams and whether women can service communion like they do every other church meal! Actually Paul’s point here is somewhat different—

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17) 

If we aren't experiencing the joy of the Holy Spirit, then we aren't doing something right. Get some joy!

Sunday Nights and Disposable Time

Our Sunday night “Body Life” small groups are on hiatus for the summer, and we're trying something a little bit different. We're not going to meet together at the building in a reprise of the traditional Sunday night service. One former member used to call this “The J.V. Service,” a basic repeat of the Sunday morning format using “Junior Varsity” songleaders, scripture readers and prayer leaders. What we're going to do this summer is much more radical (radical for us) than it sounds:

• Sunday Night Live: The second Sunday night of each month will be a big blowout worship service at the building. Our praise team will lead us in worship (including learning one new song a week) and I'll lead a discussion-based Bible study (Francis Chan is team-teaching with me this week… though he doesn't know it). We'll have child-care, a potluck and we're appealing to everyone (not just the usual Sunday night crowd) to join us for these three special services during the summer.
• Sunday Night Group: Our building group will continue during the summer as well. We have people who always come on Sunday nights, and we don't want to discourage them. And we have some who only come on Sunday nights, and we certainly don't want to discourage them. But everyone else, do do kinda want to discourage coming... because we want to emphasize part three.
• Sunday Night Service: We are asking those who don’t come to the building to use Sunday night as a time for fellowship and service. Invite people over to your house for Sunday night dinner… using Jesus’ guidelines about who to invite (Luke 14:12-14). Visit people who Jesus says needs someone to visit them (Matt 25:35-36). Take on a project as a family (or group of families) to serve someone who needs a little light in their lives (Matt 5:14-16). 

One of our former elders used to say that most people have only a limited supply of "disposable time."  The more you ask people to spend time unproductively or less productively, the less time they will have to spend on things that really matter.  We hope this will be a better use of our disposable time.

Something has been bothering me (well, enough to bother me, but evidently not enough for me to do something about it). We have a great group of young adults and young families who are part of our church, but when I look around on our traditional Sunday night and Wednesday night gatherings, they aren't here.  What I see is people who look a lot like me-- older (not old) people. People who attend these services are folks who have always attended every service "every time the doors are open."  But our younger people aren't there. Why?  Is it because they just aren't as committed to God? No.  It’s because they don’t gauge their commitment to God solely and primarily on the basis of attending a church service three times a week.  They don't have the disposable time for something they really don't connect to serving God in the first place.

I read recently that about 15% of our “Millennials” (young people born between 1980 and 2000) are “Christian” in any real sense of that word. About 70% of Millennials believe that churches—all churches—are completely irrelevant to modern day life. And the Millennial who has parents who are only nominal Christians (or church goers) will likely completely divorce themselves from Christian faith rather than adopt their parents’ lukewarm faith. Changing around our services is not going to make much of a difference. But we do need to face the fact that equating “Christian faith” with “going to church three times a week” isn't really working for us. And to continue to do the same thing while expecting different results is the definition of insanity.

Make the World Go Away

Talk about someone who quits preaching and goes to meddling! Pastor David Barton told the morning gathering at Whitesburg Baptist Church that they would all have to quit drinking Starbucks coffee and find something else to spend their $5 bucks on. Why? Starbucks “come out” (pun not intended, but I decided to leave it in) in support of gay marriage. Actually, Starbucks was one of 70 companies in 2011 that filed a brief in federal court opposing the Defense of Marriage Act restricting the definition of marriage to that between a man and woman. If I was really serious about this blogging gig, then I spend some time tracking down the rest of those companies, but I trust that you can use Google as well as I.

Should we boycott companies that support things that we oppose? I remember the time when preachers urged us not to buy groceries at any grocery store that sold beer and wine. You don't hear that much anymore… we'd all starve!  I also remember the discussions back when Bush Gardens first opened in Williamsburg,  Can Christians work for a beer company? Can we buy tickets that will profit a beer company? Believers have to wrestle with questions like these as long as we live in the world and yet seek not to be of the world. Are these simple questions? Pastor Barton thinks so— 

Biblically there is no way a Christian can help support what is attacking God. I am sorry. You have got to find something else to drink. You can't drink Starbucks and be biblically right on this thing. It is just a real simple principle.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I took a sip of Starbucks after I typed that last line.  But it's OK-- I brewed it myself and didn't actually set foot in a Starbucks.  At least, I hope that's OK!

Seriously, are some good reasons to "boycott" Starbucks… like paying $5 for a cup of coffee!But saying that we can never do business with a company because they support things that we don’t think they should support will  limit where we can do business… and how we can influence our world.  Paul tells us that to “boycott” those in the world who are immoral would mean that we would have to "leave the world" (1 Cor 5:9-10). He asks, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” (5:12). Too many of us want the world to behave and be more moral so that it will be easier for us to be Christian. So let’s make it illegal to be sexually immoral. Let’s boycott and drive immoral companies out of business! Let’s make sure there aren't any immoral shows on TV. Sounds like we're singing the old Eddie Arnold tune, "Make the world go away."  Well, it won't.  The world isn't going to behave... we have to! 

Jesus was constantly condemned by the Pharisees because he spent too much time getting much too friendly with tax collectors and sinners. If Jesus was here today, He just might be hanging out at Starbucks buying them all a cup of coffee.