Another lyric based entry...

As long as I am quoting song lyrics to find truth, here is another one. The great philosopher Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows says, "for all the things I'm losing, I might as well resign myself to try and make a change". On the surface this seems like a rather depressing lyric about someone whose life is going nowhere. But my friend Matt used is to point out the truth of sin. When we live in constant sin (or any sin for that matter) we are losing so much. We are sacrificing an intimacy with God which we may or may not have ever experienced before. Because of all that we are losing, really the only course of action which makes sense is changing. Unfortunately, we rarely understand this and just seek to fill the ever-largening hole with more sin.

Sufjan Stevens

For those who don't know, I am a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens. He writes witty lyrics combined with great musical ability. One song which is especially powerful to me is his song about John Wayne Gacy Jr. on the "Illinois" album. This song chronicles the killing of many young boys by serial killer John Wayne Gacy. The first time I heard this song, I could not even make it through because of the images present. However when I finally made it though, I discovered a great line near the end of the song.

After singing about the atrocities of molesting and killing boys and young men, Sufjan sings, "And in my best behavior, I am really just like him. Look beneath the floorboards for the secrets I have hidden." At this point of the song, I was furious at how someone like Gacy could take human life so easily, but struck to the chord that Sufjan was right. I am really no better than Gacy. Often we measure ourselves against others to determine how good of a life we are living. Depending how who we measure ourselves to this can make us feel really good, or really crappy.
What we need to keep in mind is that we are all fallen sinners. We might be a little better than our neighbor, but compared to the standard set by Christ we are not even close. This point is put well in the nature of distance. If two people are standing on opposite ends of their house in Illinois, it would be foolish to talk about who is closer to Thailand. Technically, someone would be closer, but the proportions are to absurd to matter. Saying we are morally better than someone can be thought of as equally absurd.

In Matthew 5:20, Jesus tells the crowds, "...unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." The Pharisees were the most perfect keepers of the Jewish law around, yet Jesus said you had to be more righteous to gain his favor. Basically, you cannot gain God's favor through your works. We are all so far from the mark of true righteousness and holiness that comparisons lose all value.

This does not give us license to disregard the moral standards which Christ layed out. Obeying these standards is in our best interests, it makes life work best. We should strive to obey our Father out of love and self-interest, but never should we think our actions make us any more favored in the kingdom.

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Ultimately, our goal is to bring glory to heaven. Just as a kingdom brings glory to the king, so the Kingdom of Heaven brings glory to the King of Kings. The Westminster Catechism says the chief end of man is to glorify the LORD. In this verse, Jesus similarly says glorifying God comes from being "a light in the world." When we shine before men, they glorify God. As I read this fairly straightforward passage I was struck by the phrase "so they may see you good works." Men are supposed to glorify God because of our "good works." Our faith does not cause others to give God the glory, our good works do.

You are the light of the World

I got to the next section on the Sermon on the Mount today about being the "light of the world." The passage reads "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house."

As I was contemplating the meaning of this passage in the morning I addressed the passage as if Jesus was talking directly to me. Instead of "You are the light of the world" I read "Chris is the light of the world." This seemed to me to be to self-inflating, although definitely still challenging. If I was the light of the world, the implications and responsibilities were overwhelming.

However, I then received an email about the importance of community. Suddenly, I realized that Jesus was not addressing solely me, but an entire group of disciples. A city is not made up of one person, but a group. Much in the same way a light is made up of many sparks. I started to rethink about the passage and it became much more alive. Jesus said a "city on a hill cannot be hidden," but a single person on a hill might be hidden. What makes the church such a force in the world for the Kingdom is a group of disciples who are like-minded in their service to the King of Kings. Truly the early church was a "city on a hill" which shined bright despite the cultures attempts to shut it up or ignore it.

As I am getting ready for the philosophy class which I will teach I a reading about the history of the spread of Christianity. It is very interesting to read about this from a secular perspective. The cannot explain it. It does not make any sense why a small band of followers of possible messiah could have spread their message so quickly and effectively. They did not do so by the sword or forced conversions (until much later in church history) and by the middle ages Christianity was the dominant thought in most all the western world. This is only explainable because the church was truly the light of the world. They refused to be hidden and shined brightly for the kingdom. What a challenge today. Does our church shine like a beacon on a hill or a we just another institution competing for people's time?

Salt of the Eart

I was reading the Sermon of the Mount and got to the part about being "salt of the earth." We have all heard parrells drawn from this passage. The purpose of salt in food is to perserve and to give taste. Without salt, food spoils quickly and is ruined. Jesus' charge to be the "salt of the earth" is extremely challenging for two reasons.

1) Christians are supposed to perserve the world and give taste to the world for Christ. We are supposed to be furthering the Kingdom of God in the world. This means we are supposed to be actively spreading the good news of the gospel. This is the focus of most churches, but the miss the other part of the Kingdom. We are also supposed to be taking care of the poor and marginalized of the world. At this goal, the American church fails miserably. We should take it upon ourself to win the 'War on Poverty' not wait for the government. How many churches have built for themselves new building without giving a tenth as much to feeding the hungry or clothing the naked or visiting the imprisoned or helping the community in any way. The call of God is not to just get converts, but bring about the justice and love which the Kingdom of God is all about.

2) The second part of the passage is even scarier. It tells us that if salt has lost its saltiness, then it is no good and should be thrown out. I love the phrase "saltiness." The whole purpose of salt is to perserve and enchange flavor. If it is not doing this, it is worthless. The whole purpose of the church is to advance to Kingdom. If it is not doing this, it is worthless. How many churches would Christ walk into and declare have lost their "saltiness" and are therefore worthless? Or even more challenging, would Christ look at you or me and say I have lost my "saltiness" and am worthless.

Does Christ look at us and see a people advancing his Kingdom, or people who should be thrown out and "trampled?"