To be, or not to be, that is the question-- Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die, to sleep-- No more; and by a sleep, to say we end The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks That Flesh is heir to? Hamlet wondered, is it better to live or die? Should we continue this madness of wandering through a broken world, or embrace the sleep of peaceful death? Which is better? My answer may sound strange, but I think it is better to die now in order to live later. "So Chris, are you contemplating suicide? You think it is actually okay to consider the Dr. Kevorkian option? What is wrong with you?" No, that is not what I mean by dying...here let me show you how Jesus explains it in John 12:24-25... "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." Jesus is not talking about physical death, but rather he is talking about the death of "Self!" Self is that nasty part of me that wants to be first, wants to always win, wants the attention, wants to have things, wants to eat things all the time, wants to grab things, wants to look at things I shouldn't, wants to yell at people, wants to get mad for no reason, wants to want - - Self is the brute beast inside all of us that has a first name - "PRIDE." This part of me must die in order for the person God really wants me to be to live. Dying in very simple terms, is to 'hate' Self. Oh, I know, we are never ever supposed to hate - - but when it comes to our pride, we are told not just to hate it, but we must hunt it down and kill it. I call this attitude the "Good Hate." If it wasn't for this animal inside of me, Jesus would never had to of died. His perfect goodness and innocence was forfeited because of my terrible sickness of Self. I am to blame! I must die. That is why I must hate this part of me - - that is why I want him dead. Paul the Apostle says every true Christian must wrestle with Hamlet's question. And they must understand that the correct answer is choosing the negative of "Not to Be" - - it is the only way for my New Self, fashioned in the likeness of Christ, to live! Listen to him in Galatians 2:20... "I am crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life that I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Amazing but terribly confusing. How does this verse make any sense? You must wrestle with it if you are ever going to properly die: (1) "How can I be crucified but still be alive?" The first "I" in the opening sentence represents that brute beast of Self; it includes "Pride" and all of his trappings. Look at it like this - - Look deep down inside: What makes you think you are more special than other people? What do you want others to admire about you, or be impressed by? However you answer those questions is that part of you that must die. For instance: Growing up I really thought I looked and acted like Tom Cruise. I really did, sad, I know. He was only a few years older than me and every new movie that came out I tried to copy and be like him: "Top Gun" I bought a bomber jacket and considered joining the Air Force, "Cocktail" caused me to become a bar tender, "Far & Away" I wanted to fist fight and talk with an Irish brogue. Stupid, but this was part of my Self's "identity" -- "I" (Pride) wanted to be cool, good looking, and attractive to ladies. What do you identify yourself with? "I am a great Hunter," "I am smart", "I can throw a football over a roof", "I have the nicest hair", "I have a great singing voice." Whatever it is that you are "proud of" or identify yourself with, must die. Not in the sense that you can't hunt anymore, or sing, or throw a football; but in the sense of not thinking you are better than others because of these things. Learn to say to Self, "Who Cares!" Who cares if you can sing well, who cares if you are pretty and wear size 4 dress, who cares if it is November and it is your time to hunt! NO, all of these things are attitudes driven by Self: demanding, wanting, proving, competing, primping, flexing, winning! Kill it! (2) "How do I let the New Self live?" The second "I" in the second sentence represents the New Self, the one that pleases God and begins to look and act like Jesus. Let him LIVE! But how? Take on the identity you know Jesus wants you to have, put on the new self of "Kindness", "Humilty", "Patience", "Peace", "Forgiveness", and above all "Love" (Colossians 3:12-13). Practically speaking, instead of saying "Who Cares" ask "What does Jesus care about." In each situation, care the way Jesus does. If you are married, Jesus really does care about how you look at other women, Jesus cares about how you treat your spouse, and Jesus cares about your tongue. Jesus even cares if your hunting trip is killing your wife because she always has to stay home with four screaming children while you get to yuck it up with your friends at a cabin. "How tremendously selfish is that?" Very simply, your new identity is to be found only in Jesus. This will be difficult, because you have to say "no" to Self all the time. And every time you say "no" it is like dying. I had a conversation once with a person struggling with 'homosexuality.' He said that he knows he was born gay and because of that it was impossibly hard for him not to act out on his natural urges. He felt that since those urges were of such an incredible intensity (note: Self's perspective always thinks they have it worse than others, or is more intense & real than the average person), he thought that gave him the perfect right to give in. I asked him, "Are you in Christ?" He said, "Yes...but you just don't understand how hard it is. I am not sure if he would be accepting of my choice; but that is who I am, I can't help it. I am gay and I am must be true to who I am regardless of my conservative upbringing." I asked, "So, you are choosing your identity to be gay over being in Christ?" He paused and said, "But I can't help it; the desire is so strong." I then said, "Why is your natural desire stronger than the heterosexual man who wants to look at porn and cheat on his wife? Would it be O.K. for him to say, 'I have a natural bent to look at naked ladies, you don't know how hard it is not to act out on these urges?'" The man said, "Well, that is categorically wrong in every way, he is married, and Jesus would not like it." So I simply asked, "Tell me, what is the difference?" Identifying with Jesus means to live my life the way he would want me to, no matter how hard, painful, or extreme it feels. Death always hurts, it often will feel like you are 'shedding your blood'. Paul in his Galatians verse knew this; that is why he ends the verse with laying the firm foundation of "Christ's love". The reason I should die to Self and follow Jesus even when it feels like "I" am being crushed is because "He Loves Me." And if he really loves me, I should be able to trust him, right? That leads to the final part of the verse -- It gives all of us the reason why we can trust him even in the middle of being killed, crushed and destroyed, "He gave himself for me." He died for me! Because he died he wants me to trust him, and then die too. And he promises, if I die, I will live. How do I know I will live - - because he rose from the grave. Do you see? In order to live (New Self) I (Old Self) must die. I will be honest, death is not easy, Tom Cruise doesn't die easy. Have you ever seen him in Mission Impossible? He keeps on surviving - - and he tries to do the same thing with my Self. But Jesus is sick of the cool guy, the macho man, the impressive stud. He wants that guy dead, and in place of that he wants to replace him with the humble guy, the meek man, the weak sinner turned saint. Death kills. But like a seed, to really have the abundant life, dying is the only way to live! I choose, "Not to Be!"
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Boy was my dad crying! He blamed it on the onions he was cutting, but I knew different...it was the television show I was watching: "Brian's Song." If you hate to cry, I warn you, DO NOT WATCH IT! DO NOT! Not only does the schmaltzy music tug at your heart, but the true story about a man dying of terminal cancer at the young age of 26 is bound to soften the most callous of men and leave them crying like a baby, "W-a-a-a-a..." The main characters are Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. Both were players on the Chicago Bears football team in the 60's --they were assigned to be roommates at rookie training camp and as a result they became great friends. What makes their friendship so special is that Piccolo was white and Sayers was black (Who would of thought a 1971 movie would be so ahead of it's time?). The script for the movie came from Sayers memoir, "I Am Third." He titled it like this because it was the theme of his life: "The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third." "I Am Third" is a statement of priority (like the new "I Am Second" movement that has been making waves in recent years). It is a way to put life in proper perspective, a system to rightly weigh your attitudes, actions, investments and time resources. The assumption is when you learn what comes first; theoretically, the rest of your life should fall neatly into place. But this scheme only lists three categories; what about fourth and fifth place? Is there a sixth? Recently I was in a discussion concerning local church ministry, and we were answering the ever present question of, "Why does it takes so long for the church to get things done? Is it because the church is inefficient, is it lazy, maybe it just doesn't care about people?" Well one of the people in the discussion said something very profound, "The reason is simple, for most people the church is their fifth or sixth priority in life and since it is a volunteer organization, it is bound to take time to get people to really commit and get things done." Fifth or sixth priority....do people really put the church that low on their list? Well if "God" is first, (Which practically speaking doesn't really mean much to most people - - but we will go with it), and "others" are second (Wife and kids take an awful lot of that time, money, emotional resources and energy), and "I" am third (Usually this refers to my work and career), how do we assign four, five and six? Here are my suggestions: FOUR --Your "Hobby" comes next: Hunting, fishing, home projects, scrap-booking, cooking, car engine repair, landscaping, kids' sports ( playing coach, agent and chauffeur for them). This category takes a lot of the reserves that I have left in the tank. FIVE -- "Entertainment" is a biggy: NFL, NASCAR, "Bachlorette", Star Theater, four-wheeling, snowmobiling, vacation, vacation, vacation. I need my down-time y-know! As the Beasty Boys say " you gotta fight for your right to party." That leaves SIX with the table-scraps: "church commitment." That is when we finally give Sunday Morning the nod to God: One hour and a half, and then we're good! Right? It's up to you how to answer that question; but I can say this, "No wonder it is hard to move the gears in the life of the church. No wonder pastors get tired. No wonder why the church seems to let people fall through the cracks." It is a crazy thing going to my son's football practice - - parents will watch their child run up and down a grassy field for two hours in the blazing hot sun and they will never once complain. But if the temperature in the auditorium during one of my sermons gets above 73.5 degrees people want out of there! "Oh the pain." Why is this? Simple...because when it comes to church, "I Am Sixth." One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others By the time I finish my song? Remember that song? Boy, I sure do. I was raised on Sesame Street, Big Bird, the Grouch, and that song. I remember when it came on I would be transfixed sitting in front of the TV trying to figure out what was different. Often it was a hard choice because the one different item looked so much like the other three. It's a fun game to play when it is about cookies, but not when it is about eternal life. It can become downright dangerous! There are countless numbers of people walking around claiming Christ as their God, and yet with some, there is just something missing. They look and act like they really are saved, but you just know they don't know. I have met people who believe most of the same truths I believe: "The Virgin Birth," "The Second Coming," "The Validity of the Sacred Scriptures"; but there is no life, no personal understanding of these things.They can even be doing "Good Things" for the name of Christ: helping the poor, going to church, abstaining from addictive behaviors -- and still, the engine of eternity just doesn't seem to driving them to do these good things. Their actions don't have the taste of real fruit grown naturally on the vine; but rather those "works" appear more like the plastic ornamental fruit that grandma has beautifully arranged in that old-fashioned bowl on the living room dinette set where it has been sitting for the last 25 years. It is only there to impress, not to feed. What makes people different when it comes to genuine salvation? I think there are many different possible answers, but theologically I believe it boils down to one thing: Has the person really been born from above? Are they born again? This is different than knowing the right things and doing the right things, this is actually having the life of God put in you. It is a completely new reality where God himself, through the Holy Spirit, takes up residence in your soul. So why don't some people who claim Christ have Christ in this way? Because their pride gets in the way of their own salvation! We do not receive the Holy Spirit into our life by impressing God: "Looky what I can do. I can go to church, I can sing loud, I can dress up nice, I can give money, I can point to my great family heritage that has been going to this church since the beginning of time. See God, I deserve to make it in, I am quite a wonderful person and a great addition to your family." But obtaining eternal life is the exact opposite: I receive the Holy Spirit into my life by faith alone! Look at how clear scripture is on this point: - John 1:12-13 "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." - Romans 4:4-5 "Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness" - Ephesians 1:13 "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and having believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." - Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit." Each one of these verse are intentional in expressing two vitally important things: (1) People have a complete inability, in reputation, good standing or human effort, when it comes to impressing God. (2) The Holy Spirit is a gift to be simply received by faith. God alone gives eternal life, and if we think we contribute even the smallest of assistance or goodness to carry out this transaction, we utterly and completely spoil the whole thing. It is like taking credit for growing a giant oak tree because we watered it with a garden hose. When Jesus healed the blind man in John 9, how much light did the blind man first have to see in order for Jesus to heal him? Nothing, he was blind. Then why do we think we need to first impress God with our effort in order for him to eventually accept us? Like the blind man, all of us are 100% spiritually blind and dead before he comes to give us new life. (Ephesians 2:1-4 proves this!) I think the reason some people are true believers and others are not is rather simple: one is willing to admit their complete need for deliverance ("Save me!"), and the other still hasn't gotten over themselves yet. ("I can do it myself with no hand outs from God -- thank you very much!") They really believe they are so special, so intelligent, so passionate, so dedicated to tradition, that they can offer something of worth to help in saving themselves. So, now you see why some Christians are real and some as fake as plastic? The sad part is, people get mad when you simply tell them what you see. If only we could accept truth like we used to watching Sesame Street! Maybe Jesus was right, "To enter heaven you must first become like a little child." |
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