Flaunting Our Bacon

Imagine that the apostle Paul has an iPhone with Instagram capabilities. Do you think he would send this out to all of his Jewish friends:

    “Eat this Jews!”

Because of the work of Christ people are now free to eat bacon. Yet, some early Christians had a difficult time making this transition. They grew up thinking that everything that came from a pig was dirty and defiled. In the same way some Gentiles had a difficult time eating food that had been previously offered to idols. Others believed they were free to do anything. 

This was Paul’s response to both:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings.

You can ask several questions of this text and debate them all day. But one thing is clear. The gospel caused Paul to be absolutely “others” focused. It’s the same thing he said in Galatians 5. “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

I don’t see Paul sending an Instagram photo of him eating bacon so as to teach people a theology of freedom. He didn’t flaunt his freedom as a way of showing the supremacy of Christ. In fact truly free people don’t flaunt their freedom, they quietly enjoy it. When you are free—and really living in freedom—you aren’t focused on the freedom itself. In Christ our focus is now on our liberty to truly love and follow Christ and lovingly serve others.

And that’s what has me bothered by much of the behavior of my generation when it comes to Christian freedoms. We pretend like Jesus Christ died to make us free--and then we stick a period on that statement and move on. But there isn’t a period there. There is a comma. Jesus Christ died to make us free so that we can “through love serve one another”.

Listen, the last thing I want to do is give a list of rules. When we are talking about these Christian freedoms I don’t think “right/wrong” is the most helpful question. It’s usually an issue of wisdom and an issue of love. So I propose three questions to ask ourselves about our freedoms:

1. Are you using your freedom to serve yourself or others? How so?
2. Is your identity in Christ or in your “freedom”?
3. Are you free to NOT engage in this freedom?  (Here you need to read this article by Patrick Schreiner which links to this helpful article by Brett McCracken.

There is more to be said on this, but I’ll leave it there for today…

Baseball, Streaking, and the Christian Life

At one point this season, Royals centerfielder Lorenzo Cain had a 12 for 18 streak. That streak* was filled with homeruns, doubles, and more than one clutch RBI. When interviewed during this streak, Cain commented that the ball was coming to him looking like a beach ball. His comment got me thinking about living the Christian life.

I’ve actually experienced the beach-ball effect. At one point during my senior year of high school (the last year I played hardball) I had a similar streak to Cain’s. As I watched the ball come to the plate it seemed to grow at the same rate as the Grinch’s heart. It’s easy to hit a baseball when you see it this clearly.

I’m not in the major leagues.

That is because for the most part I’m a terrible hitter. Typically the ball looks like a deflated ping pong ball. And that (among other things) is what separates me from major league stars. Any schmuck can hit a ball when it looks three sizes too big. What separates the big boys of summer from the mustard-stained amigo on the couch is how you hit when the ball is normal—or even when it appears smaller than normal.

3 Lessons From the Beach Ball

I believe you could use this analogy for a number of things. You could talk about pastoring in the difficult times, parenting when your kids seem like monkeys hopped up on energy drinks, being a good friend when your buddy is a jerk, or remaining faithful as a spouse when times get really tough. You can apply it many ways. Here are three general lessons that I draw from the beach ball.

1. It’s not the hot streaks but the day to day faithfulness to Jesus that will define me. The world might view us based upon our best day or on our worst day. But the Lord (and history) seems to view the entire trajectory of our lives. If I’m amazing at being a husband for three months after attending a seminar, but I’m a terrible specimen of a man the other nine months I’ll be defined as a husband that blew it.
2. How I respond in the cold streaks matter. If I give up and wait until the beach ball moments come back I’ve blown it. I think about this with writing. Sometimes it comes with ease. Other times it feels like I can’t even write my name. Yet I keep plodding along.
3. Am I taking advantage of those beach balls? Listen if the Lord gives you an overflow of grace you had better use it up. It’s like manna—it’s meant for today. If the ball feels like a beach ball don’t stand at the plate with the bat on your shoulder looking for a walk, get after it. You know that the streak won’t last—that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of it. Some people can’t enjoy the view from the mountain because they see the valley right around the corner.

If you’re having a beach ball experience then enjoy it and use it for God’s glory. If things are coming a little more difficult keep plodding along. Take heart in knowing that the most important aspect of your faith is it’s unchanging object.

Keep on swinging whether it looks like a beach ball or not.
---
*Did you think I meant a different type of streaking? Silly rabbit…

Slave: It Ain’t Mystical

There's 104 days of summer vacation
And school comes along just to end it
So the annual problem for our generation
Is finding a good way to spend it
(From the Phineas and Ferb theme song)

I hear that song at least once a day in my house now that Isaiah has picked up watching this show. Hearing that song brought back memories of my school days when I too shared that pressing problem of trying to determine how to spend our time. For my generation the question was asked by a numb-skulled mouse named Pinky and his (or maybe her) shrewd friend Brain.

“What are we going to do today, Brain?” Pinky would ask in every episode. To which Brain would reply, “The same thing we do every day Pinky…try to take over the world.” And just as in Phineas and Ferb these two adventurers would give their days to various exploits that we were privileged to enjoy in each episode.

When I read in my New Testament things like, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus”, I wonder what this means for the day to day adventures of life. Am I to be like Pinky asking, “What are we going to do today, Jesus…”? Or does being a slave of Christ mean something different.

The word often translated “servant(s)” is the Greek word doulos. It can just as easily be translated “slave”. The idea is of an indentured-servant that no longer has control of his own life. He has been bought by another and now his main aim is to do his masters will.

So, does this mean that the believer is to be similar to Pinky the Mouse and ask Jesus every morning what we are going to be doing? Did Paul and Timothy wake up every morning with very little knowledge of what their day would look like and only find out when they received a word from the Lord? Did they have to wait for marching order from King Jesus before they set about their day?

Does such a view of slavery fit the ancient world?

The truth is most of these slaves were more like indentured servants. That doesn’t mean a slave with false teeth. (Sorry, that was really bad). What it means is that they held occupations like doctors, teachers, lawyers, carpenters, fish salesmen, etc. Most of them became slaves because they made foolish financial decisions or played too much Bingo at the local synagogue. They didn’t have bankruptcy back in the day so you would sell yourself as a servant to pay off the debt. A free doctor became a servant doctor.

So if you were a carpenter you didn’t sit around playing your Xbox 360 until your daily assignment came in. Nor did you trek to your master’s house and ask him what he wanted you to do that day. You simply went about your day. If you were a carpenter you did carpenter type things for your master.

Certainly there were times when the master would throw you a curveball and the carpenter would spend his Thursday churning butter instead of building a barn. But when he woke up that morning he assumed he would be sawing wood. As a general rule that’s what he would have been doing.

Being a servant of Christ is not conceptually much different. For me I am an associate pastor in Jasper, Indiana and a writer. When I wake up in the morning I am those things and I spend my day doing those things. I don’t need a word from the Lord in the morning to tell me how I ought to spend my day. I already know it. I go about being the best pastor and writer that I can be through His power and for His glory.

What it means to be a slave of Christ

Being a slave of Christ has less to do with determining the specifics of my day and more about the way the specifics of my day are lived out. It doesn’t necessarily mean that I write this article and not that article. Or preach this sermon and not that one. It has more to do with the way I write the article or preach the sermon. I write or preach as one bought with the blood of Jesus. My labors are for His kingdom and not my own.

This is not something unique to pastoral ministry either. When an electrician wakes up in the morning as a slave of Christ he does so as a dude that is probably going to wire somebody’s house that day. He might get the occasional curveball from the Lord but as a general rule he’s going to spend his day splicing wires and fixing an old ladies lights to the glory of God.

I imagine if you want to be like Pinky you can ask the Lord what we are going to be doing that day. But I doubt you’ll get a much different response than Pinky received in the cartoon series. “The same thing we do every day Pinky, usher in the Kingdom”.

So enough of all this mystical hogwash about not doing anything until you get direct marching orders from Jesus. If God has called you to be stock shelves at the local grocery store then do it to His glory. And do it with the goal of ushering in His kingdom every day. Don’t waste your time stressing out about all of the specifics.

You’re a slave and that isn’t mystical.