Does anyone else have the mental defect that I do that causes you to compulsively read every sign possible as you drive down the road? Seriously, even if it is a sign that I have seen and read a thousand and one times, I still have to look at every sign I drive by. I don’t read them out loud, just in my head. All of the traffic signs kind of pop in the brain and pop back out. Billboards are a little worse, especially the ones I don’t particularly care for–the billboard that used to be up on my commute advertising the semi local strip club used to jump out at me and wave it’s arms no matter how hard I tried to ignore the blasted thing.

Well, if it’s aggravation-level that causes a sign to continue reverberating around my noggin way longer then the drive-by, church signs are by far the worst offenders. I’m not talking about the ones that just give the name of the church and service times. I’m talking about the cutesy cute, Christian-ese filled versions that often rely on silly puns or some other play on words.

On my way to work there is one church that has this sign:

“The best vitamin for a Christian is B1″

I get it. Cute. Best thing for us to do is to continue to strive to live up to the name of Christ. I see what you did there.

But I can’t help but wonder, do the churches that put up these slogans really think that they impact the non-churched to influence them to attend? I tell you how much impact it had on me when I was a young person: one of our entertainments as teens was to sneak up to those signs at night and re-order the letters to say something else. (The above sign might have been rearranged to say, “Tame a beast for Christ.” Spare letters left at the foot of the sign) The more obnoxious the sign, the more fun it was to rearrange it. Harmless fun, really.

But this one:

“Members Only: Trespassers will be baptized!”

That one makes wakes up my fire-in-the-belly ranting machine.

Doesn’t the modern church has enough PR problems with the unsaved to be adding to the divide? There is something about saying this church is “Members Only,” that only reinforces the idea that the Church is cliquish and that there is a list of special requirements one must meet before coming in. And the saddest part is that to the unchurched, by extension, Christ Himself becomes cliquish and unwelcoming. Ouch, people.

Trespassers will be baptized? !?? Oh my goodness…how scary is that? Some poor unsuspecting unbeliever sets foot in this sanctuary dressed in Sunday best, already nervous about fitting in or belonging, only to be grab-handled by the group and dunked! That’ll teach you to seek God in this place! Now you are washed clean (??) and covered (??)…you meet the requirements for “Membership” and can join us next Sunday without fear…

I am only slightly exaggerating for effect. But I think you see where I am headed.

The way I see it, our signs, just like our lives, need to appeal to basic need in order to get the attention of the unbeliever. People need to belong. We need to know that we are loved by God just the way we are now. That no matter where we are in life, what we are involved in, no matter WHAT…God says we can belong to Him. That He loves us so much He died for us. We need to know that we are welcome in His presence.

Can that even be conveyed on a sign?

*This post is part of the Blogger Small Group reading the book of James. To read other participant posts, head over to Run’n Like a Vagabond.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.

Greetings back at ya James. I’m betting you have a lot to say to me this week.

Trials and Temptations
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Do I consider it joy whenever I face trials? Well, that depends on what I think a trial is, doesn’t it? If I am facing affliction (disease, persecution and the like) then I am less likely to consider it pure joy. Who am I kidding? No, my nature will tell me that I am going through hell. And my depressed mind will grab hold of that and hang on tight, rehearsing and nursing that fear and anxiety.

Check out the first Greek definition for the word “trial” in that passage. Now check out the definition of the word “testing“. Same basic definition of trying something to prove it true. So what if I think of these trials more as proving grounds for God? As Isaiah 59:19 says, when the enemy comes as a flood, God will lift up a standard against him. Or in one of my favorite songs by ….God says to me “Lift your hands, be glad…I’m coming strong, on your behalf…”

Ok, so the purpose for testing our faith (through various trials or adversity) is to develop perseverance, which leads to spiritual maturity. Can we grow “mature and complete, not lacking anything” without the trial? Without the temptations? I don’t know for sure, but I am inclined to say that since even Christ had to go through it before His public ministry began…I imagine that we who follow Him will not be immune. What is my takeaway from this? Change how I view the trials. Instead of hell-on-earth, view them as opportunities for God to show up and show up strong!

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

I’ve said for a couple of years now that if I have *any* wisdom at all, it’s because I asked for it. Same for understanding, same for patience, same for you name it. There were times before I took this passage to heart where I didn’t have wisdom. I just willy-nillied through life making one disastrous mistake after another. Now that I think about it, I even rejected the wise counsel of some of my more mature friends. Eventually, I began to realize that I was making foolish decisions. I was at a loss though for how to gain wisdom. When I discovered this passage, I decided I would ask God for wisdom in lots of messed up areas of my life. I think things began to change for me at that point. I started examining how I was relating to my family and began practicing wise actions. I asked for wisdom in handling our finances…today we are debt free. I ask for understanding every time I study the Word, and I rarely come away from that time feeling untouched, unchanged.

The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

I think Paul said it best: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” Phil 4:12

In other words, my circumstances (whether good or bad) are not what determines how I feel.

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

I think by following up the previous two comments with this statement, James is saying that when we are tested by what we lack (whether it be financial lack, spiritual lack, physical lack…whatever) we are blessed with crowns if we persevere. We ask for Him to pour out His provision, we rest in the peace of trusting that provision will come in His perfect time.

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

James sets us all straight on the source of temptation. Not God, but our own evil desires drag us away. Then there is a natural progression from evil desire to enticement to conception to birth of sin to death. Hmm. Best to nip that early, yes? This is why I try to practice the confess early-confess often principle.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

Buck up soldiers! Standing under trials and tests proves us as a kind of “first fruit” of all He created. The Greek for first fruits means the sacred first portion that is consecrated to God. Also, it carries with it the idea that we are to be superior in excellence. God wants the good stuff, and to Him, when we are standing firm in our faith under tests and trials, we show off His excellence and stand apart from the crowd, different in heart and spirit.

Listening and Doing
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James just describes the secret to getting along with any and every body all of the time. Be quick to listen, to understand. Be slow to declare one’s mind. Be even slower to lose your temper. Truly I still struggle with these parts. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in myself that I just can’t understand why I can’t get the five people I live with all on the same page as me. Well, maybe if I’d be a little more attentive, listen a bit closer, seek to understand their heart BEFORE I start laying out my desires on the table….maybe I would be heard a bit more often. I am forever walking around muttering “no one ever listens to me.” Well, no wonder. I walk around not listening to them MOST of the time…

This is definitely an area that needs work, is all I’m saying.

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

How hard is it for us to grasp that “moral filth” directly affects our ability to accept the Word planted in us. When I had an abundance of “moral filth” in my life, there was no way I was going to hear and be able to apply the Word to my life. No way I was going to be able experience God the way I can now. Yet, I knew then that the Word would save me, it was the answer to my problem. It wasn’t until I was ready to get rid of that filth (humbly repent) that I started accepting the life-giving word. Please hear me: I’m not saying that we have to get our act together on our own before we can move to God…I’m just saying that God knows our heart, and he will reward a willing and humbled one with strength and life.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

This reminds me of the parable of the Sower, and the different soils that the seed fell upon. The listener-not-doing is a lot like the rocky and/or shallow soils.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James doesn’t go for the flowery prose or deep deep thoughts here. Practical, that man. Point taken. Guard that mouth, put your belief to action, be pure in thought and deed.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. It’s become an ever growing fire in the belly…

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
John 8:1-11

Oh, those Pharisees. They haven’t stopped, have they? Churches are filled with “Law-yers” who want to boil Christianity down into a bulleted to do list: Pray, Attend Church, Give, Study the Word on Wednesdays and Sundays. Law-yers have a hard time with the messes we make in our lives. They want their religion to be sterile and exclusive. You must earn your place among them. And among them there is no place for people who struggle with sin.

I read this account of the woman caught in adultery and I wonder…was adultery the “pet sin” of the day? Did the Pharisees purposely seek out someone who was living that life because that was the one sin everyone thought was the worst? You know what I mean? They same way we point at a homosexual and hiss “sinner!” today. This is the part of Religious-ness that I must not be getting. At what point during Jesus’ interactions with broken, messed up people did he EVER label them? Jesus walked a fine line between Condoning (He didn’t: “Go now and leave your life of sin”) and Condemning (He didn’t: “neither do I condemn you”).

Why can’t we?

Especially those of us who have, in our past, been paraded among our brothers and sisters as the worst of sinners?

I love what Jesus says to these Law-men. Those of you who are without sin, go ahead and stone her. Look, if we ever hope to model Jesus, we have got to stop pointing fingers. We’ve got to get off our Holier than Thou horse and stop the name calling. We need to stop threatening the Broken with stones. God wants NONE of us to perish. He wants to draw ALL men unto him. He’s ready to use messed up people like me to reach messed up people like her. But I am useless to him if I think her sin (or anyone’s) is any worse than what I’ve done. I am even counter-productive to His will when I take it upon myself to judge her.

When I was drinking heavily, the last thing I wanted or needed was someone to point out to me all the passages in the Bible that said it was sinful. What I wanted, what I needed, was someone to tell me that there was hope that I could live the life God had seeded inside of me. Because even at my worst, that seed still held potential for a God-glorifying life. I needed to be told that He still thought of me as His precious masterpiece. That He was prepared to nurture that seed to fruit-bearing Life.

I know there are people out there who are living sinfully and who don’t care what God thinks or says about that. It’s kind of heartbreaking, but that’s what free will is all about. It’s their choice! But I am also saying that if we ever expect their hearts to soften, we better start treating them with the same love and dignity that Christ did.

I’m dropping my stones, folks. I am not going to exert my precious energy doing something that only God can do (judge the heart). Instead, I want to spend my life telling others what He has done in me, for me and through me, and that His heart remains ever open to them for the same purpose. Maybe if I (if we) can do that without all the finger wagging and such, maybe…just maybe…they will believe.

He sings songs to me
in morning before the sun
rises to warm me

songs of new life from
the finch, blue jay, and robin
feathered choruses

He paints a canvas
midday, on my lunch-time walk,
color everywhere

Blue sky and white clouds
horizon to horizon
new leaves on the trees

The Father leads me
through soothing evening dance steps,
puts the day to rest

The rhythms soothe me
His arms hold me and I drift,
daylight, music fade

I’m short on time this morning, having stayed up far too late last night dinking (technical term) with my new header and also trying to wind down from last night’s class. I find myself jacked up when I get home after teaching, so it takes a while. Last night, I spent that energy on the header (if you don’t see it, try clearing your cache or doing a ctrl-F5 refresh), and some valuable surfing….

• Kyle at Run’n Like a Vagabond has posted this week’s Blogger Small Group passage: James 1. I have already read and am processing. But I think this is incredibly timely, a God thing. If you are so inclined, why not participate?
• Remember how I said I was still working on that whole submissiveness thing? Jeff over at Consuming Worship posted an excellent article on the topic. With Scriptures noted so that we can all see what the Word says for ourselves.
• Earth day has me wanting to celebrate God’s creation. So I am putting into practice these energy saving tips related to computing. PS, Trent at The Simple Dollar is an excellent source for motivation on living within your means. *LOVE* that website.
• Go one step further, rid your mailbox of junk mail and save a few trees (oh, and have some planted in your honor!).

Firstborn is totally going to call me out because I steadfastly refuse to recycle until I can think of a collection method that doesn’t make me feel like I’m rolling around in my own trash. I’m taking baby steps to Green myself.

Anyway, have a beautiful day. Haiku tomorrow, but hopefully I can finish a more substantial post before then.