“AIN’T DUTCH, AIN’T MUCH” – July 18

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, …” Ephesians 2:19

NETHERLANDS HOLLAND (Photo credit: LachieB1)

I have never been around more Dutch people than in the Church of my youth.  It was generally know as the “Dutch Church” while there was actually only one family from the Netherlands.  The vast majority of the other members had been born and raised in the United States.  However, many could claim a Dutch ancestry but their motherland dead-ended in Minnesota.  They knew very little of the actual Netherlands much beyond windmills, tulips, and canals.

However, that did not prevent a very real ethnic identity within that Church.

Netherlands (Photo credit: Vicki Devine)

There was distinct passion and pride for all things Dutch.  Most members’ homes contained some knick-knack, trinket, or lawn ornament paying homage to Holland.  I remember one family friend who wore a baseball cap emblazoned with “If You Ain’t Dutch?, You Ain’t Much!”.   Many in this small community held that opinion and those outside felt its sting.

It was a bit ironic how fiercely loyal they could be to a heritage which was more American than Dutch.  Most had no idea of the providence in the Netherlands, from which their ancestors migrated; that there actually are providences; that there is no country called Holland; that the Kingdom of the Netherland extends to the Caribbean; that Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh were Dutch painters; that the war of the United States of Independence was significantly financed by the merchants of Holland.  They do not know anything of the politics, geography, or culture of their heritage but they sure were proud of it.

I don’t think that my experience was unique.  Every major city has ethnic neighborhoods.  There is little, Saigon, Pakistan, Italy, Moscow, Manila, and Poland, just to name a few.  There is Chinatown, Germantown, Koreatown, Japantown, and Frenchville.  All are areas with a very distinct ethnic identity; an identity for a place that is not the inhabitants’ current home.

I realize that there can be a lot of negatives associated with these communities.  However, there is one aspect that I like:

The zeal for a place that most in the community have never known.

The Apostle Paul writes that all who are in Christ are citizens of the Kingdom of God.  Now, there is a reason for some zeal.  The Kingdom of God is better than any kingdom of this earth; being a child of God is better than being a member of any nationality.  Fierce loyalty is an appropriate response of someone who has been adopted as a fellow heir with Christ.

I should be zealous for this place that I have never been.

The good news is that this place of my hope and zeal is not exclusive.  My heritage is Dutch.  My son and daughter are Korean.  They can never be Dutch.  I can never be Korean.  Yet, the origins of our pasts do not prevent us from being fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.  The community of God does not have barriers of discrimination or superiority.  God’s kingdom is open to all who will come to him regardless of race, gender, or nationality.

That should get us passionate about who we have become in Christ.

How can any of us “ho-hum” this place of our hope?

How can any follower of Christ prefer the world more than the place of our new citizenship?

We should be fired up about who we are in Christ!

While it is silly to think that if you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much, it is true that if you ain’t got Christ, you ain’t got anything.  We should want others to be like us because it is better to have eternal life.

Our zeal for the Lord should fire us up to boldly proclaim our true citizenship and call the world to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

PRAYER: Lord, you have given me a heritage that is far better than anything this world has to offer.  Father, thank you for adopting me into your family.  Thank you for giving me an inheritance and a hope.  Thank you for saving me.  Lord, may my zeal for You be seen.  My hope in you be evident in all that I do.  Help me to boldly proclaim the free gift of citizenship that You are offering to all people.  May your name be praised and glorified.  I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ.   Amen.

Fun and Informative Video on the Netherlands:  Holland vs the Netherlands

“PREPARING MY DEFENSE” – April 9

“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews.  Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.”  Acts 26:2-3

Pro se is the legal term for advocating one’s own behalf before a court.  My experience with the legal system has been limited and mostly unpleasant.  I would not ever consider going pro se before a court if I had any other recourse.

Recently, I participated in a mediation process to resolve a dispute between my company and a former client.  The process went exceedingly well.  We agreed to accept less than what we thought that we were due but received more than we dared to hope for.  I think the resolution equally displeased both parties, which probably makes it a good compromise.  The best result was that we stayed out of the courtroom.

However, we were both represented by our legal advisors in the mediation.  My legal team was very instrumental in resolving the complaint and keeping it from getting larger and more expensive.  I am afraid if I had gone pro se that my ignorance of the legal system would have caused a more unsatisfactory result.

I have never faced a court when life has been on the line.  I would be terrified to be pro se when the potential sentence is death.   Yet, that was exactly what Paul had to do in front of the courts in Caesarea.  Paul stood before Porcuis Festus, the Roman Governor, King Agrippa and Bernice, military tribunes, and all the prominent men of the city to make a defense of his actions.

I wonder if Paul had longed for legal representation.  I don’t know if that was even an option or if he had decided to go pro se.  What I do know is that Paul presented a wonderful defense of the gospel:

He told of his life before he came to Christ (vs. 4-11);

He told of his conversion (vs. 12-16);

He spoke about the reality that all men are in darkness and under the power of Satan and must turn to the light and God (vs. 18);

He referred to the scriptures, the prophets and Moses, and how they taught that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he proclaimed light (vs. 23);

He spoke the truth in a rational manner (vs. 25);

He spoke with boldness (vs. 26);

He appealed to all those who heard him to change and become like him – a follower of Christ  (vs. 29);

In many ways, all followers of Christ are advocates.  We are all in a pro se defense of our beliefs in which the goal is not to convince others that we are right but to appeal to them to become like us.  We do not have the option to hire someone to make our own personal appeal.  We must advocate on our own behalf in the court of other people’s opinion because we want them to be like us – children of God.

How much time have you spent on the preparation of your defense?

I can attest to the fact that my company spent a lot of time and money in preparing our case in our recent dispute.  Money was all that swung in the balance in that case.   In the case of the gospel, the eternal lives of those who have not come to Christ are in the balance.

How much time and preparation is that worth?

I wrote a very similar post as this one awhile back, about the need to be prepared to present the good news of Jesus Christ.  GREAT INTENTIONS – March 5 .  Sherry, a fellow blogger at He Hath Said , made the following comment to that post:

I believe those Christians with blogs, no matter the subject, should have a page that introduces their unregenerated readers to Christ Jesus and the reason they need Him as their Lord and Savior. We must look for opportunities to share the Gospel in any godly way possible. But, let there be prayers by all for the raising up of laborers to bring in the harvest as well as the preparing of an unsaved soul by God’s Holy Spirit to receive the salvation upon hearing the Word of God presented.

I heartily agreed with Sherry and promptly did … nothing.

The Apostle Paul and Sherry have encouraged me to do something.  Therefore, I am going to take the next day or two to prepare my defense.  My next post, Lord willing, will be my own personal defense that will find a home on a new page of my website, as Sherry suggested.

Therefore, I beg that you will, at that time, read patiently the appeal of my heart.

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for giving me your Spirit.  Thank you for giving us your Spirit to bear witness with our spirit that we are children of God.  Lord, fill me to the brim with your Spirit.  Make me overflow with the goodness that comes only from You.  Help me set my mind on You and the things of your Spirit.  May I glorify and enjoy You in all that I do for all of my days. . . Amen.

“CLEAN OR UNCLEAN ASSOCIATIONS” – Mar. 12

“In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air.  And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”  But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”  And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.”  Acts 10:12-15

There is a new church coming to your town.  I wonder if you will attend.

It is a church where:

Children run up and down the aisles;

Your race is the minority;

People talk at inappropriate times during the service;

Some are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction;

An ashtray is outside for the smokers;

The worship service has some hip-hop;

A few believe that deodorant is optional;

The police are aware of a few of the attendees;

The guys have longer hair than the girls;

Some are struggling with pornography addiction;

Some unwed teens are pregnant;

Not all have homes to return to;

A few effeminate men and masculine women attend;

Occasionally, feet are placed on the furniture;

The underwear of several young men can be seen;

Some, struggling with cursing, fail here;

The local tattoo artist references many attendees in his portfolio;

There is no doxology.

Is this the type of church that you seek?  I know the reasons why these are not the attributes that appeal to my family and me.  I don’t see these attributes in the vision statements of most churches.  I wonder how much of our religious Church culture creates the same results as the Jewish culture of Peter’s time.

“And he (Peter) said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.” Acts 10:28

Our Christian doctrines don’t have specific laws about who we can associate with or visit like the Jews did.  However, consider the end results.  Isn’t the typical church on a Sunday morning almost as homogenous as any Synagogue in Jerusalem during Peter’s time?

Mine is.

It is as if the welcome mats at our Sunday gatherings have an unwritten expectation of what we consider clean and acceptable.  The unclean don’t seem to get past it.

Are there folks out in your community who you would prefer not to associate with on Sunday morning? 

Are there some who you consider too rough? 

Are there some who are simply uncouth? 

Are there some who you have determined are unclean and should not be associated with?

Peter was sent to the very people he believed he should not associate with.  God showed him that he should not call any person common or unclean.  I have never heard anyone in the mainstream of Christian community call any group of people unclean.  However, do our actions confess to a heart that has judged another person as unfit to be associated with?

To my shame, I think that my actions do.  I don’t think that I have actively pursued a course of pious dissociation but I look at the reality of my life.  I rarely associate with anyone who does not look like me.  I wonder what a disinterested third-party would infer of my beliefs based on an evaluation of the people with whom I associate.

I think that we all need to be very careful about letting our social preferences creep into our definitions of acceptable.  In Galatians 1:11-14, we are told that Peter stumbled due to this mindset.  He withdrew from the Gentiles.  Those same people whom God had said were clean he withdrew from because of social pressures. We don’t have any written rules or laws about who we can associate.  However, we sure seem to withdraw from those who make us uncomfortable.

Brothers and sisters, let’s evaluate our hearts to make sure that the reason for the uniformity of our associates is not due to some attitude of withdrawal that has the effect of keeping the uncomfortable away.  Remember, those who make us uncomfortable need a Savior just as much as you and I.  I am not sure how to immediately apply this to my life.  Maybe, we are to be like Peter, when the Lord sent the unclean to him.  Peter opened the door and was welcoming.  Maybe, we should prepare our hearts and make sure we display a welcoming attitude for all those who expect to be rejected.

PRAYER: Lord, I don’t know if the reason for the similarity of all my friends is due to an inappropriate attitude or simply due to where you have me.  Either way, examine my heart, Lord.  Don’t allow me to be unwelcoming to those whom you bring into my life.  Lord, I want to be like Peter and go to those who you send to me regardless of social pressures or personal preference.  Father, may your Church be the most welcoming place in the world for those who are truly seeking you.  Amen

A MERE SPIN MASTER OF THE RIGHT – Nov. 20th

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life…” Deut. 30:19

The US presidential election is over but that has not stopped the political pundits from continuing the “spinning” of their party. I realize that intelligent people can mine data for salient facts. However, the simple answer can be pushed aside in all the analysis. My analysis of the election – people voted for the candidate that they feel will provide the best future for themselves and their families. We will find out if it was a good choice. The only other arena with as much advocate “spinning” is religion. 

There is an on-going battle raging between secularists & religion; atheists and God-believers. I am typically cast on one side of the debate. However, is it a debate that I should be having? Christians often get caught up in debating issues that we are convinced will affect our lives and the lives of our family.  We forget our purpose. We cast as foes the very people that we are sent to reach. We alienate, through the pursuit of our own self interest, the people who need the clear choice of the gospel presented to them.

I don’t want to be a mere spin-master of the right. I want to cut through all the spin and distraction of religious issues to clearly speak what I believe about the choice before every person. I want to be like Moses and be able to say that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  I want my “foes” to know that they are not my foe. I want them to know that I desperately want them to choose life. That is my message, spin free.

PRAYER: Father, Thank you for giving us a clear choice. Thank you for providing a way of escape from death and curses.  Lord, give me wisdom to know what debates I should engage in. Give me the strength to be willing to sacrafice my own self-interests for the purpose of your gospel. Open my eyes to those who feel like foes and love them as you do.   Amen

CONFUSING THE EROGATE WITH THE SUPEREROGATE

I was recently driving home from a business trip.  I was listening to a podcast by Econtalk  regarding John Locke and the rationing attempts following Hurricane Sandy. They used an example to explain a couple of words that I was not familiar with; erogate and supererogate .

 The example was to suppose that you have a life ring and you see a person drowning.  You know that you can throw the life ring and save that person.  You will be able to get your life ring back so that there is no significant expense to yourself. It is a pretty horrible person who would refuse to exert the effort and expense of throwing a life ring to a drowning person because that is an erogatory task. A moral person is obliged to do this type of task. It is a reasonable and normal duty that we owe our fellow human beings.

 Now, let’s suppose that you do not have a life ring and there are riptides and other strong currents that have trapped this drowning person.  You decide to swim out to this person and rescue them at great personal risk to your own life. That is a supererogatory task.  That response exceeds what is expected of a normal moral person.   

 These words and this example got me to think about Romans 10:14

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” Romans 10:14  

I think that we consider sharing our faith as a supererogatory act.  However, there is typically no great personal risk. Our lives don’t hang in the balance. There is no great expense to our finances. Yet, their eternal condition is just as perilous as the drowning person in our example.  Telling someone what Christ means to you is not responding beyond what is required or expected, when you consider the unbelievers plight. It is an erogatory task. It is our duty as reasonable moral people.

 Someone may counter with the argument that the person doesn’t know that they are drowning; they don’t believe in God or hell. However, I believe in hell. I believe that the only means to escape condemnation and eternal punishment is through Christ’s work on the cross where he condemned sin in the flesh. That is the life ring that I have to throw. My decision to throw that life ring is not dependent upon whether the person will catch it. I have no control over that. Therefore, my speaking the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is still an erogatory task for me. It is my normal and reasonable duty, based on what I believe, to evangelize.

What kind of person am I if I were to refuse? I think this video by Penn Jillete puts the Christian’s erogatory duty into perspective.

MOTIVATED BY WHAT MATTERS- Nov. 13th

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” Luke 10:16    

It is evident, based on this last election, that our country is very divided, with many strong opinions on both side. I wasn’t hesitant about letting folks know who I supported and why. I, like most people, participated in the election due to a sincere belief in the right direction for our country. That belief motivated many outside their comfort zone to become messengers for their canidate and let their voices and votes be heard. However, there are decisions that have eternal consequences, which are more important than the temporary leadership of a nation. Shouldn’t the eternal be a greater motivator than a presidential election or anything else that is temporal? Yet, the grip of this comfort zone is difficult to break. I am dismayed at my own hesitancy to be a messenger of the eternal. My hesitancy is borne of fear: fear of offending, embarassment, failure, an ackward silence, loss of a friend. What about the fear for a person’s eternal destiny? That fear should trump all others. We are messengers. If the message I present is rejected, it is not about me. God is the one being rejected. That matters and should break my heart. My feelings getting hurt is secondary. The fact that the feelings of the messenger becomes a factor in the delivery of the message is a testamony to the messenger’s own narrcissim. Let’s get over ourselves, pick up the urgency of our time, and speak the good news. That matters.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for saving me. Thank you for sending your own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin, to condemn the sin in me in order that I might be filled with your righteousness.  Lord, I pray for ___________, draw them to yourself. You have said that those who you reveal yourself to will know you (Luke 10:22). Please show yourself to these dear people that I am lift up before you. Give me the opportunity to speak your good news. Give me the courage to be faithful. Give me the words to speak. May you do your work through me and may your glory abound.  Amen