You may have noticed the past couple Sundays I've worn jeans while preaching...
Amongst some of our more traditional members, that's controversial. In fact, one of our ladies (whom I sincerely love, appreciate, and sympathize with) gave me a hard time for doing so. She made her comments to me after the service in front of two first time guests, who both happened to be wearing jeans... Awkward!
I wanted to ask her... Would you believe the reason why I'm wearing jeans is theologically driven by the incarnation of Christ?
I then wanted to respond with these words... When Jesus being fully God, became fully man, he dressed like the current culture of His time. He dressed like the culture he was currently trying to reach. In fact, the Bible never gives any physical description of Christ. The closest thing we get to a description is in Isaiah 53:2b, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.” All this tells us is that Jesus’ appearance was just like any other man's – He was ordinary-looking. Isaiah was prophesying that the coming suffering Servant would arise in lowly conditions and wear none of the usual emblems of royalty, making His true identity visible only to the discerning eye of faith.
So if Jesus was ordinary looking in his appearance, is it OK for me to be ordinary looking in my appearance on Sunday mornings when I preach? And if the majority of our unchurched guests are coming in jeans, wouldn't it make sense that I would meet them in jeans?
On Sunday mornings, we are a family expecting guests. We want our guests to feel comfortable and relaxed so that they can hear Jesus' invitation to become part of His family without any distractions. Think about it this way... What if you invited someone to come over to your home and be your guest, and when they arrived in jeans you answered the door wearing dress slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie? Do you think your guests might feel a bit uncomfortable and distracted?
And if Jesus, being God, became ordinary in his appearance like us, shouldn't we in the same way become ordinary in our appearance like those we are seeking to save in order that they might become like Him. We must remember the purpose of why the church exists. We share our purpose with Jesus, and part of that purpose is stated in Luke 19:10... "Jesus came to seek and save the lost".
We are a family expecting guests...
And we want our guests to be physically comfortable and undistracted...
So let's dress for success with our guests in mind... with purpose, sensitivity, and modesty.
Furthermore, God makes it clear in 1 Samuel 16:7b... "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." So we must be mindful not to confuse cultural Christianity with biblical Christianity. God wants us to have His heart... the heart of Jesus.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Inquisitive Minds Want To Know
In my first blog, inquisitor104 commented, "That's an interesting way of simplifying it all-- our success in life can be measured by the progress we're making in our relationships with God, his people, and those whom he seeks. To get a better handle on this, I'm curious to know how you came to this conclusion. How has the Lord been guiding your thinking?"
Very inquisitive question 104... Thanks for asking!
I came to my conclusion through the Holy Spirit's leading via Jesus' Great Commandment found in both Mark 12:28-34 and Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus was asked in both instances to identify the greatest and most important commandment. Jesus replied, the greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God," and the second, which is like it, is to "Love your neighbor as yourself."
The very essence of love revolves around relationship, particularly the relationship that the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) has with Himself. This thought is represented in the Mark passage, when Jesus qoutes Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one" to begin His answer. Out of this relationship that God has with Himself, he lovingly relates with those who are His and with those whom He desires to be His.
So in order to understand these three primary relationships, how does 'loving one's neighbor' delineate into two distinct groups (those who are His and those whom He desires to be His)? In John 13:34-35, Jesus makes this distinction when He gives His disciples a new command: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." 'Loving one another' is relating in love with those who are His, so that those whom God desires to be His can come to know Him as well. In Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission, we once again see the Trinity mentioned and how He relates to these two distinct groups as He calls us to make disciples. I will go into more depth in the blogs to come, but it became very clear to me that these three relationships are the most important relationships based on the Great Commandment and these correlating passages. We have a vertical primary love relationship with God Himself. And out of this relationship flows two primary horizontal relationships with our neighbors; relationship #1 being with His people ('one another') and #2 being with those He seeks to save ('so they may know').
This begs the question, what is love? To truly "love" someone is to have a deep affection for them which ultimately results in seeking their highest good. Here, Jesus is calling us to love God by modeling and reflecting God's love for us. In other words, we love because He first loved us. And when we love our neighbors well, this is part of how we love Him. We love Him and reflect His very character when we love one another, and we reflect his love for the lost when we share in relationship (community) the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those whom God desires to be His with our words and our deeds.
Therefore, our success in life is based on our balance and intentionality in these three relationships.
Thanks for the inquiry,
Craig H
Very inquisitive question 104... Thanks for asking!
I came to my conclusion through the Holy Spirit's leading via Jesus' Great Commandment found in both Mark 12:28-34 and Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus was asked in both instances to identify the greatest and most important commandment. Jesus replied, the greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God," and the second, which is like it, is to "Love your neighbor as yourself."
The very essence of love revolves around relationship, particularly the relationship that the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) has with Himself. This thought is represented in the Mark passage, when Jesus qoutes Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one" to begin His answer. Out of this relationship that God has with Himself, he lovingly relates with those who are His and with those whom He desires to be His.
So in order to understand these three primary relationships, how does 'loving one's neighbor' delineate into two distinct groups (those who are His and those whom He desires to be His)? In John 13:34-35, Jesus makes this distinction when He gives His disciples a new command: "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." 'Loving one another' is relating in love with those who are His, so that those whom God desires to be His can come to know Him as well. In Matthew 28:18-20, the Great Commission, we once again see the Trinity mentioned and how He relates to these two distinct groups as He calls us to make disciples. I will go into more depth in the blogs to come, but it became very clear to me that these three relationships are the most important relationships based on the Great Commandment and these correlating passages. We have a vertical primary love relationship with God Himself. And out of this relationship flows two primary horizontal relationships with our neighbors; relationship #1 being with His people ('one another') and #2 being with those He seeks to save ('so they may know').
This begs the question, what is love? To truly "love" someone is to have a deep affection for them which ultimately results in seeking their highest good. Here, Jesus is calling us to love God by modeling and reflecting God's love for us. In other words, we love because He first loved us. And when we love our neighbors well, this is part of how we love Him. We love Him and reflect His very character when we love one another, and we reflect his love for the lost when we share in relationship (community) the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those whom God desires to be His with our words and our deeds.
Therefore, our success in life is based on our balance and intentionality in these three relationships.
Thanks for the inquiry,
Craig H
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
It's About Relationships
I told someone this morning I was starting a blog. They asked me, "What's it about?" I answered, "It's about relationships." So, the address of this blog is the brainchild of that conversation.
Relationships are essentially what our church and our lives are about. And through this blog I will share my thoughts and my heart as to where I believe God is leading our church in His plan to shape our lives and our relationships. It's a place where I can express and communicate what is going on in my thinking, and where you can express your thoughts in response to my thinking.
The way I see it, a successful life boils down to three important relationships: Our relationship with God; Our relationship with those who are His; and Our relationship with those that God desires to be His. When I evaluate the effectiveness of my life, I intentionally use these three gauges of relationship.
Is there positive movement in my life on all three relational gauges? If so, I believe my life is moving in a relationally healthy direction. If any of these relational gauges are on zero and showing no movement, or are non-existant, I'm not fulfilling my God-given potential and I need to make changes. But, what changes will I make?
Tune in to find out, and please feel free to speak up with your response.
Craig H
Relationships are essentially what our church and our lives are about. And through this blog I will share my thoughts and my heart as to where I believe God is leading our church in His plan to shape our lives and our relationships. It's a place where I can express and communicate what is going on in my thinking, and where you can express your thoughts in response to my thinking.
The way I see it, a successful life boils down to three important relationships: Our relationship with God; Our relationship with those who are His; and Our relationship with those that God desires to be His. When I evaluate the effectiveness of my life, I intentionally use these three gauges of relationship.
Is there positive movement in my life on all three relational gauges? If so, I believe my life is moving in a relationally healthy direction. If any of these relational gauges are on zero and showing no movement, or are non-existant, I'm not fulfilling my God-given potential and I need to make changes. But, what changes will I make?
Tune in to find out, and please feel free to speak up with your response.
Craig H
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