Army of Priests

The bible’s picture of a New Creation seems far removed from what exists in Church’s today. The primary mission of this blog is to inspire people to turn from “born again lazy” into “samurai”. It is time western Christianity got itself into gear and started going all out for God. This is difficult, for we have taught ourselves a gospel that isn’t as good as the Good News should be. In light of all that we have studied so far, let us examine in this final post where we go wrong.

Saved by Works

In the past people feared that if they sinned after they were baptised they were doomed. Sin was condemnation. Consider: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), “He repays everyone for what they have done; he brings on them what their conduct deserves” (Job 34:11), “The dead were judged according to what they had done” (Revelation 20:12), “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (Romans 2:6-8), “Those who obey the law who will be declared righteous” (Romans 2:13).

The bible makes one thing clear: actions are important. As such the majority of Christianity over the last two millenniums has focused on us eliminating our sin. There is one problem – it doesn’t work! I cannot go a day reaching God’s standard. This is old covenant ideology. Yet we see much condemnation being poured onto sinners by so called Christians. Perhaps they have the wrong idea of what saves them – or worse, maybe their frauds interested only in appearance!

The idea here is that we make ourselves as righteous as possible to get into heaven.

Saved by Faith

There is another idea that faith in God is what it takes to save us. We can’t do it on our own, but if we believe in God he’ll get us into heaven. Consider: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8), “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9), “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Thank God! We can’t save ourselves so he helps us out. We need only believe in him. Unfortunately, James gives us a wake up call: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? … You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?” (James 2:14, 20-21). And then there are the verses in the section above.

The bible suddenly appears contradictory. What saves us – faith or works? In the mean time millions of Christians blissfully go through life confident that they are “saved by faith”. This ideology produces a dead Christianity.

The idea here is that we have faith and God removes our sins to get us into heaven.

Saved by God

Fortunately for us there is a much grander gospel which most Christians miss. According to Kenny Luck, mercy is when we don’t get what we do deserve and grace is when we get what we don’t deserve (Risk, pg 45). Consider this verse: “To the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). God justifies the wicked (mercy) and credits us with righteousness (grace). He saves us from hell (mercy), but then does more (grace). What is this more?

Let us return to the beginning. We were made perfect. We stuffed up. Consider part 4, that God makes us New Creations. God doesn’t just plan to get rid of our sin. He doesn’t even just plan to get us into heaven. He plans to return us to intimacy with him. This is the good news! It’s not about heaven, it is about restoration. We can be perfect again!

Because we cannot defeat sin on our own, God places part of Himself in us. He begins the process of restoring us to intimacy with Him simply by being intimate with us. In this way he changes us from the inside out. Rather then enforce external rules we find that through faith God begins to change us. He makes us a new creation. Rather then fight that sinful nature God wants to slowly get rid of it all together!

He does this by walking with us. When we stumble, and we will, we are not condemned to hell. God would never condemn us for our sins. He’ll discipline us for them, but only in his loving pursuit of making us perfect again. Our part is not passive rather our salvation is a partnership. God works with us to remove our sin. Not just the record of them, but our actual doing of them.

This is the New Creation – a person who walks with God; a person who passionately seeks Him as He seeks us. The more we go after God, the more we find that we don’t want to sin. The more we become a new person.

It is an awesome privilege, and great news. I don’t need to struggle constantly against sin in my life only to fail again and again and again. Nor do I live as some born again lazy Christian relying on my belief in some 2000 year old dead guy. God is making me good and I want a part of that. My job is to follow him, and give him permission, as he does his work in my life. He is the potter and I am the clay.

Salvation comes neither by works, nor by faith. It comes from faith, expressed only by action, that a living God can change you. This is the resurrection. We haven’t just died to sin; we have been raised in new life! This is good news. We are New Creations. This is better than can be imagined. It’s not just about heaven; it is about becoming whole again. It is about redemption, not survival.

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This concludes this series. I have barely brushed on this topic and missed much. But I challenge you to seek God as he changes you. Don’t try to change yourself. Don’t sit back and keep living your sinful life. Seek God. Let him credit righteousness to you. Become a New Creation.

We’ve been going through the story fairly quickly. We were made perfect, we fell, pride hurts us, and so God provided us a moral compass to help us out. But it wasn’t enough. This story ends where it started. We have to be made perfect.

Redemption

Perfection is more then simply doing something. God has the whole universe that will do what he tells it to do. We are so much more. God’s intention is not merely that we follow some strict set of rules. He wants to get us back to what we were made for – perfect union with him.

God doesn’t want to change just what we do; he wants to change who we are. The Law failed because we simply cannot meet God’s standards on our own. Even when we know what is right and wrong we still rebel because of that pride in us. Our problem isn’t just a problem of confusion; it is a problem with us. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Mathew 15:19)

We needed more help. God provides this to us. He offers to change who we are. If we have a good heart where would evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander come from? He intends to make us into a new creation. One undefiled by sin that can complete our original purpose.

The New Creation

Paul tackles the problem with an often confusing passage from Romans:

“What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (Romans 7:7-25)

Notice that Paul begins by explaining the law as I did in my last post. Without the law he would not know what sin was. But there is a problem when we know that something is a sin – we are no longer ignorant and our knowledge is not enough to stop us. We rebel even more. Whilst ignorance is not an excuse for “the requirements of the law are written on their hearts” (Romans 2:15), this defiance of the law is much more wilful. As Paul says, “through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful” (v 13).

Paul goes on to explain why he keeps on sinning. He is “a slave to sin”. He knows the law is right, and he wants to follow it. But the sin living in him (v 17, 20 – note this, it is important) has him in chains. But, God is here to save the day.

Consider, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Does this new creation have a “sinful nature” (v18)? Does God create anything imperfect?

Another verse, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4). We have been “baptized into his death”. What died? It is our sinful nature, our old life that dies. Then as we rise with Christ we have “new life”.

If the “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), what is “new life”? It must be life without sin, for life with sin would be death, not life.

Look at Paul’s passage again and remember that he is a new creation. Notice that it is not him that is sinning but the sin in him (v17). He knows he is good. He knows he is made new. He knows he is a sinless new creation. When he sins it’s not him! It is the sin in him. He is good! He has been made perfect.

But does all this leave us no where? So what if we’re a new creation all we are doing is saying that it is the sin in us rather than us. It sounds like an excuse to sin. I’ll tell you right now there is never an excuse to sin. Our problem is that whilst we are “new creations” we do not act like it.

We’re hurt. God loves us. What’s the natural next step? Like some mother caring for a kid with a cold so God began to nurture us. He wants to end our pain. So God went to war.

God goes to war

Strike one: The flood. Millions die.
Strike two: Egypt gets hit by plagues. The red sea smashes their army to bits.
Strike three: War in Canaan. Jericho falls.
Strike four: The judges fight their enemies. Samson kills hundreds with a jaw alone.
Strike five: Saul is at war. David slays Goliath.
Strike six: David expands Israel by conquest.
Strike seven: Israel and Judah split. Fight each other.

Do you get the idea? The bible is filled with blood. But it is blood spilt with a purpose. What we see in the physical world (namely: a lot of death) is merely a reflection of what is truly happening in the spiritual. This is a world at war. It is a war with eternal repercussions, it is a war that you are in whether you like it or not. It is a war over you.

I do not intend to go through the various atrocities of the Old Testament but they all bear the mark of a loving God willing to do anything to save us. He is our prince in shining armour. Let us consider his main weapon from the Old Testament.

The Law

Humans get confused. We have an incredible ability to distort truth to our own ends. Think of the man who looks up porn and justifies it by saying he is avoiding rape. Truth: he is looking for some excuse to ease the shame of his selfish actions. While we are on the topic, think of the man who has an affair, repents, but never tells his wife (lies) so that he doesn’t hurt her. Truth: He doesn’t want to face to consequences of his actions so he selfishly hurts his wife more by the deception then by the original act. We are great at it. Almost every sin is preceded by a process in our mind that attempts to justify it. The end result is that we become morally bankrupt and loose track of right and wrong.

How many times do you hear people say morals are subjective? Our society has completely lost any idea of right and wrong. Depending on what suits us we can make any sin appear to be right. Even murderers and paedophiles are able to distort there minds to make themselves believe what they are doing is “right”. Is this something we condone? How can you say “morals are subjective” and then say “paedophilia is wrong”? These are mutually exclusive ideas. Clearly there must be a right and wrong but people just don’t want to know it. Morals are subjective. Truth: I want to be able to do what I want, not what is right. I think only about myself.

But then God steps in. Since, through our selfish lens we cannot determine what is right for ourselves, God did it for us. He provides the law. Now the law does contain many elements that are specific to that period of time. Much of it appears tyrannical today. But it was in many ways very progressive for it’s time. The law encapsulates values that God would have us follow. It gives us a lens into what is right and wrong.

In ancient culture slavery was needed to maintain any economy of worth. The alternative would be starvation. So God provided laws to govern this. These laws were remarkably fair compared to other countries of the time. Today we no longer have this problem. People can survive without being slaves. So, based on what I know of God, we shouldn’t have slaves. This is, I think, consistent with the very values that we find in the Jewish law.

But I digress. The law was given to us as a moral compass. It was designed to show the way out of our selfish sin. It is a great gift when viewed this way. But the law of the Old Testament was not complete and as a result our bibles are filled with the repetitive failures of the Jewish people.

The solution would be to change the people.

The story’s been pretty basic so far. We were made perfect; pride got the best of us. But what does that pride really do to a man?

The cost of pride

“Pride costs more than hunger, thirst and cold.” (Thomas Jefferson)

We want to do it on our own. We don’t need God. We are gods. We have removed him from the centre of our lives and replaced his position with our own.

Every futile human effort can be reduced to this – man trying to prove he can outdo God. Just one look at the world around us reveals people desperately searching for ways to fill the gap that God left. The shape takes many forms. Consider materialism. It is the search to find stuff that will replace that gap. Search for the gadget, or the car, or the house that will make you happy. It works, but not for long before you try ever harder to find a newer gadget, a bigger house, or a faster car. The cycle is disastrous. It is all a search to find joy without God.

Fame, Power, Porn, and Greed are all symptoms of the same problem. Even good things like family, charity, and the quest for knowledge can be nothing more then a search for fleeting happiness – the short lived yet exhilarating feeling that your life has purpose. But it is only a feeling, for soon enough you’ll be searching for more. Yet that more will always elude you and when you lay on your death bed all your treasures will mean naught. You relied on yourself rather then God to provide a purpose – but found none.

The result is pain. We are desperate to make ourselves better so we dig further into sin thinking we can find the answer there. But it’s a trap! Sin is an addiction.

Pride is the greatest of vices. It is one that we all struggle with. We all hold back from God, whether we hold our dreams, our successes, or our sin; for we think we can find goodness there. But there is only one truly good thing – God, and unless we are finally ready to humbly call out “I give up God, I surrender, you are better then I am, help me” we will find only pain.

But it gets worse, consider this: “Pride is a vice, which pride itself inclines every man to find in others, and to overlook in himself.” (Samuel Johnson) C. S. Lewis discusses this in Mere Christianity: why is it that we hate pride in others yet are filled with it our selves? We can see it everywhere. From the loud mouth man on TV right down to the beggar we manage to find pride. We despise pride. There is nothing viler to our eyes then pride. Do we ever ask where this very disgust comes from? It is our own pride that causes us to hate it in others. “He thinks he’s better then me” is a very self centred comment.

Hence we learn to hate others. If we cannot find a single person without pride, and we hate pride, we will find no one whom we truly love or are intimate with. With pride we can never willingly and completely serve another and therefore we sabotage the very bondage between each other and with God. But we are not made to be alone. As long as another person is in pain you will never feel complete for we are made for each other and that person is the very same as you are. Humans are made to be one organism, not many, and God is made to be its head. As long as we have pride we can never submit ourselves to being “merely” part of some greater whole.

Pride kills. It is insidious. Look what it did to Lucifer – once the greatest of angels he is now reduced to rubbish. God is the opposite. He is perfect yet he is the only truly humble being in this universe. His thoughts are always on others, always loving, always willing to serve, always wishing the best for us, and always waiting to give us a hand. It is as though God revolves around us rather then himself. We are the centre of his attention rather then himself. What an awesome God! He provides us such an example.

The Rebellion

Now you can see this is war. The universe was made perfect, but we got full of ourselves and rebelled against God. We went our own way. This life we live is in rebel territory. This is a war over who shall be glorified – yourself or God. The devil made a daring first move that knocked us off our feet. The human race itself has joined the enemy. But God is not one to give up. He will have us glorify him – not for his good but for our own. He loves us too much to let us kill ourselves this way.

And so the war begins.

In the first part I concluded that we were made perfect. Clearly something went wrong.

“We live in the best of all possible worlds.” (Gottfried Leibniz)

Free will. Without it our perfection would be impossible. Yet with it we are prone to do all sorts of things that hurt our selves.

Free will is required for love, joy, peace, happiness, satisfaction, and intimacy. Without free will we would be robots. For everything a robot can do it cannot love. It may emulate love but it is fake. God has all of the cosmos and the entire world to be his robot, but only we can be his sons and daughters. It is the ability to choose that really makes us special.

We made a bad choice.

God, the ultimate servant

Something I wrote in my journal once:

One thing I shall never truly understand is God’s love for me.

God, the eternal being, with his infinite power, knowledge, and wisdom decided that he wanted to create me. Of what value I could possibly be to God I do not know, yet he focused all his attention on me as he wove me together. He cares for me, and plans great things for me. He cannot take his mind off me. He loved nothing more then to be with me.

He created the world for me. He created it with all its hills and valleys and all its jungles and oceans so that I can explore it and conquer it and learn ever more from it about God. He sculpted great canyons and mountains and huge volcanoes spewing forth lava. Then he gave it all to me, as his gift to me, and told me to subdue it – control it. He entrusted to me such a brilliant work of art.

He created all the teeming animals of the sea, the birds in the air, and the mammals of the land. Elephants, Deer, Kangaroos, Giraffes, Crocodiles, Buffalo, Snakes, Pandas, and Owls were all created just for me. They were created with such care, a gift made with love.

God created all the stars and planets. He filled the sky with them. Oh, how he loves how his stars can take my breath away. He created them, in infinite numbers, just for me. Galaxies, Nebula, Black Holes, mysteries to confuse the minds of the wise – he created them to be admired, to reveal himself in them, and one day for me to explore them.

Whilst God also did these things for you, I have no doubt that even if I was the only human, he still would have done them. He loves me that much.

I do not understand it. Why would God, the one who is so utterly amazing, serve me in such a way? Why would he pour his energy into me? Why would he focus all his time so completely on me? What can I possibly give him? I do not deserve such love.

God also has free will. God sets the example we were to follow. Despite the fact that he is infinitely greater then me he has chosen continuously to put my best interests at heart. He doesn’t need to do that. He is truly humble.

Pride

The problem with us is pride. We are not humble. After all that God has done for me did I reciprocate? No. He went to so much effort yet for some strange reason I trusted my self rather then him. I wanted to try my own thing. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of good and evil. Why? They trusted themselves more then God (once they were convinced by the devil). Hence, they thought they were better then God. I have done the same thing time and time again. I have placed myself above God. It is easy to do after all when he serves you so much.

Rather then embrace God and become like him (humble) we turned our back on him to go after our own ways. Imagine how this must feel for God! All that effort and we spit in his face all the while he knows he can squash us like a bug.

We were made to be joined in total intimacy with God. Pride destroys any chance of that. That leaves us without a purpose. We need intimacy with something but unless that something is God we find only pain.

The history of mankind is a history of pain because of pride.

I don’t think we talk about the grand story of salvation enough. We all know it. We learn it when we get saved and then we seem to leave it and move on to “meatier” things. Meanwhile we use powerful phrases such as “born again”, “set free”, and “new creation” without truly understanding how exciting these things are. In my opinion, if you understand the story of redemption, everything else begins to fall into place.

Our quest begins with the question: why did God make me?

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created man in his own image,
n the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” … God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:26-28,31)

There a few things to note from the tale of our creation.

1. We were made good – very good! What does “very good” mean to a perfect God? It must mean that we were perfect. We were the best thing that we could possibly be.
2. We were created in God’s image. Now obviously this cannot be referring to our physical appearance for God has no physical form. Obviously we aren’t omnisciencient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), or omnipresent (everywhere at every time) but in our own little way we can love (like God), we can feel (like God), we can be patient, or faithful, or kind, or angry (like God). Even more spectacularly, we can enjoy God.
3. We were made to “fill the earth and subdue it”. God made us masters over his creation. Why? Because he made this creation for us. All the stars in the sky, the birds in the air, the trees of the earth, and fish of the sea were made for us. This is God’s gift to us.

But why did he make us? Why does he need us? Who are we to him? These questions plague the minds of people who think far too much. But they warrant answers. The last question is key.

We are sons of God.

“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14), “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26), “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Galatians 4:6), “God is treating you as sons” (Hebrew 12:7).

We are sons of God. We are not toys or “play things”. We were not made merely for his amusement. We are his sons.

If you ask any father why he chooses to have children what would he say? The child isn’t worth anything in a material fashion. It is not needed. Yet he will never ever regret the hours, work, and money put into them. It is illogical – but perhaps it is also a reflection of God and us.

We are the bride of Christ.

The bible repeatedly talks about God returning for his bride – which is clearly us. Therefore we can examine the relationship between a husband and wife to get a better understanding of our existence.

This verse is repeated constantly through the bible when speaking about marriage: “A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). This incredible union between a man and woman, woven by intimacy, is also a reflection of our relationship with God. We are to become “one flesh” with God.

When you look at what a married couple you can tell they are distinct, yet they are strangely one. The original intention in creation was that we would be uniquely us, yet one with God. You could not say “this part of the being is man and this part is god” yet we would all be unique from each other.

We are made to be “one with God”. Just as God becomes part of us, perhaps we become part of God? Just as a wife becomes part of her husband and a son part of his father.

We are “little Gods”.

“‘Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?’” (John 10:34)

If we are sons of God, and made in the image of God, then it is not hard to think of us as “little gods”. We are unique among all of creation. We are like “god clones” but without the super powers. There isn’t too much to say here as its meaning becomes obvious in light of our other two identities.

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Why God created us is a mystery only he knows. But clearly we are very important to him. We were made perfect meaning: we were without sin, we were full of spiritual fruit, and we were one with God. Something went wrong.

EDIT: Follow the track back comments to go through this entire series.

Much of the problem with modern Christianity isn’t that we believe the wrong thing – it is that we do not act on this belief. After all, we are saved by grace and action seems a secondary thing that people on particularly advanced Christian walks engage in.

C. S. Lewis once wrote “Christians have often disputed as to whether what leads the Christian home is good actions, or Faith in Christ … it does seem to me like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most necessary.” (Mere Christianity, pg 148)

When you consider that Christ came to redeem us, to make us new creations (a topic I intend to examine further latter), you cannot help but see the importance of our actions. We are not new creations if we act the same old way merely with some new belief. Further more there is the fact: faith is action!

You cannot truly believe something and not act on it. If I said that I believe giving away my money is the right thing to do, that it glorifies God, and that I have no problems with greed then do not give it away my actions betray me for a liar. I say I have faith, but I don’t really.

James raises this question about faith that most Christians should consider: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” (James 2:14). James questions whether faith without action (which is not faith at all), is enough to save a man.

James continues:

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (James 2:20 – 24)

If we have faith that saves us, it is the same faith that changes us. Unless our faith changes us, it isn’t worth having. It isn’t action that saves us. It is faith that inspires action that does. But faith without actions is not the type of faith I would like to base my salvation on. After all, Abraham only truly had faith when he acted. Faith is action.

Therefore why are so many Christians bound to the pew? Are they saved? So many people are doing nothing bar “attending”. That isn’t faith. I don’t understand it at all.

The point of all this is that if you really believe God then do what he says. Your belief shall be revealed in your action. Be a soldier. Have faith. Stand up.

Just read an article from the Ooze: Overcoming Playboy Spirituality.

Here is a preview:

Escaping Playboy spirituality means to practice discipline and self control. It means that we no longer will be seduced by the temporal gratifying things of life but will look only to that which lasts forever. It means that we will look to Jesus for water that will never have us thirsting again instead of the water that leaves us with seven husbands and still unsatisfied. It means that we won’t sit around and ask what we can do to make us look better, more attractive and comfortable but instead ask how we serve the people around us. It means that we won’t lavish guilt on people when they can’t meet our standards but we will journey with them to show them the forgiveness that already exists for them. It means that we will grow in deep relationships with people instead of hiding from them. It means a lot of things that we will each figure out on our own. Slowly we will pull ourselves away from the air-brushed images of spirituality that exist all around us and we will get the raw and freeing reality of Christ.

I’m sick of hearing from the pulpit of all the wonderful things God is going to do if only I believe, or pray, or let go, or whatever. Christianity is not about me, it is about God. And sure, he promises some cool things but that’s not the point.

One of the most quoted passages of scripture says this:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25 – 34)

Now tell me, are Christians who are always bringing up the topic of all the things God is going to do for them really not worrying? For something they don’t worry about they need to reassure themselves a lot.

Now let’s consider: why shouldn’t we worry? Because God will provide? Yes he will, or might (not always) but that’s beside the point. The fact is that in the scheme of eternity my life, my food, my money, my body, or my clothes aren’t all that important. Only God is important, and if I have to sacrifice my life, my food, my money, my body, or my clothes for him then so be it.

God wants us to be able to let go of everything we own and everything we are whether or not we think we’ll get something in return. Maybe we will, but who knows?

Consider this: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it” (Luke 9:24). It is only through the willingness to give up everything, without expecting anything (or else we are not truly giving up), that we gain everything. We may not gain any short term gratification on earth – but we store up treasure for eternity.

Sometimes God asks you to do very hard things, and you don’t always know if it’s going to be alright. Will you do it anyway?

In my previous post we discussed what church is, but there is little point in arguing over definitions if it has no practical affect on our lives. The reason this blog exists is my firm belief that we need to stop doing church and start being church. But this idea “being church” is now so over used as to become yet another catchphrase that sounds great but means nothing. Now we shall add meaning to this phrase.

There is an often quoted but almost always undervalued verse that reads “You are a kingdom of priests” (1 Peter 2:9). In my mind this verse highlights two unique qualities of our faith but we only seem to realise one.

Firstly, this verse is the declaration of our direct relationship with God. In the Old Testament, and all other religions, priests stood as the mediators between God and man. With the coming of Jesus we were restored to the place where we, mere men, can have a real relationship without needing a middle man. This idea is so powerful pages could be written on the topic.

Secondly and less often understood, this verse is a declaration of our responsibilities. Priests have an obligation. A direct relationship with God is a powerful thing and not to be abused. In particular priests have always had the responsibility of looking after their fellow man and bringing them closer to God.

For years I sat in the pews, always besides my fellow Christians, but never playing a part in their lives. I never really helped them. I never really knew them. We would come to church, listen to a sermon, watch the show, and leave. I wasn’t acting like an organ in a highly coupled organism; I was acting like an individual with some passing familiarity with other Christians.

I was once listening to a sermon and the preacher proclaimed, “Church should be like this: It should be like a pep talk where everyone comes, gets restored, and goes out for another week.” I think this is rubbish. Imagine a player on a field all alone against a whole opposing team – will even the best of pep talks do them any good? Or, as we are soldiers, imagine going to war against an army with only a great speech to help you. The idea is ridiculous. Church is not a place to get a pep talk (for it is not a place at all), it is your team; it is your army.

Christianity is hard. You just can’t do it on your own. You can’t fight all the temptations on your own. You can’t keep up the dedication on your own. You can’t learn the things you need to learn on your own. It doesn’t matter how great the sermon is and how inspired it makes me – I’ll have forgotten it by tomorrow. I need a team to help me, to encourage me, to challenge me, to teach me, to know me.

This is how the body is suppose to work: each part (Christian) does it’s best to help the other parts. Each parts serves. I have an obligation to help my fellow Christians in any way I can. If I can do it, I must. No more sitting in the pews. No more keeping people at arms length. They need me and I need them.

Historically the laity has given over this obligation to the clergy. An elect few does what all of us are suppose to do. Because of this the rest of us are relegated to attending. To “doing church”. To be church is to claim back your obligation. It is to say “I will not have someone else do what God would have me do.”

You can start now. You don’t need to be anointed for it. You don’t need a program for it. You can start right now to dedicate yourself to fixing your attention on the people around you and serving them in whatever way you can. It’s really quite simple.