Just be Good for Goodness Sake?!?

If you haven't heard, a group called American Atheists put up a billboard in NC recently:

I'm not going to take the bait and bash atheists, malign them, or decry this billboard.  Atheists are people that God loves, that I love, and its a free country.  They are just as free to post things like this billboard as religious people can post their own billboards, which are occasionally horrible.  I have admiration for atheists:  they don't take pat answers, they are open to engaging to intellectual scrutiny on a variety of issues, and they take pride in using reason.  They don't just swallow whole any teaching that is given to them.  There are lessons to glean there.  

Many of them, however, believe the misconception and stereotype that you have to check your brain at the door in order to be a follower of Christ. 

What I will point out about this billboard, however, is this:  why do we feel this drive to "be good"? (even for goodness' sake).  

What is the origin of this desire?  Why do we even care to try and "be good"?  

For one to engage on a search to "be good" implies that in your current condition you have the capability to not be good.  When I search for something such as "goodness", it implies that I know that I am not always good, and that I need better actions to rectify the situation.

Atheists may agree on this, but we would arrive at a different causation for the effect.  I would call this instinctual/covert movement towards goodness the natural human response to sin.  We know we are sinners, and we attempt to satiate our conscience via our attempts at good works, with or without God.

  Ultimately, this work is fruitless, because no one can make themselves perfectly righteous.  Only faith in Christ, whose perfect sacrifice of righteousness on our behalf, can make us "good", all of it grace.  All of it a gift of God on our behalf.

Many have begun to believe in God when they realized how perfectly impossible it is to try to be good, all the time.  You can't do it.  Why is that?  

An atheist may say they want to be good simply because its sensible and reasonable, even if that flies in the face of a true Darwinian perspective of the world, which on an animalistic level should be each man for himself.

It boils down to this:  when I have a hunger for goodness, it implies that I was made to know goodness, just as my hunger for food and water reasonably implies I need food and water to survive. 

God is the only one who is good, all the time.  We are made for God and to be in relationship with God.  Our actions speak louder than our words, whether we admit it or not.

What does Student Discipleship look like?

Per my last post, I made the distinction between a culture of convenience versus a culture of discipleship.

Ok, so now comes the "so what"?  What does discipleship look like for a modern teenager?  How do we practically do this?  You could summarize these below with:  You spend time with God's people, you spend time in God's Word, you spend time with God.  Time is the consistent theme here.

Here are some specific ideas:

• "Big church" worship attendance:  As Eugene Peterson says, "I'm not myself by myself".  You need other Christians to help you grow in your faith.  God is Trinity.  God is in eternal community, and God desires all people to be in holy community with each other.  This is what is going on in heaven right now, and we should attempt (imperfectly I know) to recreate that here on earth.  We need to worship God to grow in our faith, we need the sacraments (communion, baptism) and we need other Christians to grow in our faith.  Faith formation is encouraged when we surround ourselves with godly people.  Teens are not a separate part of the church.  You are a part of the "Big C" Church.
• Youth group attendance:  Notice how I made this separate from "big church" attendance?  Both have distinct qualities that are valuable, and I don't think its responsible to say, "Well, I went to church so I can skip youth group" (or vice versa).  To be fair, I realize how difficult it can be to show up to youth group (or even church) as much as you would like.  My wife made the great point a while ago that when she was in high school, she didn't attend youth group every week, but it was still vastly important to her.  Her church was, and is, a huge part of her life and worldview, even if she wasn't always present.  I get that, and that was part of my story as well when I was in high school.  But here's the deal:  we did in fact show up on a mostly regular schedule.  Eventually, there is no substitute for "getting in the game" and moving off the sidelines.  
• Bible study/Bible reading:  In 2015, the amount of information we can receive is staggering.  We carry the equivalent of super-computers in our pockets that are full of apps.  We have a HUGE amount of Bible resources for our phones (like the excellent, FREE YouVersion Bible).  But when given the choice of reading the Bible versus checking our Instagram, we lean toward Instagram.  Why are we always tempted to do the thing we know we shouldn't, even if that thing is not necessarily bad in itself?  Notice how we're never tempted to do anything good, like "Hey man, you should mow the lawn without being asked." or "Bro, catch up on that Bible reading.  Everyone else is doing it."  No, we're always tempted to move away from God's best for our lives.  I think its time we look through these temptations and see them for what they are: a distraction from the Enemy.  It is NEVER a mistake to engage with God's Word and to grow in your faith.  NEVER.  And considering the resources at our disposal, there is little reason not to do so.
• Service:  This is hugely important, especially to today's generation.  They want to see authenticity to gauge if something is legitimate or not.  For me, service at places like CCC and other trips were probably the main faith former in my younger years.  But look, anyone can serve others.  I just read an article about a group of "vampires" in New Orleans who served food to homeless people on Easter last year.  What's the difference when Christians serve as opposed to other groups?  The difference is that 1) we follow in Jesus' example and 2) His example is love, true love without selfish ambition, without the desire to make a personal statement.  Christians serve for the sake of serving, so that God is glorified and other people's lives are blessed.  When Christians serve we hope to emulate the greatest form of love, as Jesus said, "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."  We serve because we want to be like Jesus, the ultimate servant, and not to show our good works or to be saved by those good works.
• Personal holiness:  Ok, super tough one here, but very much achievable.  John Wesley was big on growing in personal holiness (becoming more like Jesus), and this goal has much to do with what the Spirit does in our lives.  Obviously, we don't want to become Pharisees (saved by our works, religious arrogance, look down on others, forget the outsider), which is the dark side of this goal. Holiness is not about WHAT we know; holiness is about WHO we know.  The more you hang out with Jesus, the more you become like Him, the more you want to make the right choice, for His sake, because He is worth it. Again, it goes back to the need for Christian community to help further this goal in your life, because we need accountability, confession, and love from other believers to be growing in holiness.

Lastly, we're going to do all these things in a messy and imperfect way.  Why?  Because we're human.  Because this is real life.  Because we have the tendency to know what we ought to do, and yet we don't do it (sin).  We may take two steps forward and one step back (or five or six).  This is why God shows us grace, because God loves us.  Because the love of God cheers us on.  Because God wants to see you succeed.  Because God does not look down on you because you are young.

All of Jesus' disciples were under the age of twenty, most likely.  Jesus chose people back then to accomplish incredible things, and Jesus is still calling young people today to do the same. 

Becoming more like Jesus is one of the most counter-cultural things you can do.  Partying? Easy. Everyone does it.  Boring.  Having petty fights and drama?  Happens too much.  But living for Jesus? Thats tough.  Not a lot are doing that.  It requires sacrifice.  That's a pretty rock'n roll thing to do.

What about you?  What has worked for you to help you grow in your faith?

Serving A Former Drag Queen

Its Monday, July 13th 2015 and I'm painting the window sills of a former drag queen in Granite Falls, NC.

"Oh, I was a drag queen for 26 years.", Steve tells me.  "The money was good. Its who I was."  Along with a successful career as a backup singer for many well-known country singers, Steve would moonlight as a drag queen singer, often singing hits by Loretta Lynn.  His fame as a Loretta Lynn impersonator grew until Loretta Lynn, upon seeing Steve on a VHS tape, demanded to meet him, which got him started on his country music career.

The past four years, however, have been hard for Steve.  He is 51 years old and has returned home after many years of traveling.  Based on complications of his former lifestyle and frequent drug use, he is home bound, unable to work due to a debilitating bone condition.  Steve now spends his days watching old country music on television, trying to make ends meet, fixing up his old house he inherited from his father, and dealing with family members who want money.  "They want money", he says "and I don't have it anymore."

This is a typical day serving at Carolina Cross Connection, a Christian outreach ministry for youth and adults.  Participants are split into "CMGs" or Christian mission groups and are assigned work projects each day.

Steve's house is my assigned project for the day, and to be honest, we all loved him.  We weren't intimidated by his past.  We didn't seek to judge or coerce him.  We did, however, paint his porch and cut his grass.  We did listen, talk, laugh and share a day together.  We played with his dog. We hope it encouraged him on his path to greater health.

"I'm not much of a Christian," Steve tells me near the end of the day, "but I do believe in the Lord.  I know that much."

"That's what makes you a Christian," I tell him.  "Believing in the Lord. Thats all you have to do."

He looks at me and silently nods.

In that moment of solidarity, I realized we, all people, we are all in this crazy life together, no better or worse than anyone else.  We all need the Lord.  None of us are good enough.  We are all sinners.  We all need each other to get through this life.  Its only the love of Jesus that allows us to truly love others, see through their past, and love them without condition.

Jesus said you have to give your life away in order to find your life.  When we bow down to take the form of a servant, we become the greatest.

I look forward to seeing Steve again one day, and I pray for his health.  May we all love others without limit and without condition.  It is the great hope of the world.