Little Things

Sometimes I have a diseased view of the things I’m passionate about and love to do. Many of us think that the things we love are not important and worthy of acknowledgement unless they’re significant to everyone. The love of writing seems to be insignificant until you publish a book, the love of swimming insignificant unless you’re Michael Phelps (okay, you know what I mean).

We brush off the things we really love to do if they are not applauded by the majority. Last weekend, the weather was beautiful so I took my dog out on a trail, which is where I end up really thinking about life. I started to mull over how currently, I do not have any hobbies that are significant. Then I had a thought that I have repeatedly considered and have drawn a conclusion on. I came to the conclusion that if you love it and it has significance to you, why is it NOT important?

I love snuggling with my dog, going on free runs with her down a dirt trail at a state park, and talking to her just to see her eyes light up when she hears my voice. I’m addicted to afternoon naps and the refreshing process they do for my brain. I play the same song on my guitar over and over just because I love how my fingers have to move to play it.

I read to know more things, because I love having my brain challenged and I write to get things out and to challenge and grow my creativity. I love night and the stars and the moon and the sound of crickets in the summer. I love green tea and slow dancing and bonfires. I love serving people and doing things for them as a subtle way of saying I love them. It doesn't have to be significant to the whole world to be important, just significant to you.

Self Sufficient Salvation

We are the generation of a country that has taken the ethic of hard work to an entirely new level-we never cease. We admire the self-starters, the ones who push themselves to the top. We love to hear the stories of how people created themselves, especially if it is through an innovative way.

This is all very well in itself, but as Americans, we take our hard work, independence and self-starting and plant it in the heart of our churches, try to make it the roots of the Gospel. We have come to an era in the church where, “God helps those who help themselves,” is a far too common saying, even from the pulpit. What does this mean? It means we have dismembered the beauty of grace.

From reading Paul’s lovingly frustrated letter to the Galatians, it seemed as if the Christian population in Galatia had the exact same diseased mindset. They were fond of doing things in “the name of Jesus”, held the law to the letter, and were easily swayed by false teachers who outlined a XYZ Self-Starters’ Plan for Salvation. In their reliance on themselves, they discounted grace and slowly started to turn from their first love to their new hero: themselves.

In the first chapter of Galatians, Paul writes, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.”

Grace is defined as “the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings”. What the people of Galatia and the people in our culture have a hard time understanding is that nothing they will ever do will be good enough to earn forgiveness; it is un-earnable because it is through the grace given by Jesus’ death and resurrection and that grace alone that can set sinners free, restore broken hearts and bring intimacy with a beautiful Creator.  

So redirect. Instead of putting all your effort and strength into good works and deeds and fake righteousness in order to “earn salvation”, do these things because you are so in love with the One that saved you that you want to be like HIM for the rest of the world. Know that you do not have to rely on yourself to be saved (which should make each of you breathe a sigh of relief) and put your faith simply in the One who gives immeasurable grace.

Overboard Holiness

Christians have become passive about pursuing holiness. That is a blunt statement, but there’s really no better way of putting it. Christians everywhere have become skilled in the art of arguing why they’re okay doing exactly what they’re doing and weak in the realm of killing sin. We are a culture of Christians content with convincing ourselves of our own personal holiness without ever chasing Jesus and striving for the real thing.

            

A comment often heard among people who claim to strive after Christ is, “Don’t go overboard. It is good to try to follow Jesus, but make sure there’s balance.” Ephesians 5:3-4 says, “But among you there must be not even a hint of sexual immorality, or any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.” I don’t know what your personal definition of overboard is, but God seems to have no problem with going overboard in this culture’s definition of the word.

           

Now obviously those two verses don’t encompass EVERY possible aspect of holiness, but they touch on some very hard and sensitive topics that collectively create many of the things that this culture worships and deals with on a daily basis. Immorality, sex being thrown around, gossip and lack of restraint in speech, lack of intelligence in speech (including social media stupidity), innuendo and other jokes you probably wouldn't tell your grandmother, and the like are mentioned.

           

One of my favorite authors and vloggers Skye Jethani recently tweeted, “If imitation is the highest form of flattery, than Christians have become pop culture’s most devoted admirers.” Daily I am around Christians who are content with keeping their holiness in check with culture and the sin that comes with it. They are fine with where they are in their faith and are very good at persuading that God didn’t really mean “not a hint” when talking about the previously mentioned topics. They reason that God can’t expect them to get rid of all innuendo-because c’mon...it’s sometimes clever-, get rid of all gossip (especially about that really obnoxious person), and as long as you don’t go all the way in a relationship before you’re married, it’s not REALLY sexual immorality…right?

            

What so many Christians miss is that holiness isn’t something we half-heartedly pursue, a side hobby when we feel like it. Radical holiness and pursuit of Jesus is something that should consume us. When God says, “not a hint”, He absolutely means it! Obviously as an innately sinful human you will slip and fall, but falling to temptation is not the same as condoning the sin. It is all a matter of perspective, attitude, and what you choose to pursue. If you fall, you get back up and keep fighting for the prize, but you can’t win the prize if you never enter the fight.

            

This flies blatantly in the face of culture, and many people (including Christians) would be ready to mock someone who pursues holiness at the expense of getting rid of things in their lives that cause them to compromise that holiness. But…why should we care? If you know Jesus, you know how worth getting rid of the things of this world that compromise our holiness would be. We shouldn’t be scared to be referred to as “such a Baptist” or “boring” or “goody two-shoes” (I know, stupid terms, but you get the picture) because as a Christian, you know the truth. Why should we be afraid to follow that truth and radically pursue holiness at the cost of being looked down on for it?

            

It takes boldness to be able to deny the things of this world to be able to become holy like your creator. I’m sure the majority of this post has seemed like I’ve been lecturing, but these words are exactly what God has been drilling into my own heart, and it’s something I’ve been learning daily. It truly is okay to not talk about someone behind their back, not laugh at the coarse joke that all your friends crack up at, and choose to cut out the sexually explicit music from your playlists. God is continually teaching me that holiness is worth more than the acceptance of people, the approval of this culture, and the cheap tricks that allowing sin brings.

           

So this year, my goal is to take God seriously when He says “not a hint”. I will daily choose to follow Him and rid myself of the things that take my eyes from Him, even if it costs me the approval of my peers. He is so worth going overboard for. Radical holiness is beautiful.

            

Transformation of a New Year

Why does the start of a new year seem to hold so many possibilities? We don’t get as excited over the start of a new day, new week or even a new month, so why is the beginning of a new year so huge? I think that above all the other new starts on a calendar, a new year screams of transformation.

            

We all want transformation in our lives, to the point that some of us obsess over it. You see the craving among the avid gym goers, the ones determined to have a great love life, the people on the job hunt. We seek to make our lives different, to keep moving forward, and to transform.

            

The beautiful part is that our desire for transformation is God given. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Coming to Christ is the ultimate recreation that leads to continual transformation as we choose daily to walk in Him.

           

Goals and resolutions are awesome things; it is always great when we seek to better ourselves. I am a planner to the core, so I make many of these each year (and sometimes I’m actually successful, which is always cool to see). Although I have many areas of my life that I want to become better in this year, I want my main focus to be on the One who brings about ultimate transformation.

            

What good is it to meet my gym quota every week if I become spiritually weak? What am I gaining if I compose all the new music in the world and become a stellar guitarist but don’t use it to worship the God who ultimately gave me the talent? I crave the power of transformation above many things, so this year I want to look directly to the source.

            

So this year my most important goal is both extremely simple and extremely complex: I want to be like Jesus. I want to focus on spiritual growth and becoming a godly woman. I want Jesus to shine through me in my relationships, the work I do and how I live my life. I want the focus of my year to be on Him rather than on me because when you’re all about living for Him, that’s when you’re truly able to be transformed.