Can’t wait for Sunday Service this week at Good News in the Neighborhood. Baptisms + lunch right after service. We would love to see you again or for the first time.
i have been thinking about this verse since preaching it last sunday…
genesis 37.22
…Reuben said to them, “shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father.
when a mob of 10 other brothers want to kill Joseph, Rueben convinces them just to throw him into a hole + then sell him into slavery. he’s not as bad as them, but he’s not good enough. he’s the least toxic person in the conversation, but he’s still far away from loving or holy.
sometimes i’m a Reuben, allowing myself to feel good by comparing my partial obedience to others disobedience, but forgetting that the standard is God’s holiness.
my point is something like … just because you made + kept a true love waits abstinence pledge doesn’t mean you are pure. just because haven’t had an abortion doesn’t mean you properly value life. but forget about dry comparisons, I HAVE DONE THIS TOO.
i’ve worked with lots of women in church + championed them, but i have been overly paternal in leading them, trusting my insights rather than allowing them to self-determine.
i led initiatives + panels on race + reconciliation for a decade, but until i worked at faithful central in Inglewood, i never immersed myself in a meaningful way in what people different than me see + believe about the world.
i have avoided the needless harshness of comment section politics + public flogging tweeting, but have often talked harshly of others in private.
there’s three. hopefully those aren’t michael scott-esque faux humble confessions. they are true + real for me, but useless to you unless you do the same.
in what space are you better than most, but not good enough?
are you allowing pride of comparison to distract you from growth in what God wants you to be?
I want to take you with me as I entered a scene this week: I walked into a jr. high gymnasium for the first time in years! It was filled to the brim with boys playing basketball, parents watching their kids, cheerleaders attempting tumbling skills on a hard gym floor and of course adolescent emotions. Maybe it’s my personal experience taking it too far but I saw these jr. highers attempting to step out in showing their skills and then they would visibly show their anxious observance of approval. You could sense their palpable self-awareness. Will someone think that it wasn’t good enough? What if I mess up and embarrass myself? Who was watching? And I wondered to myself, is this when that journey begins. That shift in realizing that part of our everyday life is the judgement of others as we walk in who we are.
Everyone’s been judged and I’d venture to say that everyone has judged others. But Romans 14 calls us to something brutally difficult as believers. It argues for a mindful decision to not judge but to keep your focus on the fact that your judgement day is coming and rather than comparing yourself to others keeping in mind that it’s a moment appointed for us all. Unfortunately, we can’t have someone stand in for us.
Romans 14 pointedly asks us some questions that we can’t really squirm out of. They certainly convicted my own heart.
‘Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another?’
‘Why do you pass judgement on your brother?’
Lastly, it exhorts us to obedience instead of ignorance out of the love Jesus first showed us and the choice of humility in thinking of others before ourselves. ‘Therefore, let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.’
The examples that Romans 14 brought about of the things that we use to pass judgement on others are for the things we eat and drink. I think this example reveals that it doesn’t take much to judge but the truth of the matter is that when those feelings take root it can grow into much worse; thus the warning.
The other reminder that really took a dagger to my own heart is that there is one judge and guess what?! It’s not me. I mean really who do we think we are? If we take the energy off of the comparison of others and instead keep our eyes on the prize of our own judgement day coming… the one where every knee will bow and tongue confess that Christ is Lord. I think we can all agree that we have much to consider and keep our eyes concerned about.
There’s no question, this is a difficult task. As I read these verses and meditated on them I had to just sit in the muck of them for awhile. I think that recognizing God’s standard and God’s role that he stands worthy as the only one to hold the gavel and yet so often we have found it in our hands as if we think we know best.
As a fellow sojourner, I just ask the same questions that I found here, Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another; do you think you are ‘better’ or ‘above?’ Are you ready to face the judgement seat all on your own?
Cup of Leadership
his is an awkward + potentially a bit needlessly voyeuristic, but i think someone needs to say it out loud … i hope my words are helpful
the stories coming to the surface over the last year of famous people causing physical pain to those they hook up with and then the legal + court of public opinion fights that ensue seem to be missing the main point in my opinion
our culture tells people that feel regret or shame after a sexual encounter they initially wanted that the other person(s) involved victimized them.
this is possibly true, but it’s also likely that their conscience is feeling the the over-promise under-deliver effects of sin. guilt over our choices turns us away from wrong and toward wrong.
guilt is ‘i did something bad.’ —- this helps human beings stay on track.
shame is ‘i am something bad.’ —- this create a cycle of regression, feeling bad, then doing it again.
pornography + the culture around it are what has normalized hyper-aggressive male dominated sexuality. it isn’t ‘normal’ or ‘righteous’ … it’s fruit of a world that has eliminated oneness and ‘for life’ from its vocabulary. so when people (women particularly) participate in this aberrant form of sexuality, they won’t feel good afterwards.
this guilt should be pointed towards changed behaviors + understanding of the good news, not blaming other caught in the cycle of foolishness.
as long as young people are taught that sexuality is the highest + only apex of human existence, they will keep seeking stranger + more depraved ways of trying to experience it.
because money + fame remove friction, we see this lack of boundaries exposed in the famouso. nce sex with one person becomes ‘boring’ … add a different person. or another person. or slap each other. or like george costanza in the famous seinfeld episode, a pastrami sandwich while in bed together
the church has missed the mark when we have promised people the experience the world is selling just in a holy way. we must reframe sexuality as a beautiful part of but the not the apex of human existence. the apex of human existence is knowing + loving the glory of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
so if someone around you feels guilty for their sexual choices, telling them they shouldn’t feel that is hurting not helping. the great healer can remove that guilt through his blood bought forgiveness.
Monday Morning Book Review
the baseball 100 - joe posanski
this book has a simple concept: an essay on each of the top 100 baseball players of all-time, as ranked by the author. this should get repetitive and boring. however, Posanski took the time to bring a unique perspective on each person. rather than long reciting of facts, we are brought into the world of each famous player, spanning the 1880’s til 2020’s, soon to be 150 years of players. i also particularly enjoyed how the heroes of Negro Leagues were integrated into the list in a way that honest, but not pandering.
if you are a sports fan (or might be shopping for one), i think you will love this book. it’s perfect for winter nights, dense and interesting.
one last thing to click on
cal newport is one of my favorite writers on work + social media … his new article is worth a look
have a great weekend…
luke+kristen