Ray Lewis Sacked My Theology

I hated Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis. Ok, that’s probably too strong… I intensely disliked Ray Lewis.

Why?

Because I thought he got away with murder.

If you’re not familiar with the story – after leaving a Super Bowl party in January of 2000, Lewis’ entourage got in a fight with another group of people as both groups were leaving an Atlanta nightclub. Two men were stabbed to death in the fight. Lewis and two of his companions were indicted for murder – but Lewis cut a deal: in exchange for his testimony against his companions, he was allowed to plead guilty to “obstructing justice,” a misdemeanor. Lewis received 12 months probation and was fined by the NFL. Like I said, he got away with murder – or at least being an accessory to murder.

I was outraged – and isn’t it funny (or perhaps, pathetic) how we will get so emotionally involved in events that don’t really have anything to do with us or anyone we know and love? As the years passed, my anger cooled, but not completely. Whenever I heard or read anything about Lewis, whenever I watched the Ravens play, I was filled with contempt and disgust.  And when I read a few years back about Lewis becoming a Christian, I scoffed, ridiculing and rejecting his conversion as “a public relations move…”

As recently as two weeks ago, after the Ravens beat the Colts in the first round of the AFC playoffs, I stated publicly and repeatedly that I would not be pulling for the Ravens because of one Ray Lewis and the events of 12 years ago.

And then God tapped me on the shoulder…

He reminded me that I too had been guilty of murder – or at least I had hated others, and Jesus said that was the same thing… Honestly, according to Jesus, I was an adulterer, a thief, and a liar. In short I was a sinner.

Just like you. Just like Ray Lewis.

I stand in front of people and preach the Good News – that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us… That none of us had really gotten away with anything – Jesus paid for every sin with his precious blood… Because of his sacrifice, we who have placed our faith in Christ and called on the name of the Lord do not have to pay the penalty for our sins – Jesus paid it for us and in doing so made it possible for God to give us the gift of eternal life.

I tell those who listen that our sins are gone, obliterated, drowned in the Sea of God’s Forgetfulness, as far from us as the east is from the west… With great joy I share with others that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. I preach grace and freedom from condemnation to some pretty messed up people – myself included.

But to my shame, I have failed to take off my judge’s robe and my executioner’s hood when it came to Ray Lewis. In practical terms, I have applied the blessings and benefits of following Jesus to every other believer I knew, myself included – but I have denied them to Ray Lewis.

I was so inconsistent, and so wrong. And realizing that makes me sorrowful and repentant – and makes me thank God again for the forgiveness I do not – cannot – ever deserve. Obviously, I am still way too capable of having a “grace for me, none for thee” attitude. Obviously, I have much more to learn, much more road to travel in my understanding and living out of God’s outrageous, incredible, life-saving grace.

Thank God for his love, his mercy, his grace, love, acceptance, and forgiveness – freely given to a stumbling screw-up like me. And thank God for Ray Lewis, a fellow sinner, saved by the grace of God and my brother in Christ.

Unbalanced On Purpose

Thank you Tully Tchividjian – you gave me a great line I will use the rest of my days: Apparently the preaching of radical grace produces serial killers…

At least that’s what I’ve been told repeatedly the last few years as I have more and more embraced the Grace Message – “Oh no, you can’t teach grace, people will abuse it…”  “You have to be careful with grace, people will get the wrong idea…” “Be sure to balance grace with ‘truth'” (I always want to ask, “Umm, do you mean grace isn’t true?”) Or my personal favorite: “Teaching grace gives people a license to sin…” (Seems to me people are doing a pretty good job “SWL” – sinning without a license!)

The glorious, liberating truth is that grace does not produce sin and lasciviousness in people’s lives – it produces the freedom for which Christ has set us free.  The only genuine response we can have to the Gospel of Grace is humility and a desire to truly be what God has made us.

Grace prompts joyful obedience – and the assurance that imperfect obedience is not a deal-breaker.  Jesus spoke of his commands being followed – not because his followers were afraid of punishment, but because they loved him… Only grace can prompt that love response in us.

Paul taught grace in such a way that it confounded people – it made them ask ridiculous questions like, “Are you saying we should sin more to get more grace?”  I want to be guilty of the same thing – teaching the Gospel of grace so strongly that people question my Christianity and look at each other panicked and scared, asking, “Did he really just say that?”

I want to preach grace with no moderation, no “balance”, no “on the other hand.” Just pure undiluted amazing grace splashing and spilling all over everything and everyone!

By God’s grace I will be guilty of taking grace too far – and never guilty of not taking it far enough.

Friday Remix: Found and Lost

There’s a widespread problem in the Body of Christ – We tend to place all of the emphasis of Grace at the point of our initial forgiveness, but almost none on the ongoing work of transformation of  our lives where it is so desperately needed.

We get saved and then immediately take control of our lives out of His hands.  We plunge right back into “making it” by our own efforts. We assume that we have to live a life pleasing to God as a “thank you” for redemption, a type of repayment for the cross and eternal life in Heaven.

We know we need to live a Godly life after we have experienced Christ – but we have one insurmountable problem – We are not capable in the slightest of pulling off the “look how godly I am now” life.

At the end of the day, we’re too often left confused and full of spiritual self-loathing as the consequences of our repeated noble, but vain, attempts to live “the Christian Life”. We’ve reduced Grace by making it just about the forgiveness of sin, and disconnected it from the transformation of our lives, with frustrating results.

God not only gives us our salvation, but He’s the only one who gives us the power to actually change and live a holy life through his Grace. Note, I didn’t say perfection – but there’s a difference between “imperfection” and the conscious choice to sin  – a choice that testifies that we are still in bondage to the very things that dominated us before we ever knew Christ.

In the book of Romans, Paul says that it is by faith that we have access to Grace, and that it’s by Grace that we stand. Grace begins with mercy, but it’s more than mercy. Grace is also the outworking of God’s power in our life to transform us by the renewing of our mind.

But we never really seem to grasp that truth.  It seems too good to be true, and so often, we don’t take seriously the reality that God can deliver us from the things that have owned us for so long.  The result is that we just keep trying, failing, crying, hiding, and repeating, all the while hoping that maybe Jesus will return on Monday morning between 1 am and 6 am before we’ve had a chance to mess up the forgiveness we just re-pleaded for on Sunday night. We’ve given up on the power of God being able to change us.

Here’s an alternative – Let’s get alone with Father and say something like this: “God, it’s by Grace that I’m saved. Thank You for the love, mercy, and forgiveness You provided for me through the death of Jesus Christ. I realize if I’m going to live this life You’re calling me to, I also need massive amounts of Your Grace to do it. Thank You for the Grace by which I’m saved, and the Grace by which I stand. I want Your Holy Spirit – the ‘Christ in me’ that is my ‘hope of glory’ – to transform me and lead me to life more abundantly.”

Amen.

Friday Remix: Redemption Drama

The woman was not a “penitent.”  She was terrified and certain she was going to die a gruesome death. She most likely pleaded for her life and promised not to do “it” again. But repentant? Not hardly.

She is dragged, kicking and fighting and probably nude, to the feet of the rabbi.

Her “captors” – all men – are cocky and confident. If they didn’t have to drag this naked, spitting, screaming woman they would be swaggering or doing a George Jefferson-style strut. “This deal is airtight,” they think. “He’ll trip himself up this time and we’ll have him right where we want him…”

The woman is being dragged to what she knows is a death sentence. Wide-eyed, wild-eyed, stomach-churning fear wraps itself around her unable to replace her missing clothes.

The men rush to vindication and victory. Soon the troublemaking teacher will be out of their hair and the status quo will be restored. Glee is the order of the moment.

They are all stopped cold by the Master.

“Rabbi, we caught her red handed… in “the act,” if you know what we mean (and we think you do)… Moses said we could stone women like her. What do you say?”

The Master says…nothing. Instead, he stoops down and begins to write in the dirt. We’re not told what he writes. There is much speculation – the names and/or sins of the men, the law they were referring to. Whatever he writes, it has no affect on the crowd. They keep asking, “What do you say? C’mon, tell us what you think we should do?”

The Master stands up and brushes the dirt from his hands. “The sinless one among you can throw the first rock.”  Not quite what they expected. The mental calculations begin, as the Master stoops again to write in the sand.

“Well, I can’t throw a rock – that guy over there knows that I…”

Rocks are dropped like they’re hot, and one by one, the men suddenly remember urgent tasks, appointments, and important responsibilities that require them to be anywhere but here.

The Master and the woman are alone.  She’s not sure what to expect, doesn’t know she’s in the presence of the only man qualified to throw a stone at her. But instead of a rock, he throws her a lifeline. “Where are your accusers?” the Master inquires. “They’re gone,” she replies. “I’m not going to punish you,” the Master declares, “Go, and pursue a life free from sin.”

The blunt force grace of the Master’s statement hits me hard.  I have lived two roles in this little drama.

I have been brash and self-righteous, confident that God was on my side in the fight and was in fact holding my coat.  I have put on the judge’s robes, ignoring the ill-fit as I pronounced certain judgment on those who surely deserved it.

The Master’s words have stung me. “If you’re sinless, go ahead, pass sentence and carry out the punishment.”

And I have been naked and terrified, exposed in my sin for all to see. I have been convinced that this was the last straw, all the Master could stand from me. I have been sure that the stones were about to fly.

The Master’s words have soothed me, saved me. “No condemnation. Go, and don’t sin anymore.”

We need both the words that expose our judgmental folly and the words that heal and forgive. It is the truth of our sordid condition and the liberating reality of our salvation that gives us hope.

A ragamuffin reminder

Wow… I was going through some old files a little while ago, and I found a paper I had typed up a few years ago – I had to study it a few minutes before I realized what it was… It is something I had adapted from Brennan Manning’s book, “The Ragamuffin Gospel.”

It was one of those handful of books that have caused a profound shift in my entire life. It fell into my hands when we were in the middle of a church plant that was crashing and burning. The combination of the simple truths and beautifully told stories was used by God to do a tremendous work of healing in my heart. I have read and re-read it, bought it for people and recommended it to others. Frankly, the book is one of a handful of factors that are responsible for me still being in the ministry instead of pursuing corporate success in northwest Arkansas…

What I adapted was from Manning’s “A Word Before” at the very beginning of the book – My paper begins:

This is the kind of pastor I want to be and the kind of church I want to lead…

…not for the super-spiritual.
…not for muscular Christians who have made John Wayne and not Jesus their hero.
…not for academicians who would imprison Jesus in an ivory tower of exegesis.
…not for “feel-good” folks who would manipulate Christianity into a naked appeal to emotion.
…not for hooded mystics who want magic in their religion.
…not for “Alleluia” Christians who live only on the mountaintop and have never visited the valley of desolation.
…not for the fearless and tearless.
…not for the red-hot zealots who boast with the rich, young ruler: “All these commandments I have kept from my youth.”
…not for the complacent, with their tote-bag full of honors, diplomas, and good deeds, and who actually believe they have it made.
…not for legalists who surrender control of their souls rather than run the risk of living in union with Jesus.

But for…

…the bedraggled, beat up, and burned out.
…the burdened who are constantly shifting their heavy suitcase form one hand to the other.
…the wobbly and weak-kneed who know they don’t have it all together.
…inconsistent, unsteady disciples.
…poor, weak, sinful men and women with faults and limited talents.
…earthen vessels who shuffle along on feet of clay.
…the bent and bruised who feel that their lives are a grave disappointment to God.
…smart people who know they are stupid, and honest disciples who admit they’re good-for-nothings.
…myself, and anyone else who has grown weary and discouraged along the way.

Mostly Manning’s words, but my thoughts – then and now.

Sunday Replay 06.08.08

I’ll just plunge right in – worship was awesome today!  From the tangible evidence of people gathered up front, kneeling before the Lord to pray and worship Him… to the “Heavenly Practice” of joining our voices with those around God’s throne who worship Him by repeating, “Holy, holy, holy,” over and over – today was something special.  Again, I was blown away by our “little” worship band’s determination to lead us in glorifying God.  Thanks for all you do!

We continued the “I Can’t Believe You Said That!” series with a message called “Trying to Live for Jesus Will Kill You!”  We saw that the true test of whether we’re being told or taught the truth is: Does it liberate us and make us freer than we were?  We saw that God hasn’t called us to try to live for Jesus – He’s called us to allow Jesus to live in us, through us, as us.  We saw that our model for this kind of “surrendered living” is Jesus, who said, “the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing…” and “I can do nothing on My own initiative.”   And we saw that we’re either trying or trusting… Trying is a work of the flesh; trusting is a work of the Spirit.

Bible Beach Club is ONE WEEK AWAY!  Our theme this year is “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” focusing on what it takes to be a real hero in God’s eyes.  We are so pumped for this year’s BBC – well all except for the pig a certain pastor will have to kiss when we break the 100 kid barrier…

Our Summer small groups will be getting underway in the next couple of weeks.  This year we’re offering the Love and Respect conference in small group format, Bible book studies, and an encore presentation of the Mayberry Bible Study.  Registrations have already begun – reserve your place soon!

Have a great week!

In Better Hands

Natalie Grant’s new CD “Relentless” is amazing, and “In Better Hands” is one of my new favorite songs…

The video is pretty cool, too!