It is unfortunate, but true. Most Christians, embedded in modern culture, live as “bobble-head” Christians with bumper sticker theology. “Bobble-head” in the sense that most evangelical Christians are overloaded with biblical information but are lacking kingdom incarnation. Statistics have demonstrated that there are no significant distinctions in the divorce rates, bankruptcy rates, and many other behavioral characteristics from American culture. Information, indeed an important commodity, becomes the standard of spiritual maturity instead of the apostolic standard of Christ-like formation – the greatest calling. I don’t really blame the Christian community. Most of our society is fixated on the cognitive aspects of life without regard for the significant bodily practices that actually transform individuals, communities, and cultures. So we end up with a “big head” and a “small body.” Or in my language, we have an IQ without an I Do!

And because there is so much information available today, the average Christian dumbs down their beliefs about theology in bumper sticker phrases. You know . . .
“Once saved, always saved”
“Love the Sinner, hate the sin”
“No Jesus, no peace, Know Jesus, know peace”

This reductionistic depiction provides the average Christian a vocabulary to share but not a vocation for service. Every significant, deeply imbedded belief comes from the heart, not the head. This transformation actually overcomes our cognitive willfulness through our bodily actions. For example, at the Super Bowl, no matter what your political ideology is as an American or how ticked off you are with your local or national government leaders, nearly every American stands at the sound of the national anthem—
united, moved by the enlarged American flag on the football field, and energized by the jets flying overhead. It is a ritual (behavior practiced over and over again) that overcomes your willfulness, and you naturally do it without thinking. In its core, this ritual transforms you by incarnating you as an American and all that America represents as a country. Putting it in a bumper sticker format, you are what you love.

So how does this relate to Christian formation? Every human being has a desire to love, to be loved, and become a bearer of love for others. The richness of being made in the image of God is that we have been called to be lovers. In essence, as author and scholar James K. A. Smith puts it, “I AM WHAT I LOVE.”

If Smith is right (and I believe he is), then the words of Jesus have special significance:

As to the question of the greatest commandment in the Torah, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:37-40, ESV).

As to the question of the greatest witness we can provide in the world, Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).

As to the question of how to glorify God, Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (John 15:8-12, ESV).

To be a human being is to love. What we love defines us. I am not talking about shallow things we may love like our mother’s apple pie, our favorite team, or our favorite Italian dish. I am not even talking about really significant loves like our children, grandchildren, spouse, or even parents. I am speaking of our ultimate loves – the loves that oversee our personal vision of the good life. This kind of love actually can overwhelm our significant loves in life. At the ultimate heart level, it is the love that we pledge our allegiance to – this kind of love is what we worship.

This kind of ultimate love can be misdirected into attachments and addictions. The ancient voices of the prophets would call this misdirection “idolatry.” Since we all love (and I mean all, from Adolf Hitler to Mother Teresa), what we love becomes most important in our development as a human being.

Most Christians would say that they love God. Because they, like the rest of the world, have been marred by imperfection, many Christians (if they were honest with themselves) would say that although they love God, they love money, status, power, women, sex, pornography, work, alcohol, food, country, sports, clothing, shopping, or fill in the blank more. The proof is our behaviors, our habits, our bodily practices, and our way of life. Our hearts have turned the shallow or the significant into the ultimate love in their life that, over time, distorts them and through time defines them.

Our formation as Christ-followers is more earthy than head-knowledge. It is embodied. Or as the Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” It is wholistic and holistic. The key to reach his glory is through our hearts! This affective side of ourselves forms our habits that help us live for the ultimate.

Now, please do not misunderstand. Affective does not mean it is anti-intellectional. It simply places “knowledge” about God in the non-cognitive region of our being and rightly centered now upon our desire to love, be loved, and become bearers of love. It is exactly what Jesus prayed for us in experiencing eternal life:

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God,
and Jesus whom you have sent (John 17:3, ESV)

If I understand Christianity according to Jesus, our transformation to Christ likeness must move beyond ideas and beliefs about God to practices of habit-forming behaviors of worship. In the next blog, I will show you how we can do that very activity in order to truly experience eternal life through knowing God.

- Tony Baron

Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:2-11

Advent/Christmas Series

I.          LAYING THE BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR JOY

A. Straightening Out the Myths about Joy

1.  
   1. Joy is not a bumper sticker:  Jesus, Others, You
   2. Joy is not that different than happiness

                                                              i.     Happiness is a relational value:  one is made happy “on account of” or by means of something else.

B.         So What is Joy?

1.         Joy, in the Old Testament, signifies not only an inward feeling, but an audible and visible expression.  Many times joy is used in the context of shouting, crying aloud, exulting, singing, dancing, clapping and feasting.

People find joy in ordinary daily life: the love of a spouse (Prov. 5:18; Eccle. 9:9), wise children (Prov. 10:1; 15:20; 23:24-25), good meals (Eccl. 10:19; Ps. 104:15), harvest time (Is. 9:3 Ps. 126:5-6, Heb. 9:2), the fruit of one’s labors (Eccl. 3:22), an “apt” answer (Prov. 12:20; 15:23), and good news (I Sam. 11:9).

More often, joy occurs in theological contexts that celebrate who God is and what God does.

Joy occurs to those who have experienced deliverance (Ps. 21:1; Is. 25:9; Hab. 3:18), protection (Ps. 4:7), steadfast love (Ps. 21:6-7; 31:7; 90:14), forgivenss and restoration (Ps. 30:5; 51:8; 12); righteousness judgments (Ps. 48:11; 67:4; 96:11-13).

Joy in God is not only in thanksgiving for past deliverance but also in anticipation of future salvation (Ps. 40:17; Is. 30:29; 35:10; 55:12; 61:7; Jer. 31:12-13).

There is “fullness of joy” and “pleasures forevermore” whenever one is in the presence of God (Ps. 16:9-11).

2.         Joy, in the New Testament, is everywhere.  Joy is characterizes the new era inaugurated by the coming of the Messiah.  At his birth, angels announce “good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10-11).  The joy that characterizes the kingdom of God surpasses all other joys.  A person discovers this hidden treasure of the kingdom, “in his joy he goes and sells all that he has” for the sake of attaining it (Matt. 13:44).  The parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son speak of the rejoicing in heaven over a sinner’s repentance and salvation (Luke 15:3-32).  In John’s Gospel, the statement that joy is “fulfilled” or “complete” (3:29. 15:11; 16:24; 17:13; see also I John 1:4; 2 John 12) indicates that its object has appeared in the person of Jesus.  Abiding in him is the key to attaining it.

II.        BUILDING THE BIBLICAL FRAMEWORK FOR JOY IN OUR LIVES (Isaiah 35:1-10; Matthew 11:2-11)

A. The Primary Emotion that Destroys Joy: FEAR

Isaiah 35:3-4 “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear!  Here is your God . . . He will come and save you.”

B. The Example of John the Baptist:  Even the Most Committed Can Be Robbed of Their Joy by Fear (When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”)

Other Examples: Joseph, the husband of Mary (Mt. 1:20); Twelve (Mt. 8:26); Disciples (Mt. 10:31); Peter (Mt. 14:30); Mary Magdalene (Matt. 28:5,8 “afraid and filled with joy)

Fear comes in all sizes:  failure, doubt, suffering, survival, overwhelmed, opposition, persecution, death, etc.  It robs us of the ability to see clearly, think accurately, and put our feelings under control.

1. The Expression of Jesus is Important: DO NOT FEAR (Matthew 10:26,28; 31; 14:27; 17:7; 28:10; Mark 4:40; 5:36; 6:50; Luke 8:50; 12:4; 12:7, 32; John 6:20. 12:15; 14:27)

C. The Primary Tools that Helps Overcoming Fear:  FACTS, FAITH, AND LOVE SURROUNDING JESUS! (Matthew 11:4-11; Is. 35:1-10) 

1.  
   1. Jesus tells John the Baptist the Facts of His Ministry (Beatitude no one knows, Matthew 11:6 “Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me”)
   2. Isaiah announces coming transformations of weapons, economies, social orders, animals, land, human disabilities, locations, power, and destinies.
   3. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,(I John 4:18)

III.            LEARNING TO LIVE OUT OUR JOY DAILY

A. Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry and Create Margins in Your Life

B. Relax and Be Content Where God has Placed You in this Season of Life

C. Intentionally Improve Your Marriage to Jesus.  Eliminate dating or thinking you are simply engaged to the Coming King.

Advent 3, December 12, 2010, The Way Christian Fellowship, Fr. Tony Baron, teaching pastor.

www.findtheway.org; www.forthesakeofothers.org

Advent/Christmas Message Series, Fr. Tony Baron

Matthew 24:36-44; Isaiah 9:2-7

I.          Despair Has an Impact on All of Us                   (Introduction) 

Financial Impact (Despair, Inc. )

Consulting:  If you’re not a part of the solution, there’s good money to be made in prolonging the problem.

Adversity:  That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.

Beauty:  If you’re attractive enough on the outside, people will forgive you for being irritating to the core.

Apathy:  If we don’t take care of the customer, maybe they’ll stop bugging us.

Wishes:  When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true.  Unless it’s really a meteorite hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life.  Then your pretty much hosed what you wish for.  Unless it’s death by meteor.

Despair:  It’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black. 

• Emotional Impact    PROLONGED DESPAIR CAUSES HOPELESSNESS!!!!
• Spiritual Impact
• Seasonal Impact

II. THREE TRUTHS ABOUT OVERCOMING DESPAIR

A.        Truth #1:          In a battle between you and the world, bet on the world!

B.         Truth #2:          In a battle between God and the world, bet on God!

C.         Truth #3:          In a battle between you and the world, you need God to win   

III. PRACTICING HOPE WHEN GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE (Application)

A.  Help Yourself Get Perspective

1.         Curtail your intake of news

2.         Soak in the words from God, I Peter 1:3; Titus 2:13; 2 Thess. 2:16; Heb. 7:19; Heb. 6:19; I Cor. 13:13; Psalm 119:42-81; Romans 15:4; Acts 26:6,7; Titus 1:2

3.         Don’t use negative words, including “what if” or “if only,” speak life and light over yourself

4.         Daily set up appointments with positive people and events

B. Open Your Heart to God Possibilitie

1.         Treat Each Day as a Special Gift from God for New Possibilities

2.         See your heartache as an answer to your future ministry

3.         Affirm 7x’s a day: All things are possible with God

4.         Memorize Philippians 4:12,13

5.         Read the biblical stories of impossible odds and God possibilities

            C.  Provide Daily Moments for Laughter and Love 

1.  
   1. Choose laughter and love over judgment and self-criticism
   2. Memorize I Peter 5:7
   3. Hang out with funny people, movies, and books (comics)
   4. Fill in your calendar with margins

D.        Exercise your mind, body, and heart

1.         Read a classic

2.         Walk, walk, and walk

3.         Ask God to soften your heart; see the world in the eyes of Jesus

4.         Choose to be fully alive today

TABLE TALK ON “HOPE” 

Hope is looking forward with confidence to a future good.  In the Bible, hope is founded upon Israel’s religious memories in which Yahweh, the “hope of Israel” (Jer. 14:8), makes covenants with Israel. In the New Testament, hope is integrally related to the covenantal hope of the Old Testament.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the OT covenants and messianic expectations.  By faith in Christ’s resurrection, Christians can have hope for an eternal life in the kingdom of God.

For those who follow Christ, hope is necessary for daily living.  One could not have this hope without faith (Heb. 11:1; Romans 8:24).  It is faith in Christ and in his resurrection that allows Christians to have hope, unlike unbelievers (Eph. 2:11-12; I Thess. 4:13).  Christians can experience persecution, but this is a proof of righteousness (2 Tim.3:12).  This suffering is a privilege (Phil. 1:29) and a blessing (I Peter 3:14), and the hope that enables endurance should be a witness to others (I Peter 3:15).  Suffering leads to hope (Romans 5:3-5) and is to be rejoiced in because “we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17). Further, although suffering is present in this life, the Christian can have hope that God will console (2 Cor. 1:5) and save from earthly perils (2 Cor. 1:10).  The hope of resurrection even transforms grief, as loved ones will live again (I Thess. 4:13-15).

The power of hope is not limited to the realm of suffering; the promises of forgiveness (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14) and empowerment by the Spirit (I Cor. 12:4-31; Eph. 4:11-13) are key to the continued growth of the Christian community.  The Apostle Paul asserts that it is the Holy Spirit that allows him to hope.  The famous triad of faith, hope, and love (I Cor. 13:13) are interconnected by their relationship to the Holy Spirit.  Though Christians have hope to endure until his second coming, the greatest hope is in resurrection and participation in the fullness of the kingdom.

The Rocky Road to Peace

Advent/Christmas Message Series

Matthew 3:1-12; Isaiah 11:1-10

1. I.                Concepts of peace by worldly standards
   1. “Peace and quiet”—Denial?
   2. “Keeping the peace at any price”—Avoidance?
   3. “Finding peace and quiet”—Flight?
   4. “I am peaceful but my neighbor isn’t”—Blaming others?
   5. Détente—Delaying?

1. II.              Isaiah’s view of peace—The Messianic Rule

“The wolf will lie with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.  The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.  They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11: 6-9

1. III.            How does a wild man eating locust and honey fit into this picture?

Matthew 3:1-12 revisited.

Repent!  –Creates dissonance even today in a world of me-and-my-Jesus attitudes

Peace—the tension between energy and stillness, tranquility and churning, “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comforted.”  The Biblical picture of peace does not jive with our ideas of the absence of disturbance.  It is the picture of the presence of something.  It is the presence of covenantal relationship with God in the midst of our lives.

Proclamation—The kingdom of God is at hand, we are called to be bearers of God’s peace in a world of discord. 

Table Talk:

Reflect on how much your concept of peace has been influenced by worldly standards and how you may incorporate a biblical understanding of the concept. 

God’s peace is offered to us not just at the coming of the age, but rather this very day.  We are called to participate this day in the fullness of the Kingdom, partaking of as well as bearing the Peace of God wherever God may lead us.

December 5, 2010.  Dcn. Kirsten Gardner, Teaching Pastor.  The Way Christian Fellowship.