THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!

             I’m not sure if the same is true where you live, but out here amidst the outlaw mentality of Arizona the whole Photo Radar thing is a wildly controversial topic. I have heard reports that in the Phoenix area alone less than a third of all traffic fines are actually paid as most people simply refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of this technology. Apparently we like to drive fast, but we don’t appreciate having our picture taken while doing it and we’re especially not fond of the ticket we receive in the mail in 7 to 10 business days.

            Somehow having a “beef” with photo radar brings to mind Adam and Eve. When I think about Adam and Eve I think about fruit, or more specifically the fruit they were forbidden to eat (which didn’t dissuade them for too long). So when God confronts Adam about partaking of that fruit, Adam quickly attempts to pass the blame onto Eve (and God) by replying, “you know that woman you gave to me? Well, she gave me the fruit!”

            Now this whole business with fruit gets me thinking a bit deeper about things like the various selfish reasons many children are forced to grow up without the full love and support of both parents, politicians who blame one another for our nations economic woes, celebrities who check into rehab when they have done something controversial to skirt the blame and athletes who conveniently “misremember” certain details about what performance enhancing drug they were taking…uh, I mean not taking!

At their core, photo radar, forbidden fruit and finger pointing is really about responsibility, or the lack there of.

            Which brings us to Christendom, where there are two statements that make me cringe, (actually there are many more, but just play along) the first being "The Devil is attacking my life!" and the second is "God is blessing my life!"

Now, I do believe that there are spiritual forces at work in our lives whether we are aware of it or not and both statements do carry with them an incredible amount of truth that we can hardly hope to understand. God is hardly given enough credit for his merciful interventions, protection and blessings that we are so often oblivious to. Whereas, I think most of us choose to remain in ignorance to the actual amount of influence and involvement the devil has in our lives. 

Its just that all too often in my lifetime spent within the “friendly confines” of the church I have heard such statements thrown around quite frequently and flippantly as God or the Devil has been credited with everything from God having a hand in providing a parking place to the devil striking with pimple outbreaks before big dates.

I don’t pretend to know how the spiritual realm works and to be honest those Bible passages informing me that my battles are actually against the “forces of evil in this dark world” sound a bit creepy and a tad overwhelming. I am pretty sure however that when my car runs out of gas on my way to the store it doesn’t mean that somehow the devil has taken an upper hand in the spiritual arm wrestling match with God. And vice versa, when I trip while walking down some stairs and miraculously catch my balance before a disastrous fall, it doesn’t mean that God has just “put it” to the devil either. 

            These statements bug me so much because it is just another avenue for people to deflect responsibility. I have seen too many people pass the buck of responsibility in their lives to either God or the devil depending on the circumstances. Most recently I was reading a story about a popular Christian musician back in the 80’s who was arrested for possession of cocaine. Years later it seemed that he had learned little about personal humility and responsibility, simply chalking it all up to “the devil (doing) his number”.

A friend of mine who was going through a divorce also skillfully attempted to evade blame with his comment on the dreary situation that "the devil is really working hard to tear us apart". My first thought being "is God on vacation or something? The Devil is wreaking havoc on your life and God isn't doing a thing?" The truth was that he was simply refusing to acknowledge the years of mistakes, hurts and unforgiveness within his crumbling marriage. Oh, but we can throw all that practical thinking out the window and blame it on the ole’ devil!

            Besides the fact that it is a cowardly way of attempting to dodge personal responsibility, there are other issues with the emphasis on the devil being associated with every negative and God being credited with every positive thing that happens in our lives. First of all, when it "hits the fan" (oh, and it will!) it causes us to wonder where God is in the midst of the devil laying waste to our lives, despite His great promise that He will never leave nor forsake us.

Sure, it would be nice to be able to credit the devil with all the uncomfortable and painful moments in our lives, however, more often than not those difficult chapters in our story are actually sacred moments in which God is carefully and gracefully putting the defining touches on who we are.

The truth is that what we may want to believe is the devil may actually be God trying to get our attention.

            Another problem with the (positive = God, negative = the devil) approach is that the devil, crafty as he is, can manipulate situations so that they appear to be positive, like an answer to prayer even, when in fact it is of no benefit to us at all. We might be tempted to believe that because an answer we have been seeking drops from the sky all nicely packaged with a bow on top that it is a blessing from God, when in all reality it may be nothing more than another empty promise from our enemy. 

Now, God isn't immune to having a fair share of blame directed at him either. The biggest problem most people have with the whole idea of the existence of God is that they cannot fathom a loving God allowing all the pain and suffering that ills humanity. As if its Gods fault that humankind has made bad decisions, as we slowly destroy the planet, engage in war with one another while often ignoring the needs associated with the spread of sicknesses, disease and hunger. We seem to forget that God originally created all things good, beautiful and complete, while it was humanity that made a mess of it.

If we aren’t placing the blame on spiritual forces than we are not too proud to pass it along to someone or something else. We’d rather accuse our spouses, mothers or fathers, our depression or addictions, our boss or work situations, the economy and even the President (need I go further?) than lay claim to our own mistakes and troubles. I was even talking with a pastor who blamed alcohol consumption as a factor in many occurrences of infidelity. I don't really buy that, alcohol doesn't "make" anyone do anything, (besides act stupid) it is simply an easy excuse.

The fact is that we are reckless with our money and our time, our bodies and our birth control, our emotions and even our very souls. Heck, because of our unreliability and negligence the very planet that God so lovingly and deliberately designed for us is slowly being destroyed. From within our dire circumstances we cry out “why God?” while ignoring the fact that our actions have consequences.

Without responsibility and accountability in our lives there is little hope that our co-workers, friends, significant others or even our children will hold us in any measurable amount of esteem. In fact, it may very well erase what little character we might have had and remove any clinging fibers of integrity. A lack of responsibility has cost us in our marriages and has done damage to our relationships with our children. With only finger pointing and no one willing to shoulder the blame our country has been driven into unimaginable debt. Irresponsibility and at times an unwillingness to admit its wrongs the churches reputation and effectiveness has been eroded.

            All of us (myself most definitely included!) need to begin taking small steps of responsibility within our lives and own up to our faults and failures. Seek forgiveness from God and those around us for our weaknesses and our shortcomings. We make our own decisions and we need to be accountable for them. Like the old saying goes, “we must lie in the bed we make”.

           

Lost in Translation

Take it from a guy who has been married for ten years, works in close quarters with a handful of diverse personalities and has had friendships rocked by divorces and pride fueled disagreements, communication is an amazingly complex entity that can exude life, growth and camaraderie one moment and then miserable misunderstanding the next.

It is often messy, uncomfortable and misconstrued, however, judging by the current popularity of social networking sites, cell phones and text messaging, communication is also a highly sought after and valued thing.

Now when it comes to communication, I truly believe that those who put their trust in Jesus have the greatest message of hope, redemption, forgiveness and love. We are in fact, (frighteningly) Gods primarily messengers to the rest of a weary and broken world that longs for good news. Our every action, word and even our subtle body language continually sends a message to those around us of who God is and what He looks like.

So what message are we presenting? Hopefully it is one of redemption, grace and, to borrow from Brennan Manning, the “furious love of God”. Sadly, however this great message is often lost in translation.

Case in point was a pastor I recently witnessed leading new “converts” in a prayer to “accept Christ into their lives”. To those uninitiated with church life and lingo, think of it as a swearing in ceremony in which people are “sworn into” the faith. Perplexingly as it may seem being that it is such a monumental spiritual moment, it is rarely scripted or rehearsed by preachers who are apparently more focused on brushing up on the impeccable timing of their one-liners. Which may excuse this particular preacher for exhorting “newbies” to pray to God imploring Him “to forgive them for the way they have been living their lives thus far”.

Sounds pretty harmless right?

Except when you consider that such an unclear and seemingly vague statement forces people to draw their own conclusions as to what they are really being told. Which may be where all the confusion about superficial lifestyle changes like being a person of a particular moral code while avoiding the dangers of “sex, drugs and Rock n’ Roll” is birthed. What we are left with is churches full of people who are not exactly sure what their salvation really means in relation to their lives.

Despite what we might interpret the message to say, the fact is that initially putting ones faith in God has little, perhaps even nothing to do with the life someone has lived or the things they have done. I know some of the most loving and kind people who do not consider themselves Christians, while on the other hand I have been acquainted with some of the filthiest and rotten people who call themselves Christians. The way in which someone lives his or her life is not always an accurate indicator of ones salvation.

And not to pick on this poor pastor alone, because we send similar messages to the world around us when our salvation story consists of what amounts to merrily outward “surface cleaning” (“I used to smoke, drink and cuss but then I found Jesus and now my life is completely different”). The bumper sticker that reads “Born fine the first time” is the world’s jab in response to such shallow testimonies that drip with the underlying message that “life is better here”. On the contrary, life usually gets more difficult (which was what Jesus warned his followers) when one chooses faith.

You see, despite the confusing messages to the contrary, God’s primarily concern is not with the kind of life we lived yesterday. He simply desires to be the center and focus of our lives today and on into our future tomorrows.

Furthermore, asking those who are newly acquainted with God to seek forgiveness for the way they “lived their life” pre-faith sends a dangerous message that the church, and God for that matter, is only concerned with what they do instead of in whom they trust. It causes churchgoers to tiptoe around each other on Sunday mornings concerned and fearful that they will be exposed as a fraud (which, in a way, we all happen to be).

Sadly many people “join” the church, subscribe to the “corporate” brand and immediately begin exhausting themselves by jumping through all the “spiritual” hoops trying to please the others and please God while hoping to quiet the lingering voices spewing words of doubt and guilt. However, despite the commitment, effort, hard work or perseverance we cannot will ourselves to live a better “Christian life”. Such futile striving will only leave us feeling unfulfilled, frustrated and disappointed. We cannot make life, character and moral changes that are deeply ingrained into who we are with “good ole’ fashion” hard work and determination.

All this fruitless striving saddens me because it really is as simple as living in the grace of God and enjoying the spiritual journey without getting caught up in our failures, disappointments and guilt. Unfortunately such messages are a rarity.

Honestly, the most important thing missing from all of our lives is truly knowing and experiencing God, there is no other ingredient required. God, knowing every little nuance, trait, characteristic and aspect of his creation, knows perfectly how to effectively weed out, mold and shape our lives. He is much more patient and long suffering than we could ever hope to be in seeing us unto completion. If there are things in our life that need to be changed or ways of living that need to be tweaked, you can be sure God will inform us of it and will work patiently and with purpose to accomplish it in our life. In this progression our character blossoms to its fullest potential.

The salvation experience is not solely about making people better human beings. But for the grace of God, all of humanity is on a level playing field in such regards. It doesn’t matter what someone’s political affiliation may be, what their sexual orientation is, what religion they subscribe to or anything else, if there be any good deed, word of encouragement or characteristic within them it is simply the illuminating grace of God shining through a putrid soul. And we are all putrid souls, however God can use ANYONE He desires to be a blessing! As Aaron Weiss puts it so simply and yet poignantly in song “It’s (God) in everyone we meet”.

Despite what we would love to believe about ourselves, without God in our lives there really is no good within us, our natural inclinations are selfish and sinful. We should take no pride in our efforts to be “good-people” (our righteousness is like filthy rags after all) but should humbly thank God that He is hard at work patiently perfecting us hardheaded people.

With this in mind, perhaps it is time we reevaluate some of our ideas and perceptions about sin. You see, from the time Moses come down the mountain with those two imposing tablets to today where Sunday school children across the globe are singing, “be careful little eyes what you see” there has always been this underlying belief that God doesn’t want us to have any fun.

One of my favorite writers on faith, Anne Lamott reminds us that we are “punished not for the sin but by the sin.” I believe this is a much healthier way to approach Gods distain for our sins. God wants us to avoid sin, not because He wants to remove all the fun from our lives, but because sin is something that is destructive to a healthy life and healthy relationships. We should desire to live a “better life” not solely because it pleases God or makes Him love us more, but because it is a better way to live and will save us much heartache and pain.

Remember, entrusting God with our lives has nothing to do with pledging our allegiances to the handiwork of man nor does it have anything to do with keeping up our appearances. Salvation is hope that through God’s grace we can overcome yesterday’s struggles. It is hope that beginning immediately God will join us in our battles. It is hope in knowing that life won’t necessarily be easier but we will be guaranteed that we don’t have to go it alone. It is about accepting an offer of “life and life abundantly”.

In a world full of unclear and mixed messages, those of us with the greatest message of hope need to get it right.