To Know or Control God?

"We want to know what we're are supposed to do that will get the spiritual results we want. Seminars on centering prayer and books on spiritual disciplines, though often presenting vital truth, can appeal to our desire not to discover God but to control Him. Spiritual activities can become spiritual maneuvers designed to make something happen." ~ Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams, p. 109

Covenant Theology

Ben Witherington (one of the scholars Lee Strobel interviewed in The Case for Christ, chapter 7 "Was Jesus Really Convinced That He Was The Son of God?") has written a post about covenants and the part they play in studying theology. I really appreciated the post for two reasons. The first reason is because I have long held the view that understanding covenants provides us with a better perspective on our relationship with God. The second reason is because the post helped me make sense out of a couple of questions I have been dealing with. The major one was: How can one man's death take care the sins of two people let alone thousands of people? I think viewing Christ's death in terms of covenant provides the best answer to this question. So I hope you will go and read Dr. Witherington's thoughts on covenants: Cutting a Covenant; and When Covenant People can't Cut It.

You are Loved; You must Obey

"Discipline teaches us obedience, and immediate and unquestioned obedience is a great gift to endow in a boy, a quality of character that will serve him the rest of his life. For it is an essential truth of life to know and appreciate the fact that the universe does not find you at its center. Rather, it demands things of you, requires you to live within its limits. No matter how much you wail and bellow, the rain will fall, summer will pass into winter, and a two-by-four will hurt you if you drop it on your toe. Welcome to reality. Learn to live within it. How much more true this is for a man before his God. You are loved immensely, and you must obey." ~ John Eldredge, The Way of the Wild at Heart; p. 71

Don't Just Make Noise

"Nothing brings back feelings of being cared for as much as being in a community that feels. There is hurt and loneliness on a rampant scale today. Nothing will speak to our society as much as a community that reaches out with the love of Christ." ~ Ravi Zacharias, Cries of the Heart

We live in a broken world. That fact is not hard to see. From high profile murder cases, to rampant drug use, and to the explosion of internet dating sites we understand that things are not what they should be. People are hurt, lonely, scared, and without hope.

I don't think people who are broken do not need lectures on the evil of sin. Why? They don't need the lectures because they are experiencing the consequences of sin each and every day. Nor do I think they do not need facts about the reliability of the Bible. Why? These facts fail to meet their deepest needs. What will speak to their hearts is the clear demonstration that they are not facing the hardships of life alone. In other words they need compassion, love in action, to be made real in their lives. Jesus established His Church to be the instrument of love in this broken world. If people are going to discover the love of God then it will be through the Church sacrificing to help and care for them.

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciple (John 13:34-35; NLT). Jesus tells us that our love for each other, fellow believers, shows the world that we belong to Him. For this reason I believe if we are going to reach out to a hurt and broken community we first must look at ourselves. We, the body of Christ, need to learn to love each other and care for one another so others can understand it is possible to experience the love they crave. Too many people have been turned off to the Gospel of Jesus Christ because the church they knew was far from loving. Why would people want to be part of a fellowship, if that is what it can be called, that is filled with gossip, fighting, and divisions?

The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay (1 Peter 4:7-9; NLT).

Peter reminds us of the importance of love. Love is so important for a Church not only because it will help people overlook mediocre preaching, terrible singing, and inadequate teaching, but also because it will become the source of what they are truly seeking: love. The world is an unloving place, the Church should stand out because of our love for each other and for the rest of the world. Being a loving Church also allows people to see the Gospel message fleshed out which helps them understand that Jesus can make a difference in their lives.

The Bible makes it clear that we, the followers of Christ, are the body of Christ. It is our responsibility to live in such a way so that the world can see the love of Jesus. When we insist on fighting with each other and having power struggles which divide the Church we show a hurting and lonely world that Jesus makes no difference in the lives of people.

If we really want to make difference in this world it will begin with our love for each other and our compassion for the lost. That is what will draw interest from the world to the message and hope that we have. Without love our message will be lost amongst all the competing philosophies and religions of the world.

The apostle Paul tells us:

If could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:1; NLT

If we don't love it doesn't matter what else we do all we are doing is just making noise. Let's not make noise, let's make a difference.

Love and Suffering

"The endurance of suffering can be hard and bitter if it is not softened and sweetened by love. It is one thing to grit our teeth and clench our fists with Stoical indifference, but quite another to smile in the face of adversity with Christian love. As for orthodoxy, it is cold and dead without the warmth and beauty with which love invests it." ~ John Stott, What Christ Thinks of the Church, p. 29

Why is Religion Evil?

Last night I watched the online video of the Christopher Hitchens and Alister McGrath debate. The premise of the debate was centered around the question "Poison or Cure?: Religious Belief in the Modern World." Hitchens' (the author of God is not Great) is that religion leads people to do unspeakable evil. I am afraid that McGrath's (The Dawkin's Delusion) response was not up to the challenge.

Part of the problem, at least how it appeared to me, was that McGrath just wasn't aggressive enough in his response. In other words I don't think that Christianity offers no response, but McGrath wasn't assertive enough to put it out there. It is like the times I have watched my oldest nephew play soccer. His problem isn't that he lacks the skill or the athletic ability, but that he lacks the aggression to get in there in mix it up.

This lack of aggression really showed itself in one key part of the debate when McGrath really could have reversed things and helped us see that the fact that Hitchens says religion is evil and poisons everything is evidence that God exists.

During the question and answer time the first question is directed at Hitchens. The question is: If God does not exist on what basis can anyone say this action is right or this action is wrong? In his response Hitchens eludes the question, instead he focuses on how the religion gives people the divine permission to do evil things. Yet the question remains: Why does he consider these actions evil? What is his basis for declaring them so?

I agree that with many of the things that he deemed evil that have been done, and are being done, in the name of religion (other points I think he misrepresents what the Bible says and Christian theology). For me this gift of morality, the ability to speak of something as right and wrong, is a gift from God confirmed by His Word. But why would Hitchens speak of things of being right or wrong/good or evil?

This is exactly the point C. S. Lewis begins Mere Christianity with. Lewis closes chapter one by writing:

"These, then, are the two points I wanted to make. First, that human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it. Secondly, that they do not in fact behave in that way. They know the Law of Nature, they break it. These two facts are the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in." (p. 21)

Lewis tells us that people possess this idea of what is right and wrong naturally. It is part of who we are, and that is why Hitchens can look at these things and declare them evil (with the majority of Christians agreeing with him). So while I would appeal to God being the author of this "Law of Nature", how would Hitchens account for it?

I think this is an important question to be asked because it gets to the basis of why we consider things to be right and wrong. How does nature and natural selection account for the morality that we now possess? If God doesn't exist why should I care to live a moral life, what benefit is it to me? Why should I care about atrocities on the other side of the world if they don't affect me? On what basis can you appeal to me to be moral? All questions to be considered if God doesn't exist.

The Generosity of Love

"Generosity in its primal essence is love. When we are broken, we become an emotional black hole. No matter how much is poured into us, its light is absorbed and never finds its way back out. When we are whole, we are nurtured by what is invested in us, and at the same time we freely give of ourselves to others." ~ Erwin McManus, Stand Against The Wind, p. 71

Being An Example Worth Following

It is no secret that how we live reflects what we truly believe. That is why faith is more than what we confess with our lips, but is what we do with our hands. Abraham, the great example of faith, was created with righteousness because his belief and trust in God was made real in how he lived. We can say we believe in God, but if that belief isn’t manifested into action then we really don’t have faith. Faith is belief and action working together. That is why James writes: For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (James 2:26; NET).

A life that is faithfully following Jesus provides an example for others to follow. To be a good teacher, whether you are paid to be one or one by default (such as a parent), requires you to be knowledgeable about what you are teaching and demonstrate how that teaching looks in real life. We need examples to help us move from theory to reality.

The Pharisees where the religious teachers of Jesus’ day. They interpreted Scripture for the people and taught them how it applied to their lives. Yet they missed a key component in their teaching: they didn’t live it out in their lives. It was at this point that Jesus confronts them.

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 "The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. 3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them (Matthew 23:1-4; NET).

The underlying theology that the Pharisees taught was okay, but the mistake they made was burdening the people with laws upon laws on how they were to be faithful instead of providing them with an example of what faithful living looked like. Jesus doesn’t tell the crowd that the Pharisees had bad theology, but that they had bad faith. Jesus urges the crowd to listen to the Pharisees teaching, but discourages them from following their example.

We need to keep in mind that there are two parts to effective teaching: relating ideas and letting those ideas be seen in your life. When our lives do not reflect the Truth of the Gospel people will wonder whether or not it is really the truth. The best evidence for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are the faithful lives lived by His followers. When we live faithful lives we make real the teachings of Jesus. Without our example Jesus’ teachings remain simply a theory, a nice way to live.

Having the truth doesn’t do us or anybody else any good if we don’t apply that truth to our lives. The life of faith is the life that is lived based on the truth that we know. It also becomes an example for other people to follow because it is at this point that we truly become lights to the world.

Taking That Step of Faith

I believe that the reason many of us are frustrated in our relationship with God is because of our refusal to really live a life of faith. We are willing to follow Jesus as long as His path seems the right path to take. As soon as it looks like Jesus is leading us off course we will revert back to doing our own thing (which is what we were doing anyway, it just so happened Jesus agreed with it).

Think about we will love people, as long as they are people we like and get along with. We will forgive people if they didn’t hurt us too badly. We will give money, as long as we have some to spare for that new TV we want to get. We will sacrifice as long as there is something in it for us. What if the live God wants us to live is found on the other side of doing those things that don’t make sense to us? I believe that when we don’t trust Jesus by following His teaching and examples then we miss out on the life God created us to live.

A life of faith isn’t just about acknowledging Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, but it is trusting Him with the way we live. Consider what John Ortberg wrote in his book If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat:

If I am going to experience a greater measure of God’s power in my life, it will usually involve the first-step principle. It will usually begin by my acting in faith—trusting God enough to take a step of obedience. Simply acknowledging information about his power is not enough. I have to get my feet wet. (p. 80)

Many of us haven’t experienced God at work in our lives simply because we haven’t taken that step of faith. We have been hesitate to get out feet wet and leave the “safety” of what we know. This fear of the unknown paralyzes us and keeps us from living the life God wants us to live. There is a man we read about in the Gospels that had this very problem.

17 Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" 20 The man said to him, "Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth." 21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, "You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 22 But at this statement, the man looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. ~ Mark 10:17-22; NET

The rich young man was asked to do something by Jesus that he did not understand. It is easy to criticize this young man on this side of history, but imagine Jesus asking you to do the very same thing. Wouldn’t you try to change Jesus’ mind? After all what Jesus asks of this rich young man is rather extreme.

Since it is extreme we generally apply this passage by saying we have to be willing to give up anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God. That is not the application. The application is that we have to do anything Jesus asks us to do, even though we may not understand it. It is easy to say I am willing to do something; it is quite another thing to actually do it. Here is what Ortberg writes about this incident:

Maybe your boat is success. That was the case for the rich young ruler in the Bible. Jesus asked him to get our of the boat (“sell all that you have, give the money to the poor, and come follow me”) but he decided not to. He had a very nice boat. A yacht. It handled well, and he liked it too much to give it up.

I wonder sometimes if he ever thought about that encounter with Jesus when he reached the end of his life--when he was an old man and his bank account, stock portfolio, and trophy case were full. Did he ever remember the day a carpenter’s son called him to risk the whole thing for one wild bet on the kingdom of God--and he said no? (If You Want to Walk on Water You have to Get Out of the Boat; p. 18)

When we refuse to trust Jesus to lead us and we don’t do what He has asked, we will experience sadness in our lives. The relationship we could have with Jesus remains elusive because we are not willing to trust Him to provide for our lives, to lead us to where we can do good, and to love us through the darkness.

Think about all the wonderful experiences you have missed out on because you refused to trust Jesus. This has been a thought I have pondered a lot this past week. I have not trusted God the way I should and I have not always followed Jesus where He led. By not doing things He has asked me to do I have missed out experiencing Him at work in the world. By doing things He has command me not to do I have hurt people and taken myself a little further away from Him.

We become frustrated and disillusioned with our relationship with God because we have not lived by faith, but we have lived by sight. When God said go here we stayed put with the things already knew. To have a relationship with God requires us to live a life of faith. Do you trust Jesus enough to follow Him wherever He leads?

Victory of the New Life

"The child of God is to expect victory. Much of the power of the early church found its source in this expectancy. They had stepped into a new kind of life, rather than merely adopting a new religion. The unseen things of eternity had become more real to them than the three dimensional materialism of this earthly existence. Friends marveled at it, enemies trembled at it, and emperors went mad trying to understand the dynamic with which the first century Christians faced both life and death." ~ Clinton Gill, Hereby We Know, p. 127

Courage and Influence

When we follow Jesus our lives begin to be infused with courage. The old fears that have held us back begin to fall off as we begin to do those things Jesus has prepared for us to do. I have noticed this reality in my life and the opponents of Jesus have also noticed this truth in the lives of His followers. Take for an example the account of Peter and John that Luke writes in Acts 4:

Now as they [the Jewish Religious Council] observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus (Acts 4:1,3; NASB).

The confidence of Peter and John led them to courageously proclaim Jesus in the face of hostile opposition. They were able to overcome their fear of persecution and death because they knew that Jesus had conquered death, and He promised the same to them.

Kelli, a quiet, conscientious fourteen-year-old, attended a public high school in the middle of a very liberal city. Her greatest struggle in ninth grade was not academic, but spiritual. When she learned about See You At The Pole it was something she felt she should do. Although several other kids in her church youth group had expressed interest in participating, most of her classmates had never even heard of the event. When she mentioned to them, their reaction was swift and abrupt: “What a dumb idea!” they told her. “If you show up at the flagpole and pray, everybody in school will think you’re strange. You’ll get stuck with everybody calling you weird for the rest of your life. Just pray by yourself at home!”

The night before See You At The Pole Kelli’s dad could sense she was really struggling. “Kelli, is everything okay?” She looked up at him and made a valiant effort to hold back her tears.

“Dad, I really want to do the right thing. I feel that praying at the flagpole is something I should do tomorrow, but I don’t know one other person who will be there. What if I get there and no one else shows up? What if my friends find out and think I’m just weird?”

Kelli’s dad reached out and put his arm around her shoulders. “Kelli, I have always been so proud of you and your stand for Christ. This may be one of the hardest tests you’ve had so far, and I know you’ll make the right decision. I’ll take you to school tomorrow, and whatever you decide to do about the flagpole prayer is all right with me.”

It was barely dawn when Kelli woke her dad. “Dad,” she whispered, “will you take me to school now? I’m going to pray at the flagpole--even if I’m the only one there.”

Her father’s heart ached as he watched his precious girl grip the car’s armrest all the way to school. Her face was pale but determined as she smiled at him. “It’s okay, Dad. I prayed about this, and all night long I kept hearing the same song in my head: ‘Though none go with me, I’ll follow Jesus; no turning back, no turning back.’ I guess being considered weird wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen to me.”

As the car rounded the corner in front of the school, Kelli noticed quite a crowd had gathered--but not to pray. She recognized many of her friends and lots of other kids who were considered “popular” huddled near the flagpole. They were giggling and pointing at two students standing near the flagpole with their heads bowed in prayer. Momentary panic flashed across Kelli’s face as she opened the car door.

Her dad reached over and took her hand. “Kelli, just remember, I love you no matter which of those two groups out there you join.” Kelli smiled and nodded as she left the safety of the car and headed across the street. Her dad felt tears stinging his eyes as he watched his daughter bravely walk over toward the flagpole. How he wished he could go along, holding her hand for support. For a long, torturous minute, he watched her join the two students at the flagpole and bow her head in front of some of the most influential kids in the school. He was so proud that she had the courage to stand up for her convictions.

Suddenly, several teens broke loose from the watching crowd. Together they moved over to the flagpole and stood by Kelli. She lifted her head long enough to smile at them before continuing her prayer. As her dad watched, the number of students in the two groups began to shift. Before he finally drove away, the largest group by far was made up of those bowing their heads at the flagpole. He eagerly looked forward to talking with Kelli. He already knew exactly what he was going to say: “Kelli, I think you made the difference. I think those kids were waiting for you” (Taken from Stories For The Teen’s Heart 3; pp. 110-111)

We have much more influence than we think we do. I want you to think about that statement for a moment. Who do you have influence over? How have you seen that influence in their lives? I don’t care how beautiful or ugly you are, and I don’t care how smart or dumb you may think you are; every one of us has the power to influence someone else. Influence has very little to do with our talents, intelligence, or looks. Our influence is determined by something quite different. Erwin McManus wrote:

Character is the resource from which influence draws. Relationships are the venue through which influence travel (Seizing Your Divine Moment; p. 112).

Erwin McManus points out that our influence is determined by two factors. These two factors can only be seen in our lives when we decide to live a life of courage. Fear is the main obstacle that we have to overcome as we seek to be an agent of influence in this world. When we live with courage we are able these two factors come together to produce influence.

1. Our influence is determined by our character.

{15} But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, {16} keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander (1 Peter 3:15-16; NIV).

Character is how we live our lives. In order to have the character that God wants us to have we must first set apart Jesus as Lord in our lives. That means instead of living the way we want to live we live the way He has called us to live. We put other people ahead of ourselves, we serve, and we stay away from evil and pursue what is good. Living this way will make people question, What is the difference? What is this hope you have? That give us the opportunity to respond with love and gentleness, allowing them to know what Jesus has done for us. As the apostle Paul wrote to his disciple Timothy; Be careful about the way you live and about what you teach. Keep on doing this, and you will save not only yourself, but the people who hear you (1 Timothy 4:16; CEV).

Character is about how well we live what we say we believe. It is the opposite of being a hypocrite. A hypocrite will say one thing and do another, but a person of character will say something and do his/her best accomplish it. If we claim to follow Jesus our lives had better reflect that reality. How we live gives credibility to what we say we believe. By living godly lives, people will be drawn to Jesus. Courage is important because it strengthens us to do the right thing even when the rest of the world is doing the opposite.

2. Our influence is determined by our relationships.

{17} From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. {18} When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. {19} I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. {20} You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house (Acts 20:17-20; NIV).

Paul calls for the elders of the church at Ephesus. When they get to Paul, he reminds them of the time they were together. He was able to do that because they had a relationship, they went though that experience together. These men had been with Paul while he proclaimed Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles. It was through relationships that Paul was able to influence people. Paul will later write that our freedom that we have in Jesus is a freedom to build relationships and to show love: For you have been called to live in freedom--not freedom to satisfy your flesh, but freedom to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13; NLT).

We cannot hope to influence people if we don’t make an effort to interact with them. Relationships are essential in sharing the Gospel and showing God’s love to others. Yet often we will find that relationships are hard and that hurt will come because of them. Courage helps us to face the heartache, the hopeless conditions, and the tragedy that we will encounter when we make an effort to build relationships with other people.

We have the ability to influence other people. Many of the people you know are waiting for someone to follow. Are you going to be the person who will make the difference in their lives? When we have character and relationships which are fueled by God given courage we become difference makers.

Is It Loud In Here?

Our culture is a culture that is dominated by mass media. We have so many forms of information and communication vying for our attention that at times it is a bit overwhelming. The result is that our lives are filled with so much information, from the morning newspaper to the latest blockbuster, that it is hard to find time to be alone with just our thoughts.

Part of the reason, I believe, we have allowed our lives to be so consumed by media is that we would rather not be alone with our thoughts. Our thoughts lead us to ponder the great ancient questions of life: Who am I? Is there a God? Isn’t there more to life? Why am I here? and that would mean that we would have to start looking for answers.

The result is that many people haven’t even begun to wrestle with the big questions of life. They are more concerned about the next adventure of Jack Bauer, the newest album from Nickelback, what Paris Hilton is wearing, wether Rudy or Hillary will be the next president, and how many touchdowns Randy Moss will have this season. We are distracted from what is truly important.

Even more than that I have come to believe that all this media has drowned out the voice of God. Not only are people distracted from the questions that lead one to seek God, but with all the other voices shouting in their hearts they cannot hear the voice of God. He has been silenced, and people wonder why He hasn’t revealed Himself to them.

This past summer when I was helping at a high school week of camp I over heard some girls talking about how much they missed their iPods and couldn’t wait to get back home so they could listen to their music. Even though they didn’t have the earphones on and the music cranked it still was drowning out the voice of God. They were distracted from what is truly important.

I wonder if we don’t help contribute to this problem when we have movie nights at church and camp, use so much video in our messages, and make Christian entertainers role models for our youth. Aren’t we just adding to the “noise” that already exists in a person’s heart?

As we seek to reach out to people with the Good News of the Gospel we have to focus on two realities. The first reality is that we live in an age of mass media. That is not going to change. So instead of bashing it we have to seek to redeem it for God’s purposes. The question needs to be asked: How can we use this for God’s glory? We can’t be accepting of everything that comes down the pike, but neither can we just blindly reject. Cell phones, iPods, and You Tube videos of part of the way our culture communicates so we need to figure out how to use them to share God’s truth.

The second reality is that people are distracted. Their are distracted from the pain of their next door neighbor, the terrible conditions of the extreme poor around the world, and even from the needs of their own children. The parent who is constantly online (cell phone, blackberry, e-mail) because of their job is just as distracted as the teenage couch potato who has just played Halo 3 for five hours straight. The Church needs to think about how we can help people simplify their lives and get rid of all the distractions so they might have a chance to hear God’s still small voice as they read and study Scripture, pray, worship, fellowship, and serve.

People are missing God because their lives have become too loud to hear Him. How can we help people to hear the voice of God again?

God Must Be The Source

"Materialism begets materialistic religion, just as surely as God Who is Spirit begets Spiritual life in His children. Theology which takes its source in a competitive world cannot preach a crucified Christ. Doctrine which begins in the exaltation of self may teach a soft petulant tolerance, but it cannot teach a self-crucifying love. A tenet which comes from a philosophy accepting the concept of the survival of the fittest cannot set forth a life which expects to reach its full glory in eternity." ~ Clinton Gill, Hereby We Know, p. 100

Where Are You God?

Over at BeThinking .Org I read an interesting article about the relationship of media and our ability to hear God. I think Dr. Lowman's premise of If There is Really a God Why Don't People Notice? is exactly right. It is a rather long piece so I will share with you a few excerpts with you to help you decided if you want to go and read the whole thing or not.

One thing that distinguishes our generation's consciousness, in the west, from that of those who went before, is its remarkable saturation by mass media. It is uniquely true of us that many of our most intense experiences come, not from direct sensory experience of our own surroundings, but mediated through the electronic universe - cinema, CDs, television, the digital world. It is possible now for regular viewers of TV soaps to find what they watch on the screen more compelling than the lives of their neighbours, or even of distant members of their own family. CDs outclass live musical performance; landscapes and exotic foreign scenes come to us mediated through mass communications rather more often than by direct sensory experience.

He goes on to write:

So have we created an alternative electronic universe - or a vast array of universes - that are essentially god-less places - worlds from which He is entirely absent? Does our sustained immersion in these alternative worlds deafen and blind us to the hints of His presence in the real world? Is this a major reason why we’re tone-deaf to God, unable to hear Him or believe in Him?

One more excerpt:

We can compare our culture to someone walking down a country road, wearing a noisy walkman. Outside, the birds are singing; but they can't hear them - their attention is totally taken up by the intense experience of an alternative, fabricated universe. Because of that, they are deafened to the real, external universe - whether it is birdsong or an oncoming truck. (We might add that they are also deafened to the real internal universe. One of the tragic consequences of the rise of contemporary media is that we are robbed of our silence. Indoors there is the stereo and the TV, outside the MP3; for not a few people this means they need never have a moment alone with their thoughts. Which is what some, in their emptiness, might even wish; yet we know it is at these moments that the voice of God often speaks; and to lose that possibility is a massive impoverishment.) Lost in the dreamworld, we are deaf to God's reality.

Following the Right Example

The way we live our lives is very much determined by the examples we have had in life. This is why parents are so influential parts of our lives. They give us an example, which is so much more influential than their teaching, to live by. If they are good examples then we have a positive model to follow, but if they are bad examples then we are faced with overcoming the negative model they have provided for us.

Just as parents provide us with an example on how we are to live life, so does God provide us with an example for how He expects us to live. The apostle Paul wrote:

Follow God’s example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, because that sacrifice was like a sweet perfume to him. (Ephesians 5:1-2, NLT)

The Apostle tells us that we are to follow God’s example, and that example is personified in Jesus Christ. Jesus represents God perfectly and He shows us how God would live if He was confined to a body. This is the example that we are to follow.

But how do we follow the example of Jesus? There is only a small group of people that were able to witness the way Jesus lived His daily life, but we are not part of that group. It is one thing to follow the example of our parents who raised us, but it is another thing to follow the example of a man who walked this earth 2,000 years ago. How do we do it?

There are two important actions that we must be part of our lives if we are going to follow Jesus. In the absence of Jesus physically walking with us we have to be away of the tools He has left behind so we can follow where He leads.

The first action that we must do is that we must be students of the Bible. The apostle John wrote: I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life (1 John 5:13; NLT). Reading through 1 John you realize that John emphasis is to explain how Jesus lived. John is writing so that we might know how we live this new life, this eternal life, that we have received from Jesus because of His death and resurrection.

The entire Bible is useful for helping us understand how Jesus lived and how we can follow His example. The Old Testament is full of stories of people of faith and how they lived their lives. It also contains God’s Law that He wanted His people to live by. The Gospels are the record of how Jesus lived, the book of Acts is a record of how His first followers lived, and the rest of the New Testament explains how we can make Jesus’ example the model for our lives.

The second action is observing the lives of mature Christians. That is why the apostle Paul wrote; And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ’s (1 Corinthians 11:1; NLT). Paul had experience in following the example of Jesus, and thus he became a live example of what it means to follow Jesus. While his readers may not be able to see Jesus, they could see Paul and how he lived.

From reading biographies of men and women of faith to spending time with mature Christ Followers we are able to see how Jesus would respond to the challenges that we face everyday. These people help flesh out the words of Jesus and we can begin to understand how we should live our lives.

How we live our lives is influenced greatly by the examples of living that we have had. God wants us to follow His example as seen in His Son Jesus. It is when we start to follow Jesus that we begin to see how life is really meant to be lived.