What Does It Mean To Deny Yourself?

During the years I taught undergraduate ministry students, I encountered what I consider to be a common misunderstanding of an essential component of discipleship.  Nothing is more basic to following Christ than obeying his demand for self-denial and cross carrying.  But What exactly did Jesus mean when he instructed his followers to deny themselves? What, in truth, did Jesus have in mind when he established this seemingly counter-intuitve prerequisite for discpleship? Perhaps by default, the frequent interpretation communicated to young people in our churches is that self-denial equates to self-rejection.  Somehow we confuse denying self with ignoring or at least avoiding self-understanding.  The difference is colossal, as knowing one's self is paramount to obeying Christ's command in Mark 8:34.  Daily denying of self invokes an ongoing process of self-discovery, for only when I embrace the way God has fashioned me am I ready to relinquish all that I am to Christ.  How can I offer to Christ what I'm unaware is mine to give? Such a scenario would be more akin to hypnosis than surrender. In other words, 'DNA' does not stand for "Do not ask." The more I acknowledge my God-granted uniqueness, the better able am I to use that uniqueness in serving him.

Facebook, the Trinity, and My Birthday

Negative inevitably attaches itself to positive, and that is certainly the case with social networking.  But I choose today to laud the positive side of Facebook.  Many friends took time to pause today and grant me a virtual birthday greeting.  Words of blessing reached me from literally around the world--East Africa, Thailand, Bangladesh, South Africa, Italy, as well as many of these United States.  Amazing!  Social networking at it's best is a powerful expression of what I've told my students so many times--relationship is everything.  That's the unmistakable import of the Jesus metaphor of vine and branch in John 15.  Just as God exists in perpetual perfect relationship with Himself (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), we exist in perpetual relationship with our Lord.  What that means is that friendship holds a supreme place for each of us because we were created for relationship in that we are fashioned in the image of God.  I, for one, appreciate any means by which individuals foster relationship with one another, and I definitely appreciate the many expressions of friendship I've received today.

Reflecting Grace

What is the purpose of life?  I'm familiar with the way the Westminster Shorter Catechism begins: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." While I would never dispute that declaration, I feel it halts short of depicting the fullest design of human existence.  This thought struck me while praying to conclude worship this morning at Shekinah Glory Baptist Church.  I prayed for each of us to serve moment by moment as reflections of grace.  This, to me, adds the horizontal dimension to the vertical expressed in "glorifying God and enjoying Him." Perhaps the weightiest way I glorify God is reflecting His grace to others--grace received and extended.  Is not this the clearest imitation of Christ?  Could anything more significantly honor God than by acting like Him in relation to all others?  The more clearly we reflect grace, the more we resemble our God of grace and mercy.  As Saint Francis prayed:
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life."

I would add, "Father, enable me to genuinely reflect Your grace."

Aging Versus Muscle Tone

My birthday comes at the wrong time of year.  The end of February often sees the first pleasant days following winter's  worst. And being a fair weather gardner, I made my way outside this fair morning and began raking and burning leaves with a vengeance.  The problem came when my flurry of activity intersected with lack of conditioning born of winter dormancy. In a word--I hurt!  Now, back to the birthday factor.  With every inch of my body aching, I cannot help but view this pain within the context of my 51st birthday just two days away.  I'm getting old-that has to be the reason for the pain racking my muscles--inevitable and unavoidable decay.  No concession to sedentary months of physical inactivity, comfortably tucked away in warm seclusion.  Is it old age or absence of muscle tone?  For some strange reason, it's easier for me to lay blame at the wrinkled feet of aging than to my own failure to exercise.

Red-Letter Lifestyle

Controversy casts a shadow over the red-letter portions of the New Testament. Theologians strike, dodge and parry--are the words of Jesus more inspired than other words in both Old and New Testaments?  This is not my controversy but it is my dilemma. I choose not to bear arms in this hermeneutical battle, as my personal struggle is not with differing degrees of inspiration but with the simple doing of what Jesus instructs.  What I want most is a "red-letter lifestyle," one in which I actually do what Jesus actually said I should. Am I a living translation of the Sermon on the Mount and every other plain spoken directive of the living Christ?

Worship is Awareness

Worship is awareness, not activity. When understood in reverse, the focus of worship shifts to the activity itself rather the Lord God Almighty Himself. Herein lies the terrible crux of "worship wars." When battling over modes of worship or styles of music in worship we march proudly away from God's presence and slink into an unrecognized but, nonetheless, incipient self-worship. Attention moves from the Creator to our own fervor, our loudness, our physical expression, our music theory, or any number of details that distract. Scripture offers a multitude of worship postures and expressions, but never loses sight of Holy God. Remember, worship is always a reaction rather than initiation--I see God, I hear God, I know God is near, and therefore I respond to Him. Worship as initiation is idolatry and always produces preoccupation with form rather than substance. "Be still and know that I am God."