Belief and Behavior

Have you ever thought about the connection between what one believes and how one behaves? What might we learn about someone by watching their behavior over a protracted period of time? All of us are really open books and to the observant we can be read fairly easily.

Your world view, the things you believe to be true about life, about yourself, about God, about why you are here, etc, etc, form the platform on which you live out your life. Beliefs are very powerful in this regard. Beliefs can lead someone to spend their life caring for AIDS victims in Africa, or on the other hand, lead another to drive a plane into a building killing thousands of people. These two very opposite behaviors both spring from a foundational belief system and world view.

The person confined to a padded room and straight jacket, thinking the CIA have surrounded his room, and the young dad, just home from a hard day's work, playing with his young son on the carpet, are both acting from a belief system that has come to define their view of life, reality, and help shape their behavior.

What we have come to believe and accept as true, as reality, shapes our lives in ways we aren’t even aware of most of the time. Observe you own life. Make note of your actions and choices over a period of time. What might they reveal about what you really believe or at least what your true core values are? I understand any of us can act “out of character” at times, but our behavior over the long haul always tells the truth.

Herein lays the importance of truth, and true reality, as it relates to the process of spiritual formation. Jesus said it beautifully, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”. In another place he made this amazing declaration, “I have come to give testimony to the truth”. When John is introducing Jesus in his gospel, he makes this breathtaking pronouncement, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth”. When it comes to the things that contribute most to our spiritual formation, grace and truth are right up there at the top of the list, and both are embodied in the person of Christ.

Jesus lived and taught a new reality. He brought a radical new paradigm of truth that resulted in turning the world “upside down”, or should we say right side up. The truth he embodied became the dividing point of human history. A whole new way of viewing God and his relationship to people shook the known world then and continues to shake it today. Those who embraced him by faith became carriers of this new reality…this belief system….this world view….this truth, and the world has never been the same.

The challenge for us who are followers of Jesus is to make sure we are seeing (believing) from his point of reference. One of my favorite quotes comes from my pastor, Bill Johnson, who says, "Jesus is perfect theology". Oh, so true! On the other hand, bad theology has lead to all kinds of horrific and idiotic acts of behavior.

If we wish to be apprentices of Jesus who become like him in his actions than it is imperative we think like him – that our view of reality is his view of reality. This is what it means to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. When my belief system and world view becomes shaped by Truth (by Jesus), in such a way that my thoughts, emotions and actions are deeply impacted, then I can expect my behavior to become increasingly more like his.


“…... as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17b NKJV)

Living Favor Minded

Something amazing happened last Saturday evening. My family and I were at a football game my 17 year old high school senior was playing in. This is only Ryan's second year playing football. He went out his freshman year but ended up sitting on the bench for the season. He opted not to play his sophomore and junior year. For some reason he chose to go out again his senior year and has ended up on the starting defensive squad as corner back. He also plays on all special teams.

As the game got underway, I found myself hoping he would do well and not make any major mistakes or suffer any injury. I have to admit, tracking down negative paths has tended to come rather natural for me. Anyway, somewhere into the second quarter, I consciously made a shift in my thinking and began to declare God's favor over Ryan. I declared that Ryan was a favored son and asked God to make that favor visible by allowing him to make a pick (an interception) and run it back and even score a touchdown (a pick six).

I had been declaring these things only for a few minutes when suddenly a pass from the opposing quarterback was tipped by his intended receiver and was grabbed in the air by Ryan. Ryan charged off down the field managing to out run two pursuing defenders. As he approached the end zone, he was pushed from behind, fell forward, and landed in the end zone for a touchdown. He had covered 63 yards on the return. Luanne and I were ecstatic. The pick and run back alone were amazing. The touchdown was icing on the cake. I was impressed with the speed he crossed those 63 yards.

As I was taking it all in and celebrating I began sputtering to Luanne, trying to explain to her what I had just been declaring over Ryan. This was no coincidence. God had responded to that faith declaration over Ryan, and he had done so almost immediately. I was awed. Later in the game I again declared more favor over him, and once again, within a few short minutes, Ryan made his second pick of the game.

Now, I'm not suggesting there was some kind of magic in my words. What I do believe is that God was teaching me a simple yet profound lesson regarding the connection between my thoughts, my words and my faith.

Days prior to this game I had began reading a book by Joel Osteen entitled "Your Best Life Now". I had come across this book at my mother-in-law's on a visit to Sacramento and just casually began reading it. Now, you must understand, Joel Osteen has never been on my list of favorite authors and I have rarely listened to him on TV. However, as I began reading this particular book I sensed God saying to me, "Joel has something to say to you. Hear him out". So I borrowed the book and brought it home.

Joel is, what some might label, an eternal optimist. Every page resonates with his positive, faith filled attitude. You would have to be a deeply committed pessimist not to find yourself being encouraged and hope beginning to rise a little higher just by his positive outlook and the stories illustrating his points. However, for one whose default mode tends toward the negative, Joel's perspective and language can, at first, come across as something a bit trumped up. Something along the lines of a spiritual "happy meal". As I was able to put my biases aside, his words of encouragement were feeling more like a refreshing splash of cold water on a hot day.

The truth of the matter is, those of us who are followers of Jesus really have every reason to be the most encouraged and positive people on the planet. This is not to say that we will not encounter hardship, disappointment, discouragement, heartbreak, or any other difficulty that is common to the human condition. It is to say, we should have a perspective, based on a belief system in God and his view of us, that transcends all that stuff, and can provide in the midst of it, an abiding hope, joy and optimistic outlook. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33b NIV)

What Joel was reinforcing in my thinking is that we need to live not for favor but from favor. That little shift is huge. As one who has already been accepted by God in Christ, I am a favored child. I have been seated with Christ in heavenly places! That's quite a position of favor if you ask me. Living favor minded is simply accepting the truth of God's love and delight in us and trusting the goodness of his heart toward us. His thoughts and plans for us are not to harm us, but to prosper us and to give us a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Glory Restored

What do you long for, wish and hope for? What do you dream about and desire for your life? How about for the ones you love and the world at large? When you take the time to reflect on the things that are most important to you, what kinds of things occupy your mind? Is it to be beautiful or handsome, strong and courageous, bright and insightful, at peace with yourself and others, or perhaps financially prosperous and successful? Is it to see your children flourishing in every area of their lives and to see your marriage full of richness, love, romance and sweet friendship? To see the world at peace, where all people regardless of race, color, nationality, or social status are treating one another with honor, respect, and dignity? The list could well be endless.

My personal list includes things like being confident, courageous and at peace with who I am. I imagine being in great physical condition, about being wise and insightful. I daydream about being independently wealthy and able to give and spend money in any way I may choose. I also reflect and imagine what it would be like to be really close to God, to live my life in a manner that reflects one who knows and walks intimately with him. I also dream about owning a Victory motorcycle, looking cool in riding glasses and full leather, enjoying the open road.

What do these thoughts, dreams, and desires reveal about us? I believe most people entertain, even if only seldom, dreams and aspirations which reflect, though dimly, a glory we were originally intended for. In other words, much of what we deeply and inwardly long for arises from a very legitimate source, one that is directly connected with our original destiny, our original glory, if you will. Living in a world, however, where thousands of years of human history shout an opposite reality, hope tends to gets smothered and the glory veiled.

There’s an amazing verse in the Old Testament which prophetically speaks of something the coming Messiah, Jesus, would not do, while at the same time implicitly revealing what he would do. It is found in Isaiah 42:3 and it reads, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

Have you ever felt like a bruised reed or a smoldering wick….like life has turned you every which way just short of stomping you in the ground and putting your lights out? I have. What we have to learn not to confuse is God’s heart with everything else that works against the glory of which we were originally designed. In contrast to breaking, God’s heart is to mend. In contrast to snuffing out, God’s heart is to gently fan back into a flame. In other words, God’s heart is to restore – to restore things back to his original purpose and to their original glory. Growing in Christ is a process where our original glory is being restored, “from glory to glory”.

Listen to these words from Marianne Williamson, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

“Christ in you, the hope of glory”

Doing and Becoming

Do you view your life more as a series of events to be a part of, destinations to arrive at, and tasks to be done, than as a journey of becoming a particular kind of person? Granted, life is full of things to do, places to go, tasks to accomplish, responsibilities to attend to. There really is no end to the "doing" part of life. But, who are you and who are you becoming? Does it really matter and why?

Observing contemporary American culture one gets the impression that accomplishing things and accumulating things far out weighs any concerns about the kind of people we are or may be in the process of becoming. Image, that outward view and perception others have of us, which is typically based on looks, talent, athletic ability, charisma, intellectual brilliance, or even the doing of "good" deeds, tends to rank very high as a core value of our culture. But all these accomplishments or natural attributes can be accomplished or possessed by people of very little character. Built-in social restraints may be able to reign in poor character for a season, but as we often witness in the public arena, who we really are eventually shows up in one way or another.

Up against this value of "image" which our culture, and honestly everyone of us, so carefully protects, stands the example and teaching of Jesus. He said such things as, "a bad tree cannot bear good fruit", and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". His emphasis was always on the the kind of person one is or is becoming, for he knew that it is out of the content of a person's character that flows the nature of a person's deeds. It's that simple. We produce what we are. A good tree produces good fruit. A bad tree produces bad fruit. The deeds of Jesus flow out of the person he is. How often we attempt to reproduce the deeds of Jesus while trying to short cut around the process of becoming the kind of person he is.

Being is all about process and not first of all about performance.

Learning the Hard Way

Needless to say, we are in tough economic times. Even with the recent passing of over a 700 billion dollar "stimulus" package, the economic prospect for our nation still does not look good. Prognosticators of all kinds are predicting at best a small improvement to the economy over the next few years to an all out depression, potentially leading to revolution, at worst.

To be sure, we have gotten here by our own accord. Rampant mismanagement on the part of our leaders, as well as the creation of a spend and debt culture, have landed us in this predicament. A lot of people and families are hurting. In my own county, unemployment is at twelve percent. I happen to be part of that twelve percent.

But, as in everything, there is a lesson to be learned here. As money is tight, jobs are continuing to be lost, and the light at the end of the tunnel not yet in sight, a great many of us are having to reevaluate priorities and values. The list of things that are really important is beginning to be rewritten, rearranged, and shrink. The longer these tough time persist and the more difficult things become economically, it is my guess more things will find their way off that list, and the list of priorities go through even further rearrangement. Difficult times typically force us to reevaluate. This is a good thing.

I have been reassessing some things myself, particularly my own relationship with money. As a follower of Jesus and his Kingdom I have known, at least intellectually, there exists a difference between God's view of money and the view typically held by secular society. Jesus taught a great deal about money, what our relationship to it should be, and about our stewardship of it. What has dawned on me is that my practices regarding money and material things tends to simply reflect, in large part, the attitude and practices of the secular culture in which I live. Let me explain. Earlier I referred to how, as a nation, we have turned into a spend and debt culture. The practice of a great many Americans is, perhaps I should say has been, to spend what we earn, and to go into debt for what we want. The simple practices of frugality, saving, reigning in our wants, or at least postponing immediate gratification instead of going into debt, and having money on a regular basis to give to others in need, have not particularly characterized the average American consumer. Based on this plumb line I have not fared much better than the average American. I really believe that if I had been applying these practices more faithfully I would be in a much better place today financially.

What's really behind the consumer, spend now pay later, mentality and practice of our culture? Why is it we tend to spend the maximum of what we make and are so ready to go into debt for our wants? In all reality, it is a value system where money and the things that money can buy reign supreme. When things, more things and bigger things, and the drive to get the money that buys them, is a core value of our life in practice, we really do convict ourselves of serving the god of Money. Jesus put it bluntly, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money".

I am not opposed to material prosperity, nor do I believe there is something inherently bad or evil with being wealthy. The Bible simply warns of certain spiritual dangers associated with wealth and the desire to get rich. And one does not have to be wealthy to be challenged by the temptation of placing money and things as a priority in their lives. This is a particular challenge living in an affluent and materialistic culture, where the serving of money and things is so prevalent.

This issue of money and the things it buys really is a matter of the heart. In the context of the quote above Jesus instructed his followers, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Money is not the problem, it is the love of it, or the consumption with, competition for and a scramble to accumulate the things money can buy.

As I read and reread the book of Acts in the Bible, I am struck by the vitality of that first century church and the resultant impact it had on the world of it's day. Those early believers practiced what Jesus had taught. They lived the value system of the Kingdom of God and as a result, in the span of one generation, they had literally turned the known world upside down. Their lifestyles, which included their practices regarding money and things, engendered both admiration as well as persecution from their culture.

To a large extent, that same potential vitality, for the church in America, has been hijacked by an accommodation to the value system of our current culture. As followers of Jesus, perhaps we need to look at this current economic crisis as an opportunity to reorient ourselves to the value system of God's Kingdom. Let's reexamine our own attitudes and practices regarding money and establish the priority of God's Kingdom as the true priority of our life.

Is Yours a Wonderful Life?

I love the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". I just watched it again for the umpteenth time a few evenings ago. It's a Christmas season staple on T.V.

There are a number of reasons why I love this movie. It has all the makings of a really great story; a flawed yet heroic main character, George Bailey, faced with internal and external obstacles to achieving his dreams of success, and finally finding resolution through an "otherworldly" experience that puts his life, his dashed hopes and his struggles, into proper perspective. I am moved to tears nearly every time by the final scene of the movie where there is a generous outpouring of support and love to rescue George in a time of great need by family and friends, many of whom he had helped in some way in the past. At the very end of the movie the camera zooms in on a written quote spoken earlier by Clarence, George's unlikely guardian angel, "No man is a failure who has friends".

Why does this movie move me? First, it touches me at a core need to know my life has been worth living, that others, within my sphere of influence, are better off for me being born and living the life I have lived....that somehow, in the bigger scheme of things, my life has made a difference for good. Second, I am moved by George's willingness, though reluctant at times, to help others even at his own expense. Finally, I am touched by the ultimate richness of George's life through the many relationships of friends and family. His life was part of a larger tapestry of community.

This movie does a good job of cutting through all the superficiality of what we humans think is important and laying bare the issues of life that are most important and of which make for true success. Though George Bailey is not portrayed as a particularly "spiritual" person in regards to having a close relationship with God, he certainly is not without spiritual sensitivities. The movie really reflects a time in American culture that was overall still much more "in touch" with a Christian or biblical influence. However, the issues and truths this movie addresses are timeless in nature and are not simply the product of a particular world view. Rather they reflect the ageless moorings of the human heart and conscience that can still be felt by those retaining even a slight semblance of either. This yearning for significance and our need for connectedness is anchored ultimately to the very source of our being, God, regardless of how separated and alienated we may be from him.

Stories, such as this reflect the longings of the human heart for the kind of world we were meant to live in. A world filled with hope, generosity, good will, the triumph of good over evil, significance and meaning, love and community. The more absent these things are the more the heart aches for them. Why? Because God has placed heaven in the human heart.

"Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Worship

I am reading a great little book by Mark Driscoll entitled, "Vintage Jesus". The author does a great job of presenting the timeless truths of the person of Jesus while targeting his message to teens and twenties. Though the language is a bit edgy in places, Mark succeeds at peeling away the "religious dressings" Jesus has come packaged in down through the ages and revealing the wonders of this magnificent person. As one cover leaf endorsement reads, "This is a Savior worth fighting for".

This morning I was reading the chapter entitled, "Why Should We Worship Jesus?". Mark spends time talking about what worship is, what it is not, the fact that everyone worships something, and why Jesus is worth our ultimate worship. It's not that I have never heard teaching of this sort before, but it was just hitting me in some fresh ways...kind of like something you know but have not given much thought to for quite some time, or perhaps, even more convicting, realize that your own worship has been a bit displaced.

Mark defines worship as "living our life individually and corporately as continuous living sacrifices to the glory of a person or thing". As he was going through a litany of things and people we worship, including ourselves, pointing out how, and in what ways we sacrifice for them, I could not help but recognize the many ways I have been pulled toward certain other things, lessening my grip on a primary affection and devotion to Jesus. Or, I should say, the lessening, in regards to awe and devotion to Jesus typically preceeds the pulling toward other things.

Even for those of us who profess a strong commitment to Jesus, there is this constant danger of having someone or something else displace him as the object of our worship. This does not happen so much deliberately on our part but often subtley as the wonder and greatness of Jesus begins to dim in our consciousness by a simple act of inattention over an extended period of time. Perhaps this is why the writer of Hebrews encourages us to "fix our eyes on Jesus". We are pulled towards those things or individuals we esteem worthy of our time and sacrifice.

Who or what do you worship? Mark posed these simple questions to help us uncover our possible idols:

• Who or what do I make sacrifices for?
• Who or what is most important to me?
• If I could have any thing or experience I wanted, what would that be?
• Who or what makes me most happy?
• What is the one person or thing I could not live without?
• What do I spend my money on?
• Who or what do I devote my spare time to?