“For I was hungry, while you had all you needed. I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water. I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported. I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes. I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness. I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved.’”

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments section below.

It seems the Christian community has for a long time presented itself and Jesus as an answer, The answer, no doubt. Andre Crouch even wrote a song titled “Jesus Is The Answer.” But I’m not so convinced the world is looking for an answer.

From all my conversations with both Christians and non-Christians, it seems people are not as concerned with the answers to “What should I do?” or “How should I live?” or “Am I doing the right thing?” as they are with finding a place of refuge or restoration.

Put another way, a chronically-ill person is more interested in a cure than in an answer to “why?” or “what is wrong with me?” A homeless man is more interested in food and shelter than in finding out “why is there a divide between rich and poor?” A child who scrapes his knee is more interested in stopping the bleeding than in a lesson in not falling.

Yet, for years it seems the Church has focused its attention on lessons in not falling and in quibbling about right and wrong, good and bad. We are so concerned about having the right answer all the time for every situation that I can’t help but question whether or not we are pointing to the Savior.

I’m not sure the world is searching for answers, but I am certain we are all searching for a Savior. Your thoughts?

The makeshift memorial at Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

This week has been a whirlwind of celebrity deaths. Death always reminds us of our own mortality
and causes us to enter a mood of deep reflection on the mysteries of life, but when a celebrity dies there is a communal feeling of loss and the questions and reflections seem to be amplified.

The fact that someone can be here one moment and completely gone the next just doesn’t seem right. The idea that Michael Jackson won’t sing or dance again, that Ed McMahon won’t laugh again and that Farrah Fawcett won’t act again is incredibly hard for us to fathom. It seemed as though these stars would always be around.

I’ve read several blogs and comments from Christians this week, particularly about the death of Michael Jackson. The Church doesn’t seem to know how to respond to a legend who died with blemishes on his record. Some have been quite harsh, others have paid tribute to his talent even if they couldn’t affirm his actions and a few have reminded us that compared to Jesus, Michael Jackson is nobody.

But how does Jesus respond in the face of death? What is the true Christ-like response?

The shortest verse in the Bible is just two words. “Jesus Wept.” When someone asks for my “life verse,” this is usually the one I quote. Anyone who spent a few weeks in a Sunday School class as a child knows this verse, but I’m not sure many could recall why Jesus is weeping in the story.

Jesus is weeping because His friend Lazarus has died. He is doing what comes natural when human beings come face to face with death. He is mourning and His emotions are seen through His tears.

Jesus knows the score and Jesus knows the future. He knows that in a few moments He will demand the stone be removed, He will call Lazarus out of the tomb and what was once dead will live again. But first— He weeps.

He didn’t turn Lazarus’ death into a protest about a political issue, as we’ve seen some churches do. He didn’t feel under a compulsion to remind people that compared to God’s glory, Lazarus is no one to cry about and He didn’t try to comfort people with platitudes such as “he’s in a better place” or “everything happens for a reason.” He wept.

Why? Because Jesus—more than anyone else—knows how unnatural death is. Jesus weeps because death is not the ending human life was intended to have. We are so far removed from the original design that we may view it as the natural end of our lives, but that’s not the reality.

The reality is we were created eternal and our collective rebellion against the Creator of the Universe has brought death upon all creation. If a person tries to live without water, they will be dead within a few days. If a person tries to live their lives without God, (which we all do,) they will be dead within about 100 years. Death is not natural, it is a consequence and this is why Jesus weeps in the face of death.

How should we respond to the death of a guy like Michael Jackson? We should mourn. Whether you were his biggest fan or his greatest critic, mourn because he came to the same unnatural, unholy and undignified end we all do.

photo credit: intellichick

“You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true.”

I know this verse is usually applied to swearing and making oaths, but it did get me thinking about some of the frivolous religious phrases we use in the Church. It seems so often we cloak our feelings in spiritual platitudes and wonder why the world views us as inauthentic. In the spirit of truth and authenticity, here are a few such phrases we should cut from our conversations.

• “Quiet Time:” If you were praying, say you were praying. If you were reading the Bible, say so. If you were singing at the top of your lungs and it wasn’t so quiet, let others know about it in those words. Why have we turned our time with God into a ritual with an obscure and silly name. In Heaven, we’re going to be raising hands and voices to God and it will be everything but quiet, why make it that way on Earth?
• “The Holy Spirit has laid something on my heart:” Sounds painful. You might want to go the hospital immediately and make sure that’s not a tumor. First of all, before you make a statement like that, you need to make sure you’re not blaming your personal anxiety on God. Second, just be clear. Say you think God wants you to do it, or that God is showing you the importance of something. Why all this weirdness with laying a heavy burden on your heart of hearts?
• “My walk with The Lord:” Where did we get this one? If you have a relationship with Christ, call it a relationship. If you’re struggling, instead of saying your walk is bad, say you don’t feel close to God anymore. If you’re getting better, say you’re praying more and getting to know Christ more. Don’t say, “My walk is improving.” Your walk should only be improving if you recently broke your leg and are recovering.
• “Ask Jesus into your heart:” Again with the hearts. Aside from the fact that this oft-repeated phrase is found nowhere in the Bible, it’s kind of confusing to an outside observer. Why cloak it? If you want Jesus to take control of your life, then say that. If you realize that you are completely deficient and that you need the life-changing love of God in your life then say it. Instead of saying “I asked Jesus into my heart when I was a teenager” tell your story. You’re missing an opportunity to be real with someone just so you can sound like you know the right words.
• “Prayer Life:” You have your real life, and then you have a prayer life? Is that kind of like Second Life? How about being honest. “I’m having a hard time praying lately” or, “I’ve started getting better about praying and it is really helping me.” Pray throughout your life, in good times and bad. Don’t make some loony separation like prayer isn’t real.
• “I’ve been so blessed:” I’m sure you have. But let’s not use this to talk about your new car, or your $400,000 house. Jesus says the meek, mournful and spiritually poor are blessed. If you’re thinking that new yacht of yours is a blessing, you wouldn’t want to be truly blessed by God, because His blessings tend to have eternal benefit, not monetary or material benefit.
• “Love Offering:” As opposed to a hate offering? Or did you want a giant group hug instead of money?
• “Spiritual Journey:” Again, we’re compartmentalizing. Christ did not come to change one aspect of our lives, but our whole lives. There is no such thing as a spiritual journey, the phrase you’re looking for is, “my life.”
• Small Group: Is it a Bible study? Call it that. is it a Sunday school class? Call it that. Are you hanging out with a group of friends discussing your shared faith? Call it that. “Small Group” is vague and connotes shame.
• Being Fed: Someone once asked my wife and I how we were being fed. Knowing my wife was not familiar with the term, I quickly answered the question and talked about the church we were attending and the role it was playing in improving our relationship with God. I wanted to say, “Well, we’re still in college, so the food is pretty cheap. If we eat at all, it is of prison quality.”
• Intentional: To be perfectly honest, I don’t even remember what we mean by “being intentional” anymore. I suspect it has something to do with making every move and comment relate somehow to “witnessing.”

Honerable Mentions:

• Saved
• “Take every thought captive”
• “Held in His hand”
• Hedge of protection

Got anymore? Add them by commenting.

During this time of year, we reflect on what Christ’s life means to us. We pause on Good Friday and think about the depth of our sin and the tremendous amount of suffering our Lord had to go through on our behalf. We cringe when we think about the nails, the cross—the blood.

Some of us feel depressed on Saturday because we can empathize with what a dark day that must have been for the disciples and for the entire world as the Savior of all mankind lay lifeless in a dark tomb.

On Sunday we celebrate the defeat of sin and death for all of eternity. We rejoice that the tomb is empty and we worship our great God who orchestrated it all out of His love for His people.

Today, we return to our lives. But will we do so with the knowledge that our Christ is risen? Will we remember that He is flesh and blood— a concrete Messiah? Or will we return to the sin that grips us, thinking of Him only as a spirit, an “eye in the sky” that sees all we do, but isn’t affected by it? Will what we felt this week impact our relationship with Christ in the coming week?

I’d like to think I’ll take the reality of the resurrection into my week and into the rest of my life. But I know from past experience, that I’ll forget the One I serve and wander away too frequently.

At issue is the absurdity of His claims. Unlike other religious leaders, Jesus didn’t claim to be a prophet, a teacher or a messenger. He didn’t even claim to only be the Messiah. He claimed to be both Messiah and God in the flesh. To make brushing Him off even more difficult, He performed public miracles, delivered His teachings in the public square and died a public death.

Not only were His life and death played out in public, but after His death, He left an empty tomb behind and publicly appeared to hundreds of people before ascending into Heaven. Since this man from Nazareth claims deity and had a controversial “death,” anyone seeking Truth must wrestle with the question originally posed by Pilate. “What Should I Do With This Jesus?” What does one do with someone who claimed to be God and who’s resurrection story is supported by witnesses who lived during his own time? Could what Jesus said about Himself be true?

If it’s not true, then the Christian faith is founded on lies and all who believe it would be fools. But, if it is actually true and such a person existed who could defeat death, we would be even more foolish not to believe in him.

If you’re curious or searching for the truth, here are a few questions to investigate:

• Does God exist?
• Has God communicated with man?
• If so, does the Bible contain God’s recorded words?
• Does the Bible make predictions about the Messiah?
• Does Jesus meet the qualifications to be that Messiah?
• If Jesus is the Messiah, does that mean He is God, as He claimed?
• If Jesus was God, could He have risen from the dead?

photo credit: JavierPsilocybin