It's Not Complicated

The title for this installment of my Ramblin’s is borrowed from a popular series of television commercials in which a man sits down with a group of kindergarten children to conduct conversations in the style of the late Art Linkletter. Even if you are not old enough to remember Mr. Linkletter, I am sure you are familiar with these commercials that try to convince us that buying insurance doesn’t have to be a royal pain. The company for whom the ads are produced knows something about human behavior. When we are trying to achieve a goal (i.e. purchase insurance), and if we are not confident in the process (i.e. choosing the best deal for our money), we often fail to pull the trigger. In most cases, the same can be said about our sharing of the Gospel. Sometimes we are intimidated, because we are not confident in our knowledge of all that the Bible entails. The Gospel, however is very simple. Here is an over-simplified explanation of the history of God’s relationship with man.

1.       God created man (and a bunch of other stuff)

2.       Man was deceived by Satan and sinned against God

3.       Man continued to be deceived by Satan (and his cronies) and continued to sin against God

4.       God chose a righteous man (Abraham) by whom to build a nation of people to call His own

5.       God gives His people a basic set of rules to live by (Ten Commandments)

6.       Man takes ten simple rules and over analyzes them in an effort to take charge over God’s business (busy bodies)

7.       Man cannot live up to the expectation and begins to offer sacrifices as a covering for sin

8.       Sacrifice is overcomplicated by man and is insufficient, and men begin to judge themselves and each other

9.       Jesus comes to earth to live a sinless life and further simplifies the basic set of rules (Love God, Love one another)

10.   Jesus is rejected by man and offers himself as a perfect sacrifice in order to pay for our sin once and for all

11.   Most men reject the idea of sin and salvation, while those who don’t continue to complicate the whole notion

12.   The “church” splits several times and continues to split over the details of the basic rules

13.   Many do not come to Christ because the “church” can’t seem to get it together.

So, here we are… Dazed… Bewildered… Trapped in a world where righteousness and judgment collide…. We find ourselves floundering in The Conviction Zone. That’s an interesting word, CONVICTION. It has 2 meanings. The first meaning is, “to be judged as guilty”. The second meaning is, “a strong set of beliefs”. It is interesting that within the church we let one meaning morph into the other. We tend to let our beliefs judge us as guilty. Why is that? It is because we cannot live up to our own set of rules, and we are labeled hypocrites.

One Sunday school teacher once told me that I had a problem  “majoring in the minors and minoring in the majors”, meaning that I placed too much importance on the details and not enough on the big picture. As Christians, it is our job to share the Gospel with people, and it is the Holy Spirit’s job to change hearts. So many times we want to do His job. We want to control the details. We want to over-complicate the process. We are called to be witnesses, but we want to “fix” people. We would be much better at OUR job if we would leave the details to the one who KNOWS the details. As for me, I will try to witness more and judge less, thereby displaying God’s mercy and grace to those around me. Please join me. It’s not complicated.

A Season for Giving?

Here we are; deep in the Christmas season. The lights, the decorations, the crowds, the bell ringers, the bulging shopping carts, the gift-wrap, the parties…. They are all around us. This is the season for giving…. Or is it?

 

My own research, weak as it may be, shows that about 20-25% of all giving takes place during the month of December. That leaves about 7% for each of the other months of the year.  Why is this? Well, two of the biggest reasons are “Christmas” and “Taxes”. Many charitable gifts are given during December in order for the givers to have the ability to claim a tax exemption on those gifts within the current tax year. Makes sense, but is that the reason we should give? Others give at Christmas out of a sense of responsibility and the fear of appearing stingy amongst those with whom they celebrate the holiday. I think most of us have given, at one time or another,out of a sense of obligation. Have you ever walked past one of the bell-ringers at the supermarket entrance while trying not to make eye contact? Do we feel guilty when we don’t give? Is that a reason we should give?

 

Let’s take it a step farther. A dear friend took to Facebook this week, wondering if she was the only one going into “semi-panic mode” over the idea that people may not like the Christmas gifts she was about to give them. Another was worried about the idea of “spending fairly”. The entire string of comments addressed the fears and pressures that tend to come with the act of giving gifts at Christmas. However, common as these fears are, they are usually self-inflicted.

 

We are mandated by God to give good gifts to one another, the poor, the sick, widows and orphans. However, this mandate is NOT for the benefit of the recipients of such gifts. Jesus himself declared that we will always have the poor (John 12:8). This suggests to me that giving to the poor is not for the purpose of eliminating poverty on the earth. No, we are to give for our OWN sake…. for the benefit of our own souls. It’s all about the condition of our own hearts. When you give gifts, bear in mind that the affect that the gift has on the recipient is secondary and should be regarded as such.

“Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life” – 1Timothy 6:18-19

If you give a gift with good intention, and the recipient is disappointed in the gift, then the flaw is in them. He who keeps books on gift-giving is marred with greed.So give freely. Don’t be stressed in your giving. For, God loves a cheerful giver. Merry Christmas to all of you, and may you be overwhelmed with God’s blessings.