Be yourself?

Those of you who are music fans, as I am, may agree with me that songs often provide an interesting look at the worldviews of those who write them.

Lately I have enjoyed listening to Pandora, an Internet site where you can type in the name of a group and hear (for free) music that has similar characteristics to the music of the group you specified. Within the last week I heard two songs with which I had not been familiar, which contained similar and helpfully direct statements about worldview. The first was “Be Yourself” (2005), by Audioslave, and the second was “Nutshell” (1994), by Alice in Chains.

The verses of the former song talk of the various ways in which people find “salvation,” but the chorus delivers Chris Cornell’s takeaway: “To be yourself is all that you can do.” In the hauntingly dark but beautiful “Nutshell,” lead singer Layne Staley croons, “And yet I find / Repeating in my head / If I can’t be my own / I’d feel better dead.”

What a stark contrast there is between the message of these two songs and the teaching of Jesus:

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25 ESV).

It is very tempting to think that the solution to the difficulties and struggles of life is to turn inward and liberate ourselves, pursuing our personal preferences and desires and throwing off restraint. This thinking leads to unhealthy introspection, crippling self-absorption, and despair. I’m sorry to say that I can speak to this from personal experience. Tragically, Staley himself died in 2002 of a drug overdose after a long battle with substance addiction, which I doubt was unrelated to his inability to find what he was looking for.

Jesus said in the above quote and elsewhere that one finds true life not by turning inward, but by serving Him and others. I am much more pleased to say that I can also speak to this from personal experience. I’m at about the same age Staley was when he died, and I’ve become increasingly turned off by trying to find myself and “be my own.” This is progress.

—Beau Stanley

S&P upgrades Jesus

Yet another storm is unleashing itself on the financial markets. Some say that the storm pelting your portfolio today was caused by an S&P downgrade of U.S. debt securities from AAA to AA+ after markets closed on Friday. Maybe it’s more accurate to say that the storm is occurring because the U.S. has been on vacation for a couple of decades and now the credit card statement has come in the mail. Bad news, men. It’s a huge bill.

Admittedly, that is an oversimplification of a very challenging situation that we have discussed before on this blog. It can be discouraging to consider the magnitude of the fiscal problem that our country faces. But who wants to hear discouraging news on a Monday?

Here’s a bit of Monday encouragement: when times are difficult, Christianity sells better. S&P may have downgraded U.S. debt, but they have upgraded Jesus. People tend to be more receptive to the offer of salvation through Jesus when their illusion of self-sufficiency has been stripped away. And perhaps there is no better illusion-stripping compound than financial loss.

I certainly don’t pray that our government and the people of this country will suffer, but if we do suffer, don’t be surprised if some folks who couldn’t be bothered to talk about spiritual things are now a little more interested. I plan on being “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks [me] for a reason for the hope that is in [me]” (1 Peter 3:15 ESV). Will you be prepared?

—Beau Stanley

Follow @beaustanley

What Christians can learn from rock stars

I have been captivated in the last few days by a post on Mack Collier’s blog. In the post, Collier builds off a recent study undertaken by scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The study concludes that people in a group who fervently hold a minority belief will sway the majority if the fervent minority represents 10 percent of the group or higher.

This alone is worthy of our consideration. Yes, the study was strictly scientific and does not take into account the working of the Holy Spirit, which cannot be quantified scientifically. Nonetheless, the study shows that, excluding other factors, even a relatively small number of Christians in a group will exert a powerfully persuasive influence on the group if the Christians are unwavering in their faith and loyalty to Jesus.

What I am even more interested in, though, is Collier’s application of this study. For some time he has suggested that companies should market themselves not like companies do, but like rock stars do. Collier explains that companies tend to focus their marketing efforts on new customers, who are relatively large in number, but low in loyalty. In contrast, he says, rock stars focus their marketing efforts on brand advocates, who are relatively small in number, but high in loyalty. Collier believes the study by Rensselaer demonstrates what rock stars already know: a few passionate fans will “evangelize” and win over the majority (the word “evangelists” actually appears in the post and is a term used in the marketing world).

In other words, reach a few people deeply, and you will ultimately reach the masses. Does this sound familiar to any of you?

Our last Frontier Men’s Bible Study session covered The Master Plan of Evangelism, by Robert E. Coleman. One of Coleman’s main points in this book was this: Jesus’ strategy of mass evangelism was to concentrate his ministry on relatively few men who would, in turn, reach the masses as they multiplied their own disciples.

The implications for ministry are staggering. As Coleman suggests, our ministry priorities may be way off. It is very tempting to try to evangelize or minister to the masses directly, but this strategy all too often breeds superficiality and tends to be unsustainable. On the other hand, Rensselear Polytechnic Institute, Mack Collier, rock stars, Robert Coleman, and Jesus all agree—reach the few deeply, and you will eventually reach the many effectively.

And it was Jesus’ idea first.

—Beau Stanley

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How should a Christian relate to those who practice homosexuality?

Welcome to our Wednesday “Ask Beau” post. The purpose of this weekly feature is to provide you, our readers, with biblical responses to questions you have about practical issues that you face.

As always, you may submit questions for future “Ask Beau” posts by contacting us at beau.stanley@gracebrethren.org or viewfromthepugh@yahoo.com, or by leaving a comment on this post.

Last week I received a question via email regarding how Christians should respond to fellow believers who choose to live a homosexual lifestyle. This is a great question, one that is extremely relevant in our current cultural situation. Permit me in this post to broaden the question a bit to this: How should a Christian relate to those who practice homosexuality?

It is important to establish first what the Bible says about homosexual behavior. In one of the least politically correct passages in the Scripture, Paul speaks of lesbianism (Romans 1:26) and male homosexuality (1:27) as “dishonorable,” “unnatural,” and “shameful” (ESV). The vice list in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 contains two Greek words that denote the passive (malakoi) and active (arsenokoitai) participants in male homosexual acts. A form of arsenokoitai appears in the vice list in 1 Timothy 1:8–10 as well. Leviticus 18:22 presents male homosexuality as one of several prohibited sexual practices. The narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20–19:29, especially 19:4–13) indicates that the destruction of these cities came about at least in part because of the homosexual practices of the inhabitants. When one looks at the biblical text, it is clear that God considers homosexual behavior to be a serious sin. 

Christians should speak this truth to homosexuals in love (Ephesians 4:15), but it is important to consider what that really means. Those who speak the truth in love are humble and cognizant of their own faults (see our prior post on judging). They genuinely look out for the best interests of the other person. They realize that transformation takes time and that homosexuality is usually tied deeply to perceptions of identity and worth. They aren’t unnecessarily offensive and they don’t call names. 

In fact, I am concerned that when relating to those who practice homosexuality, Christians are sometimes so focused on the “truth” part of speaking the truth in love that we forget the “love” part. I wonder if we would be so shortsighted when dealing with people who are engaged in other sins—some of which are prohibited in the same vice lists mentioned above—such as disobedience, lying, and extramarital heterosexual contact! When we view our relationships with homosexuals solely through the lens of challenging their behavior, we miss the charge to pray for them faithfully and to build bridges with them, bridges of acquaintance, friendship, and genuine, tangible care. Honestly, would we feel loved by “friends” whose only mission in the friendship is to confront us? Instead, let’s follow Jesus’ model of loving engagement—which caused Him to be criticized for being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34).

There is also a biblical distinction that I should mention here, in light of the form in which this question was posed to me. The Bible directs Christians to be more relationally “open” to non-Christians who practice sin than to those who claim to be Christians and practice sin (1 Corinthians 5:9–11). Thus, regarding the unrepentant believer or professing believer who continues in homosexual behavior, eventually (not immediately—see the general pattern laid out in Matthew 18:15–17) the best course of action for a Christian may be to dissociate himself from that person, making sure he leaves the door open for future restoration and reconciliation (Galatians 6:1). 

Now it’s your turn. What are your thoughts on this important and sensitive question?

—Beau Stanley

Follow @beaustanley

Can Big Ben find grace and redemption?

On the field, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been very successful, with two Super Bowl rings to show for it.

But off the field, he has often been embroiled in controversy, from nearly dying from a motorcycle accident to sexual assault allegations.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review had an interesting story this week talking about Roethlisberger’s upcoming wedding.

In the story, a pastor of the church where the wedding is scheduled, and which Roethlisberger and his fiancee attend, told a reporter that the couple are “consistent and genuine in their worship.”

Only God knows the condition of Roethlisberger’s heart, but I’m encouraged to hear he has taken steps to connect with a local church.

No matter what your past has been like, Jesus offers grace through those who trust in Him.

Romans 3:22-24 states “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (NLT).

Although time will tell if Roethlisberger will redeem his career by winning additional Super Bowls, he can be assured of finding personal redemption through faith in Jesus Christ.

And that’s the redemption that really matters.

— Chris Pugh

Follow @chrispugh3

Should we seek rewards given for good deeds?

Welcome to our Wednesday “Ask Beau” post. The purpose of this weekly feature is to provide you, our readers, with biblical responses to questions you have about practical issues that you face.

As always, you may submit questions for future “Ask Beau” posts by contacting us at beau.stanley@gracebrethren.org or viewfromthepugh@yahoo.com or by leaving a comment on this post.

Last week Stratton A. asked me to comment on the situation with the now-famous ball that Derek Jeter hit to reach the 3,000 career-hits mark. If you weren’t aware of it, Jeter hit a home run to get to 3,000 hits, and the fan who ended up with the ball, Christian Lopez, was classy enough to return the ball to Jeter. Lopez demanded no repayment from Jeter and got none.

Yes, it would have been nice for Jeter to offer Lopez some money for the extremely valuable ball, but others have stepped up and rewarded Lopez for his good deed. The Yankees have offered Lopez some sweet gifts, including great box seats for the rest of the season. An article I found at the Detroit Free Press’s site says that Modell’s Sporting Goods, Miller High Life, and Topps have also pledged to give perks to Lopez.

Stratton was particularly interested in my thoughts on “how the fan’s selflessness is being rewarded.” Well, I think it’s great that his selflessness is being richly rewarded! It is refreshing when people recognize good deeds and reward those who do them. Sure, the Yankees, Modell’s, Miller High Life, and Topps gain some nice publicity through the deal, but I’d like to think that at some level, the rewarders saw something good in Lopez and wanted to bless him for it.

This situation raises a question, though. Should we seek rewards given for good deeds? The answer may surprise you: Yes, we absolutely should. We should seek rewards from God, to be specific.

The concept of rewards from the hand of God is quite prominent in the Bible. A number of biblical passages speak of rewards from God and either explicitly or implicitly encourage us to seek them. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his hearers to seek rewards from God rather than from man (Matthew 6:1–6; 16–18) and to store up treasures in heaven rather than on earth (Matthew 6:20). Paul said that God will reward Christians according to their deeds (1 Corinthians 3:10–15; 2 Corinthians 5:9–10), and the author of Hebrews said that it is impossible to please God if we don’t believe that He rewards those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). See also Luke 19:12–27; 2 John 8; Revelation 11:18; 22:12. 

Some believers object to the notion of seeking rewards from God, and say, “No, I don’t want a reward—I just want to do the right thing because it is the right thing.” I’d like to suggest that this is an unbiblical attitude. If God Himself said that we should expect and seek rewards, then who are we to argue against Him in pseudo-humility? Of course we want to do the right thing, knowing that it is the right thing, but it is glorifying to God when we expect rewards from Him, because we are recognizing that He is benevolent and true to His promises.

Sometimes we get into problems, though, because we try to dictate what we receive from God, or when we receive it from Him. He is the giver, and the rewards are given as He desires. Often we will not receive them in this lifetime.

We also get into trouble when we seek rewards from our fellow humans. The Sermon on the Mount encourages us to think about rewards from God rather than rewards from man. This is a practically helpful thing because, while Lopez was rewarded in this case, people don’t always react so kindly to good deeds.

Now it’s your turn. What are your thought on Lopez’s situation, or on rewards in general?

—Beau Stanley

Follow @beaustanley

Of good times and bad times

Sunday morning I had what you might call an “Ugh run.”

For those of you unfamiliar with what I’m referring to, an “Ugh run” (I think I created this term) is a run in which you are going so much slower than you’d like that you look down at your watch and say, “Ugh.” Sunday’s run came in 35 seconds per mile slower than a time I ran about a month and a half ago on the same 3.3-mile route. I know this because I find a strange joy in tracking my workout regimen with nerdish precision.

Now, I was tempted to be a little depressed about the slow time, but I consoled myself with this thought: A few years ago, when my wattage output was somewhere between that of a two-toed sloth and that of an amoeba, I would have been really stoked with the time I ran on Sunday. It was slow relative to the times I have been running recently, but it was very fast relative to the times of years gone by.

Here’s a bit of Monday encouragement. You may look at your spiritual life and not be all that pleased with where you are right now, but I’ll bet that if you have been seeking to follow Jesus for a while, you’ve made a lot of progress over the long run. Consider the faithfulness of God in your life just as Psalm 136 calls attention to the faithfulness of God toward the people of Israel. Consider not only the sins you committed yesterday, but the maturity God has worked in you over the years.

And above all, keep running.

—Beau Stanley

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: Thanks to Dr. Glenn McElhinney for insights that led to this post.)

How should Christians react to the Casey Anthony verdict?

Welcome to our Wednesday “Ask Beau” post. The purpose of this weekly feature is to provide you, our readers, with biblical responses to questions you have about practical issues that you face.

As always, you may submit questions for future “Ask Beau” posts by contacting us at beau.stanley@gracebrethren.org or viewfromthepugh@yahoo.comor by leaving a comment on this post.

On Tuesday the 5^th, Chris B. asked me if I would comment on the Casey Anthony trial in light of some of the angry responses to Anthony’s acquittal. While I didn’t follow the story closely, I’m happy to suggest some thoughts on how Christians should react to this verdict.

As much as it may seem that Casey Anthony murdered her daughter Caylee, I do not think that we should say that the justice system failed in this case. Del Tackett, an insightful Christian thinker, argued this point better than I could in a post published on his blog last Thursday (thanks, Jim A.). Our legal system rightly has a high standard of proof in criminal cases, and, as Tackett notes, the Bible places a high value on the testimony of witnesses. Apparently there were no sufficiently clear witnesses in this case, whether human or physical.

We need to have realistic expectations about what human legal systems can accomplish. It’s helpful to think of a distinction that Chris B. made in his email: the distinction between God’s justice and man’s. God’s justice is perfect; man’s justice is imperfect. Human legal systems will never catch every criminal, nor can they, because we humans are limited in knowledge and inherently biased. God, on the other hand, is omniscient (1 John 3:20) and unbiased (Acts 10:34). Because He is completely good (1 John 1:5), He will not be mocked by evil, but will punish the guilty (Nahum 1:3), whether or not human legal systems are able to punish the guilty.

We also need to expect unfairness and not be surprised by it. Even if Casey Anthony didn’t murder Caylee, someone apparently did, and it’s just not fair that a little child should be treated as Caylee was. But as long as sin exists in this world, unfairness will exist. It is absolutely a good thing for us to seek fairness, but for us to demand fairness is neither realistic nor biblical. 

We learn from Jesus Himself that our primary business as Christians is not to demand fairness, but to dispense love. If Jesus had demanded that He be treated fairly, no one would be able to spend eternity with God. Instead, Jesus endured unfairness in order to love people in the ultimate way (John 15:13). My suspicion is that if Christians were as adamant about loving people as we are about justice and fairness, the world would be very different.

I’m sure many of you followed the Casey Anthony trial. What are your thoughts on the trial, the verdict, or the reactions to the verdict?

—Beau Stanley

Follow @beaustanley

Actually, Someone knows when the drought will be over

The featured article in today’s Columbus Dispatch was an interesting piece from The New York Times detailing the major drought currently ravaging the South and Southwest. We Midwesterners got a ton of rain in the spring and early summer, but if the impact of the drought is as big as the article suggests it will be, we will be experiencing the drought soon enough, albeit indirectly.

The article was well written, but I would change the last sentence, which reads, “And no one knows when it will be over.” Actually, Someone knows when the drought will be over.

In one of the more memorable seminary lectures that I attended, a guest speaker in our Pastoral Ministry course at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School contrasted the mindsets of urban and rural churches. Urban churches focus on growth, while rural churches focus on survival, the gentleman said. He also suggested that those in rural churches tend to have a much clearer sense of their dependency on God, because when the weather ain’t right, the crops ain’t going to grow, and nobody but God controls the weather.

I don’t know why this drought is part of God’s plan, but I would like to note that a severe drought like this one can call even urban and suburban people’s attention to our need for God. We picture ourselves as masters of our own destiny, but when it comes down to it, we are no more independent of God than a newborn is of her mother and father.

I’m afraid this message doesn’t really “sell,” but it is our helplessness before God that makes the good news of the Bible very good news. The good news begins with these truths: Because we are sinners, we are helpless to save ourselves, but God provided a Savior for us, Jesus of Nazareth. He lived a perfect life and died in our place, taking our sins upon Himself, and on the third day rose from the dead, literally, proving that He is the Son of God. All who place their trust in Him to save them from their sins and grant them eternal life will spend eternity with God. If you have never placed your trust in Jesus for salvation, you can do it right now, or if you have questions, email me at beau.stanley@gracebrethren.org. 

How has God convinced you of your dependency on Him?

—Beau Stanley

A working vacation

I just got back from one of the best vacations of my life. No, I didn’t go to an exotic location or spend a month unwinding. I took my oldest son, Isaiah, on a four-day camping trip to Indian Lake State Park with some friends.

I got emotional a number of times as I thought about and recounted the camping trip, and this caused me to do some reflection. The care and generosity of my fellow campers, who were more experienced than I at this, was a big factor in making the vacation special. The great weather was nice. The time away from my normal routine was valuable. Atop the list of blessings, though, was the chance to be with and care for my son for four days.

Since my wife was not along on this particular trip (our youngest is in two casts for a couple more weeks), I really had to be attentive to Isaiah’s needs. I couldn’t take my eye off him for very long. I had to entertain him with various activities throughout the day. I prepared all his meals. This might seem like it would be a challenging time. Actually, I did find it challenging, but wonderful.

You see, I have found that some of the best times I have with my sons are the times in which I am focused on serving them. Maybe you have noticed something similar in your relationships. The times when I am most intent on having what I want and pursuing my own interests, I often find myself strangely unfulfilled. When I serve my family, though this involves sacrifice, I find great joy.

This is even more the case when I get to serve them in the midst of a shared experience that is fun for everyone involved. How much better can life get than holding your sleepy son in the late-evening sun, looking out on a lake and wading in the water?

I guess Jesus was right when He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35 HCSB)! Let’s look to do more giving and less receiving today, men.

Have you had a memorable serving experience with family or someone else?

(EDITOR’S NOTE—Photo: Nate & Nicki Woller)