I'm beginning to think that jealousy, envy and bitterness are the most destructive emotions a person can have.  It's so easy to fall into the trap.  Life is hard.  There are so many disappointments.  And the older we get, the more we begin to realize that we've only got so much time left.  One by one, we begin to write off the dreams of our youth. 

We look back on our mistakes.  That one bad turn we made twenty years ago has turned into a labyrinth of disappointment.  "If only I hadn't . . . . .", we think; or "If only I had . . . . ".  And then, there are those fortunate ones.  They are the people who have it made.  For every wrong move we made, they made three right ones.

We think, it's not fair.  I deserve better.  Somehow, the self-dialogue takes on a different character.  It becomes envy.  And the envy becomes hatred.  We begin to believe the lies whispered from the darkness.  It's like some evil yeast, fermenting in our hearts.  It grows and grows until we are consumed with bitterness.  And the pain is almost unbearable.

But here's the thing.  We've all only got a few years in this life, especially when you compare it to the timeline of eternity.  When we die, that's the end of the pain, at least in this life.  The things that we have (or don't have), as compared with those of others is immediately irrelevant.  You can't take your BMW, or your nice house with you.  You can't take your prestigious career with you.  You can't take your body with you.  And yes, even your family stays behind (at least until they reach the end as well).

And by the way, the folks that you were so envious of face the same thing.   We all go through the same gate.

So, whatever you are going through in this life is, relatively speaking, unimportant.  All of your problems will be solved soon, relatively speaking.  Conversely, your eternity becomes, relatively speaking, extremely important.

This raises the question of exactly how you will plan for your eternity.  Forget the last will and testament, and the side-by-side cemetery plots.  Even those are temporary.  Instead, think about what your options are and which one you will exercise.  They are all mutually exclusive.  Unlike the market, you can't hedge your bets.  You can only pick one.  One option is to do nothing and hope for the best.  Another option (which I many people choose by default) is to hope that your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds, and that there is some sort of cosmic tally being kept.  The third option is simply to open up a Bible and begin reading.

It doesn't matter what preconceptions you have.  It doesn't matter if you have a real problem with religion.  All that matters is that you simple open it and begin reading it at the beginning.  The Bible purports to tell you what you need to do to make it through that eternal gate.  You can decide for yourself whether it makes sense for you.  A caveat: the Bible isn't an easy read, like many of the "fast food" books found today, purporting to provide spiritual insight.  You may have to wrestle with it a bit.  But if you do it with an open mind and heart, I think you will find what you are looking for.

And, by the way, if you find what you are looking for,  it might even help with all the other stuff.

My daughter Meredith was in kindergarten in 2008, the same year of the presidential election.  She came home from school one day in early November, very excited.  "Daddy, we voted for the president!", she exclaimed.  Her school had held a mock election, to give the kids a fun and practical civics lesson. 

I asked Meredith who she voted for.  She replied, "Marack Obana," which I thought was a pretty good facsimile of the candidate's name for a six-year old.  I then asked why she voted for him.   I'm not sure what I was expecting.  I know it wasn't, "Because his economic policies will ensure future economic security," or "I really like his stance on Afghanistan."  But her answer still caught me off guard.  In her sweet little voice, she declared very seriously, "He had the best smile."  I thought about it for a minute and had to agree with her.  If the choice of presidents was based upon the relative smiles of the candidates, Obama would be pretty hard to beat.  The guy had a great smile.

And as I thought about it, I realized that her comment was actually pretty insightful.   A lot of people would likely vote for Obama because he was more youthful, better-looking and simply projected better than his rival.  In America, many people consistently vote based upon what is referred to as the "party line."  If we view ourselves as Republicans, we tend to vote for Republicans.  And we tend to forumulate our opinions about things based upon what the news folks tell us, good or bad and depending upon how our political views jive with theirs.  In other words, we make decisions based upon someone else's opinion, rather than digging in and doing the research ourselves.  We vote, a very important decision, based upon unmeaningful criteria.

If you voted in the 2008 election, think about it.  Did you research either candidate's congressional records?  Did you review any of their writings, speeches or other materials which could reveal their consistency on issues?  Did you develop your opinion based upon any firsthand, direct information?  I'll confess that I didn't.  I'll further confess that my mind was pretty much made up long before the election, simply based upon my own preconceived notions.

And of course, we know what happens when we make decisions this way.  We can make bad decisions.  We shortchange ourselves.  And often, we later regret those decisions.

Which brings me to the point.  And it's an entirely different point, but it stems from making a decision without having all the facts.  Or making a decision, based upon someone else's opinion.  I'm talking about making a decision about God.

Certainly, you may not at this moment feel compelled to make any decision about God.  Your life is pretty good.  You don't see anything problematic on the horizon.  So, why not just keep cruising along in life as you are?  The issue is that, sooner or later, we are all faced with either a crisis in this life that cannot be resolved by natural means.  Maybe it's that call from the doctor's office with the biopsy results.  Maybe it's the loss of a job, or worse, a loved one.  But eventually, something will happen to you that will force you to face the fact that you only have so many years on this planet.  And once you do, you have to decide whether there is anything after.  Do you simply die and that's it?  Or does something else happen.

A decision not to decide is a decision in and of itself.  And a lot of people make a default decision about God.  They decide by default that God isn't really in control of things.  They come to believe that God didn't really create the heavens, the earth or mankind.  They aren't really athiests, but they don't really want to believe in the God of the Bible.

The problem is that they make this decision without really understanding the source document itself.  The make a decision, based upon what they've heard from others. Sort of like Meredith, they voted based upon a criteria that at least to an adult, didn't mean very much.  And like many adults, they decided without digging in and formulating their own opinion.  They didn't actually read the Book itself.

The Bible puts forth God's story.  For now, if it makes you feel better, let's refer to it a "theory" of who God is and what He wants from us.  There are several central components to this theory.  The first component is that God created everything.  The second is that God created mankind as a loving act.  The third is that He sought to have a relationship with mankind, but mankind rebelled against its Creator.  And the final chapter describes how God remedied this rift once and for all.  It's a pretty fantastic finale- God sends His Son, in human form, to teach mankind about Him and ultimately to pay a price so that mankind could have a relationship with Him forever.

If you've made a reasonable effort to read the Bible and compared it's characterization of God with your own life, and concluded that it is a book of fables, then so be it (I'm talking about beginning with Genesis and reading it all the way through to Revelations).  I applaud your initiative and respect your conclusion.  You came to this conclusion based upon the facts and derived your opinion about the Bible's validity based upon those facts.  You are entitled to your opinion.

But if you have come to a conclusion about God without an earnest effort to read the Bible, I would respectfully suggest that you reconsider.  If the Bible is accurate, it describes an eternal and everlasting consequence of your conclusion.  For that reason alone, it's worth careful consideration.  And if the Bible isn't accurate, then the most you've lost is your investment of time to read it. 

I have to agree that "Marack" has a great smile.  And if I were six, I'd likely vote for him on that basis alone.  But I'm not six and I owe it to myself, my family and my country to vote for him, or someone else, for reasons beyond his apparently excellent dental hygiene.  Instead, I need make an informed decision.  Similarly, when it comes to deciding who God is, my decision should be based upon more than a superficial understanding, without having invested any time in the literature that purports to explain it.

What if Heaven was like a hospital?  The hospital is filled will all kinds of sick people.  Some of the patients are seriously ill.  These people have cancer.  The hospital does all that it can to treat them.  Doctors administer chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  In some cases, radical surgery is necessary.   Organs are removed in order to give these victims a chance at life.  But nothing seems to be working.  The cancer simply and relentlessly keeps coming back. 

Eventually, the patients grow weary of the exhausting and debilitating treatments.  They begin to give up hope.  For them, life ibecomes a constant state of dread, sadness and worry.

But one day, something miraculous happens.  On that day, every single patient is cured of cancer.  Through testing, the doctors confirm it.  Each one of the doomed people is now somehow and inexplicably cancer-free.

Imagine how these formerly terminal patients would feel.  They have been given new lives.  Hopelessness is replaced with an incredible sense of joy and wonder.  Now think about their problems.  They probably still have mortgages and car payments.   People still cut them off in traffic and conversations.  There lives are, in a way, exactly the same as they were before their illness.  They still have problems, worry and fears.

But something has changed.  Their problems just don't seem the same as they did before, in comparison with what they were facing when they were sick. They find themselves willing to forgive others more readily.  In a way, they won a lottery of sorts and everything else pales in comparision.  They didn't do anything to earn their healing.  It was a miraculous free gift.

What if you were suddenly given a similar gift?  But instead of being a gift of life, it was a gift of eternal life.   What if Someone gave you a free ticket to an eternal life of happiness, comfort and peace in an almost indescribably wonderful setting?

Chances are, the things of this life would concern you less.  You would probably realize that, relatively speaking, you would have only a few years left here on Earth.  You would most likely begin to anticipate your afterlife.  When people cut you off in traffic, or in the middle of a sentence, you wouldn't mind as much.  You would probably put it all into an eternal perspective.  Knowing that your eternal destiny was assured, you wouldn't sweat the small stuff, or much of anything else for that matter.

One other thing:  if this happened to you, you probably wouldn't be able to contain yourself.  You would feel compelled to share this almost too good to be true news with others. You'd  want them to take advantage of this free gift..

What if?

What if Heaven was like a train station?  All day long, passengers come and go.  Conductors announce departures and people scurry to get onboard.   Everyone is so caught up in the events of the moment, that they get on and off trains without even thinking about it.

As the day draws to a close, there are some passengers remaining.  They aren't in any rush to catch their trains because they think that they have plenty of time.  If they miss one, there will be several more later.  Some people are busy with important telephone conversations.  Others are napping before their departure, with the confidence of knowing that their trains won't leave for hours.  Still others are grabbing a bite of dinner at the concession or a cocktail at the bar.

And suddenly, it's midnight.  It happens without any warning.  The remaining passengers look around and realize that they are the only ones left in the station.  It seems so much larger, now that most of the people have gone.  One of the napping passengers wakes with a start and looks around.  The station has changed, in what seemed like an instant.  Once hustling and bustling with activity, now it seems empty and foreboding. 

The passengers make their way to the departure platform.  Every destination on the board is now black.  There aren't any more trains leaving.  The passengers look around helplessly.  The hadn't expected this.  There are no more trains.

Ever since the very beginning, God has beckoned mankind to join Him.  He did it throughout the Old Testament.  And in the New Testament, He paid mankind a personal visit, in the form of a Man.  He fed people.  And He healed them.  He had friends.  And he told them that eventually, He would have to die in order to fulfill all righteousness.  He would be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind.  It was His gift.  For the first time, mankind would have a choice.  Rather than slaughtering animals in vain efforts to somehow make themselves right with God, man could simply accept the gift through faith in Him.

What will happen to you if the train leaves next month?  What if it happens tonight?  Do you plan to be with Him?  Do you know how?

I would think the lonliest feeling imaginable would be to wake up in the train station and realize that there would be no more trains.  Ever.   And any chance you had of getting home is gone forever.

If you don't know how to make that trip, there are plenty of people who can tell you how.  Churches are filled with them.  And I'd be happy to explain it to you as well.  Just send me a message through the contact form on this website.

Right now, I'm struggling a bit.  I'll explain why in  a minute.  You may know that I have recently finished the final draft of "The Reasonable Person- Due Process of Law, Logic and Faith" and am presently seeking a publisher for the book.  The book is intended to accomplish a couple of things.  Most importantly, I hope it demystifies Christianity, especially for people who  didn't grow up in church.  And I hope that it provides a logical framework with which to analyze the claims of Christianity.  After reading it, you should be able to determine what you believe, at least as to God, and why you believe it.

I have a theory that, at least to some extent, modern Christianity has recreated a Pharisaical-like structure, as the faith has become increasingly organized.  In Jesus' time, the Jewish establishment, the Pharisees, had created an intricate and complex system of rules and requirements that had to be followed.  Or, at least all those claiming to be good Jews had to follow them.  They were the self-appointed gatekeepers to God.  The rules included requirements like ritual washing and bathing, in order to be clean enough to enter the  temple.  And they included the giving of alms and other similar rule, which at least in theory, gave one a better chance at Heaven.

Jesus came along and challenged the system.  He said that what was on people's hearts mattered much more than following rules.  He said that it was most important to love God, and to love your fellow man.  The Pharisees hated Jesus.  They constantly tried to trip him up.  The funny thing though, is that they never did.  They had studied the Hebrew Bible since childhood, were from the best families and had gone to the best schools.  Jesus was a carpenter from Galilee.  And Galilee was sort of the Appalachia of the Middle East.  Most civilized people thought that not much good could ever come from there.

In many of our Christian churches today, we've created similar systems.  You have to know when to stand, when to kneel and whether it's "trespasses" or "debts."   Some congregations prohibit musical instruments in worship.  Others require baptism.  And still others create new rules by throwing out all of the old ones.  You can spot these groups because everyone wheres bermudas and flip flops to church.  They've turned the rules on their end.  But like the hippies of the '60s, eventually the societal majority emulates these "rebels" and they become mainstream.  Think of the Beatles song "Revolution" as elevator Muzak. 

In any of these cases, the issue is that there are insiders and outsiders.  And the insiders want to stay insiders.  It's not that they are necessarily trying to prevent outsiders from participating.  It's simply more a case of they like things the way they are.  They don't want anyone to change their "system."  It's comfortable and they like comfort.

Which brings me to why I'm struggling right now.    As I explained at the beginning of this post, I've recently finished the final draft of "The Reasonable Person."  I've spent almost five years of my life working on it.  I've written it while working in a very demanding in-house practice and being a husband and dad as well.  The book has over 500 footnotes and I have painstakingly provided scriptural reference to every substantial assertion contained in the book.  I wrote the book for one reason and ironically, it's for the same reason that I wrote my first book, "Law School Labyrinth- The Guide to Making the Most of Your Legal Education" (Kaplan Publishing, 2d Ed., May 3, 2012).   I wrote Labyrinth to help struggling law students.  I wrote The Reasonable Person" to help non-Christians who are struggling with finding meaning in their lives, and to help Christians who are struggling with their faith.

I've asked two preachers in Nashville mega-churches to take a look at the manuscript.  I didn't ask them to review it.  I didn't ask them to endorse it.  I didn't even ask them to read the entire book.  I asked them to take a look at it.  I asked them to take a look at it for one reason.  I wanted a doctrinal perspective on the book.  In other words, I wanted them to look at the book and tell me whether the felt that it was built upon sound biblical doctrine.  I'm a lawyer and not a theologian.  The book is written from a lawyer's perspective.  So, I wanted to make sure that someone with clergy credentials had "blessed" it (in the vernacular, and  not as a pun).

The funny thing is, both had virtually the exact same response.  It was almost as if they were responding from a script.  Each of them said, "Thanks, but I've got too much on my plate right now."

And I struggle with that.  I  struggle with it because we've all got too much on our plates these days.  The secret is to figure out what is important and invest your time in it.  A person can run in hundreds of directions, chasing this and responding to that.  But a person who has an impact knows how to decide what their life's purpose is and do all that they can to fulfill that purpose.  I believe that God has a purpose for me, and I believe He has provided the Holy Spirit to help me accomplish it.  So, I spend a lot of my quiet time doing all that I can to hear Him and try to discern His will.  And I believe He wanted me to tell the story contained in "The Reasonable Person." 

"The Reasonable Person" is intended to demystify Christianity.  I feel that we have overcomplicated the subject, which really only deals with a couple of things.  God loves me and He loves you.  He sent His Son Jesus to live among us, teach us and provide an example for how He wants us to live.  He became one of us.  God was one of us.  And when that part of Jesus' mission was completed, God allowed Jesus to be sacrificed as payment, once and for all, for the sins of every single person.  It righted the cosmic scales forever.  The blood of God outweighed the sum total  of every sin that man could ever commit.  He paid for my sins and He paid for your sins.  It's what Christians call a "free gift."  All you have to do is receive it through faith in Him.  It's really not that mysterious.

I don't know, I suppose that there are people who would prefer that it remain mysterious.  There certainly were those people, the Pharisees, in Jesus' time.  The mystery preserved the status quo.  And it meant job security for them.  But God doesn't want gatekeepers.  Jesus welcomed everyone- sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and I suppose even lawyers.  God wants every single person to come to Him.

So, I suppose the book will have to go to print without being "blessed."  But I'm okay with that.  And somehow, I think He is as well.

You know who I'm talking about.  You might even be one of them.  "Wrong side of the tracks" Christians are people who, despite accepting Jesus as their savior, continue to struggle with sin and doubt.  They probably didn't grow up going to church.  They may have had very difficult lives.  Perhaps they grew up in dysfunction such as alcoholism or abuse.  They may carry deep emotional scars.  They think of themselves as being from the wrong side of the spiritual tracks.

They see people in church who are dressed nicely and seem so happy. Wrong side of the tracks Christians think that they don't measure up.  This causes them to avoid committing to a church or really getting invested in it.  They go to church to worship but get out as quickly as they can, hoping that they won't be noticed.  Of course, the truth is that we are all broken.  We've all got issues.  And only God can really fix them.

Their self-deception is reinforced unintentionally by others.  We get caught up in their various "care groups" or "life groups" or "worship groups" or whatever other term currently in vogue with contemporary Christian churches.  These "right side of the tracks" Christians are in the middle of all of it.  They are in the mainstream.  They are surrounded by support and Christian friendship. 

However, in today's mega-churches, people can get lost.  Wrong side of the tracks Christians are especially vulnerable.  They walk in the door with an open heart.  But they can be made to feel unwelcome.  A friend of mine joined a church a few years ago that had substituted its Sunday night service for smaller "life groups".  These were smaller groups that met at church members' homes; an alternative to formal Sunday night worship.  Often, they consist of families that have known each other for years.  The problem, however, was that my friend never got invited to join a group.  Somehow, he got lost in the administrative shuffle.  It became a "by invitation only" worship meeting.  Eventually, he faded away.  His Christian journey was detoured by an administrative error.

American Christianity has always been concerned with outreach ministry.  Frequently, it takes the form of charitable and missionary support in an undeveloped country.  This is a spiritual "no-brainer" in that we help deal with that countries immediate an pressing  needs- clean water, food, clothing, shelter and medical care.  And there are often Christians at the forefront of these efforts.  They give selflessly of their time and are personally involved in helping those less fortunate.  Katie Davis, of Amazima Ministries is a perfect example of this selflessness.  She takes this type of ministry to a new level.  She moved to Uganda and became a foster mom to kids who need her in every possible way.  Katie has clearly put her money where her mouth is.  Hers is an "up close and personal" ministry. 

The rest of us typically give money.  I'm not knocking money.  We all work hard for it and giving to charity is certainly one form of Christian sacrifice.  Without money, Katie couldn't do what she does.  You might be thinking, "How on earth can I do what Katie Davis does?  I've got a job and a family to support.  I can't simply drop everything to get "up close and personal" with people.  All I can do is give money." 

And that brings me to the point.  You can do something.  And you can do it right where you are today.  All you have to do is one thing.  Look around you.  Look at people in your neighborhood.  Look at people at work.  Look at people in your church.  Chances are, there are people who need help.  There are probably some wrong side of the tracks Christians struggling.  You can help them. 

Another friend of mine became a Christian well into his forties.  I'm sure that this fact alone made him feel like he was from the wrong side of the spiritual tracks.  He could have easily slipped through the tracks at his church.  But that isn't what happened.  After his first confession of faith, the church leadership assigned him a "mentor." This mentor was a mature Christian, well along in his Christian knowledge, faith and development.  My friend explained that his mentor "was available anytime, 24/7 to answer any questions and deal with any issues I might have had."  This set my friend on the right path and today his faith is strong and his commitment to God is incredible.

So the next time you are in church, look around.  See if you can spot a wrong side of the tracks Christian.  And if you can't, they try this.  Find anyone.  Ask them how they are doing.  Ask them about their faith walk.  And then listen.  You might be surprised at what you hear.  And make up your mind to help others.  Then do it.  In big ways and small.  Find people around you that you can help.

After all, that's what Jesus did. 

Christian preachers and teachers, in their zeal to follow Jesus’ command to share the gospel[1], can seem at times to value conversion quantity over quality.   They
measure their spiritual wealth by their converts.  But these folks can become so focused on winning souls for Christ that they inadvertently may omit the spiritual fine
print.  They don’t tell you that you have to work at your faith.[2]  Their focus is entirely on convincing non-believers to accept Jesus and get saved.  

These evangelists characterize the Christian experience as a miraculous
transformation.  Typically, at the end of their message, they issue an invitation to their audience to pray a prayer and ask Jesus to come into their hearts. And to be fair, in many cases, that’s all it takes.  A person prays the prayer and their life is instantaneously, permanently and irreversibly changed.

 But some new believers expecting the process to be instantaneous are disappointed.  For these people, the change seems to be only temporary.  They still have problems.  They still struggle with sin.  They begin to question the validity of their conversion.   Things haven’t worked out as promised so they blame God.   But they were rushed into making a commitment that they really hadn’t  thought about.  They didn’t really  understand the prayer that they prayed.  
 
Their conversion was more akin to a  fast-food experience.   They  were told, “Pray the prayer, God comes into your life and all your problems go  out the window.  Pray the prayer  and God will do the rest.”  In a  sort of a get rich quick spiritual scheme, these new Christians are told to sit  back, enjoy the ride and be blessed by God
beyond comprehension.  But when life’s troubles arise as they inevitably do (and are scripturally  predicted), these people are disappointed, and perhaps embittered. 
Eventually they may fall away from their faith.   And they blame it on a god that failed
them.

 I believe that Christian conversion is absolutely miraculous. And I believe that it can be, but does not have to be,  instantaneous.  Or at least, the effects of the conversion may not be instantaneously visible.   And I also believe that we are saved by God’s grace which we receive through faith.[3]  

But Christian growth is a process.   You ask Jesus to come into your  heart, declare yourself to be a Christian and promise to follow Him.   The entire act of becoming a Christian takes a few seconds, at most.  But you spend the rest of your life  developing this relationship through a daily, if not hourly, step-by-step faith  walk.  You learn to give every  single aspect of your life to Him.   You stumble. And you begin  the process again. This is the  Christian growth process.

 To be fair, anytime that the Creator of the  Universe reaches out to mankind, then by definition a miracle has occurred.  Having a relationship with the Creator  of the universe is nothing short of miraculous. But an authentic Christian experience  is, in reality, also lot of work.   This is not to say that Christian salvation is based on our works.  It’s not.   We are saved by God’s grace; a free gift in the form of Jesus.  But faith that doesn’t turn into action  isn’t really faith.[4]  

God is ultimately responsible for the change that occurs in true  Christians.  But we have to  cooperate and at times simply get out of His way.   And letting God truly run our lives, giving it all completely to Him, is  a daily, if not hourly challenge.  
 
Humans want to control things.   Giving your life to God means surrendering all control over it, and it  goes against our nature.[5]  But the sooner you surrender, the sooner God can begin to change you into  a new creature- less worry, less fear, less temptation, less anger, angst and  all of the rest of the bad psyche stuff.[6]  
 
Christianity is a lifelong process of growth that occurs through the relinquishment of self to God.    Some Christian proselytizers avoid this fine print.   When their new converts realize that they still have problems, they may  simply give up and move on to the next thing.   The truth is that these folks  intended to lead others to Christ,  but led them only in the general vicinity of Christ.    This is not to say that  these new converts are not Christians and were not miraculously  transformed.  They were.  They were transformed by God into new  creatures as a result of their faith in Jesus.[7]   But as long as these new believers wait on a miraculous tangible experience, they will delay the heavy lifting and hard work that comes with the Christian process. Worse, they may  even give up hope waiting for that miracle and eventually abandon their faith.  
 
Jesus himself explained a long time ago that this would happen through his parable of the sower and the seed.[8]   People can hear about Jesus, but things in this life get in the way of a  truly fulfilling spiritual experience.   The truth is, you have to work at being a Christian.   You have to work at your faith.
 
 
[1]Mark 16.
 
[2]James 1-5.
 
[3]Ephesians 2.

 [4]James 2:14-26.
 
[5]Deuteronomy 10:12-22.

 [6]2 Corinthians 5.
 
[7]Id.
 
[8]Matthew 13:1-23

I was walking to the office water cooler recently and ran into one of my company's senior executives.  We smiled at each other.  We exchanged the expected formalities, "Hey, how are you?" and "Great, how about you?" and so on.   But as we were leaving, I caught, or thought I caught, a strange look from him. 

I quickly went through a mental checklist- did I owe him something?  Or had I done anything that could have offended him.  I didn't think so, but then again, I had seen "the look".  What had I done?  What is he saying about me behind my back?

I hate "the look".  It drives me crazy.  Some people are oblivious to it.  But us sensitive types perceive it and proceed to dwell on it all day.  We ask ourselves whether we have somehow offended the person giving "the look".  We can drive ourselves crazy.  On the other hand, oblivious types never even discern "the look."  They cruise through life, perhaps offending people and perhaps not.  But in either case, they are completely unaware.

Psychologists tell us that there are two basic types of people- those who are motivated primarily by external stimuli, and those who are motivated by stimuli from within.  The first type carried to an extreme is  the "people pleasers"; those unfortunate folks who invest countless energy trying to please everyone.  The second type in its extreme form is the sociopath; the "I'm right and everyone else is wrong" person.  And of course, there is an entire range of people falling between these two extremes.

Psychologists generally don't discuss the possibility of a third type.  These people don't always do what they think others want them to do.  And they aren't solely concerned with self-interest either.   These people do what they believe God wants them to do. 

You might wonder how someone can know what God wants them to do.  Actually, it's pretty simple.  As with any analysis, you have to start with some assumptions.  In this case, you start with the assumption there is a God.  And you assume that He is accurately depicted in the Bible; futher, that the Bible is actually His inspired Word.  Once you make these assumptions, knowing God's will becomes fairly simple. 

The Bible teaches us with a great deal of precision what He wants us to do.  You have to read it, digest it and understand it, of course.  But that's no different than mastering any subject.  If you want to understand the law, you have to read the statute, or perhaps a judge's opinion.  If you want to understand your finances, you have to plow through bank statements, retirement plans and the like.

There's one other point.  The Bible also teaches us that God will reveal His will to us through His Holy Spirit.  The Old Testament prophets talked about it.  Jesus talked about it.  The apostles talked about it.  And the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit occupies the hearts and minds of Christians.  We may have a hard time hearing Him, with all of the static and interference of our daily lives.  But, like a faithful Friend, He's always there, just waiting for us to commune with Him.

So, I can worry what people are saying about me behind my back. And I can do everything possible not to offend anyone.  Or, I can have the attitude that I will be true to my own principles, and not worry about what anyone thinks about me.  But there's a third alternative.  I can  allow God to guide me, through His Word, and through His Holy Spirit.  I can have faith in His Son.  And I can do everything possible to please Him.  And rest in the confidence that He has already provided restitution for my bad acts, about two thousand years before I was born.

And the next time I get "the look", who knows?  Maybe his contacts are bothering him.

Christians say that to become a Christian, you must trust Jesus or invite Jesus into your heart or some similarly confusing phrase that is generally meaningful only to Christians who have been through it.   Even if you know very little about Christianity, you have probably heard these phrases and perhaps scoffed a bit at trusting someone who died a long time ago.   You might have even asked yourself “with what?”  Well-meaning folks will tell you to trust Jesus in the same way that a husband might say to his wife in their car, after passing the same landmark three times, “Trust me, I know where I’m going.”  They are asking you to trust in someone you have never seen and likely not even read much about.  But you should know that these people trust Jesus because they know Him.  They’ve seen Him work in their lives.  However, before you can trust Jesus with your day-to-day life, you have to trust Him with an initial leap of faith.  

 The Leap of Faith 

There is abundant scripture that clearly explains that we are saved by faith and nothing else.[1]  If we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who died for our sins, we will be saved.  If you want to know the Christian perspective on something, the best way to do it is to understand what Christ said about it.  And we come to the conclusion that Jesus saves, based upon the words of Jesus himself.  He said that if we believe in Him, we are saved.  In particular, we read the story of the woman who washed Jesus feet at the home of the Pharisee.[2]  Jesus says to her clearly and unequivocally that she was saved from her sins because of her belief.[3]

You have to understand and acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God.  Certainly, many people study and go to church for years before they take that first step.  But I suspect that there are just as many people who make that first decision to trust Jesus spontaneously, in response to a crisis or emotional presentation.  Or, perhaps their hearts are simply open to the idea.  I think the Holy Spirit can predisposition us to accepting Jesus, without a lot of deep thought or analysis.  The idea simply and clearly resonates for us.  And with very little church involvement or Christian education, they simply and purely decide to trust Him with their lives.  

In fact, that pure step of faith can become more difficult, the longer we wait to do it.  This is because we get so caught up in the troubles of this world, that we lose our ability to muster faith.  Instead, we become cynical, jaded and pessimistic.  We lose our child-like ability to trust.  This make it difficult for us to believe that God does love us. 
 
The Faith Walk: Faith in Jesus for
Sanctification

There are people who will tell you to ask Jesus in to your heart and have faith in Him, and then all your problems will be solved.  But for many, that first step can be a gigantic.  And in my case, it certainly wasn’t true.  Although I had taken that first step of faith, I did not continue in a daily walk of faith in Him.

This seeming contradiction is because we are really talking about two kinds of faith. 
The first kind of faith is that initial leap of faith that they took when they first accepted Jesus as their savior. This faith is in the fact that Jesus’ death is sufficient to pay for their sins and restore them to a personal relationship with God.  The second kind of faith is an active, ongoing belief that God is in control and will take care of us.  It is the conscious act of trusting God with every single aspect of your life.  It is what some Christians call their faith walk. 

As opposed to a leap of faith, this faith is a dynamic thing.  I suppose that when I first believed, it took a fair amount of faith to believe in salvation through Jesus.  But today, many years after I first believed, I see the evidence of God  throughout my life, by virtue of events and occurrences that I cannot explain
any other way.  So, my belief in Jesus today requires substantially less faith than when I was younger. 

Certainly, both kinds are ultimately faith in the same thing- God is in control and will take care of us.  But understanding faith in this way helps you to understand the reason why your initial belief in Jesus may or may not actually solve all of your problems.  Whether your daily problems are solved depends upon whether you decide to practice your faith on a daily, if not an hourly (or even more frequent) basis.

 The faith walk is the type of faith that Jesus talked about frequently with his followers.  Two particular examples involve storms on the seas.  In the first example,
following what Christians refer to as the “sermon on the mount,”[4]Jesus and his followers got on a boat and found themselves in the middle of a furious storm.[5] 
Jesus, presumably exhausted from a day filled with teaching to thousands
and miraculously healing people, fell asleep in the boat.  When the storm suddenly erupted, his followers were terrified.  Jesus asked them why they had so little
faith.   Then he rebuked the storm, and it died down.[6]  Later, during another storm, Jesus walks on the sea during a storm to join his followers on a boat.[7]  The apostle Peter, seeing Jesus walking on the water, climbed out of the boat to join him.[8]  Certainly, his act was an admirable leap of faith.  But soon after, Peter began to doubt and more immediately, sink.[9]  Jesus reached out, saved Peter and asked him why he doubted.[10]  
 
It is unlikely that Jesus would have chastised his followers for their lack of faith, if this were something beyond their control.  Jesus’ position was that faith is something that believers can strengthen.  We exercise our faith by conscious decision.  And our faith is strengthened as a result of our relinquishment of every care, worry, hope, dream and anything else in our lives to him; and his divine ntervention in our daily lives.  We learn to trust him because we learn that he can be
trusted.

This is the upside to human choice and free will.  On the one hand, our God-given ability to choose means that we can choose to sin.  But on the other hand, we can choose to trust Him, every step of the way.  Walking in faith is sort of like having a song playing in your head.  It’s there, but you can choose to change the song.  Or, it’s like a child afraid to sleep with the lights out.  It might take some real effort, but she can decide that she will not be afraid.  She consciously chooses to
ignore the boogeyman lurking under her bad.  
 
In our daily faith walk, we encounter obstacles and issues along the way.  They may manifest themselves obviously or they may be subtle.  We all have our own obstacles and hot buttons.  For some of us, fear is a big obstacle.  It might be fear of failure.  For others, it could be greed or lust.  But the obstacles all have one thing in common.  They are, in reality, obstacles that keep us from trusting God at that particular moment.  But we have the power to choose to ignore these obstacles and simply trust Him with whatever it is.  And the more that we trust in Him, the more that we realize that He can be trusted.

Christianity is as much a process as it is anything else.  From the moment we take that first leap of faith, the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  And the Holy Spirit helps us to grow our faith.  This ongoing growth- faith and obedience leads us to more faith and obedience, is called sanctification.  Sanctification is the process of Christian growth, caused by our faith in  Jesus, and enriched by our study of the Word of God.  

Slowly but surely, we get better and better.  We sin less and experience a new life- this is what being “born again” really means.  So, although technically all of it is God’s work, you have to participate, essentially by getting out of God’s way and letting his Holy Spirit work in your life. In other words, you stop resisting Him and step into that river which He created, He guides and the ultimate destination that He wants for you-  to become like Jesus.[11]
   
[1]Ephesians 2, John 3, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 15,
1 John 5.
 
[2]Luke 7.
 
[3]Luke 7:50.
 
[4]Matthew 5-7.
 
[5]Matthew 8:23.
 
[6]Id.
 
[7]Matthew 14:22-32.
 
[8]Matthew 14:29.
 
[9]Id.
 
[10]Matthew 14:31.
 
[11]

You've probably heard it.  Perhaps you shook your head and smiled to yourself.  Or maybe it made you angry.  I'm talking about "Christianspeak".  It's the language many well-intended Christians use to describe their Christian experience.  The problem with Christianspeak is that it's use can be a circular proposition.  The terminology describes something that is difficult to understand unless you've experienced it. 

Consider the term "saved".  A non-Christian hearing the term might ask "saved from what?"  It's a simple term for a complicated topic.  It can mean saved from one's sins; or it can mean saved from oneself.  It can mean saved from the natural consequences of my actions.  But fundamentally it means one's eternal salvation.  Until you've actually experienced salvation, from a Christian perspective, it's very difficult to understand what it means.  And it's harder still to describe it.  But I can tell you as a Christian that I'm saved, and when I think about it, it's a pretty incredible condition to be in.

I understand how use of the term can irritate non-Christians.  First of all, many people don't think that they need to be saved from anything, much less themselves.  And to add insult to injury, Christians tell them that there is only one way to be saved- through Jesus.  But before you get mad, just understand that Christians are simply relating what the Bible tells them that Jesus said.  He said that He is the only way. 

You might argue that this is simply misinterpretation of Jesus' words.  But I would argue that He didn't leave any room for misinterpretation.  Read the gospels.  I think you'll agree that Jesus claims were uncategorical.  And that may be why they are hard to accept for some people.  Most of us subscribe to some sort of ethical framework based in "fairness".  And it just doesn't seem fair that God would create such a narrow path to eternal salvation.  It seems more fair that He would create a system in which our good works would be weighed against our bad deeds.  And if the good outweighs the bad, then we get a free Heavenly pass.  We reap what we sow.

The problem with this framework, however, is that it rests upon a bad assumption.  Reaping what you sow assumes that we begin life with a net zero balance.  In other words, it assumes that from the moment of our life, our cosmic scale is in perfect balance.  Our ledger of life is clean of any debits or credits.  The fallacy with this thinking is simple.  God gave us our lives.  So, in truth, we begin life with a pretty large debit balance- God's gift of life to us.

And of course, it only goes downhill from there.  We consume.  We need.  We use all kinds of bad ways to get those needs met.  And the deficit balance only grows.  At some point in our lives, we may begin to act selflessly.  Selfless acts certainly reduce the deficit.  But could you ever do enough good to pay God back for your very life?  About the only way that I can think of would be to somehow sacrifice your own life in His service.  Do you know anyone who has done that lately?

I can only think of one person.  His name is Jesus.  Granted, He lived and died on earth long before I got here.  To conclude what I have about His life and death, I must rely on the documentary evidence, the Bible.  The Old Testament describes a savior who bears an eery resemblance to Jesus (Old Testament prophecy is pretty fascinating stuff.  If you want a taste, read Isaiah.  Look for references that describe Jesus birth, life and death).  The New Testament describes His life.  I also rely on the testimony of witnesses.  They tell me what they believe and the impact of it, and Him, on their lives.  I rely on the evidence in my own life.  I read the Bible.  I follow its instruction.  And it works for me.

There's one other piece of testamentary evidence upon which I rely.  The book of Acts indicates that after Jesus died and ascended into Heaven, He returned.  He wasn't in the same form that He assumed during His earthly existence.  It was in the form of a spirit, the Holy Spirit.  Jesus called it the "Comforter".  Christians believe that when we become Christians (that is, we tell God we are sorry for what we have done with our lives- essentially a deficit sin balance; we accept the fact that Jesus paid for our sins- we believe in and trust in Him; and we promise to follow Him going forward- making Him the Lord or our lives), we become indwelt with the Holy Spirit.  In other words, God comes to live within us.

The Holy Spirit ultimately validates all of it for me.  I read the Bible and He teaches me through that reading.  I pray and He "speaks" to me.  This is another misused "Christianspeak" term.  Non-Christians hear it and for them, it confirms everything.  Christians are certifiable.  They hear voices.  They're crazy.  But when God speaks to me, I mean it metaphorically.  If you've seen the movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark", you know what happens to people who are exposed directly to the power of God.  I'm talking about the Nazi officer who is carrying the Ark of the Covenant and accidently peeks into its contents.  He melts instantaneously. 

I suppose I just offended my conservative Christian friends with the foregoing analogy.  But I think the point makes sense.  God is so great, and so powerful, that I imagine a direct communication from Him, unfiltered, would probably have a severe and undesireable outcome.  At least in this life.

So, when Christians talk about God speaking, it's not audible.  Instead, He speaks to me through the Bible (His Word) and through the circumstances of my life.  He causes things to come together in such a way in my life as to continue to propel me through all of it, in such a way that I continue to become remade more and more in His likeness.  I have to continue to trust in Him for it to work.  And I have to continue to obey Him, at least as best as this miserable little human shell that I live in will allow.

More importantly, He speaks to me through the life of Jesus.  I believe that Jesus was God's Son.   Jesus is that filter through which God communicates to mankind.  He shows us that God loves us and wants to take care of us.  He shows us that God loves us so much, He was willing to suffer crucifixion and to die for us.  So, Jesus really is the only Human who ever lived who actually did end up with a credit balance on His life.  And He invested that credit balance in each of us.  It's sort of like giving us an envelope containing a check for deposit in our eternal bank account.  The check will  pay our way into Eternity.  Christians often refer to it as a "free gift".

The only question remaining is whether we will accept it.  We can cash the check.  Or we can leave it in the envelope.  

Deposit the check.  If you're not sure how, send me a message.  Or I'm guessing God has placed someone in your life who can help.  Look around you- they are there, just waiting for you to ask.  And by the way, so is He.

And have yourself a Merry little Christmas.