Why Bother?

Ok. So it's no secret that living for Christ in our culture is pretty much super hard. Not only are there distractions galore but sin practically screams at and tempts us from every corner. And I don't just mean music and movies, television and magazines. I mean friends who mean well but only end up condoning and/or encouraging our degenerate nature, family members who subconsciously put God on the back burner to the "American dream," and churches that find it a little too radical to actually preach God's word so instead replace biblical teaching for cheesy, "uplifting," motivational speeches (with a bible verse on the side, of course). I could go on. Everyone knows the list is practically endless. There are teachers who ridicule students for their faith, governments that daily carry out mass infanticide, materialism that tears at our sense of belonging, a culture of comparison that breeds our insecurities, unhealthy peer pressure that pushes us to immoral behavior, and a country that says we are hateful and rude if we have the audacity to claim there is even such a thing as basic as right and wrong.

Who are we kidding?! Living for God the way we are meant to is incredibly hard! Maybe we should just stop trying? Yeah! Just stop trying to live for God! Obviously there's no point? Why is it even worth it?! Welllllllll, actually it is worth it (you didn't think my real advice was to stop living for God did you??). Obviously I don't think we should stop living for God, so why, then, is it worth it? Why is it even worth being the odd one out? The weirdo? The one who cares? Before I answer that I'd like to ask my own question: why is it worth living for all those other things? What so great about being selfish? What's so great about being rich on this earth? What's so great about having sex before marriage or cursing when you're angry? What is so great about listening to music or watching TV that degrades people's worth into mere bodies to be used? What is so great about being just like everyone else?!? To sum it up even better, what is so great about living a life of pleasure for (if you're lucky) 85 years only to be in darkness, and suffering, and pain, separated from God completely for ever and ever and ever after that? That makes no sense and we all know it.

But do you wanna know something even cooler? There is even a better reason to live for God than just the fear of hell and the hope of heaven. John 17:3 reads, "and this is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Eternal life is about KNOWING God. That starts now. So many people always say, "it's not a religion, it's a relationship *insert cheesy smile*," that it actually drives me crazy but there is truth to that. We have the opportunity to know THE God of the Universe. Stop and think about that. Really. Stop reading for a sec and think on what that means. I mean it, stop. THE God of the universe call us to KNOW Him. We can't even imagine what joy this entails. Everything else fades in comparison to Him. It's so easy to get stuck on all of the reasons why it's hard to follow Christ and focus on all of the areas that we are failing to the point that we miss the joy of HIM! God calls us not just to do certain things and not do other things! He calls us to know Him. When that becomes our focus we don't have to try so hard because it just comes. We start to go about our days looking for Him and finding Him and desiring Him more.

Let us not get discouraged in our walk with Christ. His Spirit will help us. We can't make it without Him. Let us be reminded that we are human and frail and we mess up. But let us never stay there. Let us never think that He is not worth it. He is so worth it we can't even begin to comprehend. Sure it's hard but, "I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ... (Phillipians 3:8)" Christ vs. fading pleasure? Christ is worth it every time. :)

What's the Difference?

Remember those picture puzzle things? You probably attempted some when you were little. There were two or three pictures that at first glance looked exactly the same but if you looked a little closer weren't? And that of course was the game: try and find all the differences. Some of the differences where super easy- a guy would have a large mustache in one picture and none in the other. The majority though, were surprisingly hard to find.

I can't help but think that those fun (or lame, depending...) little puzzles are a good example of Christians in our culture. There are so many people who claim to be Christians. They are all around us. Chances are if you are reading my blog you probably say you're one. But have you ever noticed differences among "Christians?" Some people seem so passionate about God while others are more passionate about the newest music and movies. Others take what the Bible says seriously, while others seem to treat what it says as merely suggestions. Still others practically exude a life, and a joy, and a peace, while some seem like selfish killjoys. What is the difference? Like two picture puzzles these "Christians" are comparable yet somehow unmistakably different. Recently it has been so completely obvious to me how some Christians just radiate life. It practically shines out of their pores. Something supernatural. They certainly are not perfect but there's such a peace and a joy. Such a love. There is something intrinsically different about them. And then there are the other "Christians?" They are so similar yet somehow so different? Why? Where is that living water that Jesus said would flow from them?

Sometimes I wonder if the church is filled with more posers than we would ever feel remotely comfortable admitting? Actually I take that back. I think that a lot of people don't realize that they are posing in which case the church would be filled with people who have fooled themselves into thinking they are the real thing when in fact they are only cheap knockoffs... like costume jewelry made in China. We of course can't judge hearts and I'm not saying that if you have a bad day and don't feel very peaceful that you aren't a true Christian. But remember something Jesus said, "...narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it...[Matt 7:14]" Narrow? Difficult? Few? Are we all really on that narrow path or are some of us simply imitating it without even realizing it- marking off our own "narrow" boundaries while we walk on the broad road of destruction? I really believe we all need to take a fresh look at our lives and compare our "picture" to the real thing: Christ.
Help us, Lord Jesus.

"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified.
2 Corinthians 13:5

Evening Blue

Blue. I like that color. It's my favorite color in fact. There are so many wonderfully beautiful shades of it. There's the turquoise clear of the Caribbean and the deep navy of the open ocean. There's the bright glow of your friend's eyes and the shimmer of Sapphire. But one of my all time favorite manifestations of blue is that rich, deep, but bright, saturation that occurs mid evening. The sun is down, though one corner of the sky still shows pink and orange after thoughts, and the stars are just starting to twinkle. The moon has just begun to take center stage as the source of light. This is when evening blue is found. Not that dark, night black, but that vibrant, alive, blue. Look up. It can be easy to miss. Clouds can mask it. Distractions will interrupt it. It's still there. Take a look next time. I am convinced that there is so much beauty around us we have become so oblivious to almost all of it. What a tragic, pitiful thing. Creation is truly crying out in a symphony dedicated to the goodness of God. Sense it in quiet moments. Feel it in the loving touch of a friend. Hear it in a beautiful melody. Smell it after the rain. Taste it in good food. See it on the face of a stranger made in the image of God. And heck, find it in the color blue.
~Tiff

"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow."