Excerpt from unChristian by David Kinnaman

"We can be defensive about the idea that we are hypocritical. We can ignore it. Yet what if culture's accusations of hypocrisy are God's way of waking us up to the overwhelming needs of others? What if he is using our culture to make us aware of our hollow religiosity and empty answers?

Busters and Mosaics {16-29 years old in this book} are searching for authenticity. They want to find people to trust and confide in, but they often find more transparent, authentic people outside the church. We have opportunities to help outsiders - if we are willing to put aside our unChristian ways of interacting with them.

Philip Yancey, in his book What's So Amazing about Grace? makes his own candid conclusion:

Having spent time around "sinners" and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think he preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast, the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch him in a moral trap {sound familiar?}. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus.

If only our view of outsiders were more like that of Jesus. And if only we condemned hypocrites the way he did: "They crush people with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden" (Matt. 23:4).

Think of the overwhelming perception among young outsiders that we are merely hypocrites. Does your life point people to a life in Christ that bursts with freedom to love, restoration, purity, and transparency?

Or are you burying people - insiders and outsiders - under the weight of a self-righteous life? Do you lift a finger to help?

As a Christian, it's my duty to ask: Are you lifting a finger now?

Which one?" (p. 60)

Chew on that a while. Just try not to choke!

Quotes from A Three Dog Life

"Suffering is the finest teacher. It teaches you details." (p.10)

"The season is changing, I take Harry (the dog) to the park and watch the leaves turning underfoot. There is something else I don't know yet, something I'm straining to feel, as subtle as the change in humidity or temperature, or the shift in light as summer becomes fall, the most beautiful season, with its gift of beauty in loss, and the promise of something more to come." (p. 24)

Emphasis mine.

Whom shall I fear?

A qualification before I begin. Sometimes when I am in the midst of worship, it is almost like the Holy Spirit is playing a YouTube video in my mind of all the different people in my life and their struggles. And while I may never actually know what it is they are truly going through, for a moment I feel their hurt and the weight of their burden rests upon me. And at the same time, I feel the strength within me that they need to make it. It is in these Holy Spirit inspired and empowered moments that I am able to truly rock intersession for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

As we sang the following song this past Sunday, I had just such an experience. Again, most of what I am sharing comes from the trials of other people. I fully realize that I am taking some liberties with the application of the verse in this song as David was writing about his enemies and I am translating that to "things." Changing the whom in some cases to what. Please forgive me.

Darrell Evans: Whom Shall I Fear {from Psalm 27:1}

Verse:
I Will seek You, Lord,
While I am in my youth
I will serve You, Lord,
And I'll proclaim Your truth
While I was far away
Always keep me safe.

Chorus:
The Lord is my light, and my salvation
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear

As we sang, I praised through my prayers:

The Lord is my light, and my salvation
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
My uncooperative womb? - NO

The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
The cancer or other sickness taking up residence in a body? - NO

The Lord is my light, and my salvation
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
An unfaithful partner? - NO

The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
The unstable economy? - NO

The Lord is my light, and my salvation
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
A broken relationship? - NO

The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
A sick child? - NO

The Lord is my light, and my salvation
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
The judgement of men, even fellow Christians? - NO

The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
An uncertain future? - NO

The Lord is my light, and my salvation
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
The corrupt world that surrounds us? - NO

The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
The decisions of others or a circumstance that is beyound our control? - NO

The Lord is my light, and my salvation
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
Our own propensity for sin? - NO

The Lord is the stronghold of my life
Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear
The dangers some face in real persecution? - NO

Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?

"If God is for us, who {or what} can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). We are the only true Untouchables. Now let us stand at arms together with the strength of our Lord in this battle called life.

Real vs. Pretend

The following incident happened a few weeks ago. In the midst of it, I was immediately struck by some brilliant spiritual significance. Then I waited to write the blog entry about it until I could give it my full attention {i.e. early in the morning is the best time for me to write deep stuff}. We started watching another season of 24, and so I have not been getting to bed at an hour conducive to early morning awakenings. Thus the lag in Dust entries.

All that to say, I forgot the point of my story. I wrote the general subject down in my writer's journal so I wouldn't forget to write about it later. But the brilliant spiritual significance has vanished. I even talked it over with Steven hoping that a good discussion would jar loose some of the cranial muck that is hindering my memory. But alas, nothing.

What to do, then? I decided to share the story anyway, and allow you to make the spiritual connection and life application for yourself. {Just between you and me, I need to be able to check it off the list in my journal or it may haunt me}. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you glean from the "parable."

I have a bowl of fake fruit on the end table between the couch and love seat. It contains 3 green apples surrounded by red cherries. The child has been taught not to touch the "forbidden fruit." To which end, she is generally successful.

Not long ago, she was crawling between the couch and love seat and subsequently underneath the aforementioned end table. Which she has done countless times. In this case, she miscalculated and actually tipped the end table. Luckily, I was in the proximity and caught it before it fell over. But some of the fruit spilled out of the bowl. I picked it up, and we returned about our merry way having learned to be more careful.

A few days later, I noticed a cherry on the floor that appeared to have escaped my earlier attempts to clean up the mess. Before I retrieved it from its hiding spot in plain sight, I was distracted. Then forgot about it until a few days later when I spotted it again. Mind you, the child has been crawling right past the thing for days now.

When I finally reached down to recover the errant cherry, I was astonished to realize that the little booger was REAL. You see, in the midst of all of this we had been visited by my parents who brought and ate a package of real cherries while they were here.

But my 18-month-old daughter was so accustomed to the fake cherries and had been so thoroughly trained not to touch them, that she failed to recognize {me too} and completely missed the opportunity to experience the real thing {thankfully}.

What does this mean? You decide.