Gracious Authenticity

About a week ago, I was looking for a Starbucks to study in. I was going to deliver a message the following Sunday and I needed to find a place where I could be fully caffeinated as well as get away for a few hours. I found the perfect location. It was only five minutes away and it was constructed in a mediterranean style with a cobble stone walk way. It was perfect! It was the closest thing I could get to a retreat while still being close to home. I ordered my coffee, a grande drip no room, and sat down to begin the caffeination process. As I picked up my coffee and downed my first gulp of coffee, I glanced out of the window at a Walmart that was across the street from the coffee shop. It one instance the entire illusion of a retreat, of sipping coffee in a pseudo mediterranean village had been shattered. One glance was all it took.

I fear that sometimes the church is a lot like my experience at that Starbucks. People approach the church building with a lot of expectations. The hope of entering a place that is about forgiveness and acceptance. A place where they can be known without fear of judgment. The problem is that many times that illusion is shattered with just one visit, just a glance. They enter the building and are often times met with unwelcoming stares or worse, no acknowledgment at all that they were even there. At other times it is more subtle. They join a small group and open themselves up to hypocritical criticism. Instead of being authentic and gracious, members of the group have chosen to wear "holier than thou" masks and hide behind Bible verses and religion instead of sharing their fears, struggles and failures.

The other problem that we encounter in church is that we swing to the opposite side of the spectrum. Instead of pretending to be something that we are not, we use the word "authenticity" as an excuse not to grow or to embrace a lifestyle that is contrary to the message of the gospel. Instead of wearing the mask of religion, we wear the mask of disobedience and use the idea of acceptance to to hide our refusal to grow in Christ.

If you look up "Authenticity" in Websters one of the definitions that is given is "being actually and exactly what is claimed. It implies being fully trustworthy as according with fact." This is a great definition of what it means to be an authentic Christ follower or to be "Graciously Authentic". According to this definition we need to be careful what we are claiming to be. We can't claim to be overly "religious" and we can't claim to be a people that accept Christ and then end up being a "waste of grace".

I love Paul's stance on this in 1 Corinthians 15:9-11. He says this:

“For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.”

After reading this passage a few things impacted me greatly.

1. Paul Received God's Grace - "least of the apostles" Paul's realization that he was guilty of destroying the church while the 12 had been busy at building it up. It wasn't that his authority was any less than theirs, he spends time in other passages defending that fact. He was simply honest about who he had been and made no bones about the fact that he was a work in progress (Philippians 3:12).

2. Paul Reflected God's Grace - "But by the grace of God I am what I am" Not only was Paul acutely aware that God had been merciful to him, he was also aware that he had begun a good work inside of him. He was in the middle of transforming him from the inside out. Paul reflected the grace (unmerited favor) that God had shown to him and his life was evidence of this.

3. Paul Released God's Grace -

"and His grace toward me did not prove vain;" The word "vain" there can literally be translated to "empty". Paul is saying that grace that is poured out onto you should be then poured out onto others through you. Don't be a "waste of grace" by withholding grace from others. He also says that as a result he "labored" more than the other apostles. The word "labored" holds significant weight. It's meaning is that he worked to the point of exhaustion. It was no incidental thing. Paul worked tirelessly to show grace to those who didn't know Christ without being a hypocrite.

The application in your life should be obvious. Think about yourself in view of God's grace. Have a healthy view of yourself in view of the cross. A sinner saved by grace. But don't spend all of your time dwelling on it because the person that you were is no longer the person that you are. God has transformed you.

Now comes the hard part. Show that same grace to others. Work tirelessly at it. Don't wear the mask of hypocrisy and pretend to be better than you are and don't give up and embrace a life of disobedience pretending to be open minded.

To be an authentic believer in Jesus Christ, you must receive, reflect and release God's grace to others.

Poking Jesus in the Eye

A few years ago, our family cat was really sick due to kidney failure. We visited the vet and we were told that she didn't have much time left but we could buy her some time if we would feed her an IV and give her fluids. I had decided that we were not up for that because we had young kids and I am a needle phobe but before I could inform the vet, my wife said "We'll do it." She did this for a few different reasons:

#1. She really loved that cat and it had been with her since college.
#2. She is a much better person than I am.

After a few months of treating Maychen (our cat) it was evident that she wasn't going to make it much longer. The treatments weren't having the desired effects that they had once had and we new that she was suffering. So we made the difficult decision to have the vet put her to sleep. It was very sad but we knew that it was time. Though that was a difficult time, we were not prepared for the conversation with my daughter about our beloved cat.

We pulled Savannah aside, who at the time was about 5, and broke the dreaded news to her. "Savannah, you know Maychen is sick right?" "Right". "Well, today we took her to the vet and she couldn't help her any more. They couldn't give her any medicine that would make her feel better. So Maychen died today." Savannah: "So she's with Jesus." Me: Long pause. "Yes sweetie, she's with Jesus." Look, theologically I've always been taught that this will not be the case (because animals can't accept Jesus)but PLEASE! You try to tell that to a 5 or 6 year old. Bottom line, I'm not sure what God is going to do with that. There will be a New Heaven and New Earth right? I digress. Savannah's face teared up and she bawled for about five minutes. It was gut wrenching. Then suddenly, the tears stopped abruptly. Her face hardened and her fists clenched. I asked her "Honey, are you sad?" Her jaw tightened and then she spun around and said the following words that will forever be etched in Snellings family history: "I'm not sad. I'm MAD at God!" I bit my lip trying not to laugh (yes I know it is a very sad situation...its my coping mechanism). Jenn cupped her hands over her mouth in utter shock.

Savannah then said, "When I get up into heaven, I'm going to walk up to Jesus and POKE Him in the eye." To her that was one of the worst things you could do to a person. In all honesty, it does really hurt. But to recap our reactions from before: Matt biting lip and Jenn in utter horror. Jenn is thinking "we've ruined our daughter forever" and I'm thinking "A theologian is born!!!" I think that it is really important to let kids express what they are thinking about God without judgement but there is a line. Savannah had a really strong grasp on the situation. She knew that God allowed this to happen to our cat. It was not outside of His grasp. God is sovereign. Maybe she wasn't thinking those exact words but she got the concept. I then began to explain to her that poking Jesus in the eye really isn't a great idea especially since He died for our sins and everything. She calmed down a bit but it was a teachable moment and legendary to boot.

Handling news like that is really difficult. Maybe we haven't said those exact words about Jesus but we've thought something simliar. Maybe upon hearing about a relative passing or a loved one getting the news about a a life threatening disease, we've thought. "God, I can't believe you'd do this to me." or "That's it, I'm not going to church anymore, I'm not serving, I'm not reading my Bible anymore because of this." Unconsciously we've subscribed to a theology that we probably wouldn't admit to. It is this: I do good = You give me what I want. We are treating God kind of like a cosmic vending machine. The truth is, God gives to us because He loves us, not because we earn His favor (Matthew 7:8-10). Its called grace. God's unmerited favor. It is how He imparts His salvation to us and how He preserves us until He returns. his unmerited favor (Acts 15:10-11; Romans 3:24; Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 2:8-10); . Nothing that we've done earns that gift. Conversely, bad stuff doesn't happen to us because we've colored outside of the lines (John 9:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:9-11). Sure, He wants us to obey Him (John 14:21), but He isn't waiting around for us to fail so that he can give a love one cancer or make us lose our jobs. A loving Father doesn't do that.

There is another truth at play during times such as these. God is with us. One of the names that Jesus is given is "Immanuel" or God with us. No doubt you talked about this name during the holiday season. Jesus has told us that "I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) God promises us His presence to walk us through these times. He also promises that victory has swallowed up death (1 Cor. 15:54-57). By Christ's work on the cross, Satan's power is nullified and death is not the final word. It isn't the final word for the one dying nor is it the final word for those left to deal with the aftermath. Victory is the final word. Death's power has been nullified. Christ conquered it. Take that with you this week. Impart the power of life to someone else that you know. Speak life into your conversations and be a life giving agent to someone you know. Peace.

Matt