December 10, 2024 – Stuff That Needs To Be Said: Essential Words on Life, Death, Faith, Politics, Love, and Giving a Damn

“[Jesus said] Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”—Jesus (Matthew 7:15-20)

“The Christianity of Jesus left people with more dignity and greater care; with healed wounds and fuller bellies; with calmed fears and quieted worries. It left people seen and heard and known. It left a wake of kindness and generosity and goodness and compassion.” (Pavlovitz, John. Stuff That Needs To Be Said: Essential Words on Life, Death, Faith, Politics, Love, and Giving a Damn (p. 70). John Pavlovitz. Kindle Edition.)

By their fruit you will know them. I want to be proud to say that I am a Christian, but there are people out in our world and in our community who will meet you with derision if you claim to be a Christian. Why? Because their experience with Christianity has been negative and exclusionary – not welcoming and uplifting. When they come to the church and ask for help, they are met with frowns and requirements to join. When they seek a community of prayer and support, they are met with a community who is generous with damnation and stingy with Grace. When the community wants to know why churches of different denominations do not have joint worship or shared ministry, all we can do is shrug our shoulders and mourn the state of the church.

When we are forced to admit that the decline of the “institutional church” is endemic, perhaps we also need to admit that G-d is grieving the behavior and the teachings of so many Christians. I do not believe that G-d wants us to hate more than to love. I do not believe that G-d wants us to offer someone a stone who is asking for a loaf of bread. I am certain Jesus does not want me to give someone a snake when they ask for a fish to eat. (Matthew 7:9-11) But the more that the “institutional church” is offering the derision of snakes and plates filled with stones, the more we deserve the same condemnation. And good people of G-d, that is not a church I want to be a part of. I want people to know us by our fruit – not our snakes.

Pastor Dave

December 9, 2024 – Stuff That Needs To Be Said: Essential Words on Life, Death, Faith, Politics, Love, and Giving a Damn

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and, making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”  John 8:3-11

“People outside the Church will tell you: Love is no longer our calling card. It is now condemnation, bigotry, judgment, and hypocrisy. In fact, the Christianity prevalent in so much of America right now isn’t just failing to draw others to Christ; it is actively repelling them from him. By operating in a way that is in full opposition to the life and ministry of Jesus, it is understandably producing people fully opposed to the faith that bears his name.” (Pavlovitz, John. Stuff That Needs To Be Said: Essential Words on Life, Death, Faith, Politics, Love, and Giving a Damn (pp. 41-42). John Pavlovitz. Kindle Edition.)

When I was a kid, one of the songs I used to love to sing was the song “And they will know we are Christians by our love, by our love….” I used to believe that this song meant something – that it defined my church. Now as a pastor finishing his nineteenth year of pastoral ministry, I am not so sure that Christianity is known for its love. In fact, after the last ten years, I believe larger and larger denominations within the Christian Church are identified by outsiders by their hate and condemnation, not by their love.

Unless I am mistaken, wasn’t this the lesson of the woman caught in adultery? Didn’t Jesus point out to the Pharisees and the Scribes: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” I like to think that what Jesus was writing on the ground while the Scribes and Pharisees stood by seething in their hatred were the many times they committed adultery, either in their lust or in their actions.

My friends, when people come to our church, are they met with unwritten rules and secret actions and phrases that make them feel like an outsider, or do we go out of our way to explain and teach why we do what we do? Do we meet strangers with faces that show condemnation, or faces that reflect the love of Christ? If we began to sing “And they will know we are Christians by our love…” would our visitors believe we mean it, or think we are hypocrites?

In our world today, the best way to separate ourselves from Christian “Wannabes” is to live out the words we sing – and then show people we mean it.

Pastor Dave