We Have Been Commanded To Love (And Show Grace)

A week or so ago, I read an article about the popular Christian hip-hop artiste Lecrae. In the article he spoke about the criticism he had received from fellow Christians concerning his interactions with secular artistes. They even accused him of selling out because he went on tour with Wu-Tang Clan. The criticism left him feeling frustrated and sad. Just this week, Bart Millard the lead singer of the Christian group Mercy Me also faced similar criticism for daring to complement Ellen DeGeneres on her performance while hosting the Oscars. He had earlier faced a similar firestorm when he complimented Bruno Mars on his half time performance at the Super Bowl earlier this year. I think we need to deal with this legalistic spirit.

First of all, there are very few jobs on the planet that are “godly” in nature. Every job we do is secular because we live in a secular work. However we are called to bring a Christian mind set to whatever we do. I’m sure most people would gladly tell me that as a lawyer I’m headed for the hottest part of hell. The usual reasons given for this assertion is that lawyers are liars, we bleed people dry, we are heartless, blah blah blah. That is just the opinion of some people based on certain experiences but certainly not an experience with me. Someone has to be a lawyer, someone has to be a musician, someone has to be an actor. As long as what you do is legal and ethical, what matters most are the values you bring to what you do.

Secondly, we should be able to make a distinction between what people do in their personal lives and the ethics and values they bring to their work. Values like hard work competence, vision, drive. A man might be an adulterer and a wife beater which makes him a terrible person but yet a great artiste who creates great work. I probably shouldn’t say this but I will. There were a lot of scandals that surrounded Michael Jackson while he was alive. While nothing was ever proved in a court of law, I’m sure that most people believe some or all of the allegations are true. While we might not approve of whatever we think he was, it does not detract from the fact that he was the foremost entertainer of his age who not only had vision but was hard working and dedicated.

Thirdly, once we have separated the personal from the professional life, we should realise that there is nothing wrong with appreciating a professional performance. Let me explain. Let’s say you got accused of a crime or a misdemeanour and you didn’t have the presence of mind to choose a Christian lawyer whose lifestyle you approved of. The lawyer is able to get you acquitted thanks to his expertise and drive and drive and competence, we all know that you’re going to pay his bill. But are you saying that you’re not going to be gracious enough to say a simple “Thank you” to him just because he smokes and you don’t approve of that? Are you going to just walk away with a frown on your face because he is not a “good” person? By complementing Ellen DeGeneres and Bruno Mars he was simply appreciating their professional competence that they brought to their work. It was not a blanket endorsement of their work, their lifestyle or the message of their jokes or lyrics. Really, it wasn’t.

In the article, Lecrae explained that he moved to Atlanta because fellow rappers Ludacris and Kendrick Lamar live there. He’s there not because he wants anything from them but because he wants to influence them for the kingdom. Jesus said we are to be a light and to be salt. Light and salt are only effective when they are in contact with what they seek to illuminate or preserve. How can we influence people for God if we kept away from them as sinners, unwashed and unlovable? We were once like that yet Jesus called out to us even in our sin. How can we influence them when we can’t even be nice to them because we think they hate us? Hate never changed hate. Only love can do that. We have received a commandment to love even those that hate us. How can we expect to receive grace when we do not offer it to others? Jesus said God’s rain falls on both the godly and the ungodly.

Oh, and one last thing. It is totally ungracious and un-Christ like to accuse a fellow Christian of haven fallen from grace. Jesus said only a servant’s master has the right to judge him. We are no one’s master. If we feel that someone has strayed from the path, it is our Christian duty to pray for them. Not accuse. How do expect people to love Jesus when we can’t love each other? Jesus said it is through love that people will know we are his disciples. However it seems we don’t want to love. Because love is hard work and we don’t want to do hard work. We’d rather point the finger. That’s easier to do and much more fun.    

  

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers, http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal.  

Taking The Test

I was talking to my brother the other day on the phone and by the time our conversation was over, I felt like a better person. At least I felt extremely wiser. I have come to understand that my brother has great wisdom. But there was something he said that especially caught my attention. He said that the world as it currently is has just one major function. The trial of our faith. At first when he said it I was startled. But as I thought about it the more, I realized that he was right.

Jesus told us that we are in this world but not of the world. The Bible tells us that we live in a fallen world. A world that is extremely distant from God’s glory. The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans that we should not be conformed to this world but rather we should be transformed by the renewal of our minds. That tells me that there are things and situations that we will face that will try to make us conform but we need to rise above them so that we can be transformed. It tells me that transformation involves a lot of work. It tells me that transformation will not happen by itself but we need to take an active part in the process. Transformation will not occur passively.

The book of Galatians tells about the fruit of the Spirit in Chapter 5 at verses 22 to 23. The Bible doesn’t refer to them as “fruits” but fruit. That means that if you find one of them you are most likely to find the others. I believe the fruit was what Paul was referring to when he said we should let Christ be formed in us. The presence of the fruit shows that how much of Christ we have imbibed or how much we have matured into measure of the stature of Christ.

The world we live in is radically against Christ. The world hates him. To be able to live successfully as disciples of Christ, we need to have the same attributes and gifts he had. Just as the world did not like Christ because its works were those of darkness, the world will also be violently opposed to us if we decide to come out of darkness into the light. If you decide to say you belong to Christ, the world will test what you profess. How you respond to the tests the world throws at you will determine how much you grow as a Christian. Someone said Goliath was actually Saul’s giant to kill but he cowered and hid and David killed Goliath and received the reward. There are tests waiting for us when we wake up every day.  The Bible said for the glory that was before him Christ endured the cross. There are tests we need to pass daily so that we can grow and receive the crown. Rather than cower in fear, we should go out in boldness and faith every day, seeking to conquer the things that seek to conquer us. We should go out every day knowing the Holy Spirit in us will cause us to win. If only we would ask for his help. Like Lecrae said, “We have the power to start a riot, how can we deny it?”

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

We All Have An Agenda (What's Yours?)

That's right. You heard me correctly (or is that "read me correctly?). Everybody you interact with in any way has an agenda for their interaction with you. A boss has an agenda when he interacts with a subordinate. Either he has the interest of the business, the subordinate or his own at heart or a combination of either of them. He does not speak in a vacuum. In the same way, a husband or wife has a motive or agenda when they speak to their spouse especially if there is a decision to be made. Even Jesus had a motive and an agenda for the words that he spoke. He came to the earth as a result of prophecies that had gone before him. Therefore when he came to the earth, he spoke words that would ensure that the prophecies would be fulfilled. Jesus had a simple agenda, to turn the hearts of men back to God and to draw men into a thankful and honest worship of God. Like Lecrae said, if someone tells you that there is no truth, the first question you should ask is why you should believe him. Even the atheist who says there is no God has an agenda. He wants to convince you of the truth of his own way of thinking.

I know a lot of people reading this have a problem with the words motive and agenda because they feel it connotes something negative and would rather deny that they have a motive or agenda when talking with their friends or spouse. However, the definition of motive simply is that it's the reason for doing something. Therefore having a motive or an agenda is not a bad thing. It's okay to have a motive. What is important is what drives the motive and how it is expressed. I recently saw a post on Twitter by Bishop T. D. Jakes for his new programme on BET, Mind, Body and Soul. According to him, the woman at times goes into marriage thinking she can change her husband while the man goes into marriage hoping the woman won't change.

That really got me thinking. On the one hand there's a man who didn't expect his wife to change but then after four children he notices changes in her body due to childbirth that he can't deal with. So he want's the wife to take up jogging. The wrong motive would be that he want's her to do it not because it's healthy and it would prolong her life but he wants her to do it for him. All his friends have exchanged their first wives for a younger, more svelte model. He hasn't done that yet so he feels embarrassed when he goes out with his friends. They are there with their slim wives who haven't had any children and probably don't want and he's there with his wife who's carrying a few extra pounds. So he thinks up a great programme for her for his sake. The right motive would be that he encourages her to do it for herself, her health and her own self esteem. That would be having a motive based on love.

On the other hand, the motive might be based on love but the method of achieving the motive might be extremely cruel. The Bible says in 1 Cor 13 vs 4-5: "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." While there might be a place for tough love, I do not see how tough love would necessarily equate with nagging, jeering, mocking, insulting or abusive words. Rather than making fun of her, he might get more joy with encouraging her to take up jogging and suggesting that they establish a new routine of running together. Suggesting something positive that both of you can do where you get to spend time together will work wonders for her weight and the marriage.

It also works the other way as well. I remember hearing the story of a girl who came from a well to do family who was going out with a boy who was just finding his feet. The girl first of all gave him conditions on how many times in a week they would go out on dates. Then she told him he needed to change his car because she was ashamed of being seen in his car. It wasn't surprising the guy took off. Trying to change a man is nigh on impossible and then you you want him to change because of you so as to prove his love. Which in essence is blackmail. Which is no different from the immature and selfish 16 year old boy who has an itch and tells the girl she needs to sleep with him to prove her love. Like the boy, when you ask someone to prove their love, it most and generally shows that you don't love them in the first place. Also, nagging and complaining never really works. He might end up doing what you want and you think you're victorious. Then you notice he spends less time at home. Not because he's having an affair. It's because he just want's peace. The Bible in the book of Proverbs says that it's better to stay on the edge of a roof than stay in the same house with a quarrelsome woman. Selah.

So it's okay to have motives and to express them. It just depends on what drives the motive and how it is expressed. If the motive is out of love and a desire to make the other person or thing better, things will generally work out fine. However, when we put ourselves first, we can be sure that things will go awry soon or later.

So what's your motive?



JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelsonpublishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND availableat http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/ 

We Shouldn't Be Ashamed Of Him

I love Christian music. You know Christian music don’t you? Christian lyrics set to music. Lyrics that talk about God, Jesus, salvation and Heaven. At times there might even be a mention of Mary. I love Christian music because it’s uplifting and it focuses my mind on things about God. Like his love and goodness and Jesus coming to die for me. And it helps in worshipping and praising God. And it doesn’t glorify drugs, sex or the objectification of women. However I must confess that I’m hooked on Christian rock and hip-hop. I remember watching One-Cubed all those years ago and watching the video for Consume Me by Dc Talk. After that I was hooked. Just the other day, I went to a store and bought The Hurt and The Healer, Miracle, Gravity and Believer, the latest albums by MercyMe, Third Day, Lecrae and Kutless respectively.

The other day I read an article in TIME magazine in its religion section where it did a report on how Christian artistes were breaking into the mainstream charts. As an aside, it’s quite interesting that TIME has a religion section. I love news magazines but if you read a lot of magazines like TIME, Newsweek or The Economist, you get the feeling that the editors are of the opinion that people of faith, especially Christians are kooks, people who are crazy and causing all the trouble in the world. If they had their way, they would incarcerate all people of faith. They regularly refer to God as a myth so its therefore something that smacks of hypocrisy that they have a section devoted to religion in their magazine.

In the story, there were talking about how Lecrae and TobyMac had topped the iTunes album charts with music with Christian music. In a particular week, Lecrae had the number 1, 2 and 7 songs on the singles charts. This was achieved in spite of the fact that people normally steer clear of songs that are deemed to be Christian or mention God. However, there were other artistes and groups who were Christian like Switchfoot, who refused to be labelled as Christian artistes. According to one of the members of Switchfoot, they make a point of not mentioning Jesus or God in their songs. They also make a point of leaving their lyrics open to the listener’s interpretation. Which then led me to the question, is Switchfoot a Christian musical group or a secular musical group made up of Christians?

As a lawyer when I started out, my main motivation was winning cases. However, my mind-set changed when I talked to a colleague of mine. When I asked her whether she normally prayed to win cases, she told me no. She explained that while she would do her best in preparing for and prosecuting the case, she would not pray to win the case. Rather, she would pray that God’s will be done. That changed the way I saw what I do. I have no problems with Christians being in a secular musical group. After all, we all live in a secular world. But as Christians we need to bring a Christian persuasion to all we do.

My devotional the other day was talking about how all that we do has to be about Jesus. Even when we do things that edify us like preaching, it has to be about Jesus. However it bothers me when someone says he doesn’t want to be identified as “Christian”. It’s almost as if they are saying that they are ashamed of Jesus and would rather achieve fame and fortune on their terms. So when someone says that the lyrics of their song are open to whatever interpretation the listener wants to give them, I wonder how that is about Jesus. If we can’t say we belong to Christ in song and in our everyday lives, when can we?