Discipleship Archives - Page 153 of 167

Some days, I’m ashamed to be a Christian.

Today is one of those days.

I want to issue a public apology to all people everywhere who were ever hurt, slandered, abused, or hated in the name of Christ.

I am sorry for what has been done in the name of Jesus.

Ashamed to be a Christian

The reason I am ashamed to be a Christian today is because of a website I ran across which is solely dedicated to spreading the terrible idea that the God of the Bible hates everybody.

The site is so mean and hurtful and angry, I kept wondering if it was just a terrible, horrible, awful joke. I am not going to post the site, because I don’t want anybody to go to it. It is the most despicable, hateful, hurtful, angry, website I have ever come across, and it is all run by “Christians” who claim to be working for “the Gospel.”

One entire section of the site is geared toward helping Christians gather and picket people and businesses with signs that say “God hates _______ (fill in the blank).” I am astounded at the people and places they are planning on picketing, and the way they do it is despicable. They call such events “Picket Crusades.” It’s very reminiscent of the actual Crusades, except that swords and horses have been swapped out for signs and bullhorns.

Personally, I think God hates “Christians” who proclaim hate in the name of God.

Maybe some of us other Christians should get a group together and go picket these picketers. We could write signs that say “God hates people who make signs that say ‘God hates _____ (fill in the blank).'” I’m jesting, but that would be quite a circus.

When people go out in the name of Jesus to do such things, it makes me ashamed to be a Christian, or at least, ashamed to call myself a Christian.

I am Not Ashamed of Christ

Though I may be ashamed to be a Christian when so-called Christians proclaim hate in the name of Christ, I am not ashamed to associate myself with Jesus Christ.

Such hateful behaviors and actions have nothing to do with Jesus, look nothing like Jesus, and are not at all what Jesus taught or wanted His followers to do.

The truth is that while I feel very sorry for what has been done in the name of Jesus, I also feel very sorry for the people who do it. What is going on in their lives, hearts, and minds to cause them to say and do such things? I feel awful that they think this is the way God is. I wonder what can be done to show them the true love and grace of God?

Anybody want to start a ministry focused on reaching Christian picketers?

Bartending as a Bi-Vocational Pastor

By Jeremy Myers

23 Comments

I have a friend who wants to plant churches. He doesn’t want to raise support, but to support himself bi-vocationally. Also, he wants to reach those people that most churches don’t (or won’t) reach. He figures that just as Christ came into this sin-sloshed world to save us, he needs to go into a sin-sloshed place to reach the unreached people of our culture. I can’t disagree on any of this.

But then he told me what he wants to do as his bi-vocational job: He wants to tend bars. He figures that pastors and bar-tenders have a lot in common.

He may be right about that, but does that make it right?

Oh, and by the way, his wife wants to have a ministry with strippers. She wants to go into strip clubs with a female friend of hers, and befriend the girls in there. If necessary, she says she will buy lap dances, but rather than get a lap dance, use the time to express the love of Jesus to them. She wants to have them over for dinner, and give them birthday parties, and teach them how to manage a budget, and cook meals, and care for babies.

Is it okay for a Christian pastor to be a bartender and for his wife to enter strip clubs?

Is this kind of outreach and evangelism “legal” for Christians? Or, maybe more Christians should be doing this kind of thing, and the only reason we aren’t is because we’re afraid of what “legalistic” Christians will say.

What do you think?

Update: After I wrote this post, I discovered some groups that were doing exactly these things.

Advice for a Crisis

By Jeremy Myers

8 Comments

If you are facing a crisis in your life, or know someone who is, here is some advice for both situations.

If you Know Someone Who is in a Crisis

If you have a friend facing a crisis, just go be with them.

Just listen to them vent.

Don’t chide them for their emotions, fear, anger, hurt, despair.

Please don’t quote Scripture unless they ask you to.

Don’t offer theological truths which you think will help them.

Don’t ask them what sin they might have committed to make God discipline them.

In other words, don’t throw rocks. If you are afraid of saying the wrong thing, don’t say anything at all.

Most of the time, hurting people just want others to be there.

If you see something tangible that they need, offer to provide it for them, food, clothing, money, helping hands, resources. The only intangible aid you should offer is prayer, and only say “I’ll pray for you” if you are also thinking of ways to be an answer to your own prayers.

My father died when I was two, and my mother says that what I have written above holds true in that sort of crisis as well. A friend of mine lost his brother in a hiking accident a few years ago, and he confirms this as well.

When Facing Your Own Crisis

In a recent crisis my wife and I faced, one of the things that initially bothered us was how when we shared with others that we were going through a crisis, they responded by sharing a crisis that they were facing or had faced in their own lives.

Our first reaction was, “Don’t try to turn this around to you. I’m the one in pain!” But then we realized, “Wow, how self-centered are we?”

Yes, pain hurts, and sometimes life stinks.

But it’s this way for everybody at times.

And one way to get over your own pain, fear, hurt, and disappointment, is to realize that it’s part of life, that others are facing it too (and many of them much more than you are), and that you can either have a pity party for yourself, or try to help others through their own pain, which in turn helps you.

To help others through their own pain, go back and look at point number one above.

A Story About a Crisis

One day a Rabbi stood on a hill overlooking a certain city. The Rabbi watched in horror as a band of Cossacks on horseback suddenly attacked the town, killing innocent men, women, and children. Some of the slaughtered were his own disciples. Looking up to heaven, the Rabbi exclaimed, “Oh, if only I were God.”

An astonished student, standing nearby, asked, “But, Master, if you were God, what would you do differently?” The Rabbi replied, “If I were God I would do nothing differently. If I were God, I would understand.”

Like it or not, I think the Rabbi is right. The best we can do in a crisis (and maybe the most we should do) is simply say, “I don’t understand.”

In the comments below, please share your own suggestions for handling a life crisis, whether it is your own crisis or helping someone else through their crisis.

What You Learn in Seminary

By Jeremy Myers

27 Comments

Some people wonder what you learn in seminary. Others wonder if seminary is worth all the time, effort, and debt. (By the way, if you are thinking about Bible college or seminary, I recommend starting off with an online Bible college or seminary to see if it is for you.)

As for myself, I am glad I went to Bible college and seminary because I think it provided me a “speed course” in much of the things I was already learning. I think I still would have learned most of what I learned in Bible college and seminary, but it would have taken me much longer.

And yet… to get the knowledge that you learn in seminary, you have to wade through a bunch of crap. In other words, what you learn in seminary is often only helpful while you are in seminary.

What you Learn in Seminary

For example, I still remember in one of my “Eschatology” classes (study of the End Times), three different students were interacting with the professor about what we were learning. Between the three of them, they used the following terms: “ontological bridge,” “theological taxonomy,” and “epistemological center.” And yet we wonder why the average seminary graduate has a difficult time connecting with the average person on the street.

Thanks to seminary, I understood what they were saying, but all I could think was, “I hope those students don’t preach much.” If seminary teaches us to talk like this, seminary is a failure.

If you ever catch me talking like this, come burn my books.

People often wonder what you learn in seminary. While there some value to seminary, mostly you wrack up a bunch of debt to learn to talk like a moron.

Have you been to seminary? What was your experience of seminary? Do you know seminary-trained pastors? Are they able to interact well with non-seminary trained people? Are you thinking of attending seminary? Why or why not?

Is Yelling at God a Sin?

By Jeremy Myers

37 Comments

One thing I have learned in times of crisis is that God can take our anger. If we feel like yelling at God, it’s okay… He can take it.

My wife and I were discussing this and she talked about how it is just like our children.

Children often get angry at their parents for not giving them something they really wanted (like candy before dinner), or taking something away that they had (like a sharp knife). The parents, if they are good parents, do this because the parent sees the bigger picture and knows what is best. While we don’t enjoy having our children upset at us in such situations, we can handle their anger because we know that we did what was best.

Yelling at God our Father

Similarly, we are God’s children. As our Father, He sees the big picture and knows what is best for us. We may get angry and upset, and if we do, He can take it because He knows we just don’t understand. I don’t think such anger is sinful or carnal, but just anger from ignorance.

God would rather have us come to Him in anger than run from Him in anger. When we are angry at God, but try to hide it, this doesn’t please God, for this is just a form of pious dishonesty. Do you feel like yelling at God? Don’t hold back! Tell God what is wrong.

Yesterday, one of my daughters was angry at me, and I couldn’t figure out why. As I tried to figure out what had happened, I gently probed her with questions. But rather than answer my questions, she just kept saying “Nothing!” No matter what I asked, that was her answer. This is how we act toward God when we don’t vent our anger at Him, and instead just clam up about what we’re feeling.

Yelling at God is a healthy spiritual and relational practice.

The Psalmists all understood this, and in the Psalms, we encounter some of the most angry writing in all of Scripture, and much of it is directed at God. The Psalmists had raw emotions and were not afraid to vent at God. If you ever feel like yelling at God, I highly recommend you read some of the Psalms and yell at God along with the Psalmists.

Yelling at God reveals Honesty

God wants to be with us in our pain and anger, especially if He is the one who caused it. This is because going to God when we are angry and frustrated at life and at Him is an indication of our love for Him.

So are you angry at God? Are you angry about something he allowed to happen in your life?

Go ahead. Yell at God. Curse if you have to. There is nothing you can say that God hasn’t heard already… It’s not like God has virgin ears. Tell God your blasphemous thoughts. You have permission to be honest with God about your thoughts and your feelings.

God always prefers angry honesty over the sullen silent treatment. So yell away.

In my own experience, after I have yelled at God, I have often “felt” His arms around me afterward, saying, “Thank you for letting it all out. I was waiting for you to be honest with me. Now, let’s talk about it…”

What is your experience with yelling at God? Have you ever done it? How did you feel afterward? Did Christians condemn you for doing so? Did God? Share your experiences in the comments below.

Can I pray when I’m angry at God?

I’m Ashamed to be a Christian

Ashamed to be a Christian

I am Not Ashamed of Christ

Bartending as a Bi-Vocational Pastor

Advice for a Crisis

If you Know Someone Who is in a Crisis

When Facing Your Own Crisis

A Story About a Crisis

What You Learn in Seminary

What you Learn in Seminary

Is Yelling at God a Sin?

Yelling at God our Father

Yelling at God reveals Honesty

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