Why do we do it? We always want to have it both ways. - Clint Decker
Why do we do it? We always want to have it both ways. Someone like this we might call, “two-faced.” In the bestselling book, Pilgrims Progress, there was a character called, “Mr. Facing-Both Ways.” This speaks of a person’s character, where they refuse to fully commit in one direction, instead they always play both sides. Regarding someone’s Christian faith, such a person is described like this, “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” (Titus 1:16)
The strong statement comes in response to a problem in the human heart, which causes one’s words and actions not to align with each other. This type of living is a lie. It is deceptive and manipulative. It leads to a lack of personal trust and integrity and is a spiritually dangerous way to live.
Jesus addressed this when He asked a rhetorical question to His listeners, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” (Luke 6:46) To put this in other terms, Jesus was asking, “Why do you say you believe in me, but do not obey my commands?” The same issue was dealt with centuries earlier through the prophet Jeremiah, “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely… then come and stand before me…?” (Jeremiah 7:9-10)
All this is a life of contradictions, where people profess to know God through their words or Christian activities, but deny that profession in how they live. What they do on Sunday and how they live Monday through Saturday does not match up. Because of this, they give ample reason for others to question the genuineness of their faith – including God.
They say with confidence, “I pray”, “I believe”, or even “I have asked Jesus to forgive my sins.” Yet, their life is a walking paradox when they engage in drunkenness, sexual immorality, anger, bitterness, profanity or other evil. How can such a contradiction be? They may respond with, “No one is perfect.” That is true, but it is no excuse for continuing to do what one knows is flat wrong. It is hypocritical, which means that someone is a religious actor. It is written, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man…” (Romans 2:1)
Why have so many chosen to live this way? Simple. There is no cost to it. It is a vain attempt to have two kingdoms without paying a price. God’s kingdom and their kingdom.
This way of living provides the benefits of religion like engaging in prayer, belief in God, experiencing His blessings, or even enjoying worship and taking the Lord’s Supper. But it also allows their conscience to permit them to live however they choose.
Those who teach or believe this are embracing a dangerous lie. For God strongly condemns it and will not be deceived or mocked. Jesus will one day say to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:23)
To enter God’s kingdom, you must walk away from your kingdom, and yes, there is a cost. There might be relationships that need to be broken or places you need to stop going. This is repentance and is costly, because it means you are turning away from someone (you) and turning toward Jesus by faith.
If God were to examine your life, what would He see? A two-faced life of empty religion, or a life that is passionately headed in one direction and totally sold out to Christ?
A prayer for you – Lord God, examine our lives. Help us to see what you see. If we have been living for two kingdoms, show us. From this day forward help us to live fully for Christ, the One who suffered, died and rose again that we might truly live for Him. In His name. Amen.
Do you feel so unhappy with some things about yourself that you are willing to go to extreme measures to change who you are? - Clint Decker
Do you like who you are? I am sure all of us wish we could change a few things about ourselves. Even the most beautiful or handsome among us. But I am asking something deeper. Do you feel so unhappy, so uncomfortable with some things about yourself that you are willing to go to extreme measures to change who you are?
You are not alone. Many are traveling this path. Let me help you. Let me take you back to the essence of who you really are and where you came from. I am not talking about your family. Large numbers of people come from difficult homes. Many were raised by a single parent, their grandparents, or have experienced the trauma of abuse. I want to take you back further than family.
Let us go back to where all of us have come from. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’ So God created man in his own image…male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…’” (Genesis 1:26,27-28)
This is where you and I have come from. We have been created by Almighty God. Before you were born, you were fashioned together by Him. You are not a product of science or biology, but a miracle of the one who fills the universe with His presence.
He made you a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, and did not make a mistake. Sometimes it can feel like He did when we look at other people and compare, or listen to the hurtful words of others or the destructive voices in our own mind. Here is the truth. You were made by the one who sits as King of the Earth on His throne in heaven.
What is the evidence of this? You were made in God’s image, and the imprint of His likeness is upon you. Where does your laugh come from, or your ability to love, gain knowledge, be creative, show kindness and a host of other things? It all comes from God. This is who He is and He gave some of His likeness to each of us along with physical life. For it is not just your heart, blood and brain that keeps you going. Ultimately, it was God’s Spirit that breathed life into you that made you come alive! And one day, that life will be withdrawn from you upon death.
Even though we are a wonderful creation of God, there is something not right. Something is amiss. Each one of us was born with a bent towards disobeying our Creator. The bent is called sin. It has touched everything God has created in us and corrupted it all. We love, but only certain people. We gain knowledge, but it may not be good or edifying. We are creative, but not in always creating honorable things.
And sometimes this corruption shows itself in the rejection of what God has made – ourselves. This is the root of why we often want to change who we are. Instead of giving God thanks for how He made us and loving ourselves just as we are, we condemn ourselves and want to change what God has made. God is not pleased when we reject what He has made and called good.
What is the answer? God sent His only Son to rid us of this internal brokenness. If we turn from our disobedience and to God by faith, we will instantly become a new person. Then the wall separating God and us, will be torn down. You will be one with Him. The One who made you, and finally, you will be able to see yourself through His eyes.
A prayer for you. Lord God, I pray for those who look at themselves and want to change who they are. Open their eyes to see how they were created by you. Help them to see how there is corruption within them causing all this. Bring them to turn from their sin, and to faith in Christ. Then lift the veil of darkness so they can see and be made new by the light of Jesus. In His name. Amen.
Church leaders, politicians and business owners that deliberately enable and justify the ungodly behavior of defiant immigrants, are complicit in their criminal conduct. - Clint Decker
Once a year I step onto an airplane and leave my familiar American soil, fly over the Atlantic Ocean then step off the plane to plant my feet on African soil, specifically, Kenyan soil. When I do, I find myself in a sea of people with a different skin color, language, clothes, food, music and overall culture than mine. And quickly, I find myself a stranger in another land. (Image from unitedmethodistbishops.org)
This is a picture of immigration, where people move from their native land to a different one, sometimes by choice, sometimes by force. Instantly, they go from being a native to a foreigner, from a citizen to a stranger.
We live in a world of immigrants. The United Nations Migration report states that nearly 300 million people live in a different country from which they were born. And the United States receives more immigrants than any nation in the world. The U.S. Current Population Survey reports that America has 53-million foreign-born immigrants (legal and illegal). A record number.
The United States was built on Christian principles that welcome’s the stranger. What are those? The Scriptures say, “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:33-34) The word “stranger” can also be sojourner, alien or foreigner. In a very practical term, it also means “guest.” Anyone who travels to a different county than which they were born, is a “guest” to that host nation.
What is expected by God from these guests? Immigrants are to abide by the existing laws of their host nation, “You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 24:22) Immigrants are also expected to assimilate into the host nation’s culture, “Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice…” (Lev. 17:8)
How is the host nation to treat their guests? Immigrants are expected to receive equal justice in the courts, “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner.” (Deuteronomy 24:17) Immigrants should be treated by the people with a sense of generosity, “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner…” (Deut. 24:19) Immigrants should not be taken advantage of, “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt…If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn…” (Exodus 22:21-24)
God lays out what He expects from the immigrants and from their host nation, but overall, He urges caution when welcoming the immigrant. He says, “There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god.” (Psalm 81:9) This speaks of how immigrants naturally bring their own values and culture with them from their native land, and in cases where there are nefarious motives with that, it will have a dangerous and dramatically negative impact on the host nation.
For immigrants who seek to assimilate and are respectful of their new nation, God’s laws apply. But for those who intentionally refuse to assimilate, deceive, harm others and blatantly defy laws there is a different response. There is biblical precedent and wisdom to remove them from the host nation. For it is an act of defense of the country and love for its own citizens. And church leaders, politicians and business owners that deliberately enable and justify the ungodly behavior of defiant immigrants, it is no response of love, instead they become complicit in the immigrant’s criminal conduct.
A prayer for you – Lord God, we pray for wisdom and understanding on the divisive and complex immigration issue. We pray you will help us to employ your wise principles in navigating this. Help us to not be deceived while embracing both compassion and justice toward all immigrants. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
