I have a friend that’s not a Christian, but she’s very curious about my faith, my beliefs and Christianity. She didn’t grow up in any religion or church and knows very little about the bible. She often asks me questions about Christianity that are very simple, honest and sometimes down right painful. Sometimes her questions are very childlike such as, “Does it bother God when I curse?” and “Why is it wrong for me to hate someone?”

But it was her last question that she asked me that really set me back on my heels. She was totally serious when she asked … “Why is it that the Christians at my work place can be dishonest, sleep with someone in the office that’s not their spouse, ask me to get drunk with them at a party on Saturday … and then invite me to go to church with them on Sunday morning? Something about all that doesn’t seem to be right.”

Honestly, I was floored. Her simple, yet serious question was a slap in the face to the lifestyle of Christianity that Jesus taught and wants me to live. Her question was 100% serious. She wasn’t trying to bash what I believe OR rub my nose in professing Christian’s inconsistencies. She just didn’t understand it and wanted to know. None of it made sense to her … and honestly … none of it makes sense to me either.

I did my best to answer her … but it frustrated me knowing that all my words won’t have NEAR the impact on her that her co-worker’s actions will.

“…let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:16

Lea and I spent the day talking about the Black Friday deals we wish we could get. There were several things that caught our eye, but none were worth getting up at 3 a.m. on Friday to go get them. Seems like every year Lea and I talk about not spending “as much” on gifts as we did the previous year, but somehow it happens. This year we’ve briefly talked about taking the amount we spend on gifts and matching that amount in giving towards good places like Bread for a Hungry World.

I guess what bothers me is that even during what some call “hard” economic times, we’ll spend TONS of money on more things we can really live with out. For example … did you know that this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, America will spend 470.4 billion dollars? Slow down and read that last sentence again … 470.4 billion!! Here’s the amazing part, that is 11 million dollars EVERY MINUTE from the beginning of Black Friday until Christmas Day. That’s STAGGERING.

And before you know it … December’s Christmas gifts quickly become January’s payments.

We are very blessed people and we are living in a blessed nation. It’s okay to shop this Christmas season and enjoy a season of giving and receiving, just don’t go over-board. Remind yourself this time of year just how blessed you really are AND THEN … make an effort to share some of what you have with some who are less fortunate.

It was Jesus who said in Luke 12:15, “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Jesus was so smart.

Taz is a young man who blew into our community about a year ago. His past is a rough one and he openly confesses … “I’ve probably done more harm to people than good.”

Thankfully, some kind folks I do church with, saw value in Taz and reached out to him not long after he got to town. They were willing to simply be his friend. We have helped him find furniture for his house, a couple of part time jobs, groceries when his refrigerator would get empty and gave him a ride to church when he wanted.

Recently, my buddy Randy, picked Taz up and invited him to go help work on our Augment House (a house we’re restoring in Childress to give away to a needy family). After about an hour of working on the Augment House and processing everything, Taz looks over and says in his slang the following four sentences …  

“I’ve done good for nobody in my life. I grew up in gangs and all we did was do bad on folks. I want to be in y’alls gang. Y’all do good for folk and I likes that.”

How cool is that!  It was a simple reminder that you and I can still be a positive influence in the lives of others.

Maybe this would be a good time to ask … “Who are you being a positive influence on in your life?”

Christians SHOULD be setting the bar high as the most loving, gracious and generous people on this earth.

The problem is … we don’t always do a good job looking like the Jesus we claim to follow. Often times we have treated others unkind in the name of religion. We talk out of both sides of our mouths, saying one thing and then doing another. We’re harsh, critical and condemning. We often draw lines in the sand, where God never intended there to be lines.  On Sunday mornings, we are praising God for His grace in our lives, and an hour later we’re being very ungracious to our waitress for not keeping our glass filled up.

We’ve been hypocritical … and this should NEVER be!

It’s time we start practicing what we preach.  The world won’t know we are Christians by our bumper stickers and t-shirts, BUT by the way we love others around us. There is SO much more to being a Christian than trying to have all the right answers … it’s our attitude towards others and how we treat people that will make the difference.

I’d like you to meet Canon. He and his family went with us to Honduras. Canon just turned 12-years-old and was a “go getter” in Honduras. The picture fits him perfectly … everywhere he went he had his backpack FULL of things to give away to others. He brought stuff from home like baseball caps, soccer jerseys, clothes, bracelets and on and on. Canon always had Honduran kids around him because he was always giving away his things.

Just before Canon left to go home he spotted this little boy who was watching him from behind a gate of the Casa orphanage. Canon realized the boy needed some shoes so he gave him his Nikes … his last pair of shoes.

Canon ended up wearing home his mother’s pink flop flops that were 2 sizes too small (see picture).  That’s love. No wonder Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

I want to be like Canon.

I was asked recently what a hypocrite is. The dictionary describes a hypocrite as someone who “pretends to be more virtuous or religious  than he really is.” Or in simpler terms, a hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does the opposite. I’m far from being a perfect person, but I don’t ever want to be a hypocrite.

You might be a hypocrite …

• If you expect God to forgive you, but refuse to forgive others.
• If you’re disgusted by the moral filth that is playing on your own VCR or DVD player.
• If you complain about being poor on Twitter or Facebook via your smartphone.
• If you have a “save the planet” bumper sticker on your Hummer.
• If you complain about welfare cheats, but in-turn cheat on your taxes.
• If you point out what is wrong in other’s lives, but never notice what’s wrong in your own life.
• If you can drop the F-bomb on Facebook, and then turn around on your next status and talk about praying to God.
• If you call yourself a Christian but hate homosexuals, people of different races and those who disagree with you.
• If “do unto others” only applies to others.
• If you can go to church on Sunday and thank God for His grace, and then at lunch be unkind or rude to your waiter or waitress.

I’m not a fan of critics because any fool can criticize.  I figure there are enough critics in this world so I honestly try hard to be a cheerleader with my words.

But sometimes even the best planned compliments come out wrong. Like early this past Sunday morning, when I meant to say something nice, but it came out all wrong. Five of us, 2 guys and 3 girls, had just finished up a 4-mile run and were walking back to our cars in the dark. What I totally wanted to say was, “Girls, this running is making y’all look great. Y’all are getting so skinny.” I figured a compliment like that would make that hard 4-mile run seem worth it every step, but my words didn’t come out exactly like I had planned.  Instead of being a compliment … it sounded more like criticism when I told them, “You girls sure look skinny when it’s dark.” To make a long story short … I was verbally abused the rest of the day by three girls who didn’t see how I was trying to build them up.

God has given you and I an amazing gift …. the gift of speech. With this gift you have the power to use your words to hurt someone or heal someone. Today you have a choice to use your words to either build someone up or tear someone down. I suggest you use them to build up … just make sure you do it correctly.

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18).

We must have looked like a motley crew, to those sitting around us. The five of us were sitting close together on a Wednesday night for bible study at church.  I sat there and thought to myself, “Wow, look at how God has sat us all together right here tonight.”

To someone sitting around they might have noticed us like this…

• Sitting on the end of the pew was a African-American man who’s reputation in our community is not the best. He’s had a couple of stints in the penitentiary, but he came that night because someone had taken the time to invite him and went to pick him up.
• A little ways down sat a young white man with long hair, but it wasn’t his hair that people noticed … it was his tattoos, lots of them totally covering his arms.
• Sitting just a ways from him was a new couple who were attending church for the first time … ever. He’s Hispanic and she’s not.  They live in the neighborhood around our church building and we’ve helped them several times with groceries and their water bill. They have two sweet little girls, one which was sleeping on her mom’s lap. What most sitting around them didn’t know is that they have never been married. When I had invited them to come they tried to balked at coming because they said they didn’t have any clean clothes.  They came anyway.  I did take notice that when he came in to the building he asked if he should take out his earring, I told him it was fine and we were just glad they came.
• Then there was me. A clean-cut, white minister wearing nice clean clothes and carrying my bible.

I’m sure to some sitting around us, I wasn’t the one that stood out. I’m sure someone noticed a black man, a Hispanic man and his “wife,” or maybe the man covered in tattoos. But what did God see? Not the earring, nor the tattoos. He didn’t notice my ironed shirt or bible. What God saw were five sinners and all desperately in need of a savior. All people who He sent his son to die for … and five people He loves dearly with all His heart.

What will you notice about the people you see today? How about today looking at people through God’s eyes?  Instead of seeing a gay man, a divorced woman or a homeless man, how about seeing yourself as someone just like them … a person desperately in need of a Savior. See them as someone God loves with all His heart.

Katy is the book winner from last week’s giveaway. Congrats. I will be sticking a book in the mail to her later this week.

Lukewarmness is a battle I have to fight regularly. Being lukewarm as a Christian is NOT good. Lukewarmness is found somewhere between being hot (on fire for God as he demands) and being cold (having no desire to follow God). Revelation 3:15-16 has always been tough for me to comprehend, because Jesus is SO hard on the lukewarm. He actually says he’d rather you and I be “cold” rather than lukewarm, and that lukewarmness is disgusting enough to God to make him vomit.

I don’t know a better chapter on lukewarmness, than Chan’s in his book, “Crazy Love.” So with that in mind, here are 10 signs you might be a lukewarm Christian …

1. You think more about like on this earth (and how to be comfortable here) than you do about eternal life.

2. You give out of your leftovers rather than making it a priority.

3. You only seek God when you are in a bind.

4. You say you believe in God, but live as though he doesn’t exist.

5. You crave acceptance from people more than acceptance from God.

6. You rarely (or never) share your faith.

7. You say you believe in God, but you don’t strive to know Him.

8. You base your morality on comparing yourself with others, rather than on what God says.

9. Your life is really no different than others in the world.

10. You want to know Christ just enough to save you from hell, but not enough have to change your lifestyle.

Can you add one?

“I want to de-clutter my life from material things!” ~ Me

I love my Monday night bible study group. Every week a group of twenty-or-so people show up for a bible study at my house. For the past few weeks we’ve been talking about what God says about material things. We’ve talked about verses like 1 John 3:17 that says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” We’ve talked and prayed about the fact that God must have meant that or He wouldn’t have said it.

This past week, one of the guys from our study group said, “I don’t just want to talk about this … I want to do something.” I loved that. So many times, I just will hear something and think, “You know that’s right,” and then go on without making a change.

We spent the next hour and a half talking about what we could do to de-clutter our lives from some of the material possessions that hold us captive. We have closets FULL of clothes, yet the bible says, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none…” We have cabinets full of food, yet the bible says, “When we refuse to feed the hungry, we’re refusing to feed Jesus.” Not only do we have an abundance of everything, we’ve even cluttered our children’s lives by giving them an abundance of things too. We’ve failed them by teaching them to buy into consumerism.

Did you know that between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year Americans will spend 470.4 billion dollars. That’s 11 million dollars a minute. When will we realize that we don’t need that CD player that works in the shower, another pair of black pants, 42 new toys for our kids and a Snuggie for our dog.

So back to our bible study group … we have discussed having a giant garage sale and  giving the proceeds away to a worthy cause (we like this idea). We discussed just having a garage give-away where people took what they wanted (we decided against this). We discussed lots of ideas to help us remove the clutter of material things from our lives and share what we have.

We haven’t quite figured all the details out on our plans, but we do plan to do something. Right now what we’ve started is this … we decided to challenge one another until the end of they year to get rid of 50 things a week from our lives. Give them away, share them with others, throw away the junk … simply de-clutter our lives. We’re hoping by the end of 8 weeks, and 400 material items lighter, to get a better idea how to downsize so others in need can upgrade.

It’s not about spending less so we can save money. It IS about spending less so we have more to share with others in need.

Why am I blogging about this? Because maybe you want to take on the 50 Things Challenge too. Is your life cluttered with junk? Do you have more than you need?

I’ve got to go get busy … I have my 50 things to work on today.

So do you have any thoughts or ideas?

My friend Erin is a single college girl. The other day I applauded her Facebook status that said something along the lines of, “I do not base my self-worth upon dating lots a guys. I don’t have to constantly be dating someone, to be someone.” She is 100% right, and I love her maturity. She got me to thinking … what do we base our self-worth on? What do you wrap your identity up in? What do you allow to define you? For example, I’m going to guess ….

Men often base their self-worth on:

• Their sex life.
• How much money they make (or don’t make) a year.
• What their job is and how long they’ve been employed.
• If their children are gifted athletically.
• Their toys … cars, boats, etc.

Women often base their self-worth on:

• Their looks (hair, nails, shoes, make-up, clothes, etc.)
• Their house (I’ve heard it said a woman’s house is just an extension of who she is.)
• Their kids (If their kids aren’t doing well, they feel like a failure).
• Their marriage (If their marriage is struggling, so is their self-worth).

Young people often base their self-worth on:

• If they’re currently in a relationship.
• If they have a boy/girl chasing them.
• If they have the latest phone, video game, etc.

For the men: If you’re wrapping your self-worth up in the things listed above, they are only going to let you down. Happiness isn’t found in the next new gadget or higher paying job.

For the women: If you’re thinking that all you need to be happy is these four things to align just right, it’s NEVER going to happen. You will WEAR YOURSELF OUT trying to find happiness that will NEVER come. Your happiness isn’t going to be found in your next hair color or new outfit.

For the young people: Your self-worth should NEVER be based on whether or not you’re in a relationship with someone. Sadly, some young people feel that if they’re not in a relationship there’s something wrong with them. Young ladies, you DO NOT have to have guys chasing you, texting you and calling you to be someone special. Your self-worth shouldn’t be based upon how many boys like you. More make-up or shorter shorts don’t make you more appealing. INSTEAD your heart should be so hidden in Christ, that a man should have to seek Him first to find you. Young men, self-worth isn’t in the coolest phone, the nicest car or having the hottest girl.

Self-worth shouldn’t be based on what other people think, nor should it be based on what the world thinks.  Instead, base your self-worth on how much God loves you. Isaiah 43:1-4 says that we need to build our self-worth on what God says about us: “I love you. I redeemed you. I call you by name.” Why? “Because you are precious and honored in my sight.” God loved us enough to create us in his image AND to send his son to die for us. That right there should make your self-worth go through the roof.

What do you base your self-worth on? Hopefully God, because everything else will let you down.

SO, what are some other things we base our self-worth on?

Something that has really been gnawing on me lately is the amount of people who claim Christianity, but don’t live it in their everyday life. I guess what we’ve failed to get across to the world is that along with the being a Christian comes a lifestyle change.

Transformation.

Christianity is about transformation… it’s about change.  I heard one man recently say, “Salvation without transformation will lead to condemnation.” Meaning, there’s more to Christianity than simply saying I believe in God. Christianity is about your journey to become Christ-like. You and I are called to be different from the world.

Let me put it this way: If you’re still the exact same person you were when you became a Christian … if there’s never been any transformation in your life … then that’s a HUGE sign that something’s not right spiritually.

Sadly there are many Christians that sit in churches for YEARS and never make one effort to change, to transform into the image of Christ. It’s been said, “Sitting in church doesn’t make you a Christian,” and I say “amen” to that, but let me add, neither does just saying you’re a Christian make you a Christian. Instead, it’s about giving your life to Christ and THEN becoming a disciple … someone who lives the life.

Jesus said, “You will know a tree by it’s fruit.” Meaning, you’ll know my followers by their lifestyle. They will be different.

“Be holy as I am holy,” God said in the book of Peter. God doesn’t call for us to be sinless or perfect, but set-apart. He calls us to be different than the world. He calls us to be bold and stand out.

So, did you notice it? There’s one word in this post that stands out because I put it in bold print. It’s the word “bold.” Now you see it? That’s what God wants you and I to be today… the “bold” in a world that’s not. He wants us to stand out.

Be bold today!

Whoever came up with the phrase “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” was a fool. You know as well as I do that words can hurt people severely. Words cut to the soul. They permanently fracture relationships, and they can do a lifetime of emotional damage. In fact, I believe verbal abuse in your marriage and family can do MORE damage than physical abuse.

Words that are carelessly spoken can be devastating to the people you love most.

Negative words and phrases include…

• That’s stupid.
• You’re an idiot.
• Don’t be dumb.
• You never understand.
• You make no sense.
• Complaints
• Criticism
• Yelling
• Back-handed compliments
• Words spoken in anger

Words and phrases that build up are …

• I love you.
• I’m proud of you.
• I forgive you.
• Thank you.
• I appreciate you.
• You can do it.
• Don’t give up.
• No matter what, I’m here for you.
• Did you have a good day?
• Good job.

God has given us the gift of speech, and you have the power to use your words to hurt someone or heal someone. You’ll use them today to either build up or tear down. “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing” (Proverbs 12:18).

Today make an effort to use words that build up … not that tear down.

Can you think of any other words or phrases that tear down or build up?

I spent this past weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico, doing a “Strong Marriages” seminar. I had a great time. I don’t have a lot to blog about this morning, so I thought I’d share a few things from my journal. Here are a few things I’ve written down this past week about being a “Follower of Jesus.” These are just a few thoughts and quotes I’m trying to process and work through:

Jesus said, “Follow me…”

• The church is to be the body of Christ in the world. Jesus’ followers are to be His hands and feet to others. Somehow the church has done a great job of making believers, but a horrible job of making followers of Jesus. We do a great job being Jesus’ mouth, but a poor job of being his hands and feet.
• Being a believer is easy. Being a follower is hard.
• Jesus didn’t come just to save me from hell … He came to call me (and you) to a lifestyle change.
• Jesus didn’t call me to a life of just going to church, but a life of adventure by being his hands and feet to other people. I feel most fulfilled in my faith when I’m accepting that adventure.
• My job is to draw people to Jesus, to call them to follow, to challenge them to be Jesus in other’s lives …
• To bring people to Jesus, it must happen by showing people Jesus … not scaring the hell out of them.
• If we lose a generation of people it won’t be because we didn’t entertain them enough, but because we didn’t dare them with the gospel and the adventure that’s involved in following Christ.
• When Jesus said, “follow me,” he was saying “watch me,” and “see me.” He was telling people to see how he lived and do it the same way. If people watch Christians closely, will they see us looking like Jesus?
• “We need to stop complaining about the church we’ve experienced and work on becoming the church we dream of.” ~Shane Claiborne
• When it comes to Christianity, maybe even more important than what you believe and how you believe, is how you live.
• What I long for is a Christianity that looks more like Jesus.
• “The largest barrier to Christ has been Christians who shout loudly with their mouths, but have nothing to show with their lives.” ~Manning

So, what are some things that you’ve been thinking about? Do you have any thoughts on the things I mentioned above?

Amie has the most amazing heart. Amie is one of our young people at church. She’s just graduated and will start college next month. More than once, Amie has called me asking for help. No, not ever for herself, but always for other people. Every time she sees someone in town that looks homeless, hungry or needing help, she calls and says, “Can you go check on this person for me?” I’ve always tried.

Once when she called about a homeless man she’d seen at the McDonald’s needing help, I jumped in my pickup and went to check on him.  When I got there I said, “There you are, I’ve been looking for you.” He responded, “How’d you know I was here? Did an angel tell you?” I said, “Yes, a little blonde headed 18 year old one.”

I leave this Saturday for Honduras. As many of you know, I’ve been asking for beanie-baby stuffed animals to take with me. I have a a TON that we’ll pack up and take with us when we go. Those little stuffed animals will be given to a little boy or girl in the hospital there in Honduras. The hospital is not a good place to be for a child, especially in a third-world country.  The last time we visited the hospital there, we saw lots of really sick kids whose eyes lit up by the gift of a simple stuffed animal.

This past Sunday, Amie told me she was wanting to donate her beanie-baby collection she’d been saving. Before bringing her stuffed animal collection to the house, she spent the afternoon putting a ribbon around each of their necks with a little hand written note that said, “Dios Te Ama”, which is “God Loves You.”  With them she gave me this note:

“I know that there are tons of children at the hospital that are really sick, but I want to ask you to give mine to the ones that are doing really bad and need to know that God loves them. (I know that every child there needs to know that, but I feel that God is pushing me to do this for the really really sick ones). If you could please do this for me I would really appreciate it. Even though I can’t be there in person, I know I can still work through God, and can get my beanie babies to them with your help.”

I’d just like to say that I want a heart like Amie’s.

This morning was Childress’ Old Settler’s parade. The boys and I rode in the parade so we could throw out candy with little VBS invitations on them. As I threw out the candy, I couldn’t help but think about the crazy parade I were in a few years ago …. and the embarrassing thing that happened. Here the story…

A few years ago while preaching in Tulia, I was also serving as a volunteer paramedic for the Tulia ambulance services. One Saturday, my buddy Scotty and I, volunteered to go to a little town called Kress about 10 miles away, to drive the ambulance through their parade and throw out candy to the kids. Since we actually provided ambulance service to this little community, the hospital thought it’d be a good idea if we showed up for their big annual parade.

After picking up our 3 very large bags of candy that the hospital provided us, we were off. Neither of us had ever been to the parade in this little west Texas town, but when we got there neither Scotty or myself were very impressed. When we lined up for the parade we noticed that there were lots of vehicles like fire trucks and police cars, but there was hardly any people there for the parade. Actually, only a handful of people had shown up. I remember thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me. I gave up my Saturday for this sorry parade?” When the parade finally started, we turned on our sirens and lights and waved to the people who’d actually shown up. We threw out a few pieces of candy, but soon realized we had tons of candy and no one to throw it to. We finally noticed one little boy at the very end of the street. He was actually the only kid we’d seen. So Scotty and I decided, “Let’s don’t take any of the candy home. If the kid has showed up for the parade, let’s reward him.” So when we came to the end of the street where the one lone boy stood, we waved him over and started dumping huge handfuls of candy right in front of him. When we finished dumping all the candy out the window, we left one of the largest piles of candy any one kid has ever had. That kid was blessed with more than he’d ever be able to eat. And by the look on his face when we started throwing candy at him, I know he must have thought we were the greatest guys in the world. We left that little boy everything we had, three very large bags of candy. We knew he was going to need a much bigger sack than the one he had.

What we didn’t know until about two minutes later was that where we were was not where the people actually gathered to watch the parade. The street we’d been on was just the starting street. When we turned the corner, there were all the people. Hundreds of people had actually shown up. Kids were everywhere screaming for candy, and we had none. We had nothing left to give. We had thrown everything to the one lucky (and very surprised) first kid on the other street. The rest of the parade we just waved, laughed and threw out rubber gloves.

I later got to thinking how God blesses us with so much more than we’ll ever need. As His children, He makes sure we have the spiritual necessities that we need like forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, peace and other things as well. But He doesn’t stop there; he also pours out physical blessings in our lives and gives us more than we ever deserve. He simply blesses us like we’re the first kid at the parade. He shovels more into our lives than our little bags will ever be able to carry. The difference between God and our three bags of candy we gave out at the parade is that God never runs out. Ever.

God is good.

We’re blessed to be some of the richest people in the world. But often times here’s what happens …

“Because we don’t usually have to depend on God for food, money to buy our next meal, or shelter, we don’t feel needy. In fact, we generally think of ourselves as fairly independent and capable. Even if we aren’t rich, we are “doing just fine.”

If 100 people represented the world’s population, 53% of those people would live on less than $2 a day. Do you realize that if you make $4000 a month, you automatically make one hundred times more than the average person on this planet?  Simply by purchasing a book, you spend what a majority of people in the world will make in a week’s time.”

Here’s the part that punched me in the throat…

“Which is more messed up — that we have so much compared to everyone else, or that we don’t think we’re rich? On any given day we might flippantly call ourselves “broke” or “poor”? We are neither of those things. We are rich. Filthy rich.”

The above quote is from the book I’ve been reading called “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. Maybe it’s because I’m headed to Honduras in a week and a half, where human poverity is evident daily,  or maybe it’s just God working on me, BUT those words really stung when I read them.

Here’s what God has to say about this:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” ~ 1 Timothy 6:17-19

I hate being late. In fact, I detest it. I actually like being places at least 10 minutes early, but oh boy, was I running late last Tuesday to my bible class. I knew in about 3 minutes I’d have a room full of women chanting, “Where’ve you been. You’re late!”  I’d been out running errands and let the time slip up on me.

I was zipping down the street, going to make it right on time, when the light turned red. Hobbling across the street in front of me was a little old woman. She had her coat, headscarf and purse in hand. I thought, “Hurry, little lady, I have a class to teach.”

She passed and my light turned green. I made it 3 blocks when it hit me, “Trey, you just did the same thing the Priest and Levite did in the story of the good Samaritan to the man who was beaten and left on the side of the road… you went on by.”

Then the debate started…

One part of me said, “Dude, YOU have a class to teach. Don’t go back. She’s probably out for a walk. You’re going to be late and those women are going to get you.”

The other part of me said, “It’s cold outside. You can’t drive on past.”

I turned around and went back. I had to make a couple of blocks before I finally caught up with her. I pulled up, rolled my window down and said in my sweetest voice possible, “Ma’am, can I give you a ride somewhere?” She quickly declined my offer without breaking stride. I could tell she was a little nervous by my offer. So I asked again, “Are you sure? I’d be happy to drop you off somewhere.” Again she said, “No,” as she kept walking. At this point I wanted to say, “Ma’am, help me out here. I’m trying to be a Good Samaritan. I’m a REALLY nice guy, and you can trust me,” but I chose not to. As she walked off I did tell her, “Have a nice day,” and then I drove off.

I was a little late for class, but no one gave me a hard time about it. Although the little old lady wouldn’t let me help her, I felt like I had made the right decision by offering… even if it meant being late to class. In Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, I’ve always imagined the Priest and the Levite were not  bad people but just too busy to help. They probably didn’t stop because they were in a hurry to do something good like teach a class, preach a sermon or go to a church service. But for whatever reason, they chose wrong when they chose not to stop and help.

I wonder how many other people in this world I’ve missed helping because I was in too big a hurry.

Last week I wrote a short post called, “Are Christians too Anti-homosexual, Political and Judgmental?” …because according to the world, we are! I was overwhelmed by the opinions that were given in the comment section on that post. To sum up the majority of opinions, I’d say we all agree that the church, and Christianity as a whole, has an image problem. We, as followers of Christ, haven’t always done a very good job looking like Christ.

We’ve treated others unkind in the name of religion. We’ve talked out of both sides of our mouths, saying one thing and then doing another. We’ve been harsh, critical and condemning. We’ve often drawn lines in the sand, where God never intended there to be lines. We’ve preached uniformity instead of unity. We’ve praised God for His grace on Sunday morning and then after services we’ve been very ungracious to our waitress for not keeping our glass filled up. We’ve been hypocritical.

I understand that we are sinners. We make mistakes, and we’ll continue to make mistakes, BUT that’s NO excuse for how we treat others. We need a perception change, and it must start with the person you see in the mirror every morning.

So what do we do about it? How do we change the perception the outside world has of us? That’s a tough question. I’m not sure there’s a simple answer, but here are a few things that I think would help. A man can dream, can’t he?