What Does God Really Want?

Everyone has an opinion about what God wants. Some people believe He simply agrees with them on every issue. (God just wants what they want. Just be sincere.) Some people believe God wants everyone to "just get along." And then there are people who believe that God is too demanding. There is nothing worth doing if not done perfectly. He can't be pleased.

In Matthew 9:9-13 Jesus invites a tax collector, Matthew, to follow him. Matthew agrees to leave his current life to be a disciple of Jesus. So, he invites Jesus to his home for a party to celebrate. This caused a bit of an uproar from the religious leaders because tax collectors, and their sinner friends were not the kind of people the Messiah should be associated with. The Messiah, according to Malachi 4:1-3, is suppose to condemn sinners and come for the righteous "with healing in his wings."

Curiously, Jesus answers his critics in an unexpected manner. He said that he came as a doctor for the sick (sinners) not for the well (righteous). In other words, the religious leaders saw a problem. Jesus saw his mission.

But Jesus doesn't stop here. Jesus goes on to explain what God wants: He wants mercy, not sacrifice. Here, Jesus quotes the Old Testament prophet, Hosea. There, God's message is a plea for Israel to repent, and He would forgive them. God wanted them to understand that their religious sacrifices cannot save them. And the only solution was to come to Him to have life.

Essentially, Jesus is saying that this is what he is all about. He has come to fulfill what God wants. And He wants people to repent and give their allegiance to Him. And Jesus is the means. For in Hebrews 10:5-8 it states that Jesus offered his body in replacement of the sacrificial system, to bring sinners to God.

This is good news. Our efforts at being acceptable to God, other people, or even ourselves will never cut it. But, by grace and mercy (through Christ's sacrifice) we are invited into relationship with God. We only need to repent and give all our allegiance to Jesus; letting go of our efforts, striving, and self-hope. That's what God wants.

Is that what we want?

Why Christian Boundaries Are Necessary

Yeah, we all want to be welcoming and friendly like Jesus. And yeah, we can be cautious about dealing negatively with other people. In fact, we may believe that agreeing with people is the best approach for dealing with differences.

But the truth of the matter is that Jesus wasn't a pushover either. He was very clear about who he was, and he wasn't backing away from that. He was clear about what he was about (seek and save the lost), what he would do (die despite what Pete thought; Matthew 16:13-28), and where people stood with him (he didn't trust them; John 2:23-25, John 6:25-27). He was kind and gentle with people, but he did so in truth (John 13:1-5). He didn't back away from what he stood for. And that made some people very uncomfortable.

People either loved him or hated him. He didn't allow for any middle ground. There were no centrist or reasonable accommodations. "You are either with me or against me," he would say. This included folks who were on the periphery — observing him from a distance, afraid of being associated with him, but believed his message (John 12:42). Jesus did not allow people to believe whatever they wanted to concerning him or God the Father.

So, what business is it of the church to be embarrassed about Jesus in order to not "offend" other people? What sense does it make for the church to be off mission in order to make peace with the world? How should the church respond to people who hate what it stands for?

Whether individuals or a corporate body of believers, we have to have boundaries. Even if we choose to relax those natural boundaries of beliefs and practices, we still erect boundaries unconsciously. We choose to sacrifice our allegiance to Christ to win the approval of men. Or we sacrifice our integrity to "go along to get along." In doing so, it causes a great amount of pressure internally — even if you choose to ignore it. So, why not just be real.

Let's just be the church. Let's just be truthful about Jesus identity. Let's just say that the message of salvation is critical to all mankind. Let's accept that not everyone will agree.

A Hero is More Than a Sandwich

After the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — and the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration — it got me thinking about the idea of heroes. What is a hero? What makes a hero? How do we decide who a hero is?

Some people would call those, who eventually stopped the gunman's rampage, heroes. Some may even call Ms. Giffords a hero for fighting to survive. Though others would disagree and say she was simply a victim. This discussion was also around right after 9/11. Who are our heroes? Were our heroes victims, or just those who risked their lives to save others?

I think the national discussion misses an important point. If we define heroes by the demonstration of courage to bring about a social good, we have to ask what we mean by "good." What is good? How do we determine what is good, if we do not consider God? And if we do consider God, doesn't it only matter what God thinks is good, not what we say is good? Because we don't all agree. If we don't agree in what is good, how can we agree on who a hero is? We may have some consensus on public servants such as teachers, firefighters, and police officers as heroes. But what about people like Carrie Prejean, Sarah Palin, Margaret Sanger, Barak Obama, or George W. Bush? We can't agree on them.

I think the best definition for a hero is whomever God would commend. And specifically, whomever Jesus commends. That is our best objective criteria. Otherwise, we pick our heroes by opinion polls, likes, or political alignment. God doesn't see it that way. That's why people such as poor widows or working parents can be heroes — worthy of emulation.