Celebrating the Imagination of Ray Bradbury

Somewhere in the Rome of 200 AD, a child sat in a public square filled with citizens and slaves, among the venders selling food and idols, and he dreamed. He had just heard the words of Paul's epistle to Philemon, and he dreamed of a day when slavery would have died out because all men would have realized that they were made in God's image and belonged to God first, and you should never abuse any of God's treasures. He imagined Caesar's cold armies transformed by love to build up rather than destroy, to liberate rather than crush.

During the Depression, when dreams were hard to come by, a child imagined a better world, and as he grew, he wrote stories that stirred the imagination of others. This week, we lost that child when Ray Bradbury died. In short stories, novels, and screenplays, he explored the human spirit. He was good at seeing the enemies of our personal humanity and confronted them as he best knew how. He was not a believer, but he was created in the image of God and was true to his art, and that is enough sometimes to discern truth.

Dreams are important to the human spirit. Crush someone's dreams and pessimism and depression take over. Kill dreams and tradition and the status quo become king. Tyrants hate dreams... and, sadly, so do some Christians.

We like what we can control, but we can't control dreams. We can encourage and inform the dreamer or we can try to kill the imagination. But be warned, if you attempt the latter, you will find yourself an enemy of God. I fear we are losing a generation because of the fear, pessimism, and deadly cynicism of their elders. Elders without vision, without dreams, rob those around them of life. There are already too many dead bodies in our wake.

Bradbury wrote of Martians that he knew did not exist so he could create a mirror for human greed, ambition, and uncertainty. He did it not to depress us, but to wake us up and protect us. He wrote of the perverse fascination that exists in any crowd witnessing a tragedy in the hopes that we would examine our hearts. In everything, he reminded us of childhood wonders and the innocence that accompanies us. From his stories we can better understand Jesus' command to come to him as a child. Bradbury wasn't a believer, but a knowledge of the gospel still bounced around a lot of his fiction.

I have heard young couple agonize over the decision to bring a child into this fallen time instead of dreaming about the impact their child could make in a needy world. Don't fear for the next generation. Invest in them, prepare them, and then unleash them. Let them dream of what God could do with their lives.

Too many Christians have let the nightly news, false prophets of doom, and scared preachers kick the living heaven out of them. If you have stopped dreaming, become convicted that the darkness is too strong, can't imagine a way forward, then you are no longer hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. You have given way to the voice of this age. It's time to jump start your imagination. You might as well start with a passionate, observant dreamer such as Ray Bradbury. I don't agree with all he has to say, but he will wake you up to the human spirit (created by God) and help you dream again. Then take that attitude back to Scripture and watch God's dreams explode from the page.

Should You Celebrate Mothers' Day?

This week global Heath advocate, Christy Turlington Burns, is asking us to forego our usual celebration of Mothers' Day and fix our attention, and spend your money, elsewhere. This seems pretty brazen. I have learned over time that you don't mess with Mother's Day. The goal here is not to disrespect mothers, but to assist all those would be mothers around the world that are still dying in childbirth. A noble cause, but do we have to choose? I believe we can both honor mothers and help save the lives of women during childbirth. In addition, I think we always lose when we neglect the person next to us and focus exclusively on the person far away.

Social justice has taken an unhealthy turn in America, and Christians have participated in it to a degree. We tend to emphasis the importance of those far away while living a protected, insulated life at home. Jesus called us to love our neighbor as ourselves. Who is our neighbor? Those we come into contact with. Those within eyesight or earshot. The people around us who need the kind of assistance that would inconvenience our lives.

Justice loses a great deal of its meaning if it's not personal. Acts of justice shape our own lives by forcing us to invest time, sacrifice by creating new priorities, and demonstrating that people are valuable enough for us to miss American Idol or reschedule activities. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus describes three religious and distinguished people who ignore someone in desperate need because they won't change their schedule, risk involvement, or sacrifice their time. They are important people with important things to do. Other people were not their priority.

We don't need to choose between the needs of those who are close and those who are far away. We should be involved in both. You can't do everything, but you can focus and do something. We may not feel like it at times, but we are rich. Most of us don't work the twelve hour days our ancestors did. We have time and energy that can be spent on a few around us. The personal touch, the attention and time we spend (and it does cost) humanize the world and help to expand the power and the influence of the kingdom of God.

What does it say about our values when we send relief aid to the other side of the world, but our elderly go unvisited and forgotten in nursing homes. We argue over health care reform, but it is a heartless debate if we don't respond to Jesus' call to lay down our lives for each other.

Please send money to help save new mothers from death during childbirth. It really doesn't take much to save a life. What a great way to celebrate Mothers' Day, but keep it human and touch the life of a mother close to you. We don't spread honor by ignoring those close at hand for the sake of those far away. We can honor both. Keep justice personal.

Occupy Wall Street, A Missed Opportunity?

There is a basic difference between an evangelist (a fisher of men) and a defender of the faithful. The first looks for every positive situation that could be used to help someone encounter God while the second is always looking for ways to distance themselves from others. The first is looking for entry points while the second guards the door to make sure the wrong people don't get in. The way you respond to the Occupy Wall Street Movement has a lot to say about the role you have chosen for yourself.

The Occupy Wall Street Movement is diverse, and I would say confused. It lacks direction and a central theme, but it doesn't lack heart or vision. It represents a group of people who think there is something wrong with the world and believe they can make a difference, and that is where I connect with them. Whenever a lively discussion is taking place, our first question should be, "Does Jesus have something to say about this?"

Jesus has taught us that something is wrong with the world. In a nutshell, I am what is wrong with the world and so are you. Our sin and rebellion has led to all the problems in the world. As a Christian, I am not the solution. I am still part of the problem (God is changing me, but the work is not yet finished). On the other hand, Jesus is a very real solution. His life, sacrifice, and resurrection ushered in this new age of the Spirit. A solution has been offered.

Any time there is a group of people who realize there is something wrong with the world, especially youth, we should be there to bring Jesus into the conversation. But we won't do much good unless it's Jesus we bring to the table. If we are there to defend tradition or a narrow political or fiscal agenda, then our impact will not go far. The starting place for ills we suffer is not our human institutions. It's Jesus himself.

Too often we fill in the details that Jesus chose to leave vague. He begins with our heart and let's everything flow from there. In that way, Jesus inspires vision or creativity. There are many ideas out there that have merit, but, whether the ideas are conservative or liberal, they haven't worked. They are partial answers, but it is human arrogance to believe that our institutions and theories come close to representing the perfection of the kingdom of God. It would be a tragedy to make people dependent on our wisdom when they need to depend on Christ.

The Occupy Wall Street Movement is not a mainstream youth movement. It's plans, half-formed as they are, don't represent the views of the majority, but they do represent the desire of this generation to improve a broken world. Most of the church ignored or fought the youth movements of the sixties and the seventies, but Jesus didn't. He sent people like Francis A. Schaeffer to meet them in the streets and on college campuses to talk with them. Schaeffer seemed an unlikely candidate for the job. He looked like he had emerged from an exotic corner of Middle Earth and loved words with more than six syllables, and yet, he made an impact and sparked the imagination. People such as Josh McDowell and bands like Petra focused their time and energy on a generation that the church often kept at arms length. Many of these faithful were criticized for their efforts.

Out of that ministry came the Charismatic Revival of the late seventies and early eighties. Many of you reading this are the fruit of the movement. It would be a tragic denial of our spiritual heritage if we repeated the mistakes of a previous generation. If we do, Jesus will still be about his work. He will just rise up a new generation to do that work, and let the rest of us huddle in our poorly lit corner. I pray we do not make that our destiny.

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity."
Colossians 4:2-5

Counting Days and Making Days Count

What difference can a day make? Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Jesus' ministry was that he changed the world in just over a thousand days. His influence over the last two thousand years has been enormous and, yet, his public ministry only lasted three years. Yes, he was the Son of God, and he initiated the coming of the Holy Spirit, but three years?

"Show me, O Lord, my life's end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting is my life."
Psalm 39:4

We often forget how short our lives are and the limited time we have to achieve our goals and make a difference, but I think we also forget what a difference we can make in so short a time. Jesus' touch was an encouragement to the hopeless, an invitation to the aimless, healing to the broken. One moment could spark a change that shaped a lifetime.

There are so many ways we are made to feel helpless. The nightly news brings the whole world's tragedies to your living room every night. So many problems that you can't touch. So many problems that you weren't meant to solve. Too much makes you feel helpless and insignificant. It can make you believe that evil will always triumph. Most tragically, the landslide of problems that God did not intend you to solve can make you blind to the needs around you that you can minister to.

The world is not changed one nation at a time. It's changed one person at a time. Jesus wasted time with children, the poor, the outcast, with tax men, prostitutes, and political zealots because he knew how the world really worked. Love is the greatest power ever known, but only if it is shared with the loveless. An act of love can rock someone's world like the strongest earthquake, destroying the foundations of fear and hatred, but, unlike an earthquake, love leaves potential, promise, and new life.

Love needs to be personal. I fear too many Christians have exchanged the power of the Holy Spirit for the secular power of politics. We have accepted a pessimistic view of powerlessness and have put our faith in political parties and their leaders. We have lost our hope in changed lives and now settle for better management. But Jesus promises so much more. He takes hearts of stone and gives them new life. Change people and the nation will follow, but I see no examples of a nation's spiritual life improving because of it's ruler. God warned Israel that they would be sorely disappointed if they put their hope in a king. God was proven right.

So ask God to help you to understand the days you are given. They are short, but they are significant. Don't complain about the state of things. That is a poor use of the little time you have. If you are a believer, then you are filled with the Spirit of God and this is the age of the Spirit. The God that set the cosmos into motion is within you. I may be poor and helpless, but the Spirit who wants to touch lives is not. My days are short, and so were Jesus' days on this earth. Three short years have changed so many lives. It's not length of the day. It's the significance God brings to the day. But nothing happens if I waste the day, if I don't invest. I am tempted to say there is always tomorrow to make a difference, but why lose out on another day. Lord, please help me to count my days and make my days count.

Spiritual Fast Food

WWJD. A few years ago these letters appeared on bracelets and were repeated at youth conferences. "What would Jesus do?" It's a great question, but it's application was often superficial and lacked content. Without theological instruction (helping students dive head first into Scripture rather than wading in the shallow end) and thoughtful application (prayer, worship, and obedience) all this movement did was drive students toward cultural obedience and make them more sensitive to peer pressure. Sure, that norm and peer pressure came from the Christian community, but without the depth of theology and personal experience with God, that influence is easily usurped by the world. Social conformity and peer pressure are not the same thing as the liberating, life-changing work of the Holy Spirit.

Gordon Fee writes, "Contemporary Christians have a right to be concerned. In an increasingly secular, individualistic, and relativistic world–dubbed "post-Christian" in the 1960s and now called "postmodern"–the church is regularly viewed as irrelevant at best and Neanderthal at worst. Frankly, much of the fault lies within the church, especially those of us in the church who pride ourselves in being orthodox with regard to the historic faith. For all too often our orthodoxy has been either diluted by an unholy alliance with a given political agenda, or diminished by legalistic or relativistic ethics quite unrelated to the character of God, or rendered ineffective by a pervasive rationalism in an increasingly nonrationalistic world." (Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God, by Gordon D. Fee)

We tend to point our fingers at outside forces to explain the current state of things, but Scripture won't let us do that. Yes, the world is screwed up. It has been since the fall, continues on a suicidal course now, and will continue down that road till Jesus returns. That is a Biblical given. But we are to be salt and light. If we are less effective in that role today, then we have to point the finger back toward ourselves and ask, "Why?" Politics, legalistic responses to the soul-crushing immorality around us, and a rationalism divorced from experience have sucked away the vitality of the gospel. We have allowed ourselves to be shaped by the sin of the world. Our reaction to sin has too often been to look at the effectiveness of the world's methods - the fads, hype, and instant gratification - and adopt its superficial methods of coercion. The result has been spiritual fast food.

Where does Fee find a cure? In the Holy Spirit. This might sound like a pat answer, but such a belief reveals a spiritual cynicism and the diminished role we have given God in our understanding of the Christian faith.

Christianity is not primarily concerned with politics, sexual abstinence, logical constructs of reality, what music to listen to, liturgy, or a multitude of other concerns. It is about God. But not any God, a God who has expressed himself as a Trinity, one God in three persons. And the person of that Trinity that we interact with on a daily basis is the Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit that illuminates Scripture, changing our Bible study into a dynamic encounter with God. It is this Spirit that acts as a counselor and a guide. This Spirit that empowers us and transforms our lives. It is this Spirit that made the early church a force for change in a first century world that in many ways reflects the thoughts and the practices of today.

The cure for spiritual fast food is the real food of the Spirit. Instead of the weak sentimentality of our current understanding of a "personal relationship with Christ," we need to help tomorrow's leaders enter into a dynamic relationship with the Holy Spirit. Instead of limiting the Spirit to a still small voice (an image used only once in Scripture), we need to also see him as the hurricane, the fire, and the dynamite of Father God. Our overly rationalistic apologetics will never move anyone without the Scripture's emphasis on the apologetics of the Spirit. Our vague understanding of a relationship with God needs to be replaced with an unapologetic New Testament theology of a dynamic, ongoing, life-giving experience of the Holy Spirit.

I will not argue that politics, morality, and rational thought are not important. Our culture and practices are important to God. But they all flow out of relationship with the Holy Spirit. We don't react to the world. We are led by the Spirit. If our faith does not begin with the Holy Spirit, if it is not sustained by an active pursuit of the Spirit, if we don't strain toward the goals the Holy Spirit lays before us, and if we are not actively transformed and empowered by the Spirit, then it's all just spiritual fast food. By any other name still junk food.

Shades of Gray?

It is often said that healthy morality is never made up of blacks and whites but of shades of gray. Really? Is that our only choice? Gray is still just a mix of black and white. A true choice would be between black and white on the one hand and color on the other. Jesus leads us into a world of color.

Black and white are about safety. On this side of the line your okay. On that side? Not so much. Grays are about insecurity. "I'm not sure I'm safe, right, excusable." Black, white, and gray are about limitation. Color is for dreams. Color moves us beyond ourselves into something healing.

Can you imagine Jesus sitting his disciples down and saying, "That is the way the world should work." Referring to some past decade. "That was the moment in time when everything was going okay. Just keep doing that, maintain this set of rules, don't associate with anyone who disagrees, and everything will be okay."?

If you can, then Jesus has become a black and white cartoon character for you, and one that doesn't represent the Jesus of the New Testament.

Jesus came to bring change. Since humanity's rebellion against God, there hasn't been a single moment that Jesus could point to and say, "This is how life was meant to be." Since the moment of the Fall, God has been pointing forward to something new, to our healing, to a time when we would live together as we were meant to, a time when the broken hearted would be mended, the handicapped would be healed, and the ignorant would understand. A day when God's benevolence would be fully experienced, when the kingdom of God would be revealed.

The morality of black, white, and shades of gray is about protecting the past. It is often motivated by a fear of change and the unknown. The morality of color is about birthing something new. It is impatient with the present. Not in a harsh and judgmental way. The impatience is born out of a glimpse of the future that Jesus provides. It sees the broken, deceived, disillusioned people of the world and is excited about the changes that God's grace can bring.

"But we need to be realistic." Those words have brought down so many dreams. But what is more realistic, believing that we need to accept the world at face value, or believing that the God of the universe, who brought Jesus back from the dead, will finish the work by miraculously changing lives through the power of his Holy Spirit? If you have never tasted that Spirit, then it seems impossible, but if you have met this Jesus, how could you settle for anything less than his vision for the future?

Following Jesus is not about being safe. Yes, there really is right and wrong. We are called to follow Jesus and obey, but to what end? To prove that we were good enough? If that was the case, then Jesus wouldn't have had to die on the cross. To prove we are better than everyone else? That would just be a return to crushing pride. We obey out of love for Jesus, out of love for his vision, and for the sake of all those people he loves. That is a colorful morality. That is a dream worth giving our lives to.

Black and white people become bitter over a lifetime. The rules are not enough. The world never seems to get better (Jesus warned us it wouldn't till he returns, but we forget). People who follow Jesus' vision aren't surprised that the big picture still needs a complete overhaul, but they are encouraged because they aren't just looking at the big picture. They were looking at the individual's that Jesus loves and gave his life for. On that scale, lives are being transformed and healed every day. There is real, tangible progress.

The cynical is caught in the black and white. If it isn't all better, than it's all bad. Life doesn't work like that. Our lives and attitudes either draw color away from the world, or we become windows through which God's grace can flow. It isn't a matter of whether or not you are moral. Everyone is to some extent even if that morality is confused. What matters is whether your morality invests in the false security of rules and barriers, or whether it is shaped by the life-giving purposes of God. It isn't safe. It got Jesus crucified. But it is able to feed and enrich your life like nothing else can.

Don't tell me about the rules. Tell me about the vision. It's easier to let God shape me to the vision than it is to find any good coming from hiding in the corner and trying to stay safe. The vision is a lot more inspiring. Go with the color.

Turn and Face the Strange

Change is a constant and still we act surprised. Civilization has marched forward, sideways, and backwards, but it never stops. It keeps marching. And still we act as though we are shocked by change. Do we think Jesus didn't anticipate the twenty-first century? Do we really believe Christianity has to be completely redefined because there is opposition from a unredeemed world? Or are we tired?

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Gal 6:9) Compassion fatigue is nothing new. We are a culture that wants to see quick results. We are impatient and lose interest when the fruits of our labor are not quickly experienced, but we are warned against this impatience. God warns us that the harvest will come, but the kingdom of God is not like a vending machine. The danger is that we would lose faith in God's way of doing things and begin to conform to the wisdom of our age in order to see quicker results. We see this occurring quickly in the early church as some tried to reshape the gospel to make it more palatable.

But that doesn't mean that we can ignore the times either. We are trying to reach real people in a real culture at a particular moment in time. Paul "became all things to all people." He matched the people around him as much as possible so his communication would be effective. There were limits. First, he learned the truth and chose truth over error. He knew his purpose was to become like those around him so he could bring the truth of God to them. His goal was to transform the world through the power of the spirit.

The second limit was sin. He did not want to lose what Christ had won for him. By sin, I mean active sin. There is nothing righteous about avoiding people who sin. In fact, that would be sin itself. We are following Jesus who came for the sick, not the healthy. There are many ways I can interact with my neighbors without actively sinning. And if that means I hear some swearing or have to inhale some cigarette smoke, then so be it. I can endure small discomforts for the sake of the gospel. Either that, or I will have to go cower with the self-righteous.

Change will continue to occur and I can work to keep up or I can disconnect and let the march go on while I ineffectively watch from the sidelines. I choose to keep up, but I refuse to become trendy. What's the difference? Where I engage. If I want to know my neighbors, then I need to spend time with them and become involved in the community they live in. No one should need to tell me about the changes going on around me. I should be experiencing them firsthand.

I become trendy when I get my news from the trend makers. Entertainment shows and gossip sheets thrive by creating a fictional "hip" for the uninformed. These are created by marketers trying to sell you the next big thing, and their products are mostly bought by shut-ins who don't yet have a life of their own.

I become trendy when I use Christian books and media as my primary way to get to know my neighbors. Don't get me wrong. I believe Christian literature is an important part of growth, but it is never a substitute for personal experience. By the time a book on contemporary culture is researched, printed, and marketed, it is often more than ten years out of date. The only way you know your neighbors is by spending time with them. There are a large number of outrageous Christian books and hastily produced Christian TV and radio that create fear and distort reality. Their end result is to produce fear and drive a wedge between us and those who need the truth of the gospel. I am careful of what I consume.

By the way, if you didn't get the reference in the title, David Bowie's Changes, then you have a little catching up to do (about four decades). Jesus didn't give us a large set of rituals, patterns for church services, or a detailed formula for sharing our faith. He gave us an active relationship with himself and universal guidance about the life he called us to. He isn't surprised by changes. The entire gospel does not need to be rethought because it's the twenty-first century, but our interaction with the world, our relationship with our neighbor, and our service and communication need to be.

Most of all, a lack of change makes us feel comfortable as we stay to the safety of our old ruts in the road. When we leave the ruts, we are in unfamiliar country. We need to depend on Jesus more. We need to follow the comfort of his voice rather than the comfort of tradition. We grip his hand a bit tighter when we turn and face the strange... changes.

Will You Let God Be The Hero?

Almost every day I pass one particular statue. It's a series of sweeping black, iron arcs that push up into the sky. Stylized black birds race up the arcs representing the pigeons that took flight, startled by the gunshot that killed Martin Luther King, Jr. Today is the anniversary of the day he was killed for representing the gospel.

King was educated at, among other places, at Boston University. I work with students there today. The crowds pass between classes as they did in King's day. They are talented, learning, and eager, but what will set them apart? In King's case, it was because he was willing to answer the call of God to do something he didn't feel particularly suited for. That made all the difference.

There is one theme that is repeated throughout every story in Scripture. God is always the hero. I often hear David and Abraham and others held up as role models. While I want to learn from their stories, I don't want to be like them. David may have been a man after God's heart, but his life is filled with mistakes that cost him, his family, and those around him dearly. It wasn't David who was the hero. It was the God of love, mercy, and justice who is able to transform and redeem a life who was the hero. The God who can work through fallen humanity to bring beauty and grace.

King wasn't perfect. None of us are. We can't use our imperfections or those of others as an excuse for our inaction. It seems like grumbling, complaining, and mocking have become a national pastime. The mockery of the likes of Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh squeeze out the hope of the gospel, turning people bitter, angry, and dismissive of God's higher call.

None of us are perfect, but that has been the case since the fall. We aren't perfect, but the One who calls us to follow him, to become his hands, feet, and voice in the world is. The One who is the hero of every Bible story challenges us to reach out and let him again be the hero through us.

All of us are called to make a difference. The gospel is about loving others in the power of Christ.

As I travel the country, I see God at work as someone volunteers to assist a family with an autistic child, as people help feed the homeless, as businessmen are thoughtful about the growth of their community, as teachers spend extra time with students in need, as churches make sure that high school language classes don't close because they lack funds, as people care for the developmentally disabled... I think you get the picture.

We talk a lot today about the dangers of entitlement. As believers, we need to make sure we don't believe we are entitled to a blessed life. A blessed life is the result of following God's call to establish his kingdom through sacrificial love.

We won't all make the headlines for our obedience. There is plenty of evidence that King would have loved to have lived a lower profile life. The publicity cost him his life. Most of God's work goes unnoticed by the crowd, but we should never underestimate the difference it makes.

So let's celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death by putting an end to grumbling and complaining and by allowing God to prove himself the hero through us.

Tugboats, Persuasion, and Head-On Collisions

I have always lived in port towns. The Bay of Alaska could be seen from the hospital room where I was born. My dad was a longshoreman, so when we moved down to the lower 48, we settled next to the largest port on the Columbia river. So I spent time around boats, and I was fascinated by tug boats. I have learned that tug boats can teach us a lot about communicating our faith.

As I write this, I am visiting Vancouver, B.C. If you travel up the mountains that tower over the city, you can look out over the whole Straight of Georgia. There you will see a string of big cargo ships making their way to Vancouver. They come in with such inertia that they can often cut their engines at the beginning of the straight and come in under very little power.

The little tugs that meet them are almost all engine, but in many ways they are not a match for these big ships. If they confronted them head on, you would soon see them bobbing up in the big ship's wake. But that's not what they do. They come along side. From that position they will have some influence on a big ship's course no matter what the ship does.

This is how a good argument is formed. You start by coming along side. You start, not with disagreement, but with agreement; not with the phrase, "Your wrong because..." but with, "I agree with you there."

Any good persuasive argument begins by finding shared understanding and truth. There has to be a place of agreement to build from. We see this in Acts 17 as Paul speaks to a crowd that should be unsympathetic. Paul finds that he shares common ground in religious concern. This concern has had a different outcome in Paul than in his audience, but it is a starting point they have in common. Paul will teach his audience a different conclusion from this shared concern. Paul then finds teaching from the two contending group of Athenians that he can endorse. He comes alongside. He finds shared truth. Then he builds on it to correct their mistakes about God and the gods.

Too much apologetics and evangelism doesn't follow the model we are given in Scripture. If we want to impress other Christians with our radical stances, then we begin aggressively, proving from the start how different (and judgmental we are). Rush Limbaugh and Bill Maher are not good role models for persuasion. They speak to keep their ratings up with people who already share their personal prejudices, but they seldom win new converts.

I am forever grateful to my middle school teacher who taught me how to write good persuasive essays. He taught me that the thesis statement should alway include the oppositions best, valid point and then build on it to show a better next step.

In today's polarized culture we are seeing few minds changed as people are increasingly preaching to the convinced for approval. Too many arguments begin with the points of deepest conflict, and too many arguments fail. Good arguments begin with shared truth and build from there. If you haven't found that point of shared truth yet, then dig deeper, because you are not going to change anyone's mind until you can first say, "I agree with you there!" From there you can say, "That's why I believe..." and you are much more likely to be listened to. You don't want to start with a head-but. Instead, come along side.

Field Testing Truth

“It is a mistake to imagine that people are hardened against the gospel. They are simply bored by the way it is so often presented—too rigid, too rationalistic, too uncomprehending of other world views, too small minded.” This is a reflection from the teacher, pastor, professor, and evangelist Michael Green.

I find that a great deal of evangelism and apologetics miss the mark because it is created within the walls of the Christian sub culture. It's created for the wrong audience.

We rightfully admire the apologetics of the Apostle Paul, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, and Peter Kreeft, but we sometimes ignore their secret of success. They did all their apologetics before an unbelieving audience. Paul spoke in public places where there were few believers in the audience. G.K. Chesterton wrote in newspapers and debated creatively in public venues. C.S. Lewis spoke on British radio, wrote in papers, taught in secular university, and lectured in public. His nonfiction books are powerful because the ideas within their pages were formed while doing the up close and personal work of an apologist. Peter Kreeft's effective apologetics was developed in the classroom and during evangelistic presentations on campus.

Did they speak in churches? Yes, but only after they had hit the streets and had something to bring back.

Good apologetics begins with good theology. Theology is an in house activity. But apologetics is very different. Apologetics is a creative work that is informed by face to face encounters with those far from Jesus. Good apologetics is not only field tested, but it is developed on the field.

Francis Schaeffer once noted that Christian writing is fifteen to twenty years behind the times. Once the active discussion is filtered through all the cultural barriers that the church has erected between itself and the world, the church begins answering questions that no one is asking anymore - at least not in the way they are asking them.

I have been a campus evangelist and missionary for almost 30 years now. My theology was developed (and still is) among believers, but my apologetics and evangelism has been developed in campus squares, during one to one evangelism encounters, and during question and answer periods with preChristians during evangelist presentations. These opportunities have allowed me to see the puzzled looks when my answers don't make sense. I get interrupted when I haven't really understood someone's concern or question. I get to see the confusion when I begin to rely on jargon that is not commonly used by anyone but seminary grads.

Some of the biggest benefits from field experience is that I get nailed if I try to use circular arguments. I get stopped if I try to argue for authority rather than lay out a well order argument or explanation. I learn that I can not appeal to common sense because the common sense of the world is in opposition to God's wisdom. I also learn the real questions people are asking rather than just those I wish they'd ask.

A developing apologist and/or evangelist needs a great deal of face time with the people they are trying to reach. Without that, we begin to rely on clichés, pat answers from the past, and what we are told the world believes. But most of all apologetic and evangelism needs the creativity that results from personal encounters, the lessons in the heart issues that complicate and guides lives, and the firsthand experience of the dance that is humanity.

It is great that we can quote people like C.S. Lewis, but it's getting a bit old. He was speaking to a British audience in the World War II era. He clothed the eternal truth of God in the clothes of his time so people could successfully encounter it. We need to follow that example and translate that truth for our day. We need to learn our apologetics in coffee shops, on campuses, and wherever people gather. We need to field test our presentation of the truth.

Easter & the Power for Change

Easter may represent a truly anti-American moment. At best it's counterculture to many of our dearest-held American values. The same can be said to one degree or another about any other culture as well, but we must deal with ours. The wisdom of this world fights to obscure, hide, and twist the truth of God. Spotting this becomes more difficult when a people begins to believe that their nation, their culture, is somehow immune to the effects of sin.

One of our strongly held American archetypes is the rugged individual who overcomes his (and sometimes) her enemies by destroying his opposers by an act of force or popular support. The honorable gunslinger that proves God is on his side by giving him victory through battle in a gunfight. The bad gunslinger is slain and God's justice has prevailed. The gunslinger has now been replaced by the beefy, sweaty, bare chested warrior with belts of ammunition slung across his shoulders mowing down his enemy with fire spitting machine guns.

We have a deeply held cultural belief that might makes right, but that is a sharp contrast to the message of Easter. During our never ending election cycle there has been a growing belief that we can solve our problems through political power and force. Over the last few decades more and more Christians have entered into the culture wars, an attempt to use peer pressure and public power to get people to talk and act the way we want them to. The underlying theme is that our enemies need to be put down, humiliated, and destroyed.

And then there's Jesus and Easter. There were no armies of angels or vengeful lightning bolts at the last moment. The crowds didn't suddenly come to their senses, overwhelm the Roman guards, and rescue Jesus from the cross. Pontus Pilate, Caiaphas, and Herod were able to walk away feeling satisfied that they had done right. Jesus was not the heroic gunslinger, and yet...

And yet, Jesus won. He brought lasting change. He changed the world. Why? Because he didn't come to defeat people. He came to save them. He didn't desire to humiliate anyone but to love them. Did he call out people? You bet, but not that often and very carefully. Instead of focusing on those few moments (but don't ignore them either), we should focus on how he treated people most of the time.

"The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Mat 23:11, 12) He taught us, "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." (Luke 6:27-28) He even instructed his people to go the extra mile and carry an invading army's packs farther than required. (Mat 5:41) That doesn't sound like a gunslinger, Rambo, the latest Bruce Willis incarnation, or Bruce Lee. But Jesus' goal wasn't to prove himself. He was confident in his own identity and of the truth. It was to bless others with truth and deliverance.

Paul learned from Jesus firsthand, "...our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph 6:12) There is a set of tools for the fight against spiritual enemies and another to use in the battle for those caught in sin. The gunfighter only wins for the moment. There is always another bad guy waiting in the wings. But Jesus changed hearts. Changed hearts lead to changed communities which lead to changed nations which results in a changed world. We are to fight for those trapped in sin rather than against them.

Jesus tells us we have it all wrong. We don't prove ourselves on the bodies of our enemies. Love, service, and sacrifice lead to meaningful change. Those are the tools that God's Spirit blesses and empowers. When Jesus asks us to pick up our cross and follow, he asks the gunslinger, the destroyer of men, to follow the example he gave through the cross (Mat 16:24) and become the servant of all. For that is the path Jesus blesses with greatness.

The Difference One Can Make

What difference can one person make? The world is large and filled with problems, evil, and naysayers. Perhaps cynicism is the largest obstacle. There are a lot of people out there ready to tell you why your dream won't succeed, but history tells us that one person can make a difference.

In 1988 an Eskimo hunter discovered three whales trapped in the Arctic ice. Not an unusual experience, but this time it came to the attention of a few people who, against all odds, acted. What resulted was a multinational rescue effort that captured the attention of a nation. You may or may not agree with the use of resources for such an endeavor, but that isn't the point. All this happened because a few individuals, not nations or corporations, took a risk and tried to make a difference.

William Booth had been ministering as an evangelist for years, but in 1865 he found his calling as he was ministering in the East End of London. He believed that he could make a difference in the life of the poor there by preaching the gospel while living it out among the people there. He didn't have much more than his family behind him. He was often egged and had bottles and rocks thrown at him while he preached. When East Enders came to Christ "respectable" churches wouldn't let them join their congregations. With that kind of cynical opposition, what hope was there that Booth would make a difference? Today, millions of lives have been changed by The Salvation Army that he founded.

Blake Mycoskie was a tourist visiting Argentina when two things happened. First, he noticed that many children didn't have shoes and this was leading to preventable diseases. Second, he noticed and fell in love with a local Argentine shoe. It seemed like a crazy dream for one person to pull off, but he collected a small group of friends and started Tom Shoes in his apartment living room. He started a new line of shoes. For every one shoe sold, another shoe went to the poor, starting with the children who had inspired him in Argentina. Tom Shoes, both the shoes and the mission, is a growing concern today.

Derreck Kayongo, an Ugandan immigrant to the U.S. discovered that hotels threw away tons of barely used soap each year. At the same time, poor Ugandans were dying of diseases some of which could be prevented by nothing more than the availability of soap. He talked a hotel into collecting the soap they were going to throw away. He used his family's meager resources and bought a machine that forms bars of soap. He sterilizes the soap, melted it down, reformed the bars, and then began sending it back to Uganda. Now scores of hotels are working with CARE international and soap is being recycled here and in Uganda, to be distributed to those in need.

These are not flukes. One person can make a difference. If someone steps out, others will catch the vision and follow. Not all at once. Sometimes not right away. The vision doesn't have to be international. A need in your neighborhood, town, or city. One person, Grace Reynolds, saw the unmet needs of the developmentally disabled and the deaf in Longview Washington. Among other things, she began a YMCA summer camp program for this population. Her work changed my life when I entered the program as a volunteer.

My life has been filled with people who have decided to turn their backs on cynicism and make a difference. Bible study leaders, youth workers, innovators, and dreamers.

Jesus found twelve people who were willing to try and make a difference. He didn't start with the rich and the powerful. I think he could have but perhaps he was trying to make a point. Ordinary people can become extraordinary, if we are willing.

The cynical are of little use until they repent, but God can do amazing things with the dreams and the lovers. They are willing to risk for love. They are the people of faith.

A Christian Saint Patrick's Day Celebration

How do we celebrate Christian festivals such as Saint Patrick's Day? Green beer and drunkenness seems to miss the mark. Shamrocks, green clothing (and food), and a thick Irish brogue are harmless fun, but they don't represent the heart and substance of what God did through Patrick. Here's a few suggestions for a Christian Saint Patrick's Day celebration.

First, celebrate together. The Christian feasts were meant to bring Christians together for communal celebration. Today, we have privatized so many of these community events. Easter, Christmas, and yes, Saint Patrick's day were originally meant to be shared experience. Over time we have transformed these festivals into private, family gatherings. Family originally found its meaning in community, but in our increasingly privatized world that has been turned around. We often speak today about family being the basic building block of society, but Scripture teaches that the community of God is that basic building block. You don't necessarily need the whole community to celebrate a feast day, but ideally you want to share the celebration with a group.

Community is a central element when celebrating the work God did through Patrick. One of his central beliefs was that the community of God needed to live out its life in public. There should be no wall - culturally, socially, or physically - between God's people and the world. While Christians could not engage in the sins of the culture, they needed to stay as close to the world as possible in order to reach those far from God.

This leads to the second and overriding theme of the holiday, mission. Saint Patrick's Day is all about evangelism. This is a holiday based on a missionary after all. Patrick created outreach communities where every member saw themselves as witnesses to the gospel. This is an important Biblical concept. Evangelists evangelize, but Scripture tells us that it is their job to teach every Christian how to share their faith (Eph 4:11). This implies (strongly) that every believer shares the responsibility to love those far from Christ by sharing the good news of Jesus.

This is also a holiday that should focus on Scripture we often ignore. Scripture does not just command us to share our faith, but to actively change our lives to reflect our mission.

"Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." (1 Cor 9:19-23)

I know I am repeating myself here, but this Scripture is at the heart of this celebration, and this is one of those passages that is often thought to be too dangerous and challenging to teach on. The result is often a water downed, judgmental, self-protective Christian life that is labeled as somehow being radically holy while disobeying God. Saint Patrick was an Englishman who became Irish to reach the Irish, and God was pleased. His feast day should remind us of what is important to God rather than what is convenient to us. Jesus is the inconvenient truth who brings inconvenient change that results in a glorious life.

Have a great Saint Patrick's Day.

Preparing for Saint Patrick's Day

Christians should party a lot more. Feast days and celebration were established by God in the Old Testament as monuments and reminders of God's provision and character. God is the central focus of each one, surprising us time and again with the way his touch transforms the potential of a human life. We celebrate those moments throughout human history as a reminder that faith is not blind. It is built on the testimony of history and gives us a real, living hope for today. That is certainly the case with Saint Patrick.

The story of Saint Patrick is not about snakes and shamrocks. Those were all added centuries later. Instead, his life is a reminder that God's wisdom is more powerful than our own. That God's strategies are better than our own. It is the story of God touching a sinful youth and proving that the outreach strategy expressed by the Apostle Paul is more effective, dynamic, and exciting than any we would seek to replace it with. It is also more costly, but the return for that cost is a fierce and powerful love.

Patrick was an Englishman whose life spanned the fourth and fifth century. By his own admission he was a godless youth whose life originally disqualified him for missionary service. At age sixteen he was captured by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. An older slave shared the gospel with him, and Patrick gave his life to God.

We talk so loosely about giving our lives to God. Most often we really mean that we want God to bless our lives while we continue to pursue our desires and dreams. Patrick was a slave. His dreams were gone. He had a meager life to give God, but God had a bigger life, His life, to give Patrick. The first lesson of Christ. He isn't interested in fair exchanges. Our life is precious to us, but it doesn't compare with what God has in store for us.

Patrick tells us that God sent an angel to him that lead him out of captivity. Once he found freedom, he decided to give himself to the priesthood. Once again the angel came to him and pointed him back to Ireland, to serve those who had enslaved him. We don't know what went through Patrick's mind when the call came, but he had given his
life to God, and he allowed God to direct him.

Patrick wasn't the first missionary to Ireland, but he was the first effective one. Former missionaries had brought their culture with them. They believed that people had to be civilized, be Romanized, in order to be saved. Patrick believed he had to become Irish to reach the Irish. Irish art and customs were incorporated into Christian life whenever possible. He followed the example of Jesus and Paul by living close to the people rather than separating himself the way other missionaries had. Perhaps his most effective strategy was that he allowed people to belong to his community before they believed. Former missionaries had built numerous walls that had to be scaled before they were included in any meaningful way.

In this, Patrick was following the model of Scripture. Jesus' prayer for us was, "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world." (John 17:15-18)

Paul tells us, "Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Patrick took these teachings and more to heart, and God transformed a nation. I see many today who try to change the world using other strategies. Politics, marketing, power, and a holy separation that has little to do with God's call on our lives. These strategies are just as ineffective as those of the missionaries who proceeded Patrick. Our feast days and celebrations should be times of remembrance of the wisdom of God and his acts that defy human wisdom but bear such glorious fruit.

This year don't just settle for last minute plans on how to turn your food green (although that's really cool). Take some time to prepare. Learn a bit about Patrick and the Scripture that shaped his life. The God that transformed his life is still waiting to touch each of us.

(A great place to start your exploration is the short but important book, The Celtic Way of Evangelism, by George G. Hunter III)

The LEGOs of God

(no LEGOs were damaged in the writing of this blog)

One of the great blessings of kids is that a self-respecting adult gets to continue to play with LEGOs without attracting unwanted attention. But just in case anyone would be so foolish as to question my obsession with the brightly colored blocks, I have discovered that the fundamental principles of good LEGO construction have a great deal in common with the three anchors of faith. These three anchors are the necessary minimum for a growing, healthy life in Christ.

Anchor 1: Devotional Life

For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."
-1 Peter 2:6

Every good LEGO building begins with that first brick. It is the reference point for the foundation. You count the bricks from that point, making sure you plan the corners just right so the overlapping bricks will give the foundation strength. Each door and window must be taken into account so the structure will not crumble in your hands.

Jesus is that reference point for our lives. Not merely Jesus' teachings, his view of life,or his philosophy, but Jesus himself. Study, obedience, discipline, and service are all important, but they flow out of relationship. Jesus gave us his Spirit as a personal companion. Through the Spirit, the Triune God actively interacts with us, but we need to make room for conscious interaction if we want to experience all that Jesus died to win for us. Only in this way does Jesus become the cornerstone of our lives.

Anchor 2: Community

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: [10] If they fall down, they can help each other up. But pity those who fall and have no one to help them up! [11] Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? [12] Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
-Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

A pile of LEGOs is easily scattered, but when you interlock them, pressing them together so that each block on a line spans the break in the blocks below, they become strong. A foundation of LEGOs can take quite a bit of pressure and punishment when they are properly interlocked.

The same is true of the community of God. Together, we strengthen, encourage, embolden, and whole. We are not called to be single candles shining in the dark, but cities of light. Community needs to be realized through committed, sacrificial love rather than merely a few chance meetings and occasional fellowship gatherings.

Anchor 3: Responsibility

A pile of LEGOs has great potential, but they are not meant to remain a pile forever. They are meant to be built into something. Leave the pile long enough and it becomes waste and missed opportunities.

We are the priesthood of believers, a people empowered by the Holy Spirit and called to lay down our lives for Christ and the people he loves and is reaching out to. At some point, we need to reach out and take our part. Responsibility means that we accept our role as Spirit-empowered servants. We will never personally experience the full power of God's love and grace until we allow that love and grace to flow through us as we minister to someone else. Obedience to Jesus' call is not just an act of self-control and belief. It is also a life of self-giving and hope offered.

There is more that can be said about these anchors, more that can be defined and developed in our life of faith, and more that can be known about God's work of establishing his kingdom, but these three anchors are an essential minimum once we have given our lives to Christ. Our churches, youth gatherings, and Christian fellowships of all types need to emphasis these as our central anchors. If these are all a Christian concentrates on (and there is more that God offers), then they will remain healthy.

(I am indebted to Mary Gautreaux and Pete Bullette for their thoughts on the three anchors)

Spirituality or Church?

The U.S. has been long known as very spiritual and ethical nation. Some would contest this fact, but in the end, their point isn't whether people are spiritual and ethical (at least in belief if not in practice), but their complaint is in the nature of their neighbors spirituality and ethics. It's important that we recognize the difference. Spirituality is on the rise, but church attendance is in decline. Why is that? I think there are two reasons: the rise of spiritual humanism and the need for personal encounters with God.

First, spiritual humanism. Atheism is not a major factor on the national scene. It has flatlined at about 4% of the population for a couple of decades now. On the other hand, spiritual humanism has been on the rise. This is the belief that life has a spiritual element, but we are in control of the content of that spirituality. We discover, define, and shape what is spiritual for us.

We are born into a world where we had no say in its composition. We didn't get input on the laws of gravity, the color of the sky, or the age of the earth (young earth distortions aside). We had to adjust to reality. Spiritual humanism sees spiritual life as less "real" than the rest of creation. If God is included at all, then God is seen as our servant, fulfilling our wants rather than guiding us into wisdom and love that moves us beyond ourselves. In essence, we see ourselves as our own gods and spirituality is a resource we can exploit.

Spiritual humanistic beliefs look a lot like debry picked up by a tumbleweed, bits and pieces of ideas picked up here and there but seldom thought through. In the end, it is the blind leading the blind, hoping to find some wisdom within, that will solve the problems of life. If the solution was within us already, I suspect the world would be a much happier place. Jesus' contention is that the solution must be found outside us, coming from the very real and self-defined person of God as Father, Son, and Spirit.

There is a second connection between the rise of spirituality and loss of church attendance. Spiritual implies a personal encounter with the spiritual. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the Jewish temple that separated people from the presence of God was torn. Now ordinary people had personal access to God through Jesus. Many people today believe that Christian churches have rehung the curtain.

Over the last decade, lower church attendance has lead many churches to employ the tools of marketing. This has often placed the emphasis on tighter, more controlled church services, multimedia, and the size of their parking lot. These are all important, but not if there is no longer any space for authentic, personal experience with God. As I travel, I experience fewer churches where unscripted times of prayer are a part of services. Most worship has become a string of upbeat choruses with little pastoral leadership or variation to make worship an authentic encounter with God. Everything is focused toward the front of the church. We may have become too polished for our own good.

I believe that good teaching, knowledge of Scripture, planning and shared community time is essential. We do these things so we don't just waste people's time, but they mean nothing if they don't begin, point to, and end with personal encounters with God.

I left the church in high school because it seemed centered on nothing more than rules, philosophy, and self-help. I see a rise in that today, even among Pentecostals. I returned to church after I met a group of Christians who believed that they could intimately encounter Jesus and gave time for that experience in everything they did. Then there was a reason to gather.

For many today, they just want to protect the next generation, their youth, their sons and daughters, from the world. That's not enough. What's the use of protection from the world if they haven't encountered Jesus? Church should never be too safe or controlled. Don't make people choose between true spirituality and the church.

Follow Your Heart?

Much is written today about Atheism. More than is needed in fact. How can I say that? Isn't the goal of apologetics to explain and defend the faith to those far from God? Yes, it is, but our apologetics and outreach should focus on the real people around us and not a fictional audience. Atheists only make up between four to six percent of the U. S. population. Some of them may keep a high profile, but they haven't been all that effective. Their numbers have not significantly grown in recent history. We should not ignore them altogether, but we should be giving more time to the major enemies of faith at work around us.

Chief among these is Romanticism. Romanticism is a philosophical and artistic reaction to Enlightenment with its narrow focus and trust of reason. In response, the Romantics triumphed the power of the emotions and insight. They believed that society and reason often undercut and twisted us, but if we listened to our heart we could live authentically. While most Americans know little or nothing about formal Romantic philosophy, it has invaded every part of our culture and become dominant in our thoughts.

Some examples would be useful. When someone says, "I am closest to God when I am out in nature," they are repeating a Romantic idea. The emotion of awe and pleasure that some people experience is interpreted as a religious experience even though there is no real belief or a personal focus of worship. The emotional experience itself is seen as a religious experience. When someone expresses their opinion about a factual topic by beginning the statement with "I feel" rather than "I think," it is an unconscious appeal to Romantic ideals. "If it feels good, do it," "always go with your heart," and "finding yourself" are all Romantic ideas.

So what's the problem? Jeremiah 17:9 highlights the problem:

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

While Romantic philosophers balanced Enlightenment thought somewhat, they are at odds with reality. They believed in a basic goodness in humanity that would allow us to trust our hearts, our emotions, in all things. That is at odds with all we learn from God about ourselves, and it be honest, it's at odds with what we see around us. We don't have to look far to see the train wrecks that have been caused by blindly following our heart.

Far more people are led astray by Romanticism than by Atheism. More important, though, is the degree that Romanticism has replace Biblical theology within the church. Emotions are often confused with the voice of the Holy Spirit. If I have an emotional peace about something, then it must be okay. That kind of peace most often results in mediocracy or disobedience. Statements such as, "I don't care what the Bible says, I have a peace about my decision," reflect that confusion.

But didn't Jesus take care of all that once I became a Christian? Actually, no. We are told that we find salvation and forgiveness when we come to Christ, but that is a beginning point of God's work of transformation. Our healing will not be complete until our resurrection in the age to come. Now, we are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as we put off the old self and put on a new self (Col. 3:1-17). My heart still needs watching. I don't feel a emotional peace about the risks that God legitimately calls me to, and it's hard to "find myself" when I'm still being formed.

I don't despise emotion, and I don't try to pretend that God didn't make me an emotional being. It does mean that I look to Scripture and the Holy Spirit to build in me the character that I was not born with. In addition, I recognize that I am an active agent in building my character. God does not do it for me, but through Christ my deceitful heart has a cure that was impossible without him.