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"Time is the only critic without personal ambition."
- John Steinbeck Time is relentless. It is precise and meticulous. It is objectively unemotional. Time can be haunting. Like when you notice the pencil-thin wrinkles around your eyes. Or when you look back recognize time wasted foolishly, and it cannot be taken back. Yet regardless of how you feel, time proceeds with monotonous precision. We mark it in seconds and hours, days, months, and years. We long for the day when time will be redeemed. When it will no longer haunt, but bless. When its relentless precision will be celebrated and not feared. There will be joy because each second will reveal great mysteries, the mysteries of time's great Keeper. As a father, there is little else that can warm your affections like your child calling, "Daddy!" It's interesting that the shortest prayer in Scripture is "Abba, Father." (Rom. 8:15; Galatians 4:6). And when asked how to pray, Jesus began, "Our Father . . ."
I've been in a recent season of dryness in terms of my prayer life. I'm just finding it hard to focus. I have found myself returning to the simplest, most childlike prayer in the book, "Abba, Father, Amen." When I don't know what to say or how to say it, I simply call in his direction and shout his name. In teaching youth about sin, I solicit examples. There are typically two answers. First, they respond with the most surface and trivial behaviors. “Not cleaning your room.” “Telling a lie.” “Using a curse word.” Or they respond with the most seriously egregious sins. “Murder.” “Doing drugs.” “Robbing a bank.” I’m realizing that people do this in general – categorize sin as either trivial or egregious. And in doing so, they largely avoid seeing themselves as “sinful.”
In a New York Times editorial titled “The Moral Diet,” David Brooks comments on a new book by Dan Ariely. As a sociologist, Ariely has noted that nearly everybody cheats, but only a little. Brooks says, “That’s because most of us think we are pretty wonderful. We can cheat a little and still keep that ‘good person’ identity.” We have a tendency to rationalize our sin. “It’s not that bad. It was just a little white lie.” By self-justifying our moral failures, we diminish their seriousness. The term “sinner” is reserved for those who do the seriously egregious things like murder and rob. It should only be used with ruthless dictators, terrorists, politicians, and CEO’s of big banks. Brooks says, “People are more likely to believe in their essential goodness.” In other words, “I may not be perfect, but I’m good person.” Or, “I make mistakes, but at least I’m not like him.” It’s interesting that Jesus always made sin “worse.” By expanding the definition of what a sin was, he made it harder, or rather impossible, to be “essentially good.” He made more people adulterers when he declared adultery to be more than just a behavior. Adultery is not just the act but an intention in the “heart (Matt. 5:28). All of a sudden, we’re worse that we thought. “Whoa. Maybe I have committed adultery.” An underestimation of sin is more than a morality issue. A deeper consequence is the formation of an inauthentic person. We are a people diseased, yet in denial about the diagnosis. Stealing a Coke from the staff break room is trivial. But thinking that “I’m a good person” who steals Coke from the staff break room – that’s inauthentic self-deception. It wasn’t “eating fruit” that got Adam and Eve in trouble. It was disobedience to the command of God . . . and then denying it. One of the great freedoms of being a Christian is the ability to tell the truth. I can be completely honest about myself, free from the necessity of rationalizing my “good person” façade. I am able to tell the truth, even about things I don’t want to admit - the deepest, darkest secrets. Yet at the same time, the truth about God is that he takes me even when he knows the truth about me. This allows me to be authentic. As I work within a culture suffering from the “good person epidemic,” I often wonder about the relevance of Jesus. As one who knows his sin is great, I know my Savior is greater. How great is a Savior when there is only trivial sin? What do we do in a society drenched in self-justifying denial? What do I do when someone steals my Coke from the fridge in the staff break room? I am the "Pastor of the Week" at Camp Wartburg in Waterloo, IL for the next few days. Here's something I prepared for the camp staff called "The Top Five for Camp Counselors." There may be some intersection in the lives of those who aren't camp counselors. Act as if there is a camper who doesn’t have faith in Jesus. God will send kids without faith to camp this summer. Their introduction to Christ might come through you. Pray for that. Look and listen for that camper. Love them. And be prepared to share the gospel with them. Luke 19:10 God uses your work for life-long impact. God uses relationships to grow and shape his children. You will have someone come up to you years from now screaming your camp name. And you won’t have any idea who they are. But they will tell you that they remember when you were their counselor. They will remember what you said and what you did. You’re always “on” at camp, and campers are always watching. So what do you want them to remember about you? II Timothy 1:5-7 Camp is not about you. Camp is a unique place where you can be wild, crazy, and fun. In this, there is a temptation to make it about yourself. It’s easy to make camp about getting attention or flirting (I did meet my wife at a camp.). Of course you’re super cool to a fourth grader. It doesn’t mean you’re actually cool. Be humble, and seek to serve. You may have come here for selfish reasons, but now that you’re here, you must learn the selfless reasons. Matthew 22:26-28 Just as you care for the kids, care for each other. Remember that you are all on the same team. The mission is to live the gospel among these campers and impact their faith for life. You do this together. You will each have up days and down days, so carry each other when someone is having an “off” day. Be patient when someone is crabby or annoying. Confront out of love when someone is out of line. I Cor. 12:12-13 You will stumble, so Jesus will have to pick you up. It’s a perfect storm. High energy, demanding work. Lots of crazy kids. Close quarters with the same people for a summer (It’s like a reality TV show). Sleep depravation. The devil uses circumstances like this in order to throw you off. It can be easy to get angry, frustrated, tempted, gossipy, and stupid. When (not if) you hit this realization, know that you are weak and vulnerable. You’re not always a nice person. So then hear this: God stays with you anyway. You’re been died for. You are loved by God. He proved it with blood. II Corinthians 12:9-10 |
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