Pharisee Syndrome or Lack of Contentment

In February, I listened to Dan Jessup from Young Life, ask this question while talking to a lot youth workers in Colorado Springs,

"Can you know Jesus, but not really know Jesus?"

What do you think?

I believe the answer is yes.

I have believed this for years. I believe that there are a lot of people who know about Jesus, but don't really have a relationship with Jesus. I believe that this is a huge problem in many churches in America today, but that's another post for another day.

Dan went on talk about how this happened with Jesus' twelve closest followers on Earth. One of them named Philip asked this of Jesus in John 14:8, "...Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us."

To paraphrase Jesus' reply, He says, "Seriously Philip? Don't you know after all this time with Me, that if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father? Don't you know by now the Father and I are one?"

How is it possible that after walking around with Jesus for three years, that Philip, and most likely some of the other disciples, didn't know Jesus was God? I mean Philip would have watched countless miracles, and heard Jesus talk about this numerous times. How is this possible? How is it possible today? I mean we have the Bible and history to learn from?

It's possible, because we get caught up in doing things for Jesus and following rules, and the relationship with Jesus gets lost. I call it the Pharisee syndrome. The Pharisees were so caught up in being religious and holy, and following all the rules of the OT, that they forgot that God wanted a relationship with them.

We are usually quick to judge the Pharisees, point fingers at them, and say things like, Jesus was proving to you that He was God and you ignored it, denied it, and then you killed Him, dumb Pharisees. I know I have been guilty of this.

Dan Jessup said this and it rocked my world, "Read the New Testament like you are a Pharisee."

He said that reading the NT this way will make it come more alive, it will be more convicting, and it will create humility in your life that you never had before.

My first thought, was wow! The way Jesus talked about the Pharisees, I don't want Him to feel that way about me. But I started to think about it, I have been thinking about it, and Dan is right. Some of the passages I have read many times have been coming to life in a different way for me.

I think that if a lot of us are honest, there are times when we are a lot like the Pharisees. There are times when we get so caught up with things in life that we forget about our relationship with God, we deny it, ignore it, and we try to do things on our own.

Sure we may not be hung up on the over 600 laws of the OT, because many are not relevant today. But I will tell you this, if your life is anything like mine, life is so busy that Jesus is competing with a lot of stuff for some of your time. I believe that this is how slowly, over time, people know a lot about Jesus, but don't really know Jesus.

Dan went on to say that he believes that many people lack joy in their relationship with Christ and this contributes to people not really knowing Jesus. He said that gratefulness and generosity come from joy in Christ. When we are grateful, we don't whine, and we become more generous. Gratefulness and generosity create contentment, and the Bible teaches us to be content.

People in America do not know how to be content. I believe this was part of the Pharisees' problem as well. They could never be content with how well they were doing following the rules.

The solution to this problem of lack of contentment is that we need Jesus. We need Jesus to rule over every area of our lives. We need Jesus to completely invade every area of our lives. Only then can we know true joy, become grateful and generous people, content in our lives, and our relationship with Jesus.

How about you? Where is your contentment level? Do you need more stuff, more time, more something?

I have been working to change some priorities in my life, because I want to be filled with the joy of Christ. I want to be more generous. I want to be grateful for all that God has given me, and recognize all the blessings in my life. I want the true contentment that only Jesus can give me. Maybe you will join me on this journey?

If you took the time to read this blog, thanks! Please pray for me, and I pray that you will seek God, and allow Jesus to rule over all areas of your life, and that you will find joy and contentment in Him.

Blessings.

Give More, Collect Less!

I don't really make New Year's resolutions, but Sarah and I have made this quasi resolution; Give more, collect less.

I have been thinking about stewardship a lot lately. This started in December when I was studying a parable Jesus told in Matthew 25:14-30 for a sermon. It's commonly called, "Parable of the Talents" (if you have time, read it).

I have read this parable many times, heard several sermons on it, and even taught on it myself. But I read it in a new light as I reflected on the definition of stewardship (which is about managing others stuff; money, property, affairs, households, etc.). As I think about the application of this parable, I wonder if I am doing a good job managing all that God has given me?

This is what Jesus is talking about in the afore mentioned parable in Matthew 25. Do we use all that God has given us to invest in His Kingdom, His purposes, His will? Do we manage what God has given us well? I am not sure of my answer.

My wife and I give a percentage of our income to a local church, we have sponsor kids in third world countries though World Vision and Compassion International, we donate unused clothing and household items to places like Crossfire Ministries, Springs Rescue Mission, and Goodwill, and we give our time serving others and places in the community. We do all that with joy, but is that enough?

I don't say any of that to be prideful, because we also have a house full of stuff (closets full of clothing, furniture, 2 cars, a television, this computer I'm writing this blog with (and the list goes on). In fact, we have stuff sitting in the basement of our current rental house that hasn't been out of the box in years. We have moved it several times. I don't feel like we hoard stuff, but I also wonder what Jesus would say to me about all our stuff.

There is a place in the Bible where Jesus talks with a rich young man (Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, Luke 18:18-30). This guy asks Jesus what He must do to spend eternity in heaven with Him. Jesus, replies that he must sell everything he has and give it to the poor. We never know if this young man does this. The text says he walks away sad, dejected, and Jesus goes on to talk about how hard it is for rich people to make it into heaven. The general assumption is that this wealthy young man couldn't let go of his stuff, not even to save his soul from hell. How tragic.

But let's put ourselves in this guys shoes. If you live in America compared to the rest of the world you are rich. There is no arguing that America is wealthiest country in the world. The general rule of thumb when it comes to wealth worldwide is this, if you have choices you are considered rich. For more perspective, one-third (more than two billon) of all people worldwide live on $2 or less a day. Most Americans have more than that in change in our car, or in our couch. Anyway...

What if Jesus came to you or me and asked us to sell all that we had and give it to the poor? I wonder, would I or could I do that? What about you, would you sell your house, your car(s), your computer, your cell phone, your clothes, the things you collect, everything? Could you give it all away?

In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

These words of Jesus sometimes feel like a dagger in my heart. I see all the stuff my family has, and sometimes I wonder if our money and our things are our treasure. I don't think that they are. It's our goal to be more generous this year. We are aiming to give away more, and acquire as little as possible. We want to put more of our time, our stuff, our money, our resources, etc. into becoming like Jesus. We want our treasure to be Jesus. We want to spend eternity with Him. I hope that Jesus is your treasure as well!

If you took the time to read this, I hope and pray you are doing your best to give all that you have, and all that you are to following in the footsteps of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. May God bless you, and may you bless others, for the sake of Jesus' Kingdom!