so this is what i've been thinking about recently... what do we need... do we need legalism... or do we need love... or to rephrase that... do we need more people/things telling us not to do certain things... or being pushed to want to do the right thing... because it is so easy to think that the heart, the core of the message of jesus, complies a list of things that we should not do... for those of you who feel that is the message of jesus, i will argue with you that you are wrong, and you are missing the point of jesus... i would argue that the message of jesus is love, a love that would push you to love him, and your response would cause you to do the things that please him, that his desire become yours... the key point is the want, the desire you have... not a list or some religious moron telling you the things you need to do and stop doing... because here is the danger... you can do all the things on the list, listen to these religious idiots who missed the point, and you would not know jesus and who he is... and after a while, you would realize you cannot live up to those self-righteous people, and beat yourself up about it... that thinking is so far off from the message of jesus... so far off... jesus came for the sick, came for those who are weary and tired... to show them love, that you don't have to have it all together to be loved by him or to be in love with him... he is so so so crazy about you... there is nothing you can do to make him love you any more or any less...
some of you would say, we do need a list of things we shouldn't do, what about the passages talk about not causing a brother to stumble? fair enough. lets look at these passages.
20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.
Romans 14:20
32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God
1 Corinthians 10:32
it's funny how sometimes we would take certain passages from the bible to reinforce our own views, instead of going to the bible and see what is the biblical view and make that our own view. those two passages are the passages that a lot of legalistic religious people use and argue it is wrong for us to drink any alcohol, do any sort of dancing, get any tattoos because we don't want anyone to stumble... by the way, jesus never made any wine nor did paul tell timothy to have a drink for the sake of his health, and king david never danced naked... wait NAKED... in the streets, nor will jesus come back in the end times with a tattoo on his leg... hey... i'm just saying...
from those two verses... the religious people only focused on that part of the passage and decided to ignore the rest of the passage... we will start with romans 14 first...
19Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
Romans 14: 19-21
just in verse 19, make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification... man that sounds a lot like love... what is the focus of this passage... let us do things that would push towards peace and mutual edification, edification is just a big word for uplifting... pointing to god... it's so important that we don't miss the point of this passage... do things that point to god, which in sense, it is better for us not do things that doesn't point things to god, but the focus is love... is pointing towards god...
31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
1 Corinthians 10:31-33
and right there in verse 31, whatever you do, do it for the glory of god, guys, its not about a list of things we should not do... its about let everything we do, be pointing to god, imagine, how amazing it is to have friends around you, and the things they do, is out of love for you, to point you to god, and you do the same for them. just imagine that we live out what the scriptures is teaching us...
jesus came to show his love... and teach us how to love each other... in the midst of legalism with the pharisees, he taught it's not about the rules, it's about loving your brother, your sister, your neighbors.... and to the legalistic, religious people out there... you following your legalistic idea of a set of rules of what not to do is not love, it is just a way for you to feel better about yourself, making yourself feel you are holier than other people... it's not about love... it's you taking the easy way out instead of getting into someone's life and their junk and love them and point them to jesus... because its easier for you just to say, i don't do this and don't do that...
this is my prayer for all of us, that we have the true biblical of view of jesus, the view of love, and from that love we understand the freedom we have... that because jesus first loved us, that we can love each other, that his desire becomes ours and we constantly push each other towards him... and for the religious people, that christianity is not a list of things to do and not do... its about love... for god and for each other... that you will get to know jesus and how light his yoke is... how you can breath with ease... knowing that the creator of heaven and earth is crazy about you already...
one love,
jeff
*random excerpt of my life... be weary readers if you choose to continue*
i know its been awhile since i have last posted. life has been crazy for me, and i felt like i was stuck in a rat race i could not get out of. for those of you that has been keeping up with my blogs, and you know from my old blog, i never really write about the specifics of my life or what i did today or this week, i just ramble on about what god is teaching and what is going on in my head. well... this will be the first time ill be breaking that trend...
so this monday, when i got out of bed, i could have sworn my body was in little pieces, which, honestly it was not out the norm. helping out with worship on sundays at midtown is something i am passionate about, i love, and want to do for as long as i can. however, it wears me out physically, so mondays for me is a day for me to vegetate, piece myself together and get ready for work for the coming week. so this monday, same routine, getting out of bed and just hurting everywhere... like have you ever felt your whole body is just tired, not any particular body part, the whole being, even to the point you feel like... your insides are tired... well... that was me... i decided i need to man up, and do some productive things for the day and decided to get some errands done with katie. before leaving for my errands, i got a message from a friend who said he has the money he owes me and can meet up with me to pay me back. word up. my first stop was to the bank to deposit a check. the nice lady at the counter informed me that the bank will need to hold the check due to my irresponsible spending in the last few months. for a moment i started panicking, realizing i have no available cash for me to use this week because i was counting on that check... then in the midst of the panicking, i feel god whispering to me, remember the message you got right before you left to come to the bank?... yea, i am taking care of you, stop panicking. i mentioned to katie, its funny how god takes care of us in advance... man... little did i know how ironic that statement was about to get... remember i said i felt like my body was in little pieces, well, that hasn't gone away as the day progresses, in fact, by the time i made it back to my room, i had this splitting headache, so i decided to take a nap and rest... two hours later... the headache got only worse... long story short... i caught the influenza, or the flu for people like me who prefer short words.... so there i was lying in bed... wondering... why is this happening... i have so much stuff i need to do this week, and by the end of this week i need to drive a group of college students 17 hrs for a mission trip... i can't be sick... i need to be up and running... right then, god confronted me and asked me, when was the last time you took time to just breath... when was the last time you rest... you have been running in circles all this time and you forgot to find rest... the rest in me... the rest that you need... when is the last time you recount of the things i have been teaching you, the good things i am showing you...
to all of you who does read this little blog... this is where i put down my thoughts, thoughts that jesus has been teaching me, i want to share with you what he is doing in my life, and also, i need to put it down in a form where i can come back later to be reminded how good god is... how amazing he is to me and to us... because i am dumb and i need all the reminder i can get. so to bring everything back... sitting here with a over 100 degrees fever... i realized i have no other choice than to rest... and stop what has been keeping me busy... and think about what jesus is doing around me and in my life... and which brings me here... telling you just that... it's funny how god has a way giving us the things we need and not necessary the things we want.
