YGT: Does Church get in the way of Living like Jesus?

This week, I wanted to share a testimony of former pastor Edward G. Dobson.  The video describes his journey from being the pastor of a thriving church to his diagnosis with Lou Gehrig's disease.


At the 5:20 minute mark, Dobson shares that being so active in the church actually challenged his ability to live like Jesus.  This reminded me of an interpretation of the story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 below).  When a man asked Jesus who was his neighbor, Jesus told him a story about a man who was hurting on the side of the road and people who passed him by.  The first person to pass was a priest.  The second, a Levite.  These two were each religious leaders in the Jewish community.  As the interpretation goes (the one here is by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), perhaps they didn't help the man because they were on their way to a religious meeting.  Being part of a religious community was actually preventing them from seeing their neighbors.  


Not surprisingly, Dobson is also good at recognizing his neighbor.  From an insightful article on his life...


The scraggly guy stood at Ed Dobson’s door, asking for money. He said he was a Vietnam vet and needed bus fare for a medical appointment in Lansing.

Problem: It was the same story the same guy told three months earlier, when Dobson gave him $15. Dobson figured he probably blew that on booze and would again.

Problem No. 2: Jesus said, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”This time, Dobson gave him $20.

I wonder if he would have been as giving if he was pastoring...


Check out his book - The Year of Living Like Jesus.  Haven't read it, but looking forward to soon.  In the meantime, I'll try to follow what Jesus has shown us in scripture. Ed Dobson reminds us that it's not about how much you know, it's about how much you know that you're willing to act on.  Praise God for his witness.






Lord, please forgive us for desiring to be in church more than we desire to be in You.  Have mercy on us.  We look to Christ as our Savior, teacher, and intercessor.  In His matchless name, Amen.


Freed,
j.a.g.






*Btw, if you can, check out the article linked above.  Discusses why Dobson voted for Obama during his year of living like Jesus.  Hmmm... A compelling figure indeed.


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Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

On How MLK Paid for Graduate School

Please forgive me. I have not blogged in over 3 months. Ashley, Jocelyn, and I have been extremely busy this summer, as we moved from Bloomington, Indiana to Durham, North Carolina. We moved in order for me to attend Duke Divinity School. Check out Ashley’s blog for more details on the developments in the last few months. We’ve since arrived safely and are adjusting to a new life in a new state. Please pray for us. That said though, I can now post monthly life updates again. Below is the most recent "God moment".

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Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from the Director of Admissions at the Duke Divinity School. He called to inform me that some scholarship money became available and I would be getting the Martin Luther King Scholarship for my first year in the program. Wow, I thought to myself. Thank You God! The news completely blew me away. It also confirmed some valuable lessons about faith.


God doesn’t show His hand. I received my award information from Duke in the spring (March/April). I had to accept my admission into the school even earlier than that. It would have been easier to make the decision, financially, if I saw it back then. But that would not have been faith. It’s funny because even if I knew I was a candidate for the award, I would’ve felt better. It would have helped to think, “there’s the possibility that this scholarship could come through”. But none of that would have been faith. If you can figure it out beforehand, it’s likely not faith. God is mysterious - His ways are “past finding out” (Romans 11:33 below).

Let’s put it this way, if God played poker, He’d likely bluff a lot. Not lie, but act as if His hand was worse than it was. Then, when it was time to show, He’d always outdo you and everyone at the table – He’d always win.


Faith requires action. If we would have never taken the chance and enrolled in school, we would have never received the award. In other words, I had to make a move for my faith to be rewarded. In other other words, FAITH TRAVELS (hmmm...). It acts, it decides, it steps out without having all the facts.

At first, this sounds elementary. Of course faith requires action. Even the Bible teaches “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26 below). But it’s much more than this. You can’t even experience faith unless you test it. You can’t trust something has happened by faith until you act on it and wait for God to move. If you’re unwilling to act without having all the answers and trusting God, you are not exercising faith. Maybe a humble hypothesizing, but not faith. Faith is not knowing the solution, but living as if you do.



That’s it. That’s how MLK paid for graduate school. He lived a life worthy of creating a scholarship and that scholarship is helping to pay for my graduate education (btw, it’s not a major scholarship, but it’s definitely helpful). However, none of this would have been possible had it not been for a God whose interest is better than a Stafford Loan and who is more forgiving than any bursar. He’s shown His hand again and it is so much better than I thought. I believe that as I travel in faith, it will only get better.





Lord, thank You for your provisions. Thank You for showing us that You still reward acts of faith. And teaching us that those are the only acts You reward. I love You and am grateful for the opportunity to chronicle this journey. Please give us all the strength to live lives of faith. Encourage us to take steps out into the unknown and live as if You are waiting to catch us if (and sometimes when) we fall. We need You everyday.




Thanking God,
j.a.g.







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Romans 11:33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

James 2:20-26²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless^d]">?
²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"and he was called God's friend.
²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

On This Moment

After the election of Sen. Barack Obama as the next president of the United States of America, I was in shock. My faith calls me to pray for those in leadership (1 Timothy 2:1-2) and this election was a moment that required reflection and expression. So I woke the next morning, prayed, and wrote the following words. I submitted them to the local newspaper and they were printed later as a guest column.

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African-American laureate, Langston Hughes, once penned, “What happens to a dream deferred?” For nearly two generations, those who believe in social equality and civil rights have repeated this refrain. They have been referring to the vision they heard from the lips of the martyred dreamer Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. over forty years ago. True, America has taken important steps since, but it has also seen it’s prisons accept more black men than it’s colleges, allowed (and defended) unequal pay for women, and witnessed the world lose respect for it’s way of life. Throughout this journey, the question has lingered for many, “What happened to the dream?” In the last two years, we have experienced an answer to their quandary. With the candidacy and now the victory of Barack Obama as President-elect of the United States of America, a dream long deferred has been revived.

In this, "our moment", details of Obama's policies and promises are secondary. True, his victory is sobered by many relevant issues that he must address; energy independence, economic accountability, national/international security. But for many, those issues are sat aside for this brief moment. Ultimately, time and history will determine the final verdict of his presidency. For now, we all should reflect on what it took to get here; the marches, sit-ins, struggles, and quiet protests in classrooms and boardrooms that have created this opportunity for our nation. To every American who has sought this dream, this presidency is partly yours. All those Americans who have confronted their own prejudices in the hopes that one day the content of one’s character would outweigh the color of their skin. All those Americans who have succeeded against the invisible and visible barriers of discrimination. All those Americans who have raised their children with the simple faith that ‘anything is possible’. This election is your dream fulfilled.

Rev. King’s eyes would undoubtedly be filling with tears if he were with us. His sacrifice is a little more redemptive now. Along with King, all Americans who work for freedom and equality share in this remarkable triumph. This campaign will be remembered and revered. The keepers of history will honor the day when people from the cascades of Oregon to the plains of Iowa to the shores of Virginia flooded the ballot box for a dream. Americans are swelling with pride in their country and themselves as they realize they are witnessing, and making, history. Simply put, a dream deferred does not die, run, nor rot. When it is fueled by faith and action, it can happen. And when it happens, how beautiful it is.



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Lord, let us pray that this moment produces change in attitudes and relations. Let us find in ourselves the courage to instigate change in our communities and families. Let this administration be the sounding bell for all those who desire equality, service, and unity. We rest in the assurance that you have chosen this moment and will empower us to reach our potential as people. In Jesus' name, Amen.





Praising,



j.a.g.






1 Timothy 2:1-2

1I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.