A Christ-follower with a limp: April 2021

Sunday, April 25, 2021

Take me out to the...church!

“A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz.”

Humphrey Bogart

It's as American as apple pie, hot dogs, and Uncle Sam. Baseball prides itself in curses, superstitions, and strange rituals. Baseball helps boys and girls pass the time in the heat and magic of summer. They can meet in dusty neighborhood ballparks to play a game or two, or watch their home team play. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of playing a game of ball in the front yard of my home in Atlanta.

One hundred sixty-two games a season. Nine innings per game. Three outs to end half an inning. Three strikes and you’re out. Four balls a walk. Eight playoff teams. One championship. Baseball is known for its confusing and often laborious statistics on nearly everything that goes on in the game. ERA, RBI, OPS, batting averages, home runs, steals, wins, strikeouts, saves, shutouts, walks, and hits. The complexity that comes from this simple, slow-paced game is what makes baseball beautiful. Families bond through the traditions of going to see a game, the seven-inning stretch, and the ceremonial first pitch.

So I have a Major League Baseball confession to make. When I attend a baseball game, I feel kind of like I do when I go to church. A perfectly manicured ballpark has to be one of the most beautiful works of art to be found in our world. Late baseball commissioner, Bart Giamatti, was fond of talking about the unusual symmetry and beauty of the game and its parks. The simple enjoyment of taking in the confident uniqueness and beauty of a well-worn and well-kept ballpark is enough to savor. And I’ve always appreciated the fact that baseball fans are not simply drawn to the atmosphere of the event like many football fans are (for many tailgating is the main event and the game is anticlimactic). Generally, baseball fans love the game with all of its quirky nuances. This love for the game rarely begins in the abstract. There’s often a particular time, place, and person.

Have you ever noticed when baseball players are asked about the origination of their love of the game, often their first words are, “my dad” or at some point “there was this little park in my hometown,” catch with Dad, countless conversations, or the soil of a particular baseball diamond.

When you arrive at the ballpark of your favorite team, often a couple of hours early (after all, infield and batting practice possess a beauty all their own) the other people you see are ethnically, socioeconomically and culturally diverse, yet many essentially have the same story; playing catch and a sandlot in their hometown. A time, a place, and a person provide a wonderful rootedness in a transient rootless culture. It also explains why people who sit beside each other at baseball games nearly always chat. They talk about the game they’re watching and their general love of the game. No matter how different their socio-economic background they often possess a common metanarrative related to their love of the great game.

Yet, as much as I appreciate the inherent beauty of an empty ballpark and its idiosyncratic design, it was built for a game to be played and for stands to be filled. No other day in sports possesses the excitement and hopefulness of an opening day. Baseball season doesn’t just begin; it’s celebrated, from tiny, dusty, rural diamonds to Yankee Stadium. Unlike any other sport, the beginning of a new baseball season births a newness and hopefulness that this just may be the year for your favorite team (perhaps with the exception of Cubs fans).

There’s a sense, as Thomas Boswell wrote, that “time begins on Opening Day.” This hopefulness is warranted because baseball depends as much on the intangibles as it does 40-yard dash times and bench press maxes. A baseball equivalent of the NFL combine would be essentially worthless.

You really can measure what made Babe Ruth a great player. A baseball team’s success depends a lot on clubhouse chemistry. As you drive to the park or turn on the TV to watch your favorite team, you’re right to be full of hope…this just might be their year.

Personally, I love the rhythm of baseball. The uninitiated see the length of the season as a knock against baseball, but it’s that very element that makes the game such a powerful metaphor for life. A sport where one loss ruins an entire season and perfection is an attainable goal is at odds with the managed failure of our actual lives. The 2011 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals lost 72 games that season – 45% of the regular season.

Babe Ruth had a .342 batting average. That means his failure average was .658. Managed failure in the pursuit, not of perfection, but greater consistency. It’s something that resonates with my own Christian walk.

Yet, as much as I love and enjoy baseball, it pales when compared to my love and enjoyment of the gathered church. One of my favorite moments every Sunday is walking in to our church and seeing the eternally hope-filled faces of people from different ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds. Ordinary people involved in extraordinary work. A group of people who’d never have gotten together if not for the fact they possess a common metanarrative as it relates to the cross and the saving love of Jesus Christ. Their stories are all different and yet at their core they’re all the same. No one begins to follow Christ in the abstract. There was a time, a place and a person when they heard the Good News and believed. Even though they may not have been cognizant of it (who remembers their natural birth?), the new birth took place. Now their lives are forever rooted in His grace. As they gather for a worship service to celebrate the resurrected Christ, they’ve struggled all week and often failed. But their goal is not perfection (their Savior was the perfect substitute in their place) just simply greater consistency. Worship is a precious gift built into the rhythm of our lives. Every weekend is full of newness and hope through faith in Jesus Christ no matter our failure.

Baseball isn’t heaven. It’s certainly not church, which is a glorious taste and window of heaven on earth. But I do confess, baseball reminds me of church and for that, I’m glad and say with renewed gusto, “Play ball!”

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.

Sunday, April 18, 2021

“It is a great privilege, as well as our responsibility,

to pray for our government leaders.” Billy Graham

It’s embarrassing to admit this but at one time in my life and ministry, I was too far focused on politics. My first voting experience was voting for President Reagan and I cut my teeth on the Reagan Revolution. I nearly equated conservative political values with biblical ones. I was wrong.

When Bill Clinton was elected, like many other Christians, I felt very discouraged. Over the years, the Lord has taught me a lot. A vital lesson is that no matter who is in the White House, Jesus is still on His Throne. While I knew this, I almost acted like politics and government could change souls. They can’t. True change will never be brought about by an election. True change only comes from regeneration. Looking back I wasted too much energy on politics. My political “mission” became a distraction from the Great Commission.

While political activism on some level is a good thing, it is not the best thing. It’s not what God has called us to focus on. We have a much higher calling and a more important mission as those who belong to another Kingdom. Oswald Chambers was on point when he said that “the good is the enemy of the best.” Political activism by Christians or anyone else with a biblical worldview isn’t in and of itself wrong, it’s just not the best.

Heaven, eternity, God’s grace, and forgiveness are far too important to alienate anyone from being approached or listening to the gospel message for the sake of our personal political affiliation. Individual and collective cultural problems will never be altered through the political process. While I believe as Christians that we must be concerned about the moral decline in our country and must not compromise on biblical truth, the only way to transform our nation has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with offering our world the gospel.

As Christians, we cannot divide people into political positions. There are only two kinds of people – those who know Jesus and those who don’t. God sent His Son to the cross for everyone – Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Socialists, Communists and everyone else.

Because the real needs are spiritual needs, the greatest changes we will make in our country are not in the voting booth, but in the prayer closet. It’s why every week at Grace we pray for a government leader. It’s why we pray for those we don’t agree with. Scripture is clear that we’re to pray for ALL of our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4). Scripture never qualifies who we are to pray for. In fact, Paul commanded us to pray for government leaders when Nero, a “Hitler of his day,” was on the throne of Rome.

All of this is why I’m so excited to have Brad Harbaugh from the Capital Commission with us this week. I had the privilege of meeting Brad a number of years ago in D.C. He is truly a kindred spirit.

The Capitol Commission’s mission is to reach government leaders for Christ, one person at a time, to disciple them, and to prepare them for a lifetime of ministry, wherever God chooses to place them. They’re committed to sharing God’s love, especially amidst the elected leaders of our three governing branches; legislators, judges, governors, and their staff members. Their mission is not partisanship or influencing legislation. Instead, they’re committed to building moral lawmakers whom we can trust to make and guard moral laws that improve the lives of our fellow citizens.

God has commanded us to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). We need government leaders who don’t just do “God talk” to get elected but have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. God has always used such leaders to make a difference for His glory. Read the biblical accounts for yourself about Joseph, Nehemiah, Esther and Daniel. They were godly individuals who used their position and influence to advance God’s cause in pagan governments. We need another generation of godly, committed Christians.

Let me share the account of one such individual, William Wilberforce. Like many political decisions, the horror of slavery was driven by economics. It was so entrenched in Western Civilization that only a handful of people thought anything could ever be done about it. That handful included Wilberforce. As a member of Parliament he wrote, “So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the trade’s wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition. Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.”

When it became clear Wilberforce wasn’t going to let the issue die, pro-slavery forces targeted him. He was vilified; opponents spoke of “the damnable doctrine of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies.” The opposition became so fierce, one friend feared that one day he’d read about Wilberforce's being “carbonated [broiled] by Indian planters, barbecued by African merchants, and eaten by Guinea captains.” But his antislavery efforts finally bore fruit in 1807. Parliament abolished the slave trade in the British Empire. He then worked to ensure that slave trade laws were enforced and that slavery in the British Empire was abolished. His health prevented him from leading the last charge, though he heard three days before he died that the final passage of the emancipation bill was ensured in committee. Wilberforce was only one person who made a huge difference.

God is not asleep. Great moral changes don’t have to be part of the past or history. You and I can make a difference today. Yet, it won’t come through politics or partisanship, it will come on our knees.

I wonder what would happen if we spent half as much time talking to the Lord about our elected leaders, as we do complaining about them. Let’s try! I believe it will shock us. Brad Harbaugh is going to challenge us to pray and cry out to God’s throne where our efforts and energy truly make a difference.

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Being the Church in a Post-Christian Age

“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing,
but to turn it into glory.” William Barclay

A father took his son to a large city museum, thinking that the visit would entertain the boy. But for two hours the boy did nothing but sigh, moan, and complain. Finally, in desperation, he said to his father, “Dad, let’s go someplace where things are real.”
Many people feel that way about the Bible. Most of them have also never read it. Some when they read the Bible think they’re in a religious museum, looking at ancient artifacts that have no meaning for life in today’s modern, scientific world. But they’re wrong! No book published has more meaning for our lives, more relevance to our predicaments and problems than the Bible. No wonder William Lyon Phelps, for years called “Yale’s most inspiring professor,” said: “I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without a Bible.”

Our world has dramatically changed in the last few decades, yet is becoming more like the world of the early church. The New Testament was written in a pre-Christian age, we are living in a post-Christian one. Interestingly, they are very similar.

One of the most monumental shifts in Western culture is secularization. The word secular, in this sense, means the decline of belief in God. With that decline of belief in God comes a decline in church attendance and in any religious identification.

A recent study from Gallup organization tells us that the pattern has reached the point where a minority of Americans identify as members of any religious organization, specifically in the United States. Given the fact that the vast majority of citizens say they believe in God and the vast majority of them identify as Christians in one way or another in answer to a pollster statement, it’s a very significant issue.

In 2020, according to Gallup, only 47% of Americans indicated that they have actual formal membership in a church or religious congregation. Compare that to the 1930s when the number was over 70%. That's a fall of 20% in less than a hundred years. For Christians, this is a wake-up call just in terms of the statistics about the United States. It tells us that we are now increasingly, when we talk to our neighbors or co-workers, talking to someone who is not formally identified with any religious congregation.

Socio-theological change tends to take place slowly until it takes place quickly. If you look at generational replacement, the picture gets very fast. Because the generation of those passing from the population and the public scene is much more churched, by some sense, almost twice as likely to be churched than those coming on the scene and increasingly dominating the scene. Those who are increasingly in retirement are churched, but those entering the workforce are increasingly unchurched.

Whereas America was once a nation that held to a Judeo-Christian worldview, that’s no longer the case. And that’s where the New Testament is so encouraging. The early church was born in a world without a Judeo-Christian worldview. The Church today is now living in one. As the gospel empowered and sustained them in their world, it will empower and sustain us in ours. There is no better example of this than the book of 1 Thessalonians. This group of new Christians faced the same predicaments that we faced. Like them, we too must be Staying Strong, Living Ready.

Like them, we’re a church that needs strengthening. That early group of believers faced various forms of opposition, slander, and persecution. The culture around them was hostile to the gospel and Christianity.

When we go through difficult times, we can wonder if our faith is real. We need to have confidence in Christ even in intense pressure. We need to know that our experience of suffering is not unusual but normal. We need to know Jesus is enough for whatever heat and pressure that we might face.

Like them, we’re a church that needs encouraging. Conversion is only the starting point. We need encouragement to press on and move forward toward healthy spiritual growth. Our faith in Christ is to be evidenced by a godly lifestyle. Our hope in confidence that this world is not the end, that Jesus is coming back, needs to be strengthened to help us face both death and life. One of the worst things that can happen to a Christian or church is to be stunted in our growth. Life in this world can be very discouraging. Every church, every Christian needs more encouragement.

When the famous painter Benjamin West was a boy, he decided to paint a picture of his sister while his mother was out. Gathering some bottles of ink and paper, he soon made an awful mess in his house. When his mother returned, she saw the mess but also her son’s attempt at making art. Instead of scolding him, she picked up the portrait and declared, “What a beautiful picture of your sister!” and kissed her son. Benjamin West later recalled, “With that kiss I became a painter.”

As we struggle, God kisses us with His grace. His Word is our source of strength and encouragement that we need, particularly in our post-Christian world. We need 1 Thessalonians. We need the Bible.

If you and I will look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Bible, we’ll gain from Him the greatest encouragement of all as God’s grace invites us into His heavenly peace. When we look to Jesus, the “star” of all history looks back to us with grace, revealing Himself as Savior who died for our sins. Jesus invites us to trust Him, to partner with our brothers and sisters in His church, and to be encouraged by His grace, to share His offer of love, peace, and forgiveness to a sinful, broken world. It means Staying Strong, Living Ready.

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Christ's Resurrection Gives Us Hope

“Hope is called the anchor of the soul (Hebrews 6:19) because it gives stability to the Christian life. But hope is not simply a ‘wish’ (I wish that such-and-such would take place); rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.” R.C. Sproul

Henri Nouwen told a story in his book, Turn My Mourning into Dancing: A solder was captured as a prisoner of war. His captors transported him by train far from his homeland. He felt isolated from country, family, and anything familiar. His loneliness grew as he continued not to hear anything from home. He could not even know if his family was even alive or how his country was faring. Thus, he lost a sense of anything to live for. But suddenly, unexpectedly, he got a letter. It was smudged, torn at the edges from months of travel. But it said, “We are waiting for you to come home. All is fine here. Don’t worry.” Everything instantly changed. He did the same difficult labor on the same meager rations, but now he knew someone waited for his release and homecoming. Hope changed his life. That’s what Easter is about – Hope! If the cross had ended it all. If Jesus had not risen bodily from the grave, we would have no hope. That’s the thesis of the great chapter on the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15.

Christ’s resurrection gives us hope in the face of death. Read the Gospel accounts for yourself. Until His disciples met the risen Christ, they had no hope. The only explanation for their radical change from the terrified to the bold was meeting the risen Christ. It’s why one of our favorite Psalms is the 23rd where it says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” (vs. 4). Because Jesus is alive we know that we will not be left in death. The moment that the born-again Christian closes their eyes on this life, they wake up in heaven with the Lord Jesus for all eternity. “Absent from the body…at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).

Christ’s resurrection gives us hope to see those who died in faith again. Heaven becomes sweeter for me each year. For over 50 years now, I’ve longed to see my Mom once again. In 1970 she was taken in a tragic car accident into the presence of her Savior.

One of the burdens of long pastorates is that you have to bury your friends. But they’re not gone. They’re not dust and ashes. No, because of the resurrection I know that they are waiting for me and you. They are more alive today than they have ever been. The longer that I am a Christian, the more that I understand the Apostle Paul’s heart when he said, “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Who but a Christian would believe that death is gain. Because of Christ’s resurrection, we know we leave a temporal world of pain and suffering for eternal bliss.

Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that we are forgiven. Because Jesus died and paid for our sin, we know that we’re forgiven BUT if He had not risen from the grave, we would have wondered if it was enough. Because of His resurrection, Romans 8:1 is not an empty promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” When I look back at my life and my dark, evil heart. It’s hard for me to believe that a holy God loves me and forgives me. For years it haunted me that my last words to my Mom a few weeks before she died were: “I hate you!” Sure, they were uttered by a 10-year-old, but they were words that I never had a chance to apologize for. Even the night that she was killed, they came ringing back in my heart. But because of Jesus’ cross, because of His resurrection, I know that I’m forgiven for that and my innumerable other transgressions. It’s not because I’ve done anything to balance things out with God. It’s because Jesus paid my sin debt. He paid it all. It’s all of grace that I’m forgiven. If you’ve trusted Him as your Savior, so are you!

Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that we have a new body. My earth suit is wearing out and so is yours. Every year there are more parts that creak and groan with aches and pains. It has an expiration date. But I’ve got a new one waiting for me. “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:54-55). Jesus’ resurrection and His glorified body gave us a peek into what God has for us in our new and eternal ones.

Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that there will be a new earth. The Creative Mandate requires that we not abuse this planet (Genesis 1:28). We’re managers of God’s creation and property. Because of sin, we know that mankind has miserably failed. We’re terrible managers of God’s property. We pollute. We abuse. We burn and pillage. We wreck and ruin. But someday there will be a new earth, better than Eden, better than the world contaminated by sin (Revelation 21:1).

Christ’s resurrection gives us hope that there will be a new government. Too many Christians have placed their hope in human political leaders. Even the best governmental leaders have hearts contaminated by sin. Too many believers wring their hands over what temporal leaders do. Should we be involved? Yes. Should we vote. Yes. And we must pray. Yet, we know that all government has a very short shelf life.

In the midst of sometimes shocking political upheavals, we know that Jesus Christ is the ruler of all the kings and presidents and chiefs and premiers and governors and prime ministers. If President Biden says to Jesus, “How can you be the ruler over me? I have my office by the election of the people of the United States, a sovereign nation, and by virtue of a constitutional inauguration and installation.” The Lord Jesus will answer, “I have my office as ruler over you by God’s sovereignty and by virtue of my resurrection, my indestructible life, and my installation at God's right hand.” When Jesus rose again, God the Father exalted Him and gave Him a “name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee might bow” (Phil. 2:9-10). That includes all the rulers and kings of the earth. Jesus is alive today presiding from heaven over the rulers of the earth. It’s a breathtaking thought and something most today do not believe, but it’s at the heart of biblical truth. Jesus Christ is alive and reigns. It should revolutionize the way we watch the news and live out our lives. Because of His resurrection, we watch the events of this world through the eyes of faith. His resurrection turned the 1st-century world upside down. It must revolutionize our lives! Easter is God’s reminder of that.

As John Donne wrote, “Death, be not proud.” God won’t let death win. Jesus is alive and we will live with Him forever and ever!