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What Made Jesus Mad? (Part 4)

Life's Healing Choices

40 Days of Love

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Jesus told a story one day to “some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt” (Luke 18:9 ESV). Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11 NIV84). Notice the list, from robbers to tax collectors. Seems like some kind of progression, right? The bottom line is when I want to think better of myself, it helps to have a list of all the things I’m not. Let’s be brutally honest…this listing exercise is a diversionary tactic. As long as we can keep the focus on them, no one is looking at us. It’s hilarious that the Pharisee would pray this way, and that he “stood up” to do it. What an obnoxious sense of pride and arrogance. Probably cleared his throat, “Eh hem.” Then he proceeded to “pray about himself.” Jesus is making this story up, and it’s dripping with sarcasm. I’m pretty sure he imitated this guy with some kind of snobbish British accent. Almighty God of the Universe, thou who reigns on the eternal throne of the highest Heaven. I have decided to grace you with my presence today. I come in gratitude today, omnipotent one, and let me begin by thanking you that I’m awesome. I’m not sure if you had anything to do with that, O Lord, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. I certainly look good here next to that guy, which is why I decided to stand up to greater illustrate the comparison. In case you haven’t been paying attention, mighty one, I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get (Luke 18:12). The first step in self-aggrandizement is to make a list of the people who are beneath me. Step two is to make a list of all the things I do well. And while I’m at it, Holy Omniscient Benefactor, please don’t forget all that I’ve done right. My piety, and my contributions to your account. He sounds like a person giving money to charity who expects to have his name put up on a wall somewhere. The problem is, the Pharisee did not really go to pray; he went to inform God of his goodness. He fasted twice a week? Jewish law prescribed only one fasting day per year, on the Day of Atonement. But these guys were into extra credit. So, they fasted twice a week. History tells us it was likely on Monday and Thursday, which just so happened to be “market day” in Jerusalem when the town was full of people. This fasting fakery was Jesus' point in the Sermon on the Mount when he said, “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others” (Matthew 6:16 ESV). Those who fasted would literally make themselves look as poor, hungry, and deprived as possible. Even to the point of putting on “fasting makeup.” What about the other guy at the temple? The “sinner”? But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13 NIV). That was probably how any tax collector would feel and should feel. There was a reason they had their own sin category in all these stories. He knew who he was and what he’d done, so he stood in the distance. The Pharisee walked right up to the front and prayed about himself. The tax collector stayed in the back. Why? He knew he didn’t deserve to be there. Actually, as a tax collector, he was forbidden from even being in the same place as a normal Jew, so the story has to be somewhat creatively drawn. The church had already decided that if he was going to sell out his Jewish brothers and sisters, he would be treated as such. As a tax collector, he was only allowed to go as far as a Gentile, back where the money-changers and the animal sellers were blocking things up. This is why Jesus used a tax collector in his story, as the extreme opposite of the holy, fasting Pharisee. Let me make up a term for the issue this Pharisee was struggling with. Gracism. Religious racism. Gracism, like racism, also excludes someone because a person believes they are superior to another. But this time, it’s not about the color of your skin; it’s about the color of your sin. “I only listen to Christian music. I’m boycotting Disney. I fast twice a week. I think I’ll stand up to pray.” Gracism - I deserve to be with the Father, but you don’t. Gracism - I am deserving of God’s grace, but you aren’t. Again, consider the target listener of the story. “To some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt” (Luke 18:9 ESV). But here is the zinger. I tell you, this man (the tax collector) went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14 ESV). Justified. We may not understand all the cultural nuances of his story, but it’s plain to see that Jesus couldn’t have used a more drastic contrast in humanity. It makes for a better story. Most of us don’t feel like we’re as conceited as this Pharisee. In our honest moments, we don’t lie awake at night and think, “Oh, my, I’m such a good person.” Then again, we aren’t as bad as this tax collector, either. We all probably think we fit somewhere in the middle of this story - with perhaps a leaning toward the good side. Here is the important part, though. It just doesn’t matter. Being “justified” has absolutely nothing to do with goodness or rule-following or what music they listened to. It’s the exact opposite. This is especially poignant when you consider that much of the Scripture we’ve been reading here was penned by Matthew - the former tax collector. As a matter of fact, as you watch Jesus interact with people in the Gospels, it really seems like the better a person was at following the rules, the harder time they had humbling themselves before God and asking for mercy. This is painful to think about as I ponder how the church has handled itself since Jesus went back home. Read What Made Jesus Mad? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

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The Bartimaeus Principle: Respond to Jesus Now

The Bible tells the story of a blind man named Bartimaeus. One day, as Jesus and his followers left Jericho, they came upon him begging by the side of the road. When he heard that Jesus was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47 NIV).When Bartimaeus got up that morning, he had no idea that this was the day Jesus was going to walk by. He thought it was just another ordinary day: same place, same cry for help, same situation. But suddenly Jesus was there. Bartimaeus had no time to prepare or think through his response. It was just an opportunity that dropped in his lap. And he chose to seize the moment. He decided not to delay or procrastinate. He was going to do it—now.That’s the first key to a fresh start in your life and ministry, too: Whatever you’re going to do, do it now. Don’t say, “Next year I’ll have that hard conversation,” or “Next month I’ll start investing in that young leader,” or “Tomorrow I’ll finally deal with that area of my life.” It’s now or never. Seize the moment!Pastor, every week we have opportunities for a fresh start in ministry, but too often we let them slip by. Why? We procrastinate. Procrastination is a strange phenomenon. You think it will make your life easier, when it actually does just the opposite. It’s a stress generator! When you know the right thing to do, today is the time to do it. The Bible warns over and over about procrastination. In the Message paraphrase, Jesus says, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day” (Luke 9:62).Whatever God is prompting you to do in your preaching, in your shepherding, in your leadership—do it today. Don’t delay. Follow the example of Bartimaeus and seize the moment.

Pastors Are People-Builders

For 12 years the Green Bay Packers won only 30 percent of their games. By 1958 they were 1 in 10. They were terrible. Then came Vince Lombardi. He was a people-builder. During the next nine years with the Packers, he had nine winning seasons. They beat their opponents 75 percent of the time and won five championships, including the first two Super Bowls. That’s the resume of a people-builder. A people-builder makes people better.Pastor, you’re a people-builder, too. God is using you to help people be all that he has made them to be. But more than likely, you’ve never been trained to do that. How do you bring out the best in people? Whether it’s the average layperson in your congregation, a leader you’re mentoring, or a staff person you’re helping to grow, your ability to build people is essential to what you do. In fact, your need to be a people-builder isn’t limited to your ministry role. You also need to be a builder of your family and friends.These four steps will help you build people more effectively:Give people a personal challenge. Paul does this in Ephesians 4:1: “Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received” (CSB). He challenges readers to make their lives count. Why? We all need a cause, a project, or a dream that calls forth the best in our lives. Your people need a cause or dream to strive for, too.God wants you and your congregation to use your strengths and abilities for him. In the secular world, career planning, temperament analysis, and competency tests are big business. Why? We all need someone who will give us a personal challenge, help us discover what we’re good at, and urge us to do it well.    The Bible teaches us that’s what the church should do. We should be people-builders. That’s always been the idea around the CLASS system developed at Saddleback. In each of those classes, we challenge people to live out God’s purposes. What’s your church doing to challenge people to fulfill God’s purposes?Give them complete confidence. Paul says in Romans 15:2, “We should all be concerned about our neighbor and the good things that will build his faith” (GWT). Paul tells us to build up others in the faith. Pastor, to bring out the best in others, we need to give them complete confidence in what God can do through them. Jesus did this with Peter. Peter’s name Petros meant “pebble.” But Jesus, in effect, said, “Pebble, you’re going to be a rock. I’m giving you a new name.” When Jesus said that to Peter, he was anything but a rock. He was Mr. Impulsive, Mr. Foot-in-Mouth, Mr. Let’s Do It! But Jesus said he was going to be a rock. Jesus didn’t tell him what he was; he told him what he could be.Whenever you label somebody, you reinforce what they are. Label the people you lead as “lazy,” “unorganized,” or “a temper problem,” and that’s what you’ll get. Build them up instead. God did this to Gideon. He called him a “mighty man of courage” when he was the biggest wimp out there. God called him a man of courage, and he became one.    1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “So encourage each other and give each other strength, just as you are doing now” (NCV). If you’re going to be a people-builder, you’ve got to be good at encouragement. How do you do that? Here are three tips:It needs to be real—not insincere manipulation. It needs to be regular. Express it frequently.It needs to be recognizable or precise. Tell the person exactly what you’re encouraging in him or her.Sometimes you’ll hear people say, “Whenever something is wrong, I hear it from my boss!” Don’t be that kind of boss; it’s poor leadership.  Give them wise counsel. You’ll see no progress without learning, and no learning without feedback. Since none of us is perfect, our perceptions get off base. We need people in our lives who will lay it out on the line and be honest with us.Proverbs 27:17, says, “People learn from one another, just as iron sharpens iron” (GNT). We bring out the best in others when we’re willing to be honest with them. People-builders care enough to correct and confront.   Remember, though, correction is very powerful and can be dangerous. Correction done the right way builds people up; correction done the wrong way can scar a person for life. What is the difference between the right and wrong way to correct? It’s your attitude in correcting. If your attitude is: “I’m going to point out this weakness in your life just to point it out,” that’s wrong. People don’t need to have their faults pointed out. Most of us are well aware of our faults. Your purpose must be to change their behavior, not to condemn them. Ephesians 4:1 says, “We will speak the truth in love” (NLT).Give them full credit. To be a people-builder, you need to praise the growth and the changes you see in the lives of others. I used to have a sign in my office that said, “God can do great things through the person who doesn’t care who gets the credit.” That’s part of people-building. Usually we like to share the blame and keep the credit. The Bible says we’re to do just the opposite. Romans 12:10 says, “Let us have real warm affection for one another . . . and a willingness to let the other man have the credit” (PHILLIPS). As a pastor, you’ll get a lot of the credit when things go well (and a lot of the blame when they don’t). That’s natural. But next time someone showers you with praise for something going well at the church (recent growth, a new event that’s making an impact, or something like that), find out who should share the credit and give it to them. That’s leadership. It’s also how you build the leaders you have. If you’re always taking the credit for what’s happening in your church, it shouldn’t surprise you when you have trouble keeping leaders.  Applying these four principles will take a lot of work. I won’t sugar-coat it. There’s always a price tag to being a people-builder. It may take your time, your effort, your money, your energy—and it may lead to losing your privacy. Most of all, it’ll cost you selfishness. You can’t be selfish and be a people-builder.So why should you do it? Because of what God has done for you. God has been good to you, so you should be good to others. Do it out of a response to all God has done in your life. I want to challenge you to spend the rest of your ministry—the rest of your life, for that matter—as a people-builder. Focus your ministry around helping others be all that God has called them to be. That’s what a shepherd does; that’s what a pastor does.I can't think of a better way to spend my life.

Joy Returns When Christ Is First

Pastor, a lot of people—including those of us in ministry—are looking for joy in all the wrong places. We chase after bigger churches, more effective programs, or the applause of peers and congregants. But joy never shows up there.Misplaced priorities can eliminate your ministry joy.Paul explained this in his letter to the Philippians: “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7–8, NIV)That was Paul’s “profit and loss statement.” Everything that once seemed like a gain now counted as loss compared to knowing Christ. Even while sitting in a prison cell, Paul could rejoice because his priorities were centered on Jesus.Notice the word “rubbish.” The translators were being polite. The original word means dung, manure. Paul wasn’t mincing words. Without Jesus, everything else—fame, money, or power—is worthless garbage. Only Christ brings lasting joy.You will lose your joy in ministry if you let lesser things distract you. People will let you down. Plans won’t always work out. Attendance will fluctuate. If you keep your focus there, joy will evaporate.Paul reminds us that life is about tradeoffs. He surrendered everything so that he could be found “in Christ.” Jesus said the same thing: “No one can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24, NIV) Many of us want Jesus plus something else. But you can’t have two #1s.Here’s the reality: When we come to Christ, we give up everything. That may feel restrictive at first, but it’s really the doorway to joy. When we surrender, Jesus reshapes our gifts, reforms our goals, and gives them back with greater purpose than before.Missionary Jim Elliot, who gave his life in Ecuador, put it this way: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”So what are you holding on to that keeps stealing your joy? Has your ministry—even your goals for it—taken the place of Christ?It’s time to reorder your priorities. Put Jesus back in the center. When you do, you’ll discover again the joy you’ve been missing.

Faith Before the Miracle

Ministry often feels like standing on the edge of a fast-moving river—uncertain, overwhelming, and too deep to cross. You know what God has called you to do, but the next step still feels risky.That’s where Joshua found himself as he prepared to lead Israel into the Promised Land. God had given him the assignment, but it required courage. That’s why God said not once, but three times: “Be strong and courageous. . . . Be strong and very courageous. . . . Be strong and courageous!” (Joshua 1:6-7, 9 NLT).Fear can keep you from starting.Discouragement can keep you from continuing.But God has already given you what you need to move forward:God is with you. No matter what meetings, hospital visits, hard conversations, or leadership decisions await you this week, you won’t face them alone. “No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you” (Joshua 1:5 NLT). God keeps his promises. He hasn’t brought you this far to abandon his work in you or through you. “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance” (Joshua 1:6 CSB).God has called you to this. This isn’t a job you picked for yourself. You’re not in ministry by accident. “Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 CSB).When the priests arrived at the Jordan River, God didn’t stop the water in advance. He told them to step into it—and then the waters would stop. He asked them to trust him, not the circumstances.Sometimes the miracle happens after the step, not before.Pastor, is there something you’re hesitating to do because you’re waiting for God to clear the path first? Is there a conversation you’re avoiding, a change you’re delaying, a vision you’ve shelved?Be strong. Be courageous. God has not changed. He is with you.And he’s still parting rivers when his people step forward in faith.

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