The Consistency of Inconsistency

There is one thing I have noticed that is becoming more and more prevalent in our society: inconsistency. The definition of that word is:
-not staying the same throughout; having self-contradictory elements
-acting at variance with one's own principles or former conduct :
-( inconsistent with) not compatible or in keeping with
- erratic in behavior or action

I have watched it grow and become more tolerable as time has gone on. We have become terribly efficient at being inconsistent. It is the one thing we are actually consistent at. Inconsistency is easy. It is painless. It produces shallow human beings. Consistency implies perseverance. It implies being constant in an environment of friction. If there is one underlying theme in the lives of the people in the Scriptures it is consistency. They didn't give up. They didn't stop what they were doing. They didn't walk in and out of people's lives. Paul was a man of consistency. David was a man of consistency. Jesus was a man of consistency. John the Baptist-constant. Joshua-constant. I could go on but I think the point is made.

We have taught a new generation that running from problems, hardships, and challenges is the best way to deal with them and in doing so we have a society of people who have no depth or resolve. We have a society of people that are wickedly critical and opinionated. (It is easy to criticize from a distance.) We have a society that chooses the path of least resistance. This consistency of inconsistency is everywhere and we nurture it with our excuses. We take the pills. We divorce the spouse. We leave the church. We runaway. We quit the job. We burn the bridges. We do everything we can to avoid the pain and stress of consistency and in doing so we develop weak individuals who cannot think for themselves. They breed confusion. They cannot stand strong. They cannot produce deep, strong, world impacting people. They make no lasting contribution worth having. The only thing they do is duplicate their inconsistency. Consistency does not equal perfection. If anything it is a journey to perfection. Strain produces strength. Perseverance purifies and deepens us. There is much value and honor in consistency. It is very counterculture right now. It is very outcast-like. It is very needed.

That Which Stings...

I remember hearing a guy say that if someone leaves your church and it doesn't bother you then something is wrong. I used to think that was stupid. If they wanted to leave then let them. But since I have been a pastor, people or teenagers leaving and going somewhere else or nowhere at all stings. It actually hurts pretty bad. You spend all this time, energy, money, and more investing in them and they just walk away. It makes you second guess yourself. Did I do something wrong? Did I work hard enough? Am I in the right business? Did I "chase" them fully? You feel betrayed. How could they just leave after all you have done for them? And the vivid awkwardness that occurs when you see them out in public is thick. They get nervous and uncomfortable and rightly so but I still feel bad for them. Do they even know what they have done by bailing out? It is the dark part of this job. The part no one will ever understand unless they are in these shoes. I know most of the real reasons why people leave, particularly teenagers. I can blame these rotten parents that don't give two cents about their children. They have taught them one thing: inconsistency. To bail out when things are hard or just when you feel like it. I can blame the seasons of the church, the high's and low's. The "big" and "flash" and "toys" aren't here right now. I can blame the need to fit in and the friends that pull them away. I can even blame myself for not doing enough. But none of it takes the sting away. It still hurts. It still plays with my head. But here is the deal. We sometimes focus so much on those that leave that we neglect the ones that stayed and that is where we must put our energies. I'm not writing anyone off, I'm just going to shift that energy that went to the few that left and invest in the ones that stayed. Maybe it will make this stinging in my soul disappear...

While I Was On My Back...

I hurt my back working out yesterday. Doesn't take much. If you turn wrong that is it. So I have been laying here icing it and just thinking. Today was and is a beautiful day. It felt like fall this morning. Two weeks from tomorrow my whole world will change. I will be married. I get a chance to start something new. A lot of people ask me if I am ready. I joke and say, "no one is ever ready". The truth is I am pretty confident about it all. I am truly excited. I don't dread it or fear it. And this new thing will only be the beginning of new things for me. I feel like I am right on the edge of something big and vast. Scary yet invigorating. Cautious yet curious. Stepping out is the only way to find out.

Skeletons, Skeletons, and More Skeleton!

Ok. So I'm just going to come right out and say it. If you have some kind of deep, dark, deceptive secret lurking in your heart you need to get it out and deal with it. I'm tired of reading all these reports of big named Christians coming out with some secret. This guy faked cancer and wrote a song about healing. Another guy lead a "revival" and cheated on his wife the whole time. Another guy wrote a bunch of Christian songs in the 90's came out as being gay and has been gay the whole time. It is destroying our work. It is undoing everything we are trying to accomplish. It is absolutely tarnishing the name of Christ.

This stuff just doesn't happen. It is something we let sit in our hearts. We don't deal with it. We cross all the lines we drew and justify them. We become older and more "enlightened". We hide. We hide our habits, our struggles, our temptations, our real selves. We let darkness get deep in our hearts and then one day it comes out and ruins everything. How many Christians are actually living a double life? How many are actually consumed with darkness?

I read something this morning, before I even heard about one of these "moral failures", that deals with all of this. Hebrews 12:1 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

We would do very well to heed this word and remove all the junk that hinders us and traps us. Yeah, I know no one is perfect. I know we mess up but there is a difference between messing up and living a lie. You see, the truth always comes out when that individual is on a much larger scale for the world to see. That way the damage is done in a more amplified way. What greater way to destroy the faith? It always happens when everyone is watching not when you are home or in a small setting. The enemy wants to do as much damage as possible.

But we in America have so blurred the lines of right and wrong. We try to justify everyone's sins and call them something they are not. We reject the authority of the Word and depend on our feelings. We don't even realize that we are destroying the fabric of our country and culture. Sin is no longer sin it is a "condition". It is something "I was born with". It is a "product of my upbringing and culture". Or the always convenient, "I am what I am". We make more excuses for sin than we know what to do with. And we are paying for this excessive "freedom". The church is paying for it. It is embarrassing. It is making our lives and mission harder. We would do well to pick up the Bible again and see what it says and to DO what it says. How many Christian and brothers and sister must fall in order for us to get the point?

Yeah, I'm a little hot right now. I'm not to concerned with how people perceive this note or me. I'm not trying to be negative and doomsday. We have allowed legions of skeletons to reside in our hearts and now they are slowing rising up. Integrity is a big big deal. If you struggle with something then tell someone. If you are living a lie, then get help. Now is the time to come clean. Now is the time.

Spin Me A Story That You Want To Hear

I'm amazed at the media particularly during election season. Talk about taking things out of context. Man they are really drilling Palin, especially about her religion. They keep dropping in clips about her Pentecostal roots and all the idiosyncrasies that go with that. Snakes. If it was balanced and correct I wouldn't care but it is all cut up and taken out of context. Whatever. This stuff gets old. It takes a person who is ignorant to not see through all this. I guess there are a lot of misled people in our nation that let the inconsistent, biased media think for them. What a great time for wisdom and discernment. Our freedom is backfiring. Just because we can do anything and say anything that we want doesn't mean we need too. I wish we could reverse this on the media and ask all these idiotic reporters and commentators questions. I mean seriously, I could have a show on the news. I am just as qualified. If all you have to do is take someone's words and twist them then sign me up. American media. Unbalanced. Twisted. "Free"

Big Bangs, Black Holes, and Ray Guns!

So I saw in the news today where these scientist in Geneva are trying to recreate the Big Bang event. They are basically going to make stuff collide and see what happens. I guess they were there when this "bang" took place the first time so they know exactly what to do. Some people think the world will end because this will create a black hole. Seriously? But wait, wouldn't that disprove the Big Bang theory? If everything collides and there is a "bang" but a black hole is formed and it sucks up the Earth then that really puts a damper on that age old argument. I mean how could the earth be formed if a black hole is formed? Wait. Is Earth a black hole? That might actually explain a lot of things here like where my guitar picks disappear to and my Oreos vanish to. Am I being sarcastic? Yikes. Or maybe nothing will happen. Maybe the machine won't work. Maybe it rips open a portal into "a galaxy far far away". Who knows? We will wait and see.

They hope it will reveal the existence of other dimensions and "they also hope to find a theoretical particle called the Higgs boson, which has never been detected (but they know it exist?), but would help explain why matter has mass." Why matter has mass? Did I read that right? Interesting. I couldn't help but think of two scriptures immediately: Hebrews 1:2-3 "but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word..." and Colossians 1:16-17 "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together."

How does matter have mass? What is the particle that gives it basic existence? I think I have an idea and my idea is not going to cost $10 billion dollars. I am all for exploration, science, questions, learning, and so on. I am also for truth and ultimate reality. So maybe when these guys blast their ray guns or whatever it is that they do and the smoke clears they discover the "Particle" that gives all matter its mass. I'm pretty sure it won't be Higgs boson...