"Deeds Not Creeds." Really?

Emperor Constantine and the bishops of the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD), holding the 

Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 AD.

We Christians have all heard of it or done it; the bash on "organized religion." You know what I mean and you've heard it before, and so have I. The two most common phrases that sum this up from the evangelical side are, "relationship not religion," and "deeds not creeds." I'd like to address them both, but today I'll start with the second one, as it is something that I've been hearing a lot lately in sideways remarks regarding denominational Christianity, of which I happen to be a part of. 

"Deeds not creeds." At first blush it sounds right, doesn't? Deeds being the good things we do to help others, make the world a better place, and meet the needs of our brothers & sisters in Christ as well as the lost. This is putting hands and feet to "love thy neighbor," essentially. These are the things that we can see tangible results from; perhaps it looks like bringing a new mother meals for a week while she adjusts to a new baby in the home, helping the elderly man next door with his yardwork, or secretly giving money to a family struggling to pay bills. There are a world of deeds that can be done, things we can do to help that are as limitless as the need that exists. Of course we ought to do these things for one another. Of course we should! But why? We do these things not because God needs us to, but because our neighbor needs us to. Scripture tells us to serve one another, to look out for the needs of our fellow saints, to be good Samaritans, and to take care of widows and orphans (which I believe includes all those in need). Yes, we ought to do these good deeds, but just because they are "good" should they take the place of "creeds?" 

So now I'm going to write out an actual Creed. And as you read it, keep in mind this question; which part of this do you disagree with? As you read, think about which part you can choose to not live by. Think about how taking out your neighbor's trash negates these words, or how you can set it aside in favor of buying a goat for a family in Africa. Read carefully and decide which part is man-made and therefore discardable. 

Here we go:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only‐begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen. 

There. A Creed. The Nicene Creed to be exact. It was written in the year 325 A.D. in response to a heresy that was about to take over the Christian church, one that denied the Trinity and the very nature of Jesus. How is this not important again? Because without knowing and confessing this, my very understanding of who Jesus is is at stake, and then so is the theology on which my entire life is built upon. 

Now please explain to me how a Christian is supposed to replace this with "deeds?" Because in my mind (as small as that is) the deeds I do and the life I live flows from this creed. In my mind there is nothing written here that I can disagree with to depart from. In my mind, no amount of deeds I do are better than believing in those words. Because the deeds I do are about my work and service (however good they may be), but this creed I confess is entirely about the nature of who Jesus is, and therefore what I do is because of who HE is and what HE has done. 

So tell me again how "deeds not creeds" is supposed to work?

Let Christians Remember

  My friends, like most of you I am weary of this political season; of the candidates, the rhetoric, the fighting, the doublespeak & lies said with straight faces, the hate, and the accusations. I am unsure of so many things on the news because of the spin, the angles, the agendas, and the sources. I hardly know what to believe anymore. And like so many others I've talked with, I can barely believe any of this madness is really happening to our country. At times I feel that we're simply being swept along in this surreal tidal wave of political and social lunacy, and that these United States are unraveling right around us.

So in the mayhem here is what I, a confessing Christian, must tell myself:

Let Christians remember that we do NOT live in a "Christian nation."

Let Christians remember that Jesus was rejected because He refused to assume political power and control.

Let Christians remember that Jesus' only explicitly expressed political views were to pay our taxes.

Let Christians remember that the words "democrat" and "republican" are not in the Bible.

Let Christians remember that God does not lead a country - He leads His people. That is a big difference.

Let Christians remember that God does not lead a political party - He leads the Church.

As a Christian my conscience is spun from sure and ancient Words, and my hope is not in the words of a man or woman I will ultimately cast a vote for.

And even though I live in this crazy, sad, and ever-changing world for my numbered years, 
there are things I know,
there are things I am sure of.

Divide this as you will, hate it if you want, but it's what I believe.

The God of Poopy Diapers, Pieces of Silver, and Backwards Butterflies

 

Today we remember a God who became a bitty baby - starting life on this planet in a wooden box in a cruddy manger; this infant King greeted with the grunted lullabies of filthy farm animals. No worldwide royal celebration like little Prince George received. No. Scratchy hay on tender newborn skin, an unknown teenage mom with a bad reputation changes His poopy diaper and nurses His hunger, and a few curious rednecked shepherds look on. 

  As if that weren't lowly & odd enough to start with, He ended a perfect 33 years on a wooden cross with nails in His feet & hands high atop a hill called The Skull - a shameful and cruel death only foreign criminals deserved. His friends placed His lifeless body into a dark cave where He was expected to stay for eternity; stay and rot, stay and finally quit causing so much damn trouble to the MegaPastors of the day. 

  But He didn't stay there in the rocks He created; while His ragtag band of friends reeled from the shock over His sudden and violent death, while they hid in fear and wept from grief, He journeyed even farther down into darkness, farther from the oneness with God that He had forever known, all the way to hell - a world and a dimension apart from everything He created. He was the farthest away from God He'd ever been, as far from God as anyone can be - all the while still BEING God.

  But why? What kind of a god does that? No noble Greek god would dare, no pagan deity, no god of imagination, and no god of histories past has endured such an unfathomable low. (Such an unkingly thing showing such weakness!).
But it was in the starless void of light filled with demons and lost souls - when He left the manger, when He had finished what He had set out for, when He was done on the cross, when He was done in Gehennah - then and only then was He done in the tomb. 

  And here is how much He loves us: that He came back again, back to us, back FOR us - while our hearts were full of blackness and hate for Him. We had just turned our backs on Him, just denied Him, just sold Him for 30 pieces of silver, just spat on Him as He walked past with the weight of the world crushing His shoulders. Truly this is the only God who could love the face of a child like me. The only One who WOULD.

  He stepped out of heaven and onto this earth - like a butterfly that crawls back into a cocoon and turns back into a chrysalis. He died to take the sin that is uniquely ours, to let that eternal blackness be nailed to the cross with Him as He suffered in our place - and our rightful place is separation from God. But He did what only a true god could do, what no other god has done - defeated death itself. He came out of that deadly bout as the undefeated champion over my sin and your sin. He left the center of the earth that meant to hold Him and walked back into sunshine; because His name is Emmanuel - God with us.

And He is.

Why I Joined A Dead Religion

The man in the white dress was coming around, handing out gifts to the children on their knees. We mixed group of silver-haired saints, sticky faced toddlers, working class stiffs, and menopausal moms.
Some ancient tune being played in the background, the notes brought invisible peace that I didn't know I needed. 
He put the bread in my waiting hand, I took it and ate.
He gave me red wine, I took it and drank.

Nothing changed - but everything had.
So I got up, gave a slight bow, and as I walked away from the portal and back to my seat I said to myself, "THAT is why I joined a dead religion."

Dead. 
That's what I always thought. That's what I was always told.
Any stodgy church that doesn't have a rockin' band is dead. Any church that isn't growing is dead. Any church that limits the Holy Spirit is dead. Any church without a youth group is dead. Any church without a coffee shop is dead. Any church that's older than 50 years is dead. 
Why on earth would I ever want to be set foot in a rotting graveyard like that?

I'm into "deeds not creeds," ya know? Creeds are for zombies - the dumb moans of spiritless shells. 
Confessions are for the walking dead - lifeless words that can't cast heavenly spells. 
No, none of that ancient garbage is for the "true believer." The time for formulas has come & gone, and we've evolved. We're off the map and we're spirit filled. At least, everyone around me was... 

Don't you know? In a "spirit filled" church, pastors must wear skinny jeans - they all do, you see. They tell funny jokes, give relevant references to the upcoming Star Wars film and can life coach like nobody's business from the stage. Canned messages from sermons.com cast a vision from heaven and all the good little lemmings will jump off the cliff together. 

Hipster Pastor has the Words of Life but never uses them, doesn't even know what to do with them except throw out a nugget here or there, but mostly keeps them shut in that book of red letters. Then like the performer that he is, he skillfully turns the mirror on you and there you are; kind of happy about it because you love yourself most of all. Only it's not the squeaky clean image everyone around you sees; no, it's your blackened self, your zombie self. Then he throws a sprinkling of magic words about a Jewish guy and something about a cross and tells you how to repay that holy man for what He's done because you suck so bad and He deserves your best. He tells you to have fun with that and slips away as the words fall to the floor and Hipster Band takes over the room, the lights go down and the smoke machine winds up.

Worship repeats the word "I" a thousand times over so God knows we mean it, so we know how important we are, so we FEEL so we know. Tears must stream down cheeks and bodies must sway while hands touch the sky - it's a sure sign you're really in it. Maybe if you cry that Jewish man will know you're really scared and confused and don't know what the hell you're doing, and maybe THEN He'll hear your prayers and tip towards your tears. But no.

First the plates must be passed and records will be checked for faithfulness - so don't forget, your faith shows through painful giving. You can't cheat God and He's always watching. Fork it over and you'll be blessed. Then that Jewish man will come closer so you don't have to reach out over the edge where all the other lemmings just went.

Then speak languages only angels understand - you must if you are true; if you don't you are not one of us. Make it up, mumble something, anything, slippery words so they all think you can and don't notice when you can't. They'll keep coming back, keep pressing their otherworldly hands on your body to make you morph with them, make you talk like them, make you join their club. So just whisper your prayers; they'll see your mouth moving and it will make them happy, and they'll go away and leave you to tears you want no one to see. God gives it to them, but not to you. They speak His language, but you don't. The pain goes down to infinity and up to eternity. 

Next, give your time, your talents, your everything because Someone gave everything - that Jewish man who haunts you - it's the least you can do and it's not nearly enough. Give your attention, your heart, your soul, your gifts, all you are and more. Pray more, get on your knees, get in that prayer closet you heathen; there's still 23 hours in the day and you can't remember everything you forgot, be diligent and get it all out in fresh new words every time.  

Stuck in the Matrix. Stuck knowing there's two worlds and not knowing which one is real or which one you should be in. What are those red letters? How to even know what they mean? I know they must mean something. How to hear Him speak, see His face, feel Him near, know He loves, and even maybe forgiveness for the twisty monster in the mirror? Is He even real? Is any of this real? I don't hear the voices, speak the tongues, see the visions - maybe I'm not real... 

The smoke machines, the angels overhead and demons at your back, the weight is too heavy, skinny jeans & skits, money & music, slain in the Spirit, drunk in the Spirit, ecstasy all around & I can't fall down, swirling water a symbol of grace, a Saltine symbol of a Jew I once knew, grape juice symbol of blood once spilled. Spirits and saints, gold dust from heaven, purpose and destiny that I can't figure out. There's not enough tears, not enough reaching, not enough asking - it's always for someone else and just out of reach. I just want to give up and make the spinning stop. 

STOP.

I passed it by a hundred times, never paying any attention; a little building with stained glass windows and a sign about a potluck.
LCMS. What is that anyway? Some kind of cult, probably. But I might look it up, can't hurt to try. 

A week later and we go in, sniff the air suspiciously. 
Little old ladies with polyester jackets, an off-key organ making me cringe, kids crying at inopportune times, burnt coffee, songs I don't know, stand up, sit down, I have no idea what's going on. This is not what I expected, and yet it is. 
And I love it. I LOVE IT.

I am told about that Jewish guy, and His name is Jesus. He is the Red Letters. He is the Word.
I am told who I am to Him, that yes I am a blackened sinner but He loves me anyway. He knew I was the walking dead heading towards the cliff, so He got on a cross to rescue me. He died, then He was gone. GONE. 
And He took my sins with Him when He went. 
Then He came back. And I am a saint - because He said I am, not because of what I do or say or think or feel. I'm a saint because He is who He said He is and He did what He said He'd do.

I hear the man in the white dress reading the red letters - all of them, all the time. He tells me what they mean; they are about Jesus - all of them. The Red Letters are the Words of Life and He is the Word. And He is in the words from the very beginning - ALL of the words are Red Letters and He is in them all because they are all about Him. All of them.

And so I take the bread and take the wine, and Jesus is there because He said He is. And I am forgiven and I am free because He said I am. 

I do not have to wonder, don't need to muster tears, fake whispers to angels or cast demons from the past, no praying out sins I can't even recall or giving till it hurts, or anything at all. 

So what do I have to do? Nothing - absolutely nothing. The Red Letters say it's HIS work that I believe in Him, so there's nothing left for me to do.
Nothing.  Because He knows I can't anyway.
HE saved me in my baptism, in water He washed away the death because He was there. The Red Letters told me.
And HE saves me in the bread and wine, and brings new life because He is there. The Red Letters told me.
And HE comes to me in that book, every black & scarlet word between the covers because He is there. The Red Letters told me.

The man in the white dress came around, handing out the gifts of God to the this child on her knees. I didn't have a vision, didn't speak a language of angels, didn't even think to ask. And yet there He was - right there, giving me everything because He loves.
He put the bread in my waiting hand; I took it and ate. Jesus is the Bread of Life.
He gave me red wine; I took it and drank. Jesus' blood shed for me.

Forgiven. 
Free. 
Real. 
The Red Letters told me.

Then I got up, gave a slight bow out of respect for the Holy of Holies, and as I walked back to my seat I said to myself, "THAT is why I joined a dead religion."

Love God, Love People. Sounds great... right?

   We've all heard this one, right? When pressed by the Pharisees for an answer to, "what is the greatest commandment in the Law," Jesus answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

   Of course you've heard it, and what a great goal! We've surely all been taught that THIS is how we are to be as Christians; to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies first and foremost, above all - followed by loving our neighbor just as much as we love ourselves. I mean, that's what Jesus said, right?

    Sounds fabulous, until you realize that Jesus gave the Pharisees "Law question" a Law answer. He directed them back to the heart of it, which is where they wanted to be and what they were questioning Him about.

    The Greatest Commandment is just that; a Commandment. It puts us right back under the crushing weight of the Old Testament and those constraints we thought we're all free of and happily deny in our lives as Christians.

    But we are physically and spiritually incapable of loving God the way Jesus commanded. At least, I am anyway. Maybe you're better at this than me. In any given day I fall completely short of that mark - I sin - (which is an old archery term for "missing the bullseye.") As much as I TRY to love God with all of my heart & soul & mind, I don't REALLY love him that way in actuality. And as much as I TRY to love my neighbor as much as I love myself, I can't. And I don't. And then I feel guilty, and then I feel like a bad Christian, and then I wonder what's wrong with me. And I eventually want to give up because I can never get that "love God and love people" thing right.

    So there you go. I do not fulfill what Jesus answered to them, because I am simply incapable of fulfilling the Law. Why? Because I am weak, I am selfish, and I am a sinner - and I'm quite good at those things.

    And then I have to ask; why on earth would Jesus do that? Why would he lay the Law right on us? On me? The greatest thing He said to do is "love God and love people" and I fail miserably at it.

    Ah, but there is hope. (And I need to remind myself of this every day, every hour). The next thing Jesus says when He turns to the crowds of people and his disciples is about the Pharisees and is what always gets left out of a "love God and love people" message. (Conveniently, because those messages usually involve an "activation" of serving the church's vision or a giving of money somehow). In Matthew 23, Jesus completely shreds the Pharisees publicly for putting the people under the Laws and not keeping them themselves, and He unloads both guns. He unleashes the Seven Woes on them for burdening the people with the Laws that no human being (other than Himself) is capable of keeping.

    It may make you think twice next time you hear that catchy "Love God and Love People" phrase; it's everywhere in American Christianity, and very trendy these days. Check out just about any evangelical church's website anywhere in the country and you'll see some variation of it on their home page as a welcoming invitation. It's a constant theme in contemporary Christian songs, and for visual reference just go to Pinterest and search the phrase.

    Sounds very spiritual to love God first and your neighbor like yourself - pretty noble, actually. Until you realize that it's a LAW. And not just any Law - thee GREATEST Law. So don't mess that one up, man. Because once you subject yourself to it, you are condemned by it. As the disciple James says, "whoever keeps the law but fails in one point has become accountable to all of it." Ouch.

    This truly is the essential problem we could never fix on our own. It's the very Law that requires the sacrifice of a million doves beyond your reach. It's the Law that condemns us with our fallen reflection and sends us to hell for not measuring up to God's standard. It's the singular reason why Jesus willingly stepped out of eternal heaven onto this dying earth.

    In Galatians Paul addresses the church about this very thing of keeping the Law, and he reminds them that, "It is for freedom (from the Law) that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

    Keep in mind that anything that you do is law, but anything that Jesus does is grace. Remember WHO is doing the work when you're loving God and when you're loving your neighbor.

    So yes, I will love God, but only because God Himself gives me the faith for even that, since I'm incapable of it on my own. 

And I will fail at loving him as fully as He is worthy and deserving of, but I will ask forgiveness and will be given grace. 

And yes, I will love my neighbor, but I will also fail at that - at what I didn't do, at what I did do, and at what I didn't do well enough. But my neighbors need my good helps anyway, and I will ask forgiveness for my shortcomings and know that God has mercy and patience for me and my measly works.

    In the end I will love God and love people, but not because I have to, but because I get to. Not because of a commandment put on me by a well-meaning church to do so; I will do it under the grace Christ gives because HE first loved me.