3 Three B’s of Christianity and how they get mixed up.
In the last few weeks the Lord has led us through the difference between the old and the new covenant and how the old was a covenant based on performance.
Lots of do’s and don’ts.
Most people don’t like to be told what to do.
It robs them of their personal power.
However, there are those who like it because they don’t have to take responsibility for making choices or for their actions (Although, I would argue they are still 100% responsible for their actions, but that’s another sermon. )
Anyway, for many of us being told what to do is a “Hot Spot.”
For me, at times it’s NUCLEAR.
I have to restrain myself from jumping onto those that make those demands.
Seriously, every cell in my body wants to scream and lay hands on them!
Don’t tell me what to do!!!”
And, I’m even more volatile when people tell me I can’t do something, when I know good and well that I can.
Nothing gets me to doing it faster.
My mind starts to race, “Well, we’ll see about that.”
“Oh yes I can!
Who says I can’t do that?
You and whose army says I can’t?”
“You aren’t the boss of me!!!”
I believe one of the greatest problems in the church is that the church has been playing God and placing all these rules and regulations on people to make them conform to the mold that they perceive as a being a Christian.
There are a couple of things I want to address this morning in this message.
One: We’ve shared this before but it is a good place to start today.
We need to let God convict of sin.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
The problem that I see is that the church is condemning people for their sins.
We take the phrase: Hate the sin, love the sinner, and use it basically to condemn the actions of those that we feel are not doing right.
But the scriptural reasoning behind this phrase is unclear.
Jesus never asked us to “Love the sinner, hate the sin” and neither did any other Biblical writer.
The clearest use of this phrase actually derives from Mahatma Gandhi (Buddhist) in his 1929 autobiography: “Hate the sin and not the sinner.” But Gandhi’s full statement has a bit different flavor: “Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.”
Gandhi rightly observed that it is difficult - perhaps impossible - to see someone else firstly as a “sinner” and to focus on “hating their sin” without developing some level of disdain for the person.
Perhaps this is why Jesus did not ask us to love “sinners” but to love “neighbors” and “enemies.”
I think Jesus knew that if he commanded his disciples to ‘love the sinner,’ they would begin looking at other people more as sinners than neighbors.
And that, inevitably, would lead to judgment.
If I love you more as a sinner than as my neighbor, then I am bound to focus more on your sin.
I will start looking for all the things that are wrong with you.
And perhaps, without intending it, I will be thinking about our relationship like this:
“You are a sinner, but I graciously choose to love you anyway.”
If that sounds a little puffed up, self-righteous, and even prideful to you, then you have perceived accurately.
Spend two minutes talking to almost anyone outside the Christian faith and you’re almost certain to hear a list of complaints they have about Christians.
The problem has been around awhile.
As Mahatma Ghandi famously (and sadly) said: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
He’s not alone.
The problem with many non-Christians isn’t that they don’t know any Christians.
The challenge is they do.
So what gives?
Many Christians would tell you we have an image problem: we’re treated unfairly, we’re being persecuted, or we’re just badly misunderstood.
I’m not so sure.
It’s not so much that Christians have an image problem.
It’s far more likely that we have an integrity problem.
Do we get misunderstood on some issues?
Of course.
But that’s outside our control.
There are more than a few issues entirely within our control that give us a bad name with people outside Christianity.
Here are 3 things Christians do that non-Christians despise.
1. Judge
It doesn’t take long for non-Christians to tell you how much they hate the way Christians judge other people.
Two minutes on social media will reveal Christians and preachers condemning unchurched people for their sexual habits and preferences, life-style choices and even political views.
I doubt this is what Jesus had in mind when he gave his life in love for the world.
Disclosure: without the mercy and intervention of Christ, We are very judgmental.
Christians need to realize how devastating judgment and criticism can be to others.
So I’m waging a life-long battle against it.
I realized years ago that very few people get judged into a life change.
“If you don’t change your going to Hell!”
Far more get loved into it.
It also occurred to me that the presence of judgment almost always guarantees an absence of love.
Think about it through the lens of your marriage, a friendship or even someone you work with: it is virtually impossible to love someone and judge someone at the same time.
But wait, you ask: what if they’re making a mistake and I need to correct them?
First of all, look at your mistakes and the depth of your sin, and deal with your issues first.
Matt. 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
In the process, you’ll encounter a loving God who forgives you despite your sin.
And having been loved, you can love others.
I try to remember this rule: If I’m judging someone, I’m not loving them.
You can’t judge someone and love them at the same time.
What would happen if Christians stopped judging the world (isn’t that God’s job?) and started loving it instead?
I believe that’s what Jesus did.
The Church has developed a code of ethics that allows them to PREJUDGE people that come through the door, and it goes like this.
I’ll call them the 3B’s
In your bulletin are Behave, Belong and Believe.
In essence, these three words help us think of the flow of our journey to being a Christian.
First, write down what order the church teaches the 3 B’s in.
Most people would place them as: Believe, Behave, and Belong.
Why did you place them in that order, were you taught that order.
The idea goes something like this: First, I had to believe in Jesus, as God’s Son.
In the tradition that I found myself, I had to say a special prayer to receive God and call myself a Christian.
The notion of believing revolved around the mental acknowledgement of Jesus, God’s Son, who died for my sins to reconcile man to God.
For man had separated himself through sin in the Garden of Eden.
I also had to believe in a virgin birth, that anyone that didn’t ask ‘Jesus into their hearts’ were doomed to an eternal resting place called Hell.
What was unwritten was that being a Christian meant that I couldn’t like those ‘evil’ people out there in the world—most notably the homosexual community, democrats and other religions.
What is often the dominant voice in the Christian church is a voice that is marked by radical exclusion rather than radical inclusion.
The behavior that is exampled is one that creates winners/losers; good/evil; and conformity to a narrow list of do’s and don’ts.
I hope that in this message we can see a larger vision in which all are invited and we live within a win/win economy of grace!
In the typical structure, one does not belong until the right beliefs are known/proclaimed which ought to shape our behavior and keep us from ‘sin’.
Once the test of being a good Christian is revealed, then we are welcomed into the final B- Belonging.
In fact, I have discovered that this system creates highly legalistic and moralistic behaviors that make it easy to belong without ever having to face the junk of our lives and change!
Now, to be fair, there are many deeply God-loving, world-changing people who live this belief system.
They have listened well to sermons and want nothing more than to please God and be a faithful Christian.
The challenge for us is to see Jesus’ order and ask whether or not we are living in the same way!
So, put your seatbelt on…we’re going for a ride!
The entry door into our faith is belief.
Yet, when we take a long read and look at Jesus, he begins from a different place.
When I study Jesus’ discipleship method I see a reversal of our common approach of “behave, believe, belong” to “belong, believe, and behave.” In the context of belonging, our beliefs and behaviors begin to change as we become more like Christ.
Mark’s Gospel is a great place to start as it is believed to be the earliest Gospel written (and it is short!).
So, open to Mark 1. We have John preaching about being ready for the one to come, Jesus’ baptism and temptation, Jesus announcing his core message and then, an invitation.
Mark 1:16-20. New International Version (NIV)
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.
20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
What B is he exercising?
Yes, the B is Belong!
He invites people first to belong by inviting them into his community.
He doesn’t say to them, believe in me and then come follow; instead, he says, come follow!
He doesn’t have a test of what they know or cognitively believe, does he?
Instead, he asks them if they are willing!
Are they willing to come and follow, to belong?
This was not the first meeting of Jesus with these disciples.
John 1: 35 Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
39 He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
40 One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
41 He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
These were people that were looking for truth.
The irony of Jesus and the culture of his time is that he goes outside of the religious circle of the pious and good, and is often found among those deemed ‘sinners.’
Why is that?
In the first century, the religious codes alienated those that were deemed sinful.
They would be isolated from their community and their greatest need was a sense of belonging!
As with the many healing miracles—these people were outcasts, alone and needing the power of community in their own lives.
There are many groups today that Christians don’t associate with but, as I studied these scriptures, I learned that Jesus didn’t exclude anyone!
He welcomed the religious as well as the ‘sinners’ (all other groups of that time).
He ate with them, answered their questions, taught them, and even healed them.
How on earth did the Church miss that?
Jesus loves Republicans and Democrats; the straight and the gay; the young and the aged; the men and women; the variety of ethnic groups; the earth and creation.
His behavior is always marked by inclusion!
Our beliefs must reflect the fullness of the Jesus experience.
I’ve always had a saying, “You Can’t Reach Them By Pushing Them Away.”
We must see Jesus as one who has a radically different starting point in which he reveals to us the very heart of God.
The starting point is wholeness and inclusion.
Through our encounter with God, in the person of Jesus, our beliefs must abound with grace, love, forgiveness, compassion, and truth-telling.
So, Jesus’ first B is Belonging.
We are invited into the community in order to grow into who God intended us to be!
Belonging can make such an impact in your life, What impact has belonging had in your life?
At Church?
On a team?
Within a family?
And when you didn’t feel that you belonged, what was that like?
If we follow Jesus closely, we discover that those invited ones are eyewitnesses to the healing, teaching and miracle ministry of Jesus.
They are given front row seats to watch, learn and experience what Jesus was doing.
They become, in the language of our faith, disciples.
A disciple is a ‘student.’
In essence, they are being mentored by Jesus himself!
In Luke’s Gospel, there is a profound moment.
2. Believe
By being with Jesus they have started their belief system. I’m not saying that they have it all down, just to the point that they need a life change.
It is at this point where in the church they become part of what is going on and as the Holy Spirit moves and they are affected, their lives are affected and they accept Jesus as their Savior and begin the road of discipleship.
When we read through the Gospels, the belief in Jesus is the outgrowth of the experience of belonging with Jesus.
3. The final B is that of Behave.
As we have an encounter with God our lives are transformed.
Our behavior automatically changes.
Like most mentor/mentee relationships, it isn’t until after the experience that we begin to put ideas (beliefs) about what we experienced.
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Luk 9:1 And having called together His twelve disciples, He gave them power and authority over all the demons, and to heal diseases.
Luk 9:2 And He sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God, and to heal the ones being sick.
Luk 9:3 And He said to them, Take nothing for the way, neither staffs, nor moneybags, nor bread, nor silver, nor each to have two tunics.
Luk 9:4 And into whatever house you enter, remain there, and go out from there.
Luk 9:5 And as many as may not receive you, going out from that city even shake off the dust from your feet, for a testimony against them.
Luk 9:6 And going out, they passed through the villages, having announced the gospel, and healing everywhere.
What is the mentor doing?
He is inviting them to
Behave or become like him by going out and doing what they have witnessed!
They have been living with Jesus, learning from him and having a sense of
Belonging, their belief system is changing on a daily basis and as their belief system changes so does their actions.
Jesus’ mentorship has led them to the point in which he empowers them to go and do what they have experienced.
Jesus had more than just the twelve who were following him.
He must have had quite a following, as we are reminded in Acts, because when they had to select a disciple to replace Judas, they had many to pick from.
In Luke 10, we see Jesus expanding the circle of those invited to behave like him.
In this chapter, he now sends out seventy-two to behave like Jesus!
They return rejoicing, for they have been able to behave like Jesus!
At Delta Praise Center, our vision is to ‘Embody Christ!’
What does that mean?
We behave like Jesus.
We learn from Jesus our teacher by reading and studying these scriptures.
Through our encounter with the Jesus narratives, we then allow the Spirit to shape
our perceptions and actions throughout our lives.
We have a profound advantage over those first disciples...we know how the story ends!
What they are living by the moment, we have recorded.
They are walking into each day blind of the deeper meaning of Jesus’ predictions of death; the proclamation of the Temple being torn down and rebuilt in three days (Jesus’ body); of the impact of a narrative to go into all the world to make disciples.
And there you have it —Belong, Believe, and Behave.
You belong with God, for God is always calling to you, ‘Come, follow me!’
It isn’t that God is waiting until you are good enough, or know the right things about God, or have even learned the Christian language and belief structures.
God calls out to you right where you are!
When you jump into belonging, we are mentored by Jesus, the one who reveals the heart of God.
Perhaps the oldest statement of faith is worth another look.
Read Philippians 2:1-11. May the Spirit of Christ dwell deep within you today as you follow him!
