The Church of the Exclusionary

The Church of the Exclusionary translasion of Philippians 2:3-4...
Do most of what you do out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, and seriously, do not consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look to your own interests. Others will figure it out in due time.

Or Romans 14...
Shun contact with fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—in particular when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, you have a religious institution to protect. Treat them harshly.

Or Colossians 4:5-6...
Be ungracious in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of truth, seasoned with harshness, so that everyone has the answers to the questions you want them to ask.

Well, what do you think? Is it the responsibility of the un-churched to adapt to our sub-culture or is it the responsibility of the mature believer/church to adapt to the un-churched? Sometimes we get it backwards don't we? All we really have to do is seek him first and then all the other stuff will be given us.

Obedient vs Success

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to be a great Christian leader?"

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good except God alone. You know the requirements: cast the vision, motivate people to pursue it, mobilize them efficiently, strategically guide their efforts, and develop the resources necessary to fulfill the vision."

"Teacher, " he declared, "all these I have done since I have been a leader."

Jesus looked at him and loved him. "On thing you lack," he said. "Change your philosophy of leadership from achieving success to being obedient, and you will truly be useful to your Father in heaven."

At this the man's face fell. He went away because he had great success in leadership.

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the leaders of this world to lead in ways that honor God."

From, A FISH out of WATER by George Barna

Margin of Error

Three-word-phrases that make little sense to me include, "Some Assembly Required", "Selling Like Hotcakes", and of course, "Margin of Error."

www.robertniles.com seems to break down the meaning of "margin of error" for me a little. Unfortunately I'm not a mathematician so I can't seem to grasp the concept for long. Like picking up ice cubes I spilled on the kitchen floor this morning with wet hands, I have to concentrate and go slowly and even then I'm bound to have some slip through my fingers.

The phrase has got me thinking though... What's the margin of error in your life? A four-percent margin of error might mean that 95 times out of a 100 you react to challenges in life within four points of what the right answer is. Hmmm... What if your margin of error is bigger? What if you're further away from the right answer? Furthermore, what if your confidence level is lower?

The complex (I know, some would say simple) mathematical equations we've come up with to determine polling accuracy make me wonder about how complex our equations would have to be regarding questions of eternal significance. Like, how good do you have to be in order to have an authentic relationship with a perfect God? If your responses to situations, tests and issues in life determine your ability to bring heaven on earth and give eternal heaven how often do you need to respond correctly... 25, 65, 95%? You would probably concede that no one responds perfectly 100% of the time so... let's pick a number... 80%. Let's say that in order to be in a right relationship with the Creator one needs to come in at around an 80% correct response rate, what makes up the last 20%?

What makes up the difference?

Better yet, who makes up the difference?

Playstation 2 Incites African War?

Gaming Blood Diamonds

So, how do you respond to this?
Is it out of your 'sphere of influence'?
Or is there something practical/helpful that you can do?
What do you think?

Questions lead to Answers lead to Questions

There are questions that need answers. Fortunately answers can be found. But that only presents another set of problems because I've found the best answers always to lead to more and better and deeper and interestinger questions.

I believe Jesus is The Answer.

But sooner or later He leads me to more questions. So, I keep living in the middle of answers and questions... in that shadow thing that Elliot wrote about in "The Hollow Men"... I live there because honestly, where else would I go? (Isnt that what Peter exclaimed? John 6)

I live there also because not having everything explained seems to make some sense. Mystery isn't the absence of meaning it's the presence of meaning too great to understand.

But then there are the things that do make sense to me and here's one that keeps me hanging around Jesus... He's the only religious leader to talk about sin and claim to be the remedy for sin. Other religions offer enlightenment, habits, karma, reincarnation, rules, the law and other belief systems in order to make up for my deficiency. Jesus is the only one who said to me, "Hey, you have a problem that is way worse than anything you could dream up and it's not going to change by trying harder. It's only going to change by letting me pay the price. And I will. Because I love you more than anything you can imagine." (that's me paraphrasing what Jesus said in the NT) He's the only one in history who ever said anything like that.

Something like that is just crazy enough to believe.

Random Question of the Day

Speaking of random questions, I was at the grocery store today and asked the checkout lady what was the most amount of money any customer had spent at her register. She said, "800.00" and then added, "there was a lot of alcohol". I didn't ask if she meant there was a lot of alcohol purchased or if there was a lot of alcohol consumed before the purchase. Maybe both.