But when we’re under pressure you and I, just the smallest thing can set us off, right?

So … how do we get our anger under control?

Slow Down

The secret to getting your anger under control is, quite simply, slowing down. For me, that’s easier said than done.

I’m one of these people who doesn’t do anything slowly. Because I like getting lots of things done, I generally do things at speed. I walk quickly. I want to drive quickly. In fact I consciously have to slow myself down and stop myself from weaving in and out of the traffic.

I think quickly. Sometimes I even talk quickly. 

And one of the other things that I used to do very quickly for much of my life, was getting angry. Just the slightest littlest thing would set me off. In fact of all the weaknesses in my makeup, the one thing more than any other that I had to learn to get under control was my anger. (So I’m speaking now as a practitioner rather than a theoretician!)

Here’s the thing I discovered – it’s an important truth:  the quicker we are to anger, the more often we’re going to get angry because there;s no shortage of opportunities for flying of the handle.

I had a problem, and I had to do something about it. Fortunately for me (and for you) there’s power in God’s Word!

So what do we do about it?

This is what God has to say about anger (yours and mine):

One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city. (Prov 16:32)

Those are to pretty high statements. Let’s take a look at them.

The first part – one who is slow to anger is better than the mighty – or perhaps another way of saying it is that one who is slow to anger is more mighty than the mightiest. Why?

Because when we learn to be slow to anger, we become a blessing to the people around us. What a pleasure it is to be around someone who almost never gets angry. Exactly what does it mean to be slow to anger? Quite simply this. 

Of all the opportunities we have to get angry each day – 99.9% of them simply aren’t worth the effort, are they?! So when we let those ones pass us by. And when we do that – when we make a conscious decision not to get angry about those silly little things – what people see when they look at us, is someone who is slow to anger.

They see someone who is mighty enough, to control their anger. Which brings us to the second part of that proverb:

One whose temper is controlled, is better than someone who captures a whole city.

Why? Because someone whose temper is under control, will capture people’s respect and allegiance without any bloodshed.  That makes them better than a mighty warrior who can take a whole city through brute force.

And the Good News is … You Don’t Have to Go It Alone

Bringing our anger under control can be a herculean task for some of us – but God doesn’t expect us to do it on our own. I believe with all my heart that as you receive His Word today, the power of His Spirit is going to begin a mighty work in you.  

You and I – we’re blessed in Christ to be a blessing. And each temper tantrum avoided, each angry outburst averted is going to be a huge blessing to someone out there – not the least of all, to us.

And that’s what happens when we let the Spirit of God write His Word on our hearts. That’s what happens when we give the Holy Spirit sway in our hearts. He does the heavy lifting for us. Hallelujah!!!

This is Where the Rubber Hits the Road

So … what about you? What about your life? What are the things that set you off and make you angry? What are the triggers, if you will?

Is it someone driving their car out in front of you and pushing in? Is it something someone says or does, or doesn’t say or doesn’t do? What’s the one thing more than any other that sets you off?

And think about this – the next time that it happens, what are you going to do about it? How are you going to respond differently so that you have your anger and your temper under control?

May the Word of Christ dwell richly in you so that the next time you have the opportunity to get angry the Spirit would bring this Word to life in you:

One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and one whose temper is controlled than one who captures a city. 

Okay, so in a fallen world, some conflict is inevitable. That may well be true. But it seems to me that 99% of it is both unnecessary and avoidable. So here’s one smart way for avoiding unnecessary arguments. 

How Arguments Start … and Escalate

When imperfect people rub up against one another in a home or a workplace or a shop or wherever … then from time to time, you can be pretty sure that sparks are going to fly.

So let me ask you this. The last time you were confronted by a potential conflict – big or small, doesn’t matter – how did you react? At that point where there was the potential for this thing to escalate or to go away – what did you do?

Here’s how most of us react most of the time.

Why did you do that? Why did you say that? How could you think that? You’re an idiot … 

We say it, we shout it … or we just think it and our body language says it all! But in that critical moment, our reaction escalates the conflict. That’s how arguments start.

And as the argument goes on and each party ratchets up the rhetoric … that’s how relationships are ruined. That’s how marriages fall apart. That’s how murders happen. That’s how wars begin.

At some point, it was nothing much – but then we just had to come out punching, even when (as is the case in pretty much 99% of situations) it simply wasn’t worth it (am I right?).

Look at it from that perspective and you can start to see how absolutely crazy this step of escalation is. We do it without thinking. We do it out of pride or whatever and bang – it’s on for young and old. We’re off and racing folks – and it’s just not much fun.

So I’m going to share with you right now the secret of how you can be a blessing right at that ignition point. Are you ready?

An Age Old Secret

The secret lies buried in a book that was written – oh, about 3,000 years ago, by a very wise old King called Solomon. Here it is:

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Prov 15:1)

At the critical flash point of a conflict, our most natural response is the second half of that proverb – it’s to give a harsh word which will (absolutely 100% of the time) stir up anger. Do you see? That’s the anatomy of the escalation.

Until that angry response, there was no argument. There was only the potential for an argument.

But we just have to open our mouths, even when it’s simply not worth it. We have to give a harsh response and that’s what causes the argument.

The alternative response lies in the first part of the proverb – it’s the soft answer. Why? Because almost always, the soft answer turns away the wrath. It averts the conflict. The soft response is like the shock absorbers in your car – it smooths out the ride.

No Victims Please

At this point you may be thinking – But hang on, I don’t want to be a victim. I don’t want to be someone else’s door mat where they walk all over me every time. That’s crazy. But I’m not talking about that. That’s not what the proverb says.

Actually, it takes a very secure person, a mature person, a wise person to give a soft answer that turns away someone else’s wrath, when that someone has done something to annoy them.

First, we have to have our own anger under control and second, we need the wisdom to know that if there is an issue that needs dealing with here, then we’re much more likely to deal with it effectively and get the response and the result that we’re looking for in an environment free from argument, than in a situation of anger and conflict that we ourselves have stirred up.

And whilst your adversary may never appreciate what a blessing you were by giving a soft answer to turn away their wrath, instead of a harsh word that stirs their anger – you’ll know. You’ll know what an incredible blessing you’ve been in that place – by avoiding a conflict that really, never needed to happen in the first place.

Being a shock absorber hurts sometimes. Peace inevitably comes at a price. But it’s worth it in the end.

Time for a Change?

The other day on twitter I picked up this quote from Dr Tayo Adeyemi in the UK – it really caught my eye:

You are either a blessing or a burden; an asset or a liability; a problem solver or a problem. Your choice!

And that got me thinking through all the people I know. It was really easy to categorise them either on one side of that ledger or the other. I’m imagining you’d be able to do the same.

So then, I began to imagine a world in which more of us became assets rather than liabilities. In fact – call me crazy – imagine a world where everyone is an asset and no one is a liability. Just imagine how different this world would be.

Of course, you and I can’t change every one of the 7+ billion people on the planet. But there is one person we can change. Ourselves!

On Balance – Which One Are You?

I wonder if you consider yourself for a moment, on balance – are you a blessing or a burden to the people around you. An asset or a liability. A problem solver … or a problem?  

The Apostle Paul, sitting on death row in a Roman dungeon, wrote this to his friends in Philippi:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. (Phil 2:3,4)

It’s an exhortation to be a blessing instead of a burden.

Imagine a land locked sea like the Dead Sea for instance, where all the rivers flow in, but none of them flow out. The only way the water gets out is through evaporation by the heat of the sun. And the reason it’s called the Dead Sea is because there’s so much salt in it that nothing can live in it’s water.

Our selfishness is like the Dead Sea. We want everything to flow inward towards us – we want others to be a blessing to us, we want circumstances to favour us, we want, we want, we want …

It’s all about the direction of the flow of the blessing. Many a man’s life, many a woman’s life (writes  S.D Gordon) is just like the circumference of that Dead Sea. When everything flows inwards … it’s dead. And by experience you and I know that that’s true. 

A Transformed Life – From Liability to Asset

Paul addresses both sides of this equation in that short passage we just read.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but instead … look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

In other words stop living your life trying to be blessed all the time, and start blessing others. Turn the direction of the flow from inwards, to outwards.

And then as evidence of the fact that this radically different approach really works, he goes on to cite the prime example; the most obvious example. In the very next breath he says:

Think of yourselves the way Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honoured him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honour of God the Father. (Phil 2:5–11)

In other words the answer is in being a blessing instead of a burden; an asset instead of a liability; a problem solver instead of a problem. It’s about a complete, fundamental, 180 degree change in direction from inward, to outward. 

So, you are either a blessing or a burden; an asset or a liability; a problem solver or a problem.

Your choice!

But God didn’t create you or me, to feel like that. He didn’t create you and me to be the Ugly Duckling. No. He has a much better plan for our lives than that.

Much better.

Here’s a seven and a half-minute video of a real-life, Ugly Duckling story. With all my heart, I implore you to watch it. It’ll blow you away. Guaranteed! 

Gobsmacking wasn’t it? Go on, tell me you didn’t get a tear in your eye over that one. 

Why? Because we’ve all been that Ugly Duckling. You have. I have.

So here are the 4 Steps to overcoming … “Ugly Duckling Syndrome”.

1. When People Scorn You, Simply Don’t Believe Them

At last the large egg broke, and a young one crept forth crying, “Peep, peep.” It was very large and ugly … “Let him alone,” said the mother; “he is not doing any harm.”

“Yes, but he is so big and ugly,” said the spiteful duck “and therefore he must be turned out.”

“The others are very pretty children,” said the old duck, with the rag on her leg, “all but that one; I wish his mother could improve him a little.” …

And so they made themselves comfortable; but the poor duckling, who had crept out of his shell last of all, and looked so ugly, was bitten and pushed and made fun of, not only by the ducks, but by all the poultry.

- Hans Christian Andersen

2.  Believe What God Says About You Instead

All too often, comparing ourselves with others, listening to the criticisms of others – is like looking at your image in one of those distorted mirrors we used to see down in the side-show alleys when we were kids. It doesn’t give us a true image of who we are.

What does God have to say about you? Simple really. It’s straight out of His Word.

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me,when none of them as yet existed.

How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end —I am still with you. (Psalm 139:13-18)

3.  Know that You Were Made with a Clear Purpose In Mind

God didn’t make a mistake when He made you. He exquisitely handcrafted you as a unique creation, wondrously beautiful in His sight. You are a one of a kind. So precious, that He would send Jesus to die that your sins may be forgiven, and to rise again that you may live a new life. That’s something He is not going to waste. You were definitely, definitely created with a magnificent purpose in mind. Handcrafted for that purpose.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the good works that God prepared beforehand for us to walk into. (Ephesians 2:10)

The Lord your God has put a special gift inside you, with which He plans to bless the rest of us. And He wants you to know that and believe that … today.

4. Discover that Purpose and Live it Out to the Full

We’ve each been made so differently. That’s why comparing ourselves to others is such a crazy thing to do.  There is something that you can do better than anybody else you know. There’s something you enjoy doing so much, but perhaps you’ve been squeezed into the world’s mould, and forced to be a duckling instead of a swan.

Even though you are … you always were … you were created to be … a swan.

All your life you’ve been dreaming a dream. It’s time to live it.

All your life there’s been a song in your heart. It’s time to sing it.

All your life, there’s been this special gift from God inside you. It’s time to use it. 

It’s time to be the you that God made you to be.

The Ugly Duckling Finally Discovers the Truth

But what did he see in the clear stream below? His own image; no longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan.

To be born in a duck’s nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s egg.

- Hans Christian Andersen

We’d love to be living a powerful, exciting  life in His service, but …

The Big But

… all too often, the desire to live out our own, private-label, me-centric, comfortable brand of Christianity takes over, because deep down, that’s what our human nature is really looking for, right? Now I’ve been looking for comfortable Christianity in my Bible. Believe you me I’ve been looking. I’ve read my Bible cover to cover many a time, but I still can’t find it anywhere. 

You and I – we want things to be predictable, safe and comfortable. It’s only natural. If we’re to go on a journey, then we’d like to travel the most direct route from A to B – preferably flying business class thank you very much.

But that’s simply not what Jesus promised:

I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world! (John 16:33)

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9:23,24)

And the reason that many a Christ follower hasn’t discovered their destiny, is because they haven’t been prepared to step out of their comfort zone.

Walking on the Glass Floor

A few years ago, some dear friends of ours in Canada – Bob & Wendy Beasley – took us to the CN Tower in Toronto, which was, at the time, the tallest free-standing tower in the world. There’s a viewing platform which stands 342 metres (1,122 feet) above the ground. 

And yes, you guessed it, there’s a glass floor for you to walk on. Well, that’s just about one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. Not because it was dangerous – it wasn’t. Turns out that the glass floor is 5 times stronger than the concrete floor.

But because walking on a glass floor 342 metres above the ground is downright unnatural, it took me about 20 minutes to step out of my comfort zone and onto the glass floor. And looking down at the ground way, way, way down there was downright scary.

Stepping out of our comfort zone is always scary – especially, if there happens to be a storm raging around us (as there so often is).

Walking on Water

That’s what Peter discovered, when he and the other eleven disciples were caught in a storm, in a small fishing boat, out on the Sea of Galilee.  

… by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.“

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matt 14:24-31)

There’s never a good time to step out of the boat – especially not in the middle of a storm. But the old Pete didn’t wait for the storm to cease. Evidently, deep in his heart of hearts, he figured that it was going to be safer out there walking on the stormy sea with Jesus, than cowering in a sinking boat with his friends. 

So he asked Jesus to call him – and when the call came, off he went. Simple as that. 

What about You?

If you’ve been struggling to discover your destiny – then instead of sitting there in the boat, I want to encourage you today to cry out to Jesus from the midst of the storm – and when you hear His call – as ill time, as crazy and as unnatural it may at first appear – I want to encourage you to step out of your comfort zone.

Because that … that’s where you’ll discover your destiny.

Oh …. and if right now you’re thinking But God could never use me … if right now you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and thinking … But I’m so plain and ordinary … and if you’re looking around at your circumstances thinking … Surely God couldn’t do anything here … then think again as you watch this short video …

Apologies for the slightly “beefier” version of Berni in the video – it was shot a few years ago.

These days, you get a lot less Berni for your money!  :-)

If at times it appeared that I could see further than others,
it’s because I’ve stood on the shoulders of giants.

Here are 3 powerful lessons that I learned from a “small giant” in my life.

His Name Is Phil Littlejohn

He was the pastor of a tiny church – the Oyster Bay Christian Church – in the southern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, when I arrived there a broken man, just a few months after giving my life to Jesus in October 1995. Phil had been the pastor there for ages – in fact, he’s only just retired.  

Now Phil is a great and passionate Bible teacher, so I learned a lot from his teaching.

But as is always the case, you can learn so much more from the sermon preached through a man’s life, than you can from the ones he preaches from the pulpit.  So here are the three big lessons I learned by watching Phil live his life:

Lesson 1 – Stickability

Phil used to talk a lot about what he called – stickability. Just hanging in there through thick and thin. Just showing up – whether it felt good, or not. Whether it was convenient, or not.  I don’t know quite how long he pastored that church – must be over 3 decades.

He had it when it was big. He had it when it was small. Some days the people loved him. And some days those whom he’d ministered to, poured his life out for, laughed with and wept with … stabbed him in the back.

Some people love to live out what I call a convenient Christianity.  Do it when it feels good and doesn’t cost you too much. Funny, I’ve been looking for that form of Christianity in my Bible – but I just can’t find it anywhere.  

Yep. The biggest thing I learned from Phil … is stickability. 

Lesson 2 – Humility

Without a doubt, Phil is one of a handful of giants in my life. He had me preaching within months of becoming a Christian. He encouraged me to go to Bible college. He laughed with me and most importantly he wept with me. So much of what I share with millions of people each week through my radio programs, I heard first from him.

In every sense, he is one of the giants upon whose shoulders I stand. But … here’s the paradox.  

He leaves a small footprint. In fact, the bigger the giant, the smaller the footprint.

Phil is, physically, a small man. His surname is Littlejohn. His voice is rather high pitched – by his own admission, not well suited to preaching or teaching. An odd giant indeed. But, it’s not just his physical stature.

If ever there were a man who personified Paul’s command for us not to think more highly of ourselves than we should (Romans 12:3) – it’s Phil.

He genuinely doesn’t care about title, position or reputation. While he’s a strong and effective leader, he seems not to factor himself into the decision making process. He’s interested in building teams and achieving outcomes instead of promoting himself. 

I arrived at the Oyster Bay Christian Church back in 1995 with an ego the size of a small planet. 

Yep – the small footprint of a true giant was the second most important lesson I learned from Phil. 

Lesson 3 – Religiosity (NOT!)

And the third one follows pretty close on its heals. Phil had a very healthy disdain for religiosity. He refused to be called “Reverend”. He refused to be bound by religious traditions. Here was a man with a passion for opening the Word of God, discovering what God was saying to us, sharing it with the flock under his care and living it – to the best abilities – with the life that God had given him, in the place that God had planted him.

I remember when I asked to be baptised. He said “Well, who would you like to baptise you?”

I was shocked - Well you of course! You’re the minister.

What followed was a lesson – there’s nothing in the Bible that says that the ordained minister has to baptise you. In fact, there’s precious little about being an ordained minister at all.

Through that and many other lessons like it, God birthed a passion in my heart to open the Bible, hear what He was saying, and share it with others.

Plain and simple. No religious bells and whistles.  

A Quiet Reflection

On that day in February 1996 that I wondered into that humble little church in Oyster Bay … I simply had no idea of the journey that was about to begin. I had no idea the lessons the Lord would teach me … through this small giant.

And Phil, on the occasion of your retirement, the most powerful thing I can do, is to share the Word of God with you:

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt 5:11,12)

How would you respond?

Chances are you wouldn’t even look at him or recognise him, because he’s not meant to be there. He’s supposed to be dead. He’s the guy in the coffin right? Quickly the rumour springs up -there’s a buzz around the crowd - He’s not dead.

So someone goes and pries open the coffin. It’s … empty.

Confused? Shocked? Even a little scared?

All of the above.

They Were All Confused – Resurrections Have that Effect!

So imagine how poor old Mary Magdalene felt:

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary! She turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabbouni! (which means Teacher). (John 20:11-15)

You have to have a chuckle – fancy mistaking the risen Jesus for … the gardener!  She’s still living that one down, 2,000 years on!! 

Resurrections, by and large are confusing exercises.  Why? Because they’re completely unnatural. Completely! You just don’t expect them to happen. Ever. But this one did. 

Then There’s that Other Resurrection …

And there’s another resurrection that Jesus is vitally interested. Yours.

Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)

And most people find their own resurrection equally confusing. They know the theory of course, those Christians who fill the pews on Resurrection Morning each year. The theory is that because Jesus rose again, those who believe in Him have a new life which goes on for all eternity.

See how easily the theory rolls off the tongue?!

But the practice? Well that’s another thing entirely because you look around and many – dare I say, most - of Jesus’ disciples today seem to be clueless when it comes to living that new life. 

Laying Hold of Your Resurrection

In the book of Colossians we discover that not only is Jesus the firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15) but He is also the firstborn from the dead – the first, as it turns out, of many. (Col 1:18)

If you are one of His disciples, can I ask you quietly, plainly today – Are you living in the newness of life that we celebrate on Resurrection Morning? Do you have a sharpness, a clarity around your new life in Christ? Or are you still muddling around in confusion like Mary Magdalene and hosts of others?

The real, tangible, here and now expression of what happened on that amazing morning, is the newness of life in which you and I are meant to be living. And if you’re not – I’m sorry, but … listen carefully …. you are wasting your life. The new life that Jesus died and rose again to bring you.

Act 1 of Easter: Forgiveness through the death of Jesus on the Cross

Act 2 of Easter: Newness of life, through the resurrection of Jesus and the empty tomb.

In other words, the forgiveness wasn’t so we could do nothing with it. The forgiveness has a purpose in mind; reconciliation and a new life.

And your newness of life isn’t just for you either. It too has a purpose in God’s plan – to spread more life around this dying world in which we live:

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:17-21)

Not only do we have a new life, not only has He reconciled us to Himself – but He has entrusted us with that same message of reconciliation, making you and me ambassadors for Christ.

God’s plan is to make His appeal through you and me my friend, just as He made it through Paul and his co-workers back then.

So please, please don’t just sit there and go through the motions this Easter.

All the old things have passed away; look, everything is new … and you and I, we have a job to do.

Other Easter Blog Posts:

Good Friday – Easter Art Evokes Anger

Honest Answers Poll #4 – What Does Easter Really Mean to You?

What You Really Think About Easter

Nailing Eater – Warning: Confronting Message

The Secret of the Empty Tomb

Appalled by the Easter Messages of Some Prominent Church Leaders

As I was walking down Oxford Street Paddington (Sydney) in the week leading up to Easter 2013, this window display in a gay, fetish erotica store caught my eye.

No – ‘caught my eye’ is too soft!  It confronted me. That’s much better.

When I saw it, my blood boiled, but …

Well, Let’s Start With the Whole Picture

Just in case the thumbnail’s a bit small, here’s the whole display window in all its glory.

What does it say to you? Do you find this tongue-in-cheek misappropriation of the Easter Message confronting? Do you think I shouldn’t have used it in my Good Friday Blog post? No doubt! And I wouldn’t blame you one little bit!

First, The Outrage …

I walk past this store most days when I’m out exercising and since generally, the window is full of what are to me pretty grotesque displays, I don’t look at it much.  But in the week leading up to Easter, some elderly tourists had gathered around the store and were taking photos. So I looked in the window – and that’s what I saw.

Their “Easter display.” An evocative cocktail of Christ and Him Crucified, the Easter Bunny and sexual fetish.

Like I said, initially my blood boiled. How dare they?!

The death of Jesus on that Cross for me is the most powerful statement of love in my life. I struggle even to comprehend the love and the grace of the Cross. That’s what Easter’s all about. 

Act 1: Good Friday – Jesus died on the Cross for me! That’s what makes that brutal, bloody Friday such a Good one!

That someone would misappropriate the image of a love so sublime in this way, was beyond me. I was … speechless (and that’s sayin’ something for me!)

Then, The Realisation …

But pretty soon, the Holy Spirit started working in my heart – He has this pesky habit of speaking:

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23, 5:12)

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us … If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:8,11)

Indeed I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)

The truth is that my sin has made no less of a mockery of the Cross of Christ than theirs. The truth is that my sin is a stench in the nostrils of God, no less than theirs. And the truth is that Jesus died for their sin on that Cross, no less than He died for mine. 

It was a struggle for that truth to sink in. Not because the Holy Spirit didn’t want to speak it to me. But because I, much like Jonah in his reaction to the grace of God for the people of Nineveh (in the face of their sin) didn’t want to let it sink in (Jonah 3:10-4:5).

Something inside me wanted to believe that Jesus died for my sin, but certainly not for theirs.

The Magnitude of Mercy

I wrestled with this for a while, and when finally I let it go, it seems that the Holy Spirit – through this grotesque mockery of the Saviour who died for me – revealed an even deeper understanding of the magnitude of the mercy-transaction that took place up on that brutal Cross, back on that fateful day. 

As Paul writes in Romans 11:6 - grace can only be grace when it is undeserved. Were it earned in some way, it would be an entitlement and not grace.

The grace shown to me, as my sins were washed away by the blood of Christ is no more or less than the grace that is available to anybody who, by faith, would lay hold of it.

Granted, no doubt, that those whose “artistic flair” is on show in that store window, have not yet appropriated the grace of the Cross through faith. But the grace of God, through the Cross of Christ is available to them, should they choose to accept it.

So, stuffing my own Pharisaical pride back in my pocket, here’s what I’ve decided to do:

Each day as I walk past this store on my exercise circuit, I am going to pray that the Light of the World would shine in that place. Into the heart of every person who works there and every customer who enters its doors. I am going to pray that the grace of God would break out in that place.

That’s what Good Friday’s all about, right?

Other Easter Blog Posts:

Honest Answers Poll #4 – What Does Easter Really Mean to You?

What You Really Think About Easter

Nailing Eater – Warning: Confronting Message

The Secret of the Empty Tomb

Appalled by the Easter Messages of Some Prominent Church Leaders

So what does God have to say about managing our finances effectively? 

Finances Are Tight All the Time

Have you ever noticed that there never seems to be quite enough money to go around? Doesn’t matter how much you earn, money always seems tight. It’s true on a personal level, in a business and in fact, across a whole nation.

Right now, the United States of America – the richest country in the world – has so much debt that it owes, wait for this, over $16 trillion. That’s over $50,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. And it’s a debt that’s growing at almost $4 billion a day!! That’s incomprehensible!

But what about at a personal level? What about you and me?

Easy Credit Equals Easy Debt

One of the things that happened when credit cards were invented and became prevalent, at least in the western world, is that people stopped budgeting their finances. In a cash based economy (I remember being paid in cash when I started working – that’s just the way things were back then) the process of budgeting was somewhat easier.

You only had so much cash in hand each week. You’d put some of it aside to pay for the rent or the mortgage, electricity, gas – all those usual bills. A certain amount would go to the weekly grovery shopping and what was left is what you had either to spend or save. And when that was gone – well, it was gone.

There was pretty much no way of going into debt, other than taking out a loan with a bank and that wasn’t, as I recall, such an easy thing to do.

These days, credit cards are a big thing and people find it very easy to run up very large debts very quickly. Debts they can’t afford to pay off. And by spending tomorrow’s income today, we discover that we can’t afford to give to the poor, or to save any money, because we blew it all last week on an impulse buy on our credit cards, right?

It’s that ready access to debt that’s blowing out many a budget. It’s why so many people are doing it tough financially.  

It’s Time for a Budget

Here’s some biblical wisdom on budgeting:

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established;  by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Proverbs 24:3,4 

How do you build a house? With wisdom. How do you fill it with good things? By knowledge. In other words it’s not something you just slap up without thinking. You plan, you use your brain, you apply wisdom and understanding to making it happen. And that’s exactly how it is (or should be!) with our finances.

We were always meant to be good stewards of what we have. And in fact, there’s more wisdom a few chapters later that relates specifically to budgeting.

Yep – you wouldn’t credit it would you?? God’s Word, the Bible, has specific advice on budgeting. Here it is:

Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds; for riches do not last forever, nor a crown for all generations. When the grass is gone, and new growth appears, and the herbage of the mountains is gathered, the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field; there will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and nourishment for your servant-girls. (Prov 27:23-27) 

This is what the website faithandfinance.org has to say on this”

It’s interesting to read this passage and see that the writer isn’t saying “it might be good if you plan ahead” or “if you find it convenient, plan ahead with your resources.”  It’s actually a pretty clear set of instructions to apply a budget to your income and watch your resources carefully.  There are two basic principles that come from this passage:

1. If you budget you will have enough to cover your expenses.

2. If you don’t budget, you’ll struggle to meet your obligations and won’t pass on an inheritance to your children, grandchildren, or anyone for that matter.

It’s Not that Complicated

Is that pretty straightforward? Yes, it is. Absolutely it is!!

And so if your finances aren’t quite in the state that they should be, if you’re finding it a bit tough to make ends meet – here’s the important, godly wisdom that I want to share with you: make a budget and stick to it. 

It doesn’t have to be complicated – but the end result will be that you’ll know that all your important commitments are covered, and you’ll also know exactly how much you have left over to save or spend or both.

Worth doing, you think?

Other Posts About Money:

Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing

The Sort of Giving that Gets God Excited

Discover the Answer to Your Money Worries

Honest Answers Quick Poll – Attachment to Money

An Unsettling Story about Money

Well, the results of our Honest Answers Quick Poll are in, so I’d like to share them with you, together what is, to my mind, one of the most unsettling stories about money in the Bible. 

Are you ready?

Honest Answers Quick Poll Results

It’s always interesting to put a poll in the field. You never know what answers you’re going to get back. But this time, it was kind of what I expected.  Here’s a summary:

If God asked you to give up you most valued financial asset, how would you respond?

I responded in the most popular group, with the 61%. But afterward I was asking myself the hard question - Would I really??!! How about you?

Just over 75% said that they would give God their most valuable financial asset either without blinking, or after some thinking. That’s pretty impressive.

But does this response match with what we’re actually doing right now? In other words, is it more reflective of wishful thinking than our actual approach to giving?

The Facts

In a comprehensive piece of research into giving patterns by regular church attenders in Australia, the National Church Life Survey (NCLS) reports that:

So, just quickly doing the maths:

• 62% give 5% or less, and
• a whopping 82% give less than 10%.

Hang on, that doesn’t quite add up with our Honest Answers Quick Poll, does it?

Is that because the people who read this blog are better givers than the average church population? Is it because the NCLS asked different questions to me? Or is it, because we’d like to think we’d give God the big sacrifice, whilst at the same time, not taking our giving to Him on a day-to-day, week-to-week proposition all that seriously?

I’ll leave you to answer that one.

That Unsettling Story I Was Telling You About …

But while you’re pondering those questions, here’s probably the most unsettling money story in the Bible:

He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on. (Luke 21:1-4)

Why is it so unsettling? Because Jesus wasn’t all that impressed by the rather large amounts that the rich people put in the offering. The one He praised was that crazy old woman who did the unthinkable, by putting all she had to live on into the hat on the way through! What sort of crazy approach to stewardship is that, pray tell?!

Well, it’s the sort that gets Jesus excited. Turns out, He’s not so much interested in how much we give, but rather in what it costs us.

The sort of giving that gets Jesus excited is the sort that is sacrificial.  

So What’s My Point?

Normally, as you know, I set out to make a point in my blog posts. But not this time.

I don’t want to guilt anyone. I don’t want to manipulate anyone. I don’t want to judge anyone. 

My only agenda, is to make you think; to cause you to ask yourself some questions about your commitment to God’s work.

All I’d ask you to do is to chew on the facts in the context of your circumstances, to chew over your response if you answered the question in the Honest Answers Quick Poll, and to lay it all out before God … and may His Spirit lead you in the right direction.

Other Posts About Money:

Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing

The Sort of Giving that Gets God Excited

Discover the Answer to Your Money Worries

Honest Answers Quick Poll – Attachment to Money

When Finances are Tight, It’s Time for a Budget