Lately, I’ve been reminded of how we, as Christians, often get it wrong. We miss the point.

You know, Jesus tried to make things pretty simple for us. The challenge from Jesus was this…”You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37, CEB). In addition to loving God, Jesus extends the challenge and adds in this…”You must love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:39, CEB).

Jesus gives us two “simple” rules. Love God and love one another. Jesus goes so far as to say that all the law and prophets are summed up in these two great commandments. It’s really pretty clear.

Two rules…And, yet, we still get it wrong.

We are called to love God and love one another. I don’t know about you, but I struggle to get these right. There are days when loving God is extremely difficult. So, if loving the God I believe to be complete and perfect is difficult at times, imagine how difficult it is to love others (who are far from complete and perfect).

However, each day, I give it my best shot. Of course, I rarely get it right. But, I’m not afraid to admit that. I fail to completely love God and neighbor. And, you won’t hear me make an excuse for my inability to love God and others. I’ll own up to it because I’m convinced that Jesus would not call us to do something that we are incapable of doing.

The way I’ve been reminded of how often we get it wrong is in our inability to own up to the fact that we may not have all the answers…that we too are simply figuring this out as we journey through this life.

We get it wrong when we choose to be judgmental. We get it wrong when we choose to make others feel guilty and convicted instead of loved. We get it wrong when we choose hatred over tolerance. We get it wrong when we attempt to justify these behaviors.

Too often, I have heard Christians claim that they are “loving others” by condemning them. We get it wrong when we fail to remember that we are called to deal with the “log” in our own eye before addressing the tiny “splinter” in our brother or sister’s eye (see Matthew 7).

I’m convinced that we might be getting it horribly wrong when we say we “love the sinner, but hate the sin.” That is placing conditions on our love for our neighbors. We’re basically saying that we cannot fully love and accept another until they become like us. Jesus didn’t say “love the sinner, hate the sin”…He said, “love God” and “love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

We get it wrong when we ignore the needs of the least, the last, and the lost (see Matthew 25). We get it wrong when we are so focused on how sinful everyone else is that we fail to love others by helping meet their very basic needs (clean water, food, clothing, health care). We get it wrong when we focus on elephants in the room instead of Jesus.

We get it wrong when we are harsh. We get it wrong when we are self-righteous. We get it wrong when we adopt the “I am right and everyone else is wrong” attitude. We are told that the fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (see Galatians 5). We get it wrong when we are anything other than loving, joy-filled, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-control. We get it wrong when we lack compassion for our fellow humans…or for any of creation.

Some might say, “Well, read the words of Paul. He was harsh. He was kind of judgmental.” This is another way in which we get it wrong. We take Paul’s words out of context. We use them to justify our unChrist-like behaviors. We forget that Paul was addressing a very specific group of people at a very specific time and place. We forget that, in reality, Paul’s harsh tone (much like Jesus’) was reserved for the pious religious group that attempted to exclude people by imposing unnecessary rules and regulations on “outsiders”. When Paul was harsh, he was attempting to get “religious” people to follow Christ – a man whose message focused on love, mercy, grace, compassion, and forgiveness…not on judgment, hatred, and guilt.

So, I am reminded that too often I get it wrong. I am reminded that too often, many of my Christian brothers and sisters get it wrong.

And, I am reminded that it’s probably time that we start being honest about it. We get it wrong. We are imperfect people attempting to do our best to follow the Way of Christ.

 

Last night, while watching Frank Ocean’s bizarre performance at the Grammy’s, I found myself thinking about the Church.

 

Ocean’s strange tribute to “Forrest Gump” had me wondering if all the hype surrounding him is undeserved.

To be honest, I wasn’t all too familiar with Ocean’s work. However, I was intrigued. I was interested to view his performance because of all the praises I’ve heard about Ocean and his music.

And, Ocean has a pretty incredible story! That is part of the reason I was so intrigued. In the midst of the hip hop genre, Frank Ocean came out regarding his sexuality. That took a great deal of strength and courage. I admired his honesty. He has done his best to hold his head high in the midst of mixed reactions (some applaud his courage, and then there is Chris Brown…enough said).

With all of the hype…with the story…I was eagerly anticipating my first exposure to Frank Ocean. I wanted to find out if the hype was deserved or if it was simply generated due to his story.

And, then, last night happened.

As I watched his performance, I kept waiting for his greatness to shine. I kept expecting this enormous breakout of incredible music. Instead, I was met with an uninspired, “pitchy” at best, performance. It really is a bad sign when I’m more impressed with your imagery than your music.

I found myself hoping that Kanye West would rush the stage and make an ass out of himself in order to save Ocean.

At the end, I found myself not wanting anything more to do with Frank Ocean. I found myself cheering against him throughout the remainder of the awards show (unlike SPIN magazine, I was glad Mumford & Sons won!). I was greatly disappointed. And, I found myself questioning the judgment of friends and music writers I once respected for their pro-Ocean views.

And, this is exactly when I began thinking about the Church…

Like Ocean, we have a great story. Even though there are growing numbers of “nones”, there are still people interested in Jesus, the Church, and Christianity.

Like Ocean, there is a lot of hype and even some praise surrounding the Church. Some are intrigued and interested in finding out what the Church is all about.

And, then those interested individuals visit a church. Sometimes it is a wonderful experience. However, sometimes it is bizarre, strange, uninspired, and “pitchy”. Sometimes people walk away from a church gathering wondering, “what in the heck just happened?”

Ocean’s performance reminded me that we should be good stewards of our great story. People should at least walk away seeing our passion, our love, our joy…they should be convinced of our commitment to the story. But, is that what happens?

When people check out your church, do they walk away wanting more or do they simply walk away?

I have been thinking about hospitality ever since I visited a local restaurant that did not seem to take customer service seriously. The food could have been outstanding, but I still would not have returned because of the lousy service. Just so you know, the food was not outstanding…it was mediocre at best. I started to think about customer service, hospitality, and the church. We can have great music and great preaching…but if we don’t practice radical hospitality…that great music and great preaching may fall on deaf ears. At the same time, we can have mediocre music and mediocre preaching…and people may return if we practice radical hospitality. And, so, the following are my thoughts based on the restaurant experience.

Let’s be honest for a moment…Those of us in ministry can be a bit arrogant, prideful, and egotistical. And, at the same time, many of are totally oblivious to the world around us.

Now, those of you who struggle with the practice of being honest with yourselves are saying, “Speak for yourself, Jason. I’m not arrogant, prideful, or egotistical. I’m not oblivious to the world around me. I’m ‘culturally relevant’. Hell, I just cussed. And, I did a sermon series based on the characters from ‘Seinfeld’ last month. Anyway, I am the freakin’ dictionary definition of humility.”

Well, now back to reality. Why would I accuse those in ministry of these things? Well, it has to do with our ideas that coffee and donuts don’t matter! We have erroneously  convinced ourselves that our efforts in hospitality really don’t matter.

And, why are we convinced that coffee and donuts don’t matter? Well, because our powerful preaching of the Holy Scripture should be enough to convict and convince people to come back. We don’t have to treat our “guests” well because the Holy Spirit will move and motivate them to return. They will desire to come back because our sermons were a) powerful, b) funny, c) entertaining, d) Spirit-filled, or e) all of the above. Let’s be honest again…how many of you would mark “all of the above” for your last message?

The problem is that when one does a little bit of research, we can see the “fruit” of our powerful preaching. It seems that the Spirit is indeed moving…it just happens to be moving somewhere else. Some of you may say, “Well, all the old ladies say, ‘great job, pastor’, when I’m finished.” Could it be they are simply relieved that you finally shut up? Many of us will get defensive and say, “well, numbers don’t matter.” But, let’s be honest…if we are in the ministry of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world” numbers do matter.

So, I would argue that coffee and donuts do matter! We cannot overlook the importance of first impressions. Our practice of radical hospitality, from the moment someone arrives on our property to the time they leave will have a huge impact on whether or not guests will return. I recently heard that guests will make their decision to return to our churches within the first 6 to 7 minutes of their visit. So, let’s think about what happens during those seven minutes…

– They park

– They walk into the building

– They visit the restroom

– They drink coffee and eat donuts

– They enter the worship space

What doesn’t happen during those seven minutes…powerful preaching, music (some may have gotten the first song in the first seven minutes…but let’s face it, some of our churches have announcements that go on for 10-15 minutes), and all the “important” stuff.

The way we welcome our guests is extremely important. Coffee and donuts are important.

Some will argue that their church is “friendly”. The problem is that most of our churches are only “friendly” with those who already “belong”. I wonder if our visitors would affirm that we are indeed a “friendly” church?

We simply cannot underestimate the importance of the ministry of hospitality. Coffee and donuts matter.

I would go out on a limb and say that if you were to take a look at the growing churches in your community, you would find that they believe that hospitality is important…that coffee and donuts are important.

Then, take a look at the churches who are in decline. If I weren’t a Methodist, I would bet that many (not all) of our churches in decline don’t place a very high priority on hospitality (there are many, many reasons why some churches are in decline…however, I believe hospitality, or the lack thereof, is a big reason for declining congregations). They probably don’t believe that coffee and donuts matter.

“Keep loving each other like family. Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it.” ~Hebrews 13:1-2

I know you’ve all been waiting for this moment…And, I would really hate to disappoint you. So, here it is…the post where I will get on my soapbox about the Christmas season. No, I’m not going to write about “keeping Christ in Christmas”. That whole “war on Christmas” agenda is a ridiculous waste of time. It’s a great adventure in missing the point. I mean, seriously, you get offended when the cashier at Walmart says, “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas?” Get over it. I am more offended by the fact that you are shopping at Walmart. Okay, I’m already getting off topic…sort of.

Instead, this will be about how, in this materialistic consumer-driven society, we have lost the deeper meaning of Christmas. Christmas is supposed to be about hope…faith…joy…peace. Christmas is about the beginning of a new Way…one that leads to life, full life.

At our church, we’ve been talking about how “Christmas is not about me” and how true joy comes when we get our hands “wet and dirty” serving others. It’s our effort to remind people that Christmas isn’t supposed to be the chaotic, stress-filled, busy, expensive event we have turned it into.

Yes, we are guilty of replacing hope, faith, joy, and peace with the exchange of extravagant material goods that push some into greater debt. But, don’t worry. It’s all good because the government will thank you for doing your part in “stimulating the economy.”

It all starts on Black Friday (if not earlier) with people camping out to save $50 on an off-brand flat screen television that will probably stop working shortly after the warranty expires. And, it will end shortly after the “after Christmas” sales have ended and you’ve spent the last of your Christmas cash and gift cards. I’m convinced that the folks at Kohl’s are hoping your mom will buy that ugly sweater…knowing you’ll be forced to come in to make an exchange and find yourself unable to resist the amazing “after Christmas” deals.

So, we buy things for family and friends in an attempt to let them know that we care…to do our part to bring a little bit of joy into their lives. However, that joy is often short-lived. Kids play with the boxes instead of playing with the $100 doll that was inside that box. Siblings try on that sweater only to find that it is too big, too little, or has some kind of weird stain on it. Uncle Joe has too much to drink and calls Grandma a name so offensive you had to look it up on dictionary.com just to make sure it means what you think it means. And, the joy is quickly sucked out of the room.

Remember how Lexus used to try and convince us that the “perfect Christmas gift” would be a new Lexus with a red ribbon in the driveway? This year, our friends at Mercedes-Benz have taken it to a whole new level. Mercedes is playing off that idea, trying to convince us that we deserve the “perfect vehicle that’s just right for you…no matter what list your on.” That’s right folks, it doesn’t matter if you’ve been naughty or nice, Santa (and most likely, the sweet little baby Jesus) wants you to have a brand new Mercedes-Benz.

And, that would be awesome…until you realize that while your spouse just gave you a Benz for Christmas, you still have to make the payments, get insurance, fill up the tank, and worry about where you park at Walmart.

Don’t get me wrong…I love seeing the excitement in my daughter’s eyes as they open their gifts on Christmas morning. But, at the same time, I wonder what exactly am I teaching my children? And, that’s where Eric Cartman comes in.

I’ve always thought that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are brilliant. They have figured out how to take a poorly and oddly animated cartoon and turn it into a huge success. Not only that, I give them credit for being equal opportunity offenders. They don’t just poke fun of particular groups of people…ALL people groups are fair game.

The brilliance of Stone and Parker, while offensive, is their ability to remind us that we all need to stop taking ourselves so seriously. We need to learn to laugh at ourselves from time to time. And, let’s be honest, when we are offended by South Park, it’s generally because the subject matter hits a little too close to home and sheds light in those dark areas we wish they would avoid.

Remember Cartman’s Christian boy band, poking fun at the Christian music industry? Yep, a little too close to home.

Well, the other night, while driving home from a friend’s house, Eric Cartman’s (South Park) version of “O Holy Night” came on the radio. I laughed. I also found Cartman’s version of the tune to be all too real.

Cartman sings, “Jesus was born and so I get presents.”

In the church, we talk about Christmas being about the birth of Christ. We talk about how Christmas is about God coming to earth, in human form, to bring about a better way, to make eternal life a very real possibility. It’s about Jesus…the guy who was all about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the orphaned, widowed, and sick, liberating the oppressed, and all that jazz.

And so, we celebrate the birth of the Great Liberator, the friend of sinners, the Prince of Peace by spending way too much money on gifts that no one truly needs…and many times it’s stuff we don’t even want.

We have been convinced that the best way to honor Jesus isn’t to give ourselves away in serving others. No, the best way to honor Jesus at Christmas is to stretch our finances as far as we can without losing the house and car. Do we hope that our children will love us more or be better behaved if we get them the perfect gift?

I get sucked into the materialistic side of Christmas too. My Christmas list is fairly short. A Harley Davidson motorcycle. A Rickenbacker 360. A Taylor 614ce. That’s it. That’s all I want. And guess what? No one who will be buying me a gift for Christmas is going to spend that kind of money on me this year…or any year. And, I wouldn’t want them to. Well, let’s be honest, I wouldn’t stop them!

So, while listening to Cartman sing, I was convicted. Yep, I am just like Eric Cartman. I want to thank Jesus for being born…because I get presents to celebrate His birth.

This year, to combat the materialistic, consumer-driven nature of Christmas we took our girls shopping for children in need. We bought a few fun things. But, we mostly bought the bare necessities that many children go without. We talked about how we really have been blessed and that we have a responsibility to be a blessing to others.

So, if you’re one of those people thinking about buying me something for Christmas…unless it’s something on my list, I’d prefer that you use that money to honor Jesus. Make a donation to Mission Guatemala. Give towards the Kids Against Hunger event on January 21st. Do something that will make someone else’s life a little bit easier.