Lukewarm and Loving It?

"Are u on fire for our Lord, are u angry at anyone that challenge your faith? I was lukewarm, I'm gonna change. Are you?..." This is a shout out to one of my youths at church, Paul Su, who said these words while posting a great video on our HOC1 Unison youth fellowship Facebook group. The video is titled "Gospel-rooted Christian Joy: Francis Chan - Lukewarm and Lovin' it" and I am linking this video to my blog because I believe this is important message for us to dwell upon today. Take a few moments to watch this message before continuing to read:

As I read through our devotional in the book of Galatians, I see Paul writing to an audience who has lost some of the fire, the passion, and the freedom found in Christ. As I read Galatians, I see brothers and sisters who have turned away from the Gospel which clearly sets people free! Paul writes, "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. The "foolish Galatians" have turned back to observing the law and forgotten to set their eyes on the one who made those laws!

Indeed, Paul shares that the beauty of the Bible is that God's plan of redemption and salvation has been promised a long time ago! The Old Testament laws and promises were always and have always pointed to ONE amazing event - the birth and life of God's Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Galatians 3:15-25 says,

"Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian."

So like I began this post quoting one of my youths, I am asking you to ask yourself that question. Stand up...walk around...Sit down...kneel down...do whatever it takes to come before God asking, "Am I lukewarm, Lord and ok with it?"... And then if you feel moved to do so ask Jesus how you can be on fire for Him...A good way to begin this prayer could be following the words in 1 Samuel, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening."

Do you remember the last time you boasted? About your suffering?!?

In today's Bible passage from 2 Corinthians 11, Paul gives a thorough account of his dangerous death-defying adventures as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now before we get into Paul's life, let's just take a moment to go through our life. When is the last time you boasted? I am talking about the word "boast" as in talking with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one's achievements, possessions, or abilities. For example, "Minister Alex used to boast by saying “I can beat anyone, anytime, and any day on the tennis court in the first to 10 points." Well, yes at one point in my life, I thought that I could defeat anyone given enough devotion and hard work.

Now, take that one step further, when is the last time you boasted about your defeats, your suffering, your hardships, or your near-death experiences? Think about this one a little more carefully...I can't really remember ever in my whole life boasting about any of these things. I may have shared about my suffering a few times or told a youth group about my near-death experience. But never had I ever boasted about these things...normal people don't really boast about these things. Most people boast about the victories not the defeats.

Well, Paul is not your average person but he is also not superman or what he calls a "super-apostle". Paul is a normal person for all intensive purposes other than the fact that his life was completely changed by the life of a man named Jesus Christ. Paul before his name change was called Saul for he persecuted Christians all around Israel. However, one day Saul found something for more meaningful to live and die for...He found the hope of a forgiving Savior.

So Paul shares his suffering for his one true Savior with us: frequent imprisonment, severe floggings, five times whipped forty lashes minus one, three times beaten with rods, once stoned, three times shipwrecked, one time spending a full night and day in the open sea, over and over again in danger from weather, bandits, city people, country people, false brothers, and even his own countrymen. Why do I share that list with you? And why does Paul share his list of sufferings with us? I believe we can learn that we do not have to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. This is the Gospel. This is Paul's testimony. This is the power of Jesus Christ living and moving in His disciples. Will you remember to boast in Jesus Christ the next time you suffer?

Jesus is the Treasure within us

This next Bible passage that Paul introduces in 2 Corinthians 4 is one of my favorite portions of Scripture. There is a ray of hope that shines into my heart each and every time I come in contact with "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." So I title this post Jesus is the Treasure within us because that is what I believe is the ultimate prize hidden in the Jars of Clay.

2 Corinthians 4:7-18:

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you...

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

In the Greco-Roman times, Jars of Clay often concealed hidden treasure. Since the clay jars had little value or beauty, merchants would hide valuable jewelry and goods inside these containers disguising the true worth. Well, in many ways, you and I are like those Jars of Clay in comparison to the treasure of Jesus Christ. Our bodies are frail, week, and easily broken. I know this first hand since I myself have fractured my bones in my ankle, wrists, and even collarbone.

People often fill themselves with perishable goods, things that unfortunately will not last for eternity. Sometimes, we fill our bodies with food. Sometimes, we fill our bodies with drinks. Sometimes, we hide away our precious treasure, wealth, and goods in modern clay jars like banks, stocks, 401ks, and retirement plans. However, God promises us something that will never go away. God has in fact given us one thing that will always remains - His Son Jesus Christ. When we accept that we are broken and fragile in need of a Savior, the Holy Spirit can come inside our Jar of Clay and begin an everlasting life in us.

So just like the last verse of this chapter, let us "fix our eyes not one what is seen, but on what is unseen...what is unseen is eternal." Wealth and riches are temporary. Faith, hope, and love...these virtues are eternal so let us practice what Jesus has commanded in loving others and loving God with our whole entire being.

The Raw Power of Fragrant Living

Before we begin our devotional on 2 Corinthians specifically on the the Gospel of Christ as the Fragrance of Life, I would like to share a brief article from About.com on the Art of Fragrance, here it is:

"There is something interesting in scent that we tend to forget. Scent is the worst of the human senses at conveying abstract intellectual information. It is the most primitive sense that we have and therefore it is poured directly into the brainstem, into the most primitive parts of the brain. Now vision and hearing are very, very good at conveying information. So works of visual art and works of auditory art can convey more information, and those works kind of a huge impact on us. But the impact is always more on an intellectual, more on a conceptual level.

Scent is the medium that in a sense has the greatest impact on us because works of scent don't go through a part of the brain that processes that abstracts that intellectualizes. Works of scent feed directly into us in a visceral way that no other medium can possible have and works of scent, in that way, are the most possible works of art that we can possible experience."

With this in mind, let us read 2 Corinthians together:

12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.

I believe Paul chooses to pinpoint the human sense of smell this passage. Yes, Paul does give a visual picture of a triumphal procession in verse 14. (Which by the way reminds me of the movie Gladiator for some reason, the big opening Roman procession which is most likely what Paul is referring to here in this verse) But for the rest of this passage the main focus is on the words - "fragrance, aroma, and smell".

Of the 5 different senses in the human body, smell in my opinion is the most raw sense. Like the article above, smell is a primitive sense one that is usually not processed intellectually unlike sight or sound (the two most used senses in my opinion). Think about a dog lifting his nose smelling delicious food and running towards the smell. Or think about the last time you smelled something delicious like from a bakery down the street. We usually don't take much time deciding oh that aroma or fragrance is a unique mixture of basil, rosemary, and nutmeg and it is located 500 ft away on Park Blvd. (Well, at least most of us don't think like that...) Usually, the first thing after I smell something is "Ah, that smells good" or "Uh, that smells bad". Right, do you agree?

Well, this is exactly what Paul I believe is trying to say here. As Christians, we are called to be the fragrance of Christ. To some Christians smell of abundant life and hope. To others Christians who perhaps have rejected the Gospel, we smell of death. However, what is most important is that we SMELL like SOMETHING. If a Christian has lost his or fragrance of Christ, what good are we in sharing the Gospel? If a person cannot tell you REEK of the GOSPEL than something is missing. In addition, a non-Christian should be able to smell the presence of GOD in your life. Not see it in this passage. Not hear it in this passage. But SMELL it. I hope this encourages you and me to be so full of Christ that no one will be able to smell us without being changed for the better.