God’s Best

I have to let off steam. Watch out.

Imagine this scenario… a young man grows up exposed to all kinds of Christian influences. He graduates from a Christian high school. He meets a girl who grew up in a Christian church. They get married. But somewhere along the way something goes wrong. They start drinking. The drinking gets out of control. Pretty soon it becomes a habit and they become alcoholics. The drinking gets worse; he beats his wife. She gets a restraining order against him. He spends time in jail. When he makes bail he breaks the restraining order. He refuses to get help for his alcoholism. She informs him she has filed for divorce. He drives to a relative’s house. But he doesn’t make it. He has been drinking again, he is going too fast and he looses control of his car on a curve. He is killed instantly. Tragic.

I went to his memorial service. The minister talked about all his good qualities, what a great Christian he was, and how heaven welcomed him with open arms. Oh yes, he did have a problem but who among us isn’t without sin? So let’s celebrate his life.

Okay, I’m not getting into whether he really is in heaven or not. I’m not the judge; I don’t know about his various commitments and lack of commitments. But as I sat there it suddenly hit me: what a convoluted view of the Christian life! I was being told I can have serious moral issues, those issues can effect my relationship with others, I can keep having those issues without seeking help and still go to heaven because Jesus loves me. The only true statement there is that Jesus loves me.

I can handle this. I’m able to sort this out and I don’t think my relationship with Jesus is going to be damaged. But my thoughts went to the children (there were 3 in the family, one a teenager by a previous marriage). Also to his wife who is struggling with trying to make an effort to begin to change (yes, read some uncertainty in that statement). And to those in attendance who are not Christians. They all heard, “Say a prayer and don’t worry about your personal issues.” “Be a good person who says spiritual things now and then but lifestyle isn’t really important to God.” That’s. Just. Not. Right. Sorry, but I’m opinionated about this.

Let me ask, where is the call to a better life? …to a higher lifestyle? …to strive for excellence? Where is the “if a person is in Christ he/she is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come?” Why am I not hearing “first seek the kingdom of God?” When will we get around to challenging ourselves to be truly “called out.” If you missed it, the first two are references from the Bible: 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Matthew 6:33.

I know there is a school of theology that says if a person becomes a Christian (i.e. accepts Jesus as his/her personal savior) that person is eternally saved no matter what he/she does. There is an opposite view that if the person sins even once – any kind, any degree of abhorrence, against anyone, any time – that person immediately loses his/her salvation. For the record, my belief falls somewhere between these two polar extremes but that is not my issue here. I’m saying there has to be a commitment to a lifestyle standard higher than the norm. The expression might be “live above the world.” Let your life be a witness that Jesus has done something for you. And please don’t tell the children that lifestyle doesn’t matter.

Ok. Now that I’ve spouted off I feel better. It’s just that I’m bothered by cheap Christianity or a Christian life that seems to mean nothing. It’s okay to give me feedback even if you don’t agree.

Now let’s change the subject. I finally got my garden sick installed and working. It sure is handy to wash your hands or clean veggies. The compost bin is close so the tops of things can go right on the pile.

And the rest of the garden… Corn and raspberries.

Tomatoes…

Pole beans to the left and peas somewhere in the green area behind them. They were both removed right after the picture was taken. Kaput for this season.

A little of the bounty.

A couple weeks ago I made zucchini relish. Of course Joyce helped. We got about 9 pints. Then last week I made salsa – about 9 half pints. I’m not sure about the salsa. I think it might be too runny. But it’s okay, I’ll like it. And I’m the only one in the family who likes salsa.

We are in the process – slow process – of cleaning and organizing the garage. This includes my work bench and tools. I vowed to not take on any more projects until I get some organization out there. So that is where we have spent much of our spare time (spare time? What is that?). I’ll let you quite spending your spare time reading this. Now we both can get on to something else. Blessings.