April 12,2008

Luke 9:23-24 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

23Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come

after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross

daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his

life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me

will save it.


Another week already gone. This week, I found

play.blogger.com. It's a way to get a sample of the

graphics being posted onto blog pages. I've surfed

through random blog links before, just to get a

sample of blogs. There seem to be only a few major

categories of blogs. The fashion and art blogs seem

to be very popular, at least in number. Then, there

are the friends and family blogs. Then, the personal

travel blogs. There are any number of religious

blogs, along with the political blogs. I still can't

imagine how people rationally blame George Bush for

everything that went wrong since the beginning of

time, but I suppose that's one reason why I don't

understand politics. I don't have the capacity to

get emotionally involved like so many others do. And

clearly, it's all about emotion. Oh, and don't

forget the video gamer stuff.


The blogosphere has something to say about where pop

culture is centered. It's not a scientific study,

but it represents the range of popular interest.

Popular interest seems to be centered on emotional

sweets. People gravitate toward what makes them feel

good as opposed to what they need. For instance, we

like a diet that's high in sugar. But that's not

what's good for us. It's unhealthy. Even this

morning, I'm suffering a sugar hangover. Too much

cake, ice cream and fruit punch last night. Ugh.

That's what we serve at birthdays.


And that is where some religious blogs are as well.

Instead of just declaring the truth of scripture,

there is a sickening sweetness that begs to find

popular appeal. How about this verse from Luke.

'...take up his cross...' Wow. That sounds like no

fun at all. But there is a payday. '...whoever

loses his life for me will save it...' It was never

a really popular message.


What matters most in religion is truth. Truth is not

always an emotionally satisfying thing. In fact, I

think it's something that we tend to avoid as much as

possible. But it's a matter of what we want versus

what we need. If ever there was a time when truth

was urgently needed, it's now. Oh, I'm not bothered

about truth in other areas of life. I expect to be

pandered to in all things related to politics and

entertainment and business. But I find it deeply

offensive when I'm approached with a religious

message that panders to my sense of vanity. Yuck! No,

popularity is not what I'm looking for in

christianity. Give me the unvarnished truth. It's

what I need, and once it is grasped, it has an appeal

all its own.


When I look around, I find that I'm not completely

alone in having a desire for truth. I think that's

what drives some of us in the blogging community. We

are people who aren't so much interested in feeling

good about everything. We'd rather have useful

information, something not totally given over to

fantasy. If we want to entertain ourselves with

fiction, we can turn on the TV, or open the

newspaper. The entertainment media has a wide

presence. But for some of us, it has limited appeal.

Besides, truth is often stranger than fiction. What

goes on in the real world is hard to make up. We got

a taste of that from a front page story this week.

Another love triangle gone wrong. Even though the

newspaper always tries to spin these stories in a way

that makes it all seem so mysterious, there is no way

to avoid the truth that sin causes misery. Even one

person's sinful act, can cause misery for many

others. It's not that hard to see.


Here, my only aim is to get at the truth about

christianity. That would be Jesus. It seems that

many in the christian community have no stomach for

truth. There seem to be other agendas. From my

perspective, that's a sad commentary. The ONE thing

that christianity has to offer, over and above all

else that this world can produce, is truth. There is

only one Jesus. Take another look at the Apostle's

Creed if you need a reminder about essential

christian doctrine.


If there is a way to summarize it into a few words it

is to look at the fact that there is a penalty of

death hanging over all creation. You didn't DO

anything to put yourself into that predicament and

there is nothing that YOU can do to get yourself out

of that predicament. It's all been provided for you.

It reflects the absolute justice and love of G-d.

It's more than generous and fair. We can't do

anything to change what happened in Eden. That's the

situation as it is. That's the cause of all the problems that we face. It's the

origin of human sin, and the reason that we all end up in the grave. But we have

been provided a

savior and salvation. G-d provided a way of

redemption, by sending his son to pay the penalty for

our guilt. He has provided everything that we need,

and in eternity, he will provide even more than we

could ever hope for. When we see the true nature of

G-d, then we get a glimpse of real love, that of a

father for his children. Think of the parable of the

Prodigal Son. First, we have to see exactly who we

are before we can see clearly who G-d is and what

he's done for us. He took our penalty upon himself.

And we are able to accept this grace, by faith in Jesus.


Once we see our situation as it is, then we begin to

notice that there is an element in this world that

aims to distort both the image of self and the image

of G-d. The only reliable antidote to the deception

offered by this world, is the truth of holy scripture

that has been revealed by our Creator. There just

isn't any substitute for the truth. There is only

Jesus.