Good? Answers

We did it again this past Sunday – We asked the congregation to submit questions for the pastors to answer. I suggested they ask spiritual questions rather than questions about how to get a wine stain out of the carpet or what type of motor oil to put into a car with over 200,000 miles. Though I would probably have a better shot at answering the oil and wine questions than some of the questions on religion that we fielded. I also promised to answer the questions that we didn't have time to get to that morning. So, here we go.

Question: Why is it that our church has two extremely attractive pastors when many churches have rather homely pastors?

Answer: Just lucky, I guess. Okay, I made that one up. Next question.

Question: If you love God do you get to go to heaven? This question was answered, "Yes." That response fostered this follow-up question. Didn't Jesus say, "No one comes to the Father except through me?"

Answer: The answer to the first question and the follow-up are both yes. The only way God has revealed himself to humankind in such a way to understand that it is not about religion, it is about a relationship, was through God's Son Jesus. Without Jesus, it is impossible to understand that God is real and desires a relationship with us.

Question: What does is meant when people say, "If you love the world, you do not love God."

Answer: Jesus said this and His meaning was, as long as the world – other people, stuff, worries, needs, gaining wealth – as long as these things are of most importance to you, they will stand in your way of a deep and meaningful relationship with God. The deal is, God WILL NOT settle for 2^nd place in your life. If you think you can be a Christian and your faith be one of several equal competing areas in your life, you don't get it. Christianity is not a religion, it is not an activity, it is not something you do. Christianity is who you are and God is the love of your life.

Question: We all know that the world was made by God, but how do you answer the question, where did God come from?

Answer: Not very well. I am fairly sure if I could answer that question I would be god.

Question: Many churches believe the end times are less then 25 years away. A local church teaches/believes this. What does the Bible say?

Answer: Jesus did not tell us when the end times would be. He did very clearly tell us that no one knows when the end will come. We don't know when. We just know that it will. And the when and where of the last times means very little to us if we are living each day of our lives fully and richly in the will of God. My advice has always been, live each day as if you were living in your last days. The scripture does tell us that tomorrow is not promised. Live today.

This final question was presented during the worship service and I asked for you to respond to it. I have only received two responses. You are still welcome to weigh in on this subject. Just e-mail your response to bill@harrisonlegacy.com.

Question: I think many people in our church agree with the concept – Love God, Love Others, Serve the World. How come we have such a hard time getting people to volunteer their time and money to ministry in this church?

Answers from Church Leaders - #1: My answer to your question is that our culture teaches us to be self centered from an early age. We are educated to be independent and thinking for ourselves. We are told to not let others take advantage of us. All of that is not bad unless we mature with the same thought that we are the center of the universe and all revolves around us. I believe it is the responsibility and challenge of the church to teach and model other centeredness and giving. We need to offer small steps that will lead to the joy of giving. We need to constantly model giving. I see our church taking that challenge and that encourages me.

Answer #2: First, I don't think these reasons only apply just to us at LCC, I think they are universal keeping us from giving our time, energy, talents and money in any and all churches and to other very worthy volunteer opportunities. As I thought about this, I came up with many different "reasons" but they all seem to be rooted in one (or a combination of both) of two...fear or selfishness. Selfishness is the most obvious of the two, we tend to be selfish about just about everything...money, time, possessions, you name it, we can be selfish about it. Especially my time, I hoard it more than I do anything else. (Notice the change in person from we to I...the "reasons" I mention I see primarily in myself, maybe I am too presumptuous to suggest it applies to many other people). I hoard my time and it stops me from giving more of myself to God and to others He wants me to serve. And frankly, the way I use some of the time I could be giving to God in many cases seems pretty frivolous and wasteful when I think about it! Fear is the other thing that keeps me from doing what God wants me to do. This was the tough one to understand because the "fear factor" manifests itself in different ways. Fear of failure is the top of the list for me, failing to do something as well as God wants it to be. Also fear of failing to do something as well as other people think it should be, this is a really big one for me. This one rolls right into fear of what other people will think about me, and I am talking about both Christians and non-Christians. Fear of being worthy enough is another one, even though in my head I know God accepts me as is and He will equip me any time I answer His call. A fear of embarrassment is another form of fear that keeps me on the sidelines sometimes, feeling embarrassed that I will say or do the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way. I could add a few other "fear factors" to this list but I think you know what I mean. And in almost every case, I combine these two...selfishness and fear...in some way, shape or form which keeps me from serving God and others the way He wants me to serve. And the really sad part is I fool myself by rationalizing that I am thinking right, that the "reasons" are valid ones that everyone, including God, would understand.

My Answer: I would first add my Amen to the two previous answers. Perhaps the only thing I have to add to those answers is to expand on them. It seems to me that there are many.

1. Our faith/religion/Christianity is only seen as an activity in our lives and it is one of many pulling at us for our attention. Because it is one of many, it merits no priority over other groups and relationships and needs in our lives.
   
2. Even if our faith is a priority in our lives, few of us have learned to invest our time and talents in accordance with our stated priorities. Instead we do what seems most important, most exciting, most fulfilling at the time. We get so busy with life we rarely to the time to have a life.
   
3. We live out of control lives. Our schedules are out of control. Our finances our out of control. As much as we would like to give God and the church more time and money, we just do not have it available. Some how we have convinced ourselves that our out of control lives are out of our control. Nothing much will change until we begin to take responsibility for our own lives; how we choose to spend our time, money and resources.
   
4. Somehow, even as evidence to the contrary continues to mount in our life experiences, we continue to believe will find fulfillment and meaning in life through the compiling of wealth and engaging in pleasurable experiences. As we continue our pursuit of these things in a more and more manic manner, we have less and less time and inclination to pursue the things of God and for God led living. The harder we try the less we have and the less chance we have of ever finding what we are looking for. It is a sad and nasty spiral.
   

Thanks for the questions. If the answers didn't satisfy, remember the title of the sermon was "Ask: With a Chance of Answers." Just a chance.

Copyright © 2009, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved