Truth is...

Do you know anyone whose Mother Tongue is the language of complaints and negativity? Someone who just can't be happy if they didn't have something to complain about?

You know, like the New Yorker cartoon of a doctor telling his patient, "I can cure your back problem, but there's a risk that you'll be left with nothing to talk about."

Apparently, Solomon knew someone like that. It seems he even married someone like that:

It’s better to live alone in the desert
than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.
Proverbs 21:19 (NLT)

A quarrelsome wife is as annoying
as constant dripping on a rainy day.
Proverbs 27:15 (NLT)

While King Solomon's Henny Youngman routine is kind of funny, the Apostle Paul tells us that the habit of complaining and pointing out the negative is harmful to our spiritual health.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault
in a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them
like stars in the sky.
Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV)

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Truth is...Yes, it's kind of funny that I'm complaining about people complaining.

      

I have the honor of preaching for my church this coming Sunday. Because it's part of Independence Day Weekend, I'm talking about the price Jesus paid for our freedom from sin, and basing it on Psalm 22 — an amazingly accurate description of Jesus' perspective during his crucifixion. So much so, that Jesus even quoted the first verse for all the crowd to hear.

Here's a creative rendition of that psalm, from Eugene Peterson's translation/paraphrase, The Message:

God, God . . . my God!
    Why did you dump me
    miles from nowhere?
Doubled up with pain, I call to God
    all the day long. No answer. Nothing.
I keep at it all night, tossing and turning.

And you! Are you indifferent, above it all,
    leaning back on the cushions of Israel’s praise?
We know you were there for our parents:
    they cried for your help and you gave it;
    they trusted and lived a good life.

And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm,
    something to step on, to squash.
Everyone pokes fun at me;
    they make faces at me, they shake their heads:
“Let’s see how God handles this one;
    since God likes him so much, let him help him!”

And to think you were midwife at my birth,
    setting me at my mother’s breasts!
When I left the womb you cradled me;
    since the moment of birth you’ve been my God.
Then you moved far away
    and trouble moved in next door.
I need a neighbor.

Herds of bulls come at me,
    the raging bulls stampede,
Horns lowered, nostrils flaring,
    like a herd of buffalo on the move.

I’m a bucket kicked over and spilled,
    every joint in my body has been pulled apart.
My heart is a blob
    of melted wax in my gut.
I’m dry as a bone,
    my tongue black and swollen.
They have laid me out for burial
    in the dirt.

Now packs of wild dogs come at me;
    thugs gang up on me.
They pin me down hand and foot,
    and lock me in a cage—a bag
Of bones in a cage, stared at
    by every passerby.
They take my wallet and the shirt off my back,
    and then throw dice for my clothes.

You, God—don’t put off my rescue!
    Hurry and help me!
Don’t let them cut my throat;
    don’t let those mongrels devour me.
If you don’t show up soon,
    I’m done for—gored by the bulls,
    meat for the lions.

Here’s the story I’ll tell my friends when they come to worship,
    and punctuate it with Hallelujahs:
Shout Hallelujah, you God-worshipers;
    give glory, you sons of Jacob;
    adore him, you daughters of Israel.
He has never let you down,
    never looked the other way
    when you were being kicked around.
He has never wandered off to do his own thing;
    he has been right there, listening.

Here in this great gathering for worship
    I have discovered this praise-life.
And I’ll do what I promised right here
    in front of the God-worshipers.
Down-and-outers sit at God’s table
    and eat their fill.
Everyone on the hunt for God
    is here, praising him.
“Live it up, from head to toe.
    Don’t ever quit!”

From the four corners of the earth
    people are coming to their senses,
    are running back to God.
Long-lost families
    are falling on their faces before him.
God has taken charge;
    from now on he has the last word.

All the power-mongers are before him
    —worshiping!
All the poor and powerless, too
    —worshiping!
Along with those who never got it together
    —worshiping!

Our children and their children
    will get in on this
As the word is passed along
    from parent to child.
Babies not yet conceived
    will hear the good news—
    that God does what he says.

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Truth is...There's more to think about than just being grateful for Christ's sacrifice and how it purchased a glorious future for me. Let this quote from Rich Mullins remind you of what Jesus said about taking up a cross in order to follow him: "Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours."

      

rivener  -  n. a chilling hint of distance that creeps slowly into a relationship -- beginning to notice them laugh a little less, look away a little more, explain away their mood like it's no longer your business -- as if you're watching them fall out of love right in front of you, gradually and painfully, like a hole in the radiator that leaves your house a little colder with every passing day, whose only clue is a slow, unnerving drip - drip - drip. [Middle English riven, to rend, to cleave apart. Pronounced "riv-uh-ner."] (From John Koenig's The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows)

Is it possible to experience riveners in my relationship with Jesus? Can I be on the lookout for signs that my love is growing cold?

• Dust on my Bible
• Mumbling through songs I used to belt out
• Posting the praying hands emoji and considering it the equivalent of praying for someone
• Being satisfied with watching worship services online instead of actually attending and interacting with people who I once thought of as my brothers and sisters in Christ, but who are now just people who go to my church

It brings to mind the song by the seminal Jesus Music artist, Chuck Girard, "Return to Your First Love."

 

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Truth is...The words of Jesus in Revelation 2:2-5 (NLT): "I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first."

      

Frank E. Graeff's lyrics to the 1901 hymn, Does Jesus Care?, are pretty straightforward. In fact, there's no need to prosify the chorus at all. But consider how relatable his questions are.

Does Jesus care when my heart hurts so much that I can't even think about happiness and music? I feel so weighed down, and my worries stress me out to no end.

Does Jesus care when I can't tell which way to go, and I'm full of fear and a dread I can't even identify? I feel like I'm walking alone into a dark place. Does he care enough to walk with me?

Does Jesus care when I give in to temptation, or when, even though I cry all night, there's no relief from my grief?

Does Jesus care when the person on earth I love the most dies, and my heart aches till it breaks? Does it mean anything to him at all? Does he even see how much I'm hurting?

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Truth is...

      

Look at this infographic and let it sink in.

This kind of overwhelms me.

Think of the thousands and thousands of churches in North America and Europe and compare that to the millions and millions of people living in Southeast Asia.

No wonder Jesus urged us to "pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers" in Matthew 9:38.

No wonder Jesus commanded us to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" in Matthew 28:19.

No wonder Keith Green challenged us to get off our duffs and make a difference in his song, "Jesus Commands Us to Go."

 

Truth is...It wouldn't be practical for every Christian in the U.S. to drop what they're doing and move to China, but:

     1.  If we're not going, we should be sending.
     2.  A person doesn't have to go to China to share the love of Jesus with those living on the same street or working in the same office.