Speaking of Great Men

"When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon. Men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive home in pomp and in power; a man who has achieved the very summit of earthly ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow, and remember that the slave trade is no more."
- Lord Charles Fox

When people speak of of great men, they tell of their accomplishments. They speak of the great things they have done, the lives they've impacted, and the hearts they've changed. But rarely when people speak of great men, do they speak of the tumultuous battles they've fought against themselves, others, and the influences of the flesh. They may speak of the physical illness they endured, or the physical attacks that have been inflicted on them. But rarely do people speak of the character of that man. They may speak of how kind, generous, and selfless he was. But they fail to speak about and recognize what caused this man to be great.

The character of a man is not found in the things people see him do. Nor is it found in acknowledging that the man was good. A man's character is found in the daily battle fight for a righteousness that no one is supposed to see. It's found in struggle to continue to try doing what is right even though failure has has met him on all sides.

Great men have great character. Great men are not men who have simply fought great battles, discovered the unknown, or lead great people. Great men are men who recognize that even though the battle rages around them, they calling is to something greater. These are men who make the choice to fix their eyes on the only person who endured the weight of their sin, so that with a tremendous amount of perseverance, they can run the race set before them. They have fixed their eyes on Jesus, because they know that through perseverance, their faith is being perfected by the one who is the author of that faith.

Many people speak of great men. They speak of men like Paul, who endured a lot from sinful man, to take the words of Jesus to people who had never heard. They speak of the number of times he was beat, or how many times he was shipwrecked, or that he made tents. But do people often speak of the character of the man who wrote some of the most pointed instructions to Godly living we have in the Bible? Do they speak of how the character of Paul directly influenced the writings we often commit to memory? Do we speak of how the words that God spoke through Paul were first practiced by the man asked to pen those words?

When we speak of great men, the way we speak of the man, directly effects the greatness of that man. If we were to talk of Jesus only as a kind, compassionate, loving man, telling only of the healings, casting out of demons, and the miracles he did, we reduce God down to a great man who did good things. But we don't speak about him in this way. We speak of the attributes of a loving God who through a tremendous amount of pain, came to earth to die the most brutal death ever known to man. We speak of the joy that was set before him that he set aside to endure the cross, to scorn it's shame, so that we too could be counted as sons of an awesome God. We speak about the greatness of the man, and of the God who could do such an absurd thing. We speak about what really makes him great, and we let that view affect the way we hear from and about him.

Let us be cautious about speaking of the accomplishments of men without noting the character of the man. Let us speak about what truely made that man great, so that not only the people we speak to about that man, but that we ourselves can recognize and know why we speak of him the way we do. And let us analyse what makes that man great, and seek to increase in ourselves, the very things that made that man great.

Can Muslims Be Good Americans?

So I'm really fed up with neo-christian right wingers blasting their flaps about how bad Muslims really are. I got this e-mail forwarded on to me by someone today. Here it is and I'll comment on it below.

Can Muslims Be Good Americans?

Theologically - no. . . . Because his allegiance is to
Allah, The moon God of Arabia

Religiously - no. . . Because no other religion is
accepted by His Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)(Koran)

Scripturally - no. . . Because his allegiance is to the
five Pillars of Islam and the Quran.

Geographically - no . Because his allegiance is to
Mecca , to which he turns in prayer five times a day.

Socially - no. . . Because his allegiance to Islam
forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews .

Politically - no. . . Because he must submit to the
mullahs (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and
destruction of America , the great Satan.

Domestically - no. . . Because he is instructed to marry
four Women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran
4:34)

Intellectually - no. . Because he cannot accept the
American Constitution since it is based on Biblical principles and he
believes the Bible to be corrupt.

Philosophically - no. . . Because Islam, Muhammad, and
the Quran does not allow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy
and Islam cannot co-exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial
or autocratic.

Spiritually - no. . . Because when we declare 'one
nation under God,' the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah
is NEVER referred to as Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in
The Quran's 99 excellent names.

So my problem lies in the fact that there is nothing done here that benefits anyone to one iota of a degree. To the people spreading these e-mails, it does nothing be depends an already growing fear towards, and more importantly hate for Muslim people. This is clearly written from a Christian point of view, which makes this even more sad and disheartening.

The question I always want to ask people who say this, is 1) why? and 2) how many Muslim friends do you have? The problem lies in the fact that it is easy to hurl insults and degrading comments towards individuals and groups that you don't personally know. I suspect the answer to #1 is, 'because we need to educate Americans as to the evils of Islam." And I suspect the answer to #2 is, "Well...... none, I guess." This fact is a sad reality of the majority of Christians in America. Most spread these messages of hate freely around the web hiding behind a guise of a holier than thou, Bible believing, selfish persona. I think it's time that we stop giving extremist Muslims (which are the people that this e-mail is really targeting) ammunition to continue to create enormous amounts of violence towards the West. Is it any wonder why they hate us so much? I would begin to strongly dislike and hate people who only ever say negative and demeaning things toward me. And when those things are targeted at a whole group of people (over 1 billion mind you), yes, a small minority will get pissed and give the whole group a bad name by being complete morons.

When my cousin comments to me about a photo I had up on Facebook with me wearing a traditional head covering typically worn by Muslim men, and he says that I look like a rag head, it really upsets me. Seriously. Let's completely generalize a group of people based off of what they look like and what a minute number of them do. Let's change the name of terrorist into a name like rag head, and really piss them off. Maybe that will stop the bloodshed. Am I speaking to retarded Christians here who don't realize that God has every right to call us even worse names, and punish even harsher than any terrorist could dream of? I try not to take my salvation for granted and hold it as something that can only be atained by myself the 'select chosen of God'. I try to realize that my Jesus is my Savior, but that he's also a prophet to the Muslim peoples of this world who understand less about their second greatest prophet than any other prophet in their book. Jesus wasn't just some dude who did cool things like heal people. He is God. He is in the Qur'an for a reason, and that's to point the Muslim people of this world towards a better understanding of who he is. The reality of it though is that they can't figure it out on their own free will. We have to go to them and tell them about their prophet Jesus and who he really is. That's the only way that we can stop the violence coming from them.

But maybe people who spread these e-mails are right. Maybe I should shun, ignore and hate Muslims. Maybe I should adopt my own gospel and apply it to the rest of the world. Maybe that would help things. But then Jesus would come in and kung fu kick me in two for missing the point why he even stepped foot on this earth to begin with.

Tears That Don't Flow

I sometimes wonder why it is that when I see the brokenness of others, (be it pain, hardship, death, or a slew of other things) I often find myself with such an overwhelming sense of compassion and empathy, that I frequently find tears in my eyes. But when it comes down to my own pain, hardship, sin, and a number of other things, my emotions are not stirred at all. When I recognize that sin has crept so far inward that I've allowed the Light to be crowded out, all I can muster up is anger. Anger towards my sinful tendencies and selfish actions. I beat myself up for it really bad. And through it all, my brokenness manifests itself in ways where emotion is not stirred as much as when I see it in others. God has gifted me with a compassion and empathy for others who are going through hard times. That is usually expressed in great signs of emotion. I can't help but believe that God wants me to feel emotionally the weight of my actions. And through it all, I've noticed that have a severe deficiency of joy.

I was watching a special on Randy Pausch, the author of 'The Last Lecture' this evening. What amazed me is that through the midst of a tremendous amount of pain (both physically because of prostate cancer, and emotionally with leaving his wife and three kids behind), he did not let those things break him. His joy for life, and for his family is something that needs to be examined. What was the source of that joy? I can't speak for his faith because he kept that a private matter. But where did it come from? Did it come from a naturally optomistic personality handed down to him by his parents? Did it develop when he married his wife at age 39 after waiting for a wife who's love for life surpassed his own? I don't know. But it's perplexing that a man who as far as I know, didn't have a relationship with Christ, had such an overwhelming amount of Joy in his life. So it's got me thinking.

The question he poses in The Last Lecture is this: If you had only 6 months to live, what would you do? The question isn't as that simple for me. With Christ as my leader, the question must logically turn into: If you had one day, hour, or minute to live, what would you do? -or- How would you live your life in that small amount of time? I want to know Christ. I want to obey him, spread his name, talk with him, know his word. But how does that fit in to answering that question?

Here's what I know. Jesus said that the two greatest commands are these: Love God with all that you are, and love people. The second is absent and void without the first. So how would I live those last 6 months? Being as real and authentic as I can be, I must answer with a very difficult 'I don't know'. I know that the enemy would be there besides me enticing me at every turn to compromise on one small thing that allows me to bring pleasure to myself. And knowing my track record in standing firm against compromise, I would be in a world of hurt. My tendencies often lead me away from the two greatest commands. I often ignore God. It's hard to love God when you try not to pay attention to him. And as a result of that, people turn in to objects to be exploited for my own personal gain and satisfaction.

Oh, how I need help in this. I want to be like Paul who said, " But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

I believe that this is the true way to find that joy, that sees through the rubbish, pain, trials, and tribulations of life. Oh that I would lay aside my own wants that would profit me much, see them as rubbish, and fix my eyes on Jesus. The author and protector of my faith. Who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorned it's shame, and took a seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Oh that would consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that would grow weary and loose heart. For in my struggle against sin, have not yet suffered to the point of bloodshed.

I want joy. I need joy. And I'm taking steps to achieve it not for my own profit. But so that others would see Jesus.