#Jesus2012 Let's Make Jesus Famous

#Kony2012 was a viral marketing masterpiece, exploding on the social sphere in mere hours. The YouTube video had over 74 million views in ONE week. Invisible Children accomplished their initial goal, they have made Joseph Kony famous.

But let's think about this in a bigger picture view. Let's say, best case scenario plays out. What happens? We raise huge global awareness, we find him, and we bring him to justice. What happens the next day? 10,000 wicked men and women sprout up to take his place. Same thing with the sex trafficking industry, "If we rescued every victim today, we'd wake up to a demand for 100+ million new slaves tomorrow." It sounds depressing, but the reality is that something is deeply, profoundly wrong with the human race. Our hearts are sick, broken, twisted, and it seems hopeless to stand against the stream of injustice, hatred, and violence that is laying waste to our globe.

Should we give up? No. But perhaps we should shift our gaze and make a distinction between primary and secondary issues. Here's the point of this post: Kony is secondary. All social justice issues are secondary. All humanitarian missions, all awareness campaigns, and even every church pot luck, they're all secondary. The ONE thing that is primary is the fame of Jesus, gloriously displayed in the gospel of Christ crucified for sinners. 

If this glorious gospel takes second place, we LOSE whatever we've placed on the throne where only Jesus belongs. We lose justice. We lose righteousness. We lose HOPE. But if we keep Jesus in the place of primary honor, and labor with our lives to make HIM famous, not giving up the secondary issues but letting them be motivated BY the primary issue, we will win not just the battle for justice with Kony, but the larger war against injustice everywhere. Do you see the difference? Justice for Kony is a fruit that comes from the tree of justice and righteousness that grows out of the gospel.

Our deepest problem is the human heart is sinfully wicked. We have rebelled against our good Creator, and the fallout from that treason has devastated us for centuries. If ignorance and lack of resources are the problem with the human race, then awareness and mobilization is the solution. But if sinful broken relationship with the holy God is the core problem, then the reconciling, forgiving, atoning, sanctifying Cross of Jesus Christ is the core solution. Don't confuse the fruit with the tree. You must go deep enough to fix the real underlying problems.

So for 2012, here's the challenge: Let's make Jesus famous. #Jesus2012. Because here's His best case scenario: We preach the gospel to the ends of the earth and then Jesus comes back! Not only will redemption, reconciliation, mercy, and justice begin to coat this earth in healing WHILE we preach the gospel, but when we accomplish our task, and Jesus is truly famous among every tribe and tongue and nation, then we shall have our Returning King. On that day we will celebrate true and lasting justice, joy, and redemption. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

Making Jesus famous,
The Relentless Fight

The Cross is for Failures

"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect." - John Owen

It has been stated that all the major world philosophies basically teach the same thing: be nice to people, don't kill each other, do good, seek justice, the Golden Rule. This includes non-theistic philosophies such as secular humanism and atheism.

Although this moral similarity is sometimes an argument AGAINST Christianity, perhaps it's the first step in a powerful argument FOR Christianity? Let's assume this overlap of morality between all philosophies. We all agree that we should be good people! Fantastic, let us begin. But this immediately leads to one very simple question: Do we do this? 

Do we succeed at our own morality? Consider the simple Golden Rule: treat others as you would want them to treat you. Pursue the joy and success of others with the same gusto and commitment that you pursue your own joy and success. Could you accomplish this even for 1 day? This leads to a devastating question for all of us no matter our philosophy: What happens when we fail? 

This is where Christianity stands apart. Whereas other philosophies would encourage us to pick ourselves up and keep trying, Christianity inverts the whole economy. Rather then placing the burden on us to morally improve ourselves, Jesus Christ enters human history and takes the burden FOR us. Rather than us working our way towards a perfect standard, The Perfect Standard worked His way to us.

And so Christianity emphasizes not our work but Christ's work. Not our perfection but His. Not our ongoing performance but Jesus' finished work. See the difference? It is not Jesus' teaching that saves us. Far from it! No, it is Jesus' WORK that saves us. His righteous life lived in our place, and His sinners' death died in our place. Paul wrote, "And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness" (Romans 4:5 ESV). It is all about Jesus and His Cross.

And so let us boast in the cross and resurrection on this Easter Sunday! Hallelujah! We are failures, and that does not damn us, but rather causes us to become eligible for GRACE. God saw our pitiful state, and sent His Son as our atoning sacrifice in our place. The Resurrection proves the victory of the cross of Jesus; and the victory of the cross is good news for failures.

Boasting in the Cross,
The Relentless Fight

The Post-Event Crash

Have you ever had this experience?

You go to a Christian event. Maybe it's a Bible study, a big weekend conference, a church service. You get all pumped up, feel so encouraged spiritually, your heart is stirred to serve the Lord, you see all your favorite friends...

Then you get home. And you CRASH. 

You're tired, feeling spiritually dead, and tragically you turn to any number of idols to give you comfort: food, video games, anger, porn, or just dark discouragement. "Dang it!" you think. "All that great stuff I learned, and now look at me. Not applying one word of it! Pathetic..."

This experience is far too common among Christians to just be a fluke. It's almost a guarantee that after you have a big spiritual high you face the temptation of a big spiritual crash. It happened to Elijah after Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18... he was in utter despair and felt alone. It even happened to Jesus after his baptism... He faced 40 days in the wilderness tempted by Satan, in Luke 4.

Here are three practical suggestions for how to turn to the Lord and beat the post-event crash:

1. Anticipate the Crash: Recognize and anticipate that you WILL crash after the event, so don't be surprised by it. Consider the story of Jesus in Luke 4, Satan attacked him at His weakest state. Expect it. Plan for the temptation. Text your friends for accountability. Set up safe-guards. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we are not ignorant of Satan's schemes.
2. Remember the Gospel: When you're crashing, you're coming off of a high that you couldn't sustain. You start to feel the distance between your actions and what you were just learning about. Normal life starts to set in. You have laundry. And those unfinished dishes you left. So what you had felt at the event (excitement, "yeah I can do this!") has now turned into discouragement ("I'll never be able to do this...") And just there, you've forgotten the gospel. See, here's the great news! It's not up to you. Yes you're a hypocrite, yes you're a failure, but Christ came into the world to save sinners, hypocrites, and failures. Come to Jesus, look to His forgiving wounds, cling to His cross, and receive the new life that He gives by GRACE. 
3. Keep Fighting: As you remember the joy-filled gospel of God's grace, you will become motivated and hopeful. "God can change me!" So get some sleep, write down some of your applications from the event, and then get up tomorrow morning ready to fight for God's glory. Whatever God was stirring in your heart... DO IT.

May God strengthen you and be your comfort, in the darkest of times.
The Relentless Fight

Don't Conceal... Confess and Forsake

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

(Proverbs 28:13 ESV)


So simple. Only 17 words in English. And yet here we have a weight of truth; here we have freedom held out. These words are priceless.

We tend to think that if nobody knows about our secret sins, then we can handle it. We can make it. Basically, we think we'll prosper. But what does Proverbs 28:13 say? We won't. When our hidden sins are covered up and hushed up we think we're getting away with it. But these sins are killing us inside. Imagine the distance relationally between you and a friend, when you're interrupted by her phone call during a binge. "Hey, just wanted to call to see how you're doing" and you choose to answer "oh fine...." You are hiding! You are in the darkness, because of the terror that you have of others discovering your sin. You can't let anyone know. It would ruin you...

But there is hope. The second half of this verse provides amazing promise for those who would believe it. This verse says don't conceal... but instead confess and forsake. Let's unpack those:

• Confess: Admit that you are wrong! Agree with God's assessment: this is sin. Be honest with others about the reality and depth of your sin. Speak clearly, don't soften the language.
• Forsake: Turn away from your beloved sin. Don't embrace it any longer, but cast it away as the poison that it is. Don't hold on to it. Run! Betray your idol!

And what is the result that Scripture promises if we would confess and forsake? We will obtain mercy. Mercy! Oh, all of our fears are blown away! We thought that if we would confess our sins that we would be shamed and hated. We thought that if we would forsake our sins that the LIFE they were giving us would be cut off and we would shrivel up. But no! We obtain mercy, acceptance, and new life. We prosper. 

How is this possible? How can we obtain mercy and life when justice would demand our punishment and death? The answer: The unjust death of Christ. 

At the cross, our sins (known and hidden) were placed on Him, and He bore the penalty for all of our transgression. Therefore, when we confess our sins, we are not fearful that God will punish us. We have confidence that He has ALREADY punished Christ! There is no wrath left, only LOVE. And that is what motivates us to confess and forsake our sins. We confess them to the God who has already forgiven, and we forsake them so that we might run to His loving arms. 

Confessing and forsaking,

The Relentless Fight

The God of Entertainment

Our culture in America, especially among younger people, is focused on self-entertainment. This is one of the reasons why the smartphone industry has exploded, along with Netflix, Redbox, YouTube, live online console gaming, and a thousand other media services. We WANT to be entertained, all the time, anytime. With anything we want. And in high speed so we don't have to wait more than a few seconds.

When we don't have it, we get angry. "What? Your wifi is down? I'm going to Starbucks across the street..." or "Dang it! My iPhone doesn't have 3G service out here, and I'm down to whatever that lame EDGE is or something... sooooo sloooowww.... ugh..." We give our time and energy and money to this pursuit of entertainment. When we're tired, or angry, or aimless, or sad, we go to entertainment to be... entertained! Distracted, amused, to waste time and just "dink around" online...

This affection for entertainment, the anger at its absence, the amount of resources poured into it, all are characteristic of a heightened love to the level of worship. This entertainment thing is an idol! It has taken the place of God. It consumes our affections, and we run to it for satisfaction and comfort. That fiery Old Testament prophet Jeremiah speaks to this kind of substitute worship and idolatry:

Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the LORD,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
(Jeremiah 2:12-13 ESV)

We have forsaken the Lord, and have pursued something ELSE to slake our thirst. This is idolatry. We can do it with anything, but it seems that this god of entertainment is a personal favorite of many.

And here's the really dangerous part: this entertainment idol is largely under the radar, and just sits in the darkness of our unawareness, thriving and growing and throbbing in its strangle-hold over us. Its roots are deep in our selfish hearts that long for SELF-pleasure. We don't want to love God, we don't want to serve others, we don't want to have to suffer the pain of an unfulfilled desire in NOT having immediate pleasure. And in our impatience and prideful DEMAND for entertainment we sacrifice our time, our money, and even other people in our worship of OURSELVES at the altar of entertainment. This comes out in a thousand different ways: video games, movies, porn, Facebook, Twitter, FailBlog, overeating or indulgent eating, Funny or Die, YouTube, Netflix, etc.  This is disgusting, and we need to repent of our hedonistic gorging of SELF and instead gorge ourselves on the Only One who can truly satisfy us! Sure, we could fight against these little demon predator drones, but they're just flying out of the mothership of selfishness and entertainment idolatry. Let's attack the mothership :)

Thankfully Jesus Christ has come to take the punishment for selfish self-worshipers like ourselves. He died our death, He atoned for our sin. And in doing so, He has set us free from our bondage to self-worship and has liberated us to be true worshipers of our Father in Heaven! In His presence is fullness of joy and everlasting pleasures (Psalm 16:11) that FAR surpass the silly little pleasures of a 20 minute sitcom.

Let us look to the freedom that Christ offers, and fight against our selfish lusts!

Fighting for joy in the Lord,
The Relentless Fight

PS: Not for self-entertainment ;) but for some TRUTH to energize you... Check out this YouTube clip by John Piper, "Is God Better Than Sex?"

New Year's Resolutions

A lot of us like to make New Year's Resolutions. We look over our last year, get discouraged because of our failures and weaknesses, and resolve to CHANGE: I'm gonna stop looking at porn. I'm gonna do better in my grades. I'm gonna get to bed on time. I'm gonna lose 15 pounds. I'm gonna get 30 min in the word every day. I'm gonna be more patient with my kids.

These are great desires! But real change doesn't come from making resolutions and exercising MORE willpower. Come on, did that work for 2011?

Our only hope for 2012 is the same hope that we had for 2011: the gospel. We CAN'T do it, but Jesus DID. He came on a rescue mission to save sinners. He died the death that we deserved, and He lived the life that we had failed to live. He gets our sin, and we get His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Good news!

So here's the challenge for 2012: Believe the gospel. Remember that you can't do ANYTHING in your own strength, and that in the midst of your weakness Christ has done EVERYTHING. Our salvation is by GRACE, not our own works at all. Meditate on this amazing truth from Romans 4:4-5, "Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness" (ESV)

For 2012, let's believe the gospel in a deeper way. Let's cultivate a greater love for Jesus, our Savior. Let's grow in our dependence and trust in the death and resurrection of Christ on our behalf. In the midst of failure, temptation, and struggle through 2012, let it ALL drive you to the Cross in humble, faith-filled desperation. And if along the way you get pumped and wanna lay down a few punches against your sin? Go for it.

Remembering the gospel,
The Relentless Fight

Wartime Mentality

You are in danger. Right now.

You have enemies: vindictive Satan, your sinful flesh, the godless world. These enemies LONG to see your destruction. As you read this blog post, there are a thousand temptations vying for your affections. Porn is screaming, selfishness if rearing its ugly head, laziness is creeping, anger is brewing. Sin is out there, and it is attacking. It's ready to kill you and eat your eyeballs. Satan is hunting you (1 Peter 5:8).

And we tend to forget this battle. We think we're doin' pretty good (1 Corinthians 10:12). We are prone to get soft on sin, to let down our guard, get careless, and that's when we get wrecked. 

The only way to ensure our victory over these constant dangers is through constant violence. Like God said to Cain in Genesis 4, sin's desire is for you... but you must master it.  Every moment of every day we must be vigilant, sober, alert, making war against our sin. A great example of this kind of wartime mentality is Colonel Quaritch from the movie Avatar. Consider his speech:

"You are not in Kansas anymore. You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact every second of every day. If there is a Hell, you might wanna go there for some R & R after a tour on Pandora. Out there beyond that fence every living thing that crawls, flies, or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes. We have an indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi. They're fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin that will stop your heart in one minute - and they have bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber. They are very hard to kill. As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed. Not with all of you. If you wish to survive, you need to cultivate a strong, mental aptitude. You got to obey the rules: Pandora rules. Rule number one..." 

In the fight against sin, we must cultivate a wartime mentality. Get pumped! Get focused! Put your game face on and get serious about the fight! As John Owen says, "Always be killing sin, or it will be killing you." The price of victory is constant violence.

Stay frosty,
The Relentless Fight