No Such Thing as White Supremacy!

Recently I visited the historic city of Charleston, South Carolina. I was struck by the proximity of the Boone Plantation to Fort Sumter. Both represent the high cost in human suffering of the War Between the States.

One experience transported me into the mindset of the slaves who were the sources of plantation wealth. In each of nine slave cabins on the property, recorded narrations explained how slaves lived, worked, and worshipped. Then an eloquent African-American woman told the story of slavery through the eyes of a slave. “This is my history, your history, our history,” she concluded.

I learned many things about slaves in the South. By law it was illegal to teach them to read or write. Since each slave was individually owned, families were often split apart when at the whim of a slave owner, husband, father, brother, son were shipped to another plantation without regard to any family ties. In fact, slaves were considered so inferior as to not have feelings for each other.

Workdays in the fields were daylight to dusk. No breaks, no restrooms, no protection from the heat and children worked alongside the parents. If a slave was not as productive as others, he or she was beaten as an example. In short, everything I learned about slavery turned my stomach.

The other experience occurred at Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the War Between the States resulted in a victory for the Confederacy. In fact, the South never lost control of the fort until they abandoned it. And you’ll never guess the ethnicity of the Park Ranger telling the story—a very well spoken African American.

The week I returned from Charleston, our nation celebrated Independence Day. The irony that we are a nation of immigrants, beginning with the pilgrims, seems lost on Congress as they debate the immigration bill. Which Indian tribe decided it was “legal” for white people to live on their land?

Although I know slavery has been (and still is) practiced throughout human history (Abraham had slaves!), I still can’t get my head around it. I don’t understand why some people feel superior to others, much less think they should own them. Friends, there is no such thing as white supremacy. We’re all God’s children, endowed by our Creator with the right to liberty, for “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17).” In fact, the only One to whom we are slaves is Christ!

If that statement seems incoherent, read my book, When Christ Sets You Free. In it I explain how Christ sets us free to become slaves of Christ!

Religion Regulates—Jesus Saves

What is the essence of “religion”? Find your own way to God and try to do what’s right.

Basically, religions come in two categories: self-made and self-focused. Self-made religions are mankind’s attempts to explain life, death, and the meaning of life. They may have begun as myths, legends, stories, or an individual’s private revelations. Most are associated with some person's name such as Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy or L. Ron Hubbard.

The other category, self-focused religions, ask personal questions. What is going on internally? Am I at peace? Do I feel good about myself? How might exercises and meditation help me achieve a higher state of consciousness? Examples would be yoga as practiced by Hindus or Buddhism.

Each religion has a code of conduct, a set of rights vs. wrongs, and some established leadership and worship experiences. So, you might rightly ask, how would Christianity be any different?

Ah! Allow me to answer that. The Bible is the story of God seeking man. Every patriarch, king, prophet, and religious leader in the Bible confronted a word from the Lord, which most had not sought and many did not follow. God is portrayed as the “hound of heaven,” moving toward mankind as each of us tries to move away from Him.

The stories in the Bible are about real people with real sinful souls recorded for all time with faults, foibles, and folly. Rather than being about a state of perfection, the Bible is about the heartache of trying to live without a personal relationship with God.

And last, Christianity is about how none of us—no matter how much chanting we do, steps we kiss, services we attend, or good works we perform—can save us from eternal judgment. That’s the good news: Jesus Christ paid our sin debt. Your need for “religion” died on the cross!

Paul explains this in Colossians 2:20-23.

20 Since you died with Christ ..., why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Got a sin problem? Don't try to solve it! You just need a Savior.

On Dog Collars and Yokes, Part 2

At my YMCA a wall poster advertises a local humane organization. The poster shows a beautiful collie mix saying, “I don’t know why my owner won’t leave the house with me without a leash. But that’s OK. I don’t mind showing her around.”

I discovered the importance of a leash while walking my dog Lily. Two neighborhood dogs attacked her. I used the leash to pull Lily to me until I could scoop her into my arms and rush her to the vet. Very scary!

The leash, of course, was attached to Lily’s dog collar. What if she had not been leashed? In my last post, I talked about comparing a collar to the yoke that Jesus described in Matthew 11:29-30: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus’ listeners would have been quite familiar with the purpose for yoking oxen: to enable them to pull together at the same speed in the same direction. If we live in such a way that Jesus is the “driver” and we are the oxen, we can be assured that we will go in the direction He desires, at the speed He desires, in cooperation (and not competition) with other believers. How freeing to know we are not alone, forging ahead without direction or purpose! Those fellow believers beside me are friends, not foes, helping me get to my destination.

Jesus describes His purpose in yoking us: to learn from Him. In a similar way, my “yoked” dogs learn the path around our neighborhood—which patches of grass they may walk on (or poop and pee) and which they cannot, which persons approaching them will want to stop for a friendly greeting and others who will not. If they hear a loud noise, they look to me to see if they should high-tail it for home. We learn from Jesus by observing His ways and hearing His voice through prayers, sermons, Bible studies, and Christian fellowship.

Note that in this analogy Jesus is behind the oxen rather than in front of them. He leads from behind, yet they can tell from his pulling which direction to go. That reminds me that we walk by faith, taking steps into the unknown (see the post “Leading from Behind,” 3/20/13). The essence of discipleship is listening to the Master’s voice, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isa. 30:21).

On Dog Collars and Yokes

Monday night was spa night at the Hasslers. Granted, “the girls” (Lily, 3, and Coco, 1) don’t like spa night, but I try to make it as pleasant as cleaning and trimming ears can be for two malti-poos. Often, they run to Dad, as though he’s not involved in the conspiracy, but eventually, when the grooming is over, they still enjoy a belly rub from monster Mom.

What amazes me most is their excitement when I hold out their collars and re-attach them securely around their necks. Don’t these dogs understand that collars are confining? Don’t the collars sometimes chafe or itch? Wouldn’t life be better if Mom had nothing with which to grab them when they try to scamper away on spa night?

Is it possible my girls see the collars as a security blanket, a way for a stranger to identify them from the attached tags, or even as the vehicle by which I leash them for the highlights of their days—walks around the neighborhood.

Then it occurred to me that I, too, wear a collar of sorts. As a believer, I am “yoked” to Jesus Christ. He told me that in Matthew 11:29-30: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Wait a minute! I thought I had found freedom in Christ! Now I’m reminded that my freedom has limits. If it’s any comfort, we’re all yoked to something. In the case of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, they were yoked to the 612 laws that had been added to the Ten Commandments. These yokes were strangling them (see Acts 15:9-11).

Others were yoked to besetting sins, evil and immoral acts and debilitating habits. These thoughts and actions were enslaving both believers and unbelievers. Paul told the Galatian Christians, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).

Would I rather be yoked to Christ or to Satan? You knew I’d find a way to plug my book in here somewhere! To find out more about how Christ sets us free from uncomfortable and confining yokes of the world, pick up a copy of When Christ Sets You Free: Living Between the Ditches series (crossbooks.com).

In my next post, we’ll talk more about Christ’s yoke. Til then, keep living between the ditches!

Leading from Behind

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’” Isaiah 30:21


(This morning’s conversation with God:)

Say what?

No, Lord, Your voice is to be ahead of me not behind me—you know, showing me the Way. Because you go before me, right? You’re the leader; I’m the follower. “Lead on, O King Eternal,” as the hymn says.

You see, I don’t like the implications of Isaiah 30:21. It suggests that I must walk the way of faith, stepping off into the unknown through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

I prefer to know exactly where I’m going, what I’ll be doing, how I’ll know on the front end, and—if it’s not asking too much—the exact outcomes. After all, isn’t that the essence of prayer—being assured of the right path to take?

What’d You say? Of course I’ve read Hebrews 11. Lord, I’ve read the whole Bible! I know that Noah built an ark before he’d ever seen rain. Abraham was told to go to a land You would show him, and Moses wandered around in the desert for 40 years. But these are Bible stories—not real life!

Being a person of faith requires—well—faith. I’m the practical sort; seeing is believing. Faith requires relationship instead of a formula; a Person, not just a book; a Spirit blowing through my life that brings (dreaded) spontaneity and flexibility. Faith means being “at the ready,” and I like to plan my days well in advance.

What’d You say? I thought I heard something from behind me.

“Walk in it.” Yes Lord, one step at a time.

My Friends: Five Deadly Sins, All Defeated by Christ

These women are friends of mine—Pride, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, and Sloth. No, really!

Actually, their names are Pat, Melody, Dee Anne, Karen, and Andrea, but they’ve chosen to play these roles in my church’s Easter drama. This picture was taken at a recent rehearsal.

Since Jesus’ resurrection, Christians have wondered about the three days Jesus was in the tomb. Where was He? What was He doing? The apostle Peter says Christ visited the “spirits in prison,” which scholars believe is a reference to hell (1 Pet. 3:18-19).

Author and theologian William L. Hendricks believed such an event, beyond the borders of history, would be best expressed in poetry and drama. And so he wrote a morality play. The play identifies those “spirits” as the Seven Deadly Sins who serve Death, Hell, and Satan. The setting is a boardroom in Hell.

The play begins with Jesus’ prayer on the eve of His crucifixion: “The hour has come” (Jn. 17:1). The “hour” is the time the Son will be glorified and the enemies of God utterly defeated.

Aware of Christ’s impending arrival in hell, Satan calls a meeting to discuss how His coming will be received. Everyone has an opinion, but Satan remains convinced that he can win over the Suffering Servant. Thus, he uses his vast experience with deception and aggression to try to carve a victory out of sure defeat.

The play is an allegory and not intended to be taken literally. In fact, how Christ defeats Satan is a clever surprise. However, it drives home the assurance that these enemies of God are completely defeated by the crucifixion and then the resurrection of Christ.

Believers need to be reminded of the victory Christ has won for them over sin, death, and hell. These enemies seem to go unchecked in the world today; however, we know the end of the story, and we win!

Want to see the play? We’ve transformed First Baptist Nashville’s fellowship hall into a hellish place! But only from 6:10-6:50 on Wednesday, March 6. Can’t come? Then offer a prayer that God through Christ will be glorified.

Blackout or Light-In?