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Faith Is Not a Spectator Sport

1/28/2025

I believe, but I don’t go to church.

Then no, you don’t believe. You may accept the existence of God, but clearly you don’t love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. If you did, you’d want to spend as much time as you can with Him, listening to Him and talking to Him.

Faith is alive when it embraces the means of grace, not avoiding them. Faith dies without God’s Word and His Sacraments feeding and sustaining us. Faith is not a hobby, or a seasonal recreation we pull out once or twice a year. Faith needs nourishment, and it needs company. Otherwise it dwindles down to a passing thought or a distant memory, until it dies altogether. Don’t kid yourself.

I’m a member of the church, but don’t ask me to do more stuff and use up more time.

Then don’t ask Jesus to forgive your sins or save your soul. Jesus is busy, too.

You want the free stuff for yourself, but you don’t want to help provide for anyone else. You seem to think that being on the roster is your ticket to heaven. Baptism and confirmation certificates are nice, but a baptized and confirmed Christian is so filled with the Spirit that they crave opportunities to serve and share Jesus.

Jesus says to those who will be saved, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you come to me.” Whenever you do, whenever you help, whenever you serve, whenever spend the time and energy to bless even total strangers, Jesus says, you’ve done it for Him. You’ve blessed Him. (Matthew 25:35-40)

You don’t serve to get saved; you serve because you are saved, and like our God, you genuinely desire to see others get saved, too. Your time and your energy are gifts from God; how you use them is your gift to Him.

I think our church should just be for us, for the members, because we’re the ones who actually belong here.

Jesus doesn’t think that way. In fact, He makes a very pointed directive that we are to share His space – His Kingdom – with others, especially with those outsiders who don’t have a place in His House, yet. He repeatedly bashes the religious leaders who treat the Kingdom of God as their own personal country club, with membership determined by their own standards, instead of the Word of God.

Martin Luther, filled with the Spirit, proclaimed the same fatal flaw in the church of his day, which had become addicted to its own manmade traditions that were nullifying the mission and ministry of Christ: to make disciples of everyone, not just our own family and friends.

[As an aside, we currently have a group within the LCMS that is seeking to start a new college exclusively for Lutherans. Many of these folks believe the current Concordias have lost their Lutheran identity because – shudder – there are too many non-Lutherans on campus. I cannot and will not support, promote or even pray for any effort that subverts the clear words of Christ, just because a faction within our church body feels they need their own safe space.]

I need some down time. I need some peace and quiet. My life has been spinning out of control. I need to slow down and get my head on straight.

Now that I understand! Sometimes we over-commit, overwork, over-worry and overdo just about everything.

Jesus says, “Come to me, you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:30)
Faith is not just a call to go; sometimes it’s a call to stop. The first step of faith is to recognize when you need a “Come to Jesus” Moment. And then take it.

That’s how faith works. You don’t just watch; you get in the game. You don’t tell yourself you’re fine when you’re not, and you don’t pass up any opportunity to be with Jesus.

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You Don’t Got This

1/1/2025

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My apology to all my English teachers. I used to get A’s.

Whenever we want to encourage people to rise to the occasion, to cheer them on to victory and instill in them the confidence and courage to overcome, we say something like, “You’ve got this!” Maybe that works for hitting clutch free throws or surviving a job interview. Maybe.

In real life, under real adversity, as a real person, we’re going to run into those battles to win and mountains to climb that are just too ferocious, just too big to conquer. No amount of catchy slogans and clever memes can replace the foundational facts of all human enlightenment: there is a God, and you are not Him. It’s not all about you, and you’re not all that. Maybe you’ve been able to make it through a lot of things before. Maybe you really are tough and determined.

But this time it’s different. This is bigger than you. It takes more than you have to give. You can’t win them all. You don’t got this.

[Stuff] happens. You can’t help it. They’re asking too much. You need to leave. The ER. The OR. Stage Four. It’s over. She’s gone.

Now you find yourself standing in the empty, staring in the darkness, frozen at the thought of the next step, or any step, and realizing that your legs are gone anyway, and they took your heart with them. It’s too dark. It’s too much empty.

You don’t got this. And for every time you thought you believed, now comes the desperate plea: Lord, forgive me my unbelief! I don’t got this!

In that moment of opaque clarity comes the Epiphany: Jesus is here. Nobody else is, but Jesus is right here. He came for you. He came to you. The people walking in darkness and living in darkness are thriving over those paralyzed and dying in the darkness. But now all of them, and you, have seen a great Light, and that Light is Life!

I’ll bet you didn’t see that coming! He has opened your eyes, resuscitated your heart and repaired your legs as He prepares you for His Great Next. You see, now, that HE’S got this! He always did. But you just couldn’t see it. Until now.

You believe in Him and you believe Him, you love Him and you follow Him, even though now, for a little while, you hit a wall. You felt the pain and you tasted the loss. These have come to prove your faith genuine: not proving it to God; proving it to yourself! The hurt was like spikes driven through you and the loss tasted like beer gone bad. And where have you heard that before? Where have you seen it before?

The Guy on the Cross. The One who came to live your life and die your death so that you could live His life and, well, never really die, even if you die a little. He took all of you so you get all of Him. Your sins are His now, and His grace and righteousness are all yours. You couldn’t help it, so He helped it, and set you free. You couldn’t do it all, so He did it all, to perfection, and gifted the trophy to you. He was in the ER and the OR, performing miracles and medicine that cannot come from a diploma or a license. Stage Four is now Stage Forever where cancer cannot come. And Mom knows me again!

Everything lost has been replaced. Every one lost has been found. So stay with Him. Let Him do and be and save.

Pitiable people want to know why. Why did He let this happen? Why did He do this? It’s not nice. No, it isn’t. And ever since we let sin in, the world isn’t either.

There’s only one way forward, one way through, one way out. And the Way has a Name. He is love. Tough love at times. But love, nevertheless. Unconditional. Eternal.

You can’t get this until you let it go. He’s got this. He never gives you more than He can handle. That’s what He came for. That’s who He came for.

Got it?

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Faith Is Not a Spectator Sport

You Don’t Got This

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