The Real Thing

For those of you are are unfamiliar with this song, its called "The Rain Song."  Believe it or not, its by Led Zeppelin -- yep, as in Stairway to Heaven.  As I think about it, some of you who are familiar with The Rain Song probably didn't recognize my rendition!

You may be wondering why I would post a video of myself playing guitar.  Well, I'm glad you asked.  And let me start by assuring you that my purpose in posting this was not to show off my limited guitar skills. 

If you are unfamiliar with this song and/or are not a musician, it may not have sounded half bad.  In fact, I don't think it sounds half bad.  

On the other hand, if you are a big Led Zeppelin fan or an accomplished guitarist, you probably noticed a number of things that are not quite right about my rendition.  As a few examples, the timing is off, I missed a few notes, I cheated on a few chords that are hard for me to play and there are some fills that it would take far longer to master than the time I am willing to put in.  After all, I play for fun and relaxation.  I don't see myself joining the worship team anytime soon. 

My point is this -- while my rendition of The Rain Song may resemble the real thing in a lot of ways, if you were to really compare my version with the real thing you would see that there are significant differences between the two.  For the untrained ear, I may have played close enough to the original that it would not immediately strike you that there are problems with my version.  But, trust me, they are there.

What does all of this have to do with the Christian faith or the Bible?  I'm glad you asked!

You see, I am concerned that Christians in America today are, on the whole, ill-equipped to tell when there are significant differences between what is being preached on TV, on the radio, on the internet and even sometimes in our local churches and the authentic message of the Bible.  I am concerned that all too often what is being taught has just enough truth and just enough familiarity to be taken on faith, with no real discernment about its accuracy or consistency with the teachings of Christ.

We obviously live in an age of unprecedented access to information.  And, there is a great deal of really good information and resources out there for people with a desire to deepen their understanding of the Bible.  But, there is also, not surprisingly, a wealth of misinformation out there as well.

In preparing to write this blog I looked at a number of studies on Bible literacy.  Some of the statistics I read would have been really funny (simple things like the percentage of people who can name all four Gospels) if the problem were not so pervasive and so serious.

And, even those who do regularly read the Bible apparently do so in only a cursory way.  After a recent study on Biblical literacy, the Barna group had this to say:  

“Bible reading has become the religious equivalent of sound-bite journalism. When people read from the Bible they typically open it, read a brief passage without much regard for the context, and consider the primary thought or feeling that the passage provided. If they are comfortable with it, they accept it; otherwise, they deem it interesting but irrelevant to their life, and move on. There is shockingly little growth evident in people’s understanding of the fundamental themes of the scriptures and amazingly little interest in deepening their knowledge and application of biblical principles."

It is my hope and prayer that you not only take the time to read the Bible, but that you do so regularly and with a seriousness of purpose.  There is so much good that comes out of really studying and meditating on God's Word.  And, at some point I will try to write about that and look at some resources that might help you develop that discipline.   

For the time being though, I just want to emphasize that there is a great danger in not spending time in the Bible.  Jesus warned us that churches would be infiltrated with wolves and false teachers.  He was, not surprisingly, right.

And, I guess my question for you today is this:  Do you know the Bible well enough to tell an imitation from the real thing?

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Matthew 7:15-20

Purchased

You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price.


1 Corinthians 6:19-20.




I will be the first to admit that I do not fully comprehend what God wants from us.  Yes, I understand that we are no longer to live for our earthly, sinful desires, but instead are to pursue the will of God.  1 Peter 4:2  And, yes, I understand that we are to stop living for ourselves and instead live for the one who died for us.  2 Corinthians 5:15  I understand these things intellectually.  But, I don't yet understand them practically.  Maybe the reason for this is that I personally don't know many -- maybe any -- Christians who I can point to as the model.


This is not a criticism of my brothers and sisters in Christ, mind you.  I fall very neatly in the middle of the pack myself.


The truth is that I waste a lot of time on pursuits that are really for me and not the Kingdom.  I don't know that they are necessarily sinful things, they are just sort of idle things.  Like tonight, I really didn't want to write this blog.  Really!  I promise you I would have been more than content just to unwind a little -- maybe an hour of playing Hearts on the internet.


Then again, there are other things I do that don't directly further the Kingdom, but are certainly necessary.  For example, I have been trying to go to the gym more often, which I know is increasingly important as I grow older.  I need to take better care of my body, to eat better, to take time to relax, to get enough sleep and so forth.  If I don't, I will soon be of little use to God.


The point is I certainly understand that as humans a relentless pursuit of God and of service with no thought of ourselves can lead to burn out.  We can get so focused on doing for the Kingdom that we risk becoming disillusioned or even feel used.  We can quickly find ourselves at a point where we feel like we have nothing left to give.


At this point, you might think I am talking about balance -- but I am not.  In fact, the goal, at the end of the day, is to be completely out of balance.  The goal is for everything we do to bring glory to God.   That doesn't mean we can't have fun.  It just means that when we have fun it should bring glory to God.  It doesn't mean we can't relax.  It just means that when we relax it should bring glory to God.  It doesn't mean we shouldn't take care of ourselves -- our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit!


My fear, though, is that most of us lean toward the other extreme.  For most of us pursuing God is more of a hobby -- something we do in our spare time.  For many of us, our "idle" time is spent on things that, if we are honest, are the things we really value in life.  In other words, we spend our idle time essentially worshiping idols.


It may be a golf game, a spectator sport, or a fondness for cooking or art.  It might be our careers.  It might be family or other relationships.  It might be a cause -- even a good cause like providing clean water to people, or feeding the homeless, or fundraising to fight cancer or AIDS.  It might even be the church!!  Yep, I think that serving at church can sometimes become our idol.


I am really not trying to give anyone a guilt trip today.  But, I do think that it is important to periodically check our priorities.  I think every now and then we need to ask ourselves whether God is really important in our life.  And, here is where it gets hard.  If our answer is that God is important to us, we need to honestly compare that declaration with how we live our lives.  We need to judge how important God really is to us in light of how we choose to spend our time, in light of our attitudes and in light of our priorities.  


Sometimes, as we examine our priorities I think we just need to meditate on the fact that we were bought at a price.  The word says that as followers of Jesus we are not our own.  But, too often, it just doesn't feel that way.  At least for me, too often it feels like I am just living for myself.  At the end of the day, its a heart thing.


²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21