PARKS BROWN

I remember when Tide detergent started advertising their product was new and improved. At first, I thought changing something was a great way to increase market share and attract new customers. As the years passed, Tide continued to advertise improvements but the marketing department dropped the spin of it being a new product. The boys upstairs realized people bought the idea of improvements more than they wanted a new product. I think the human race has more in common with Tide than we know.

People want improvements more than they want a new product. Our society wants improved living standards, not new ones. Businesses want an improved bottom line to support an improved stock price that facilitates an improved bonus structure. Christians can fall into the same Madison Avenue trap with their spiritual lives. Our churches can add to the problem by encouraging us to be better husbands and wives, better friends and better parents. The problem is, God is not interested in improvements to make us better. God sent his Son to make all things new. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Search for the word ‘new’ in the New Testament. Look for the numerous ways and times Christ and the disciples emphasized the focus on making things new and NOT improved. Let me highlight the word ‘new’ and give a few examples…

– “…just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a NEW life.” Romans 6:4

– when believers take communion “This cup is the NEW covenant in my blood;” 1st Cor. 11:25

– “His purpose was to create in himself one NEW humanity out of the two..” Ephesians 2:15

– “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it’s evil desires; to be made NEW in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the NEW self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:22-23.

The last example from scripture in Ephesians drills home the point. Do you really believe you can make improvements and fulfill God’s purpose for your life? Will improvements in your prayer life from 10 to 20 minutes make you more righteous? Will not looking at porn for 2 months instead of 2 days make you holy? Will improving the way you show respect to your husband really make you the wife Christ wants you to be?

People let me confess. I am twerked beyond recognition to be performance oriented. I lived in a profession for 30 years that just reinforced and quantified being better and improving service and performance. God in His mercy showed me that unless I allowed Him to change everything in me that He wanted and needed to make new, I was wasting my time. Only by allowing Him to change EVERYTHING, including my job, could He make me the new creature He desired.

The truth is, we don’t want to allow Him to make us new because there’s a lot about ourselves we like too much to give Him free reign to change what HE wants. We not only like ourselves, we trust ourselves and think we need ourselves. Proverbs 3:5-7 commands us to “Trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding…Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.” He wants and NEEDS to wreck our lives because otherwise we will lean on the way we’ve seen it done, the way we know it has worked in the past. We will only make improvements to a structure we mistakenly believe is sound.

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with it’s practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of it’s creator.” Colossians 3:9-10. A NEW you is risky. Your old self may have provided well. Your old self may have lots of friends. Your old self may have a good reputation and track record. All of this sounds safe and good, but your old self is fighting against the will of God and the inner working of the Holy Spirit to make you new. Down deep we think the old self just needs to be improved and made better. Better is only a derivative of good and Christ set that straight in Mark 10:18, “‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good-except God alone.'”

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'” Revelation 21:5. The God who created all that was and is to come is into new construction, not renovation. Jesus Christ came to destroy the past work of the devil and give us new life. Jesus’ life and ministry is a NEW covenant not an improved one. Believers are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, not a renovated one.

Are you allowing God to change you and make your operating system new each day or are you denying the work He needs to do? It may take a wrecking ball to clear out the old self, but He is either trustworthy or not. If it scares you what He might want to do, good. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7. Lean INTO Him.

The question you have to answer is ‘Do you want to be improved or made new?’ Are you trusting Him or yourself? Your eternity is in the balance and time waits on no man.

The past cannot be changed, but it can be misunderstood…forgotten or ignored. Know your past. Know your future.

This week in particular is a time for all people to remember the past and not forget where we came from. It is imperative to never forget God created humans in love and in His image. Adam and Eve looked around the garden and saw the beauty and ease with which they lived in the presence of God. The enemy wanted them to forget how good life was and how much God loved them. That spin still continues. Today, the enemy wants us to forget the Son of God and what He accomplished with His life and death. It’s comfortable for people to believe in a higher power and call it God, but Jesus is the line in the sand.

Jesus is so important because He finished what the Creator started with mankind. Some human beings had chosen to walk away from the family of God like a third of the angels who followed Lucifer in the great rebellion. Christ came to reunite us and formally give us an adoption back into the family with full rights restored. With Jesus there was no more separation from the Father. Jesus was a ransom payment to free what the enemy had captured in the garden when Adam and Eve chose to be disobedient to God. Death WAS the ultimate trump card Satan had until Christ rose from the grave and started living and breathing again. Christ’s last words on the cross echo across the ages, “It is finished.” Your past includes the ultimate victory. And that my friends, is who and what you can never forget.

God is full on love with the human race but if we choose to turn our back on Him and His Son, there are dire consequences. Dire means extremely serious and urgent. Dire consequences are disastrous. That’s a critical point that is not politically correct or pleasant to remember. Easter week in particular, we need to remember the message of Jesus’ obedience in living a life of love. We need to remember the fact He paid a price with blood and a violent death. We can’t forget obedience to God is at the root of creation in Genesis and redemption at Easter. Don’t forget obedience.

Our world needs a big God and we have Him. We are wired to want something more than ourselves. We know there is a greater plan and path but there’s a lot of misinformation and noise to distract. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection remind us there is a price in not following the easy route by making up our own philosophy and belief system. When talking about eternal life with Him, Christ said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and path that lead to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14. God didn’t make it hard. If we choose to see mankind and the world as evolved and not created for a purpose beyond ourselves, we make it hard. We are here to bring glory to the Creator and His Son. If you forget that, you’re on the wrong path.

Robert Frost wrote about paths back in the early 1900’s. Americans love to recite some of the lines because it empowers our sense of self, control and destiny.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Although both paths were worn the same, Frost emphasized the perception that he had chosen a path that distinguished him from others. Americans are a freedom seeking and rebellious lot from the get go. Whether it was taxation without representation or freedom of religion, we like to choose our own paths. Problem is, no one is reminding us of the dire consequences with spiritual choices and we are forgetting the past. The path to eternal life is narrow. It involves faith, acceptance and obedience. Jesus chose the narrow path so He can understand the choices you and I face. Don’t forget His actions and words.

Adam and Eve forgot the words of God pretty quickly. Today, our enemy wants us to forget the love our God and Savior have for us. He wants us to forget the reward in store and the price Jesus paid. Most importantly, the enemy wants us to forget the consequences of rebelling against and turning our back on an omniscient God. Mankind is the centerpiece of a rich heritage in God’s creation and the focus of His Son, Jesus. The enemy wants to steal your knowledge of that fact. Christ followers are filled with the Holy Spirit and the enemy wants to kill your use of that power. Believers have an inheritance of eternal life as an heir of God and Satan is bent on denying those rights before you receive it. Don’t forget who you are.

We cannot forget the creation story and how the world came into existence. We cannot forget our Creators original intent for us to live in obedient communion with him. If we forget what Christ accomplished with his death and resurrection, then the clock ticks away until our day of judgement comes. And the end of all things IS coming. Your end will not be late, you just don’t know how early it will be.

Easter week is a time to remember the past and not forget the future. The words of an old song remind us. “Tomorrow people where is your past. Tomorrow people how long will you last? Today you say deyah (you’re here) but tomorrow you’re gone. Don’t know your past you don’t know your future.”

A prominent theme in many Sci-Fi movies is the belief there are aliens living among us. For Christians this is not science fiction, but rather gospel truth. Look no further than the infamous chapter 11 in Hebrews where the role is called in the Faith Hall of Fame. Hebrews 11:13, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers here on earth.” Case closed. No more need for the SETI Institute.

They say life is stranger than fiction. The Bible repeatedly describes Christ followers in terminology that sounds more like our lives are a virtual reality. On second thought, go with that. Our lives ARE a virtual reality to the spiritual beings that define who we really are. Don’t think of Neo and Morpheus running around in the Matrix or a remotely located human roaming a planet in the movie Avatar. Think about Peter writing a letter “To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,” 1st Peter 1:1. C.S. Lewis put it best. “You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”

For those who think I’m resorting to hyperbole or getting too far out there, I’m talking about taking the Bible literally. Back to Peter’s letter. “Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world…” 1st Peter 2:11. In so many areas of life the key to understanding and success lies in grasping the terminology. Two thousand years after Christ floated into the sky, I mean ascended, we tend to forget that our lives as believers are founded in what can sound like popular science fiction. In the attempt to attract non-believers we have downplayed the mystical side to our God. Our lives as believers are and should be as exciting, bizarre, dangerous and intriguing as the story line to the most popular movies Hollywood will never be able to produce. If your life is not, who and what are you living for?

Now is where some of my Christian friends will remind me, “How does this bring people closer to Jesus, Parks?” Great question. I’m afraid Thoreau was right when he said “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Fat and happy Christians in America have a lot in common with the accurate observation made by that fellow in rural Massachusetts back in 1845. But why is that? Believers have been lulled into complacency in this virtual reality while the church focuses on God’s mercy and grace sometimes at the expense of his mystical and supernatural side. If we leave out the truths that we don’t want to explain and make us uncomfortable, we risk portraying a sweet, predictable and powerless God. Let’s not forget this is the same God who drowned everyone but 8 people in a flood. He got so fed up with the lifestyle in two cities that he burned them to the ground, only spared one man and his two daughters and turned his wife into a pillar of salt. He values obedience.

Have we become so obsessed with not sounding negative to an unbelieving world that we’ve resorted to telling them what their itching ears want to hear? Our conveniences, lack of suffering and direct deposit tithing have distanced us from a God that is the furthest thing from safe. We need to constantly consult with Him at the risk of our own peril. Our comfortable American lifestyles should not be reflected in our theology or day to day living. As C.S. Lewis said, “If you want a religion to make you feel real comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” We need to live with a sense of urgency that we are but “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

Uh, again, closer to Jesus, Parks? This virtual reality we call life has consequences that only Jesus can save us from. Christ came so that we may have life and have it abundantly. But that life is not necessarily here and now. “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter eternal life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.” Matthew 18:8. Words in red that stress our virtual reality for a few short years in this earthly body sets us on a path for true life in eternity. Christ said we would be better living now in this virtual reality as a cripple than miss eternity with Him.

It is critical we live out the great commission Jesus gave us right before that mystical sci-fi exit. As we seek to help people find and follow Jesus, it is also incumbent on us to make sure believers know there is more than an admission ticket at stake here. There are rewards in the next life. There is also an enemy that is bent on your destruction in the here and now. Back to Peter, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1st Peter 5:8. The enemy is a thief and only wants to steal, kill and destroy. We need a God capable of wrath and vengeance for that kind of enemy…and we have Him.

Life as a believer is not meant for quiet desperation or a false sense of security. God reminded us that halfheartedness on our part won’t work. “So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:16, letters in red. 2016 years after Christ left here we need to be alert. Maybe we need to be reminded this isn’t a game where we take the clunky helmet off and stop the virtual reality. This game is for the prize of your soul in eternity.

Because we live in a virtual reality we have adopted a game-like and casual mentality with our faith and our God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing could be more dangerous.

For everyone who loves sports and competition, spring is the ultimate season. Warm weather returns, daylight savings time kicks in and sports have something for everyone. Baseball season begins, professional basketball becomes relevant, golf has the Masters, college football comes back to life, hockey gets interesting (for the first time) and the crowning jewel is March Madness. Pick your team and let the games begin.

The two best things about sports is the competitive nature and the clock. The clock reminds us time is of the essence and there is a beginning and an end. In a competition there is a winner and a loser. There is no blue ribbon for participation, only for winning. Every member of the human race is hardwired to compete, play and win because we were born as players into the biggest competition of all time; creation.

The games begun when Adam and Eve were created into space and time. For Christ followers, the fact that the first couple was dropped into a world that was enemy territory makes the game of life more like a war game than a sporting event. Fast forward to 2017 and it’s not popular in the pulpit or politics to recognize the spiritual battle at the heart of every breath we take, but the facts remain the same from day one. The human race is designed to play and win the contest of the millennium.

The competition for believers was outlined in Ephesians 6:12. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Our adversary has been around for a long time and has a high opinion of himself to say the least. Christ followers must remember life is a team sport and there is a clock ticking. To help with our weakness, playing time is limited to a lifetime and not eternity.

To stay with the sports metaphor, our coach rotates his players and substitutes with the best of them. James gave a nice sideline speech to remind us we don’t know how much game time we have left. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14. In simple terms, we are players not coaches. Stay apprised of the coaches plan for your life and remember only He knows whats left on the clock. Enjoy your career but leave the front office decisions to the owner.

God renovated this Earth into a beautiful stadium and designed the game of all games. One of the best aspects for believers is that the game doesn’t last forever. I was 50 when my father got sick at 75 years old. Right or wrong, I looked at my dad and thought, ‘OK, I’ve got 25 years.’ It sounded like a 2 minute warning to me. Maybe it was just the end of the first half or the third quarter, I don’t know. Regardless, I heard a warning and went back to the coach to make sure of the game plan. I wanted to be a team player and not sit on the sidelines for the rest of my time. I encourage everyone to do the same and let Him evaluate your competitiveness.

Christ taught some of the earliest Christian team members that life can be so much fun we get carried away with the game itself. The disciple John reminded all the players, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” 1st John 2:15. John knew if you got all wrapped up in the game, you would lose sight of the team and not play to win. We were created to win this competition by staying on His team and letting Him live through us.

Men and women were created to be great players. Psalms 8:4-6 says, “what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands: you put everything under their feet.” Crowns are given to victors in competition. We were made rulers to win the game and not for our own glory. Central to the competition we are engaged in is that you can’t win by loving the game or yourself more than the coach and the team.

We’ve all seen businessmen, athletes, politicians even artists fall to their own talents and abilities. Christ set the correct role model by giving his life. Jesus was the original MVP but He didn’t win any individual awards when He played. Paul reminded us the awards for our playing time aren’t on this side of the dirt. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

Our playing time is relatively short and we are all position players. An athlete knows that means you must be ready when your play is called. Age does not matter in the game of life. You are a valuable player at all ages and you are in the game till your last breath. “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16. Play like you were designed to play. Finish the drill.

All that spring has to offer represents playing to win. Seeds come back to life and bloom. Champions are crowned. Recommit to the team, the competition and play until the buzzer…play to win.

Leadership has become an overused buzzword and topic of conversation from boardrooms and strategy sessions to the pulpit. The demand for leadership is great because the supply is lacking. Books, seminars, conferences, sermons and college degrees try to teach leadership by reducing it to a shopping list of characteristics and qualities. If it were that easy then we wouldn’t need it so desperately.

The political parties have died because of a lack of leadership. National powers have shifted because of the absence of leadership. The health of families has declined because of a vacuum created by the lack of leadership in the home. Corporations have shorter life spans while they search to find and nurture leaders. At a time where so many are espousing leadership as a ‘to do’ list there is a dearth of true leaders. Could it be the world is looking in the wrong place for the wrong thing?

At the most basic level, leadership is identifying a goal and modeling the way to get there. Leadership requires explaining the purpose and vision for positive growth and change to provide a future that is in the best interest for those involved and affected. We want a leader who is right and not wrong. We want a leader who can make the tough calls in the interest of those being led. Does this sound about right? I ask because it’s starting to sound like we need a savior and not just a leader.

Christian leadership was described by Paul in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others as better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” If this is a job description for a leader it’s no wonder there’s not an abundance. Real leadership is not a road to personal glory or an outline for a best selling book. Leadership has an attitude, but it’s not one of power and control. Paul went on to describe the attitude of a leader in verse 5, “Your attitude should be that of Christ Jesus.”

Let me paraphrase the attitude of Christ that Paul described in Philippians and how it is the role model for what leadership needs to resemble. Leadership is tied to serving those you lead. A leader should purposefully make himself less than those he leads. A true leader takes on the nature of a servant in leading those for which he is responsible. A leader needs to humble himself. Why? Because if he or she is successful at leading, vanity and a promotion will likely follow. In fact, dying to yourself is a good idea. The world craves leadership so desperately that success can serve the leader and not those you are called to lead. Leadership is not a ticket to a better life, it’s a way of life. Good leadership should and will be rewarded, but maybe not here and now.

Christ was sent to destroy the devil’s work. When his time had come, Jesus modeled a radically different type of leadership than was currently being practiced. The government leaders in Jesus’ day and age were dictators. The civilian leaders took advantage of the systems just to enrich themselves. The religious leaders were legalistic and used the rules to enslave men and not lead them. A change in leadership style was needed to break the mold of sin in the leaders of Jesus’ day. The same is true today. Leaders in 2017 need to follow Christ’s model and not lead from a position of power and prestige to win a popularity contest.

Servant leadership is the model Christ used then and what we need to use today. Servant leadership is easier preached than practiced because the results don’t always benefit the person leading. Christ didn’t look very successful from an Earthly perspective and the world believes leadership results in looking good and being successful. Christ’s model for leadership didn’t use control measures or best management practices. Sending out only twelve guys in groups of two isn’t the most efficient use of time and resources. We need to shed the earthly perspectives on excellence if we are going to practice true servant leadership.

Christian leadership as opposed to worldly leadership is the 10,000 pound gorilla in the room. Christian leadership is what the world needs but not necessarily what is sought after and rewarded in 2017. The church can not be run like a business targeting numbers and events at the expense of spiritual maturity that can’t be measured with those metrics. Corporations can’t target being the ‘best place to work’ if quarterly or annual profits are the ultimate measure of success. The priority of Christian leadership is Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Leadership is not measured in an opinion poll.

Christian leadership comes in red letters not a list. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:37. God put man at the top of the food chain to lead and He gave us Jesus as the example of how to do it right. Christ led by example and the earthly result was a short life and career. Christ’s leadership style was to focus more on leading others to the goal and not his career as a leader.

Christian leaders in 2017 need to be led by the Spirit, confess their mistakes and serve everyone in the organization. Leaders must be courageous and committed to sacrifice themselves with eternity and posterity as the measure of their success. The job description might not be attractive, but the benefits and rewards are out of this world.