I Wish the Mayans Were Right. #YOLO

Yes, I did just drop two of the biggest social phenomenons this past year has seen. They are relevant, I promise; though YOLO is not typically relevant...but that's beside the point.

Based on the end of the Mayan calendar, people have speculated that the world will end on December 21, 2012. Besides the fact that no man will predict when Jesus does come back, researchers, scientists, and those that once entertained the accuracy of this idea have even debunked it. Needless to say, I am convinced that the world shall go on for the time being.

However, now that the date is upon us, it has sent people into YOLO-mode. YOLO stands for You Only Live Once. It can be (and has been) interpreted in many different ways. At first glance, it seems rather redundant. Its typical use, however, is as an excuse to do really stupid stuff. In some ways, that sentiment makes sense - you only have one life to live, so live it to the full. However, doing [stupid] life threatening acts does not equate to living fully in my mind. Here's an insightful and humorous take on the subject:



There you go. Now you understand what social phenomenons I'm talking about. If you already did, well...you've just been re-educated. You're welcome.

Anyways - in light of the supposed end of the world, there is a lot of YOLO happening. The pointless kind. People feel like being reckless, because it brings up this: we never know what day will be our last. Now, this is a valid point. In addition, being reckless can be a very good thing. In fact, I believe that to truly follow Christ, you must be reckless. Make the most of every moment. As cliche as it's becoming, I believe it's true. I'm just disappointed at how these sentiments have led so many to fulfill unmet selfish goals rather than live recklessly in Christ.

Imagine with me that the world was ending. That reading this was the last thing you ever did. Rather than asking the question "What one thing do you wish you had done?", I want to ask you "What one thing would Christ have had you do?" See, there are a lot of things Christ calls us to that we don't follow through on. We have our pride, our image to protect. Being reckless - disregarding rules - is fun, but being reckless - laying down our interests and serving wholeheartedly - is not the first thing on most people's minds.

I wish it was. If tomorrow was the end of the world, let's do something about it. Let's tell the unloved that they are loved. Let's make amends with the bitter. Let's bear our hearts with one another.

Maybe this is just a whole lot of "Christian" stuff thrown together, and it's too overused to mean anything. I truly hope that is not the case. My challenge for myself, and for you is this: let's live like the predictions were right - that today is our last chance. Let's not live recklessly today, but every day. #YOLO

Does God Have Eyes on the Back of His Head?

Yes. Yes he does. Please allow me to tell you how.

How God is Like Your Mom

Ever heard that phrase? “I have eyes in the back of my head.” I know my parents have used that one. If you aren’t familiar with it, having eyes in the back of your head basically means you have a keen perception of things. This can be taken close to literally or very hypothetically. A literal interpretation: You sneak a cookie from the cookie jar behind your mom’s back (Oldest one in the book. I have yet to experience having a jar that always has cookies in it, though. That wouldn’t last long in my house), and she catches you in the act. As if she really did have eyes in the back of her head. A more liberal translation: Your mom knows you didn’t clean your room after she asked you too, even though she didn’t actually check. But of course, she was right.

Either way, it indicates seeing or perceiving things. If you hadn’t noticed, I am correlating parenting with this phrase a lot. That’s the context that makes the most sense to me. There’s something else I ought to bring up: when I was young, I was inclined to believe that people could have eyes in the back of their head. Why? Because I couldn’t understand how they knew or understood the things they did. Now that I’m older, some of those things that were so foreign and incomprehensible make perfect sense to me. I now know that my mom knew I sniped a cookie because I was really loud. (Okay, so that didn’t really happen. Like I said, cookies never last long enough to be put in a jar. It’s just an example.) It makes perfect sense that my mom knew I never cleaned my room; both by my facial expressions and my history of not cleaning my room. (This one actually has happened. Don’t judge me too harshly.) It’s our capacity to understand that makes the difference.

Do you ever feel like God has eyes in the back of his head? Well, he does; in the literal and hypothetical sense. He sees what we are doing. All. The. Time. Always. He also knows everything we do and why we do it. Infinitely. Once again, it’s our capacity to understand that changes things. Compared to God’s infinite knowledge, we only have the understanding of a young child.

Don’t Swear in Church! (Apparently that’s the Only Place He Sees Us)

Have you ever heard anything to that effect? “Don’t swear in church!” “It’s church, of course I’ll help you.” “You were gossiping at church!?” “We don’t need to fight at church.” A lot of us do it. Church is God’s house, so we should be good, right? We shouldn’t sin in the eyes in God!

I’m not throwing any stones here; most of the times when someone says something like this, I don’t think they understand what they are implying. They mean it with the best intentions. I’ve said things to that effect too. Take a minute to understand the implications though. We shouldn’t sin in the eyes of God. So we shouldn’t do bad things at church. That’s really all it means? It is, unless, of course, God’s eyes can see past the walls of a building; but that’s just silly. It goes against everything we as free Christian Americans are taught to believe!

Okay, sorry for all the sarcasm. To really understand the problem with phrases like “Don’t swear in church”, we must digress into another issue. What is “church”? Somehow, American Christians as a whole have the idea that church has a distinct set of standards. This is partially true. The tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament were very sacred and the priests had to be cleansed before they could enter. The buildings we set apart for use as God’s house and for his worship should be treated with honor and respect. Yet, Paul says in 1 Corinthians:

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself (6:19 NLT)

We are temples of the Holy Spirit. That’s not to say that the buildings dedicated to being God’s house are to be treated as less sacred; it’s to say that our bodies should be treated as more sacred. The Church (capital “C”, meaning the universal body of Christ) is God’s people. It’s not about the buildings, it’s about the people. With this in mind, what standards should we as Christians have at church that we do not have at home? Here’s the answer: none. 

We should indeed be exhorting our fellow believers to live holy lives in the sight of God. Here’s the catch: the sight of God stretches far beyond any building we have dedicated to him. Almost as if he has eyes in the back of his head.

You Can’t Put Omniscience in a Box

Check out Psalm 33:

13 The Lord looks down from heaven
     and sees the whole human race.
14 From his throne he observes
     all who live on the earth.
15 He made their hearts,
     so he understands everything they do. (vs. 13-15 NLT)

Is it just me, or do these verses make you realize how big God is? It’s so very humbling. Seriously, it makes me feel like an ant. Then again, it also makes me feel so loved, that God would choose to understand everything I do.

This passage is an example of God’s omniscience. To be omniscient means to know everything there is to know; to possess infinite knowledge. To tie all this together, think of it this way. To us, it seems like God has eyes on the back of his head because our understanding is so minuscule compared to his. As such, we forget that God sees and knows us everything, not just when we are thinking about him or in his house. Even when we are not aware of it, God is looking on us; not only is he looking on us, but he observes and understands us.

Pure, infinite omniscience mixed with pure, infinite love. How could we ask for anything better?

God sees you. Always. God knows you. Infinitely. There is nowhere you can go to escape his sight. There is nothing you can do that escapes his knowledge. You can’t put omniscience in a box. So let’s stop putting limitations on how big God is just because we don’t understand it. Instead, let’s start living in response, as if God were always watching us. Because, folks, he is. 

What's With the 317, Anyway? (God Is Jealous)

In Which I Give A Formal Introduction

I rather enjoy writing. Actually, that's probably insulting to those who are actually good at it. Allow me to rephrase myself - I rather enjoy getting my thoughts written down. I am simply one of many people trying to live life while keeping an intentional focus on Christ. So I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on it. Mind you, I'm young. I don't really know that much, I haven't had that many experiences, and I have little to no authority on a lot of topics. However, I'm not claiming that I do. Maybe where I'm at in life will speak to those in similar situations. I hope so. I also hope the thoughts God gives me will transcend what I expect and somehow, through my occasionally dysfunctional and unorganized thoughts, you will hear him speaking to your heart.

So to start off, I've written my first piece to explain why I chose to call this "Living a 317 Life". I hope you are edified by it!

In Which I Provide A Basis For My Main Point

Ever heard the phrase  “God is a jealous god”? That always made me uncomfortable as a kid. Why would we describe God as jealous when we are taught that jealousy is bad? Well, the idea came from God himself, in Exodus 20:4-5. As of late, I've come to understand what it means to me. In short, it's this: All In.

God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. These are a big deal. They are moral standards that stand the test of many ages. One of these commandments reveals the concept of God's jealousy:

You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. (vs. 4-5 NLT)

There it is. God is a jealous God. But wait - there's more. For I...am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. It's a description of what his jealousy looks like. It doesn't look like envy. It's not getting angry when someone else receives favor. It looks more like a husband who doesn't want anyone to mess with his wife, in the purest, most selfless way possible.

If we proclaim to love God, and give him our life (or part of it - more about this later), we shouldn't be messing around with other gods. How would you feel if your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/best friend was entertaining a relationship with someone else but constantly insisting that you are the only one they feel that way about? What if that's how God feels every Sunday morning when we tell him how much we love him, but don't stifle our affection for other gods?

Now, to clear up some possible confusion on my use of the term "other gods" - anything we worship or bow down to becomes a god to us. As God says in his commandment, we must not make an idol of any kind. This can be a relationship, an ability, a physical thing, a reputation. Anything we make as a god for ourselves gets in the way of our affection for God. This brings about his righteous jealousy. I don't believe he is jealous of our gods; he is simply jealous for us. He loves us so much that he doesn't want us to give our affection away so easily.

What I want you to take away from this is that God is indeed a jealous God; but not in the way we think of jealousy. His love is jealous, and it's a beautiful thing, and is simply a reminder of how great our God is.

In Which I Explain a Life Lived in Response

So there's that. Now to bring this back around to the phrase I stated earlier: All In. God's call for us to make no idols, and to bow down to no other gods is one that should bring about a response in us. This response can either be obedience or rebellion. Don't let the stigma surrounding those words confuse you, however - obedience is the much more liberating and adventurous option.

What does obedience to this commandment look like? I believe the answer can be found in Colossians 3:17, something of a life-verse for me:

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (3:17 NLT)

That sums it up for me. We are representatives of Christ. This kind of living demonstrates a response. A response to something God has already done. A response to his grace, to his call, and to his relentless, jealous love. 

Now, there is a very important factor to this verse. Read it again. "Whatever you do or say." Whatever. Basically, your whole life. This points back to God's jealousy. God isn't asking for part of us. Grace shouldn't just prompt us to go to church on Sundays. Relentless love shouldn't just keep us from being impatient with our friends or co-workers. Joy doesn't mean putting on a fake smile in front of our pastor. God calls us to go all in. 

God wants all of you. God wants all of me. God wants all of us. He didn't intend for us to allow grace into part of our lives. He intended for us to become consumed by it, to be engulfed by it, to be drowning in it. That's what an appropriate response looks like. Well, as appropriate a response as we can offer. We can never truly respond in an adequate way to God's infinite love and mercy. All the more reason to offer ourselves completely. 

Colossians 3:17 reminds me who I live for. It reminds me that I am living in response to something amazing. It prompts me to hold nothing back. It's scary. It's hard. I haven't figured it all out. But it's worth it. It's so worth it.

God is jealous. So go all in.