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Lessons from the Banana  

Behold: the banana! High in potassium, bananas are great for preserving your eyesight and accelerating bone growth—not to mention warding off kidney cancer.

I like bananas…but this humble fruit has always amazed me. If you put any other food item remotely close to a banana… it ends up tasting like…banana!

Put a banana in your lunch box next to a ham sandwich…and the ham tastes like banana. So do your potato chips—and your Oreo cookies.

Recently, my wife put a left over slice of cinnamon coffee cake next to some bananas for just a few hours. Guess what it tasted like. You got it—banana coffee cake. Mind you, by the time I ate the coffee cake, it had been two days since it had been anywhere near a banana! Yet the effects of that banana contact were still evident in the fragrance and taste of the coffee cake.

Clearly there is some sort of chemical reaction going on here with incredibly powerful results—in favor of the banana. 1:00

Could I suggest the banana is a great model for the effect that Christians ought to have on non-believers. II Corinthians 2:15 “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” 1:15

When someone spends just a few hours with us, they ought to leave having the aroma of Christ all over them…just from being with us!

Now think of what this means for our unsaved friends. Just by being with us—we who know and love Christ—leave something of a spiritual fragrance on their souls.

There are two cautions here in this wonderful scenario.
Number one—the fragrance that people are left with better be the fragrance of Christ…other than stink of self.

Number two…even if we are living a godly life, unless we get up close to…involved with people who don’t know Jesus, how can His fragrance wear off on them?

Let’s be involved with friends, family and coworkers who don’t know Christ.

And let’s start living with the expectance that His fragrance really will rub off on them!

 
Jesus is ALWAYS the Issue  

So I had a conversation today with a new friend from East Africa.  Happened to be Somalian.  As is my habit, I immediately asked him (nicely, mind you) if he was a follower of Mohammed.  When he answered yes, I smiled back saying (boldly, mind you) “Well I am a follower of Jesus.”

Very predictably, the conversation turned quickly to the person of Jesus.  He affirmed what every other Muslim I've talked to about Christ affirms—that he was a notable prophet. My friend went to great lengths to be polite—but even greater lengths to assure me that Islam and Christianity BOTH share a respect for Jesus.

Because our time was short—and Muslims have no problem being up front about their faith—I quickly assured my new friend that Jesus was MORE than a prophet.  I quoted Christ's own words, “I and my Father are one.”  And... “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Naturally, there was no agreement with my biblical claims.  But the conversation reminded me again how quickly we come to the “sticking point” for so many conversations related to faith.  People from most any stripe of belief are happy to talk about “God.”  They are more than comfortable discussing “beliefs.”  They are not the least bit threatened should you claim to be a “person of faith.”   Even talking about Jesus is acceptable—as far as it goes.

Yet take one teeny weeny step toward declaring that Jesus is God and BOOM!  Your ideological match has just ignited the kerosene of another's convictions.   Jesus is always the issue.
 

While I believe strongly we need to build bridges in friendly conversation with Muslims—and other friends, I have zero appetite for conversations that subject Jesus to a role any less than Almighty God.     

Please understand, I'm not advocating belligerence or harshness.   But there's a line in the sand over which we must be ever be vigilant.  And when someone—anyone--suggests that Jesus is less than God, it's time to lovingly and respectfully—but unapologetically--state the truth:   Jesus....is....God.

 
Church Cliques  

Have you ever had a natural gas leak in your home or office?

Gas leaks can be deadly, you know.  They are invisible, they are poisonous, and left untreated, they can kill with deadly force.

It's the same with church cliques. They are invisible, they are poisonous, and left untreated, they can kill with deadly force. The problem is, lots of people claim they can identify a clique at their church...but almost NOBODY would ever admit to being a part of one.

So let me offer this three-part exam to help you assess yourself.

Number 1: If you have ever secretly regretted someone else being a part of a church project or ministry that you're working on, you might be part of a clique.

Number 2: If you honestly (but quietly) resent it when new people come join your circle of friends at church, you might well be a part of a clique.

Number 3: If you cannot recall inviting someone newer to your church over for dinner...or to a social function of any kind...you might just  be part of a clique.

Cliques, by the way, are rarely the product of intentional design.  They are, rather, the byproduct of an unchallenged—even sanctified—selfishness.  Nor are they new. 

Church cliques go all the way back to the first church.  Paul took a look around and observed rather bluntly that “Some were of Apollos.  Some were of Cephas.  Some were of Paul.”  But Paul made it quite clear that such cliques were unacceptable.

So how could we possibly be so unaware of them creeping into our churches?  And how could we possibly allow them to flourish...through our own participation?

Any time... any thought... any word or any action excludes any one...it's a clique.  Meaning a clique could be made up of just two.    So let me ask you—honestly.  Are you part of a clique?  Or are you moving away from a clique?    Only one of those two statements can be true about you.

There will be no cliques in heaven.

There ought not to be cliques on earth.

 
The Outrageous Truth  

At first, it struck me as blasphemous—then incredulous.

A satirical newspaper, known as the Onion, ran a recent headline as follows: “Christ Reluctantly Enters Area Man’s Heart.” The article went on to profile a fictional mortgage broker—Derek—who supposedly invited Christ to be his Savior. Derek is not a particularly nice man. Not the kind of man that you and I would necessarily choose to have a relationship with.

The article quotes Christ as saying, “When a believer reaches out to me with faith in their hearts, I kind of have to reach back, even if it’s Derek.”

Now please understand—I get the fact that this article is not only erroneous—it is blasphemous. Jesus has never known a hint of reluctance toward the worst of us. By contrast, the Bible sets the record straight assuring us in II Peter 3:9 that God is “patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

But here’s what blows me away—the real “headline.” The Onion is a printed newspaper, distributed in Milwaukee, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Omaha, Sana Fe, Ann Arbor, Columbus and Providence. The paper has a circulation of more than 200,000. It is entirely secular—and features articles often laced with profanity.

But here on the front page was a powerful (though satirical) illustration of the saving grace of God. The piece goes on to tell us Jesus—quote--“allowed His divine love to wash over” this guy.

As for his part, the fictional Derek is quoted as saying this was “only the start of a long intimate journey with the Lord by His side.”

A satirical newspaper in a post Christian culture has gotten it almost entirely right. On the front page is a somewhat blasphemous, incredulous article that tells the outrageous truth: Whosoever will…may come. Now THAT's awesome. That's Jesus!

 
Why We Don't Memorize the Scripture  

Houston, we have a problem: adults are not memorizing the Bible.

Not like we should, anyway.

I don't know about you but I struggle in committing Scripture to memory.

When I was a kid, it was much easier to memorize the Bible.  Awana was a great experience.

But time is not kind to our brains.

Or is it that we adults have allowed too much data clutter on our hard drives?

Either way, we don't memorize the Bible—at least not much.

I've taken survey after informal survey and the results rarely vary.  “When I was younger I used to memorize...but not so much anymore.”

But how have we dismissed Scripture memory?  On what basis have we jettisoned all sense of accountability--all legitimate guilt?  Last time I checked, there wasn't even a hint of age restrictions in the admonition, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.” And how could the Psalmist claim, “I meditate on your law day and night” unless he had memorized a good portion of it?

Folks, this is not an incidental problem, a minor issue. It's huge.  I think it strikes at the core of why the Church is so much like the world.  It's part of the reason we divorce so much... part of the reason we're able to look at on line porno with virtual impunity.   We have not embedded sufficient quantities of Scripture to point our moral compass toward true North.

You know what my conclusion is?

We don't memorize because we don't want to memorize.

Okay, so memorizing for adults is hard.  So what!  Too bad!

Were you and I called to a life of ease?   Is personal comfort our measuring stick?

The truth is, it IS harder.  But it's NOT impossible.  My own struggle—and the struggles of countless others—proves it CAN be done.  It just takes a little more time and a lot more effort.

Shouldn't “denying ourselves and taking up our cross daily” possibly include doing the hard work of Bible memorization?

It's time to stop making excuses.

It's time to start memorizing the Word.

 
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Jon GaugerJon Gauger

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