What Color Is God?

I know how racism can be ended! I realize not everyone is going to believe me; and that's all right with me. You don't have to believe me for it to be true—you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).

I'll get to the answer in a moment … for now, though, I want to briefly address the truth about racism that many people ignore—IT IS TAUGHT AND LEARNED.

I've watched babies and toddlers of all kinds of races and backgrounds interact, and they don't act racist because they're not! They just see someone else with whom to engage and play with. So at some point racism is TAUGHT and LEARNED.

Unity across races can be achieved when we perceive that we're all the same. From the Bible's perspective we are united in that we have ALL been created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). We're also the same as we age because "ALL have sinned" coming short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Therefore, each one of us needs help—"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6 NASB).

Take my white skin off and you'll see bones, muscle, and blood. How stupid many of us are to judge someone because their skin is different! Talk about judging a book by its cover! Jesus taught, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment" (John 7:24).

And by the way, when Paul wrote those words, he was addressing a group of people divided over race too—Jews and Gentiles (Romans 1:16-17; 2:10). There's actually an interesting passage in John 4:9 that tells us "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans"—which was shocking because in that specific context Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman by the well. The word "dealings" is from the Greek word sugchraomai which means to use together. The point was that Jews didn't drink from the same well as Samaritans, and yet here was Jesus asking for water from a well from which Samaritans drank.

We can learn a lot from Jesus. And we should! Actually, Jesus is the answer to racism.

Years ago I was in Atlanta on the Metro heading to the airport. A group of young men boarded wearing t-shirts declaring that Jesus Was A Black Man. I laughed, of course, and they growled at me. I told them the truth—Jesus was not black, and He was not white either. He was a Jew. Nothing much else was said.

Racism is probably not going to disappear—certainly not by legislation—because people are teaching and learning it. Racism is sin! And each one of us must decide what we are going to do to contribute to racism's demise.

Robin Williams! Why?

I can't imagine being Robin Williams moments before he acted upon his broken choice to kill himself. The moments leading up to his irreversible action were calculated — i.e., he had to consider how he would do this, gathering whatever was necessary to his fulfilling his desire to end his life, and he had to consider when he would do this. Just today it was revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. If this is true, then it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to see how this recent diagnosis might have adversely affected him.

There was something wrong with Robin Williams. I don't believe anyone in their right mind dwells on suicide, and then comes to a healthy decision to actually commit suicide. And, yes, there is an extreme selfishness in suicide as one is consumed with self to the degree that they seek to kill self!

"One who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment" (Proverbs 18:1 HCSB) Rarely, if ever, have I made the best life decisions when I isolated myself from everyone else (literally or figuratively).

I believe many people at one time in their lives or another come to a point where they briefly think about not existing anymore, but to dwell on the logistics of how and when to murder oneself is not normal and it's certainly not healthy (literally). Suicide is overwhelmingly sad and horrible.

I can imagine being Robin Williams's family as they try to figure out why, because I have literally been there wondering why when a loved one has made this awfully permanent choice. To this day, I wonder why. And, to this day, the wondering is not easy.

One thing that has blown me away about Robin Williams's suicide is how people have reacted and overreacted. I literally tire of reading Facebook debates that are so stupid. Or worse, Twitter debates which are limited to a series of asinine hash tags. Rather than read someone's thoughts about it, we would rather overreact with our own brand of vitriol — and since it's our brand, we defend it vociferously while anyone who tries to thoughtfully reply is just an idiot because they don't see it "my way."

As a preacher I am sometimes asked about suicide. I never like talking about it … ever.

The Bible does not address the topic.

Let that sink in, please. … The Bible does not address the topic of suicide … ever.

However, there are three (technically, four) examples that come to my mind — Samson, King Saul, King Saul's armor-bearer, and Judas Iscariot.

1. Then Samson called to the LORD and said, "O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes." And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other. And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life. (Judges 16:28-30 ESV)
2. The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and mistreat me." But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. (1 Chronicles 10:3-5 ESV)
3. Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." They said, "What is that to us? See to it yourself." And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5 ESV)

There are no clearly drawn moral lessons from these isolated examples. Samson is listed in Hebrews 11 as an example of the kind of faith God is seeking in His followers. But nothing is said about how Samson died, just how he lived. And with both King Saul and Judas Iscariot there is an infamy attached to their deaths because of how they lived.

Which leads me to this — reading Facebook and Twitter "disgustions" about Robin Williams' eternal state (i.e., that he is now in hell) because of his suicide — saddens, horrifies, and angers me immensely. I don't know that I can say such things with a Bible in my hand and in my heart. 

It may be Robin Williams will be punished (his eternal fate is sealed now), but I don't believe he will be because of suicide. 

The biblical reality is that we will all die and we will all be fairly and righteously judged (Hebrews 9:27-28). It matters how we live!

What Bible Translation Should We Use?

It used to be that there was really only one English Bible translation to find—the eminent King James Version. Oddly, the revered date of 1611 is not at all what people have in their personal libraries, cars, or smartphones. There were many revisions of this version (and truthfully the KJV is itself a revision, but hardly anyone cares to know this and many believe it irreverent to say such things—here’s an example of some of the foolishness http://chick.com/reading/books/158/158_05.asp).

Honestly, that was good and bad. Good because there wasn’t a lot of confusion in Bible study—e.g., “That’s not what my Bible says!” Bad because it didn’t seem to encourage a lot of original language study.

The main problem I seem to have always had when it comes to the KJV is the archaic nature of the English itself. I don’t enjoy listening to it at all: it sounds weird to me; and I find myself asking, “What did he say?” I also don’t enjoy Shakespearean plays in their original tongue either—e.g., many years ago my wife and I went to a Shakespearean play performed live in Montgomery, Alabama. It was cool watching it live, but I understood hardly anything about the plot because I couldn’t understand what the actors were saying. Essentially it is almost like a foreign language to me.

I often think of a time years ago when I had the opportunity to study the gospel with a teenage girl. Her difficulty in Bible reading was that she didn’t understand the KJV. I bought her a NKJV and it helped her immensely.

I’ve been asked numerous times as a preacher what Bible translation a person should use. I’ve come to this answer: The one you’ll read.

No science here; no obfuscation. Just read the one you’ll read.

Personally, I use a lot of different Bible translations. I preach a lot from the English Standard Version. I also publicly use the NKJV and NASB. When I’m really getting into a word study, I use the Greek. The cool thing is that there are computer programs that put a lot of this information in an easy to use format. Online there’s http://BibleHub.com and http://BibleGateway.com. With BibleHub you can type in the verse and it provides you with a dozen or so English translations.

The point is to enjoy learning. Sometimes we’ve heard the word of God stated too familiarly. And using a different English translation might help keep us attentive. 

Simplicity Is Not Simple

KISS is an acronym for "Keep It Simple Stupid."

Why is it easier to obfuscate?

I guess a big part of the problem is that we want to seem fancy—I'm reminded of a Spongebob episode where he and Patrick are trying to impress Sandy the Squirrel; at one point as Patrick is teaching Spongebob about being fancy, he screams: "Remember! Pinky out!"

The Lord kept things simple (John 14:15; 15:14). Too often we want to make salvation a lot tougher than it is.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:3-7).

Sometimes Ignorance Truly Is Bliss

Today I was having a good day, but then I took a moment to look at the headlines. Good day ruined.

Honestly, the news bothers me. And yet I find myself drawn to either watch or read it daily. Why? Hardly anything good comes from knowing all the evil and injustices that are being perpetrated across the entire globe.

On vacation I began my day differently than when at home—rather than reading the news, immediately after checking the weather—I didn't. I mean I didn't check the weather or the news at all to begin my vacationing days. I didn't plan on this course of action: I just did it. And after a few days of this I became aware of what I was doing differently … and I realized how happy I was not to read the "Daily Evil Report."

I'm not saying there's nothing good at all in the news; but, the reality is that there's hardly anything good. I am reminded what the Holy Spirit urges us to do: "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

Meditation isn't the easiest thing to do. Some would probably think meditation is taking a nap. But it's not, of course. Meditation means we're quietly sitting and thinking. But it's not misdirected or wandering—it's focused, and therefore, it's challenging.

If we will make the time and effort to dwell on good things (specifically, godly things) then we will benefit from it immensely:

• peace of mind
• happiness
• joy
• peace
• love

We need to get the picture. "I have more insight than all my teachers, For Thy testimonies are my meditation" (Psalms 119:99).

You Can't Get Caught Doing the Wrong Thing If You're Not Doing the Wrong Thing

Oh the humiliation!

It hasn't happened in quite a long time: I got pulled over for speeding. I didn't argue at all because I was speeding. I was actually pretty frustrated with myself because I wasn't paying a lick of attention. I was going with the flow of traffic.

My initial thought was that this gentleman might need help as he was waving me over, until I saw he was in uniform (this was a motorcycle cop).

I know some would argue with the deputy that others were speeding, or that others were going faster (all true), but the reality is that getting caught is like fishing: all the fish aren't gonna get caught, but they might catch you. And the thing is: you can't get caught doing the wrong thing if you're not doing the wrong thing.

The good news for me is that I got off with a warning. And of course I'm thankful for that. No explanations were provided: I just sped off left.

We love it when others are merciful to us, but are we happy enough to extend mercy to others? "For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).

Style Over Substance

We’re all guilty of it — looking at the surface of things without considering the substance. For example, I like fonts: all kinds of fonts. And if you like fonts, too, then you know that style means a lot; except when you begin actually reading what’s been written with those beautiful and stylish fonts!

God says he doesn’t see the way people see (1 Sam 16:7). He said this to Samuel when Samuel was commanded to anoint King Saul’s replacement. Samuel sees the oldest of Jesse’s sons and thinks to himself, “This is the next king!” But that’s when God says no …

Jesus tells us not to judge by appearances, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24). I was reminded of the Lord’s statement when this week a convicted felon’s arrest picture became viral on the arresting police station’s Facebook page (30,000+ likes for this dude’s photo). I know some people were trying to be funny about it all, but this is another symptom of our society’s sickness — we’d rather set a man free who looks nice (and that is subjective: he scared me and I believe that if most people saw or spoke to him “on the street,” they’d run away) than let justice be served.

I have also read of preachers criticized for a lack of style over substance (e.g., the apostle Paul by the Corinthians — see 1 Cor 2:4 and 2 Cor 10:10). It's obviously not a modern problem since the same apostle forewarned Timothy that there would be those who would prefer having their ears tickled (2 Tim 4:3-4).

Where else are we more about style than substance? Motorcycles. I really shouldn’t even begin on this subject (it’s one of my favorites). I ride a 2013 Star 950T, and I sometimes get people asking about the bags — e.g., “Are they aftermarket?” Nope, they actually came with the bike and not only look good, but are huge and lockable. And then sometimes the portentous question comes: “Is it a Harley?” Nope, it’s a Star … a what? I love it and that’s all I really care about. I actually came across a man while I was refueling who concluded for me, “If it’s not a Harley then who cares?” Style over substance … and reliability … and cost … and, actually, style!

Let’s care enough to look past the surface. I often heard growing up that you can’t (or shouldn’t) judge a book by its cover. But we do anyway, don’t we? Why do we do it? Sometimes it’s simply because of laziness. And laziness breeds apathy.