Caleb Camp's Blog

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers’ Favorite

A wonderful gift for Easter, The Hospitality of God: Discovering and Living Kingdom Hospitality by Caleb Camp looks at one of the least discussed qualities of God — His hospitality. What is God’s vision on hospitality? What place does it have in God’s powerful message of love? Why is hospitality so important for our hostile world? These are questions that are answered in this inspiring and informative book. The author defines hospitality, exploring the etymology of the word and its biblical foundations, and demonstrates what makes it a key quality of God and one of the forms of credible witness to the love he has for humanity.

The discussion on integrating hospitality is so well done and I enjoyed the author’s insightful take on the story of the Good Samaritan and the need for a paradigm shift. In this book, readers will understand how hospitality is one of the things that define the very nature of God, identify traits of hospitality in biblical personages like Joseph, and find material for reflection and a road map to living the spirituality of hospitality. It is interesting that hospitality could be the simple path to embracing what God created us to be for each other — brothers and sisters and sons and daughters of the same Father. Apart from setting us on the path towards peace with our brothers and sisters, The Hospitality of God: Discovering and Living Kingdom Hospitality will help readers find a way of letting God into their hearts and discovering inner freedom and peace. The book is beautifully written and the simplicity of language makes the wisdom and message of this book accessible to a wide audience. Caleb Camp’s book will help readers understand God and what it means to be credible witnesses to His love. A rare gift of love and wisdom!

Having lived in a country where, when driving there isn’t really a concept of “right of way”, you gain some insight.

Basically, what happens is, if my vehicle is bigger than yours I think I get to go first. Or, if I arrive a split second before you, even if my land is obstructed, I get to go first. Or, if I simply just want to go first and I flash my lights at you, I get to go first.

Often there is a lot of horn blowing involved and somebody generally ends up throwing their hands in the air. Sometimes people even get out of the car and start screaming and yelling at each other, and maybe there’s a shoving match too.

What it boils down to, is that everybody seems to think they have the right (right of way) to go/be first, and nobody really seems concerned for anybody else. Even the pedestrians cross at their own risk. There doesn’t seem to be a concept for yielding.

This can make for frustrating and adventurous driving, but can also create an atmosphere for accidents, injuries and even fatalities.

So here’s the deal….this is what I see happening in America right now!!! Everybody seems to think that the “right of way” is theirs and they are going to take it no matter what. I’m not pointing to any particular group here, because it seems to be coming from every angle.

The one group I can speak to, is a sub-group that I identify and participate in….Christians. Even if other people are trying to take the right of way, our way is supposed to be different. We are supposed to show the way of Jesus, not come back with, “Well that’s how they treat me!” or “That’s what they do!”

Our actions are not determined by other people; our attitudes are not set or shifted by other people. We are called to a life of that has been modeled by Jesus. We are called to yield in love, respect and honor. We are called to weep with people, mourn with people, laugh with people, etc. I’ve never seen a Bible verse that says we’re called to complain and argue, to withhold love, or be rude.

Here’s a challenge for us today: Romans 12:10 “Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”

Another way to say this would be, “Yield to one another with genuine affection, and be delighted to honor other people.”

When a person feels honored, walls come down and relationship and change become possible!

Today I want to talk about the power of MERCY.  Mercy is deeply rooted in love, and when I think about it, it makes me think of one of my favorite verses:

1 Peter 4:8 – “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

Love covers a multitude of sins!   God’s love, through Jesus, has completely covered our sins and wiped the slate clean.  But 1 Peter 4:8 is highlighting that when we choose to love other people it covers a multitude of.  By cover, it means to both wipe out and to prevent.  Think about that for a moment…How can loving somebody prevent sin?

This leads us to another verse, which is really saying the same thing.

The last part of James 2:13 says, “Mercy triumphs over judgment”. 

To me, these two verses sound very similar.  Love covers sin, mercy triumphs over judgment!  But before we take a deeper look at this, let’s understand what Mercy and Judgment are.

According to the dictionary…

Mercy – Is choosing not to harm or punish somebody who has offended you or is your enemy. It is showing a level of kindness that is unexpected.
Judgment – Is the process of forming an opinion by examining or comparing and then criticizing or condemning someone from a position of assumed moral superiority.

So, let’s dive into this idea that mercy triumphs over judgment with a few stories.  Let’s start with a modern-day story, then we’ll look at the Bible.

There was this kid in America.  By all appearances, he had a fairly normal life and a decent family.  The reality though, was that he had experienced some abuse as a young child, and his parents had been married and divorced several different times.  So as the kid got older, he began to use drugs.  Drugs made him feel better and helped him cope with life.  However, drugs quickly took control of his life and he became a slave to them.  His whole life became focused on getting high and feeling good.  To meet this need, he didn’t care who he hurt as long as he felt good in the end.

He wasn’t a nice person.  If there was something he wanted, he would take it.  He was a thief and a drug addict.  He was a bully and a cheat.  He used to use chewing tobacco, and would spit in a cup.  That cup would sit in his car for days, sometimes even weeks.  One day while driving down the road, he saw a boy from his neighborhood riding his bike.  As he drove by, he threw the cup full of spit on the boy and laughed.  This was a perfect example of the kind of person he was.

As his addiction grew stronger, he began stealing more to buy his drugs.  He would spend most nights breaking into cars and taking people’s things, even from people he knew.  Eventually, he went to prison.

When he got out of prison, his life remained the same; spiraling out of control.  One day, through a miracle of God, this boy (now age 20) walked into a home group Bible study for the first time.  As he walked in the room, he was shocked to see the boy he had thrown spit all over!  As he scanned the room, he recognized people he had been nasty to over and over again.  They were all Christians!

This group of people had every right to cast judgment on that boy, and he was waiting for them to do it.  But it never happened!  Instead, they welcomed him into their group and once a week for 3 months they prayed for and with him, and studied the Bible with him.  Nobody EVER said anything to him about the terrible things he had done.  They chose mercy over judgment, and it changed his life!

Today that boy is married and raising his children in a Christian home, something he didn’t have.  Today that boy is a man, living with his family in a foreign land called Turkey.  Today that man is writing this blog, sharing his own story of mercy triumphing over judgment!

You see, not only does mercy triumph over judgment, but the ripple effect mercy causes, lasts through generations!

Now, let’s look at the story of Joseph, from Genesis Chapters 37-50

His brothers sold him and told his father that he was killed by a wild animal
He becomes a slave to Potiphar.
But Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him.
So, Potiphar had him thrown in jail.
While in jail Joseph interprets 2 dreams for 2 of pharaoh’s servants
One of the servants would die, the other would be forgiven.
The forgiven one forgot about Joseph for 2 years!
Finally, pharaoh has a dream, and Joseph is called from prison to interpret.
God once again blesses Joseph and he becomes Pharaoh’s #2 man
Then Joseph’s brothers show up
Now we get a picture of mercy triumphing over judgement

Joseph had every right to cast judgment on his brothers, and he had both the power and authority to do it.  When we read the story, we can see that it wasn’t easy for him…he struggled through to the final decision.  But in the end, he looked at his brothers and he showed them mercy.  He forgave them.  Have you ever thought about what might have happened if Joseph didn’t do this?  What would have happened to Israel?  How different would our history have been?  But again, we can see the ripple effect mercy has made.

Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”

Finally, how about the story of God’s mercy; His mercy toward us?

Scripture says:

That we were “dead in sin!”
That we were “enemies of God”
In a sense, we were just like Joseph’s brothers

So, what did He do?

Ephesians 2:4-5 – “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)”

God’s mercy is rich!  That means He has storehouses full of mercy ready to pour out over us whenever He needs to.  How merciful is He?  While we were still dead in our sins, He sent Jesus.  He didn’t wait until we cleaned ourselves up or stopped sinning, He was proactive to offer a solution.

Romans 5:8-11 – “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

God, by His own will and not by anything we did, chose to show us mercy.  When He did this, several amazing things took place.  It says that, “we have been made right in God’s sight”.  His own mercy, caused His view of who we were to change.  Now, because of the Mercy He showed to us, He now sees us as right in His eyes.  Not only does he see us differently, but He changed our position from “enemies” to “friends” and made our relationship new.  Wow!

So, what does this teach us?  God has shown each one of us great mercy by covering our sin with His love; by beating our judgment with His mercy.  This is an unchangeable truth that we can draw hope and encouragement from.  His mercies are new every morning, we just have to wake up and breathe them in!

It also shows that when we choose to show mercy, instead of casting judgment, that God will change the way we see people and facilitate a change of their position.  Once their position has changed, they will begin to see themselves differently and change will happen.  Relationships will be healed and restored, lives will be changed, and the ripple effects of mercy will carry on and on.

Next time you’re having a difficult time showing mercy, ask God to give you a glimpse of the ripples that will come if you do.  Mercy triumphs over judgement and His Kingdom wins!

Lydia and I were talking the other day about how important perspective is.  We were listening to a message by Graham Cooke and we both realized that we had spent much of our Christian walk focusing on the wrong thing!  Let me explain:

It’s very common to hear a Christian say, “I’m a sinner saved by grace”.  There is truth to this statement, but it is a bit skewed.  Why?  Well, according to Scripture we were dead to sin, but now we are alive in Christ.  In other words, the old reality is that we were in sin, held captive by our flesh and desires.  The new reality is that we are alive in Christ!

If you are a Christian, you are alive in Christ!  In fact, the Bible says that you should, “also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” – Romans 6:11  Perspective is so important!!!  Do I really consider myself to be dead to the power of sin?  If I do, then why have I spent so much time focusing on defeating the sin in my life?

Imagine if my mental, emotional and spiritual energy went toward focusing on the latter part of that verse – being alive in Christ.  When my focus is on defeating my own sin, which Christ already did, chances are I’m going to continue struggling with it.  I am alive in Christ!

This also has implications on our view of accountability!  Instead of trying to call each other out for what we’ve done wrong or what we haven’t done, we can learn to call each other up into our identities.  Our identity is rooted in who God is and what Christ did, not in what we’ve done.  “Hey, don’t do that, that’s not who you are.  You are dead to that stuff.  You are alive in Christ.  He has created you for more.  How can I help you step into that?”

Considering yourself dead to sin, means purposefully choosing to think that you are.  It may even involve declaring this out loud until you really believe it.  Once you start believing it, you will find victory in ways you haven’t before.

YOU ARE DEAD TO SIN, SO CONSIDER YOURSELF DEAD TO IT AND DECLARE YOURSELF ALIVE IN CHRIST!

Periodically I find myself reflecting on the music that used to feed my soul with when I was a teenager.  I remember the first CD-player we got and how excited we were.  Our first CD purchases were Def Leopard’s “Hysteria” and Poison’s “Open Up and Say Ah”.  The CD-player, like the i-pod after it, was the beginning of a musical awakening for many.

After these two albums, my music collection might be considered comical by many: Led Zeppelin, New Kids on the Block, Garth Brooks, Young MC, and Milli Vanilli to name a few.  In fact, if you surveyed the concerts I attended you probably wouldn’t be able to nail down a particular genre that I preferred:  Motley Crew, Lita Ford, John Bonham, Metalica, Garth Brooks, New Kids on the Block (x2), Milli Vanilli, Kings X, Cheap Trick…..

This week I’ve been reflecting on a particular season of my life; right after I graduated high school.  I was filling my brain and soul with Nine Inch Nails, Pantera, Tool and others like them.  Let me give you a snapshot from a drug-filled night that is so vividly burned in my brain:  One night, in my house with the only friends I had left in the world, we were all high on meth.  Tool was blaring on the enormous sound system we had fooled the rent-a-center into giving us, and we were all pouring our hearts out as we sang along to Tool’s song, “Opiate”.  Here are the lyrics (warning – this might be offensive to some of you):

Choices always were a problem for you.

What you need is someone strong to guide you.

Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow,

what you need is someone strong to guide you..

like me, like me, like me, like me

If you want to get your soul to heaven, trust in me.

Now don’t judge or question.

You are broken now, but faith can heal you.

Just do everything I tell you to do.

Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow.

What you need is someone strong to guide you.

Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow.

Let me lay my holy hand upon you.

My Gods will becomes me.

When he speaks out, he speaks through me.

He has needs like I do.

We both want to rape you.

Jesus Christ, why don’t you come save my life now

Open my eyes and blind me with your light

If you want to get your soul to heaven, trust in me.

Now don’t you judge or question.

You are broken now, but faith can heal you.

Just do everything I tell you to do.

Jesus Christ, why don’t you come save my life now.

Open my eyes, blind me with your light now.

Deaf and blind and dumb and born to follow,

Let me lay my holy hand upon you.

My Gods will becomes me.

When he speaks, he speaks through me.

He has needs like I do.

We both want to rape you

The song paints a picture of Christians as powerless, mindless, stupid followers that live there lives without questioning their beliefs and ultimately end up being deceived and “raped” of a genuine life.

When I reflect on that particular night however, I see faces that were filled with despair and sorrow, that were crying out for something more.  It’s kind of funny, but in many ways at least a few of us in that room were using a song that was intended to blaspheme God and mock Christians as a genuine cry for Jesus Christ to come and save us.

Also at the time I WAS already powerless, mindless and stupidly following my flesh and the patterns of the world, not questioning anything around me but authority, being completely deceived and “raped” of a genuine life.

Actually, the real Gospel isn’t a message of powerlessness and blind following; it’s the exact opposite.  Jesus brought a message of hope and friend, coupled with a promise of power and inheritance.  All believers of Jesus are filled with Holy Spirit, and equipped and empowered for great things.

When I remember things like this though, it begs the question, “How on earth could Tool ever think such things about Jesus, the church, and Christians?”

Food for thought:  What could they have possibly seen or experienced that would cause such a terrible view of people who follow Jesus?  Is it merely their own blind worldview, or are there some things that we should question about the practice of our faith and the message it portrays to the world?

I’d love to know what you think!

“26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:26-27 NLT 

It’s made fairly clear here that Christians have the ability to show their religion as being worthless based on the things that they speak.  If we have the Holy Spirit living in us then His nature gives us self control; one of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians chapter 5.  That means we even have control over our tongues, which may be the sharpest and most damaging weapon known to man.  But, I think really you could boil this statement down to what is said in verse 23 of this same chapter:

“22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” – James 1:23 NLT

And verse 14 in chapter 2:

“14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?” – James 2:14 NLT

In other words, real faith or real religion isn’t just something that we claim to have, or some creed we agree to, or some list of rules that we adhere to; it’s not just words.  Rather real faith or real religion is the fleshing out of the words.  If we say we have faith, then our lives should speak that much louder than our words.

True religion that is acceptable by God the Father is …..taking care of orphans and widows….or hospitality.  If we just hear God’s word and say, “Yes, that is good and I agree with that”, but we never do the things we agree with, then according to Scripture we are fooling ourselves, and to some degree, making fools of ourselves.

Until very recently I always understood James 2:14 to be talking about my own faith saving myself.  In other words, if I say I have faith but I don’t show it by my actions, then I’m probably not saved.  But in context, I now think it’s talking about the impact our faith fleshed out with feet on it has in the lives of others!  If I say that I have faith, but I don’t show it by my actions, then how can I expect anybody to ever want to consider following Jesus?

From what I can gather these days, non-Christians seem to be fed up with people who claim to have faith which causes them to love unconditionally, but aren’t able or willing to actually do it.

“18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” James 2:18 NLT

The image used for this post was created by artist Ain Vares from Estonia.  He has an amazing style and some really incredible work.  His art work will be featured on the cover of my book, The Hospitality of God: Discovering and Living Kingdom Hospitality.

To see more of his work or purchase some of his amazing products, you may visit any of these sites:

www.ainvaresart.com

www.facebook.com/ainvaresart/

www.pinterest.com/ainvaresart/

www.flickr.com/photos/ainvaresart/

https://instagram.com/ainvaresart/

https://www.youtube.com/user/AinVaresArt

If you are interested in learning more about my book, or assisting me in the publication process by supporting my project through Kickstarter, please visit my project page here.

Monday I’m heading out for a writing retreat.  I get a house to myself with no high-speed internet and fewer distractions.  I will be gone for 3 1/2 days.  I’m hoping to get at least four chapters written and get closer to the end.  My main goal is to get the book finished by the end of the year so that the publishing process can begin.

I appreciate your prayers and support for the process.

WE DON’T HAVE A GUN PROBLEM!  WE HAVE A HEART PROBLEM; A SIN PROBLEM; A LOVE PROBLEM!  PLEASE READ ON.

16 people lost their lives yesterday and many more were injured!  This is a terribly tragic event.  How many people lost children, parents, brothers, sisters, friends etc.?  It is truly heartbreaking to think about the way in which these people died.

In my mind, it is just as heartbreaking to see the country now divided over the issue of gun control.  Why?  Because gun control isn’t the issue.  But, we now have several groups of people pouring their efforts and energies into their argument about gun control, no matter which side of the issue they fall on.

Christians, we are called to mourn and weep with those who mourn and weep.  This is not the time to herald our 2nd Amendment rights, but rather the time to herald our Lord!

In some ways, the real tragedy here is that every day people are dying without knowing about the amazing love of God.  People are dying without ever knowing about who Jesus is and what he is like.

Every person on the Earth is corrupted by sin!  Take away the guns, and they’ll find another way to carry out their atrocious acts.  If you read the Bible, then you know that when the population on Earth was only 4, tragedy struck when Cain killed Abel (and there were no guns).  Murder isn’t a new problem or a gun problem, it’s a heart problem and a sin problem.

But people don’t want to talk about sin because they’ve been bashed over the head by self-righteous, religious, political and partisan ideologies that were somehow also claiming to represent Jesus!  It has to stop!

As much as we have a heart/sin problem, we have a love problem (which also falls in the sin category).  We (Christians) are called to love our neighbor as ourselves.  This isn’t just some good feelings that we conjure up in our hearts!  It has to have feet and flesh on it.  We’re called to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us!  We are called to hospitably present the real Jesus and heart of the Father to ALL PEOPLE, no matter their race, religion (yes even those who are radicalized Muslims), politics, creeds, sexual orientation, criminal records, immoral behavior, etc. etc. etc.   Instead, we’ve spent a ton of time, money and energy trying to separate and protect ourselves from them.

Jesus hung out with notorious sinners, who once they met him were radically changed.  We should be seeking relationships with those we have been building walls to keep away and begging the Lord to strip us of  our judgment and fear and in some cases even hatred toward them, so that we can love them and show them Jesus.

Church, this isn’t about gun control or politics; It’s about love!  What are we going to do?  People are tired of hearing us say that we are going to pray because they don’t see it changing the world; they don’t even see it changing us!

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations!  Notice the word ALL and think of the word nations as people groups.  Now think of people groups as the worldviews that people cling to and identify with.  Now, go out ALL the people groups in your own little world and make disciples.  How can we expect change if we’re unwilling to go into the dark places in our own cultures and societies and tell them the Good News about Christ?

Salvation Is for Everyone – Romans 10:5-17 NLT

5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

I woke up this morning with the chorus of this song in my head: Good Good Father.

The lyrics to the chorus are:  You’re a good good Father, It’s who You are, it’s who You are, it’s who You are, And I’m loved by You, It’s who I am, it’s who I am, it’s who I am.

It has such a simple chorus, but it is an extremely powerful truth and proclamation.  It’s really easy to let our identity become wrapped up in what we do.  In fact, when we meet somebody for the first time we are normally trying to identify who they are by asking them what they do. “Oh, it’s really nice to meet you John, what do you do?”  “I’m the Senior Vice President for First National Bank.”  And from that point forward, that is normally how we think of John.  Somebody might ask us about him, “Who is that guy?”  “Oh, that’s John, he’s the Vice President of First National Bank.”  Job titles normally tell us about a persons status, and sometimes we want people to assume certain things about our status from the jobs we have.

Here’s the thing though, sometimes we screw up!  Sometimes we do poorly or we make bad choices and we lose our jobs, or we don’t do our jobs well.  Sometimes other people screw up and it impacts our business, our jobs, our livelihoods, etc.  If our identity is wrapped up in what we do, then when we do what we do badly or somebody else does it badly and it reflects on us and others see it, it will say something to them about our identity and even more importantly it will say something to our own hearts about who we are.

Even as Christians it’s very easy to get sucked into this.  We identify ourselves by the place we work, the title we have, the people/party we vote for, the church we attend, the worldview we adhere to, the sports team we cheer for, etc. etc..  What happens when any of these are challenged, or fail, or fall?  If our identity is wrapped up in what we do, then it’s very easy to lose part of who we are when those things aren’t true any more.

That’s why I love this song; it simplifies everything for us.  Our identity was intended to be rooted in who God is.  We were created in His image!  This means if we’d like to discover who we are, we must discover who He is.  And, when it comes right down to it, He is a good, good Father; It’s who He is!  And guess what?  We are loved by Him; It’s who we are!  I might fail, or make a poor decision, or get hurt by somebody, but none of that adds or subtracts from my identity if my identity is rooted in who He is.  He is the same always; yesterday, today and forever!  Nothing can separate me from His love!  He has already given me a new name and written it in the book of life!  When by grace through faith I believed, I was sealed and preserved.  That doesn’t mean life will be easy or that I won’t make mistakes, but it does mean that from that point forward my identity is rooted in Him.

So when life has you down and you start questioning your identity and asking yourself the question, “Who am I?”, start with who He is.  He’s a good good Father!  Wouldn’t it be great if when somebody inquired about who you were, you could be identified by the way God loves you?  “Oh him, that’s Caleb, He’s loved by a God that is a really great father!”  No matter what roles I’m fulfilling, or the circumstances surrounding my life, that would be a true statement that would drive my own identity and cause others to consider theirs.

It’s just as easy to do this with church and religion.  For example, when going to church becomes a habit or the thing that we do on Sunday, the church itself can lose its identity.  God designed it so that followers of Jesus would BE the church, not GO to church.  Now obviously we have to gather corporately to worship and encourage each other, but if we changed our perspective just slightly, it could bring a new level of corporate identity.  “How do you know John?”  “Oh, we go to the same church.”  This gives information about what John and I do, but not about who we are.  We ARE the church, the bride of Christ.  You would never tell somebody that you go to the bride of Christ every Sunday morning would you?  No!  But you are a member of the body of Christ, the bride of Christ!  We ARE the church.

If the church always operated from the standpoint of its identity being rooted in the identity of the Father, then it would be freed to minister to the least of these!  “What is Caleb doing hanging out with that drug addict?” “Why in the world are you hanging out with gay people?”  Because, we ARE the church!  We are the bride of Christ!  Jesus spent much of his time with “notorious sinners” instead of building up walls of protection to keep them out; we should be too!

He is a good, good Father; It’s who He is!

We are loved by Him; It’s who we are!

We ARE the church!

Who am I?  I’m just a guy who is loved by God; It’s who I am.

Have you ever had anybody ask you this question?  I have; several times.  I normally respond with either, “I’m a Christian” or “I’m a follower of Jesus”.  Personally I think the latter is a better response.  Here’s why:

Nine times out of ten, when I respond with, “I’m a Christian”, the response is normally, “But what religion are you?”.  I normally stand there with a dumbfounded look on my face and repeat the same answer that I already gave, “I’m a Christian”.  Sometimes this can go two or three rounds before they change pace and say something like, “No, I mean are you Baptist, Methodist, etc.?”.  To which I normally respond, “Oh, you mean what denomination am I?”.

These interactions always make me laugh, but I recently realized something about this questions.  Many people outside the church equate a denomination with a religion, and it’s not necessarily Christian.  As I’ve thought more about it, I have realized that denominations are sort of like name brands, like Nike or Reebok.  Name brands carry reputations and have certain qualities and classifications that follow them, just like denominations.

So the question to me now is really, “What brand name of Christianity do you wear?”.  It’s really a way for them to prepare for how we will interact socially and relationally.  They want to know what world views, presuppositions, judgments, etc. that you are going to bring to the table.  Why?  Because they have heard that Baptists act and believer this way, and Episcopals act and believe that way.  Or another way to look at it is, if they become your friend are you going to want them to wear the same name brand?  Or are you going to expect them to act according to your brand of religion?

Many people have said this before, but Jesus didn’t die on a cross to establish a religion.  He died on the cross to re-establish a relationship!  We are created in God’s image and created to be in relationship with Him, but sin severed that relationship.  When Jesus arrived on the scene, there were so many religious rules that people had to follow it robbed them of the ability to have a relationship with God.  It was so bad that Jesus accused the religious people of leading more people to hell than to God!

They didn’t have the benefit of a complete Scripture to paint the full picture of Jesus that we do.  They couldn’t read this powerful statement from John:

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. – John 8:36 NLT

Sometimes I think we tell people that Jesus will set them free, and then once we get them in the church we place the straight jacket of religion on them.  Instead of introducing them to Jesus as their Lord and guide in life, we begin to give them the rules of our religion.  Those are sometimes traditions; sometimes theological debates; sometimes creeds; sometimes expectations….  Whatever they are, they aren’t always geared toward maintaining intimacy with God.

So when somebody asks what religion you are, and you’re a Christian, I believe that saying you’re a follower of Jesus is the best answer.  I follow Jesus, let me tell you who he is and what he’s done.

Jesus came to set us free from sin and death!  Let’s not allow ourselves, our relationships or our influence to be trapped by religion.