The symbols of the church have included the Lamb, the Lion, the Dove, and the Fish, but never the Chameleon.

George Barna is a widely published and oft-quoted pollster and researcher. One of the most disturbing discoveries he has made through studying the state of churches and Christians in the USA is that there is essentially no difference in the ethics of actual behavior between those who claim to be born-again Christians and those who don’t. I’m not talking about standards that people purport to hold, but how they actually behave. This is stunning and exceedingly sad. This is certainly not the situation God is looking for. He desires (and commands) that we be people who think differently and as a result, act differently. The power for this does not lie in ourselves (which I believe is the largest part of the problem in the USA now) but in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Let us walk in the Spirit rather than in our own strength and wisdom.

Rom 12:2
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 Peter 1:13-16

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

These are extreme times that call for extremists. ObeyGC² practitioners are extremists for love.

Imagine a world in which the headlines shouted out reports of extremists who were turning the world upside-down by returning good for evil. We actually do see such reports from time to time even in the mainstream media. They are rarely the headlines, but they are attached to articles or stories about unspeakable atrocities perpetrated by heartless terrorists, recently often Islamic extremists. Survivors or family members of those who have been killed speak of forgiveness and even love. Those people are are also extremists and in every case I have seen they are radically following Jesus. They are extremists for love. Their response glorifies God and mystifies many observers. The more closely the world examines the situation, the more glory God receives. Extreme darkness provides a greater contrast for the light to shine forth. Let’s commit ourselves to shine consistently so when the opportunity arises we will be ready. We should also seek out dark surroundings in order to maximize our impact for God’s Kingdom.

Matt 5:43-48

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

2 Cor 8:1-6
8:1 And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.

ObeyGC² practitioners are known as those who love outcasts, not those who hate “gays”.

I don’t know how it happened. Somehow Christians, especially evangelical Christians, got a reputation for hating homosexuals. Perhaps some do. One thing is clear: Jesus didn’t. God clearly forbids homosexuality in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. He also forbids pride. And lust. And lies. Etc.

Somehow, particularly since the nineteenth century, sexual sins have come to be considered more serious than other sins. They are bad…as bad as other sins…but not any worse. In fact, if I was forced to rank sins on their seriousness, I’d put pride at the top of the list. I’ll have to write on that another day.

The appropriate response to homosexual individuals is to love them and try to draw them to Jesus where they can receive the power and the will to change their lifestyle. This is how it works for people who are bound by other sins. This is how it needs to work with homosexuals as well. They are not the enemy of Christians. They are bound by the enemy of Christians and they need to be released…the same way those of us who are already Christians were formerly bound by the enemy and released by Christ.

Jude 22-23

22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

John 8:1-11
8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Rom 6:16-23
16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Eph 6:11-13
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.

Jesus isn’t aiming to make bad people good, but to make dead people live. We aren’t about morality, but about abundant life.

Of course, those who receive this abundant life from Christ will be good, but that’s not the point. In several of his letters, the Apostle Paul writes that we are supposed to “take off” evil deeds and “put on” a righteous character because of the new life we have from God. These are the result, however, not the cause. The cause is the new life we have in Christ. The upshot is that we are to be involved in helping others find this life as well.

John 10:9-11
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Gal 2:20-21
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Cor 5:17-21
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Communities of ObeyGC² are built around a shared brokenness, not a shared self-righteousness.

The Kingdom of God is a relational affair. Discipleship has fellowship as a vital aspect. When we are “discipling” someone, we do them a disservice if it is strictly a one-on-one experience. That is like trying to teach someone to play basketball only through one-on-one drills. That may be fine for ball control, but they will have no concept of very important aspects of the game: passing, many aspects of defense, pick-and-rolls, off-ball screens, and so on. Individualistic expressions of discipleship are fine as far as they go. Unfortunately, they don’t go very far. God has called us to live in community. His Kingdom is a community and is based on our relationship to Him and to each other. The basis of this is His grace, not our glowing personalities or lovable natures or any other characteristic we may pride ourselves in.

Eph 4:1-6
2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Rom 12:3-5
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

ObeyGC² practitioners are disturbers of the status quo. If the “powers that be” do not hate us, we may not be truly representing God’s Kingdom.

Don’t be deceived into thinking that you will be praised and honored because you are following Jesus and doing what He commanded. It definitely didn’t work out that way for Him. People who should be encouraging and supportive for the sake of the Kingdom will oppose you and do things which seem horrifyingly evil. Cheer up! That is actually a sign you are on the right track. By the way, there is no neutral party in the cosmic battle. If you aren’t on God’s side, you’re against Him. When “push comes to shove” there will be no one neutral about your efforts for His Kingdom either.

Luke 23:20-31

20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

26 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!” ‘

31 For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Matt 5:10-12
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

John 16:1-4
2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.

Matt 24:9-10

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.

Matt 12:30

30 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

Jesus said we should not fear what can kill the body, but what can kill the soul. We should not fear the “violent” inner cities but the suburbs which can eat away and numb our souls with complacency and comfort.

Okay, Jesus actually said “who” can kill, not “what” can kill. The principle still applies. I suspect the root of the fear is actually a love of physical comfort and safety which are often coupled with a love of money. If we become involved in “dangerous” and needy places, it will place a burden on our resources, time, and money. Why risk all that when we can simply minister in the ‘burbs?

Luke 12:4-5

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.”

Luke 16:9-15
9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.

Perhaps many people have such a difficult time believing in heaven because Christians take so few risks.

My guess is that this is the case due to the fact that so many Christians focus on the temporal rather than the eternal. Part of sinful human nature seems to be that we think about what is visible more than about what is invisible. Unfortunately, the things we think about tend to become the things we value. The things we value shape the decisions we make. Soon we can find ourselves making decisions based on the wrong things. Risk-taking (in regard to earthly, temporary things) should be no big deal for Christians if it is for the sake of God’s Kingdom, which is eternal. If this were true more often, I believe it would get people’s attention in a remarkable fashion.

Matt 16:21-23

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

1 John 2:15-17

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

2 Cor 4:16-18

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.