The Judas Syndrome

Are you close to God? Judas was.

If you’re not familiar with the Bible, Judas was the man who betrayed Jesus and turned him over to his enemies. Judas’ role was crucial in the arrest, conviction and crucifixion of Christ.

According to the Bible, Judas followed Jesus as a disciple for three years. But even though he was close to Christ, his heart was far away.

For most of those three years Judas seemed to be a model disciple. Even his fellow disciples didn’t suspect he was a traitor. But one day he turned against Jesus.

When Jesus didn’t become the kind of leader Judas thought he should, Judas chose his own plan over God’s plan. In one of the Bible’s saddest stories, Judas’ life met a tragic end.

Sadly, Judas’ kind didn’t die out with him. There are people today with the Judas Syndrome.

“Now hold on just a minute! What’s the Judas Syndrome?”

A person with the Judas Syndrome appears to be close to God but has never believed the Gospel. They may even attend church regularly, read their Bible and tithe.

They may appear very moral but their righteousness is self-righteousness. They may also appear loyal and faithful but they believe God owes them for their service.

When God fails to bless them or do what they think he should, they get angry. They’re religious only because they find God useful for their own purposes.

It’s a mistake to confuse our agenda for God as faith in him. That’s a spiritual dead end.

So how can you tell if someone has the Judas Syndrome? Most of the time you can’t. Like Judas, it only becomes apparent when they turn against God, his leader or his plan.

Jesus himself predicted there would be those who follow him outwardly but not in their hearts. He said, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Now some may think it’s their duty to find and identify people with this tendency. That would be another mistake. The right response, according to the Bible, is to “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.”

Here’s the problem. The Bible tells us that God’s standard is absolute perfection. None of us has ever--or could ever--meet that standard. So the bad news is that we all will die because the Bible says that death is the universal penalty for falling short of God’s standard.

So what should you do? Believe the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ. And then apply it to your life every single day.

The Gospel is that Jesus lived the life you should be living and died the death you should die. So if you will come to God and accept Jesus’ death in your place, God will accept you as his child and credit you with the righteous life of Jesus Christ. It’s pure mercy and grace.

Then, as you rest in Jesus’ gift of grace, you are freed from the drudgery of duty and can follow Christ and his teachings out of a heart overflowing with love, joy and peace.

The Christian no longer lives in fear of failure to perform. Because God accepts us in Christ, we can serve him in joy.

Those with the Judas Syndrome however, still operate under the performance principle. Instead of joy, their hearts are full of fear—the fear of failure.

The solution is not to stress out but to reach out to Jesus in faith. Something Judas never did.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Humanitarian Crisis

Their voices call to be noticed. Guarded smiles give way to stories of missing parents. Eyes plead for love. Who will pay attention?

Where are these children? Not in some foreign land ravaged by catastrophe. They are here in our schools. I met them last week while visiting my grandchildren.

“Now hold on just a minute! What kind of depressed area did you visit?”

Actually, it was a nice middle class neighborhood school. The children were well dressed and fun to be with. But after listening a while, there was heartbreak behind the happy faces.

Last week my friend-wife and I took our annual holiday trip (delayed by a December snowstorm) to visit our grandchildren. One thing I look forward to every year is visiting their school and having lunch with them and their friends.

Usually the conversation around the lunch table is just small talk. But often one of the children will interject an unrelated comment. Like the Kindergartener who blurted out, “My mommy died so my grandma did my hair.”

Did I misunderstand, I wondered? So I asked, “Did you say your mommy died?”

Her friend answered for her, “Yes, her mommy was shot.” How heartbreaking!

Another student’s parent was in prison. How unfair to the child! And every year I hear similar stories. A staff member told me that there are many children like this in school.

Several of the children I met were starving for love and attention. So much so that one of the cafeteria helpers told me that whenever a child wants a hug, she gives them one. And almost as if on cue, a child ran up to her with arms stretched out for a hug!

Perhaps you can identify with those children. One or both of your parents were absent. Or maybe they were there but they were emotionally absent.

Other parents are there too much. Intrusive in their children’s lives, they try to live their dreams through their children. Controlling, abusive, harsh and unloving—parenting is easy to mess up and examples abound.

When I hear stories like that it reminds me that the perfect parent doesn’t exist on this earth. We all try our best to ‘do it right.’ But if we’re honest we’ll admit we failed many times.

That’s why I used to tell my children, “You didn’t come with an instruction book and I’m doing the best I can!”

When you meet a hurting heart like those children with whom I had lunch, what can you do? Point them to Jesus. The God of the Bible offers what our souls crave, what our hearts need and what our minds have longed for.

Jesus said that children are special to God. He takes note of their pure faith. God said he would be a father to the orphaned. And he promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

The Bible tells us that God is love. And he is especially drawn to the unloved and people that others reject. He doesn’t play favorites and he graciously blesses all without finding fault.

Isn’t that the kind of relationship your heart longs for and has wished for?

So forgive your parents for their failings and come to your Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

If you will say, “Father accept me, adopt me--not because of what I’ve done but because of what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross,” then the Bible says you will become a child of God.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Never Satisfied

“Some people are never satisfied!”

Have you ever said that, thought that or been that? I have. It seems to be the human condition more often than not! Why is that? Because of what happened in the Garden of Eden.

“Now hold on for just a minute! How does something that happened thousands of years ago affect our satisfaction today?”
Go back and read the first chapters of the Bible book of Genesis. It’s enlightening.

According to the Bible, God made our world a beautiful place of peace, harmony and joy. But Adam and Eve were convinced they were missing something. So they willfully disobeyed the God that made and loved them. And when they did, they broke God’s perfect world.

Ever since, humankind has tried to find the joy and satisfaction that was present in Eden. C.S. Lewis writes, “There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never keep their promise.”

Sometimes we think, “If I can just get this thing, be that kind of person or go to that place, then my life will be worth living.” But when we get it, become it or arrive at it, there may be a momentary sense of well being, but it passes quickly and we want more.

We tell ourselves, “This will make me happy, this will make my life right. If I get this job, if I get this spouse, if I get this kind of life or if I can finally get out from under this debt, then I’ll be OK. If I buy my dream house or that boat or that vacation home—this will make me happy.

But it never does. Why is that?

The Bible says that a man’s eyes are never satisfied. It observes that those who love money never get enough of it and that even wealthy people are not satisfied with their income!

Life’s disappointments were summed up well by the Rolling Stones when they sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction. But I try and I try and I try and I try.”

Could it be that nothing in this world will ever satisfy us because we’re made for something beyond this world? Re-read that last sentence and think about it for a minute.

The message of the Bible is that we were made for a personal relationship with our Creator. Yes, God made us to find delight in our life on earth, but we will never find ultimate happiness in the things or people that fail us.

God knows we’ve tried. We constantly expect to find joy in a relationship or a job or a thing. So much so that we unknowingly make idols of them.

An idol is anything or anyone that you look to as the source of your ultimate hope in life other than God. What is that for you? To what do you cling hoping it will bring you security, joy and happiness?

Many people spend their entire life pursuing the elusive pleasure of satisfaction.

It is only when we come to God through Jesus Christ that we learn we are loved more that we can imagine--because the Bible reveals God as one who loves the unlovely. All through Scripture he constantly chooses the nobodies of this world to be the somebodies he blesses.

Wouldn’t you want to make that God your ultimate hope? Wouldn’t you want to worship the God who says, “I will never leave you or forsake you”?

It’s true. Some people are never satisfied. But you don’t have to be one of them. Instead you can find lasting joy and satisfaction in Jesus Christ if you come to him today.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Taking Stock

This is the time of year many businesses “Take stock.” They take inventory of what sold and what didn’t sell last year. Then they decide what’s needed for the coming year.

Taking stock is not only good for business; it’s also good for people.

“Now, hold on just a minute. Why should I take stock if I’m not in business?”

Did you start the New Year by saying (or thinking), “Where did last year go?” Many do. Well it doesn’t have to be that way. Not if you take stock with a LIFE inventory.

So turn off the TV, sit down with paper and pencil and take stock of your life. Use the letters of the word “LIFE” to do it. Don’t just rush through 2010 without taking inventory of last year.

What did you LEARN from 2009? The year’s economic lessons forced many to re-evaluate their priorities. To consider what is truly important in life. Have you? Do it and write it down. Did you accomplish the important things last year? Why or why not?

Did you make INVESTMENTS last year that didn’t bring a good return? And I’m not just talking money. What about how you invested your time? Were you so focused on “taking care of business” that your family suffered? If so, what needs to change? Make those changes now.

How about your FRIENDSHIPS? Are they influencing you for better or for worse? Have you been a true friend? And what are you going to do about it? You can either encourage the friends you have or find new friends who will influence you for the best.

Finally, what about the END? Businesses want to end their year “in the black.” They want to show a profit.

How do you want this year to end? Make a list of what you want to have accomplished by December 31. Then write down what you need to start doing today so you can say “Mission Accomplished” in 12 months.

How will your personal story end? How do you want it to finish? What will you do this year to lead you to your goal? Do you have a plan—or a goal?

This year will present you with opportunities. What can you do differently this year to seize those opportunities as they come? Remember the Law of Opportunities: “Opportunities increase or decrease according to how you handled the last one.”

As you set your goals for 2010, will you include God and what he wants for you?

God says in the Bible “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

To do what God suggests requires thoughtful planning and difficult choices. He doesn’t force his way into people’s lives. He waits for you to choose him.

Jesus promises that if we put God first in our lives, he will give us all we need. Will you take God at his word this year and trust him to provide?

Next year, when you take stock of your life, would you like to look back and conclude that 2010 was lived to the full? If so, then consider becoming a follower of Jesus Christ.

Why? Because Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

So if what you’ve done with your life leaves you empty, come to Christ. Ask God to accept you, not on the basis of what you’ve done but on the basis of what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross. When you do that, you become God’s child and begin to experience “life to the full.”

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Debt Crisis

Today’s America, the land of the free, is populated by citizens enslaved by debt.

According to the Center for American Progress, most Americans owe more than they earn in a year--124% of their after tax income.

In addition, one in seven mortgages is delinquent or in foreclosure. Credit card defaults rose to more than 10% this year.

What that means is the average family is living on the edge of financial disaster. It now takes two incomes to provide what one income provided 30 years ago. If one loses a job, there’s no back-up plan. Not only has household savings plummeted, it’s now a negative number!

Our crisis is reminiscent of the Tennessee Ernie Ford song “16 Tons.” In it a coal miner says, “You load sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go—I owe my soul to the company store!”

Like that coal miner, many Americans can’t afford to die!

What could be worse than being that deep in debt? --No hope of ever paying it back. And that’s the exact situation we’re in when we face God.

“Now hold on just a minute! What does our personal debt crisis have to do with God?”

The Bible says we owe a debt to God we cannot pay. Failing to keep the Ten Commandments is just the beginning. Who has kept all their promises to God? Who has showed him the gratitude he deserves for the many blessings we have received from him?

And just feeling sorry about all that doesn’t begin to compensate God for our failure.

God says that the wages of sin is death. That our disobedience and outright rebellion against him have put each of us in a position where we owe him more than we can ever repay.

What if I told you that your debt to God could be paid in full today by a generous donor? Wouldn’t you jump at the chance?

The good news is that God is a God of new beginnings and fresh starts. All you must do is admit you can never earn enough through good works to pay him back on your own. And you must believe that God accepts Jesus’ payment, his death, on your behalf.

The Bible tells us that through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, God offers to cancel, to forgive, your debt and mine. To mark it “Paid In Full!”

Many people have a hard time forgiving themselves. We know how bad we really are. But God offers unconditional forgiveness to all who will come to him and trust him.

Like many Americans you may find yourself in a debt crisis, owing more than you’re able to pay. You may think, “I haven’t got a prayer!”

But the good news is that Jesus Christ has cancelled your spiritual debt. Will you accept his free offer? Not only will he forgive your sin, he promises to provide for all your needs. All you need to do is talk to him. The day you trust in him is the day you become his child.

Never forget that, with God, we always have a prayer, because he hears us when we pray.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

Manger Matters

Does it matter if Jesus was really born in a manger?

What about the other stories of Jesus’ life? Does it matter if he really performed miracles and lived a perfect life? Or that he died in our place and rose from the dead?

All these are pertinent questions as we celebrate Christmas. Why? Because if the stories in the Bible are just stories, nice legends, it doesn’t matter if they’re true or not.

“Now hold on just a minute! What are you saying? Why should it make any difference?”

Because in most religions it doesn’t matter whether the stories of the founder’s lives are true. Why? Because those stories serve only as examples of how we ought to live our lives. And in those religions your relationship with God is based completely on your own performance.

Whether or not a particular story about Buddha is true doesn’t determine if the 8-fold path to enlightenment works or not. But if the historic events of Jesus’ life—his virgin birth, the miracles, his resurrection from the dead—didn’t happen, then Christianity doesn’t “work.”

The Gospel is that Jesus saves us by what he—Jesus—did. If that’s the case, the story of the Gospel “works”—it saves us—only if it really happened. In fact the Bible goes so far as to say that if Jesus' death and resurrection didn't really happen, we are still in our sins.

So if none of it happened, then faith in Jesus Christ is no different than believing in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. It can’t change your life. All it can do is encourage you to live a sacrificial life of service. To work harder and hope God grades on a curve!

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a radically different kind of relationship with God? One in which you didn’t have to earn your way into God’s favor? A relationship where you’re accepted—not on the basis of what you have done, but on the basis of what Jesus has done?

Then he actually has to have done it! If the stories of Jesus in the Gospels are just nice stories, then they’re only examples to follow and just one more set of moral laws to destroy you.

You might look at the stories of Jesus and say, “How nice. I’m going to try to live like that.” But if you do, you’ll be crushed. You only like the idea because you haven’t thought about it. If you tried to live like Jesus you’d see it’s impossible unless you’re the divine Son of God.

But if Jesus actually came and fulfilled the requirements of God’s Law—if he actually did those things for us in history—then there’s at least the possibility of him living the life we should have lived and dying the death we should have died for our sin.

In ancient Israel worshipers were forgiven based on the death of a perfect, unblemished lamb. The Bible tells us that Jesus was “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” He was the perfect substitute (lamb) to die in our place.

Only Christianity offers us a relationship with God based on Jesus’ righteous life. It tells us that God is willing to accept Jesus’ perfect life in place of our failings. So if Jesus did it for us, then forgiveness of sin and salvation through faith in his name is actually possible.

Would you like to have a relationship with God based on that kind of grace? For God to accept you in spite of all the things you’ve done?

The good news of the gospel is that you can have the relationship you long for. To receive it, all you must do is “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” The Bible adds, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

So you see, it really does matter that Jesus was born in a manger. Celebrate that!

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!

iFaith

In this modern savvy iPod era, how do you decide what to believe about God?

Maybe you’ve noticed the iPods and iPhones that are so popular. The touch screen versions are really pocket-sized computers. One is also a cell phone. Both run applications or computer programs that entertain and organize your life.

Why the lowercase letter “i” at the beginning of the name? Because it’s all about self! Me, myself and I. Life is easier and more fun when it’s all about me and what I want.

You can even customize your experience with this type of gadget in many different ways. They become an extension of your personality. Some you can load up with thousands of your favorite songs, creating your own personal playlist.

That reminds me of the way many people approach matters of faith.

“Now hold on for just a minute! What does an iPod or iPhone have to do with belief?”

In the latest Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, researchers found that, when it comes to religion, many Americans prefer a mix-and-match, build-your-own approach. In fact many people seem to have no problem blending Christianity with Eastern and new Age beliefs.

Michael Lindsay, a Rice University sociologist of religion said the results illustrate what he calls the “playlist effect” in contemporary American religious practice. “The way we personalize our iPhones, we also personalize our religious lives,” he said.

As Americans, our belief systems could really be called “iFaith.” Because what we believe is all about what we want. Amazingly the Bible predicted just such a religious state of mind!

“For the time will come,” the Bible says, “when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Are you a truth seeker? Do you tire of the old clichés and empty platitudes of most religious systems? Then listen to Jesus. He revealed a God who loved us enough to suffer in our place.

If you pursue an “iFaith” instead, picking and choosing what you like as if you were at a buffet, you end up with an imaginary god. One of your own design.

Wouldn’t you rather have a God that you can know personally? With whom you could have a living, loving relationship? If you do, then the God of the Bible is your only alternative.

Someone will say, “But I don’t agree with everything the Bible says!”

Fair enough. But that’s how you know Jesus is a real, personal God. If you want a personal relationship with someone, the other person has to be able to challenge and correct you. Or say things that bother you. Otherwise, all you have is a robot that can never disagree with you.

In his book, “The Reason for God,” Timothy Keller writes, “Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle (as in a real friendship or marriage!) will you know you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination. So an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the pre-condition for it.”

So when Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” and “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” – we would do well to listen to him, find out what he taught and then obey him.

If we will do that, then Jesus said “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

So the choice is between “iFaith” or “I follow Jesus.” Will you follow him? It’s your call.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!