JR. Forasteros - December 28, 2014
Clean Water, No Fences
Christianity has become known as a religion full of rules – these “dos” and “don’ts” have become fences that keep Christians in line, corralling us like spiritual cattle. But according to Paul, now that Jesus has come, God has torn all the fences down, and every person is free to seek God. The life Jesus offers us is so good, God is convinced we don’t need rules to keep us pinned in – when God is with us, we don’t need fences.
From Series: "Thrill of Hope"
It seems like everyone's in a competition to "Do Christmas Well" these days. From party after party to non-stop shopping for all those perfect gifts to endless feasts, we don't feel like we can stop. But Advent teaches us that to do Christmas well, we have to learn to wait. And waiting is not something we are very good at. Learning to wait well is the key to doing Christmas well. And it's very good news! In this series, we'll learn that waiting brings back the thrill of hope!
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I was speaking at a pastors conference once about youth ministry. I had spent 45 minutes encouraging the pastors to think outside the box and – even more importantly – to trust their youth leaders. Some of the youth leaders had shared with me that they had tried to bring in “rock music” (by which they meant Christian worship bands like ours here at Catalyst), but their pastors often shut them down. I made a plea – if they want to bring in a rock band, let them try it!
There was a Q&A afterwards and immediately a pastor asked a question: “Why should I let rock music into my church if the beat of rock music summons demons?”
If that question surprises you, then you didn’t grow up in the Church in the late 80s/early 90s loving rock music.
Everyone from Kansas to AC/DC to yes the Rolling Stones was accused of being Satanic.
And why rock music? Well the arguments get pretty complicated (and hilarious), but they’re all ultimately rooted in a particularly origin story of the Devil that pretty much standardized in our culture:
The Devil was once an angel named Lucifer who was basically second in command of Heaven (some say he was the music leader, which is why he’s so into rock n roll). For some reason, he decided he should be God instead, so he led a rebellion, tried to take over heaven, and was cast into Hell. All this happened before anything else was created.
I’m guessing that sounds at least vaguely familiar to most of us.
But here’s the fascinating thing: that story isn’t in the Bible anywhere.
Bits and pieces of it are, but the whole thing isn’t anywhere.
And that’s actually sort of a big deal. Because we should take the Devil seriously. But the Devil’s mission isn’t to get us all hooked on sick guitar licks and double-kick drum. The Devil’s mission is to deceive us, to convince us that we are not worthy of God’s grace and to convince us that others aren’t either.
But to see that, we’re going to have to figure out what the Bible actually does say about Satan.
Even more than being about the Devil, today is about the God who overcomes him with the light of truth – the truth that we’re all loved and all given impossible, infinite grace that no one – not even the Devil – can take from us.
