Conspicuous Consumption

As I was writing the Myth Busters post it occurred to me how much the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus mirrored our current society. Even the man that currently sits in the White House.

If you missed the Myth Busters post check it out below.

Read: Myth Busters: You Can Go to Heaven and Come Back

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is found in Luke 16:18-31

In a nutshell the Rich Man lived a life of excess to the point of being obnoxious and Lazarus was a beggar who lived his days with dogs licking the sores on his body and hoping to get some scraps from the Rich Man's table.

In today's society we see many - our current president and many congress members included - who live their days, as Eugene Patterson put it, in conspicuous consumption.

The dictionary defines it as

expenditure on or consumption of luxuries on a lavish scale in an attempt to enhance one's prestige.

Did you just get goosebumps like I did, because doesn't that describe them to a tee? The problem is that in our society, that works because we are focused on material things that we give people who are not worthy of prestige and clout and we step over people like Lazarus.

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

Fast Forward: Both men die. The Rich Man ends up in Hell and Lazarus ends up in Heaven.

Wow what a turn of events. Or is it? Matthew 16:19-21 (see italicized above) specifically tells us NOT to hoard our treasures here on earth. Because if that is what you are chasing you will get it. It will enhance your prestige on Earth. You will have houses and cars and cash on Earth. You will have fans on Earth. And when you die you will have nothing.

The problem is that our time on Earth is finite but our life after death is forever. Lazarus died with nothing. He wasn't even buried! But he was carried up by angels directly to Abraham in Heaven. No sores, no suffering, just peace and contentment. The Rich Man died, was buried. He probably had a lavish funeral but he ended up in Hell.

Disclaimer: Not all rich people go to hell.

The question is why? The answer is: Look where he stored his treasures. The Rich Man's goal was to be rich and be known for being rich. That goal was achieved. But none of that matters in God's Economy. The only person whose opinion matters in Heaven is God's.

So how could it have turned out differently for the Rich Man? If he had been seeking to enhance God's prestige and not his own - treasure stored in heaven. If he had given money to the least of these like Lazarus - treasure stored in heaven. If he had lived modestly - treasure stored in heaven. You can be rich and live modestly.

This story made me think, what am I chasing? 

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? (Mark 8:36)

We often forget that all that we have in this world doesn't go with us when we die. All that we take with us is ourselves and our deeds.

While Lazarus seemingly had nothing when he died he had everything that truly matter. A place in heaven where there is no suffering whatsoever.

In my own life there exists this tension where I seek wealth but I have to remember not to hoard my riches. 

Like I said, being rich isn't a one way ticket to hell. However, using your riches to hurt others, to be pompous and arrogant, to show no empathy for those who have less shows what's in your store house and ultimately shows what you value and what you worship.

We often thing we can pull one over on God. See Evangelical Politicians as Exhibit A. You can convince and even fool other people but God knows you better than you know yourself. And while you can broker business deals and schemes and scams on Earth, you can't pay for a spot in Heaven.

It doesn't work that way. It never has. So make sure you know what you're chasing and what you are chasing it for.

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW

Myth Busters: You Can Go To Heaven and Come Back

NO YOU CAN'T

We seem to be fascinated with death and wanting to know what it is and where we go and can we barter with God to get into heaven.

We even have movies and books of people claiming that they went to heaven. But that's really impossible. The Bible tells us why in the parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus. (Not that Lazarus, another one. It was a popular name back in the day)

You can read the story in Luke 16:19-31.

In this story we have a beggar, Lazarus and this Rich Man. As is true even today this Rich Man treated the beggar incredibly poorly. Meanwhile Lazarus just wanted the scraps from the man's table while dogs licked his sore covered body. Then both men died. The beggar ended up in heaven at Abraham's side and the Rich Man ended up in Hell.

Side Note: Even as I type this a new post is coming to me so stay tuned.

The Rich Man in hell looks up and sees Lazarus chilling in heaven and asks Abraham if he could send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water so the man could cool his tongue. My how the mighty has fallen.

Abraham tells him straight up: NO

Because not only can you not go to heaven and come back to earth, unless your name is Jesus and your Father is God, you can't go from heaven to hell or vice versa.

So then he tries another track and asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his brothers about their behavior so they could escape hell.

Rant: The unmitigated gall of this dude who couldn't even be bothered with Lazarus on earth is now asking that Lazarus be sent back to earth from heaven to warn his rude family to save them from hell. Even in hell his rich privilege was showing. Boy bye!

Again, Abraham tells him no.

And the reason is interesting but incredibly true.

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

With all the people who have died and come back how many people are convinced that it is because of the grace and mercy of God? They say: It's a medical miracle or the person is crazy or its a fantastical dream. Because the truth is if we as people hear the Good News of the Gospel of the one who was TRULY raised from the dead and STILL DON'T BELIEVE why would we believe some Joe Smo on a book tour or press junket?

We wouldn't, and that's the point. When we die there is no going back. And if you're in heaven why would you want to?

Could God raise us from the dead? Absolutely! But why? Us being raised from the dead saves no one but ourselves and our world is so jaded we would all miss the miracle. The only time in the Bible we see anyone raised from the dead is when Elijah, Elisha or Jesus himself did it.

God is the only one with the power to restore life once it is gone. Elijah and Elisha were Old Testament Prophets -when they were still doing animal sacrifices for sin atonement, so we are definitely not of that era - who cried out to God cuz they knew they didn't have the power to restore life. And Jesus is fully God and fully man, and since Jesus isn't walking the earth currently I'd say we are out of luck on this one.

So what's my take? Once we die we are gone and that's it. That's why we must take everyday seriously because we are not promised tomorrow. For those individuals who say they came back from heaven I believe they experienced something but it wasn't heaven because once we get to heaven or the other place we aren't coming back. Not even to warn our loved ones.

As an aside, isn't it interesting that its always heaven they come back from? Never hell. I wonder why? Hmmmm. 

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW

Worrying Kills

I am a worrier. I wish I wasn't but I am. And my worry can then become overwhelming.

Worrying that I'm not good enough, worrying that I'll be rejected, worried that people are talking about me behind their back, worried that I won't have enough money, worried that my life will fall apart if I make a wrong moved, worried that if I dream that when they don't come true (notice I didn't say if) the disappointment will be devastating.

Worrying...

It can be incredibly crippling. Each an everyday it is a fight for me to not let my worrying about what ifs destroy my present and future.

Worry is useless. Worry saps our strength and steals our focus. It causes us to be more awestruck and dumbfounded by storms than by the one who silences storms with a word.

— Judah Smith (@judahsmith) March 11, 2019

But each and everyday is a what if. Life is a big what if because its a series of choices and each choice has a consequence, good or bad. What I have to remember and what this tweet reminded me of today is that my focus should not be on the potential storm or the storm I find myself in. My focus should be on the One who can silence the storm with a word.

In Mark 4:37-41 when the disciples and Jesus are in the boat and the storm came they were worried. Truth be told we all would be. However, they shouldn't have been. They had been walking with Jesus and seen him do miracles. So why were they still fearful that he would let them die if he had healed others?

I have to ask myself that. Damaris, why do you believe God will let you fall when all He has ever done is lift you up? Why are you focused on the storm - the wind and the waves - and not focused on God, the source of your strength?

My daughter likes to climb. On the couch, on chairs, on just about anything. When she sees me and I hold my hands out to her she jumps to me. She doesn't question whether I will catch her or not, she's fully confident that I will.

I need to have faith like my daughter that when I jump God will catch me because He always does.

I need to stop worrying.

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW

Wearing Masks

It's March and if you didn't know its my birthday month. Whenever birthdays come around and you get older you get more introspective.

In writing this blog I find that i have been looking at my life a lot and where I've been and how the things I've experienced have affected my today. And although I knew this its become clearer to me over time that I wore a lot of masks.

While some people may call it fake I call it the hazard of growing up churched. You learn all the rules and the things to say at church and in front of church folks but then you separate that from the other elements of your day to day life.

In my case I grew up feeling invisible. And it was a blessing and a curse. When you are invisible you can observe a lot while being unnoticed and therefore you learn a lot but it is a very lonely place to be at times.

We are meant to do life with people but when you are made to feel small or insignificant you then diminish yourself even further. They call it making yourself diminutive.

I often felt invisible because people assumed I was ok. I didn’t talk a lot, I did what I was supposed to do and that was it. And because I wore the mask of "the good christian girl" no one really bothered to dig deeper to see if I was truly ok.

In my family I was the short one. The quiet one. With allergies and no glasses. I was different.

I have always wanted so desperately to fit in but I felt like I didn’t even fit in with my own family. So I created a mask. I became who I thought people wanted me to be.

How many of us are wearing masks?

We try to be people that we think people want us to be in order to be liked and then when they still reject us anyway our lives are shattered.

As I have gotten older I worry less about fitting in or being part of the pack. I still want to be liked but I no longer live my life trying to be the person others want me to be. I can no longer do life behind a mask. It is emotionally, psychologically and spiritually taxing. 

You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town.

Luke 12:2-3

When you wear a mask you know that if people like that person they aren't liking the real you and then you become terrified to show them the real you because you are afraid they will reject you. But then you live in constant fear of being found out. See the emotional roller coaster this is?

Now I wasn't living some big secret life like you see in movies but i had created this whole persona of the perfect church girl who has it all together who didn't drink or curse or struggle with sexual desire which wasn't true. The truth was I didn't have it all figured out, but really who does? I drink sometimes. I curse when I get pissed off and I was having sex. Not with a whole bunch of people but I was. I just never felt it was safe enough for me to show those closest to me who i truly am.

The weight of my mask was unbearable at times. The longer I wore it the heavier the weight got but I held on to it until the bitter end because I was always afraid that everything would blow up if I let people see the real, flawed me and then... it did.

The truth will set you free... John 8:32

In the aftermath I know I can never wear a mask again because I had no peace. I have come to terms with the fact that people won't like me or understand me but that is ok. I like me, I accept me and most importantly I have peace, joy and happiness. No secrets, nothing to blow up.

The lie that Satan tries to sell you is that you will never be liked or accepted which isn't true. First, God already loves and accepts you just as you are. Second, there are people out here in this world who will love, accept and get you. We are meant to do life with people so find those people.

If you currently live behind a mask take it off. Set yourself free. 

If you are thinking of putting one on, don't. Its not worth it and its exhausting.

If you recently shed your mask, its hard at the beginning but it gets better.

Take it from me, I've made it to the other side.

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW