I was thinking the other day about how much my life has been shaped over the six years I’ve been here at IHOP. The great part is that none of it has happened through large, complex, sweeping illustrations and arguments. It’s never a matter of “This teacher put together all those passages, read it through this lens, retold it with a certain kind of spin, and BAM! Suddenly I hang on his/her every word.” It’s a matter of simple, one-line statements that basically say, “Yep, the Bible actually means what it says when it says XYZ.”

When I’m in the middle of an emotional swirl, I don’t have the patience or brainpower to summon that fantastic six-point sermon. What I remember is that handful of words with the umph (and sometimes the “ouch”) behind it to pierce my own mental fog and keep me clinging to Biblical reality.

…I figure I’ve got a few more months of quoting them before I get to pull the preacher trick and just say, “It’s like I’ve always said…”

- I am loved by God, and I am a lover of God; therefore I am successful.

- God is not mostly mad or sad, but mostly glad.

- Love does not have to be mature before it’s real.

- There is a difference between weakness and rebellion.

- God’s correction is not God’s rejection.

- God will use the least severe means possible to bring the greatest number of people to the deepest level of love without violating anyone’s free will.

- Tithing: You can’t afford not to.

- We need a Judge.

What about you? What one-liners stick with you (IHOP or otherwise)? Please share in the comments.

Few things are as universally decried in today’s western Church as legalism. To many of us, the worst possible name anyone could label us is “Pharisee”. We all (rightly) want to avoid that pit of buidling rules upon rules, religiously adhering to stringent requirements that God never commanded. Most young believers today would have no problem identifying and avoiding that kind of legalism. We are culturally geared to not really like the confinements of rules anyway, so we are more than happy to call legalism what it is.

However, there’s an entire other side to legalism that the vast majority of us embrace. Ironically enough, the people most prone to it are the loudest proclaimers of personal freedom. It’s much more covert, but it’s just as real and locks our hearts up just as quickly.

There is a view that cries, “it is never enough”, and pressures people through guilt and shame into increased (joyless) works that have no bearing on righteousness. We quickly recognize that as legalism. However, there is also a view that says, “It is just enough”, claiming that bare minimal obedience is all Christians should bother with. We are no longer obliged to keep the whole law, so we’ll keep the super importent parts and kind of let the rest slide. The works are seen as the grudging duty we must perform to remain in God’s good graces, the damper on our otherwise fun life.

Legalism cuts both ways.

The New Testament makes several references to the “letter” versus the “Spirit”. Many of us are all too happy to latch onto that distinction. We aren’t bound to the dead letter of the law,  so therefore, in our minds, we are free to do almost whatever we want. Sure, we need to avoid the big grevious sins, but there is a whole realm of gray area we feel liberated to play in. We’re under the New Covenant, so that whole law business is a thing of the past.

Now, it’s true that we’re no longer under the Law (and all the pork-eating Gentiles said, “amen”). So since we’re under the New Covenant, we should take some cues from Jesus as to how we live now. Isn’t it great He dismissed us from such a burdensome responsibility?

…Yes, but we need to see what He actually says before we run with what we think He says.

In roughly 1500 B.C., God’s glory descended onto Mt. Sinai and He delivered the Law to Moses. In the first century A.D., Jesus, God incarnate, stood on another mountain and delivered the Sermon on the Mount. In some ways, we can see this as a New Covenant parallel, helping show us now now we should live. So let’s see what Jesus has to say about the Law:

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:17)

Wait a minute. What? I thought we were released from all this unpleaseant business of the letter of the law.

We are. But we must see a crucial distinction: Jesus is not destroying the Law. He isn’t throwing it crumpled into heaven’s wastebasket as a centuries-long divine mistake. He’s fulfilling it, and giving us a way to live by the Spirit of it, rather than the letter.

So what does this look like? Jesus explains. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment’” (5:21). That’s the letter of the law. That’s Old Covenant stuff.

He continues, “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment” (5:22). Rather than give us license to do anything short of actually killing our brother, the Spirit actually raises the stakes. If we despise our brother in our heart, that’s just as negative as murder.

Again, Jesus speaks of the Law, saying, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultry’” (5:27).

Again, He immediately ups the ante. “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (5:28). The Spirit does not give us leave to do anything we like short of actual fornication. He actually gives us an ultimatum concerning what we do with our eyes and heart, not just our body.

I believe that one of the things Jesus accomplishes in the Sermon on the Mount is to address the issue of Isaiah 29:13 — “…these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me…” It is possible to give God stellar lip service and be completely hardened on the inside. Many religious people in Jesus’ day were doing just that. On the outside, everything was polished to a pious glow. But on the inside, darkness and death ruled their hearts (see Matthew 23:27).

This is actually what makes a Pharisee a Pharisee. We all know the Pharisaical system for its labrynth of religious rules. We think of people bound up in excess requirements and traditions, fervently striving for a righteousness they could never attain. But what most of us don’t know is that the Pharisees were also masters of the loophole.

In order to avoid transgression, the Pharisees had built what they called a “hedge” around the Law. For instance, they didn’t want to violate the Sabbath law (which is good). So they decided how far is too far to walk, how much is too much to carry, and what household activities people may or may not do. They intentionally made their own rules much broader than the ones laid out to Moses. This way, in order to violate the actual Law, people would first have to plow down several layers of the “tradition of the elders”.

It even sounds like a logical argument — people sin a lot, so let’s set up a bunch of extra rules to try and keep people out of sin. If they accidentally break a rule, it will be one of the traditions, not one of the Ten Commandments.

The fact that it didn’t really work is beside the point right now.

The point is that, being the ones who built the hedge, the Pharisees knew all about how to get around it. Their legalism appeared to be about, “never enough…” always saying, “Do more, perform better, stretch further, and failure is inexcuseable.” However, to the Pharisees, this was still, “just enough”, giving them a new religious waterline to meet. As long as they fulfilled a certain set of standards, in keeping with the traditions, they considered themselves to have righteousness in the bag. They paid their dues, fulfilled their duties, and were thus free to live the rest of their lives.

Jesus indicts them of this duplicity with a scathing rebuke in Matthew 23. “…they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders” (i.e. the traditions of the elders burdening the people) “…but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers” (the loopholes, allowing the Pharisees an easy out).

Jesus spells out a couple of these loopholes in verses 16-23.

Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.” Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.” Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? (23:16-19)

In other words, if you vowed, “By the temple, I will do such-and-such”, you could get entirely off the hook if you backpedaled on that promise. After all, you only swore by the temple. But if you swore by the gold of the temple, you were considered to be bound to your oath.

The rule was extra, and thus more constricting, but the loophole was actually bigger. The Law itself says, “If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (Numbers 30:2, emphasis added). In other words, if you made a promise, you’d better do it. The Pharisees built a hedge around that, but they also installed an escape hatch. Keep your promise — unless you swear by something paltry enough that it magically doesn’t matter any more.

Jesus pointed out another area where the Pharisees’ hedge failed them:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay title of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weighter matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (23:23)

The Pharisees were obsessive tithers, even down to the most minute of their possessions. (Imagine going to your spice rack and tithing a teaspoon out of each jar.) Tithing is something God commanded of them — of their harvest and their flocks. Measuring out every tiny pantry item was going above and beyond. But in their drive to excel at the littlest details of the law, the Pharisees neglected the very heart behind Law in the first place.

Jesus hit it directly on the head with His rebuke: “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel” (23:24)! The Pharisees were really good at catching miniscule infractions of the traditions. They were really bad at living for the very reason God set up the Law in the first place.

In fact, earlier in the book of Matthew, while identifying yet another loophole of the Pharisees (dodging the Fifth Commandment), he quotes that verse from Isaiah: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matt 15:8). God doesn’t care about a nice religious show. He wants our hearts.

This is where we come in. We don’t like obviously oppressive legalism. But in getting religious about not being legalistic (hah), we end up just as tangled in it as anyone has ever been.

For instance, the grumpy holiness preacher says, “Movies are all 100% evil! If you’ve ever seen anything move on a large screen, you are destined for the Lake of Fire!!” We roll our eyes at that, but then fly in the opposite direction, saying, “There’s nothing at all wrong with movies. I can watch whatever I want. I’ll just avoid the NC-17. And I just need to look away during the love scenes. And try not to repeat too much of the language outside the theater. And make sure I don’t sign up for the worldview. And make my best effort not to salivate too much over the leading man/lady.”

That’s still legalism. It’s still searching for, “What is that minimal standard that will tip the scales into ‘permissible’ range? How can I show that I honor God without having to invest my heart into it that much?”

We may find the one blogger who is deeply offended by women wearing pants, and is convinced that each inch between a dress’s hemline and the floor represents the next deeper level of perdition its owner will be banished to.  But we’re liberated women, by golly, so we’re going to keep up with the latest fashions. As long as we don’t look like we stepped off the cover of Vogue, surely we’re doing okay. If it fits right and looks good, it’s permissible for us to wear.

We don’t like the Pharisee’s rules, but we do appreciate their loopholes. We find ways to exploit the loopholes whenever possible. We just come up with the reasons to exempt ourselves, then we measure our action against our own personal checklist for righteousness, and exonerate our lifestyle simply because we can. It’s still mostly about the rules, and not very much about our hearts.

So if it’s legalism to make the rules, and it’s legalism to excuse ourselves from the rules, what is left to us?

Here’s a hint; we’re called to live by the Spirit, not the letter.

Now there are certain laws that we do adhere to because they are spelled out for us in Scripture. Things like Sermon above — do not murder, and do not be angry with your brother without a cause; do not commit adultery, but also don’t look at another person lustfully. The Bible says it, it’s incontrovertible, and so we should live it 100%. I’m certainly not suggesting that we throw out any moral code we’ve ever held.

What I am suggesting is that when it comes to the gray area, we reach for the Lord before we reach for the rulebook. We’re not looking for a complex religious ritual to help navigate the decision (overt legalism). We’re not looking for squeaking by with the minimal standard of obediance we’re obliged to meet (covert legalism). We’re looking for what the Lord is inviting us to right now. We don’t want to only honor God with our lips; we want our hearts to draw near to Him, too.

If we talk to the Holy Spirit a lot, and involve Him in our day to day decisions, it’s going to iron out a great deal for us. He is a good leader, very skilled at challenging us without overburdening us. For instance, it’s one thing to have the “movie code” I gave above. “I can watch it if it meets ABC criteria and if I do XYZ while I watch it,” is an easy rule to live by. However, what happens when we say, “Lord, what do You think about me going to see this movie…?” and actually wait to hear what He has to say?

I don’t know about you, but the second option sounds significantly more intense to me.

Living by the Spirit is not living lawlessly. It is obeying Him in what He has clearly commanded. But even more than that, it is asking Him in the areas — big and small — where we don’t have a rule to govern our every step.

Maybe the Lord tells you ”no” to the movie, even though all your friends have already seen it and assured you it’s okay. Maybe He doesn’t even say a hard “no”, but it’s clear to you that there is an invitation for you to go deeper in Him if you choose not to go. Maybe in the example of clothes-shopping, He tells you that the article of clothing is not His best for you. Or maybe He tells you to relax and enjoy it because it’s just fine, and it’s actually good for you to feel beautiful in it.

This can be frustrating to our legalist tendencies, because we just want someone to tell us what to do. But God’s not primarily interested in that. He mostly cares about what’s happening in your heart. He may say to us, “That’s great that you’re honoring Me with your lips, but where is your heart? Are you getting more tender or more hardened to Me right now?”

We don’t need a bunch of regulations that the Bible doesn’t give us. We need more fellowship with the Spirit. When we have areas of question, we hold them lightly, ready to cut the ties in a moment if the Lord says it needs to go. We should be asking Him constantly, “What do you think of this? What are you feeling about this? What are you inviting me to right now?”

I use the word “invite” on purpose, because again, this is not mainly about keeping rules. This is about engaging our hearts. We should have a higher vision than simply surviving Christianity. We should be pursuing the most vibrant, alive heart possible, and asking God how to do that in our day to day choices.

This turned out much longer than intended, but I am provoked right now. It is vital that we don’t buy into the subtle legalism of our society, pursuing minimal obedience at all costs. Free hearts which walk by the Spirit pursue righteousness, not because it’s the rule, but because it is life itself. I desperately want a heart like that, drawing near to God with all that I am.

Here I go, stating the obvious again. I seem to have a knack for doing that in my titles. Certainly nothing will draw readers in like telling them something that everyone and their dog already knows. Assuming that their dogs read or watch movies, that is. And it would also be helpful if they had a basic grasp on theology.

Anyway. The point.

I don’t really take issue with drawing theological parallels to movies. I’ve sat under a number of sermons that referenced a movie, or even played a clip from it, to illustrate a pastor’s point. I’ve seen/heard references to Lord of the Rings (particularly The Return of the King), Gladiator, The Patriot… and even Jurassic Park. No, I’m not kidding about that last one. I wish I could remember what point it was supposed to convey. Probably had something to do with spiritual warfare.

At any rate, Braveheart may well be the most-referenced movie in sermons and books ever (although I imagine LOTR has given it a run for its money). And to a point, I can understand that. I can appreciate the imagery of the unspeakable doom which befalls any evildoer stupid enough to touch the bride of the Warrior-King.  I can understand the visual of what a difference faith/hope makes in winning a battle. I can see the heroism of the martyr who will cry out for justice with his dying breath.

But in all of our parallels, we have to remember… Jesus is not Braveheart. Not even close.

In our good ol’ American paradigm, we revere the freedom fighter. We kind of have to. Our nation was founded on it. We love the picture of the hero who finally has the nerve to go toe to toe with injustice, spit in the face of the corrupt authority, and overthrow the evil overlords. As the arrows fly and the body count climbs, we cheer and root for the underdog. Go, freedom! Stick it to the man!

However, we run into a slight issue. We know that our country was founded on rebellion to oppressive government. But we also hear that our country was founded on Biblical principles. Too often we get those confused, thinking that rebellion to oppressive government is therefore a Biblical principle. It’s not.

Jesus Himself lived under an oppressive government. And unlike any other public figure in history, He had the power to singlehandedly overthrow aforementioned government, slay all His enemies with a look, and summon legions of angels to defend His cause. But He didn’t. He instead told His disciples to go above and beyond in service to the people who seemed to deserve it least — the oppressors who were ruling them. (That whole “go the extra mile” in the Sermon on the Mount? That is a specific reference to how soldiers could force a civilian to carry their armor a mile for them.) Jesus overthrew tables in the Temple, but He didn’t so much as throw a spitwad at the Roman outpost. He healed a centurion’s servant and often had dinner with tax collectors. What kind of freedom fighter is this?

When the apostle Paul said to pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2), the man in authority at that time was Nero. That’s right, good old Rome-burning,* Christians-to-the-lions-feeding Nero. Braveheart would have had at him with a battle axe. But Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, said to actually pray for him.

But we might then wonder, what about the End Times? Isn’t Jesus coming back to make war? Isn’t He going to kill a lot of people? Won’t all the bad guys get their just deserts? Yes. Yes. And yes. But Jesus is still not Braveheart.

Consider these differences: Braveheart was initiating a rebellion, fighting tooth and nail for the freedom of his home country, attempting to shake off the oppressive regime over him. Jesus, on the other hand, is coming back to quash the rebellion that has been raging since the dawn of creation. While He is liberating the earth from the grip of sin and death, He is anything but the underdog. Seriously. This isn’t even going to be a contest. He will decidedly, firmly, and yes, meekly, lay waste to the powers of darkness — along with all human beings who sign their lives away to it. He’s not fighting so that every man can determine his own destiny. He’s crushing His adversaries to seize full, total, unchallenged rulership over the planet. He won’t run a democracy of checks and balances. He will run the most solid monarchy history has ever seen.

The main reason I care so much about this is that it’s crucial to see Jesus rightly. If we view Him through the lens of Hollywood, our image of Him (no matter how heroic) will be immensely distorted. While it’s fine to notice parallels from the silver screen, it’s dangerous to let those parallels then shape our theology. Knowing Jesus may change how we watch Braveheart, but Braveheart should not change how we know Jesus. The last thing we want is to be enamored with a fictional protagonist that bears little resemblance to our actual Lord.

This has implications to how we worship, but this also has implications to how we live. If our image of Jesus is the image of the movie hero, we will misinterpret His heart and follow in our self-created path of arrogance and rebellion. We will read Jesus’ rebukes to the Pharisees with a snicker, instead of with pain in our hearts — and then have no qualms about loosing our own tirades against religious leades in whom we perceive error. We will freely take potshots at our governmental leaders, mocking their intelligence, demeaning their character, and cheering at their failures. We will rip into other members of the Body in the name of justice. Even if the other people are completely in the wrong in all those circumstances (which is doubtful), we will have ceased to emulate Christ and begun emulating our favorite smug movie personalities.

We are not called to beat the world at its own game of malice. We are called to transcend it. Following Jesus in that “crucified life” — walking out the Sermon on the Mount — looks foolish to worldly eyes, but it is pure, unmitigated wisdom. It takes justice out of our own hands, where we would only make a mess of it anyway, with hurt people hurting people and the oppressed becoming the oppressors. It frees our heart from the pit of self-preservation. It commits our cause to the only One who has power to vindicate. If vengeance belongs to the Lord (Deuteronomy 32:35), we would be wise to back way off and leave the recompense to Him. Embrace humility. Serve and pray. And let the Lord triumph in His time and in His way.

Jesus is the most profoundly meek, kind, and honoring Person we have ever known. He is also the only One able to deliver swift, untarnished justice and do exactly what is right for the maximum good of His people. He is also the almighty King of all creation who will rule with a rod of iron in perfect gentleness and righteousness.

Jesus is not Braveheart. Praise the Lord.

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*Yes, there is historical debate about whether or not Nero deserves that whole “Fiddling while Rome burns” reputation, but you get my drift.

Before I get started, let it be known that you can download notes, MP3s, and watch videos from the celebration for free on IHOP’s website. Go to it.

IHOP’s September anniversary is always an exciting season for me. Firstly, September marks the anniversary of my arrival here in Kansas City. I was an intern with Fire in the Night who had zero intention of staying longer than three months. That was six years ago. I’m still here, still on a nocturnal schedule, and very glad of it.  Secondly, my birthday lands smack on the IHOP official anniversary. Combine those factors with the overall corporate sense of remembrance, and I always find myself looking back at how the Lord has led me and what is yet to come. It’s quite the personal milestone each year.

In no particular order, here are the things that are on my heart on the back end of this time of celebration:

Thought #1: The Lord really is sovereignly raising up a prayer movement. The first time I visited IHOP, it was still in the trailers. My youth group was there with something like 50 people, and we significantly outnumbered the NightWatchers who were actually signed up to be there. (Side note: I still remember the first set I walked into–Misty Edwards, Friday 10pm, leading her song ”I Will Follow the Lamb”. So great.)

About a year later, when I showed up for Fire in the Night, things had moved into the current location at Red Bridge. The NightWatch had grown quite a bit, but we still had lots of space to spread out in the room. It was considered an annoyingly crowded meeting if someone was sitting at the other end of your row so you couldn’t pace there anymore. During the day, you couldn’t probably get your own row, but you could get several seats to yourself most of the time with no problem. The IHOP staff from all sections all fit in the Tuesday 4pm intercession meeting. The monthly all-staff meeting fit in the Prayer Room. The bleachers in the FSM auditorium only needed to be opened for big conferences.

This past Saturday night, September 19th, at the official 10-year mark, 2,500 people packed into the FSM auditorium, completely loaded up the bleachers, and even crammed into the overflow room. Not all of these folks were staff, but they were all connected enough to come. In the NightWatch, if there are only 50 people in the room, it feels like an empty meeting. The idea of a prayer meeting that all staff could come for had to be given up a long time ago. And our monthly staff meeting requires use of the FSM bleachers.

This is not natural. It is completely unnatural for spoiled Western young adults to gather, live simply, fast, and pray as a primary profession — much less if they decide to stay up all night and do so. For this to not just be sustained for ten years, but to actually grow and thrive, has to be the hand of the Lord. And it’s not just in Kansas City, either. Where the idea of a “house of prayer” was previously unheard of in 1999, now I can think of at least a dozen specific HOP’s across the world — and those are just the ones I know of and can remember without thinking too hard, not even counting smaller prayer gatherings. If you want an encouraging look at just a few of the prayer meetings springing up across the US, just check it out here… This has got to be supernatural.

Thought #2: God is a really skillful leader. If you have not listened to any of IHOP’s prophetic history before, or if you haven’t listened to it in a long time, I would encourage you to go download the MP3s. The stories are incredible. The number of things that God told us about years before it would ever happen, and then fulfilled with startling accuracy, is mind-blowing. The number of things He had to set in motion, the number of circumstances He had to align, and the number of unrelated people He had to speak to, is staggering.

Then there’s the human dynamic. While I haven’t been here from the beginning, I’ve been here long enough to get to know the staff and leadership. I can testify that these are some of the coolest, godliest people I have ever had the privilege of meeting. But I can also testify that everyone here is profoundly, completely human. That means that the Lord leading any of us very far, with all of our doubts, confusions, excitability, rebellions, weakness, blindness, etc., is a miracle in and of itself. Nevermind a big group of us.

I can at least speak for myself in this. When I first heard about IHOP, I was deeply touched. Prayer and worship is always what I have wanted to do with my life, but I had no idea how to go about it. I was brought to tears with shock when I found out about the House of Prayer, and I felt like this was actually a course my life could take. My spirit bore witness. I had direction. This could be what the Lord was asking me to do.

Within two weeks, I had completely talked myself out of it.

I’ll cut a long story short, but nearly a year and two trips to Kansas City later, the Lord finally convinced me to come for Fire in the Night. I came in September ‘03, convinced I was only going to do one track. Towards the end of that three months, I felt I needed to do Track II, but I would certainly never move here. The day before Track II started, the Lord encountered me and I knew I had to relocate to Kansas City. That was all well and good, but I would certainly never attend the Forerunner School of Ministry. Within a few months, I was signed up to do not just FSM, but the Apostolic Preaching Program (even though, of course, I definitely wasn’t a preacher).

Now I find myself in 2009 still in Kansas City, still on the NightWatch, having graduated IHOPU and now working for it, with a heart for teaching and preaching. I was clueless 90% of the way to where I am now, but God got me here anyway. He’s a very good leader.

Thought #3: Vision is really important. We all know this. Proverbs 29:18 says it. Any leadership book or seminar will confirm it. But it’s one thing to know it, and another thing to have it impact your own heart.

This struck me most on Saturday. I had gone to the afternoon and evening sessions on Friday, so I went into Saturday pretty tired. (Note to the non-NightWatchers reading this: beings at a meeting at 2pm is super early and painful. 2pm is only eight hours after we get off of work.) I went to the 2pm session again on Saturday, ran out with my roommate for some food to go, and came straight back to FSM barely in time to save a few seats. We didn’t get back home until 10:50pm or so, giving us a grand total 0f 9 hours at the celebration. We had a 30-minute break before briefing, a set at 12 midnight, and then a viewing of that morning’s sesison on DVD at 2:30am. We didn’t get into the prayer room in a non-platform way until almost 5am.

Now at this point, I’d had two really long days. I was exhausted. My feet hurt. I wanted to go to bed. There was only an hour left of the prayer meeting anyway.

Eventually, I decided to stick it out. Trying to do my daily reading was tough. I kept fuzzing out on the words, having to read the same verse 3 or 4 times over to actually register what I was looking at. But within 10 minutes, I began to click with the prayer meeting. Soon, it was hard to get my reading done, not because it was so difficult to stay focused, but because I was so engaged with the corporate meeting that I almost couldn’t help but get up and pace (sore feet and all) and pray for the city.

Despite my physical exhaustion, I had vision. I came fresh out of three packed days of prophecy and encouragement. I knew for sure why I’m here at IHOP, and I knew for sure what is set before me to do, both as a believer in general and an intercessory missionary specifically. Because I remembered how much the Lord cared about what I was doing, it gave me renewed zeal to actually do it. That short hour in the prayer room was one of the most enjoyable I’ve had in a good while. Vision matters. Big time.

Thought #4: Jesus is coming back soon. Enough said. It’s true. Whether “soon” means in the next decade or in the next century, the hour is late. We need to live like it.

Thought #5: I get to run with some stinking cool people. From the videos honoring different ministry and service departments, to the interviews with the original handful of intercessory missionaries, to my roommates and other fellow NightWatchers I sat with on September 19th, I am amazed at the quality of people I get to serve with. I’m talking about people with integrity, faithfulness, and a genuine hunger for righteousness. I’m talking about people who will gladly work really hard for a really long time in complete hiddenness. I’m talking about people who have so given themselves to the Word that their speech is filled with wisdom and real encouragement. I couldn’t ask for better friends and co-laborers, and I am so grateful to God for the community here.

Thought #6: I’m in this for the long haul. Whether I stay at IHOP-KC for the rest of my life (and right now, I kind of hope I do!), or whether I am given a different assignment in the future, I want to be in the prayer movement. I want to be a woman who gives herself to 24/7 prayer, fasting, the Word, and works of justice, whether I’m wearing the staff badge or not. It may look different at different times, but this is what I was made to do.

Thought #7: Be prepared to be blown away by people who are currently 12 years old and younger. I see what the Lord is doing among children, both here and elsewhere in the earth, and I love what I’m seeing. Kids are not the church of tomorrow. They are the church now. And everywhere that the leadership buys into that idea, the children are taking off in the Lord. Here at IHOP, there are eleven-year olds who already give us “old” twenty-somethings a run for our money when it comes to worship leading, preaching, and prophesying (with accompanying signs and wonders). Give them another ten years to build even on top of that, and they are going to be the most phenomenal men and women of God this earth has ever seen. There are going to be some older folks in on this too, but watch out for those kids. For real. And have them pray for you.

Ten years is a long time, but it’s also a short time. I’ve been here for more than half of it, and it has flown by. And this is only the beginning. I am in great anticipation of where the Lord is taking us next.

Here’s to another decade of a ceaseless fragrance rising from Kansas City. Help us Lord, and may Your will be done.

I’ve got a real post in the works as we speak. However, it’s late. It’s also been a very long time since I’ve posted something truly random and bizarre on this site. And this video made me extremely happy. So behold: my random find of the month.

(P.S. If someone can give me the rough idea of what’s being said at the end, you’re my hero.)

…are all over the place. Several of them will read this post. One of them wrote it.

Okay, so no study has shown that, per se. But I’m trying (rather lamely) to make a point here. Because if I didn’t write that title myself, I would probably click through it expecting to see a real study that had unearthed real motives that drive all people who believe stereotypes. This tells me that I am one of those people. And my opinion is that we buy into stereotypes because they–like so many other things in our society–are quick, convenient, and comfortable.

Allow me to explain what started me thinking about this.

A while back a particular micro-blogger who I follow and enjoy wrote a post regarding the common knowledge that women talk more than men. We’ve all heard it; women speak some thousands of words per day, and men speak some thousands fewer words per day. The man comes home from work, his word-tank spent already, and the woman still has whole half a tank left to talk about. She wants to process, but he wants to grunt, and thus marital conflict can erupt. Everybody knows this.

Too bad it is totally untrue.

(Read the blog post here. If you choose to follow further links from there to the original study, be forewarned that you will encounter some PG-13 language.)

It was an interesting post. Turns out nobody had actually counted men and women’s spoken words before. When someone finally did, they discovered that there is no significant statistical difference between how much men and women have to say.

The discovery made me rather happy. Readers of this blog may not have picked up on it, but those who know me in person can testify that (under most circumstances) I just don’t talk that much.  If I think I have something to say, I’ll say it. Otherwise, I’m pretty content to just listen. And it’s not a matter of me being an anomaly to the traditional female chatterbox — because, as it turns out, there is no such thing in the first place.

On the other side of things, I have some guy friends who can talk to anybody, anywhere, for any period of time. They’re good at it and they love it, and I love that they’re such adept conversationalists. And they’re not breaking the traditional caveman role, because, again, such a role is entirely imaginary.

Somebody actually went to the effort of recording and counting the words people spoke to figure that out. The stereotypes of men and women’s speech patterns didn’t hold water.

At first, I thought the study was groundbreaking. Then I realized it was also pretty obvious. If we, the human race, would have taken more stock of the individual men and women around us, and not just assumed a caveman/chatterbox dichotomy, we might have figured this out a lot sooner.

I read through the blog’s comments expecting to find pretty much the same sentiment echoed over and over again. But count that as another stereotype that bit the dust that day. To be sure, that was most of what was going around, but I also found comments like this:

Since I am a man I will keep this short. Women talk more than men.

The smilie face made me hope and assume sarcasm was at work, and for all I know it was. But then I read this, by a different commenter:

This is one of those studies where it just doesn’t pass the reasonableness test. Women talk more, it’s just a fact and everyone knows it.

Now, I don’t particularly care if a random person in cyberspace assumes I am a non-stop yapper because of my gender. But I was astonished to read this and see how deeply stereotypes can become ingrained in us. Despite a real-deal scientific study, and despite the testimony of a couple dozen men and women confirming the findings, this commenter wouldn’t budge on their position.

Let’s leave aside for a moment the complete lack of logic in the argument. What I wanted to know was how this person could come to such a firm conviction, not even an official, measured study could unseat the stereotype. And — taking it personally — where are my blind spots in this area? And why do I fall back on them?

One circumstantial factor, I believe, is our fascination with statistics, followed up with our subsequent misapplication of them.

For instance, there are a lot of things that are statistically true, but absolutely absurd in reality. Consider this statement from The Guardian, released in March of this year: “The average American woman has 2.1 children in her lifetime”. Statistically, that’s true. But no lady in America has .1 of a kid. Some have 2. Some have 3. Some have 13. Some don’t have any. Yet add up all the born babies and divide by all the adult women, and you end up with the tidy average of 2.1. It’s a true statistic, but it has no real bearing on any one woman (or fraction of a child) you’ll meet in the United States.

Another thing with statistics is that something can be generally true of a group of people, without being true of any particular individual within that collective. For instance, statistics say college-educated people have bigger incomes than those who have only completed high school. That’s a generally true statement. Most college graduates do make more money than most high school graduates. But at the same time, it is completely possible to find a college grad flipping burgers for minimum wage, and it is completely possible to find a high school grad successfully making their way in the business world (it’s been done). Skipping college and landing a lucrative career is not statistically likely, but that doesn’t mean a particular individual can’t do it. You can’t look at someone’s degree and assume their income bracket. The stereotype breaks down when it hits real life.

Ultimately, though, I believe the main reason we continue clinging to stereotypes is because it’s comfortable. It’s low-risk. It allows us to think we are gathering information about other people, without having to stop insulating and isolating ourselves (AKA, “seeking [our] own desires”, Prov 18:1). Who needs to risk real contact and conversation–and thus potential pain and rejection–when we can know all about someone just by observing their gender / race / age / handicap / weight / height / attractiveness / income / tone of voice / hairstyle / gait / clothing brand / etc.? Why muddle around with personal questions and real time investments when we can form a perfectly “good” opinion on our own? Why bother that much with the Body of Christ, so long as we have their Myers-Briggs readouts? (Yes, stereotypes fail even regarding personality profiles.)

We, as the human race, stereotype each other all the time. In the West, our Greek heritage has a tendency to steer us towards the desire to file things away in neat little boxes. When we understand something, we master it, we no longer have to contend with it in our mind or heart, and we feel more at ease. Being able to look at another human being and say, “Oh, I understand you, because you fit XYZ” can be terrifically comfortable. But in reality, it’s partitioning each other off in neat little boxes, assuming much, actually knowing little, and feeling barely at all.

As Christians, we have a higher calling. We’re not supposed to see each other through the lens of stereotypes. We are called and invited to see each other as the Lord sees. This takes supernatural enabling, because it is altogether human to look at the outward aspects. It is the Lord who sees to someone’s heart, the core of who they actually are (1Sam 16:7).

For instance, I, like anyone else, fit a profile that carries with it a number of given stereotypes. The outward specs say: white + female + twenty-something + churchgoing + unmarried + nearsighted + pretty smart + homeschooled + soft-spoken + INFJ personality. I fit that description. A person could draw some conclusions about me based on what you read there. They would probably be right about some things. They would probably be wrong about others. But for many intents and purposes, that would be all that most people need to know about me to decide what they think of me.

However, the Lord doesn’t see me through that lens. He of course knows that all those things are true about me. He’s the one who built me in the first place. Yet that alone doesn’t shape His opinion of me. He doesn’t see me as 0.000983% of a particular demographic. He doesn’t see me in contrast to the “average woman”. He sees me to the most minute quirks of my personality. He already understands and delights in the parts of me that don’t gel with statistical profiling. He sees my real heart response to trials and victories. He sees how other people affect me emotionally. He sees my battle for righteousness. He sees my inward hopes and dreams. He sees old wounds and sinful tendencies. He knows every strength. He knows every weakness. He knows my past, and He knows my destiny. He knows what enthralls my heart and He knows what kills it. And all of His dealings with me are in love, taking into account all of that and more. And His relationship with you is the same — uniquely knowing you, uniquely understanding you, uniquely knowing how to lead you well.

Our God does not deal in stereotypes. And we should strive to emulate Him in that way.

Now obviously, the whole finitude thing prevents us from knowing someone as thoroughly as God does. But what we can do is actually interact with them, all the while asking God what He thinks of them, and backing off from forumulating our own (semi-)educated guess. We can echo Psalm 139, for ourselves and for those around us, and declare, “…fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works…” (Psalm 139:14). We will end up knowing them better. We will end up appreciating who they actually are. We will certainly end up liking them better. Most importantly, we will actually be able to love them.

Real love is hindered if we are constantly grappling with our preconceived image of the person. We can only serve and pour ourselves out for someone who is real in our own eyes. We can’t show Christ-like love to a statistic. But when we see as He sees, we will begin to want to love as He loves. And the more we love like He loves, the more we will see as He sees. It’s a very good cycle to get into. And it’s a cycle I want to getting into ASAP.

Running and hiding doesn’t immediately summon images of heroism. And to be truthful, a lot of times, running and hiding is simple cowardice. On many occasions, the Lord has called people to obey in the face of seemingly impossible odds. In these instances, backing out would have been succumbing to fear and rebellion.

But as saturated as our culture is with action flicks, we have an immense admiration for crazy guys who look danger in the face and laugh. We cheer when the cinematic protagonist, armed with nothing more than a pie tin and plastic spoon, rallies himself to charge the bad guys head-on as his friends are all begging him not to go and get himself killed. Then, of course, since this is Hollywood, he trounces all opposition, suffering nothing more than the obligatory flesh wound on the bulging bicep. We gawk at and envy this kind of self-assured boldness. We applaud the foolhardiness and invincibility complex, calling it “courage”. We begin to admire real life people who are prepared to forge ahead, come what may, giving no thought to potential consequences.

However, the book of Proverbs shows us that there is a time where the heroic thing is actually to run and hide.

“A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3, see also 27:12).

I believe there is a natural application to this — i.e., having the presence of mind to recognize a bad situation and not go there — i.e., “Hmm, there’s a lightning storm outside. This is probably a bad time to fix that shingle on the peak of the roof.”

But what’s striking me most is the spiritual application this has to us as believers.

All too often, we want to be the spiritual action hero. We feel that if we are truly spiritual — and we do have the indwelling Spirit, after all — we should be able to plow ahead through whatever evil temptation and come through unscathed. Hanging out with that certain group of friends? No problem. Dropping in at the cool downtown hotspot? Piece of cake. Alone late at night browsing YouTube? Bring it.

There is a simple phrase that I’ve heard quite a bit from people around my age. It makes me fear for their spiritual safety more than just about anything else. Four little words that carry very bad news: “I can handle it.”

To their credit, it’s true that the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness. It’s true that, by living in a fallen world, we constantly find ourselves in a very unsavory spiritual environment. It’s true that just because temptation is out there, it doesn’t mean we have to cave to it at the first mention.

The problem is, the Bible doesn’t say that the prudent (wise) people “can handle it”. It says that the prudent people hide. The commendation is not for the one who marches up and stares down temptation, but for the one who wants nothing to do with it in the first place.

Paul says it a slightly different way. When writing to Corinth, a church struggling in the middle of an incredibly perverse city, he told them bluntly, “Flee sexual immorality”
(1Cor 6:18).  ”…[M]y beloved, flee from idolatry” (1Cor 10:14). Both of these things abounded in Corinth. It would take concerted effort and lots of awkward social situations for the Corinthian believers to run away from this kind of sin. But the wickedness of the city had already seeped into the local body of Christ, and their only recourse was to turn tail and run.

That’s all well and good for Corinth, we might say. But Corinth was clearly a mess. They obviously couldn’t handle the pressure.

Perhaps that was so, but we must look again at another couple of letters from the apostle.

Paul was writing to Timothy, who was no rookie believer by any means. Timothy was one of Paul’s right-hand guys.  He called him a “true son in the faith” (1Tim 1:2), and had set him as a pastor over a very challenging church situation in Ephesus. Paul would not have worked with Timothy like he did were he not convinced that this was a rock-solid, dedicated man of faith.

However, when it came to matters of greed, discontent and strife, here were his instructions: “But you, O man of God, flee these things…” (1Tim 6:11, emphasis added). In his next letter, he would say again, “Flee also youthful lusts…” (2Tim 2:22). He didn’t tell Timothy to man up and deal with it. He didn’t pat him on the back and tell him that he was mature enough to handle it. He urged him to run the other way.

Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “…do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” (Matt 6:13). When it came to temptation, He didn’t just tell us to ask for the guts to stand up to it. He told us to pray that God would help steer us clear of it entirely.

Biblically, there is nothing praiseworthy about putting ourselves in a compromising situation, expecting to weather it. But there is something deeply commendable about running (1Tim 6:11) and hiding (Prov 22:3) from it.

We all have our weak points. We undoubtedly know what most of them are. Perhaps we know that if we call that one friend when we’re having that particular kind of bad day, we will end up in unrighteous conversation. Or maybe we know that if we watch a certain kind of movie, that certain ungodly desire will be stirred up in us. We might recognize that the ads on that one website are a continual harassment to our reach for purity. According to Proverbs, we can foresee the evil that lies there.

So what now? Wisdom doesn’t say grit your teeth and plug through. Wisdom says to hide. Wisdom flees to the Lord before the moment of crisis, asking Him to deliver us from evil before we get there. And then wisdom follows through. It calls the other friend who will (lovingly) hold your feet to the fire in righteousness. It throws the DVD out. It blocks the website from any future access.

Sometimes heroes are called to face down danger. But when the danger is temptation, it is only the fools who rush in and reap the consequences. A people walking wisely with their God recognize the snare and take refuge in their God. In this instance, it may be said that the real heroes run and hide.

Pop quiz: What do these three biblical figures have in common?

Answer: According to the Word, they are the most likely candidates to save an unrepentant city from the wrath of God. According to the Word, they are also solidly incapable of doing it.

Before we wave this off as an intriguing (if morbid) bit of biblical trivia, we need to see what the prophet Ezekiel had to say about this trio.

“Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out my hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,” says the Lord GOD.

“If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.

“Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, ‘Sword, go through the land,’ and I cut off man and beast from it, even though these three men were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they themselves would be delivered.

“Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live,” says the Lord GOD, “they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” (Ezekiel 14:13-19, NKJV)

We must consider the weight of this. This discourse is not just an impassioned prophet getting over-excited about his favorite heroes of the faith. This is the explicit word of the Lord. He is never arbitrary or wasteful with His words. So why did He pick out these three men?

Noah, along with his family, lived in a time when the earth was grossy polluted with lawlessness. Genesis 6 gives us the grisly picture of a time where “…the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and… every intent of the thoughts of [man's] heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). The Lord, who is and has always been gracious, merciful, compassionate, and slow to anger, was grieved by this and determined (rightly!) that the only solution was to wipe out the entire human race and start over. There was only one exception–a righteous man named Noah. He and his family would be the only people allowed to survive the righteous judgment of God. Noah responded to every seemingly crazy request God made of him with complete and unhesitating obedience, and preserved the line of both human and animal life into the post-flood world.

In short: Noah was an incredibly righteous man.

Daniel was actually a slightly older contemporary of Ezekiel. When the prophet was penning this burden, Daniel was in a place of power and influence in Babylon. He was employed in the richest, most powerful, and — unsurprsingly — most wicked city in the known world. He stayed steadfast in the midst of this adverse environment, praying faithfully, speaking boldly before rulers, and refusing to compromise the Word of God. He is one of very few major biblical figures of whom we do not have a record of sin. Were it not for Romans 3:23, we might conclude he never stumbled at all. He is a clear friend of God and stellar example of righteousness.

In short: Daniel was an incredibly righteous man.

Job, though sometimes wrongly maligned in sermons, is hailed through prophetic history as a deeply holy person. He was so much on the right track that the Lord pointed him out to Satan as someone who was uniquely “…a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8). Literally, the Lord said that Job was more righteous than every other human on the planet. That’s nothing to sneeze at. And even after Job had suffered unimaginable torment, including derision from his friends, God vindicated Job, saying he had ”spoken of Me what was right” (Job 42:8). The Lord then wildly blessed Job and honored him for his continued faithfulness and unoffended heart.

In short: Job was an extremely righteous man.

Remember that this is not just a prophet making observations. This is the Lord Himself selecting the most righteous men who had ever lived, and highlighting Noah, Daniel, and Job.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Gen 6:8). Daniel was known through heaven as the “man greatly beloved” (Daniel 9:23, 10:11,19). Job was God’s servant, unparalleled on the earth (Job 1:8). God really, really likes these guys. Surely He can’t resist that triple-play. Surely if these three got together in a city and asked God to deliver it, He would.

Yet this was not the case for Jerusalem in Ezekiel’s day. Jerusalem was a city that had given itself to “persistent unfaithfulness” (Ezek 14:13). The city as a whole had consistently and clearly rejected the Lord for a very long time. Even if three of the Lord’s favorite people pleaded for it, He could not righteously stay His hand of judgment. He would deliver the righteous from its midst. But the city itself was marked for the most severe discipline anyone could imagine.

Our God is a tremendously personal God. He always hears the prayers of those who fear Him.  He delights in mercy. His heart is deeply moved by intercessors.

But even as God so skillfully and kindly deals with the heart of individuals, He is also a God who deals with whole cities, regions, and even nations. Because He is perfectly just — and because He is unfathomably kind — He does not pass over the iniquity of a corporate people forever. He is wise and capable enough to shepherd His saints through the judgment. But He is also wise and capable enough, as the God of mercy, to by no means clear the guilty (Ex 34:7).

God does not deal with corporate entities in exactly the same way as He deals with individuals. This is basic good leadership. You don’t address a crowd of 10,000 the same way you talk to your friend across the table. You don’t tutor a child the same way you teach a class. You can’t lead an army the same way you coach an individual athlete. And God doesn’t deal with regions the same way he deals with individuals. Ezekiel 14 shows it as plainly as one could hope for.

Does God relent from judgment on whole regions? Most definitely. He did it with Nineveh (Jonah 3:10). He even did it with Jerusalem in an earlier generation (Isaiah 37). But He did so when the entire city repented, from the top down.

The reason I write this (if it hasn’t become obvious by now) is the current state of things in America. In a message Daniel Lim gave us on Sunday, he showed us that statistically, only about 4% of my generation are believers actively involved in church. This means that roughly 96% of Americans 30 years old and younger — which is the biggest chunk of our population — don’t care about, or even actively hate, the Lord.

This would be alarming enough if all we were worried about was preserving our nice religious tradition. But this is terrifying in light of a real, living, righteous Judge of the earth who loves us too much to allow us to persist in wickedness forever. When a city or nation requires a big wake-up call, He is faithful to give it. When it gets to that point, it’s never pretty.

I am deeply concerned that we –myself most certainly included — all too often fall into lethargy when we consider this. I think there is a part of most of our hearts that thinks we are safe because there are still Christians in this country. A part of us likes to comfortably think to ourselves, Yes, things are pretty messy; yes, there’s a lot of sin, but we’ve still got some believers, right? We’ve still got the founding fathers’ groundwork of biblical ideology, right? Surely God wouldn’t judge us like He judged Israel. God forgives me of my sin all the time and delivered me from Hell; surely He forgives America of its sin and spares it judgment, too.

I firmly believe that God would be immensely pleased to not have to judge this nation. But we need more than a relative handful of believers hanging on to faith with their heads in the sand for that to happen. Just as you and I were saved by turning our hearts to God, America will only be saved if we corporately return to Him. We want more than just a remnant left over when the dust settles. We want mercy and deliverance for our whole nation. We need revival on par with the Great Awakening.

It is in a time like this that Rees Howell’s famous quote really strikes home: “History belongs to the intercessor”. We can’t afford to ride this one out and see how it lands. We must rend our hearts today before the just and merciful Judge and plead for revival in this land. We must have clarity on what the Lord is doing, and proclaim it boldly to those who need to hear it. It is good to be a Noah, Daniel, or Job who will be saved from the midst of judgment. But how much more so to cry out to the Lord and see the entire nation turn? It has happened before. It can happen again. But it will not happen as we look the other way and assume safety because there are a few righteous names in America. It will only happen as the people of God gather and pray according to Joel 2.

“Now, therefore,” says the LORD, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness; and He relents from doing arm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him?… (Joel 2:12-14).

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the book of Daniel lately. This is my current favorite book in the Bible. If you’ve read the blog for very long, you’ll also know that I’ve written a fair amount on it (and I actually should pick up on that again soon).

In the past few days, I’ve been particularly struck by Daniel 1:8, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank…” Daniel’s choice was radical. It rubs greatly against the grain of our Western culture. Daniel wasn’t looking for what was permissible; he was setting his heart on what was holy. In other words, he was setting his heart on what was transcendent to the society he found himself in.

Technically, Daniel did not have to take a raw+vegan+water diet in order to maintain a basic level of righteousness. This is actually quite an important point: Daniel didn’t choose his diet because it was required of him by God or by the Law. Let’s think about what he could have been eating and drinking.

Wine was an extremely common beverage in ancient times. It was sometimes actually safer to drink than water, because there was much less question of what had gotten into it and where it came from. Wine was even mandated at the Passover feast. It was completely acceptable at a large number of Jewish social gatherings. In short: Daniel was no teetotaler.  He didn’t refuse wine because he considered alcohol to be a mortal sin. We could ask the question, then, “Why not? Why not continue to drink wine in moderation and self-control? Does the geographic location really matter that much?”

The meat question is no different. Surely Babylonian cuisine  indulged in some of the meats classified as unclean under the kosher laws. But not all of it was so. We might ask Daniel again, “Why not? You ate lamb and beef in Judah. Why not eat it in Babylon, too? Or at least have some fish, where there is no worry about blood still being in the meat.”

We could keep going on this. Bread (nothing unkosher there). Fancy prepared food. Milk. A whole host of other foods that were no doubt part of the king’s delicacies, that had no specific prohibition under the laws of Moses. Conceivably, Daniel could have just said, “You know, I’ll pass on the pork and shellfish today, thanks,” and have stayed within the bounds of what was perfectly permissible.

But Daniel wasn’t worried about what was okay. He wasn’t asking himself, “Why not?” He was running the other way, so much so that we would probably brand him as a religious nutcase in our day. “That Daniel guy… bless him, he seems pretty nice and all… but he could really stand to tone it down a little.”

“Why not?” was not good enough for Daniel, because he knew what was at stake for his heart. At this point in his life, he was in his early to mid-teens. He had just been taken from his parents and home. All religious support was gone, except for his three buddies who were in the same spot as him. He was now selected for service in the very courts of King Nebuchadnezzar. He was at the center of the biggest, wealthiest empire in the known world. He was receiving top level education with the opportunity for a fantastic job. Great comfort and luxury was within reach. Babylon could offer him everything on a silver platter. But there was only one problem — Babylon had utter disregard and disdain for the God of Israel.

Daniel chose to forgo all but the very most basic food, not because it would be sin for him to have it according to the Law, but because he did not dare become attached to the king’s delicacies. He knew that Babylon was about more than wealth, prestige, and physical pleasure (which, in and ofthemselves, are not bad things). He knew that Babylon came with a demonic spirit that opposed God and sought to steal the hearts of His people away from Him. And Daniel, wisely, would have none of it. He would not allow his physical appetites to entice him away from his devotion. He would not allow rich food to become the bait that ensnared him in Babylonian culture, one day at a time.

Instead of asking, “Why not?” Daniel asked the much wiser question, “Why?” Why should he throw his devotional life away over a piece of meat? Why should he trade a dull spirit for the legitimate pleasure of wine? Why should he turn a blind eye to the destructive allure of Babylon in order to relax and enjoy her fare?

We would do well to adopt this same approach to our current culture. It’s true no matter where you live, but especially in wealthy Western countries, we face many of the same subtle traps as Daniel did. We can go down the road at any time and get any food we want. If that seems like too much trouble, we can just get on the phone or computer and have the food come to us. If we’re bored, we have a million easy, instant, and economical ways to be entertained. Advertisers and service providers are only too happy to offer us whatever it is we decide we need and want.

As Christians, this is when we face the danger of that question, “Why not?” We recognize all kinds of options that are not explicitly prohibited in Scripture, and we therefore buy into them without much further thought. Why not get the magazine that will help me keep up with the latest fashions? Why not play that video game that all my friends are into? Why not go see the Oscar-winning movie? Why not have a responsible, casual drink with my friends every once in a while?

Our arguments all sound good, and technically, they’re all correct. There’s nothing wrong with being fashionable. There’s nothing wrong with playing a video game or watching a movie, provided the content is not unrighteous. There’s nothing inherently wrong with alcohol, as long as we don’t get drunk (Jesus drank wine and never sinned).

We ask of these things, ”Why not?” and if we can’t think of anything, we jump right on in.

However, sometimes “why not?” is not good enough. Why not study up on the trends in order to be fashionable? No reason. But our culture idolizes physical appearance, and the more we buy into the world’s image of beauty, the more time, money, and emotional energy we will pour into it. The more we get drawn into it, the less it is the innocent sentiment, “I like to dress well and look good”, and the more it becomes flat-out vanity, consuming our lives.

Why not be entertained through movies and video games as much as we want? No reason, assuming we stick to the clean ones (which is getting harder and harder to do). But the more we begin to give our time and fascination to these things, the harder it is to be fascinated with the Lord of glory. The more we laugh at, cry at, and are kept on the edge of our seats by the world’s value systems, the more we will find our hearts in silent agreement with those value systems. We may even find the things of the Spirit becoming foreign to us when they don’t gel with the latest feel-good blockbuster.

Why not enjoy a responsible drink with friends every now and then? No reason. But alcohol in our culture is nearly always used in drastic excess. Very few people in our society drink becasue they like the bevergae. Some drink to forget. Some drink to relax. Some drink to prove that they’re finally grown ups. Some drink to prove that they’re still young and exciting.  Some drink to lose inhibitions. Some drink to work up the nerve to hit on other people who have already lost their inhibitions. Many, many people drink as a doorway and excuse to engage in all forms of immorality. Thousands drink because they literally can’t say no to it anymore. 

While alcohol is a neutral entity, our culture is not neutral towards it. It’s possible as a believer to go to a bar with friends, have only one drink, purely enjoy one another’s company, and leave without having sinned. But our culture is constantly attempting to entice us to “just one more drink”. ”Just this time.” ”You’ve got to loosen up once in a while.” ”You work hard; so you deserve it.” ”Live a little.” All the way to, ”What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” And so on. Each step in that direction invites more pressure and temptation, even before we’ve entered into the realm of sin. One cocktail will not land a person in spiritual trouble. But tacit agreement with the world eventually will — probably much sooner than we think.

I’m not advocating any specific holiness formula as far as what technically permissible things we can and cannot touch in this society. What I am advocating is that we change our approach to those decisions. While it’s fantastic to start at, “Does the Bible forbid it?” we don’t necessarily want to stop there. Rather than shrugging and asing, “Why not?”, we need to proactively asky “Why?” Why is this worth it to me? Why do I think it enriches my life? Why am I giving my time, money, and physical/emotional energy to it? Why do I feel such a need to agree with the prevailing culture in this area?

Those are rather scary questions to ask. But if we don’t have good answers to the “why”, we would be wise to do what Daniel did and take a good step back from it. I believe that if we want to see what Daniel saw, and be a bold messenger like he was, we have to live like he lived. This may not mean only veggies and water, but it will mean letting go of some legitimate pleasures to avoid some very real snares and pursue a much higher calling. It’s not particularly comfortable. It’s certainly not convenient. But I am convinced that it will be worth it, every time.

Okay, so it doesn’t rhyme. But I think it’s fitting advice for believers at this particular juncture in history.

I have seen a number of blog posts, email chains, websites, and the like, that are expressing anger against President Obama. The ones that have specifically come to my attention have been written by Christians. On one hand, I understand where this is coming from. After all, the reasons I chose not to vote for our current president are the same reasons most people are mad at him right now. It’s good to be passionate about important issues and to take a firm stand for what is right. But on the other hand, I can’t help but feeling that our anger is not actually furthering righteousness. At all.

For one thing, a lot of times, our very premise is off, basing our arguments on the Constitution rather than the Word. I like our constitution, and I’m grateful for some of the good groundwork in our laws, but it’s not Gospel. If we are attaching the language of religious fervor to our political documents, we are probably missing something.

For another thing, we can’t put God in our political party (which, in the writings I’ve seen, has been mostly Republican). God cares a lot about our governmental structure, but He’s not a card-carrying member of either major political party. We ought to recognize and resist when our government is promoting things that God hates (i.e., abortion). But I have been grieved to see the same kind of outraged, self-proclaimed “righteous indignation” that people have towards abortion and the LGBT agenda, also leveled at such things like “socialist redistribution of wealth” or gun control. Whether or not you agree with those practices is beside the point. Whether or not those things are even happening is besides the point. The point is, God never said “Thou shalt be allowed to own guns.” We can’t, in the name of the Lord, oppose things that are not addressed in His Word. Do whatever you want in the name of the Republican party. Hold whatever political opinion you feel is best for our country. But if we’re invoking the name of God to justify our position, we’d better follow it up by championing His cause — not Rush’s, not Obama’s, and not even the Founding Fathers’.

We have to sort out what is biblical truth and what is simply our political standpoint. Economics, law enforcement, health care, taxes, environment, etc., are nowhere spelled out for us in Scripture. In my opinion, they will invariably be broken until Jesus comes back. That doesn’t mean we stop caring, but that means we stop trying to tie Jesus to our party platform as if we really have that much more of a clue what we’re doing than the other guy does.

The main point I want to talk about, though, is the one in the title (go figure): “Don’t get mad… get hungry.” We can rant and rave about our government’s political errors all day. We may even be right. But then what? We get to triumph in going, “Well, I didn’t vote for the guy. Now our country is going to pot, and I’m proved correct, and it serves everyone else right.” But then what? What have we accomplished? With all of our opinions, all of our outrage, and all of our myriad words, what have we actually done?

…?

*Feel free to insert the sound of chirping crickets here*

Getting angry about the current administration doesn’t accomplish anything. Grousing about the President’s idealogies won’t change them. Cursing his election day will not speed up his term. Like it or not, for blessing or for judgment, the Lord has set President Obama in place (see Daniel 2:21; Romans 13:4; 1 Peter 2:13). Getting hot under the collar has no bearing whatever on what has happened, and — unless God intervenes — will continue to happen for four to eight years.

However, there is a biblical pattern for what to do when the government of the land is not as it should be… and it’s not getting mad. It’s getting hungry. In other words, fasting and prayer. Not only does it gel better with the Sermon on the Mount, but it actually accomplishes something. That’s more than you can say for any of our indignant diatribes.

Esther’s three-day fast made it possible for the heart of a king to be swayed and an entire race of people to be spared barbaric genocide (Esther 4:16). Ezra’s fast brought divine protection upon the people, in the face of an apathetic government and antagonistic neighbors (Ezra 8:23). Joel 2:15 specifically prescribes fasting as a key component to seeking mercy in the hour of judgment, and even wicked Nineveh was spared as they humbled themselves before the Lord in fasting (Jonah 3:5).

My favorite example of this by far, though, is the prophet Daniel. He was a man of significant influence in the court of the most powerful king on earth. He had clout. He had tremendous favor with the king. A few well-placed words, and Daniel could have had almost anything he wanted. But when it came time to establish God’s purposes for Israel in the political realm, he didn’t begin a “save Israel” campaign. He didn’t fume about the godless government of Persia. He didn’t actually even appeal to the ruling authorities. He went straight for the highest Throne in creation.

At a glance, Daniel’s approach doesn’t look tremendously effective. It almost looks laughable. “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled” (Daniel 10:2-3). Picture, if you will, a man in his eighties. He’s not as young or strong as he used to be. He is deeply concerned for his people. So he is refusing to bathe. He only eats boring food. And this is what is supposed to shape the course of history. Really, Daniel? our modern sensibilities might say. I mean, that’s kind of cute, but what are you actually hoping to accomplish here? This is hardly even a real hunger strike.

But this one little old man, from his private prayers by the Tigris River, rocked the very course of heaven and earth. An angel is sent in answer to his prayers, which is cool enough in itself, but read what happens:

Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” …Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.” (Daniel 10:12-13,20)

In answer to Daniel’s prayer, this angel was sent. In the twenty-one days of Daniel’s fasting and prayer, he was fighting the Prince of Persia. We’re not talking your average ego-assaulting, temptation-wielding demon. We’re talking about the demonic principality that was over the land of Persia, no doubt influencing its governors and infrastructures. On day 21, Michael comes to help in the fight — and notice we’re not just talking any angel, we’re talking Michael, the “great prince” of Israel (Dan 12:1), one of the very archangels of God.

Because of Daniel’s prayer, that oppressive demonic covering over Persia was broken through. And the angel who speaks with Daniel lets him know that when the encounter is over, he’s turning right back around to make war against this demonic principality again. In time, the Prince of Persia would be completely removed, making way for an entire other empire to rise up in Persia’s place.

All because one little eighty-year-old man stopped showering, ate boring food, and prayed.

When was the last time our infuriated rantings took down a demonic principality? What scathing letter of disgust ever unraveled an entire empire? It hasn’t. It never will. It may assuage our emotions for a moment or two. It may help us feel like we’ve spoken up, and therefore done something. But it’s not going to unseat any demons. It won’t even intimidate them.

Our most effective course of action is to do what looks absolutely batty to the political scene. By fasting — whether we skip some food, most food, or all of it for a while — and by seeking the Lord’s face in prayer, we do far more towards shaping our government’s laws and motives than any lobbyist group could ever hope for. This is not to say we skip the vote, or that we neglect the legitimate realms of influence open to us as citizens of this country. But this is to say that we must understand our battle is no more with flesh and blood than it’s ever been. Our words of anger, no matter how well-penned or spoken, all ultimately ring hollow before a massive spiritual battle that we have no hope of winning through our own devices. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but prayer and fasting dwarf them both.

If we love our country, and if we want to see our government change for the good, we need to stop trumpeting our own opinions and start praying the Lord’s Word. If we want to see the demonic practices of abortion and perversion broken in our land, we should have fewer arguments and skip more meals. We don’t need more talk radio hosts; we need more intercessors. Save the anger for the real enemy, and join the ranks of men and women who have actually changed the course of their nation. Don’t get mad… get hungry.