Why good and decent people need Christ

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it NIV

It racked my brain for the longest time, but I knew that my classmate Brian was a more decent person than I was. He was a friend of the environment, a lover of all people, a drug free activist and stood up for anti-nazi movements around the world. He was the kind of guy that Ghandi and Mother Theresa would give a high five to. In comparison, Brian was much more decent than me and better at being a good person. I was the Christian Bible bumper at the time. I had the faith and all the Bible knowledge one could muster, but none of it ever came into my life the way Brian showed it.

One problem, I considered myself in a relationship with God, but Brian was stonecold against that. He didn't want any part of God in his life and he kindly excused the discussion if it was brought up. I tried to share my faith in little amounts, but he clearly wouldn't have it.

Now let me take you to current time where I am sitting in a Bible study listening to a video of Nooma, Rob Bell. The young pastor of a mega church is calmly telling his viewers that God expects us to be loving and good people, similar to Jesus. At the moment, I am thinking in my mind. "Brian is all set." All those times I tried to share the persona of Christ and the precepts of Christianity were in vain. In fact, by the very definition that we are called to be loving and good, Brian was better off than me. He was way more active, nicer and less judgmental. Perhaps he was the kind of guy that Jesus would high five.

I used to think that Christ was ONLY for people who were hopeless, depressed and reeking in sin. The kind of people who dug so far down that the life of Christianity is better by comparison. But that statement is devoid of one simple fact: "those who break one simple law, are guilty of breaking all of it." That is written in James 2:10, one of the biggest essays in favor of the need for Christ's grace. What does that mean exactly?

Imagine a banquet in a beautiful mansion. On one end of the table is a good and decent man. He's the kind of guy who knows where his salad fork goes, drinks tea with his pinky raised and dabs his mouth with a napkin after every bite. Then on the other end is a total slob. He needs a bib just to eat salad, makes loud belching sounds and eats steak with his hands. Now just using those facts, who is the more exquisite eater? Not hard to guess. But, if the slob has a relationship with the owner of the mansion and is good friends with him, he should be in the good graces of the owner. On the other hand if the polite eater, makes one mistake like dropping his napkin, squeaking his chair, putting his dessert fork on the wrong side of the plate, he has no where to go. Even the simplest mistake means he is an unfit guest at the table.

That's the point. According to scripture if your only sin is one mistake, you have nowhere to go for salvation. You can't suffice with a 99% grade average when the teacher is looking for a 100%. So, I no longer feel bad for those who need Christ and those who think they are nice enough to get by. I know that my nasty habits will always be forgiven by the grace of a perfect God. I have a relationship with God and that means so much more than anyone's human endeavor to be good. It means redemption, it means sanctification, it means second tries and ultimately it means I am set for life.

What is Love...baby don't hurt me no more

I've been reading the book of 1st John and it has been challenging me greatly. There has been much confusion over the means of salvation and the use of works within the church. Does one get saved through just faith in Jesus Christ? If they do get saved is there any work expected of them that will effect their salvation status? I think 1st John sheds some light on this subject.

"God is love."

This verse is so profound and yet so easy to understand. It basically says that God's every intention, communication, thought, interest, movement and motive is based in selfless love toward his human creation. If God could get OCD it would be definately love toward his children. There is nothing God can do out of hate for you or mild disinterest while you live on his planet. Within this love is the very motivation that God had planned his sacrificial salvation of humankind through Jesus Christ (1john 4:9).

"Everyone who loves is born of God"

This is where it gets kind of confusing because the fourth chapter of 1st John can be misinterpreted. When I first read it I thought that John was telling me that my means of salvation came from my ability to love others. That would mean I would need to have a certain love requirement to be allowed on God's team. But I actually got the two switched. We know that God is pure love and that anyone who associates, partners with or enters into His presence cannot deny that God operates only out of love. When we take the hand of faith, we enter into a journey where love is supplied to us and sustains us. We are fed only on that which is pure. It's impossible to side with God and yet have none of his compassion, mercy and growth be a part of you. It soon becomes the way in which we operate.

"If God so loved us we ought to love one another"

In the final piece of the puzzle, since we know that God is love and being in him is love, then there is an expectation that we use it. To use love is to mirror the very relationship and foundation of your salvation. There is no excuse not to love and still call yourself a member of God's kingdom (sin not withstanding). What John argues is that love should be our primary vehicle of treating others because clearly it brims from our Lord. And since it brims from our Lord, those who reject loving others and choose pathways of hatred are not showing the influences of their salvation. It would be like walking into a pool of water and coming out dry. Love becomes the badge that we wear that signifies that Christ owns us by his blood and those that don't wear it and say they know God are either confused or deceitful.

But that is not to say that we won't have sinful moments of hatred, bitterness or neglect toward our neighbor. That is the nature of our human side. I used to believe that those inklings of sin disqualified me from God's grace because of the expectation to love. That is not true! Those moments that we show hatred are speed bumps in our path, but those who truly follow God are freed from them and are taught to love. You could trip over a thousand speed bumps, but everytime God would set you right and draw you closer.

So we are called to love because that is what a relationship with God means.

Conclusion: We've heard it before: faith without works is dead. We've also heard that there is no other name under which you can be saved, but through Jesus. I wish to combine these two and say, when you are saved by Christ's rich love for you, that relationship means we love.

For more insight read 1 John 4

The Dark Knight Review

One Man Saves City.

The most wonderful thing a director can do is use every plot line of his/her movie in such a way that it sees its completion. Christopher Nolan, creator of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, has that gift. He can make the viewer care about everything that is happening on screen, without sacrificing the main plot or overloading the viewer. How does he do it? Using his stylistic, short one line scenes and multiple transitions, he delivers a buffet of mini plots that moves the audience along a stream that leads into the big plot. For example: Batman points to a wound he has on his back, Gordon calls in for back up, the Joker throws money in the air and laughs. These short traileresque scenes all form together to provide a quick, but fully lived movie.

The movie doesn't waste anytime with flash backs or origin stories. It starts with showing a bank robbery and weaves into a plot that is centered around Harvey Dent, the DA of Gotham, and Bruce Wayne, the dark savior of the night. Their mission is working together to rid Gotham of its crime ring once and for all. The rest of the movie is the Joker, Heath Ledger, hellbent on a mission to destroy Gotham and add chaos to the slowly healing city.

The spiritual emphasis is that the Joker represents chaotic, illogical mayhem and destruction. He has no motive or plan, but just wants to see Gotham burn. This challenges Batman's identity, as a man who is trying to close up Gotham's wound and retire the suit once and for all. He soon finds out that the Joker's frenzy means he will never rest. This relationship represents the struggle between Jesus and Satan. We have the devil who is pure evil and illogical destruction, The prince of darkness who wants to steal, kill and destroy. And we Jesus who wants to restore harmony, order and peace to the world through His father's original intentions. In the movie, Batman finds that the city is hellbent on its destruction unless there is a symbol of hope that can redeem humanity. Ultimately its him giving himself up so people can believe that humanity is not doomed. In Jesus' perspective, he finds that humanity is too burdened by its own wrong doing and ultimately has to give himself up on a cross to bear it.

One phrase sticks out that has much importance in the movie, Batman needs to be what Gotham needs it to be. Meaning that Batman cared so much about the city that he was willing to give up his own reputation for the sake of its protection. That defines the true heart of being a servant--to sacrifice yourself to another for the sake of their safety and well being. This movie isn't a full blown Christ narrative, but its a common theme.

Aside from that, Christopher Nolan's interpretation of Batman is a mix between being faithful to the comics and putting a whole new spin on the art of comic movies. The camera switches in the fight scenes have been slowed down considerably from the first movie to show the choreography of being the Batman. Also added is a lot of creative battles involving high tech gadgetry, martial arts and scaffolding battles. Due to the Joker's sick nature, the movie is a bit more violent, but it only goes to justify the Joker's maniacal ways.

The movie weighs in at a whopping two and a half hours, but never drags on. It gets a little repetitive with the Joker's schemes and some of the scenes could have been cut out to make it fresh, but by the end the movie represents the dark Batman we know and love in the comics.