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For about a month now I’ve been slowly diving through the small letter/sermon of 1 John. Last week I was in 1 John 2:28-3:9. I learned a couple of things from that small passage…one of which I will share in this post and the second in my next post (so stay tuned!).
If you read that passage (and I suggest you do) you will notice that John begins by urging them to act like Jesus in view of His coming (or “appearing”). This wasn’t anything new. Other New Testament authors encouraged the church to act in view of Christ’s return. Jesus Himself urged His disciples to live thus. But what exactly does this mean? and why is it important?
To the first question, it means that we pursue/practice righteousness, as John notes at 2:29. Not our own righteousness, for anything we try to do on our own accord ends up looking like a pile of filth. Instead we emulate Christ and seek to live in the way He did. This is a simplified explanation, but if I need to go further, please ask me to do so and I will expound my point in the comments.
Now to the second question. Why is it important? Many American Christians only live in the here and now. They never think about the future, and they rarely practice righteousness…but why does it matter? At 3:2, John points out that one day, when Christ appears, we shall be like Him. So what? Surrounding this thought are verses on practicing righteousness and looking more and more like Jesus. One day the transformation that began on our souls at conversion will reach its completion and we will be like Christ. But until then we should still be striving to emulate our Savior…
In other words, live now like you will be then. Don’t waste your time now living like a mindless rebel. Live now like Christ…for one day, if you are a Christian, that’s the only way you’ll act…and it’s a ton better than the confused way you act now.
I don’t get why people complain about the weather. Why, late last summer we were sitting dead in the water, besieged by draught and rediculously hot temperatures. Everyone complained about it till they were sick.
Then came winter and with it a bitter cold. Now everyone complained that it was too cold. Spring rolls around and SURPRISE here comes buckets of rain. And the same people who complained about the draught in the summer, complain about it’s solution in the spring. Irony.
I’ve been studying through the Gospel of John and am currently wrapping up the section of Jesus’ trial. From chapter 18:28-19:16, Jesus stands between Pilate, the Roman governor, and the chief priests, the religious leaders of the day. Irony drips from those verses. The religious leaders refuse to enter Pilate’s house because he’s a Gentile and doing so would defile them and keep them from the Passover meal, yet they willingly bring Jesus out to murder Him. Later, when Pilate presents Jesus as their King, they blaspheme and say that their only king is Caesar. The ones who claimed to have religion really weren’t religious at all.
But the irony continues. Pilate is a man of power. He even tells Jesus so (19:10). But he has, in fact, no power at all over the situation. He can’t calm the Jews down and he can’t even outwit his prisoner. Jesus exposes Pilate’s helplessness in 19:11. The man who was supposed to have the most power was really powerless in reality.
But over and against this stands Jesus, who is truly “religious” (see James 1:26-27) and is honoring God through His actions and speech. He is also the one who is totally in power and in supreme control over the situation. Jesus exposes his captors’ and accusers’ hypocrisy by just standing there.
So what does that have to do with the weather? Give a person enough time and he will contradict himself. Someone can complain about storms and rain in the spring and then 4 months down the road turn and complain about the lack thereof in the summer. It’s an ironic contradiction. Perhaps we throw around religion like talk of the weather. We go to church, use pious language, occassionally do a kind act, but are we really “religious”? Are we anything like Jesus? Examine yourself and your motives. Is your faith in a truly powerful God genuine or just a mask?…kind of like your critiques of the weather, you claim that you miss the rain, but as soon as it comes you suddenly miss the sun.
Name changes in the Bible typically represented a crucial turningpoint in a person’s life (like Abraham or Paul). Today, name changes usually signify a loss of sanity (like Chad Ochocinco). I’ve decided to change the name of this blog into something wittier and catchier…and it certainly falls into the latter category.
You see, most of my friends are Christians and are cool and postmodern and sophisticated and run blogs too. But their blog names are something significant like “Running to the Cross” or “Satan is a Nerd” or some Greek word no one in America today can pronounce. The name usually defines the blog and how it should be referred to or perceived or read…
I’ve obviously went against this notion and settled with “Huggbees!” Why? It’s from Freakazoid and it’s fun to say. No joke, I kept saying it below my breath as I spiffied this page up. Go ahead and say it…”Huggggbeeessss!!” It’s great fun for you and your family! So what does the name signify? Nothing…absolutely nothing. I realize this may seem nihilistic and postmodern, but it’s really just a funny name and I like it and this is my blog so I can cry if I want to..and you can go suck a lemon if you’re so upset!
I also changed the theme..I wanted something more “fun” for the Huggbees! (Huggggbeeeeeess!!) title and this was the best I could find…okay there were others, but flowers were in the design somewhere and i just won’t tolerate that.
In unrelated news (in case you’re still reading)..I’m in a songwriting competition and in desperate need of votes. So if you could pop on over to that site and register to vote, I’d love you til the day you die.Thanks!
