SMR 114

Smoky Mountain Reflections

January 2014

            Happy New Year. As we begin this New Year I would like to use my reflection articles in the coming months to examine five historic heresies. Legalism, Gnosticism, Arianism, Pelagianism, and Socinianism are five errors or departures from biblical truth that just refuse to die. All modern departures from biblical truth (either directly or indirectly) fall into one of these five categories. I chose two commonly parroted phrases to begin the series: "All paths lead to god" and "There is nothing new under the sun." The first phrase is a clear heresy and the second is a sound biblical truth found in the ninth verse of Ecclesiastes chapter one. Heresies are like viruses that infect sound doctrine and grow within the church, attacking biblical truth and sound practices. So before we discuss the five historic types, we must first define ‘heresy’.

            Heresy: A doctrine or practice contrary to clear biblical truth. This is of course, a confessional Lutheran definition of this word. Some will argue that "clear biblical truth" is a topic for debate and I will refer that debate to my Reflection in November of 2013 when I discussed the topic of Hermeneutics, or biblical interpretation. So what biblical truth does the statement "All paths lead to god" depart from? The biblical principal of exclusivity. This is a clear principal taught throughout scripture. It is the first commandment, and Christ himself claimed this exclusivity in John 14 verse 6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The issue of exclusivity is offensive in our postmodern society.  Interestingly, those who condemn this principal as too exclusive....exclude those who hold this view, while claiming to be inclusive of all....except of course those who are too exclusive. If that seems a bit circular, illogical, and ridiculous to you...welcome to the club. 

            Now that we know what a heresy is, let's look at the five historic heresies and their many permutations, or various methods of expression. We will then see that when the devil seeks to decieve God's people he just repackages his same old lies. "There is nothing new under the sun." We examine and understand heresy so that we can clearly understand the many ways Satan tries to lead us away from God so that we can in essence protect ourselves from these false doctrines and practices, just like a vaccine protects us from a virus.  The first and oldest of the heresies is Legalism, which made its first appearance in the Garden of Eden when Eve added to God's instruction by saying they should not touch the fruit. God said they shall not eat of it, but He did not prohibit touching.  I find it interesting that this first form of legalism could be seen as laying the ground work for the first real sinful act of disobedience.  When we create our own rules it leads to confusion which leads to sin. The early Christian church dealt with this heresy in the form of the Judaizers. Again, the problem with this form of heresy is that it makes rules where God does not and in so doing drives a wedge between God and man. It could be said that this is what all heresies do, but each one does it in a different way.  With legalism, you end up with rules that are works you must do in order to be saved or have access to salvation.  In the case of the Judaizers, they required circumcision, in essence saying that you had to first become Jewish in order to become a Christian. This shifts the work of salvation away from Jesus and puts it on our shoulders. We see St. Paul and the other Apostles working hard to root out this heresy in the early Church in the book of Acts and in many of Paul's epistles, especially Galatians. They came together specifically to deal with this question in Acts 15.  We know from Romans 4: 5 & 6 that we are justified objectively by works outside of ourselves in the person and work of Christ. "5.  And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6.  just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works…" All of chapter four is a good read on how we are made righteous and justified before God.

             We see legalism sadly alive and well within Trinitarian Christianity today in many forms. They are man-made rules that are not biblical. For example, the idea that some form of penance is required for forgiveness, or that some form of decision on my part is required for a heart troubled by its own sinful nature to be given the gift of faith, turning Baptism and the Lord’s Supper into works of obedience, or requiring speaking in tongues as evidence of faith. Whenever we require a rule or activity that is not based on a clear biblical doctrine, as I pointed out earlier with the doctrine of exclusivity, we fall into the same legalistic trap Eve did when she put words in God’s mouth about touching the fruit. Blessings, see you next month when Gnosticism and Arianism will be our topics of discussion.

In Christ,

Pastor Portier              

SMR 1213

Smoky Mountain Reflections

December 2013

            Greetings in Christ and blessings on you and yours as we enjoy this wondrous season of Advent, anticipating the arrival of the Christ Child.  Last month I tried to briefly touch on two topics; hermeneutics and evangelism.  I was so wordy in discussing the first, I ran out of space to spend any time on the second. I know the word evangelism can cause some of you to break out in a cold sweat but it does not have to be that way.

            What I hope to do in this article is give you some easy pointers on how to share the Gospel in a way that is non-confrontational and lets you trust in God to do the heavy lifting. We do not have to be afraid to share our faith with others if we come at it from a well thought out simple process, so here we go.

            1. Follow the golden rule, if you treat others as you would like to be treated, then you are well on your way to sharing your faith. If you seek to love others (friends, neighbors, classmates, and/or coworkers) by being kind, caring, concerned, helpful, and respectful, you are laying a firm foundation for building relationships that will make you more comfortable sharing and your friends, neighbors, classmates, and/or coworkers more willing to listen.  It really is that simple. Good relationships with others create a positive environment for God's word and the Holy Spirit to do their faith creating work. God does not need you. He simply gives you the opportunity to be a part of spreading His good news.

            80% of the people who join churches do so because they were invited by a friend or family member. And 80% of our neighbors do not go to church. The field is ripe for harvest. We just need to be serious about living out our faith in the presence of others.

            2. Three simple questions, There is no reason for you to try to evangelize someone who goes to a Trinitarian Christian church. So the first question should be "Do you go to church?" If the answer is yes and they know the name of their pastor, the conversation can be one of comparing the basics of Christian faith, the 10 commandments, the Creeds, the Lord's prayer, Baptism, the Lords Supper, and Confession and Absolution. If the answer is no that leads to the second question, "What do you believe?" this can be asked in a kind and curious way, and be ready to listen....most people are ready to tell you what they believe. Once you have heard their explanation of what they believe, move to the third question "Would you mind if I shared with you what I believe and why I believe it?"      

            3. Do not argue. You cannot argue people into heaven. Arguing often leads to one or both of you becoming defensive, uncooperative, or stubborn, not to mention the possibility of hurt feelings and unloving comments. (see #1 above) This does not mean you cannot be passionate and enthusiastic about what you believe, but remember your body language or voice inflection reveal how you feel more than you realize. So if you hear yourself getting loud make sure it is out of love and concern and not anger and hostility.    

            4. Know what you believe. You do not have to be an expert but you should be able to clearly explain what you believe. God being all powerful reveals to us clearly all we need to know in His word, the 66 books of the Holy Bible. For example, possibly citing a text like "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16) would be helpful. Simple truths like the fact that we are all sinners and have fallen short (Rom 3:23) is another example. And certainly the fact that Jesus redeemed all of mankind on the Cross (John 3:16) can explain the basics of our Christian faith. We know the Holy Spirit is the one who does the work of creating faith through God’s word (Isaiah 55:11) but He blesses us to be the feet that carry our mouths to speak that good news.  Do not be afraid that you will be asked a question you cannot answer. Carry a pocket sized bible or a bible app on your phone and be ready to look it up together.  If you are still stumped you have 24/7 access to a trained theologian, your pastor, who is always ready to help you find biblical answers to difficult questions.   

            5. Pray. We all know that sharing our faith is easier said than done however if we take a few small steps we can be ready. “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”  (1 Peter 3:15) Besides having a few scripture texts  ready to go, the best thing to always do before deliberately attempting to share your faith is pray. Pray to the author and perfecter of your faith that you might help him create faith in those to whom He has called you to witness. The Advent and Christmas season are great times to invite those you know who do not go to church to come and worship with you and see and hear all the great things God whats to give us all in His service.

Blessings on your anticipation

In Christ

Pastor Portier               

SMR 1113

Smoky Mountain Reflections

November 2013

            "That is your interpretation"... That was often the response I got when I would try to share God's truth with people in my many years as a parishioner.  I know it is frustrating when you try to tell people the truth as you have come to understand it through the help of your family and your church and especially the Holy Spirit.   When people reject God's truth you can't help but feel a little rejected yourself so, in this month of thanksgiving I would like to briefly touch on two topics that may help; Hermeneutics and Evangelism.  I know these two words will illicit one or both of two reactions among most Christians....confusion and/or fear. Let’s first deal with confusion, so we do not need to run in fear from the second.

            Hermeneutics: Biblical interpretation.  When you are discussing living out your faith with your neighbor, you may be using different methods of biblical interpretation. If so, you can and will come up with different conclusions. Using the metaphor of leaves, your discussion comparing two leaves may be confusing because you may be coming from the prospective of an oak tree while your neighbor is coming from the prospective of a maple tree. The ‘leaves’ or conclusions are different because they come from completely different trees.  It is the same with biblical interpretation. While there are many methods or lenses out there through which people look at God’s word, they really all fit into one of two categories; magisterial or ministerial. I know, two more big words to define but be patient with me as I define both of them for you and explain how these two lenses come up with different applications and conclusions about the unchangeable truth of God's word.           

            Magisterial: There are actually many methods of interpretation that fall into this category but what they all have in common is an appeal to human reason over and above God's word. The most prominent among these methods is the Historical Critical method. The conclusions that are derived are based on the preconceived notions of those who use this method.  In other words, if God's word says something they do not like or agree with, then they simply use this method to say “I know what it says but it cannot mean that so if you look at it through ‘this’ lens I can decide the meaning for myself”. This method puts all the authority in human reason over and above the revealed truth of God’s word.  Some biblical scholars, atheists, and agnostics fall into this category and what they have in common is the idolatry of the human mind over God's reveled truth.  This method leads to a misapplication of biblical principles or just outright denial of any biblical authority at all. If your ultimate authority is the human mind then you can hold the rights of the individual over and above the rights of those you define as less than individuals...those of other races, those of other genders, those not yet born, those with a lifestyle you do not like, those with a quality of life you arbitrarily decide is not worth the status of individual with protected rights. You also have the freedom to depart from God's word completely and make new rules for yourself and your society. Society can make new rules and norms such as; "Anyone can be a pastor". (Call, education and gender have no bearing on who should fill that role.) "Marriage is for consenting adults of any gender". (Chastity, monogamy, heterosexuality, and fidelity are the products of a manipulative, medieval, patriarchal society and we have out grown these oppressive cultural norms of the past.) "Only God can forgive sins" (God’s biblical directive to the church through Peter to forgive sins does not mean what it says.) "Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are acts of obedience" (because it is not logical that water and word can save or that bread and wine can be flesh and blood.)

            Ministerial on the other hand, has one main method called the Historical Grammatical method. Many use this method until their ‘human’ reason pulls them back over into the ‘magisterial’ category. The Historical Grammatical method also employs human reason, but only as we finite beings acknowledge that we cannot fully comprehend the infinite and we let God's word have the final say even when God's word says things that are illogical. This method acknowledges that God is all powerful and can reveal His truth to us in any way he chooses.  He chooses to reveal His truth, clearly defined through history and grammar, in His word, the infallible, inerrant, 66 books of the Holy Bible.  As such, this method produces interpretations that are clear confessions of biblical truth only. If your ultimate authority is God's word then you will acknowledge that all human life is created in His image and is intrinsically valuable. All races, locations, sizes, and conditions of humans are therefore worthy of the highest respect and protection we can provide. We also have the freedom to function within the gifted order of His creation. He put ‘norms’ in place for our benefit and we let His word have the final say no matter how politically incorrect or illogical it may sound. "God gives men and woman different roles";  (mother, father, husband, wife, pastor - Scripture attaches genders to each of these roles. see: 1 Tim 3:1-13, Titus 1:6-9, 1 Cor 14:33-35, Eph 5:21-26, Col 3:18-19, 1 Tim 2:9-13, 1 Cor 11:3-10, 1 Peter 3:1-5.) Yes, history and grammar can help us better understand these things but cannot redefine what the words mean. To be a pastor, one must be male, rightly called and ordained. Marriage is defined for us in Genesis, one man and one woman. Other truths in scripture are; chastity for the unmarried, and monogamy and fidelity for the married. These are the gifts of a loving God to us all regardless of our fallen sinful condition.

             "Only God can forgive sins"  This is most certainly true and He can do so however He wishes. To that end, He has established means through which forgiveness can be given. Forgiveness can be given through words spoken in His stead and by His command after confession, and through Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, see: John 20:22-23

            "Baptism is a gift from God" This gift is not logical, water and word cannot normally save and give faith miraculously but scripture tells us that His word combined with water does just that. see: Matt 28:19; Mark 15:16; 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 2:38-39; 22:16; 1 Cor 6:11; 12:13; Eph 5:26; Titus 3:5-6; Heb 10:22; John  3:5; Rom 6:3-6; Col 2:11-12, Gal 3:27-29 

             "The Lord’s Supper is a gift from God" This gift is not logical, bread and wine normally cannot  be flesh and blood and give forgiveness when consumed in faith, but scripture tells us that it is and it does. see Matt 26, Mark 14 Luke 22, and  I Cor 11.

            As you can see the ‘leaves’ on these two trees are very different. So the next time you are sharing your faith with someone and they say "well that is your interpretation", you can politely respond "yes and it is also the confession of the universal, historic, Christian faith so your disagreement is not with me but with a plain and clear exposition of God's truth". Or perhaps you can just say, "your disagreement is not with me but God's word" that might be simpler. It looks like I got a bit wordy for this month so I will address the topic of evangelism in December.

In Christ Pastor Portier     

SMR 1013

Smoky Mountain Reflections

October 2013

            This is one of my favorite times of year, when the canopy of green that has filled out trees for the past six or seven months starts to burst into a sea of yellows, oranges, reds and even some dark purple.  As we in our neck of the woods prepare for the flock of leaf peeping tourists, we watch the leaves, as well as a few acorns, soon fall. The falling of such a seed on the head of a fictitious chicken is the source of a well-known fable warning us against worrying about things we have no control over. Scripture also warns us against worry, revealing it to be a lack of trust in God's provision for all our needs.

            We do sadly find so many ways to creatively worry, while calling it ‘concern’ for the kingdom of God. We ask questions like, ‘How do we as Christians determine what the best course of action is for our church?’ All concerned members of the body of Christ should prayerfully ask themselves what the wisest course of action should be, shouldn't they? While I am a big fan of responsible evaluation of our practices in light of scripture and our confessions, there is a big difference between ‘evaluation’ and ecclesiastical hand wringing. The business world has a lot of good information that can be very helpful in managing the business aspects of an organization with memberships, facilities and staff to maintain, but the world has little to offer in the way of helping the church to be ‘in’ while not ‘of’ the world.

            So what are we to do if we are to be conscientious Christians seeking to share the great news of the Gospel as best we can while not corrupting or causing offense to that same Gospel? I would say there is a big difference between damage control and honest biblical outreach.  We can honestly look around us and learn from the mistakes of others, identify our own warts, and press on doing what it is God has called us to do, trusting in Him to do His will in His church in His good time.

            First visit some of the mistakes of others. The ‘seven sisters’ mainline Protestantism; The Methodist UMC, Lutheran ELCA, Presbyterian PCUSA, Baptist ABCUSA,  Episcopal, Church of Christ UCC, and the  DCC have a few things in common. One of the reasons they are so large is because of their liberal, historical, critical position on scripture. That position, while appealing to logic and public opinion, leads to poor theological decision making such as female clergy and support of the LGBT agenda. These departures from scriptural truth have led to them also experiencing the greatest declines in membership of all American Christian church bodies. The lord clearly warns us against such practices. (2 Peter 2:1-2) “There will be false teachers among you, who will surreptitiously introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful, licentious ways.” and in (1 Peter 1:14-15) “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you formerly had when you lived in ignorance.  Instead, just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” and finally in (Romans 12:2) “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

            Second we have to acknowledge the things that have caused our own church bodies decline. In the words of our synod president, Matthew Harrison "The people of the LCMS marry much later and are having far fewer children. Our outreach (conversion) has not been sufficient to stem that decline. So we need to look at how we encourage and support families and we need to invite our unchurched neighbors to church.  80% of people who join a church do so because they were invited by someone they know a friend of family member.”

            Finally while we diligently seek to share His truth in love we also must trust Him and His word and His sacraments to do His will in His good time. The responsibility to share His truth belongs to each and every one of us in our own daily vocations.

           Jesus will build, protect and sustain His church in accord with His words in Matthew 16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock (his confession that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. God grants the increase and sustains us through any difficult times. 1 Cor 3:6  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. .......9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building. So be diligent, do not worry and enjoy the fall colors.

In Christ Pastor Portier

Relationships....

Smoky Mountain Reflections

September 2013

            "In a Relationship".....so what does that mean? If you post it on social media it has a myriad of possibilities ranging from mildly attracted to someone to married.  ‘Going steady’ is no longer in vogue. We are surrounded by people who want to "keep their options open", in the words I once heard from a man who was in his 70's.  The word "relationship" gets thrown around in our fast food, disposable culture, not so much in the life long committed biblical model these days but more in the ‘this is how it is for now’  model. That works until you get bored with how things are and move on to something or someone else.  Our society’s concept of "relationship" is far removed from the selfless ‘love thy neighbor model’ that scripture gives us. I am not just talking about marital relationships, but all forms of ’relationship’.      

            The whole second table of the law is about how we are to act in relationships, and the building block for all relationships is the family. This is the anchor, the solid foundation, on which God decided to build the relational structure of His creation. It started when God noted the first "not good" thing in His very good creation. It is not good for man to be alone so God created a second person, out of the first, and created, at the same time, the first relationship.  That relationship contained all the God pleasing elements of selfless giving. The two would give themselves to each other in sacrificial, complementary ways that would also have creative elements, not the least of which was another relationship, that of parent and child. In this small model we can learn and exercise all of the relational skills we need to lead a God pleasing life.

            The lie that our world tells us is that we get to choose our relationships… However, they are a gift from God. Every person you come in contact with is, at some level, in a relationship with you.  We do not get to choose our parents, they are a gift from God and this relationship is designed to be life long in nature, though not always the primary relationship. Even the person we marry, regardless of the cultural method that brings us together, is a gift from God that is designed to be lifelong...”.till death do us part”.

            Another lie our world tells us is when we tire of relationships we can end them.  God has designed our relationships to form a web of love, comfort, support and protection. When we choose to end a marriage the whole web is disrupted. It is not just husband and wife who suffer.... children, siblings, parents, extended family and friends all suffer.  When we start to go ‘gender bending’ it does not just affect the "couple", the whole web of relationships is affected. Though we may agree or disagree with someone's life style, none of these sinful acts; divorce, cohabitation or "friends with benefits" make us any less directed by God to love our neighbor and seek to speak the truth in love.

            So as sin continues to break holes in the web of relationships, there is a web repair service of sorts available to us all. We pray in the Lord ’s Prayer "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us". Forgiveness and reconciliation are at the core of what it means to be in a God pleasing relationship. Forgiveness is the glue that fixes and holds together broken relationships. True forgiveness does not ignore sin or its consequences. The source of true forgiveness is love. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. Love, in fact, acknowledges the pain and suffering caused by a wrong even if we think no one gets hurt because we do not get to say how other people feel.

            Relationships have priorities. Some relationships in our lives are more important than others. When we are children our first relationship is with our parents and this takes priority over all others. If I have to say no to someone because of a conflict of schedule or opinion, my sibling, teacher, friends or employer all take a back seat to my parents. This changes however when we get married and absolutely yes, young adults should not play house, they should get married. The marriage relationship becomes the new primary relationship. Your boss, your friends, your parents, your siblings and your children all take a back seat to your spouse. This is not an opinion up for debate. If we would follow the biblical model for relationships fewer of them would fail. Sin in this category hurts deeply.  There is one more issue of priority you want in your relationships. You want them to be God pleasing and by default pleasing to you and all whom you love and are concerned for. All earthly relationships are #2 relationships in a rightly ordered life. The #1 relationship in our lives must always be our relationship with the Son of God who redeemed us and regularly nurtures us in His Word and Sacraments.

In Christ

Pastor Portier

August 2013

Smoky Mountain Reflections

August 2013

            So as the summer winds down and comes to a close and we are getting ready for school to start again I find myself reflecting on ‘vocation’. As many of you know my daughter Elisa, with the help of Scott her husband, added a new definition to my vocation list about six weeks ago. I am now a Grandfather, or as they say in bayou country Paw Paw. Just about the time all the little people in my family grew up, God blessed me with another playmate :-). (Of course Harper has been giving me practice on how to be a good Paw Paw for the past two years now.) Besides the gift of my Grandson, what is this gift of vocation that God gives us?

            The first thing we think of when we hear the word ‘vocation’ is work. What we do to earn a living is certainly part of our vocation but it is one small part of a very big picture. If we step back we see how blessed we are to have our identity wrapped up in every aspect of our vocation. Who we are in our relationships at work, in our family, in our community, in our church, all of these put together are what make us who we are in our relationship with God and our neighbor. Unfortunately we get things out of whack sometimes, messing up our priorities and spending too much time on one part of our vocation while neglecting other parts. We spend too much time at work or at play or with our family and our work or play or family suffer because of the imbalance. Another confusion may be that we take a role for ourselves that does not belong to us, or the reverse, we give our own responsibilities to another. Examples would be, trying to do our bosses’ job or our Pastor’s job or a government official’s job when it is not ours to do. Sometimes we completely abandon our work or our spouse or our community, leaving others to carry our responsibilities as well as their own.

            But God takes our broken sinful priorities and fixes them, washing off our feeble efforts and making them pleasing to God.

            He takes our sinful selfishness and works faith in our hearts helping us to see we are not the god we make ourselves out to be. Our desires are not the most important thing....He is.

            He takes our often poor efforts to represent Him and helps us to see how we can best reflect our love for Him by bearing His name with respect and honor.

            He takes our poor time management and leads us to be still and know that He is God. He does this in our daily lives with prayer, reading and devotions, and in our regular weekly time to receive the gifts he showers on us in word and sacrament, nurturing our souls to live out our vocations in the coming week.

            He takes our rebellion against authority and turns it into honor, obedience, and submission to our parents, leaders, spouses, and employers.

            He takes our murderous attitude which has no regard for all life created in His image and He turns it into the loving activities of family members and caretakers who nurture and serve the week and vulnerable among us.

            He takes our lust and fleshly desires and turns them into selfless giving of ourselves to our spouse. He blesses us with that already great gift, caring for our physical and emotional needs with the occasional arrival of a new family member.

            He takes our greedy desires and turns them into concern for our neighbors’ positions to the point that we would gladly sacrifice something of our own to prevent or restore a loss suffered by our neighbor.

            He takes our dishonest thoughts and deeds and converts them through a contrite heart that seeks truth and justice, encouraging peace and reconciliation, willing to sacrifice our own justice for the benefit of others.

            He takes our covetous hearts and minds and turns them into loving, caring souls that seek, with His help, to nip our sinful activities in the bud.  He deals with them when they are only desires and helps us prevent them from becoming actions.                      

            God takes our sinful thoughts and deeds and puts them into the gift of ‘vocation’ which converts sinful activity to God pleasing activity. Turning selfishness into selflessness, turning disobedience into standing for His truth, turning killing into defending family or nation, turning adultery into loving one’s spouse, turning theft into protecting someone from harming themselves, turning lies into words spoken that benefit others at our own expense. God's rules do not contradict themselves when we do something within our vocation as parent, employer, leader, child, worker or citizen which on the surface appears to be a violation but is a cost to our reputation. We gladly pay this in service and love for others. Then, and only then, we can see the smiling face of our Lord and Savior saying “Well done, my good and faithful servant, come into my presence and abide with me.”

Blessings on you all as you do your best to live out every aspect of your vocation in Christ

In His name

Pastor Portier       

July 2013...Where is Waldo?

Smoky Mountain Reflections

July 2013

            Where is Jesus??? In our world today, full of little churches and mega churches trying to sell you Jesus by saying ‘Come over here, we have the Jesus you didn't even know you needed or wanted’, how does one find the real Jesus? Well, first let’s make a typically Lutheran statement..."you do not find Jesus He finds you!" That is all fine and good and true but not very helpful in responding to the constant barrage of trendy Jesus marketing. So let’s briefly review the three main marketing tools used to sell you a Jesus that is really more about you than the Savior who came to save you. That is what marketing naturally does, appeals to the individual.   

            The first and most popular of the shallow self-centered versions of ‘marketing Jesus’ is the, "Look at how good I feel Jesus".  This version of marketing Jesus is easy to identify. Followers talk about Jesus but Jesus is not really ‘doing’ the verbs. This version is referenced when the one who shares Him with you does not talk about what Jesus does for you but about how Jesus makes you feel.  In truth, Jesus does not manipulate our emotions. How we feel is about us, not about Jesus.  Emotions are a gift from God and yes, when we sing His praises or listen to or read His words or share how He has blessed us, it can and should make us feel good.  But those feelings are not Jesus, they are not even an indication He is close to us. The one who bled and died for ours sins is Jesus. What if I do not feel good, if I am grieving, if I am hungry, if I am sick? Does that mean Jesus is not with me? Quite to the contrary! When we need Him the most, He is there providing the peace He promised. So if someone tries to sell you a "Look at how good I feel Jesus" say no thanks and politely run away

            The next version of marketing Jesus is the "Look at all my stuff Jesus". This version is also easy to identify. Followers tell you to ‘look at all the great stuff Jesus gave me because I am a hard worker for the kingdom and He clearly rewards those who follow His laws and do His will’. This of course does not tell you about Jesus and what He did for you, it tells you how good this "believer" thinks he is. What if I am poor, if my car gets repossessed, if I lose my job or my home...in those cases, in this version, this false Jesus must not love you. The real Jesus came for, and loves and serves, all sinners and tax collectors. It does not matter what side of the track you come from.  You know you are living right not if you are blessed with material things but if your activities reflect a redeemed life that seeks to love God and neighbor as best you can with His help. So if you meet someone selling this Jesus tell them you can't afford to pay the entry dues!

            The last version of marketing Jesus is the "Look at my degree Jesus". This version of marketing Jesus is again easy to identify. This group tells you that they can prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus is who He claims to be because they themselves are so learned. This is a ditch I often fall into because it sure would be nice to be able to prove God is who He claims to be. But you cannot prove God to anyone, only the Holy Spirit can create faith. And reason is but a maidservant to her mistress, faith. As long as the maidservant and the mistress sleep in their own beds they get along nicely. However if the maidservant tries to sleep in her mistresses bed....confusion and anarchy are sure to follow.  So when your pastor says he can prove to you God exists, remind him that he cannot:-)

            We have now identified the false Jesus marketing models.  They have been over simplified here but they all prove that the great deceiver does his best to disguise falsehoods in a myriad of ways. How is this helpful? Or is it helpful in identifying where Jesus is? While it is helpful to know where Jesus is not, it is more helpful to know where He is.  With the eyes of faith, it is as easy to see where He is as it is to find Waldo on a busy multicolored page. You know exactly what Waldo looks like. His candy cane shirt and hat, the glasses and blue jeans are unmistakable. The true Jesus might make you feel good, He will bless you but not necessarily with wealth, and science and history are His friend, but those things are not how you will know Him. You will know Him because He is where He says He will be in His word and sacraments. You can know with absolute certainty that you are a baptized child of God whom He loves more than His own life which He gave on a cross. He regularly nurtures you through His word proclaimed and His (body / bread) and (blood / wine) put in your mouth for your forgivness. Take comfort in His assurance "Lo I am with you always even unto the end of the world" Amen.

In Christ Pastor Portier