You Do You?

This is a repost from a few years ago. Someone said this ubiquitous phrase to me the other day and I remembered that I had written about somewhere. That somewhere was on my very own blog. Check it out: 

My children, who are now grown and think I am old and peculiar will often respond to my strange habits or proclivities with “you do you.”  I used to think this was funny, and actually kind of empowering, since I do think and act differently than your average millennial.  But, as I mulled it over in my old, peculiar brain, I decided that “you do you” was pretty bad advice theologically. 

If I followed the mantra of “you do you,” I would eat only tortilla chips and salted (not ‘lightly salted’) almonds and Breyer’s Cookies and Cream Ice Cream.  And I would drink only ice water (with good ice) and extra hot hazelnut coffee from Panera (with plenty of half and half), with an occasional Diet Coke fountain drink thrown in (not into the coffee of course) for good measure (again, good ice).  I would lie in my hammock for days on end and read stacks of books and sleep.  I would rarely leave my house unless I ran out of the above-mentioned foods.  And I would wake up in the morning around 9:30am and wear a hat every day because I would never fix my hair. I would use parenthesis liberally.

If I followed the mantra of “you do you,” I would take every opportunity to tell you why you are wrong, and I am right.  I would complain incessantly about anything and everything.  I would criticize the way you thought and dressed and spoke.  And if those words that you spoke hurt me, I would not forgive you.

If I followed the mantra of “you do you,” I would believe that I was too bad to enter God’s presence; that I was too small to gain his attention; that I was too far gone to deserve his forgiveness. 

And I would be right.

Because if I followed the mantra of “you do you,” I wouldn’t be able to restrain my tendencies to hurt and to hate.  I wouldn’t be capable of forgiveness and flourishing.  I wouldn’t be fit to come close to God.

So, I have decided instead to live by “you do Jesus,” since the whole “you do you” just isn’t gonna cut it. 

If I live by the mantra, “you do Jesus,” I can retrain my brain and restrain my body to make it healthy and holy. 

If I live by the mantra, “you do Jesus,” I can measure my words and monitor my mouth and renew my mind.

If I live by the mantra, “you do Jesus,” I can not only forgive the ones I hold captive, I, myself, can be forgiven!  I can become fit because he was forsaken; lifted up because he brought himself low!  I can give him my rags of shame and gain his robe of splendor! 

If I live by the mantra “you do Jesus,” I can come close to God!

So, really, you don’t want me to do me. 

The me you see now is Jesus in me, slowly (oh, so slowly), but ever so surely working out my salvation for his glory.  I am learning to walk in his ways (clumsily, imperfectly, even sometimes disobediently), and he is making me into the Tori he intended before the world began.

I am learning to rest in his love. 

Next time you hear “you do you,” don’t let it fool you.  And don’t let it make you a fool.

Don’t “you do you.”  Hide yourself in Jesus instead.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

Why We Shouldn’t Teach Children that Jesus is Their Best Friend

 

A few days ago, I was in a meeting in which we were discussing creative ways to present Bible truths to children.  As we were each presenting our methods of telling the week’s Bible story to the kids, one of my fellow teachers said, “I just tell them that Jesus is their best friend.” I was very uncomfortable with this statement.  Let me explain…

Good Sentiment. Bad Theology

A W Tozer famously writes, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” If we believe this to be true, then we must be very careful to present the God of the Bible with utmost care and accuracy.  If we don’t teach our children to view God correctly from their very earliest years, their impressions of their Creator will be unbalanced at best... or heretical at worst. As parents and teachers, we need to take God’s reputation very seriously.    

In A Class of His Own

Yes, I want my son to feel loved and valued by God, but I don’t want God to be fully accessible to his small mind.  When my child thinks about God, I don’t want him to see the magnificence of God enveloped in a disheveled, skinned knee, gap-toothed buddy. God is wholly other--sui generis--unique, peculiar, in a class of his own--he is not limited to an elementary classroom.  When my child thinks of God, I want him to be awed by the wonder that this amazing being, whom he can’t fully understand, chose to come to earth and be bound in skin. He chose to live as a child who did skin his knees and lose his teeth but in a way that they never will--perfectly.  This perfect child grew to be a perfect man who became a perfect sacrifice. His amazing grace towards us should stir in us a mighty reverence for him.  

The Lion of Judah

Rather than tame what Revelation 5 calls The Lion of Judah by introducing him to our kids as a cuddly, snuggly pet, let’s approach his throne with Christ-earned confidence and fall on our knees in worship.  

Someday, maybe in the not-so-distant future, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  So, let’s give our kids a solid foundation--and accurate theology--by looking on our great and glorious God with hearts full of joy and appropriate trepidation.  

In the words of Mrs. Beaver from the Chronicles of Narnia, “Course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.”

Red Bird Devotions #18

                               

Obedience is Always Attractive

I was not an obedient child.  It’s not that I didn’t understand the rules, I just didn’t want to follow them.  And it caused me a lot of pain—literally and figuratively. Now that I’m and adult, and a Christ-follower, I have seen the blessings that come from obedience and the pain that comes from disobedience.  

And I have decided that obedience is always attractive.

Really.  Look how much we appreciate obedient children or well behaved dogs or even reliable friends.

When we are obedient in our Christian life, people notice and they are intrigued by our faith. When we are obedient, we portray Christ accurately and attractively.  When we decisively walk the straight and narrow—not veering to the right or left—but keeping our feet on the path that God has shown us in His Word, we begin to see God in His infinite beauty.  He becomes more and more clear to us—more and more attractive—and of great value.

Obedience is not hard, but it does take discipline.  Our natural ways are often not God’s ways.  Obedience means listening to God when He speaks through the Word, through Godly friends, through scripturally sound books.  Obedience also means doing what we hear God telling us.  James 1:23-24 says, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”  Hearing and doing must go together if obedience is the goal. 

When we do hear God speaking, we must obey immediately, because as I told my kids, delayed obedience is disobedience.  Delayed obedience can also make us doubt that God even spoke at all; it can encourage us to disregard that still, small voice.  When we continually ignore God’s promptings, His voice will get harder and harder to hear.  But when we hear Him speak and we jump to obey, when we continue to do this, focusing on God’s plan and not our own comfort, he says that we will gain freedom and blessings from His hands, “ But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:25)

The act of obedience takes a choice.  It involves just doing the next thing God asks of you again...and again...and again.  Like I tell everyone I meet with, walking as a Christ-follower requires a long obedience in the same direction.  It requires an everyday reliance on God's Spirit within and moment by moment choices to die to your own natural inclinations.  

Obedience is our path to freedom.

Obedience invites God’s blessing.

Obedience is attractive because God’s ways are beautiful…and beautiful lives point our broken world back to their Father.

Obedience does not guarantee we will know what the future holds, but it does give us confidence in the pure character of God—and the knowledge that His ways are always good.  So, in obedience, we can rest….and trust…and give Him glory.

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Be careful to obey all the law… do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

Joshua 1:7

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Doggone it!

Over the weekend, I taught at a Women's Retreat at Hidden Acres Christian Camp outside of Dayton, Iowa.  When I was teaching about #WhosTheBoss, I used an illustration that I had gleaned a few years ago (when I was at wit's end with my naughty puppy) from an online dog trainer called Doggy Dan.  As I was going through the list of training rules on Doggy Dan's website, I was struck by how applicable they were to me when I visualized God as the Master and me as...ahem...the dog. 

Read on for the training rules:

1. Feeding: The dog needs to know that you control the food and will give it when he needs it.  

So, how exactly does this relate to me?  I am able to get my own food pretty much anytime I want and sometimes when I don't even need it.  But, when Psalm 145:15-16 says, "The eyes of all look to you,  and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing," I'm fairly certain, God is not just promising to feed us physically.  In fact, Philippians 4:19 tells us that God has promised to supply all of our needs according to his riches in glory.  This means that, in the same way that my dog needs to trust that I will give him his breakfast in the morning and his supper at night, I need to trust that God will give whatever I need whenever I need it.  Trusting God also means that I will choose NOT to worry about what he is or is not going to give..."Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"  (Matthew 6:25-26) . If we could see our future clearly and where each and every situation would take us, we wouldn’t need to trust God or make him Boss.

   

2. Danger: Always remain calm and relaxed and let your dog know that you will protect him in the event of danger.  This way your dog will learn to trust your judgment.  

If my dog chooses to disobey me, distrust me, or generally ignore me, I cannot properly protect him from danger--or give him good things. In the same way, if we have chosen to make God our Master, we are eternally secure; our inheritance sure.  If we truly believe that God is, indeed, sovereign, we will trust his judgment on what is good for us.  Nothing takes God by surprise ever!  When we are undone by tests and trials, it is because we are not fully resting in God's protective care.  First Peter 4:12-13 says, "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."  As Christ-followers, we should expect that this life will include suffering, but we can also be assured that our eternity will be full of joy!

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3.  Everything on Your Terms: You should initiate everything. Watch out for attention-getting or space-invading.

Oftentimes, when my dog wants me to pay attention to him, he will put his paws (and his sharp claws) on my leg so I will play with him.  He will continue to do this over and over until I reprimand him.  We do this with God too.  No, we don't have paws, and we don't ask God to "play" with us, but we do enter into his presence with our own agenda and seeking our own glory.  And sometimes, we forget that God is our real Master, and we fill his place with selfish ambition.  When we replace God's glory with our own, or put others/things/experiences on his throne, we are inverting his God-ordained order and operating outside of his boundaries.  Isaiah 46:9 speaks for God and says, "I am God and there is no other.  I am God and there is none like me." Those are the terms God has designed and since he "is in the Heavens, [he] does whatever pleases him." (Psalm 115:3).

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4. The Walk:  Do not move until the lead is loose and your dog is calm.  If your dog is pulling you, turn around.  

Mostly, I don't walk my dog on a leash since we live by the woods where he can freely run.  But, sometimes, when I need to take him somewhere that a leash is required, he tries really hard to be in charge--pulling so hard that he actually cuts off his supply of oxygen.  I am not so unlike my dog.  Guess what? God will choose to accomplish his purposes in spite of us if we, like my dog, think we can walk ourselves.  But, if we remain calm, not "tugging on the lead," then God can accomplish his purposes through us!  Amazing!  When my dog pulls on the rope, he is only hurting himself; when I do the same, I am acting like I know better than God.  I have found a couple of verses that help me remember what my attitude and actions are supposed to look like when I feel my "walk" is not to my liking; Psalm 131:2 "But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content."

But, you know what? Even when we act like our silly pups, we aren't in the "doghouse" with our merciful Master; God still lavishly loves us and wants us show it by letting him lead.  And he tells us that, " In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence " (Ephesians 3:12) because he thinks we are the "pick of the litter!"  

         

Amen and Amen.

“God is too good to be unkind and he’s too wise to be mistaken.  And when we cannot trace his hand, we must trust his heart.”  

~Charles Spurgeon