Freedom Comes with a High Price

 Today is Memorial Day. This holiday is not about gathering with other people and having barbeques. Although that is a great way to demonstrate freedom, it is not the meaning of the day. This day is about remembering and celebrating those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. We live in a free country in which we can think, believe, and say what we want, regardless of what some people want to believe. Our freedom comes with a high price as many lost their lives for our freedom. Since some have given everything for our freedom, we must become responsible with our freedom. 

Being responsible with our freedom means we may have to refrain from speaking all of our thoughts. We can be free with our speech and still be kind and reveal the love of Jesus. The evil that exists in our society will always be there. We don’t have to respond to all of the evil with a cliché or a clever statement in an argument. We can respond with being kind to our fellow human beings. When we are responsible with our mouths, those outside of the church notice because they usually only hear the reckless words that come out of the mouths of Christians. Soldiers fought and died so all could have the freedom of speech. 

Being responsible with our freedom also means that we stand up for those who are suffering. We work as a church to find solutions for the homeless. We work as a church to find solutions for the disparity in education. (There are huge gaps with minority groups and the poor.) We walk inside of the walls of those places that need help instead of scream on social media how they are doing it all wrong. That doesn’t help anyone, and the people on the inside do not listen because they know that the problem is much bigger. Soldiers fought and died so all could have a place to be home and an education that continues to bring freedom to our country. 

Being responsible with our freedom means we genuinely care for others. Find a space to serve those who are in need. We can have good thoughts and prayers, but once we start serving, then we realize the true work that needs to be done. As much as I am an advocate to serve at church, our society needs our hands and feet outside of the church walls. Find an area where you can serve, whether it is in your career or not. Serve your coworkers and those whom you influence daily. Our soldiers fought and died serving their country. We can find small ways to serve others. 

Jesus gave his life and gave us the ultimate freedom from our sins. We do not have to be concerned with the sins of other people. Once we accept Jesus, we know that we are clean from sin and are free to live our lives. With the freedom, comes the responsibility to love others with the love of Jesus. With that freedom, comes the responsibility to serve others with the love of Jesus. With that freedom comes the responsibility to forgive as Jesus forgave us. 

Freedom. It is a word that we love to say, but it is a word that requires action. Today, as we honor those who fought and died for our freedom, may we think of ways that we can serve others as we remember them and Jesus who fought and died for us.  

A Night of Thanks

 In the midst of a society that is greedy and unappreciative, I was able to witness an evening of thanks. My school where I teach has a tradition. We have a senior dinner. At this dinner, the students receive all their cords and sashes for graduation. Then, there are the speeches. Each and every senior has written a thank you note to their parents/guardians. They wrote them on index cards and gave the speeches in front of the entire class of seniors, parents, and teachers at the dinner. The beauty began. 

Big, tough young men broke down into tears thanking their parents for all that they did in their lives to bring them to their graduation from high school. Some students apologized to their parents for all the trouble they caused them. Students confessed that they loved their parents. Parents were in tears. Then, the last kid gave his speech. This big jokester who will go to a four-year college thanked his single mom. Then, he turned and like many others thanked the staff and teachers. As  he turned to his math teacher, he thanked him for being his father figure and that now he has a dad in his life. My co-worker, a girl dad, was brought to tears. 

These young people reminded me that we must take the time to thank the people in our lives that have made a difference. So many people reserve those words when those people are no longer in our lives. Whether it is from death, or they are no longer in our physical presence because of distance, we speak highly of them but not to them. That senior dinner reminded me to take the time to thank those who have shaped my thoughts while I am in their presence and not wait to speak about them to others. 

Vulnerability is an action that most people would prefer to stay away from. Scroll through any social media site and people are blasting other people and never exposing themselves and their flaws. People would rather present themselves as perfect than be vulnerable. This senior dinner put into practice what we have been teaching our students. We have taught them to be vulnerable and honest. For one night, they put that into practice. It is difficult, but the things worth doing in life are the most difficult. 

So many of us are wasting our time insulting others instead of building others up. The Bible implores us to encourage one another. Anyone can insult. You may think you are better than the person that you insulted, but you are not. In fact, you just revealed that you are weak and unable to have a conversation with someone to discuss the differences and still remain respectful. The people who can empower others with their words are the people who reveal their confidence and the people that are remembered. 

I have been guilty of insulting others both in-person and online. I have repented from those days. It took someone being frustrated with me that I realized that she just needed to be valued by others. I then changed my words when I approached people. I empowered and encouraged them before I would do anything else, especially those in leadership in the church. I know what it is like since I have been on church staff. Even after I have been out of youth ministry for several years, some of my former parishioners would rather insult me than empower me. I am trying to empower them back now. 

Think of the people who have made a difference in your life. They were not perfect. In fact, their imperfections may have encouraged you to not have to be perfect. Look at the qualities that they have that have inspired you. It is those qualities you can appreciate. You can learn from their imperfections that even though no one is perfect, they still have a purpose in life, and they still influence others around them. 

Who have you influenced? What would people say about you? More importantly, who has influenced you? What have you said to them? Are you known to be someone who shows appreciation and empowers others, or are you the one who believes that you are better than others and you are insulting others? Here is my challenge. Take the time to thank someone who has influenced you in your life. Look for that teacher who made a difference, or that pastor, or that youth pastor. Once I found some of my mentors online, I thanked them for their influence. It takes a few moments. It lasts a lifetime. 

Do We Disown People for Their Beleifs?

 “Tom Hanks should disown his son!” I have read that quote more than once on Twitter. The reason people believe that Tom Hanks should disown his son is because his son is a conservative republican. Tom Hanks, as far as the public knows, is a liberal democrat. He has a beautiful and respectful relationship with his son. So, why would people think he should disown his son because his political beliefs are different from his? We live in a polarized society that lives at a middle school social level that if you do not 100% agree with someone, you should cut them out of your life. The problem with that idea is that we lack wisdom, knowledge, and the ability to love people. 

In the book of James, we are informed that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God. The problem is that many people may not recognize that they lack wisdom. They may have a lot of knowledge, but they lack wisdom. They may have been the valedictorian of their high school, but without wisdom, they refuse to allow those with differing viewpoints to partake in their lives. That is foolish. If you do not understand what those with differing views believe, how can you manage to understand how other people live their lives? How can you learn? 

Wisdom demands understanding. We must strive to understand people, even if we do not agree with them. There are life circumstances that have brought them to their beliefs. Jesus understands us, or as the advertisements tells us, He gets us. He gets us because of his wisdom, he understands us. He understands us because he walked with us. You begin to understand people when you walk with them. You open yourself up to see the person for who he or she is without prejudgment. When you listen and understand people, they are more open to listening and understanding you. It’s how many people have come to know Jesus. 

Along with wisdom, we must strive to always learn and to continue to gain knowledge. One way to learn is to listen to people who think and believe differently than you. Ask them questions without being sarcastic or mean. Be genuine with your questions. What is it that has brought them to this place and idea? Where can you learn more about their ideals? What books can you read?  

I have discovered that with reading books that align with what I believe is great because it strengthens my thoughts. I also have read books that do not align completely with my beliefs or ideals. If I ask people who don’t believe in the Bible to read it, but if I haven’t understood their beliefs, then how am going to expect them to read a book that I believe? Reading is not dangerous. Not reading is dangerous because it keeps you in the dark from information that can guide you to understand others in life. 

Knowledge will lead you to understanding. To know how and why others believe what they do simmers your anger. You realize that their life experiences align with their beliefs. This helps in explaining to someone how Jesus can change their life. It’s difficult to explain to someone that Jesus will change their life and make it better when they believe that their life is perfect. You have to admit to your imperfections and that you are always willing to learn and gain knowledge to understand another person. 

“Knowledge puffs up but loves build up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1, CSB) It’s unfair that I use this verse after I just wrote to get knowledge, but you must understand that with your knowledge you must still show love to people, especially those who are different from you. Without love, your knowledge is useless. This is where many Christians struggle, including myself. 

For years, I relied on my knowledge as a Christian. I tried to force people to believe and think like me. I discovered the danger of desiring everyone to think and believe like me when I started to add wisdom and love to my knowledge. Knowledge helped me understand who God is and what a Christian life should be. Wisdom helped me understand the grace that God has for me, and the grace I need to have for others. 

Love will never disown someone because he or she believes differently than you. Love respects someone who is different and listens. Love listens. Love respects. Love does not have to agree. Love does not insult. Love finds common ground. 

Common ground can be that you have the same interest as someone else. Love can be allowing someone to live their beliefs without insulting them. Love does not insult and call people names. Once you insult and are mean in conversations, it shows your lack of knowledge, and you lose the debate. Love allows people to live without affirmation of their lifestyle. Love does not demand. Love invites. When you begin loving people, you will see that you can love them even when they believe differently than you. 

Tom Hanks and his son both set an example for us all how two people can have a strong relationship with different agendas and beliefs. You should never disown or block those who think and believe differently than you. Invite them into your life and space. Learn from them and let them learn from you. Jesus taught everyone he encountered. He didn’t demand. He invited. Love with the love of Jesus and watch your relationships flourish. 

For the Love of Books

 

Last week, we went to the LA Times Book Festival. The campus of the University of Southern California exploded with book vendors, authors, soon to be authors, more books, and vendors that were able to connect with book lovers and writers. Since the pandemic, more people have bombarded bookstores. I love it. Books take you out of your world and bring you into a new world where you don’t have to worry about your own problems but those of the characters in the book. Not everyone enjoys the idea of everyone reading books. 

Book banning is erupting again throughout our country. I’m not for book banning. I do see age-appropriate books. As a high school teacher, I can tell you that young children should not read The Great Gatsby, or Catcher in the Rye, but that does not mean those books should not be in our high school libraries. The more books you ban, the more you come closer for having the Bible banned. 

No matter what your political affiliation is, you must understand that books are powerful. Both parties have struggled with books. Books inform you. If you disagree with the information, you can put the book down or find a book that reveals the other side of the argument. If you only use articles found on Google, then you are lacking some knowledge. Books tell stories. Stories do not always have a linear experience, and that is one of the reasons people struggle with books. 

One of the reasons we struggle with books is that they reveal a truth about ourselves or the people with whom we associate. We don’t want the truth. We want information that affirms our thoughts, lifestyle, and ideologies. When books do not affirm those, we want to ban them from being in public spaces. Spaces that ban books create more readers. 

Since books became available to the general public, they have been dangerous. Jesus would open the scroll and read from it. The religious leaders would get angry. The religious leaders would memorize the words, but they struggled when they were reminded of the words and what they actually mean. Writers do not write stories to make people agree with them or feel better. They write stories that expose the truth within us. That truth is that we all have flaws and we all must take a journey to overcome those flaws. 

Reading is essential. Our young people, especially those in urban communities, are getting ripped off with their low reading levels and low comprehension scores. People outside of education will argue with me that people can get along just fine without being able to read. However, these same people do not realize that laws were put in place to keep the poor readers from advancing in life. They cannot advance because of their low academic scores. Then, the people who can read, vote for laws, and persuade the low readers to vote for laws that keep the low readers from advancing. It’s a vicious cycle. 

Books can inspire us to be better people. When you read a book with characters that are all evil, you realize that one drop of wrong can create a life of chaos. Books can bring us to a world of imagination. Books reveal to us a world that we may not know. We can visit any place in the world and any time period, including the future. Books create new worlds that we either want to live or not. 

When we have used our imagination, we begin to create. As we create, we begin to serve others. It may not be in the form of art, but we can find real solutions to real world problems. When we are so busy creating, we are less inclined to spend time insulting others or worrying about issues that are not ours to even give a second thought to. We realize that our imagination will create in us a new world that gives us hope for the future as it brings delight to our present and shines a light on the past. 

Reading opens doors. When we read, we discover new arenas for ourselves. Like most people in the twenty-first century, I am guilty of spending too much time on social media or streaming services. I have to remind myself that books bring health, and my intelligence grows. The doors that can open for all of us when we read can make our life journey better. 

Whether it is a book that tells a great story or informs us of how to live a better life, we can all take the time in our lives to read. I love to read, but I make excuses for why I don’t have the time to read. I must make the time to read. Last weekend I was reminded of the hundreds of people that want me to open their books and read. I hope one day, people will arrive at the Book Festival and open my book and read it. So, I will read to educate and entertain myself. I hope you will join me and pick up a book today.