September 30, 2007

DOGS AND CATS IN CHURCH

I.        Dogs and Cats

Dogs and cats, as you know, are very different. We had a dog for many years, named Ben. Ben was a great big ball of fur—a Samoyed and Golden Retriever mix. When we would go out in the yard, Ben would come running from wherever he had been, with his tail wagging  so hard he could hardly run.  He would rub up against you (not good if you were wearing dark clothes!), turn around in circles, and lick your hand, or any other patch of skin that was showing.  When you scratched behind his ears, he would stand perfectly still so you could get to all the right spots. He would stand there and let you brush him for hours. He loved to fetch the ball (he wasn’t so good at bringing it back, but he loved to chase it if you would throw it!)  It was pretty obvious that Ben loved us.

          Cats are another story.  We’ve never had a cat, because Barbie is allergic to them. But we’ve been in plenty of homes where they had cats, and I notice a definite difference between cats and dogs.  When you walk into the room where the cat is, he doesn’t acknowledge you.  He doesn’t even look at you.  He might come up and rub his head against your leg; but then he’ll go rub his head up against the chair, so you wonder if you mean any more to him than the chair. 

          You can call a dog and he’ll come to you eagerly.  Call a cat and you’re wasting your time.  Dogs like to play with you; cats tolerate you.   I’ve heard it said that dogs have masters, cats have staff.   There’s a joke about the different mind sets between and dog and a cat.  A dog says, “You feed me, you pet me, you shelter me, you love me—you must be God!”  Whereas, a cat says, “You feed me, you pet me, you shelter me, you love me—I must be God!” 

          And that  pretty much sums up the difference between two types of people in the church. Are you a Dog? or a Cat?  Now, Cats in the church really don’t say I must be God.  They know that’s theologically incorrect.  What they do is think this:  It’s all about me.  God did everything in this creation for me.  He not only died for me, he lives for me. 

          This attitude is nurtured by the Cat trainers on Madison Avenue.  They tell us things like this:

II.       Madison Avenue Cat Trainers

·                    “You deserve a break today.” 

·                    “We do it all for you.” 

·                    “Have it your way.”

·                    MySpace / MyYahoo!

·                    “What’s your blend?” (Minute Maid orange juice)  and they offer four different kinds of orange juice. 

·                    Vacationing in Bermuda is pitched as being “for the ... hedonist in all of us.” 

·                    Mercedes-Benz appeals to the self with one word: “Style.  Unlike any other.” 

·                    Salem cigarettes “stir the senses.” 

·                    Personal injury lawyers insist they “fight for your rights”, and encourage us to “get what you deserve.” 

·                    “I have a right to...” is a phrase we frequently hear. 

          Everywhere we turn, we are encouraged to put ourselves at the center of the universe.  Mind you, we are encouraged to do that by people who are really putting themselves and their profit line at the center of the universe, but they don’t tell us that.  They shamelessly appeal to our most selfish instincts, because they know that humanity is incorrigibly self-centered.  Few things are as motivational as our own self-interest, so you can sell almost anything by appealing to that base motivation.  These sorts of advertising appeals all encourage us to be Cats.

          But God wants us to be Dogs. 

III.      It’s Not About You

          “It’s not about you.”  A few years ago, our church spent 40 days together reading and interacting with Rick Warren’s bestselling book, The Purpose-Driven Life, and those words at the beginning of chapter one hit many of us right between the eyes. Life is not about you.  That’s one of the most un-self-centered statements ever written, and it hits us like heresy.  What are you talking about, life is not about me?  Of course it is!  Everybody says it is.  Well, everybody who wants to sell me something says it is; everybody else says life is about them.

          The Bible is the best selling book of all time, and the best selling book every year.  What does the Bible say?  Who is the Bible all about? Who is the main character of the Bible?  There are two possible answers:  God, or us.  God or humanity.  Who does the Bible put at the center of the universe? 

          Without any question, God is the main character of the Bible.  God is the main character in the universe.  Everything is about Him, not us.  We exist for Him.  Col. 1:16, “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”   Everything exists for God.  Did you ever stop to reflect on the implications of that?  You were created, and you exist for Him.  Your car is for God.  Your home is for God.  Your money and your time and your relationships are all for God.  It’s not about you.

          Dogs believe that. 

          The average Christian says God is the main character of the Bible, but lives and acts as if humanity is the main character.  They are Cats.  Let me give you some examples of this. 

IV.     Why Does God Do What He Does?    Eph 1:5,6; Rom 15:8,9; John 12:27,28; Ps 23:3

          Why does God do what He does?  Let’s start with the question, Why did Jesus come to earth?  “To die on the cross for our sins” is a common answer, and you can support that from Scripture.  Jesus left His father’s glory, came to earth, all for you and me, to save us from our sins.  You’ve probably heard it said that if you were the only person on earth, Jesus would have died for you.  That’s true.  But are you the ultimate reason Jesus came?  Is that the central message of the Bible?  The Bible is fixated on God.  Ephes. 1:5-6, “he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- [6] to the praise of his glorious grace…” The Bible says that Jesus came to earth to save a people for Himself, so we could be adopted as His sons and daughters, so that people and angels will praise Him for His glorious, undeserved favor to sinners like us. 

          Why did Jesus go to the cross?  Was it just for us?  In John 12:27 & 28 Jesus is thinking about the cross, He’s anticipating the pain that is coming, and He says, “Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say?  Father, save me from this hour?  No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name.”  When Christ went to the cross, the thing that was most on His mind was His Father’s glory.  Jesus died for us, yes, but he ultimately died to glorify the Father.  You can put a different priority on either one, depending upon who the Bible is all about.  Is it about us?  Or is it about God? 

          We could add examples forever, but here’s just one more.  This one is not about why Jesus came, but why God guides us in our daily lives.  Psalm 23:3 “…He guides me in paths of righteousness…” Why?  Why does God guide us in the way we should go?  Is it just because He loves us and He knows that will be best for us?  That is certainly true, but what does the Scripture say?  You know this familiar verse, but did you ever think about what it says?  “He guides me in paths of righteousness, “for his name's sake.”  Because it will show the world what a great, loving, kind, righteous, and wise Shepherd He is for His sheep. 

          God does everything that He does for the sake of His own glory.[2]  If we want to be aligned with the ultimate purposes in the universe, we need to get to the place where we do everything we do for His glory, and not for ourselves. 

V.      Cats in Dogs’ Clothing

         The average Christian is a Cat in Dog’s clothing.  We say we are Dogs, totally devoted to our Master, but in fact, we really believe that God exists for our pleasure, our benefit.  Many people’s most cherished belief about God is that He wants them to be happy.  Have you ever heard anybody say that?  Have you ever said that?  “God wants me to be happy, therefore, I’m going to...”  I have heard that phrase used as the justification for all sorts of things, including divorce.  God wants me to be happy, so I’m going to leave my spouse who is a drag, and run off with this other person who makes me happy. 

          The underlying assumption is that God exists to supply my needs.  We think, Look—He went to a great deal of trouble to save me, so I must be very important to Him.  He is there in case I get in trouble, or if I get sick, or if I lose my job.  God exists to supply peace in the midst of trials, strength to get through the next hardship, joy every day, and prosperity beyond my wildest dreams. God is sort of like Mom: hovering just at the periphery of life, providing us with an unending supply of fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies, and ready to swoop down at a moment’s notice to rescue us from any harm.  

          That is, very simply, a lie generated by our Cat-dominated culture. 

 For a Dog, God is the center of the universe.  Dogs live for the Master: for His pleasure, and for His glory.  A Dog says, “It’s all about God!”  Whether I eat, or drink, or whatever I do, I do it all for the glory of God.  Whatever I do, I do heartily, as to the Lord, not men, knowing that I serve the Lord Christ.   The Master who called me is holy, so I should be holy too, so as to reflect well on my owner.

          It’s hard to differentiate between a Dog and a Cat in church.  You can’t tell just by looking at them, like you can with real dogs and cats.  Both Dogs and Cats go to church; they both have invited Christ into their lives, they both pray, they both look so Christian.  The difference is in their heart attitude, and the way they answer the question, Is life all about us or is it all about God?

VI.     Differences Between Dogs and Cats in Church

          Here are some differences between Dogs and Cats in Church.  In general, Dogs study theology (theos is Greek for God), whereas Cats study “me-ology.”  Here’s how that gets expressed:

          A.      Bible study   Genesis 12:1-3 

Cats only read part of their Bibles.  For example, God’s call to Abraham starts out this way:  Genesis 12:1- 3  “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. [2] I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great,...[3] I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse…’”   Stop!  That’s far enough, say the Cats.  We like that part about being great, and being blessed, and God smacking those who hurt us.  Cool.

          But the verse goes on:

    “…and all peoples on earth

        will be blessed through you."

What is the point, what is the purpose of God blessing Abraham so abundantly? It’s so he can be a source of blessing to the entire world.

          Or consider Ps 67.   Psalm 67:1

  May God be gracious to us and bless us

        and make his face shine upon us, 

Cats stop there.  That’s good!  God’s grace and blessings and the constant shine of His face beaming at us—that’s  the birthright of every kitten of God.  But the sentence goes on in verse 2, “so that your ways may be known on earth,

        your salvation among all nations.”

The whole purpose of God blessing His people is so that His ways may be known on earth, and His salvation known among all nations.  But Cats miss that. They want to stop at the part that says God blesses them.    

          B.      Prayer 

Cats and Dogs both pray, but it’s very different for them.  A Cat’s focus in prayer is on themselves and what they can get from God.  Because they are convinced God wants to bless them, because life is all about them. So their prayer lives often look a lot like the grocery shopping list:  “Dear Lord, please give me this, this, this, and this, in the name of Jesus.  Amen.”  There is no reference to God’s glory, to His eternal purposes, no concern for what God might get out of it, little or no praise and worship and adoration.  They are just completely focused on themselves and their needs. 

          Cats use prayer to establish their own kingdom.  Dear Lord, I want you to build my kingdom and give me all of these things.  “Oh, Lord, we just pray for the loan officer to approve the loan for the house overlooking the lake, and, God, while you’re at it, would you throw in the boat too, please just make it a two-in-one package deal, God.  And we’ll give you all the praise and glory.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.” 

Here’s what a Dog is thinking about during a Quiet Time:  Where is God’s glory shining in my marriage? How is His glory shining in my singleness?  Where’s His glory shining at the workplace, or school or neighborhood? What kind of a reputation does God have when people look at my life?  A Dog’s first concern is, what does God get out of my life? 

           Dogs use prayer to build God’s kingdom.  Lord, I want to build your kingdom and make you famous.  Use me today when I go to school, or to work.  Speak through me today when I have lunch with a friend.  Let Your light shine through me this weekend when my neighbor and I go to a game together.  Please heal my friend so that we’ll have something to brag about you.  Give me your heart for my office mate who is so obnoxious—let her see you in me. 

          Dogs and Cats both pray, but it sounds very different. 

          Another difference is,

          C.      Dogs are trainable

 They like to obey their Master.  Nothing gives them more pleasure than responding to the Master’s voice.  Dogs can be trained to obey even the slightest command, even hand signals, or a look from the Master, or a whistle.  Barbie and I were out riding our bikes the other day, and we came upon a woman walking her dog.  Being conscious of the serious accident Dean Zimmerman had when he hit a dog on his bike, I was particularly concerned, especially since we were going downhill fast at that point.  But the woman called to the dog, gave it a command, and immediately it came to her and heeled.  Very impressive, and we thanked her for it as we went by.  Try doing that with a cat!  Christian Dogs take great joy and delight in obeying the Master.  “Instant obedience” is their mantra.

Cats, however, are very hard to train.  There’s a book on leadership called Managing People Is Like Herding Cats.[3] Imagine that we had 300 cats here today instead of people, and my job was to get them all out that one door in the back!   That’s going to be a problem, because cats like to do their own thing.  You can yell and scream, you can bribe cats with food, you can try to appeal to them through affection, and the cat will just sit there, with its feet tucked primly underneath it, and its tail wrapped securely around its side, and watch you.  People who are Cats often just ignore what God has said to them if it doesn’t fit with their self-centered agenda for their lives.  These are the people who pick and choose which portions of Scripture they will pay attention to, and the parts they don’t like, they just ignore. They say things like, “That’s not for me.” Or, “I don’t believe that part.”    

          D.      Different view of suffering    James 1:2-4

                   Madison Avenue has launched a trillion-dollar barrage of self-centered propaganda at us, trying to get us to operate mainly on the basis of self.  To counter that, we need a strong theology of suffering. James 1:2-4,  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, [3] because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. [4] Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  Consider it pure joy when you face trials.  They’re coming; you know that.   Suffering is the one common denominator of mankind.  But what will you do when the trials come?  Will you demand to see your attorney, or sue your doctor, or leave your spouse?  Consider it pure joy. God is much more interested in your holiness you’re your happiness; and in your character more than your comfort.  Because it is our character that proves we belong to Him, and that brings Him glory.

          Cats have little or no concept of scaling back, or suffering, or serving overseas, etc.  They are into maximizing their personal pleasure, comfort, and convenience.

 Dogs on the other hand, are more interested in God being glorified than in getting blessings for themselves.  They recognize that in order to glorify God, they will have to suffer. It takes the heat and pressure of pain to purify the mixed alloys of our character so that they are pure gold.  So dogs volunteer for seeing-eye duty, and serve as bomb-sniffers and therapy dogs in hospitals and nursing homes.  Christians who are Dogs wind up in hard places, like the inner-cites, or New Orleans, or in countries run by Islamic fundamentalists, or in hospitals caring for sick people.  Christian Dogs are like blood-hounds on the scent of a lost child in the mountains, splashing through streams, scrambling over talus slopes, heedless of the cuts and scrapes they get, or how long it takes, because the Master has sent them to seek and save the lost. 

          E.      Blessings

Both Dogs and Cats love and appreciate God’s blessings, but a Cat’s view of blessings is different.  Cats think of themselves as a bucket into which God pours His blessings, and when they get them, they say “Oh, praise God”. But it stops there.  Whereas Dogs know they’ve been blessed by God to be a blessing.  So they are happy to receive the blessings, too, but they have a channel going out, a pipeline, steadily sending the blessings on to others all over – in their neighborhood, at their work place, and to the nations.   

          Early in our church’s life, I was determined that we would be Dogs in this matter. The church that had owned this building carried a second mortgage for us for $100,000 in order to enable us to buy it.  A year later, that church was shrinking, and had decided to disband.  They decided to give us back the second mortgage note, effectively giving us almost $100,000!  We had been paying I think about $800+ a month on that note; what should we do with that money now?  One thought was to apply that to the first mortgage we had with the bank.  I suggested that we should give it away.  There were two other churches in town that had been started by the Baptist church that had been in this building, and both of them were struggling.  I suggested that for the next two years, until we had a balloon payment to the bank and would have to refinance that mortgage, we should divide the money we were not now paying on the second mortgage between those two other Baptist churches.  My reason was just this: God had been extremely generous to us.  If we started thinking like a bucket, He would stop pouring in the blessings when we filled up; but if we acted like a pipe, He would just keep pouring it in at the top as long as we were directing His blessings to others.   We did that, and we have continued to do that with our missions giving for the last 23 years. 

I know that I have exaggerated the differences between Cats and Dogs in this sermon.  We are not completely one or the other.   Most of us are more like foxes—which a fascinating mix of canine and feline characteristics.  But the question for all of us to be asking ourselves is, Am I mostly a Cat or mostly a Dog? Do I think God exists for me, or do I exist for God?  Does life revolve around me, or around God? 

I know that most of you want to be a Dog! In your heart of hearts, you love the Lord, and you are disappointed that you do not love Him more.  You want Him to be the center of your world; you want your life to revolve around Him and His purposes.  If that’s true of you, if you really want to be more of a Dog, sign up today for the Pathlight Seminar. Because it’s all about God, and what He’s doing, and how you can get on board with His plan for the world.  This seminar will cause you to fall in love with God and His glory more than ever, and your tail will wag with delight when you see how He is spreading His fame.