The Annointing

 
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”  Luke 4:18

The overly-tanned speaker in the silk leisure suit flashes a set of perfectly capped teeth and adjusts His face in what he assumes is a pious expression. “Naaaw, breth-ren!” he shouts. “I fe-e-el th’ anointin’ comin upon me!” He then proceeds to fleece the flock and sell $99 chances to receive the same “anointing” he claims to have. Unfortunately, people are falling all over each other to “sow” their hard-earned money into this “ministry.” What he calls “th’ anointin’” is indeed found in scripture, but not in the way he thinks. Second Peter 2 gives a scathing review of charlatans like this.

In contrast, the genuine anointing by the Holy Spirit is described in Luke 4. Jesus stood in the temple and read from the scroll of Isaiah, concluding with the startling announcement that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy. He then spent three years demonstrating what true anointing looked like: loving the unlovely, healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, and proclaiming salvation and forgiveness to all who believed in Him. His anointing led him straight to the cross—not to a gold-plated mansion financed by the sick and the desperate. He gave everything and took nothing. His anointing empowered Him to carry out the plan of God, because His reward was not limited to this material world. He offers that anointing to anyone who will receive it.

For what purpose has God anointed you? Have you received it? 
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The Always-Learning Church Lady

Second Timothy 3 begins with this warning:  
"But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant... For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 

Have you ever wondered who these women are? Have you met one? She is most likely someone you know well and never connected with this verse.

In my work as a counselor, I have met a few of these women. Each time I do, this scripture echoes in my head. Based upon the patterns that I have seen, here is a composite sketch of this woman in 2015:

She is old enough to know better. She has experienced more in life than most and has "gotten saved" at some point in there. She embraced Christianity with all the passion with which she has embraced a dozen other fancies. She absolutely LOVES church things. She is at every Bible study, and sometimes starts her own. She is at most church functions, if they offer a chance to "fellowship."Fellowship" for her means either the opportunity to show off her hostess abilities or gives her a chance to gossip, which she calls sharing prayer requests. She has started and sometimes finished a great assortment of discipleship programs, deeper-life studies, and new-and-improved Christian self-help fads. She has big, multicolored Bibles in every translation available and is well-known for her outspoken and strongly-held viewpoints.

She is drawn to obscure-type churches with off-brand names like "Holy Ghost Anointing Tabernacle" or "God's Shining Radiance Abounding," which she will proudly tell you is due to the fact that other churches are just not spiritual enough for her. She boasts of spiritual experiences that most "regular Christians" are not privy to, such as "seeing the Shekinah glory" and basking in "hours of supernatural manifestations." She lives for these manifestations and it never occurs to her that the demonic could be involved. 

Her family would describe her as very religious. She would call herself deeply spiritual; yet if cornered in a moment of honesty, she would admit she has never felt really close to God. That becomes easier to understand when you learn about her personal life. It is at strange odds with what she professes to believe. Multiple marriages, sexual immoralities, and often abortions, dot her after-salvation past. She shrugs when she admits to sleeping with whatever "true-love " she happens to be with and justifies it by declaring that "God understands."

The saddest part is that she cannot see the discongruity. Even after hours of therapy, interventions, and confrontations, she emerges shaking her head at the shallowness of those who have not attained her level of spiritual wisdom. She is usually in the middle of whatever conflicts are going on at her church or home, or she is the cause of them. She will admit to some flaws with loud weeping, and is often seen at the prayer rail, in the pastor's office, or on the prayer chain. But she never seems to get any better. She admits to some weaknesses that she feels comfortable with, but angrily denies the ones that others loving point out.

She is "ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." She is a caricature of the Proverbs 31 woman; yet, she cannot see that she is not the epitome. For all her Bible reading, she never seems to grasp the most basic concepts of love, humility, surrender, and obedience. For all her spirituality claims, she lives entirely in the flesh.

Have you met this woman? Paul warned that in the last days, they would be everywhere. Some have labled her the Jezebel Spirit. Paul simply calls her a "weak woman weighed down by various sins." The worst part is that for all her bold "witnessing," there is little spiritual fruit. Rather than drawing people to Jesus, she alienates them. While smiling at her face, those in her circle turn and walk away from any Jesus she professes. If she owns Him, they want nothing to do with Him. And that is the greatest harm of all.

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You're Doubting Me?

Your new friend identifies herself as a vegan. She proudly displays her literature  and carries a membership card for the Vegan Society.

But every time you go out to dinner, she orders meat. Steak for dinner, a hamburger at lunch.

One day you ask her about it. "I thought you were vegan. Why do you eat meat?"

She stares at you in disbelief. "You are doubting my identity? Seriously? I told you, I'm proud to be vegan. I go to all the meetings, carry signs in protests. I've even spent a lot of money buying vegan products... I LOVE being vegan.It's who I am! I can't believe you would say that!"

You swallow hard, then glance at the steak, medium rare, half-eaten on her plate. "Well, yeah, but you still choose to eat meat. Doesn't that say more about who you are than anything you just mentioned?"

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Another young woman sits across from me, the same look of incredulity on her face. "Of course I'm a Christian. I've been one since I was five years old! I read the Bible, I go to church, I even tithe when I can. I can't believe you would doubt my salvation!"

I swallow hard, then glance at my notes. "But you've just told me you're on your third live-in boyfriend and you have no intention of stopping this behavior. How can you claim to be a Christian and yet choose a lifestyle of immorality? Doesn't that say more about who you are than anything you just mentioned?"

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Talk is cheap. A relationship with God is often presented as a bonus, an extra gift for you to enjoy while you live the way you want to. That is a lie.

If you claim to be vegan, then you are what you eat.

And if you claim to be Christian, you are what you live.

What are you?
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Are You A Bumper Sticker?

Saw an interesting sight today.

A little red pickup idled in front of me at the stoplight. The back glass and tailgate were plastered with bumper stickers complaining about our government, spouting anti-American sentiment, and decrying foreigners taking American jobs. The driver's opinions were loud and clear. But as he pulled away, I had to laugh. The pickup was made by Toyota.

It made me think.

How many times are we quick to shout our opinions and defend our value system, while making life choices that cause others to wonder if we mean it? It is no longer unusual to read of a Family Values Politician being forced out of office because of an illicit affair. Or a left-leaning legislator with his finger in the profits of an overseas sweat-shop.

Wouldn't it be great if every one of us lived exactly what we said we believed? What if we never had to voice our opinions because our daily choices clearly reflected our heart values?

Jesus told his disciples that the world "will know you are Christians by your love."

Is that what we Christians are known for now? Or do our anti-everything slogans define us? Have we gained the reputation for being all talk and no show?

Jesus also said, "You are my disciples if you do what I command you."

He didn't say much about angry marches, shouting matches, or Bible thumping. He had a lot to say to the religious elite who spouted self-righteous jargon while oppressing the poor. I wonder how much of that ancient Pharisaical attitude has crept back into modern life?

How about your life?

Are you so busy defining what you're against and what others should do that you've neglected to take a hard look at your own selfish tendencies?

Be sure you're not a bold-faced bumper sticker on a Toyota.