"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

Christians shouldn't lie. It's a children's church truth that everyone in America knows, practicing believer or otherwise. Anyone can quote with their best low-tone-Simpsons-like God imitation "'THOU SHALL NOT LIE" (or bear false witness or whatever), and it is as universally recognized as a goonie never saying "die". Being honest isn't something that just Jesus-lovers strive for either, its something that is admired by everyone, whether you believe in a God or not. Yet when it comes to Christians (and none Christians too I suppose) lying is something we do on the daily.

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Honesty is really what I wanted this post to be about. Not so much about verbally telling the truth(like I said before that idea is already lodged in everyone's brain), but being honest on a level that goes deeper than our conversations with others. What I've really been thinking about, is the honesty of our hearts. How honest are we with ourselves? How honest are we with God? How honest are we with our actions and intentions?

Personally, I think a Christian should be much more focused on the big picture of honesty, rather than only focusing if there speech has been factual or not. I think, instead of just nitpicking our words for lies, we should nitpick out hearts to see if they are transparent. We should look at our actions to see if our intentions are honest. Like when we pray, do we speak real words that are from our souls? or do we pray in routine, rhyme and rhythm, with words that don't really mean anything? Are we like the hypocrites in Jesus 'acts of righteousness' (Matthew 6) speech who do good works, and have lengthy prayers so that they will be admired? or do we do them so that others will actually be benefitted.

1 Samuel 16:7 says "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Often times I have to tell myself, "quit being fake!" because I am not always true to who I am, or to what I believe. I'm always trying to impress people, or look good. Even when I'm doing "Christian" things, I do them because "that's what a Christian should be doing!" rather than actually doing them with love, or out of compassion, or humility etc. 

When we are transparent and honest, I think that's when people actually experience God's love, rather than experiencing something fake and superficial. Christ did call himself the truth, after all, and that's what people are longing for. Something honest, organic, and full of integrity. We should examine ourselves daily to see if that describes us. Honest, organic, and full of integrity. When these words become who we are, we will be able to help and understand any kind of person, and love past any wrong, just like Christ has done for us.

"Gonna have to serve somebody"

The other day, I was listening to "Gotta Serve Somebody", a classic written and preformed by Bob Dylan. The song is obviously spiritual, but I had never taken anything from it, to heart. Other than the fact that it was about God, the Devil, and that we probably "have'ta" serve one of those deities, eventually. On a separate occasion, recently I read, at some church form/christian related outlet, (I'm pretty sure it came up in another blog) the verse, "Choose today who you will serve.... As for me and my house, we will serve the lord." (Joshua 24:15)

 What grabbed my attention from this verse was the fact that it says the word serve, just like in the song. Naturally, I disregarded the rest of the article because I was too busy thinking what it would sound like if Bob Dylan did a bible book-on-tape, and how much my bible time would increase if Bob Dylan were reading it to me. Then, I didn't come back to the thought of serving someone until today at lunch, when someone quoted Jesus by saying, "you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's." (Mark 8:33) That's when I realized how the question of serving somebody is very applicable to me, everyday.

The reason I would dismiss the song/verses about serving somebody was because "I'm a Christian. I've already decided who I'm going to serve." But now I think that both Bob Dylan, and Jesus, had a much deeper meaning to "serving somebody" then just a one time life decision to "become a Christian" or not. 

We serve somebody everyday, with everything we do.  Life choices big and small, never escape the realm of us preforming a service to someone. Whether we are running errands, at work, relaxing with friends, at church, or anything else in between, we are doing something for someone. That someone, could be anyone! Often times I find that "Somebody" that i'm serving, to be myself. I might not ever do this consciously, even less often with malicious intent, but when I examine myself, I find that I do focus on my interests, almost always. I'm always thinking, "What will make me happy?", "What's in it for me?" or "How will I end up on top?" What I should be thinking is "How will this benefit others/God?" 

Jesus says that that "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13) Whether you are a christian or not, we can all see the wisdom in Jesus' words here. I personally think he was talking not just about dying for your friends, but living for them. Daily putting other people's/God's interests above our own. Daily serving somebody. Difficult? certainly. But to quote the great Nick Lidstrom "It wont be easy, but nothings that's worth while ever is."

Hello! first blog post! I'm starting this blog because United Church in parchment, MI(the church on Roosevelt), wanted an online outlet to do church with, so naturally (because I'm under 25) I've been selected to write it.

If you know me , and are wondering 'what in the world is he writing a blog about Jesus for?' I can explain! I am not trying to pitch my "infinite wisdom" to anyone, nor am I trying to boost my social status to "spiritual". I'm not claiming to have any wisdom at all, I'm not even claiming to be that good of a Christian, but I am honestly trying to learn more about Christ. I do honestly believe that he is legit, and I honestly love him. I may not always show that with how I live, but who does? I love being skinny and good-looking, but that is not always evidenced by all the pizza I eat. (I think we can all relate to a good pizza analogy.)

With that being said, I hope you can take my thoughts with a grain of salt. I'm not trying to be preachy. I'm just wanting to share my thoughts, as I learn, as humbly as I possibly can. If you are reading this blog and you're not a Christian, wonderful! That's who I'd like the read this blog the most. If you've ever been curious about Christianity, if you hate Christianity, if your indifferent, or if you're in some other category, I'd love for you to continue reading. I'd love for you to bring your thoughts to the table, and I'd love to learn something from them too. My beliefs are not concrete, I don't think anyone's are completely infallible. People who say "it's my way or the highway" are really the only people with whom I would rather not discuss. Otherwise, bring on your brains!!

Proverbs says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." but this verse is very ambiguous as to who it's referring to. Is it the obnoxious Christian? the atheist? or is it referring to something more superficial, like a person who prefers one set of movies to another? I doubt it's the last one, but what ever it is alluding to, I'm trying to find the way that's actually right. I don't want to be that guy who's being lead to death! So I'll be writing and posting with the idea that the right way could be Jesus. Join the discussion, Join the search for truth.

Thanks for reading my little introduction, I hope you check my blog out again in the weeks to come.

-Josh White
United church
2772 Roosevelt ave, Kalamazoo