What I'm going to Rant about tonight can be summed up like this, "It's ok to have stuff. It's not ok for stuff to have you." Jesus spoke many times of selling all you have, or giving all you have, to the poor. Which has kind of given the church world a poverty mentality. Made us think we shouldn't have nice things. Which is kind of ironic when you consider the idea of like millionaire mega church pastors with huge houses and nice cars and expensive clothes and all that. And I'm not judging those people either. What you have and what you do with what you have is between you and God. If the Holy Spirit can't convict you, what chance do I possibly have? Not to mention that it's not my job to convict you. It's my job to love you. To edify you. Support you. Give you what I've got. And here's the thing about giving--it is kind of the opposite of earning (or making someone earn). If I give you something... it can't matter to me what you do with it. Because once I've given it to you it's out of my control. A gift is given simply so that the person you're giving it to can have it. But I said all that to say this: sometimes we get so caught up with what we have (or don't have) that we lose sight of what's REALLY important. People. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. Giving what we've got instead of focusing on what we haven't got. And, realistically, when we give some things away we feel lighter. More free. I don't want to put my mom on blast or anything, but she's a little bit of a hoarder. Except that she doesn't even LIKE hoarding. She always says, "Look at all this junk!" It's heavy. It weighs you down. Travelling light is easier. Less to worry about. What I'm trying to say is, if you have love you have everything you need. And if you have love you're willing to give what you have. So you have everything you need, and nothing that you don't. Psalm 37:16 says, "A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked." I've never put a lot of importance on money. I know you need it. Bills don't stop coming. Life is expensive. I get that. But as long as I've had what I've needed, I think I've been pretty generous in my life. I've always wanted to take care of people. And more than that, I've always wanted to make people happy. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, I'm just trying to illustrate the difference between chasing the carrot and only ever getting the stick, vs enjoying the gift we've been given by sharing it. I'm trying to illustrate a more excellent way. It is more blessed to give than to receive. No, really, it is. You'll feel it inside. And you'll be less burdened by the sheer weight of everything that tries to drag you down. We are blessed to be a blessing. God made so many of His people rich in the Bible. Having stuff isn't the problem. Stuff having you is the problem. Not being able to give what you've got is the problem. Thinking that you have to keep it to yourself--or hoard it--is the problem. Sharing is caring. Love is giving. If you think the cost is too high, you need to get your priorities checked. 

It costs something... to love somebody. But in the grand scheme of things, it's a small price to pay. Giving everything you have and everything you are is what you were put here to do. To be loved, and to love. To be known and to know. That's our purpose. That's why we were created. So anything less than that means that we are not living up to our full potential. We are not living this life to the fullest. See, there's a life we've settled for--going to work and buying stuff and paying taxes--but there is so much more to this gift of life we've been given. Specifically, in a Word, love. Love is what makes life worth living. And love is giving. One more time: Giving everything you have and everything you are. In order to love someone, it costs you your selfishness. It costs you getting, or doing, what YOU want. Until you understand the heart of God beating with love in your chest and come to the realization that what you REALLY want is to love people. Look at Acts 20:35, "I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." And as foreign as this concept seems... I can tell you from experience. It really is more blessed to give than to receive. I can remember some of the best stuff I've been given in my life. But I can remember ALL of the times I really blew someone's socks off by giving them what they needed. And I say "needed" because wants are one thing, but needs are something else. That look in someone's eye when they don't think there's any way they'll ever be able to get something, or do something, and then you hook them up. Man, that's priceless. Might have cost you. Might have cost you a lot. But in the grand scheme of things it was a small price to pay. Because worldly goods and possessions are fleeting. Like my mom always says: "Money? Just work and make more!" But using that money to give someone a life-changing experience... now we're talking. Even on a small scale. Giving someone food, or the money to buy food. What do we always say? You don't have to change the world. But if you love someone you will change their world. So if you'd rather be a miser, Scrooge McDuck, and swim in your pool of coins... have fun. Enjoy. But it's not worth it. God blesses us in order for us to be a blessing to others. To see a need and meet it. To live out of our abundance. He, in a very real sense, keeps the cost low. Even though it's everything we have and everything we are. He fills us up to overflowing so that we don't have to force it. He gives us everything that we need... so that we can give what we have. The key is our mindset. Keeping ourselves focused on things other than ourselves. Esteeming others higher than ourselves. Putting others first. Letting what's inside come out by focusing on what we have only in the sense of giving what we have. Doing what we can do... for others. Loving God by loving people. Letting Him love us and then loving Him back by loving each other. And, yes, you might not have as much "stuff." But that's not a bad thing--we'll really look at this tomorrow, probably--that's a good thing!

Nothing worthwhile happens on accident. It must be purposeful. And, quite frankly, it must cost something. Look at 1 Chronicles 21:24, "And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost." It's a sacrifice. That's what it comes down to. Now, remember, we saw yesterday that Jesus said nobody who gives up anything for the kingdom of God's sake will not receive manifold more in this present time. Because what we're "giving up" is love. And we are connected to the unlimited source of love. The more you give the more you have. You don't deplete it by giving it away. You increase it. You manifest it in the world. But here's the cost: If I do what you want, I can't do what I want (unless it's what we both want). So the cost is... yourself. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Not trying to get, get, get. And, as king David said, not taking from others even to give to the Lord. Because whatever you do to the least of them you do unto Him. By taking from people you ARE taking from the Lord. By giving to people you are giving to the Lord. How do we love God? By loving people. The cost is... ourselves. Putting others first. Esteeming others higher than ourselves. Not thinking less of ourselves... but simply thinking of ourselves less. Not being selfish, being selfless. Not trying to take care of ourselves--and, listen, you DO have to take care of business. Paul wrote, "If you don't work, you don't eat." I'm not talking about the day to day practice of living--but taking care of others. If you have a coat, good. You won't freeze to death. But if you have TWO coats, and you see someone who needs a coat... that's an easy fix. It cost you a coat. Yes. But when you're living out of your abundance, the cost isn't too high. It's worth it. People are worth it. So when you think about, "What does God want me to do?" The answer is, "He wants you to love people." But He wants you to love people in the way that THEY need to be loved. Giving what you've got, but making sure you give it in a way that it can be received. If you try to shove Jesus--God, love--down people's throats they will choke on it. They will throw it up. You don't have to be overpowering. Sometimes the least you can do is the most you can do. Sometimes people don't want you to "fix" their problems. Sometimes they just want you to listen to them. And in that case, the cost is your time and your attention, right? But I'm telling you... it's a small price to pay. It's worth it. Being there for people. Having somebody's back. That's so powerful. A little thing that isn't really little at all. I think what I'm trying to express in this Rant series is that loving people ISN'T free... but it's worth it. A sacrifice will always cost you something. But when it's a love sacrifice it's a small price to pay. Giving everything you have and everything you are is the highest price you can pay. Giving it all you've got. But when you are so full of God's love that you can't keep it in... paying the price is releasing the love... and it's awesome. You end up not having all of the things you don't need. And you end up will only the thing (love, and all that comes with it) that you do need!

There's no such thing as a free lunch, right? That's conventional wisdom. If someone buys you a meal, chances are they're looking at it like an investment. They're doing something FOR you... because they want something FROM you. Kindness for kindness's sake is pretty rare. Because we seem to think--even in the church world--that if we give what we've got we'll end up with nothing left. Well, let's back up. We think we don't have anything so we spend (waste) our time, talent, and treasure trying to get something. And in that way we rob ourselves from what we DO have. But then, if we actually get to the place where we think we have something, we're so worried about losing it that we don't even use it. We hide our light under a bushel, if I can say it that way. We hoard it up, thinking that the only way to keep it is to keep it to ourselves. When, in truth, if you don't use it you WILL lose it. We can only experience the gift of God (that we've already been given) by sharing it. By giving it away. Because the gift of God is love. And love is giving. In order to truly love you MUST give everything you are and everything you have. No greater love can a man have than to lay his life down for his friends. Ok. Look at these two passages of Scripture: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it" (Matthew 13:46). And, "Then Peter said, Lo, we have left all, and followed thee. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting" (Luke 18:28-30). When you see something so great--like a pearl, if you can hear this... a pearl of wisdom... a nugget of truth... the truth that God is love and He loves you--it is priceless. Worth anything. Worth everything. And see, I don't think Jesus' point was, "leave everything you've got and have nothing." Because I believe, as Mother Teresa said, "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family." I don't think God wants us to throw people over in order to follow Him. Because following Him is all about NOT throwing people over! I think what we're talking about here is that no matter what the cost is... love is worth it. If you have to distance yourself from people... that's ok. Boundaries are healthy. Toxic people do not have to have a place in your life. The idea of people doing for you in order to get from you. That may be how most of the world operates, but that doesn't make it ok. People in your life are either a lesson or a blessin', right? But here's where I'm trying to go with this Rant series: If you love people, you have to be willing to pay the cost. Because giving what you've got CAN be scary. It doesn't have to be, but it can be. Making yourself vulnerable takes a large measure of trust. So we need to be sure that we're loving the right people in the right way. That we're spending our Three T's, but not wasting them. Loving people is worth it, I think I'm trying to say. That's an easy blanket statement. Loving people the right way takes a bit more effort. Still worth it, but we need to understand the cost.

I just want to point people to God. To love. To Jesus. To God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. And that love in our bodies coming out. Because that's what it's about. It's about living and loving. Which, really, are the same thing. It's about receiving and releasing. Letting God love us, and then loving Him back by loving each other. That's what this life is for. That's why we were created. I like the line, "Preach the gospel at all times, and if you have to... use words." Because actions speak louder than words. I can talk about Jesus all day long without even saying the word "Jesus." Because when you talk about love you are talking about God. Because God IS love. You don't have to be all religious in order to be "Christian." Look at John 13:35, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." We are proved by our love. I'd rather somebody say, "Tom's a nice guy. He really loves people," than "Tom's a Christian." Because, to be honest, at this point being a "Christian" almost comes with a somewhat negative connotation. People hear the word, "Christian" and they think "judgmental," "hypocritical," "mean." And unfortunate as that is, we've brought it upon ourselves. By being those things. By being on a sin hunt rather than a righteousness hunt. By telling people what's wrong with them instead of telling people what's right with them. We've totally and completely lost what it's all about. We've gotten it so mixed up that it doesn't even resemble what it's supposed to be anymore. It's supposed to be about God loving us and us loving Him back by loving each other. Period. That's how people will know that we are disciples of Jesus. Students of love. Learning how to love by learning how we are loved. Letting God love the hell out of us and loving the hell out of each other. Receiving and releasing. Letting the love inside of us fill us to overflowing and come out of us. Naturally. Because it's too good and too big to keep to ourselves. Because we have what everybody needs. So we ought to share what we've got. We ought to give it away. Experience and enjoy the gift we've been given by giving it away. It's about love. Like the Beatles said, "All you need is love." Love is what makes the world go 'round. Love is what makes life worthwhile. Relationships. Connections. So when I say, "It's not about you," what I mean is... it's about US. All of us. Together. Working together. Helping each other. Seeing a need and (if at all possible) meeting it. Me doing my part and you doing your part. And if that happens everything will get done. Because I can't do everything. But if I do what I CAN do then I've done my part. Just do your job. Stay in your lane. Stop trying to be someone you're not and just be who you are. Do those things that you were made to do. And do them heartily--do them to the best of your ability because they are in your heart to do them. Let love guide the way. Let what's inside come out. That, friends, is what it's about!

It's about love. Pure and simple. So that means it's about people. People other than yourself. You can't love people while you're also trying to get things from them. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. For God so loved the world He GAVE. I always say it like this: You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. If you're trying to get... that's literally the opposite of love. If you're trying to get... then you don't know what you've got. Knowing and believing the love of God is so vitally important to this life. Because living and loving aren't just connected. They are the same thing. To live is to love and to love is to live. So when we're going about our lives, trying to figure out what it's about... It's about love. Receiving and releasing the love of God. We love Him (by loving each other) because He first loved us. You can't give what you don't have and you can only give what you do have. So you have to KNOW what you do have. That's the receiving part. Not trying to GET love, but knowing that we HAVE love. Knowing that we ARE loved. And because of that... we are LOVE. Love isn't just what we do. Love is who we are. God is love. He created us in order to express Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. We are the visible face of the invisible God. We are His expression of love. He filled us up with love--with Himself--and we fill ourselves to overflowing with that love and watch it come out. Naturally. You don't have to force it. You don't have to fake it 'til you make it. But let me say this: Being nice to someone you don't like isn't being fake. It's being mature. It's being who YOU are no matter what, or who, you come into contact with. Letting what's inside come out. That's what it's about--being who you are. Who you REALLY are. Which is who you are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in you. Letting Jesus live His own abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love in you, and through you, and as you. Letting the love of God fill you up and come out. So you get the benefits of being filled up, and you get to give the benefits of letting it out. Receiving and releasing. Breathing in and breathing out. Breathing LOVE in and out. Letting God love the hell out of us and loving Him back by loving each other with every beat of HIS heart in our chests. So stop trying so hard. Stop trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got. You have what you need. You are who you're supposed to be. Relax. Rest. Let the love that's already inside you come out--by knowing and believing that it's in there. Faith comes from hearing, right? And hearing from the Word (Jesus, love) of God. Let that Word resonate with you. Soak it in, man. The love of God is all we need. And it's what we have. Our part is just using it, if I can say it that way. Experiencing and enjoying the gift we've been given by sharing it. By giving it away. By loving people. Love is what makes life worth living. Love is what it's all about!

It's about love. Which means it's about people. Because love is giving... giving everything you have and everything you are... to people. I always talk about God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. I want so badly to be able to help people--that's my goal in life, a lot of the time, just to help people--I want so badly to be able to help people see past themselves. Because I think that's where we get stuck. When you feel like you're lacking something (even though you're not), when you feel like you're missing something, it's so hard to do anything other than trying to get what you think you lack. That's why people spend (waste) so much time and effort looking for love in all the wrong places. And settling for way less than what's available to them. And I almost wrote "way less than what they deserve," but the truth is deserve's got nothing to do with it. Unless you prescribe to the theory that we deserve love simply by being. That everybody deserves love because the God who IS love created us in order to love us. I can get with that. That sounds good and right and proper to me. But that's the thing: If everybody "deserves" love then we can't deny it to anybody. We can't put ourselves first. We have to, as Philippians 2:3 says, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." In the Message Bible it reads, "Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead." I like that so much. Put yourself aside, because it's not about you. But I don't think there's any way to do that until you understand that you have no lack because your God has not lack. Until you understand that you are who you're supposed to be and you have everything you need. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. And you can't give anything when you're trying to get everything. When you're focused on you... you can't focus on anything, or anybody, else. How could you? Psalm 8:4 says, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" God is mindful of man. Because His mind is full of us. We are always on His mind. So we need to be mindful of each other. Fill our minds with each other. Look each man to the things of his neighbor. Don't worry about yourself. You're covered. Your heavenly Father has your back. He can--and will--keep you from falling. And the best way to keep from falling... is to help others stay on their feet. The best way that I've found to feel love... is to love somebody. To stop worrying about what I (think I) don't have... and to share what I do have. To shift the focus off of myself and onto the people in my life. That's what it's about: Relationship. Connection. Sharing what you've got. Giving it away. It's about God and people. And love. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. It's not about "me" it's about US!

In order to understand what it's about, you have to understand what it's NOT about. It's not about you. In the sense that while you are the main character of YOUR story... your story isn't the only one being told. You have to understand that what you do affects other people. You can't just do or say whatever you want. That's called be selfish. Self-centered. Narcissistic. Thinking that you can say or do whatever you want just because you're the one doing it is the height of folly. Thinking that you can do or say whatever you want just because you think it'll get you what you want is my definition of selfish. You can't live like that. What you say and do matters. Actions have consequences. And when you don't think of those consequences you can really get things messed up. Look at what Jesus said in Luke 14:28-30, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish." So just from a practical standpoint you need to think about what you're doing before you do it. Don't start something you're not prepared to finish. Count the cost. And, really, let me make this easy for you: If it's not love... don't do it. Because that's what it's all about. It's about love. If you're doing something that will hurt someone else... that's not love. Paul wrote a pretty long piece of a letter about how some people think it's ok to eat meat, and some people don't. Which is fine. But if eating meat causes someone else to stumble... don't do it. Because it's not about you. It's not about just doing what you want. It's about love. And, I'm telling you, when you really start to experience that agape love of God... you will be able to do what you want... because you will WANT to love people. You will WANT to take care of people. You will WANT to help people. You will understand what it means when the Bible talks about how it is more blessed to give than to receive. Because love IS giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. And you can't give while you're focused on taking, or getting. My personal definition of love is giving everything you are and everything you have without worrying about how it will be received. Laying your life down for your friends. That's a life worth living. That's what makes life worthwhile. So thinking about what it's really all about... we need to think about each other. See a need and (if possible) meet that need. I always like to say, "It's not thinking less of yourself, it's simply thinking of yourself less." God's got you covered. And that covering really makes a difference when you extend it to others. Staying dry is cool, but it's so much better to let someone else huddle under your umbrella with you. To share what you have. To share who you are. To extend your influence to those around you... in a positive way. In a way that lets the people around you know how much you care about them. Because it's not all about you. It's about PEOPLE. It's about God. It's about... love!

It's about people. That's as simply as I can put it. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. Which, believe it or not, means it's NOT about you. It's the difference between being self-centered (which is no good) and being God-centered, Christ-centered, people-centered. Being selfish, or being selfless. For my key verse for this Rant series I want to use Romans 12:10, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another." In the Message Bible it reads, "Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle." Putting others first. Esteeming others higher than ourselves. And here's an important part of this message--it's not about thinking less of yourself. It's about thinking of yourself less. Trusting that your heavenly Father has your back. Knowing, with a knowledge that passes knowledge, that my God has supplied all of my need. (The verse actually says He has supplied all of YOUR need.) Knowing that I'm gonna be ok. And in that knowledge, knowing that I can give what I've got to you. I don't have to hoard it. I don't have to save it for a rainy day. I can live abundantly. I can live out of my abundance. I can give YOU what you need. Because it's not all about me. It's about what I can do... for you. That's what love is: Seeing a need in someone else and meeting that need if at all possible. Laying your life down for your friends, and understanding that you "destroy" your enemies by MAKING them your friends. You don't have to punish people. Or make sure they get what's coming to them. You don't have be a Holy Ghost Cop and constantly be on a sin hunt. You can, in fact, flip the script and be on a righteousness hunt. You can stop telling people what's (in your opinion) wrong with them and you can tell them what's (in GOD'S opinion) right with them! Because it's not about you. It's not about you getting what you want. It's not about you making people give you what you want. Why should someone else fit into a box that you want for them? Why do you think it's your job to cram them into that box? Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. Love just does whatever it (HE) can do to help. To edify. To build up. To bear up. To hold up. Love just gives what it (HE) has. What it (HE) is. Love is giving. Giving everything that you have and everything that you are. But the best kind of love is giving someone exactly what they need. Not always what they want. Wants and needs are two very different things. But, for example, if you have two coats and someone doesn't have a coat... love is giving them one of your coats. Taking care of people. Feeding the hungry. Healing the sick. Giving people what they need. Being there for people. Because sometimes what we need most is just for someone to be there for us. To be heard. To have a shoulder to cry on. Someone to lean on. So let's stop focusing so much on ourselves. And let's make sure we're focusing on what it's about. It's about love. It's about God. It's about... people!

Let's end this Rant series with... not a warning, per se, but kind of the flip side of the coin we've been looking at. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" (Exodus 20:16). And if I'm not mistaken, that's one of the Ten Commandments. Don't be lying on people. Let me say it this way, "Trust, when it is broken, is almost impossible to put back together." And that, I believe, is from the Bearenstain Bears. When you're not being honest with people, or about people, that's such a big problem. It's not ok. Dishonesty is not ok. Especially when you consider that Jesus is the truth. So if you're rolling with Jesus, if I can put it that way, how can also justify bearing false witness? If you're full of the truth, how can you even get to a place where you're spewing lies? Let me say it another way: "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another" (Ephesians 4:25). And that, to me, really says it. We're all in this together. We shouldn't be trying to take anybody down. Attacking anybody. Lying on anybody. It just shouldn't happen. CAN'T happen, if you're full of the truth. How could it? God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all. God is the truth and there is no lying (or false witness) in Him at all. God is the truth. God is love. Love is the truth. If you love people, you will have no reason to lie on them. No reason to try to make yourself look better by making other people look worse. Because--one more time--we're all in this together. The tide raises all ships. When we work together, we succeed together. When we edify each other, look after each other, support each other, that's when we all share what we have witnessed. That's when what's inside of us--what is TRULY inside of us, not what the world tries to convince us is inside of us--comes out. Naturally. Simply by knowing and believing that it's in there. By witnessing who God is and what He has done for us (2000 years ago on an old rugged cross), and then by BEING a witness to what we have experienced in Him. It's the exact opposite of what a lot of people do. A lot of people think they have to protect that experience by keeping it to themselves. By hoarding it. By making sure it doesn't "get away." To the point of lying in order to keep what they've got, or get what they want. That's no way to live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. They aren't just connected. They are the same thing. And if love is the truth, then you can only live by telling the truth. By sharing the gift you've been given. By letting what's inside (what's really in there... love) come out. By knowing the truth... and TELLING the truth. Witnessing God (love) and being a witness to, and of, God (love). Telling the truth in love by telling the truth about love. Sowing into people instead of lying about people. Looking for what's right with people instead of looking for what's wrong with them. There's nothing in this world that bothers me more than dishonesty. Because you can't trust someone who lies. You just can't. But if you stand on the Rock that is Jesus--the foundation of truth--you will not be shaken. People will be able to trust you. They will know that you won't do anything to hurt them... because the truth is... you love them!