Learning to Speak like a Christian, Not Just Talk Christian-ese

NOTE: This one is a bit long because I felt it important to include the full text of the scriptures I referenced. I hope you find the included Bible verses helpful.

The scriptures tell us that words are serious business. Read what Jesus has to say about the words we speak, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36–37 (ESV)) But it’s not just judgment. Words are serious in how beautiful and valuable they can be. The scriptures tell us that, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11 (ESV))

As we examine the scriptures, you might notice that there is no prescription for a Christian to litter their speech with Christian-sounding phrases such as, “Praise the Lord!” The only place I can find where words are prescribed is when Jesus taught his disciples to pray with the words of the Lord’s Prayer. But there are many descriptions of how the people of God speak, both positive and negative.

LET’S START WITH THE POSITIVE:

Christians speak with praise to God. (Psalm 34:1 (ESV) I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.)

Christians speak graciously. The roots from which the Greek word for “gracious” is derived include concepts of giving and joy.  (Colossians 4:6 (ESV) Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.)

Christians speak words of blessing. (Romans 12:14 (ESV) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.)

Christians speak gently. (Proverbs 15:1 (ESV) A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:4 (ESV) A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.)

Christians speak encouragingly. (1 Thessalonians 4:18 (ESV) Therefore encourage one another with these words.)

Christians speak with patience and kindness. (1 Corinthians 13:4–5 (ESV) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;)

AND NOW THE NEGATIVE:

Christians do not speak dishonestly. (Proverbs 6:16–19 (ESV) There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: …a lying tongue, …a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.) Note that the phrase, “there are six… seven,” is a way to highlight something. It’s like texting in ALL CAPS WITH MULTIPLE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!

Christians do not speak deceptively or manipulatively. Christians are straight talkers. (Proverbs 4:24 (ESV) Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.)

Christians don’t need to go on and on when they are speaking. (Proverbs 10:19 (ESV) When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.)

Christians do not speak crudely. (Ephesians 5:4 (ESV) Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. Colossians 3:8 (ESV) But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.)

Christians do not speak boastfully, arrogantly, rudely, irritably, or resentfully. (1 Corinthians 13:4–5 (ESV) Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;)

It’s not simply the words themselves that are important. Words can be empty. Matthew 6:7 (ESV) “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

The intention of the speech is just as important as the words used. The Bible tells us that people can utter the right words without their heart being in the right place. (Matthew 7:21 (ESV) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.) People use words to hide their true motives and manipulate situations. (Psalm 55:20 – 21 (ESV) My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; violated his covenant. His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.)

It turns out that our words are not the real problem. The way we speak is really a diagnostic tool to discern the deeper condition of our hearts, like a thermometer helps to discern the inner temperature of a body.

Jesus teaches us that if our words are problematic, the words are not the real problem. If you have a speech problem, you really have a heart problem because your words flow out of your inner life. (Matthew 15:17–20 (ESV) Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”) (See also Matthew 12:34; Luke 6:45)

Honestly, it’s not really a question of if you have a speech problem, but when you have a speech problem. When you have a speech problem, your heart is not in the right place. So your heart is where the treatment needs to start.

The Bible gives us a very clear course of treatment for spiritual heart problems.

Step one is confession. When we run from or conceal our sin, we are blocking the cleansing and renewal God wants to give us. (1 John 1:8–9 (ESV) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.)

Step two is repent. The Greek root for “repentance” indicates that we turn our thinking around. We let go of our selfish thoughts and embrace God’s thoughts. Jesus called it losing your life for his sake. (Luke 24:45–47 (ESV) Then [Jesus] opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.)

Step three is live in faith. Faith trusts God’s promise that forgiveness is complete in Jesus, that we are God’s children and live in God’s love. (John 3:16 (ESV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.) It is this forgiveness and love from God toward us that will empower us to speak like a Christian as a natural consequence of what’s going on inside of us.

For all those who want to really speak like a Christian instead of simply adopt Christian-sounding phrases, here are four steps for speaking like a Christian.

One, consider the person before you speak. Often our speech degenerates when our view of the other person degenerates. As much as you may not like or feel hurt by (or whatever) the person to whom or about whom you are speaking, pause to remember that the other person is dearly loved by God… as dearly as you are. (1 Timothy 2:4 (ESV) [God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.) Reflect on God’s kindness toward you as you consider the other person. (Ephesians 4:32 (ESV) Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.) Picture that person as dearly loved by God in whatever way helps you. Imagine a little glow around them. See a shaft of light piercing the heavens and landing on their head. Picture them at the foot of the cross.

Two, listen first. The scriptures tell us that it is quite foolish to answer before you have all the information. (Proverbs 18:13 (ESV) If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame. Proverbs 29:20 (ESV) Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.) James tells us that Christians are “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.” (James 1:19)

Three, consider your words before you speak. This may seem obvious, but the Bible tells us to think about the words we are about to say and then choose, based on scriptural teaching, wisdom, love and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whether we should actually utter the words we are considering. (Ephesians 4:29 (ESV) Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Proverbs 15:28 (ESV) The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. Proverbs 12:18 (ESV) There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.) James goes so far as to tell us that controlling our tongue is a core part of new life in Christ. (James 1:26 (ESV) If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.)

Four, speak with restraint. The scriptures tell us that it is wisdom not to overflow with words. (Proverbs 17:27 (ESV) Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Proverbs 10:19 (ESV) When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.)

The idea of speaking like a Christian does include the words you use, but it has nothing to do with adopting Christian-sounding, pious phrases. It has everything to do with a repentant and grateful heart that rests in God and seeks to spread the love of Christ to all people in all situations.

Do You Have Marigolds in Your Garden?

Do you have marigolds in your garden? After the marigolds come into full bloom, anyone can see them. But between planting and sprouting, the gardener simply has to trust that the seeds are still where they were planted. "Yes, I do have marigolds in my garden," the gardener will say, even though there is no visual evidence and no one would know without being told by the gardener. When the plants first begin to sprout, it's very difficult to discern what type of plant it is. The gardener knows what kind of seeds were planted. The people who have been told by the gardener know what to expect. Perhaps a few very astute and educated observers would be able to see that the tiny shoots are marigolds. As the first few shoots grow, the type of plant becomes more evident. So between planting and sprouting, the gardener and those who have been told simply believe that the seeds are there and will sprout.

This belief affects behavior. If you have planted marigold seeds in your garden, you don't walk on the dirt even if you can't see the flowers at the moment.

The scriptures paint a similar picture of those who have faith — it affects their behavior. James 2:18 - "But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

We can compare history to a garden. We live in a time of God having planted his promises in the history of the world. Just as a garden begins to put out a few sprouts in the beginning, we see in Jesus Christ the first sprouts of God's ultimate plan to heal the world. The prophets proclaimed that one day the blind will see, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear and the dead will rise. These happened when Jesus walked the earth. We recognize these as the first sprouts of God's plan to restore creation because the gardener, our loving God, has told us in the Bible.

Most of history — most of the present — looks more like a dirt patch than a garden filled with flowers of peace, forgiveness, redemption and joyful life. But that is what people of faith know will be coming because we trust the gardener. And just as planting seeds affects the gardener's behavior (the gardener does not walk on planted flower beds!), so knowledge of the coming redemption of ourselves and the world affects our behavior.

So, metaphorically speaking, do you have marigolds in your garden? Act like it!

Prayer and the Fifth Disciplne

Peter Senge, director of the Center for Organizational Learning at the MIT Sloan School of Management , says there are four classic disciplines in a learning organization:

• "Personal mastery is a discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively." (p. 7)
• "Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions, generalizations, or even pictures of images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action." (p. 8)
• "Building shared vision is the practice of unearthing shared pictures of the future that foster genuine commitment and enrollment rather than compliance." (p. 9)
• "Team learning starts with dialogue, the capacity of members of a team to suspend assumptions and enter into genuine thinking together." (p. 10)

In his book, "The Fifth Discipline," Mr. Senge adds one more discipline that is vital for an organization that wants to learn and grow:

• Systems thinking - The Fifth Discipline that integrates the other 4.

Systems thinking can be described as not only recognizing all the parts of any given system, but recognizing and accounting for the way the components in the system interact. One game they use to help students begin to engage in systems thinking at MIT is called "The Beer Game." In this game, teams students work either as a beer retailer, a beer wholesaler or a beer manufacturer. What happens most often in the game is that as very mild fluctuations in beer demand are introduced, there is a stronger reaction at the wholesale level, which causes an even stronger reaction at the manufacturing level. In the game, each team makes what appears to be reasonable decisions in isolation. But because of a reinforcing feedback, those common sense decisions result in wild fluctuations through the supply chain with empty shelves at one point and a full year's worth of beer inventory in a retail cooler at another point. These fluctuations happen because each team is thinking about their own situation rather than considering the entire system of retailer, wholesaler and manufacturer.

Systems happen all around us. (Yes, I will be getting to my point about prayer!) 

When you fill a glass of water, a system is taking place. Your eyes see the empty glass under the faucet. You adjust the water faucet valve which starts the water flow. As the glass fills up, you see the water line approaching the amount of water you want so you turn off the valve, which shuts off the flow of water. Simple? Yes. But not always.

Filling a water glass is essentially an immediate feedback system. At the beginning of the system, you want things to be different, so you start opening the water valve. As the water flows, you probably open it even more because you don't want to wait for a slow trickle of water to fill the glass. This is reinforcing feedback. Then as you approach the desired amount of water, you begin to turn the valve off because you don't want further change in the amount of water in the glass. This is stabilizing feedback. A system can essentially be diagrammed as a circle with every element either reinforcing the previous one or stabilizing it.

Reinforcing feedback tends to increase whatever is going on. If one person raises their voice, then the other person raises their voice, then the first person raises their voice even more, and so on into a shouting match. Each person's decision to be heard by increasing their volume provided reinforcing feedback into the system. Stabilizing feedback tends to counter whatever is going on. Change in organizations often encounters significant stabilizing feedback.

There is one more component to every system as you go around the circle. (Hang with me. I'm almost to the prayer point!)

The water system works easily and simply because the feedback from each component (water level, your eyes, valve position, water flow) is nearly instantaneous. This is not always the case. Have you ever tried to adjust the water for a shower that has a long bit of pipe between the water valve and the shower head (for instance, those hand-held show heads)? Have you ever ended up with the water too hot and had to turn it back down, and then back up, and then back down, as you slowly got the water to the desired temperature? The reason this happens is because of the third variable in every system: delay.

Systems with no delay respond immediately and tend to be easier to handle. Systems with more delay require more discipline in thought and reaction.

There is a delay or "lag time" in every system. Sometimes it's measured in tiny increments, like the search time on a computer's hard drive. Sometimes there is a great deal of lag time in a system, such as the long-term effects of government policies. This is what makes things like environmental policy so difficult. There is a great deal of lag time in our effect on the environment but, since the things we do often create reinforcing feedback, we could be causing major damage and not know it until it is well beyond our ability to adjust for with reasonable measures.

Now, to the prayer point!

If you think of prayer as a system of communication and action between God and you, you will get frustrated if you don't acknowledge delay in the system. God has clearly told us that there can be significant and intentional delay in the system. "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9 ESV) This delay does not mean that God does not care. It is a function of all that God cares about and that God's idea of what is important in what time is not necessarily the same as ours. (I encounter this with my own children — they "need" something right now! I don't perceive the situation the same way they do, which frustrates them.) God doesn't see time as we do. God could say what Aslan says to Lucy in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader when she asked if she would see him again soon, "My child, all times are soon to me."

So, be a "Fifth Discipline" prayer. Understand systems thinking. Pray, trusting God to keep his promises but expecting variable lag time because that's what God told us to expect! You are talking to a God whose foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom, whose weakness is more powerful than man's strength. Don't let your trust in God waive because of the lag time. Put your prayer in the system and trust God's response in his time and way..

There is more valuable reflection to be had with regard to systems thinking and prayer, but that's enough for now. Pray on, my friend!

I discovered that I have something in common with Samwise Gamgee, Frodo’s faithful companion through the entire adventure of “The Lord of the Rings.” In the final paragraph of the tumultuous trilogy, Sam’s wife, Rose, welcomes him home and sets his little baby, Eleanor, in his lap. From this position, Sam utters the final words of the entire three-book series: “Well, I’m back.”

I feel a kinship with Sam as I write to you. I have been on a four-month journey away from my church family and this blog. Now, at the close of my sabbatical adventure, I am once again settling down to my duties as pastor of Journey of Life Lutheran Church. With a deep breath, placing my hands on the keyboard, I think exactly what Sam thought: “Well, I’m back.”

The sabbatical was quite an adventure in ways both big and small, in both my observable life and my inner life. It was less than I thought it would be and more than I thought it would be. I look forward to sharing sabbatical reflections as this blog comes alive again.

It was a great journey and it’s great to be back! My whole family missed Journey of Life terribly. It’s good to be home.

Easter Changes Everything!

Easter Sunday is, for me, the most encouraging holiday of the year. On Easter God not only proved his love for us, but his power to give us what he promises, by raising Jesus from the dead. If Jesus really was raised from the dead, that changes our whole world-view. Easter not only confirms God’s existence, but it also shows us that he keeps his promises. Easter changes everything!

Therefore, as we read the Bible, we can see that God is the giver of good gifts. In Jesus God has given us all we need for life. Here are five big needs we have that are met by the gifts of God, (gifts that are signed, sealed and delivered by the resurrection of Jesus Christ). That is why Easter changes everything.

GOD GIVES ME POWER TO LIVE ON
Psalm 138:3 says, “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” (Psalm 138:3 ESV) We all need power, motivation, inspiration, encouragement. Jesus often went away by himself to pray. He knew that power to live on comes not from having a “religion” (a system of rules to follow), but from living in a relationship with God. Through the Holy Spirit, God gives us power to live on. (Acts 9:31)

GOD GIVES ME PEOPLE TO LIVE WITH
Everybody needs people. One of God’s first observations was that it is not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Scientific research tells us that relationships are important for our health. People who have close relationships live longer, feel better and have lower stress. God knows that you need people. That’s part of what God gives us in belonging to a church.

Belonging to a church is an important gift from God to encourage us. “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” (Hebrews 10:25, NIV). “But encourage one another daily.” (Hebrews 3:13, NIV) As a gathering of people who openly acknowledge God’s grace on their lives, a church is a place where deep, true friendships can form. What a gift! Friendship changes our lives.

GOD GIVES ME PRINCIPLES TO LIVE BY
We live in a constantly changing world. Expert advice about health and well-being (and many other areas of life) seems to shift every year. God offers people stability through the timeless principles of life he gives them in the Bible. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 ESV)

GOD GIVES ME A PROFESSION TO LIVE OUT
Every one of us has unique talents, training and experience. Romans 12:6 says, “We all have different gifts” that we can use. Each of us has an important role to play in the world. No one is unimportant. “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ…But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” (1 Corinthians 12:12,18, NIV). There is nowhere you can become more you than in the church. One of the basic purposes of the church is to help you discover yourself and use your gifts and talents. God wants you to be all that you can be.

GOD GIVES ME A PURPOSE TO LIVE FOR
You have a purpose. The Bible says that the very hairs on your head are numbered. You are not an accident. “…you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalms 139:13, NIV) There is a reason for your being here.


Easter changes everything. God wants to give you great gifts, but there is one catch. You must put Jesus in charge of your life. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25, NIV)

When we look at the Bible and the Christian faith, we all face a problem that scientists face in experimentation called ‘expectancy.’ We see what we expect to see. The challenge is to look at the Bible and hear God’s message to us independent of our preconceived notions about the Christian faith. Most of us know people who bear the name “Christian” but have spoken or acted in ways that were disrespectful, hurtful, or downright mean. Don’t let someone else’s misrepresentation of Christ keep you from receiving the wonderful gifts God wants to give you.

Jesus, himself, presents the face of God to us mortals. Easter is the guarantee of that truth. Easter changes everything!

Happy Easter!
Pastor John

Receiving the Kingdom of God like a Child—What It Is and What It Isn't.

A brief reflection on Mark 10:13-16

People were bringing their children to have Jesus bless them. The disciples rebuked the people for this... then Jesus rebuked the disciples for rebuking the people! Mark tells us that Jesus was indignant. Then Jesus took the moment to tell anyone who would listen that, "...whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it."

The big distinction that needs to be made here is between childlike and childish. The Kingdom of God, the Bible tells us, is righteousness (being right with God), peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Childlike faith grows out of implicit trust in God, which leads continually to peace and joy. Childish beliefs are the things we work to help our children grow out of if we want them to be good people.

Childlike

• Trusting
• Inquisitive
• New to the world
• Unfeigned
• Humble
• Playful

Childish

• Self-centered
• Immature
• Foolish
• Blaming
• Demanding
• Know-it-all

Of special note is the idea of inquisitiveness. Atheists of the more evangelical variety use this passage to denigrate faith by claiming that having faith means turning our minds off. "Unquestioning," they would say. This is a complete misunderstanding.

We should indeed have the unquestioning presumption of God's love for us just as small chlidren never question their parents' love for them. But children are always asking question. They are information sponges, learning machines, junior scientists (who are mostly experimenting on their parents!). If children don't inquisitively interact with the world around them, parents begin to worry.

So receiving the Kingdom like a child does not mean turning our minds off and asking no questions. Nor does it mean that we think God is going to rescue us from our own foolishness.

Receiving the kingdom like a little child means that we trust unquestioningly in God's boundless love for us demontrated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secure in that foundation, we let our minds and spirits come alive, engaging this wondrous and mysterious life, understanding that we have been given freedom to learn, try, fail, succeed and grow.

From Lent to Love

Another Ash Wednesday has come and gone. Here we are in another Lent. So what do we do with Lent 2012? Is this a bigger and better Lent than last year? Is it new and improved? Is this Lent 2.0? (Or, perhaps, 45.0 in my case?)There is a cereal called “Shreddies” that’s been sold in Canada and the U.K. for nearly 70 years. It’s equivalent to our “Shredded Wheat.” Simple, square, wheat biscuits. Beloved and boring. In 2006, an intern who was trying his hand at advertising after an unsuccessful stint on the improv’ circuit, came up with the idea to tilt the square Shreddies on a 45º angle and call it “New Diamond Shreddies.” His work group burst into laughter. They seized the idea, turning it into a full-blown (and award-winning) marketing campaign. The marketing campaign included the usual focus groups and consumer testing. The funny thing is that many of the people who tested “New Diamond Shreddies” remarked on the difference between the old cereal and the new cereal. Evidently when you are expected to find differences in a new and improved product, you find differences that aren’t even there.

The truth is that we don’t need a new and improved Lent. Lent is really a call to foundational truth. Lent reminds us that the wages of sin is death. The wages of our sin is our death. The wages of my sin is my death. That’s not new and improved. It is venerable and classic. Lent is a time to remember — a time to dust off the book of what might have been without Jesus and have a good, long look.

The purpose of this Lenten look is not so we can feel bad again, but so that we can be reminded that we are saved by God’s grace, not by the goodness of the lives we lead.

Most of us live pretty good lives, pretty decent lives. We are generally kind and reasonably generous. We are not given to grudges and revenge. We are not unfaithful to our spouses. We are usually polite and generally honest. In short, we’re pretty good people. And that’s why we especially need Lent.

It can be pretty easy for pretty good people to feel pretty different from people who aren’t so good. That’s why we need Lent.

In the following encounter recorded in Luke 7:36-50 (ESV), Jesus links forgiveness and love:

“One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering, said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

You and I are people who have been forgiven much. Lent is for remembering that fact. When Jesus said he didn’t come to call righteous people but sinners, he wasn’t saying that some people don’t need forgiveness. He was telling us that we all need him. He was calling to mind Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV): Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

The “New Diamond Shreddies” campaign did, as a matter of fact, result in a significant increase in sales. Not because they were a different product than before, but simply because people took a new look at the old cereal. People were talking about it (in some cases arguing about it). But the silly campaign caused people to look again.

So, maybe (if I can write this without sounding blasphemous or offensive), the “New Diamond Shreddies” campaign represents the best analogy for Lent: Taking another good look at the same thing we always look at, the Gospel — forgiveness of sins and life everlasting through Jesus Christ.

In Lent we remember that we are the sick who need a doctor, the unrighteous who need a Savior. We take time to look in as honest a mirror as the Holy Spirit will grant us to remember that we are part of the “all” who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Of course, sorrow can be part of this process — sorrow over the brokenness we discover not only around ourselves but inside ourselves. But in 2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV), the Bible tells us that this can be a Godly sorrow: For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.

The Lenten sorrow is a godly sorrow that leads to repentance, which leads to love. We remember that we are forgiven and are therefore compelled to love. The one who does not love the fellow human who is seen cannot love God who is unseen. (1 John 4:20) The one who is forgiven much loves much. (Luke 7:36-50) This is how all people will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 3:35) And now abide these three: faith, hope and love — but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13)

The end result of a good Lent is not sorrow, but love. The outcome of our contemplation of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is that we are renewed in the profound depth of God’s love for us. That love energizes us to love those around us unilaterally, to seek their good unconditionally, to love others as Christ first loved us and gave himself up for us.

In Lent, we especially remember that the front door of heaven has a sign on it that says, “No Sinners allowed,” and we remember that that means us. But, upon closer inspection, we see that there is a note taped underneath the sign that reads, “Welcome home, my beloved. All is forgiven. Please share the good news. — Love, Jesus.”