Sad, Very Sad

I’m a bit of a geek so I’ve watched with interest the rise of Apple and the fall of Microsoft. Everything from the iPod, the iPhone, the iMac and more have been huge successes for Apple while Microsoft has struggled to release a lame operatating system, clunky media players, and buggy software.

Of course, Microsoft is tremendously more successful than Apple by almost every standard except perception. They sell more software, are in more countries, and have more cash on hand than Apple. But Apple has still won the image battle.

Recently, Microsoft decided to take Apple head-on to change people’s perceptions. They are releasing commercials designed to change our perceptions of them. Unfortunately, if they can’t do any better than this first attempt then the war is already over.

I wonder if the same thing doesn’t happen with the church sometimes. Are we more concerned with how the world perceives us than we are with being the best Christ follower we can be? Are we more interested in being accepted by the world or being viewed by the world as being successful than we are with living the life God designed us to live?

Won’t the image thing work itself out on its own if we’ve first got a good product?

Don’t we look more foolish by trying to be like the world than if we just tried to be like Jesus?

Praying for Your Enemies

One of the things I love about the Bible is that even its heroes are imperfect. It’s their imperfections that give me hope for myself.

Jeremiah was God’s man. Out of all the prophets of Israel, God saw something in Jeremiah that made him say, “Now there’s a guy I can use to preach for me. He’s the kind of man I’ve been looking for.”

But even Jeremiah had his moments.

In chapter 18, after “his congregation” had enough of Jeremiah’s negative preaching they began to criticize him, gossip about him, and even plot against him. So what does Jeremiah do? Does he ask God, “Forgive them father for they know not what they do”? Does he go and try to find a compromise with the people. “Listen, guys. I think there’s been a little misunderstanding here. When I said you were going to be like **** (dung) on the ground I wasn’t really talking about you specifically.”

No, Jeremiah doesn’t do any of those things. Instead, he prays that God will starve their children to death, that their wives would become widows, that their sons would be killed by a sword. He even prays, “Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins”. (You can read the details in chapter 18).

Wow! I think Jeremiah was a little upset. He definitely wasn’t being a “compassionate conservative”.

There’s hope for me. If God can use a guy like Jeremiah, he can use me. . . and he can use you.