Scott Freeman

I have a phrase that I repeat over and over again. I don’t know where I got it. I am assuming that it is just my own quote that I have concocted over the last 18 months of refining my theology. However, I do not want to be so arrogant as to assume myself incapable of having lifted it from someone else. If so, let me know and I will give credit to whom credit is due.

That phrase is this: I would rather be guilty of loving too much than judging too much.

I try to approach all of my dealings with people from that perspective. And it has made all the difference.
If I am to err in my dealings with people, let them accuse me of loving them more than being critical. More than being dismissive. More than judging.
You see, I’ve done too much judging in my life. I have typecast, stereotyped and dismissed.
I have lived my life with such an either/or mentality that I have failed to embody love.
Either they are strong and devout Christians that agree with me on all of the necessary issues or they are pagans and heathens bound for hell who need to know Jesus and His love.
Of course, there was no way that haughty attitude I possessed was going to bring them anywhere into the vicinity of the love of Christ.
I have driven past the beggar because it was “just a scam” or “they could get a job but they don’t want one.”
I have resisted going into “certain areas” because “a guy can get killed there.”
I have marginalized and dismissed people who fail to look like me, act like me, believe like me, or talk like me.
And too many of us Christians are guilty of this. We judge far more than we love.
I removed a post about me seeing “Brokeback Mountain” because of several comments left that were just hateful and would never shed the love of Christ upon a seeking or hurting soul.

(Side Note: I don’t wear my wedding ring because it slides off my finger. When I lost all my weight it no longer fit. However, when I went to see that movie I put it on, because I didn’t want anyone to think I was “one of them.” I too, still, have a long way to go.)

Of course, such a phrase does not remain impervious to criticism that it is somewhat shallow theology. The reason that it opens itself up to such criticism is that we have co-opted the gospel to be something different than what it truly is.

I hear people all the time say that “we have to stand up for the truth.” That the Christian voice has to be heard among the din of evil voices that are seeking to topple the freedom of religious expression that we enjoy in this country. That if we don’t speak out against sin then we will hasten our destruction. That we must not “water down” the truth by blindly loving.

Excuse me, but that is shallow theology.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of all was, He did not say it was to speak against the evils of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Baptists.
He did not say to rail against homosexuals.
He did not say to boycott and picket forms of entertainment that run counter to our belief system.

He said to love. Love God. Love our neighbors.
The Christian life distilled down to two simple, yet profound, principles: Loving Him and loving others.
None of this is to say that we take a soft view on sin. However, it does mean that we take a softer view on people. Seek to love first, before we cast judgment.
Seek to understand before we condemn.
Seek to embrace before we exclude.

“But we have to speak the TRUTH in love” people will say. That’s what Paul told us to do in Ephesians 4. We have to show these people where they are wrong, right?
How about we show them Jesus, instead?
How about we allow the love of Christ to penetrate their souls and change them?
If we are to speak Truth then we must know that Jesus is the Truth.
Same with love.
So our speech must be that of how Christ would speak to
us. That changes how I proclaim the sinful state of fallen people.
We
use that passage to justify falling on either extreme: bludgeoning
people with “truth” or coddling them with “love” rather than engaging
them with Jesus.

You see, Jesus was very explicit in His answer to what the greatest command truly is: to love.

Because of His insistence of the importance of this, I would rather be guilty of loving too much than judging too much.

And if I truly love people then they will see Jesus in me. If I come along side them in their daily struggles embodying the love and mercy of Jesus to them, then they will want to know more about Him, right?

And when you come to know Jesus you are changed. And when you come to know Jesus you are no longer afraid to face the Judge.

Let each of us seek to be guilty of loving too much. For when we love as Jesus loved then the world will be changed. Debts will be forgiven, sins will be cleansed, lives will be changed.
Jesus will be proclaimed and a profound theology will be espoused.

Lord, forgive me for the people who have heard me preach or teach and experienced only condemnation and not your love. Lord, forgive me for the hurting souls that I have dismissed because I judged them before I loved them. Lord forgive me for judging too much and loving too little.

• My Daniel sermon is up on my sermon blog. Definitely not one of my best and may be somewhat difficult to follow reading as a text. However, if you are interested in giving it a gander, be my guest. I hope to find a way to begin pod-casting these at some point in the future. Daniel down, Hosea to go.
• By the way, are there any blogger aficionado’s out there who can help me with that site? There is a feature where you can expand/collapse posts but I have no clue how to do it.
• Can’t stop listening to Hem. Great music for the background. Sally Ellyson has the voice of an angel.
• Working on some posts in the coming weeks. Here is what will be coming your way in the next few entries:
• What would I rather be guilty of: loving too much or judging too much?
• An open letter to the GOP
• How I learned to sell cars from learning evangelism growing up in the church
• My take on the MySpace phenomenon.
• More on Grace Based Parenting.
• Why I may need to invest more into my T-Shirt Budget
• Oscar Predictions

• Question: What does “speak the truth in love” mean to you?

…told by my 4 (almost 5) year old daughter.

Q: Who can push a truck to the store?
A: Nobody

Q: How does a cow move a truck?
A: He can’t

You can use these jokes in your own routines but Chloe does expect proper attribution.

I consider myself to be a grace-oriented person. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and seek to understand where they are coming from. I am quick to forgive and I rarely hold grudges. When I do hold grudges, I feel sick inside.
Likewise, I rail against the pervasive aspects of legalism that holds people to too high of a standard hamstringing them in any effort they might undertake to better themselves or their life situation.
I firmly believe that the crux of the gospel, the core of the message of God is that of grace embodied in the person of Jesus.
Therefore, I seek to be forgiving, merciful and gracious in my dealings with others. I cannot be a witness to the love and mercy of Jesus Christ in my life if I fail to extend that same love and mercy to others, regardless of whether or not they look like me, act like me, or believe like me.
Grace must be consistent.
Because of the constant demands of grace, I realize how much of a failure I am at being an agent of grace.
Tim Kimmel in his excellent book, Grace-Based Parenting, makes the argument that if grace is the core of the gospel then it must be the core of our marriages, our parenting, our every relationship. When we elevate non-essential matters to the level of a moral issue, then we have failed in being grace-based. That means that it must be nothing more than an open closet door, not a sinful practice.
Read this excerpt:

I know there are times when children need to be told that they can’t have the buffet or they need to keep their shoes on, but it shouldn’t be an arbitrary thing. It should be times when it’s the only workable option or makes godly sense. Otherwise, it makes no sense–especially if you are trying to treat your child the way God treats us. Kids inside homes where nonmoral issues are elevated to a level of big problems don’t get to experience the kind of acceptance that makes a heart feel securely loved.Instead they live with a barrage of nitpicking criticism, receiving put-downs because they are curious, anxious, excited, helpless, carefree, or absent-minded.

The girls in my life each have beautiful personalities, full of independence, spunk and wonder. When I curtail that because I have elevated compliance to my makeshift list of rules and expectations as the indicator of faithfulnes, I have failed to encourage God’s creation.
When personality traits become referendums on character then I fail to be the husband I need to be.
When curious questions become an inconvenience, when excitement is greeted with exasperation, when wonder is thwarted by cynicism, then I withhold grace.

I don’t want to be that parent.
Cassie, dance until your legs fail to propel you.
Chloe, ask until your curiosity is sated.
Shayla, demand to be held until you feel held back.
Tracy, don’t worry about that closet door. I’ll close it.

I love each of you too much not to extend the grace of Christ.

So, yesterday I am at the office preparing for the summer preaching schedule when I get a breathless call from Tracy. She is excited, to say the least. Not the high-pitched “ohh, you are having a baby” voice but close to that.
Now, I’m immediately curious as to what could illicit such an exuberant outpouring of frenzied excitement.
Has GW admitted he was wrong to invade Iraq? No.
Has there been a legitimate proposal to make health care affordable and accessible to the millions of Americans without it? Nope, not that either.
Have they perfected the nutritional values of chocolate? Not quite, but they are getting closer.
Did you find a way for us to finance the air conditioning we must get in order to survive another Texas summer? Not hardly.

Nope, the big news is that Cassie, our center child, went poo-poo in the potty.
In a world with a 24-hour news cycle, there is nothing more news worthy than that.
So keep watching your constant coverage of the Olympics. (Did you know that they Olympics were going on? Yeah, me either.)
Stay glued to whether or not we are going to give border security to Al-Qaeda.

Our house? We are ecstatic and can’t stop talking about dookie.

I joined MySpace a little over a year ago for one reason and one reason only: to listen to the music of this man.
Michael McDermott is the greatest songwriter of my generation. His music is passionate, his lyrics are profound, and his story is compelling.
Every couple of months or so, I like to blog about Michael in hopes that somebody new will go and give him a listen. He is that good.
Every Monday he posts two new songs on his MySpace page. Check out “Motel Bed.”
The best news of all: Michael will soon be releasing an acoustic album. I know that I am teetering on the brink of hyperbole here: but there is no musician, no songwriter that has ever had the impact on me that Michael has. He has recorded my favorite album of all time and my favorite song of all time: “Dierdre Dances” from the same album.
I consider him to be a friend and have accompanied him (long before I ever met him) on a musical journey of highs and lows over the last 15 years that has always blessed me.
Here’s to hoping that people listen. He deserves to have his voice heard.

Edited to Add: This photo of Michael is courtesy of Niva Bringas.

So, our morning services were canceled yesterday here in arctic Waco. That means I have a free week.
My sermon and classes are, in effect, done. I am just delaying for a week what I would have done yesterday.
That gives me some time to plot out my summer preaching and teaching curriculum. I usually like to have this done by the first of the year. However, what we are studying right now is so labor-intensive for me, I have not had a chance.
So, the cancellation yesterday was a good thing for me.
The question is: What do I want to preach and teach on this summer?
We are in the midst of a 2 year series where we will look at a book of the bible each week. This school year we are doing the Old Testament. Beginning in the fall we will tackle the New. With that in mind, I don’t want to preach through a NT book in advance of next year’s study.
Here is what I am thinking so far:

Sunday A.M. Class—A Study on “The Jews in the Time of Jesus.” This study would help us to understand what has transpired in the 400 years between the end of the OT and the arrival of John the Baptist. It would help us to understand the culture and environment in which Jesus lived. It would shed light on the mind-set of the Jews as the Messiah appeared among them. This would segue nicely into our fall study.
Sunday P.M. Class–A Study on “Hot Issues Facing the Church Today.” This would be a series of different issues that are swirling around today and trying to grapple with them under the light of Scripture. Topics would include: Stem Cells, The Da Vinci Code (in expectation of its summer movie release), Torture, Just War, Homosexuality, etc.
Wednesday Sermon Series–This would continue to be a short motivational/encouraging talk from Scripture.

Sunday Sermon Series–Not sure. Maybe looking over some major themes of the OT and how they connect to the NT.

The reason I post this is to get your feedback.
What do you think of these suggestions?
Anything you would like to see tackled in a sermon/class series (the two of you from my church who actually read this blog, I value your input)?
Sermon Series Suggestions?
Any thoughts would be helpful.

If you are looking for a gift for me, this is it. This is from the Huffington Post. (Again, this is all in fun.)

Product Description

• Pastor a simulated church and create your own Christian empire
• Build a church from the ground up
• Hire and fire staff
• Attract fickle unchurched people with Bingo, revival meetings or fasting–it is all up to you!
• Select a pre-loaded community
  • Xurban or suburban church plant (for those who want it easy or just starting out)
  • Or
    pastor an inner-city, multi-ethnic 80 year old church with 50 members
    and $1 million mortgage debt (for those who really want a challenge)
• Choose a denomination (Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal plus many more obscure factions)
• Or load a brand new emergent plug-in
• Take weekly offerings and go over budget
• Start your own radio or cable-access show
• Attend the latest conference to hone your skills
• Implement the latest ministry fad
• Review weekly attendance and giving records
• Earn points with God by winning souls for Christ
• With network play enabled, you can steal members from other churches and earn points just like you saved them yourself.

The possibilities are endless! To grow your church, work on all the strategic variables,

• Write a mission statement
• Choose a logo
• Get a billboard
• Hire a professional musician
• Buy plasma television for your PowerPoint presentations

Prayer, study and preparation get thrown in there too–and the mysterious will of God! Deal with real-life scenarios including,

• Troublesome board members
• Elderly donor who wants to buy a new organ
• A son starts using drugs
• The city starts a construction in front of your building
• Offering stolen

Denominations and Bible colleges use it to prepare potential church planters or associate pastors. It is better than an internship!

Do it all without a degree, license or even the Bible! Just like Joel Osteen

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Again, this is all in fun. But maybe we should take a look at how the world views us a little more closely.

This will be the first in an incredibly extensive list of things I need to change in my life.
So I got this idea from Tracy. You can go to this site and do a word cloud that will capture the key words on your blog. Here is mine:

Tracy’s is predominantly names. Mine consists more heavily in the direction of ideas and concepts.

I am not a people person. I need to change that. Don’t really know how but I need to.
I love people. I pray every day that I will love people more. I am a compassionate and sympathetic person. I feel the pain of the world palpably.
But I don’t mix well. I’m not a social creature. My idea of a good night is alone at home with my family.
I hate to use the telephone. Actually it is more of a mortal fear of the telephone.
I’m absolutely unwilling to go to anyone’s house uninvited. Although, as a minister, it is unexpected.
I am continually conscious of being intrusive and as a result become insular.

I need to fix that.

The Christian Chronicle has just included a quote from Lee Camp on its website regarding the war. Lee Camp is the author of Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World. That book is one of the most profound and life-shaping books. I have read in recent years. Read this quote. I believe that Camp is dead on in his analysis. Especially the last paragraph.

(From the Chronicle) Lee Camp is associate professor of theology and ethics and
senior faculty fellow for the Center for International Peace and Justice at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn.

“To families who have
loved ones in Iraq, or who
have lost family members in Iraq,
the church should certainly grieve with them, pray for them and uphold them. It
is, in this sense, that we should most definitely ‘support the troops,’ and it
is terribly important work to do.

“Simultaneously, we
have before us a variety of painful questions with which Christian discipleship
requires us to wrestle: First, whether war-making is a Christian calling. It
simply takes a great deal of hermeneutical gymnastics to avoid the clear
witness of Scripture, which teaches us a manner of dealing with enemies
entirely different than the manner employed by modern nation-states, including
the U.S.A. Jesus has called us to love our enemies; President Bush has called
us to ‘hunt down’ our enemies. Moreover, most of our 19th century forebears in
the Stone-Campbell restoration movement contended that war-making is not a
legitimate Christian practice. And well before that, the first three centuries
of the early church fathers entirely contended that war-making is not a
legitimate Christian practice.

“Second, even for
those who nonetheless embrace the so-called Just War tradition, we are faced
with the terribly difficult reality that the most trusted interpreters of that
tradition have, at best, raised serious questions about the legitimacy of
calling the pre-emptive war in Iraq a justifiable war; at worst, the Just “War tradition
interpreters have stated without reservation that this war makes a mockery of
the Just War tradition. That is, though
many Christians in the U.S.A.
claim to be adherents to the Just War tradition, the moral requirements of that
tradition are not being taken seriously.

“If that’s true,
then, third, we should question whether we have not been simply taken
captive
by waves of blind nationalism. As one
example, consider that President Bush has employed millennial sounding
hopes in
describing the U.S.: ‘When
we come together and work together, there is no limit to the greatness
of America,” (reelection speech), or that the U.S. actually takes on
the Messianic role of
“ending tyranny in our world’ (‘The State of the Union,’
2005). Such language, and the popular
support of Christians that has gone with it, suggests that we are here
flirting, if not outright in bed with, idolatry. Perhaps the third
anniversary
of the war is a good time for us to practice repentance.” (Emphasis Added)