I have some questions for you, regarding faith. What does it mean to have faith? How far does your faith go? Does it stop at any closed door? Or does it find away around the door so that it can grow deeper?

These questions bring up a bible verse- Mark 2:1-12

"When Jesus again entered his hometown of Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"

I love this story of Jesus. First of all, it shows how deeply Jesus loves us. He showed the paralyzed man lying on the mat forgiveness.... offering him compassion and love... Jesus didn't ask who this man was, where he came from, what this man had done wrong... or anything like that. He didn't want or need to know those things... he just knew he had a sinner laying before him who needed help... so he forgave the man's sins... and when that wasn't enough, and the crowd was bothered by what Jesus said, He told this paralyzed man to get up ...and go home... and he did!

That is amazing in and of itself. But what I find the most intriguing is the faith of the people who brought the man to Jesus.

We see a group of men, four of which are carrying the paralytic, trying to find a way to get to Jesus. And these men weren't stupid. They heard about the things Jesus had already done... and they wanted Jesus to heal their friend. But they came across an obstacle. The entire house was full... and even the doorway was blocked by all of these people who wanted to see Jesus. Again, these men weren't stupid. They knew that Jesus was someone special... and they wouldn't let this obstacle get in between them and Jesus. So what did they do? They carried their friend up to the top of the house, tore a hole in the roof, and lowered him in... right where Jesus was teaching.

... I told you these men weren't stupid.

When Jesus saw this great amount of faith... When He saw that they would think outside the box and try to overcome any obstacle just to see Him, He looked at the paralytic and said, "Son, your sins are forgiven!"

And this wasn't enough... Jesus had a point to prove... so He told the man to get up and go home!

And the paralytic man didn't have to do anything for this... His friends did it all for him... because they would look past anything in the way to see Jesus... because they really believed the things they heard about Him.

And this is why I love this story. It makes me think about my faith... would I overcome any obstacle just to see Jesus? Would you?

Would you really tear a hole in the roof to see Him? Or would you stop at the door with the rest of the crowd... hoping that Jesus would eventually walk past you? Would you settle for the latter because it's easier? Or would you want to follow Jesus so much that you would do absolutely anything... and I mean ANYTHING to get close to Him?

We can get close to Jesus. But we have to be determined. We have to be loyal and faithful... and sometimes, that requires us to think outside the box... sometimes, it requires us to tear open roofs.

What obstacles stand between you and Christ? How can we overcome these obstacles?

Keeping a close eye on Jesus, the Pharisees sent spies who pretended to be honest.They hoped to catch Jesus in something He said, so that they might hand Him over to the power and authority of the governor. So the spies questioned him: "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality, but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

But Jesus knew what they were really doing and He said to them, "Show me a denarius. Who's portrait is on it? Who's inscription is this?"

"Caesar's" they replied.

Jesus said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but give to God what is God's.

Luke 20:20-25

This passage of the bible is normally read when we talk about paying our taxes... And it's true... this verse does tell us that the government has the right to tax us... in fact, it isn't our money. If it is due to Caesar, then it obviously belongs to Caesar... but we often look over "give to God what is God's."

Let's face it... it's much easier to skip out on our offerings to the church than it is to skip out on our taxes. Yet, according to what Jesus is telling us in the scripture I read, it is just as important to give to God as it is to give to the government. If you aren't giving God what is his, you are stealing.

But what is it that belongs to God that we must give Him?

Well, we have a few things.

1.) First, time.
This goes much deeper than spending an hour at church on Sundays and a couple hours at church on Wednesdays... Our time is God's time... and it's important to our spiritual growth to remember this. There isn't a second of the day where we aren't to be ministers. At all times, we are representing Christ. So what you do with your time can either improve or damage the image of Christ within you. That is why we stay aware of our surroundings and aware of the things that consume our time that aren't godly. So we give God our time.

2.) We must also give service through our talents, gifts, and abilities.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians that our body is made up of many parts. Likewise, the body of Christ (or the Church) is made up of many parts. Each part has a duty to perform. If it doesn't perform it's duty, it's useless. But you are part of the body of Christ and you are not useless. So if you are an eye, you must see. If you are an ear, you must hear. If you are good at praying, you must pray. If you have a word from God, you must speak. You are needed in the church, whether you think you are or not. The church needs you... just like the body needs lungs.
Someone once told me about an experience she had at church where the pastor said, "If you are here and you aren't doing anything in the church, then you need to leave." And it's important to understand this because the church doesn't work unless everybody uses the gifts in which God gave them to help the body of Christ preform its daily duties.

3.) Prayer is also something we give to God.
Only prayer isn't for God. It's for us... the church.
Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and you will succeed." Jesus says, "Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be open to you." God wants our plans to succeed if they are in His will. So tell God about your plans... keep his will central to them, and see how your plans will turn out. If your church has a vision, pray that God will work with that in a way that glorifies Him. Let me tell you something... prayer works... and God will not tear down anything that will build His kingdom.

4.) Money is another big gift that we can give to God.
Be certain that God doesn't need our money to do big things! Nevertheless, it is good to give to your church in a time in need... in fact, Paul tells us that when we do give, we are to give cheerfully, generously, and regularly. The money that we give to the church is used for many good causes. Keeping this in mind, giving should not be burdensome, but it should be a sacrifice, keeping in mind all He's done for us.

It is clear in scripture, that we are to give to God what is already His. I've listed many ways we can give back to God. As Christians, it isn't our duty, but it is our joy that we should give graciously back to God in the many ways we are able. After all, think of what He has given to you!

In what ways do you give back to God?

(I am contributing to the Xanga Council of Christian Pacifists, which features questions about nonviolence/pacifism, answered by 5 people. It's in the beginning stages of development, but we're hoping it will catch on with your help. Come by and start asking questions! Here is my response to the 2nd question.)

"I'm a pacifist because I'm a violent son of a bitch!" -Stanley Hauerwas

He really puts it perfectly, doesn't he?

As a definition to Christian pacifism/nonviolence, I will leave that up to Dr. Hauerwas too:

"I am a Christian pacifist. Being Christian and being a pacifist are not two things for me. I would not be a pacifist if I were not a Christian, and I find it hard to understand how one can be a Christian without being a pacifist."


(Stanley Hauerwas)

You see, I don't believe that "Christian" and "pacifist" should be looked at as two things, either... after all, Christ taught nonviolent methods, telling us "Don't resist an evil person." He tells us not to resist... and throughout the entirety of the New Testament, we read about nonviolent ways to solve all of our issues. But our key motivator is Faith... and our supreme reliance is God... exactly how God would want it...

I am a firm believer in the discipline of nonviolence. Of course, I use the term, "pacifist" in fear of splitting hairs. Don't get me wrong... I think there is a HUGE difference between nonviolence and pacifism (which I will get to), but I prefer to refer (Ha! that rhymed!) to myself as a pacifist. My reasoning is that it is easier to say I am a pacifist that to say I'm nonviolent. I think the term nonviolent just has sort of a snooty sort of vibe to it, so I say, in such an anti-politically correct manner, that I am a pacifist. But when you see me say that I am a pacifist, please don't misunderstand. I really mean that I am nonviolent.

The difference is GIGANTIC... so big, that I had to spell "gigantic" in all caps. To me, it seems that the term, "pacifist", paints a picture of a very lazy way of going about problems. There is nothing lazy about nonviolence. First of all, I want to say that I LOVE boxing... Boxing is a very violent sport... so I can't necessarily say that I am "nonviolent" either. I don't have a problem with kids playing "superheroes", I don't have anything against football, I loved the power rangers growing up... so, I guess I have to say that I am not against all forms of violence... Heck, one of my favorite movies is "Fight Club". But as for myself, I don't believe that I should have a reason to ever get violent. And therein lies the difference.

"Pacifism" implies that I do nothing in reaction to a violent (or other) circumstance.
"Nonviolent" implies that I am against all forms of violence

Despite the enormous difference, I still believe it is splitting hairs... so I use the terms interchangeably. The key is to know what I stand for before you assume that I can't stand violent movies or assume that I will sit and watch my child be killed.

Now, talking about pacifism, I don't believe in sitting on my behind and doing nothing while the violent world around me closes in quickly, affecting me, my friends, my family, associates, or what have you... but I do believe in the power of prayer, I believe in using words and discernment, and I believe in running. I think that there are many other options one can trust in before he or she has to resort to violence... and sometimes... doing absolutely nothing can do more than anything we can say, do, force, etc... What I believe in, takes faith, knowledge that there is more to life than my temporary problems, and trust in a higher power that will provide the type of justice that I wouldn't be able to provide. And that is not passive at all.

So in summery, I believe that Christ calls the Christians to a life of nonviolence, I believe that there is a huge difference between being nonviolent and being a pacifist, but not big enough to care which word to use to define my beliefs, and I believe in actions thought out in faith as oppose to a faithless reaction.