Say "NO" to Drama

Drama.  Why would anyone choose to create or live in drama?  Daily life brings enough drama without having to look for it.

For example, both men and women follow television soap operas, where drama is king.  Many are able to recite play by play accounts of misery, gossip, lust, exaggeration, lying and tomfoolery, all which should come under the subheading, “As the Stomach Turns.”  Do they not have enough drama without rehearsing its damaging effects in the lives of paid actors?

In 1 Thessalonians 4:11, Paul tells his beloved church at Thessalonica to “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life.”  What was he suggesting?  Paul knew that believers may not be able to shut themselves off from the world, but they certainly don’t have to add to the noise!

This verse is sandwiched between two admonitions that make sense.  In verse 4 the Apostle encourages believers to love one another.  In verses 11-12 he very pointedly tells them, “You should mind your own business and work with your hands, so outsiders respect you and you’re not a burden on anyone.” 

What’s he saying?  I believe his words refer to more than financial freeloaders.  He in essence is saying “Don’t become someone’s project.”  Drama-driven individuals always take, never give – depleting others of precious time and energy.  They suck their “victims” dry, spiritually and emotionally.   We’re all much too busy for that! 

As Christians, of course we desire to come alongside people in their trials and difficulties; but no one wants to join ranks with those bent on making drama their identifying trademark.  Misery may breed company, but that doesn’t mean we have to invite the “drama club” over for supper on Friday evening! 

I have personally declared war on drama in my life and others, because I think that drama is a much lesser choice.  I know people who cannot live drama-free lives because drama has become their “normal.”  Take away the drama and they find themselves stripped of their comfort zone.  It’s sick! 

What does drama look like in those who embrace and coddle it?  I’ve noticed these characteristics:

1.  Individuals who walk into a room and immediately begin sharing drama without caring who’s in the room or even before greeting anyone present are probably drama-driven.  Often, they are loud and obnoxious. 

2.  Individuals who talk only about their problems, illnesses, disappointments, trials or problems non-stop are probably drama-driven.

3.  Individuals who never ask how you are or what’s going on in your life and keep the conversation alive with their woes, are probably drama-driven.

4.  Individuals who put down, blast and criticize their loved ones – children, spouse, grandchildren – and supposed friends are probably drama-driven. 

May I encourage you to not degrade your loved ones in public venues?  First, no one wants to hear it, and your family members deserve your confidentiality.  They deserve your loyalty.  If problems exist, take them to the altar and tell the One who never exposes dirty laundry, or to the counseling room, where confidentiality reigns.  How sad that some people live in such a small, confining world – one that never reaches past their front steps!

Drama-driven people spray poison every time they open their mouth.  In short, they are toxic.  I’ve determined not to give them time or energy.  These sad people generally have few real friends and the ones they do have tend to be toxic as well.  Notice too that competitive toxicity minimizes proper listening skills in drama-driven people, as they furiously vie for attention.  Put them in a room together and they push to “out toxic” one another.  It becomes a crap fest!  I am repelled by such goings on.

Today, I choose to follow Paul’s admonition to “lead a quiet life,” and to love others.  I expect the world to breed toxicity but believers in Jesus should live a cut above hurtful, hateful, harsh toxicity.  Join me by officially declaring war on drama and the toxicity it produces in peoples’ lives.  Lord, give us grace mixed with compassion to righteously and honestly confront drama-driven people. 

Such people need to learn that we who choose to live on the plain of peace and quietness don’t care what goes on in the deep, deep pits of chosen shallowness and disparity.  Life is far too precious and brief to spend it in the drama zone. 

Let’s live in the light of God’s unconditional love so that people say when they leave our presence, “I feel encouraged and better because of my recent interaction.”  God forbid that people want to run the other way when they see us coming.

Death to drama and hooray to those who make conscious efforts to “lead quiet lives!”

    

Why I Love the Local Church?

Believe me.  I know there’s a lot wrong with the local church.  I get it.  I view it firsthand; but I still say, “The church at its worst is still better than the world at it best!”

I fell in love with the local church concept during my boyhood and it’s the local church that clearly and totally directed my life.  I can’t imagine NOT being part of a local church family. 

First, understand that I’m not talking about a building.  I’m referring to any group of people who meet to honor and worship Jesus Christ on Sundays or whenever.  I meet folks who have elected not to attend a local church, and who have found “chapter and verse” to disprove the manner in which American churches operate. 

Guess what? Some of what they say is absolutely correct!  However, until someone comes up with a better Christ-honoring method or a better way to run the local church, I’M NOT JUMPING SHIP!

Let me say it again – the local church is people, not a building.  The local church, for all its idiosyncrasies, hang-ups, irrelevant methodologies, governmental flaws, control freaks, hypocrites, broken people (that includes me) is still:

1. The primary agency that God designed to win the lost.  I would not be in the kingdom of God today were it not for a local church that “preached Christ and Him crucified.”  Heaven will be populated because local churches preached the gospel and gave people the opportunity to meet our Savior.  Teachers and preachers who “rightfully divide the Word” and faithfully preach about God’s plan of salvation remain my heroes!

2. The primary agency that sends out missionaries and supports missionary enterprises around the world.  Local churches in the United States are still the largest contributors to world missions.

3. The primary agency that comes alongside families to reach, train and support their children.  Godly morals and values are taught that righteously guide our kids through life.  We’ve heard it said that “it takes a village to raise a child.”  That may be true, but the Christ-honoring local churches that line our village streets contribute the most to an upbringing that would otherwise neglect the value of a soul.  My four children of course, were raised in church; and their mother and I made sure they had every opportunity to come to faith in Christ at an early age.  They all serve the Lord today and credit the local church for both their personal salvation and life’s direction.

4. The primary agency that comes alongside families/individuals during times of transition:  Births, baptisms/dedications, weddings, funerals, times of unemployment, sickness, tragedy, etc.  Life would be lonely, empty and lack fulfillment were it not for loving, caring church families who “do life together.”

Listen carefully local church critic.  Yes, there’s a lot wrong with all churches – I’ll give you that much.  But there’s a lot more that’s right!  And if Jesus Christ thought enough of the church to die for it, that’s good enough for me!

Criticize the preacher, the preaching, the music, the appeals for offerings the people, and you still cannot say enough to make me walk away from life’s most singular joy after my blood family – the church family! We who know the Lord have been bought by His precious blood and that’s enough to carry us through this life and the one to follow. 

Hell

The very idea of a literal place called hell has always puzzled people, but the Bible makes it clear that hell is a real place.  Equally true is the fact that God never intended for people to go to hell.  Hell was created for the devil and the fallen angels. The Bible makes it clear that it is not God's will that any perish.  So, why will people end up in hell?  Simply put, hell will be occupied by people who totally resisted the Holy Spirit and rejected Jesus Christ.

Perhaps we need to clear up any misinformation about hell to fully understand its reason for being.  To do this I'm going to introduce five words or phrases found in the Bible that many either misunderstand or use interchangeably, but not without problems!  These words or phrases include: Hades, Sheol, Hell, Gehenna, and the Lake of Fire.  Any discussion on hell needs to define these words.  Let's begin.

Hell--A term that designates the place of future punishment for the wicked.  Many times this word is used as a synonym for other closely related terms in the Scriptures, but we must be careful to specify.

Sheol--This is primarily understood in light of Old Testament teachings.  It is translated 31 times as the "grave," and three times as "pit."  The general idea encompasses a "holding place of the dead."  This does not refer to the grave as we think of graves, but rather as a place for those who departed from this life.  Sheol is used as a departing or holding place for both the righteous and the wicked (Psalm 16:10; 30:3; Isaiah 38:10; and Numbers 16:33; Job 24:19; Psalm 9:17) After Jesus' death on the Cross and His subsequent resurrection, Sheol no longer existed.  After the Cross, the wicked dead went to Hades and the righteous dead went to heaven.

Hades--It is rendered hell and refers to the underworld, or region of the wicked departed between death and the Great White Throne Judgment, which is discussed in Revelation 20:11-14.  It is definitely described as a place of torment.  Do you remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31?  Verse 23 employs the term hades, which is also translated “hell.”  This passage describes hades or hell as a place of torment.  An aforementioned term used in this passage is "Abraham's bosom," which is where the beggar went when he died.  This term is defined as a "place of bliss."  This term comes from Jewish thought of that day.

Hades then, is the New Testament counterpart of the Old Testament word Sheol.  Both were intermediary places.  Hades is the place to where Christ descended sometime between the crucifixion and His resurrection.  After the Cross and resurrection, the righteous dead went immediately into the presence of the Lord in heaven.  "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).  Now the wicked dead go directly to Hell upon their deaths.  This is so heart breaking and unpleasant to think about!  It should make us go tell everyone about the saving grace of Jesus Christ!

Gehenna--We gather our teaching on the fires of hell from this important term.  Gehenna, or the Valley of Hinnom, was a place where the rites of the pagan god Molech were celebrated. King Josiah later converted it into a place of abomination, where dead bodies were thrown and burned (2 Kings 23:13,14).  This valley served as a symbolic place, and the name was appropriated to designate the abode of lost spirits.  The word occurs 12 times in the New Testament, and in every case it is properly translated "eternal hell."

Lake of Fire--This term is found in Revelation 20:14-15.  "Then death and Hell were thrown into the lade of fire.  The lake of fire is the second death.  If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."  Verse 10 tells us the devil, the beast and the false prophet were previously thrown into the lake of fire.  To date, the Lake of Fire is unoccupied.

Any discussion on hell is incomplete unless we mention other biblical phrases that describe and coincide with this place of torment: "unquenchable fire," the "blackness of darkness," "furnace of fire," "torment in fire and brimstone," the "smoke of their torment," "where the worm dies not," etc.  There is no doubt that the Scriptures require us to believe in a properly so-called place of punishment.  Biblical accuracy calls for these terms and phrases to be interpreted literally, not as mere imagery or symbolism.  We must be true to the biblical texts!

Obviously, I've given you a very general and perhaps over-simplified view of hell's reality; however, always remember, our loving God made a way through His Son Jesus Christ so we do not have to go to hell.  He has made a way of escape.  Surely God's heart must break when people, the crowing glory of His creation, choose to reject Jesus Christ.  We, not God, seal our own fate when it comes to our eternal destination.  

Why not stop this very moment if you're saved and give God praise for your salvation?  If you're not saved, why not stop where you are and confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth, and believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.  "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved" (Romans 10:9,10).

Jesus came to bring you heaven, not hell.