Monday, March 3, 2014

Style Over Substance

Last night, Hollywood had its annual self-love fest with the Academy Awards/Oscars.  The only reason I know this is because I saw it on one of the TVs at the gym while I was working out this morning.  I have really never understood the fascination Americans have with this "Awards" show.  Spending three hours watching and listening to actors act surprised, trying to out-dress and out-shine others, just doesn't seem like a fun night for me.  But you may be one of the ones who hosts or attends an Oscar Party and it may truly be a festive night for you.  The word we used to use for Hollywood was "Plastic" because the actors and actresses were simply playing roles, looking good on the outside but hollow on the inside.  Unfortunately, our culture has devolved into a cult of personality cult.  We spend time, effort, energy and money following these "stars" who often have personal lives filled with divorce, drug use, alcoholism, addiction, eating disorders and a host of other issues.  Oscar Night is often a celebration of style over substance.



This "style over substance" can be seen vividly in what is happening in the Ukraine.  Russia is threatening to invade and take over the Ukraine.  Our State Department and President are using tough language in an attempt to keep this from happening.  The truth of the matter is this:  Putin has no respect and no fear of the leadership in America nor her allies.  He knows that we can only make hollow gestures by trying to get the United Nations to enact some type of sanctions.  He knows that our leadership cannot and will not be able to do anything to prevent an invasion, so he is emboldened to act without any fear of reprisal.  America's International leadership is simply style over substance.  The world no longer respects the power and authority of the United States because we will never back up any threat we make.  The red line in the sand of Syria put the final nail in that coffin.  Our International policy is style over substance.




Unfortunately, this love of style over substance has impacted the church in America.  The church feels like she must have the nicest buildings, a large assortment of ministries, a welcome center, an expresso machine, a well-prepared band, multi-media, sermons from a hip pastor and a fantastic logo.  If we can just do all of the right things, the church feels that people will flock to her.  And often they do...for a time.  But after a while, the concert atmosphere of our worship services no longer excites like it used to.  Or there is another church down the street with an even more hip pastor and even better give-aways.  So the crowd moves to the next big thing.  Some churches try to stay up on the trends and keep ahead of the curve to make sure the crow coming to their church is engaged and fully devoted to the church.  We now celebrate style over substance.




I look back at Jesus and He appears to be substance over style.  He didn't have the nicest clothes, the best advertising or speak with the latest slogans.  He was Old Skool.  He would teach about the Law, but spoke about the heart of the Law, not just the actions.  He talked about the substance of our lives and often condemned the style of our lives.  He didn't have time for those who wanted to act a certain way, appearing to be righteous, while all the time, they were devoid of faith, dedication and humility.  He called them white washed walls.  He didn't spend His time trying to draw a large crowd.  When He became popular, He would either get away from the crowd or teach about commitment and sacrifice, so the crowd would dissipate.  He spent his three years of ministry investing in just twelve men, and those men often wanted style over substance.  They argued over who would be the greatest, got upset when things didn't go their way, were impatient with Jesus' timing and rarely understood who Jesus really was.  Yet Jesus would always call them back to substance over style.  The Style crowd hated Him, especially when He would point out their hypocrisy, like when He cleared the Temple.  They wanted Him dead and quiet, which is often how the crowd will treat followers of Jesus who have substance.




Today, we need a breath of the Holy Spirit to lead us to true substance over style.  Hey, it's a battle because our pagan culture spends all their energy on style.  We are going to be radicals and misunderstood if we seek to have the substance Jesus talked about.  He wants us to be servants of us.  He wants us to be humble in how we live our lives.  He wants us to be generous to those who can give us nothing.  He wants us to have faith in Him rather than in what we can accomplish.  He wants us to live a morally pure life, according to His standard not the vacillating standard of the pagans around us.  He wants our light to shine in our neighborhoods, homes, jobs, schools and communities.  He is looking for men and women who will be wholly dedicated to Him and solid in their faith.  Of course, this type of foundation doesn't get the hype nor the applause.  So without the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, this will never happen in our own lives. 

Be honest about your life:  Are you investing more time in style over substance?  Did spend more time preparing your body (Shower, dressing, make-up, hair, breakfast, etc.) this morning or your soul (Prayer, meditation, Bible study) this morning?  Are you more concerned about making your house payment than the eternal destiny of your neighbor?  Have you spent more time chatting about the Oscars or about Jesus today?  Let's aim to be people of Christ, people of substance over style.

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