Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

Why #blessed is Misleading

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A friend posted this on Facebook this week:

I can’t stand all that “I’m blessed” crap. Do they not know how selfish it sounds? Oh I’m so blessed I don’t have cancer. Oh your mom died from it? Hmmm, she must not have been blessed. Whatever. I say keep that junk to yourself or at church. It’s SO offensive to SO many.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it…and I agree with her.  Are you “blessed” because your child is healthy and I am not because mine has seizures?  Am I “blessed” because I live in a nice house, drive an SUV and plenty of food; while God has withheld his blessing from those living in poverty?  That seems so contrary to the character of my good God!  So I’ve been studying what it means to actually be “blessed”.

Oxford Dictionary defines “blessed” as “made holy; consecrated”.   That’s not at all how we usually hear the word used.  According to Oxford, “blessed” has nothing to do with health, wealth, friends or family.  And what does the Bible have to say?  The Beatitudes are the most often quoted scriptures on being “blessed”.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
– Matthew 5:3-10

Straight from the mouth of Jesus we see that it is not the healthy, wealthy and wise that are blessed.  It is the merciful, the pure in heart, the poor in spirit, those who mourn.  And do they receive bigger homes, job promotions, and physical healing?  No.  The blessings are spiritual in nature.  Comfort, righteousness, mercy, kinship with God.  These are the true blessings.  When compared with biblical and dictionary definitions, our propensity to translate the word “blessed” to mean “happy” or even “fortunate” just doesn’t hold up.  God’s economy is so very different from ours.  The earthly things we value are not what He holds dear.  His promise of divine reward is so much better than anything we could wish for on this fallen planet.

I wish I understood why some people are given more earthly treasures than others.  Ecclesiastes 11:5 says, “As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who makes everything.”  I do know God has reasons for the things He allows, even if they are mysterious.  The Bible does tell us that God gives gifts to us so that we can be of service to others.  “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”  2 Corinthians 9:11  Prosperity is a responsibility.  So whether your gifts are financial resources, talents or possessions, they are not to be hoarded or used for your own glory.  Inner peace and joy come to you when you use them for the edification of others.

If I could close by asking one thing of you, it would be to use caution when applying the word “blessed” – especially if what you really mean is “happy” or “advantaged”.  When wielded incorrectly, “blessed” is confusing, misleading and very off-putting.

What Hipster Nativities and the Presidential Election Have in Common

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Have you seen this?

The pictured plastic scene is selling from Modern Nativity for $130.  And is apparently such a hot commodity that the company is limiting units sold to 3 at a time.  It’s been touted as the “coolest nativity of the year”- the birth of Christ brought into the age of iphones and man buns.  I must admit that I had a giggle when I first saw this picture.  I can take a joke.  This doesn’t offend me because frankly, “traditional” nativity scenes are highly inaccurate as well (to start with, most of them are caucasian in appearance and many place the wise men at the birth scene).  Since we have no actual pictures to go by, every nativity is pulled from an artist’s imagination.  I have several of them displayed in my house and I love them.  Even in their inconsistencies to the First Noel, they still remind me of the beautiful reason for the Christmas season every time I see them.

However…I do think it’s important to acknowledge that our tendency to make God in our own image is the basis of our misguided decorations.  The Modern Nativity company asks us to “imagine the nativity in 2016”.  But that isn’t all they are imagining.  This rendering is clearly taking place in America.  But then again, most “traditional” nativities are as well.

Envisioning God as our own race or nationality, though, is just the tip of the conceptual iceberg.  From the behavior I saw leading up to November 8, some people must believe that God is a card-carrying member of their own political party!  I heard claims from both sides that their platform was the spiritual and moral high ground.  I have news for you.  God is not donkey or elephant!  If He was, it would be in the scriptures.  And speaking of the scriptures, I see them being bent and stretched by many to fit the description of the God they want to know.  Let’s face it.  Many of the teachings of Christ go against basic human nature.  And rightly so.  Human nature is a sin nature.  There are lots of things in God’s Word that are hard to understand, so it can be much more comfortable to assume that God is similar to us.  But it just isn’t so.  If God were anything like me, He would not be worthy of our worship.

Now back to the Nativity:  What makes the Christmas story beautiful is that God came near.  He became human to fulfill God’s ultimate plan of redemption for us all.  Jesus can relate to our humanity.  Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”  This is good news!  But we must never forget that although He was fully human, He was and is fully God.  Not like me.  Not like you.

Here’s my challenge for you this Christmas season.  Read the story of Christ’s birth from Luke chapter 2.  Don’t just read it.  Study it.  Look up words or phrases that you don’t understand.  Read it from more than one translation of the Bible.  See if you pick up on anything new to you.  Make sure you know the real story and not an artist’s rendering.

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