Compelled

Many of you know that one of my favorite passages in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 5. I absolutely love that chapter! I hope someday I am given the opportunity to preach a series on that passage. The passage has been a “heart” passage for me. Different parts of Scripture speak to us in different ways! And while all Scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching, I think that for each of us there are different passages that really “grab” us.

In 2 Cor. 5:14 Paul writes, “Christ’s love compels us”. I want that! I want to be able to say that Christ’s love is the source or the motivator behind everything I do!

The American Heritage Dictionary defines compel this way:
1. To force, drive, or constrain: Duty compelled the soldiers to volunteer for the mission.
2. To necessitate or pressure by force; exact: An energy crisis compels fuel conservation
3. To exert a strong, irresistible force on; sway: “The land, in a certain, very real way, compels the minds of the people”.

Some people may have a hard time with the word “force” in these definitions. I don’t think we need to get hung up on that word. Maybe a better word would be motivated or moved. Imagine allowing Christ’s love to rule our hearts or to be such a strong part of our lives that it was the driving motivation behind everything we did, every decision we made.

The problem is that there are so many other “compelling” voices that we allow to speak into our hearts and our lives. Fear, the opinions and judgments of others, past sins, our environment, and the list goes on and on. For whatever reason we give these voices more value than they deserve. If we were able to recognize the love of God, the love of Christ for what it really is, then all these other voices would shrivel and be silenced.

Clearly, I recognize that this is easier said than accepted! My point isn’t to condemn you or me for failing to recognize this, but encouraging us to do so! I don’t know what you are struggling with today, but I want to ask, “What is it that compels you in that struggle”? What compels you in your relationships, in your school work, in your social time, in your worries, in your joys?

My prayer is that each of us is able to recognize and accept the abundance of God’s love to such an extent that it would compel the way we view ourselves, the way we view others, the decisions we make and our actions!

American Idol and The State of The Union

Watching the Fox channel last night was like listening to an ipod on shuffle and going from a Hillary Duff song to a Bob Dylan song. There is probably no good way to transition from American Idol (especially the audition episodes) to the State of The Union Address. As different as the two programs might be, I was surprised to recognize some similarities. Here are a few (I would love to hear your additions):

• The audience for both is probably depressingly the same size, or Idol's is larger.
• Everyone is excited before the Idol auditions, but after the auditions about half leave in tears or angry. In the same way everyone seems happy and cheerful before the State of the Union, but afterwards you find half the people are happy or at least content and the other half is ticked off.
• Regardless of your political views you have to admit that Bush is about as uncomfortable giving a speech as most of the people performing auditions for Idol. (though Bush has gotten much better!)
• Just like I don't to watch the Idol auditions for the singing but for the response of the judges, I am more interested in hearing what the pundits say after the speech than the speech itself (I don't necessarily respect the pundits, they are just more interesting).
• Just like the auditions for Idol are usually filled with musical fluff (how many can try out with a Celine Dion song, etc), the State of The Union is generally filled with political fluff.
• Just like the facial reactions and expressions of Simon, Randy and Paula are more interesting than the auditions themselves, so is the response of congress (who could miss Hillary Clinton's smug smile and head shake) more interesting than the address itself.
• The goofy opening title for American Idol is a little more overstated than the opening titles for the news shows, but only a little.
• The only thing that I wish was a little more similar is that I wish the guy that says "Ladies and Gentlemen, The President of The United States" was as fake cool as Ryan Seacrest.
• Oh, and maybe instead of Bush saying "And may God Bless America" (tradition I know) he could say "Bushy Out"! (its more politically correct anyway)