There is forgiveness of sin (Acts 22:16).  There is a reenactment of the gospel (Romans 6).   It’s a great moment to look back on as our unity with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection (Colossians 3:12).

There’s something else that excites me about baptism.

It’s about new life.

Revelation 21 gives me chills.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place^[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,^[b] and God himself will be with them as their God.^{[c] 4} He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

⁵ And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” 

That last part especially:  “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Jesus is starting something, and I get to be part of it.

Jesus is doing something new, and I’m it.

The King has come, and I get to help bring about his goals in the new world that is already but not yet.

I get to experience the new world now.

That’s what excites me about baptism.  Forgiveness of sins – praise God!  Confessing Christ and identifying with him – absolutely.

But, how often, do we forget that this isn’t a graduation, it’s a commencement.  It’s not an end, it’s a beginning.  The beginning of the new creation in me.  Now, that’s exciting.

So, when I look back to my baptism, I think of a new verse.  It’s not Acts 2:38, even though that’s a good one.  It’s not Acts 22:16, even though that’s important.

It’s Revelation 21:5 – “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Baptize for what?  Baptize to be a part of the new creation, the most exciting thing that’s going on in the world forever.

I’ve changed.  I don’t think about Christianity the same way I did 10 years ago.  Maybe even one year ago.

I recently wrote a post called, “Question the Question.”  In it, I challenged readers to find the most important question to them and then question it.  I believe that one of the things Jesus does is fundamentally re-frame our questions in life.  He makes us question our assumptions and radically grow our spirit.

Well, let me make this personal.  Let’s get to my main question.

Growing up, the most important question for me was

“What must I do to be saved?”

If the most important question is, “What do I need to do to be saved,” and the most important thing in life is “going to heaven,” then it frames your life in a certain way.

Here’s what it did for me:

• It focused me on the “fear of the Lord,”  Proverbs 1:7.  This is the beginning of knowledge.  So, that’s a good place to start!
• It provided  external motivation.  Who doesn’t want heaven?  Who does want hell?  Truth is, I often need external motivation, just as I need the “fear of the Lord.”    So, that helped me!
• It made me take this thing personally.  On a positive, that has to do with personal responsibility.  On a negative, it made it all about me (my reward or punishment…what I get out of it).

I’ve begun to ask myself, “What if we moved past a reward/punishment motivation?  Is there anything else there?  What if we moved to a point that our heart was motivated more by love than by fear?  What would that look like?  What would our goal be and what would our driving question be?”

Well, if want a model for that, it is Jesus himself.

Christ said, “I came not to do my will, but the will of Him that sent me.”  His primary motivation was to serve God.  Period.  He wanted to do his will, and he did it out of…love.

If I am reading Jesus right, and if I’m reading the Sermon on the Mount right, then Jesus is all about changing our heart.  He’s all about reshaping us into a person like God.

What if we got to the point that our desire was to simply know Him?  Sometimes I wonder if we really want to go to heaven for the stuff we’d get like never dying and not burning.  I wonder if we even want to go because God is there.  Do we want to be in his presence?

What if our driving question became,

“How can I know Christ?”

I don’t just mean know about him.  I mean know what it means to follow him, to be like him, and to love him.  That would mean loving others and serving them as well.

I’d like to make that my main question.  I’d like to make my main goal to simply know him and serve him.  I believe that is true success….and by the way…you get to be with him forever.

Let me ask you a cutting question:

What if there was no heaven?

I know there is a reward for the faithful, but what if there wasn’t?  What if this life was all there was to it?   Would you serve God simply because you truly love him…or are you just doing it for the reward?

Truth is, the real reward is knowing him.

John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

What’s your favorite movie?

What’s your favorite color?

Who would you like to spend a day with of anyone in history?

The answers to these questions can tell you alot about a person.

However, I think another thing tells you even more.  And, it’s not all about the answer.  It’s all about the question:

What is the most important question to you?

You see, it’s not always our answers that are the most important thing.  It’s asking the right questions.

Think about it.  While others were getting good grades in computer science classes, Mark Zuckerberg was asking his own question, “How do you connect people?”  That’s a great question.  And, now, because he relentlessly pursued that question, most of the whole world is connected in a new and powerful way.

Let me ask you, do you ever feel like you’re answering the wrong questions?  For instance, you’re in a business meeting, and someone has all the right answers…but the project just makes no sense.   Right answers, wrong question.

You’re in a school that is doing a new way of teaching…and the teacher follows it to a tee…but the method itself needs some reconsidering.  Right answers, wrong question.

Now, if you think about your life, what are the big questions you’re asking?

John F. Kennedy has the famous quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”  It was about changing the question.

And, that’s what Jesus did.  He revolutionized the way people thought about God.  The way they thought about God’s Messiah.  About what they thought it meant to follow God.  About what it meant to be great and to be king.  Jesus is all about changing our answers, but first, he radically re-frames the question.

So, let me ask you to do something.

Write down the most important question in your life.

Now, it’s time to question the question.

This is going to change everything.  Worlds will collide.  Lives will be transformed.  I’m talking about the coming tech changes.  How does Jesus’ story fit into all of that?  We’ll look at that, but first, let’s think about….the future.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

How does Google know what you’re about to search for, even when you misspell it?

How does Facebook know how to advertise the things you just might buy?

How in the world is there, right now, a car that can drive itself?  It’s here, and it’s growing.  You can’t even imagine the ways it will change the next 20 years.

Transhumanism

Just think.

What if we could swallow a pill that would monitor your vital signals and wirelessly provide information to your doctor?  By the way, this is already created, and will have FDA approval by 2018.

What if the blind could get an implant that would give them vision?  It’s coming.  Just think cochlear implants for the eye.

What if computers could literally read your mind?  It has already started.

What if a computer could record your dreams?

Not only that, but what if we could offload our memories to the internet?  What if we could offload processing power to a computer? Literally, surf the web at the speed of thought.

Now What?

How do you react to all of that, are you scared?  Are you excited?

Truth is, so many powerful things are coming, but the question is what are we going to do with them?

The story of Jesus is as relevant today as it was before the digital revolution.  It answers the question of “Why?” and “Who?”

Just think, nuclear energy can provide clean power or murder millions.  It all depends on the spirit.  We are the drivers of the tech.

The truth is, the story of Jesus hits us in a place that is deeper than tech.  It hits at at the intersection of all the facets of reality.  It speaks to spirit, ethics, love, family, hope, and intelligence.  It gives us hope.  We’re not afraid of tomorrow because we know who holds it.  It gives us power.  We will use the tools of innovation to help people.

Just think.  Christians have built hospitals.  Now, we will use nanotech to provide healing.

Christ followers have spread the gospel by mouth before.  Tomorrow, we may spread it in a medium we don’t yet understand.

Christians of all people shouldn’t fear new tech.  We should simply use it to bless others.  Show the love of Christ.  Do good.  After all, that’s what his story is all about, and his kingdom is never shaken (Hebrews 12:28).

Santa Claus came to my door.  They sent me to answer it.  I was four years old.  He was dressed to the nines as Santa.  Great outfit.  Would have fooled me, except that I knew something about him.  I knew what his hands looked like.  I knew the ring on his finger.  And, I identified him.  It was Spec Burnett, my great uncle.

Years earlier those same hands would pull the parachute cord as he courageously served as a paratrooper in WWII.  I never really heard him talk about it, but I imagine bravest men don’t brag.

Many years later those same hands would be used in service to his wife, Flossie. You see, she was in a nursing home because she had Alzheimer’s.   Spec went to see her every day and served her breakfast and lunch.  When asked why he would spend so much time with her when she didn’t recognize him, he responded that he still knew.  He still loved her.  And, his 90 year old hands still served.

In the last years of his life, his hands trembled, and it took him hours to get ready.  But, every Sunday he was at church.  You see, those same hands that pulled the shoot as he jumped over the Pacific were used in courage as he slowly and painstakingly buttoned every button of his Sunday clothes.

William Tittle, the preacher of the Cordova Church of Christ told that story, and it really touched me and got me to thinking about Spec’s hands.  Made me think about the Santa Claus story, and how his hands identified him to me.

Truth is, that same God that gave him courageous hands can give courage to you.

You see, in the last years of his life, Spec lived alone in Burnett Loop Road in Cordova, Alabama.  But, truth be told, he was not alone.  God was there with him.  Spec had faith.

Just as Spec courageously jumped out of the planes in WWII, we must make a choice.  We must make a jump.  But, it’s not a jump into an abyss.  It’s a leap into the greatest hands of all.

I’d like to think that I could be like Spec.  I’d like to think my hands could be courageous and true like that.  And, I believe they can.  I believe yours can, too.  Why?  Because I know the true source.  And, those hands were nail pierced.

And, one more thing.  If you ever dress up like Santa Claus, you might want to take off any distinguishing rings.  Why?  Because people are noticing your hands, too.

“Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.”

Where does the Bible speak?

Can’t you just imagine the priests having a heated discussion about the tithe of mint and anise and cummin…and they miss something…the Messiah just walked by.

Speaking where the Bible speaks means saying what it has to say.  Let’s think about that.  That not only means specifics but it also means emphasis (i.e., weightier matters of the Law).  So, we need to make sure our emphasis is the emphasis of the Scriptures.  We need to not only approach the Bible with a legal perspective of getting all the rules right, we also need to approach it from a relational perspective of getting the heart right.

The Heart of the Bible

If we want to speak where the Bible speaks, if we want to truly be a restoration people, then let’s show the world that…

• It’s not only about being immersed in water…it’s about being immersed into the work of the kingdom.  Let our best argument for baptism be our total immersion into the death of Christ, dying to self.  Let’s model the resurrection by arising from baptism to be resurrection people building his kingdom in this world.
• It’s not only about worshiping with correct form…it’s about worshiping from the heart and having an attitude of gratitude that transforms our whole lives into an act of service to God.
• It’s not just about worshiping with a congregation that wears the name of Christ…it’s about seeing Christ in the least around us and being with them and serving them.

Truth is, there are many Christ followers that are embracing this.  It’s about getting to the heart of the Bible.  I’ve seen it in Nicaragua, and I’ve seen it in the Heart of Dixie.  Let’s speak where the Bible speaks, and’s let’s remember that at the center of the Bible there stands a cross and a resurrection.

P.S.   On average, women and children in developing countries walk 4 miles per day for clean water.   Through your generous support, we can end their walk.   I’m participating in a Walk4Water event on April 2nd that will raise funds to build a well in Honduras.    Click here to help.

Scott McCown.  The man.  The myth.  The legend.

While he’s not a perfect preacher (there was only one), and he’s actually a sinner (we all are), there are a few lessons we can learn even from Scott.

I’m going to call them ScottsLessons (in honor of his old YouVersion account).

Here are the five ScottsLessons that I’ve learned.

1.  Content Is King.

When you’re delivering a sermon, teaching a class, or otherwise teaching folks, content really matters.   Ok, I already knew that.  But, being around Scott the last few months has convinced me even more.

Content must rely on context.  The key to understanding and presenting a text is using it within the context. See this post on context.

Speaking of context, if you really want to rub Scott the wrong way, misuse Philippians 4:13.  Hint:  It’s not about winning at sports.

2.  Win with a plan.

Have you ever known a preacher that just didn’t seem like he knew where he was going?

Ever known one that never got off his soapbox?

Yeah, well, you can fix that hopefully with a plan.  Scott always seems to have an idea of where he’s going.  Probably because he does an annual preaching plan.  Last year we covered the whole Bible.  This year, we’re covering the New Testament.  There have been textual and topical series.  The plan seems to help.  We don’t have a regular soap boxing.

3.  It’s more than preaching.

Come to a church function at Central, and you’ll see Scott working.  Not just preaching.  I mean stuff like the menial, non-glorious, not front of the church sort of stuff.  Preaching is work.  Teaching is work, but being a member of the body of Christ is about more than just fulfilling your teaching duties.

I think one of the reasons Scott is a a successful preacher is that he doesn’t just give a few pretty lessons a week.  He’s actively involved in the work of the church as a member.  I don’t expect him to do all the work for us.  But, he is a real member of the church.  He’s connected to people with real relationships and isn’t above doing some cleaning and table moving.  That means a lot.

One gets the impression that he would be teaching and working in the church even if he didn’t get paid.   I get the feeling that it’s fun stuff for him.  That’s big.

4.  Marry well.

Let’s be honest.  Central hired Scott for his wife.  She’s really a great asset.  Amy is one of the most dedicated, serving people I know.  I think she really probably brings Scott up a few levels.  I’m not married, but I can only hope to do so well.  I joke with Scott that Amy has written many good sermons.  Truth is, she’s writing them with her life.

5.  Be Authentic.

That’s not a hard one for Scott. He just doesn’t have a fake bone in his body.  If anything, he could probably be a little less transparent at times, but we love him anyhow!  Truth be told, people are hungering for leaders that are real and transparent.  It’s a big deal nowadays.  Not just a buzzword.

So, I didn’t idealize Scott.  Certainly didn’t idolize him.  But, the main thing about Scott that I’ve learned is that he’s a follower.  He’s a follower of Christ.

Truth be told, that’s the job of a preacher.  It’s the job of a Christian.  To say with Paul, “Follow me, as I follow Christ.”  That’s the only way it really seems to work.  And, I can say, that for Scott is seems to be working.

By the way, check out Scott’s blog, The Morning Drive.